The holiday season will soon be upon us, which means that it's time for businesses to start thinking about Christmas cards. If you've never sent business holiday cards, or don't make a point of sending them out every year, here are five reasons why you should start:

1. Meet Expectations. Although the adage, "It's better to give than to receive," is a sentimental favorite, those with whom you do business expect to be remembered during the holidays. Holiday greeting cards help smooth your business relationships during the rest of the year by meeting expectations during the Christmas season.

2. Improve Customer Relations. Whether you have a business-to-business enterprise, provide a professional service, or own a retail store, chances are that your success is built upon maintaining relationships with your customers and clients. Christmas cards show your customers and clients that you appreciate their business, and that you want to share the spirit of the season.

3. Cost Effective. Perhaps you already buy holiday gifts and remembrances for your best customers or clients, but business holiday cards allow you to reach many more people for relatively little money. You can purchase personalized business holiday cards for as little as $1.40 each, including options to select among many different styles and verses, several colors of ink, and imprinted envelopes. This is an excellent investment in your business.

4. Excellent Return on Investment. Chances are, you and your company receive business Christmas cards from your vendors and suppliers. So, you understand the warm feelings that arise when you read their holiday cards, and you probably experience a "carryover" positive impression when you do your purchasing in the New Year. If you doubt that business holiday cards generate an excellent return on investment, ask yourself this: All other things being equal, which company would you choose to do business with - the company that sent you a holiday card every year or the company that only contacted you when it was time to reorder or collect payment?

5. Limitless Choices. With the rise of Internet and ecommerce, companies have an unprecedented opportunity to select business Christmas cards that reflect their company's image and values. The best online sources for business holiday cards have a wide variety of high quality card designs. In addition, the best online greeting card companies offer a free choice of verse, free coordinated foil-lined envelopes, free samples of Christmas cards, and a multitude of choices for personalization.

In today's business world, you need to take advantage of every opportunity to differentiate your company from your competition. Sending business Christmas cards is a small gesture than can mean improved customer relationships and an excellent return on investment. You really can't afford not to send holiday cards to your customers, clients, and associates.

A very valid question but also a very easy one to answer. First, you must remember that your professional virtual assistant is a human being, just like you, and just like someone who may sit in the office right next to you. She has feelings, morals, standards, kids, pets, and a life - just like you.

While I can't speak for other virtual staffing agencies, at Team Double-ClickSM, we go to great pains to be sure our clients can communicate directly and openly with their virtual assistants. This ability is vitally important to any business relationship and especially that of a businessperson and his or her assistant. Without that communication, there is no exchange of ideas and tasks.

We do monitor communication between our virtual staff and our clients, but this is simply the mechanics of our business model in motion. We monitor these communications to first be sure the communications are there and second so that we can step in if we spot a problem or see something that can be done more efficiently. However, we encourage our clients to get to know their virtual assistants on a personal level as well. As with any relationship, the better you know one another, the better you'll be able to anticipate one another's moves, needs, and pet peeves. Now that the "why" is out of the way, we can talk about the "how".

Of course, there are several options for communicating tasks, assignments, and other matters to your virtual assistant:

E-Mail is a very effective mode of communication when working virtually. It allows you to quickly attach a file and send it to your virtual assistant so that she may make changes, print a letter and mail it, or keep it as a reference. Be sure to talk to our Client Services Rep Denise Schrock or your virtual administrative assistant if you need help attaching and sending files.

Using the telephone to communicate with your virtual assistant, while obvious is quite underutilized and so simple to do. Tired of looking up your virtual assistant's phone number each time? Simply program her phone number into your office phones and cell phone's speed dial. One-touch dialing your virtual administrative assistant is a snap and no harder than buzzing a bricks-and-mortar assistant in the next room

Instant messenger is another example of a wonderful technology, which is underutilized when it comes to communicating with virtual assistants. There are several excellent instant messaging programs and they're so easy to use.

IM programs to check out:

Yahoo: http://messenger.yahoo.com

MSN: http://im.live.com/messenger/im/home/?source=MSNTDLINK

AOL: http://www.aim.com

ICQ: http://www.icq.com

With an instant messaging program you can, with just a couple clicks of the mouse, type messages back and forth with colleagues and your virtual assistant - all in real time. You type, she types, and before you know it, the questions you and she had are all answered and you can move on.

Caution - time wasting opportunity: It's easy to get hooked into "chatting" with someone on IM, which can soak up a lot of time. IM should be used for quick questions and quick answers, and then back to your tasks. IM was not meant to take the place of the telephone for giving lengthy instructions or holding very involved e-versations.

Snail mail, while very retro, it is sometimes necessary. With so many technologies at our fingertips these days, there's very little use for snail mail except for the most formal of business communications, marketing mailings, or sending supplies to your virtual assistant.

Faxing your virtual assistant is also a popular means of communicating tasks and lists to your professional virtual assistant. However, if the items you're intending to send via fax are in electronic (editable) format already - it's best to send it as a file attachment. That way your virtual assistant doesn't need to retype everything and spend unnecessary client dollars. Check out eFax at www.efax.com for the latest in electronic faxing - there's almost no need for a landline fax anymore.

VOIM (voice over instant messenger) is my new favorite communications toy. What VOIM allows you to do is simply pull up your instant messaging program, click your virtual assistant's name, click the call button, and voila, it rings through the computer to her. Once the connection is established (which only takes a second or two) you can talk with your virtual assistant through the computer - no phone line involved). You can then quickly delegate tasks, give instructions, or ask questions without stopping to look up her phone number, and without typing out a lengthy email. At Team Double-ClickSM, we've begun implementing the Yahoo! VOIM program and with wonderful results. If you'd like to give it a try, go to http://messenger.yahoo.com and download the software - it's ridiculously easy to use and best of all, it's free!

Just keep in mind that VOIM will only work with other people who download the newest version of the Yahoo! software and have a microphone and speakers on their computer.

There are many great ways to communicate needs, likes, dislikes, tasks, and training to your virtual assistant. It's all a matter of personal preference and what you're most comfortable using. Professional virtual assistants are flexible and will be happy to use whatever mode of communication you prefer. As technology advances even further, well, who knows how we'll be communicating next year or even next month!

The labels cover a large range of products for which they are destined, and this determines the existence of several types of label creation according to the type of printing used.

From the point of view of the printing type used, the labels are of two types: self-adhesive labels which, when packing the products , are taken from the roll, where is used printing on the flexographic machine and the non-self-adhesive labels where the offset printing equipments are used.

For creating the labels using the flexographic printing, first of all, you must acquire a technological line of flexographic plates fabrication , the most indicated being a computer to plate system which transposes the files processed by pre-press directly on the photopolymer plate.

The flexographic printing machine is also necessary, printing the labels with a number of at least 6 groups of colour, and with the optimal maximum printing format  chosen in such a manner that, according to the estimations made initially, it ensures a maximum productivity. The flexographic printing machine must have attached upon elimination all the components which allow the achievement of all the necessary finishing: UV varnishing, die-cutting, metallic foil stamping.

For the labels achieved with sheetfed printing, first of all it is necessary to include in the investment plan the sheetfed printing press with at least 6 groups of color and with the maximum print format dimensioned according to the estimates resulted from the market study made before the investment begins.

As for any other sheetfed printing , a guillotine is also necessary, with the maximum opening in accordance with the format of the printing machine, the range of formats which can be cut at this type of equipment must be as large as possible, to be able to reach minimum formats which are as little as possible. It is very important that guillotine be programmable as regards the formats of label which it can cut, because there is increased productivity.

If in the last group, the printing machine cannot ensure the UV varnishing, it is very important to have an UV varnishing equipment at least separately. We can either choose special equipment for this, or an adaptation formed from a classic sheetfed printing machine which lacks the humidification and an UV  drying equipment which is placed at the machine elimination.

Also regarding the labels achieved with a sheetfed printing, a metallic foil stamping equipment which can be automatic, semiautomatic or manual according to the dimensions chosen for the business, will be also necessary . For the processing of labels which don’t have a rectangular form, a tunnel puncher whose maximum dimension of processing must be chosen according to the target market that we refer to.

There are many types of wholesale businesses. You need to find the right one that fits your style, your character, interests and personality. This article will help you find the different types of wholesale businesses so you can pick the right one for you.

Not all wholesale businesses are created equal. There are many types of wholesale businesses, probably too many to mention. Every item that is sold or produced could be sold at wholesale prices. For our article we’ll go over businesses that have a relatively easy barrier of entry. In other words, you don’t need $100 million dollars to start them.

First of all, let’s list some of the businesses with easy entry. A wholesale business with an easy level of entry is a business that you can start with a reasonable amount of money depending on how large you want to launch the business. For example, if you are a one person operation you could start it for less than $1,000. If you want a large business you can get the same type of business and add more inventory, employees, vehicles, warehouses, etc.

OK, so what types of businesses can you start or purchase? Well, there are many types of businesses that involve the wholesale trade, here are some examples:

--Manufacturing--

After you manufacture goods you have to sell them to wholesalers, retailers or directly to the public. This involves wholesale or distribution, or both.

--Importing--

Everything about importing spells wholesale. You have to negotiate with oversees manufacturers, transport the products to the USA, get brokers to import products, warehouse goods, and sell and ship products to your wholesale or retail customers.

--Wholesalers--

Wholesalers are usually importers or people who buy from importers or manufacturers to sell to other wholesalers or distributors, then normally don’t sell to retail stores. Wholesalers specialize in getting good products and supplying them to wholesale distributors, cash and carry’s and even exporters.

--Cash and Carry--

Cash and Carry businesses are stores that buy at wholesale prices and sell mostly to very small wholesale distributors or wagon jobbers and to small retail stores like liquor stores or gas stations. They have a warehouse or store front where customers drive up and buy their products. They usually don’t deliver any products.

--Online Sales--

Online sales are a large part of the modern wholesale trade. Many wholesalers sell online nowadays. You can add online sales to your business by simply selling your current products from your websites or other websites or you could even start a business around online sales. If you start a business selling online you simply need a good supplier, a decent shopping cart and you also need to accept credit cards. The rest is getting the right people to your site, or marketing.

--Brokers—

Brokers differ from the other types of distributors in that they normally don’t buy products, they just sell them. They never take possession of the merchandise; they don’t have warehouses, trucks and many times don’t even have offices. They just sell and get commission from the sales. Being a broker is perfect for someone without a lot of money to buy products or someone with great contacts in a particular industry. For example, if you work or used to work at a large retail store you can use your contacts to sell products from other companies. You then get anywhere from 1% to 10% of the sales depending on the type of merchandise.

--Wholesale Distributors--

Wholesale Distributors can be manufacturers or importers too. Wholesale Distributors tend to sell to several customers including wholesalers and retailers. They are the most popular type of wholesaler and usually sell everything including food, beverage, consumer goods, cars, chemicals, and most products out there. They can have warehouses and trucks or drop ship products. They can sell to restaurants, manufacturing plants, retail stores, governments or to other wholesalers.

Copyright © Jorge Olson