Reuse your gift wrap for sustainable interior packaging!!

10 Tips to save money and package correctly to save money and recycle!!


The company that can deliver more than 1 million packages an hour had better know how to pack. And UPS does. In the testing environment, UPS engineers package, crush, drop and manhandle all kinds of packages all day long so they can help you avoid costly mistakes.

It's a sure bet that you can improve the process at your company, says Quint Marini, manager at the UPS Package Engineering Design and Test Lab near Chicago. Here, he offers 10 smart tips for preparing your wares for their journey so they arrive unharmed.

1. Only reuse boxes that are like new.
Reusing cartons is tempting, but boxes in transit may endure drops, collisions or extreme temperatures. Never use a carton with a crease or tear; a crease can reduce a box's strength by up to 70 percent. The modest savings resulting from reusing a box likely will be outweighed by the cost and customer frustration that comes with damaged or returned goods.
2. Be judicious when using recycled packaging.
High-performance foams and cushion wraps can be reused. But many biodegradable packaging materials break down quickly when exposed to extreme temperatures or humidity. And corrugated cartons with recycled content are designed for one-time use. Multiple uses reduce their resistance to crushing or puncturing.

3. High-performance interior cushioning is often worth the expense.
The most basic interior cushioning, polystyrene, can endure only one impact. It may not be adequate for the rigors of shipping. Higher-performing materials such as polyethylene or polyurethane are stronger and thinner. With less but more effective packaging, you can use a smaller box and save on shipping costs related to package dimensions and weight.

4. Interior packaging should support the stable areas of the product.
When packing an item like a microwave or television, the strongest structural area of a product – typically the corners – should be braced with packaging such as foam end caps. This ensures that the most stable areas will absorb impacts. More fragile areas, such as a screen or glass, should not touch interior cushioning.

5. Immobilize fragile items.
Do you want to make sure the box you ship contains cookies, not crumbs when it reaches its destination? Wrap fragile items individually and separate them from one another and the walls of the box. Fill in air spaces with packing material to ensure the items don't move when you shake the container.

6. Don't pack a laptop like a lamp, or vice versa.
Appropriate packing techniques vary widely depending on what you are shipping. With UPS's Packaging Advisor free online tool, all you have to do is input the product dimensions, the estimated weight and the type of product. The Advisor covers 56 product categories from apparel to windows, and provides step-by-step packaging instructions, including illustrated packing techniques, container recommendations, multiple materials options and closure directions.

7. "Right size" your boxes.
If you're routinely using boxes that are too large for the product you're sending, you are wasting packaging and spending too much on shipping. Try experimenting with new box sizes and new ways of arranging products in those boxes.
8. Turn to the experts at The UPS Store. The certified packaging experts at the store are always available to help package items properly. They excel in packaging, and shipping and offer services and supplies for most any packaging need.
9. Pack for the toughest environment your package will face.
A package gets handled more or less frequently on a cargo ship, in a truck or in a UPS package car. Examine your supply chain to find out where your package will experience the most handling. Then design your package – and test your packaging – for that environment.

10. Test a proposed packaging change to industry standards.
The UPS Packaging Guidelines site provides general guidelines on proper packaging materials and techniques. All packaged products should be tested in accordance with the International Safe Transit Association's (ISTA) Test Procedure 3A to ensure adequate package protection. Contact the Package Design and Test Lab to learn about having your product packaging tested.

Secrets to building your brand!!

1. Look at your personal brand as an investment. Your personal brand has the potential to last longer than your own lifespan. While the projects you’re working on might get sold onwards or shut down, your personal brand will persist and (hopefully) add value to each new project you create. If you consider yourself to be in this particular game for the long-haul, whether it’s an online business, art, or selling cars, a good personal brand is an invaluable investment. People will follow your brand from project to project if they feel connected to it. When launching new projects, your personal brand has the potential to guarantee you never have to start from scratch again.
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2. Set goals for your public image. Because your personal brand is built from the thoughts and words and reactions of other people, it’s shaped by how you present yourself publicly. This is something that you have control over. You can decide how you would like people to see you and then work on publicly being that image. Consider your goals for the brand. If you want to sell an expensive course in watercolor painting you’ll need to be seen as someone with the authority to teach others on the topic. If you want to get work for high-end design clients you’ll need to be seen as a runaway talent with a professional attitude. Two useful springboard questions are:
   
3. How would you like potential customers/clients to think of you?

• How can you publicly ‘be’ that brand? This question is an important one, but a tricky one. Your personal brand is composed of your public actions and output in three main areas:
  
  
  • What you’re ‘about’. Think about the key ideas you would want people to associate with you. Seth Godin is about telling stories, being remarkable. Leo Babauta is about simplicity and habit forming. Jonathan Fields is about finding ways to build a career out of what you love doing.
  • Expertise. Every good brand involves the notion of expertise. Nike brands itself as an expert in creating quality and fashionable sportswear. Jeremy Clarkson (host of Top Gear) is an expert on cars. Even if you’re not interested in marketing your advice, you need to create the perception that you are very good at what you do.
  • Your style. This is not so much what you communicate about yourself, but rather, how you do it. Are you kind and unusually enthusiastic, like Collis Taeed? Are you witty and raw, like Naomi Dunford? Are you confident and crusading, like Michael Arrington? Hopefully you’re none of these, or at least, not in the same way. Your style of delivery should be as unique as any other aspect of your personal brand. This doesn’t mean you need to sit down and brainstorm how to be different. If you don’t actively imitate anyone else, it will happen naturally. Read widely and write a lot. If there’s one writer you love and read all the time, you’re probably going to ape them a little bit unless you catch yourself. We all do it.

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2. Run a blog or website that is all you. It doesn’t matter if it’s not your first priority, or even your second priority, but it gives people a place to develop a stronger connection with you. (You might already be doing this!) Here are some content guidelines:
3. Include a mini-bio at the end of each post, put time and effort into your About page and use it to paint a picture of your ideal personal brand. People will only remember a few things about you, so focus on telling the story that contributes most to your brand. Use your personal story as the basis for your expertise.

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2. Try to be personally ubiquitous without over-stretching or over-exposing yourself. If people hear your name enough they will check you out (maybe not the first, second or third time, but they will). Participate in social media.
3. Help your projects become ubiquitous by writing viral content and guest-writing.

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   Keep your brand fresh. No matter how good your content is, you'll risk seeming stale and repetitive if you don’t continue adding new elements to your brand. You can’t ride one idea forever. Keep adding new layers to what you represent.
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   Continue learning and updating your knowledge, especially if your expertise is based around the online world. The web changes drastically from month to month. If you were an ‘expert’ two years ago but have since stopped learning and challenging yourself, you’re not an expert anymore.
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   Don’t just agree with other people you admire. In doing so, you’re building their personal brand, not yours. Focus on topics where you have something new to say or some more value to add.
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5. Get people talking. Think about your personal brand each time you interact with someone - or don’t interact with someone. What impression are you leaving them with? If you don’t want to spend time responding to tweets and emails there’s no reason why you can’t make this part of your personal brand so that people do not expect differently. If you only have the time to answer 1/4 of the emails you get, why not mention this (with apologies) on your Contact page? The greatest source of negative feeling in these situations is disappointment. If you make it clear that you intend to behave in a certain way people have little right to be disappointed when you do so.
6. Try to build relationships with as many people as possible. See How to Network. Get to know their real names and remember details about them. Not only is this fun and good karma, it leaves a strong impression on the people who interact with you. The ones who you know best and who feel most connected to you will talk about you to others - this is how your personal brand grows stronger.
7. Build name recognition with influencers. In this instance an influencer is any person with an audience that you want to reach. Comment on their writing, keep track of them on social media, help them when they ask for it, if they have a blog try to guest-post (it must be your best stuff!). Not only do you have plenty to learn from people like this, but they are also the people who can give you that killer testimonial when you launch your product, who can tweet your links to thousands of followers, who can share the best opportunities with you. That being said, don’t pester them and don’t ask for more favors than you give them. If you are useful and not overbearing these influencers will remember you. View this as a long-term process. You can’t expect to become friends with influencers in a week. It takes months. (Tip: try to use non-intrusive forms of communication. Don’t write things that require a response in blog comments; that's what email/Twitter is for.)

You can mark better!!

Pallet Markers Industrial strength for big marking jobs! Marks on wet and oily surfaces. Durable aluminum barrel and felt tip stand up to heavy use. Water resistant ink dries quickly.

 

Stock Number	Ink Color	Tip	Qty./ Case	Price          UOM	Add to Cart
MK401BE	Blue	King Size	12
MK401BK	Black	King Size	12
MK401RD	Red	King Size	12
MK404BE	Blue	Magnum	12
MK404BK	Black	Magnum	12
MK404RD	Red	Magnum	12