Understanding the Different Types of Business Card Printing

Even in the age of online global business, people still use business cards as a leave behind when meeting with new customers and clients. Business cards offer a convenient size for filing away in a wallet or rolodex (for those that are still using these dinosaurs), to keep needed information on hand about people that they meet.

Traditionally business calling cards included phone numbers, addresses and the name of the company the person you met worked for. Now, with the internet being used so much in business, these handy calling cards also tend to include things such as email addresses, websites, and even Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn account addresses.

Some people don't have a need for a lot of business cards, so they will design and print their own business cards using perforated business card paper, with their computer and inkjet or laser printer.  While some of these papers are plain, and come in different colors, others have preprinted designs and allow you to drop in your personalized information, for a beautiful card without the cost of professional printing.

Other people have a need for business cards in bulk and rely on traditional printing to get them produced. With business card printing there are several different types of printing available.

Your Office Stop Re-Launches Custom Online Printing Website

Even in the age of the internet and web based marketing, many businesses still rely on print shops for the basics – letterhead, business envelopes, business cards and promotional products. But, in the age of the internet, you no longer have to schlep halfway across town to visit a dirty, smelly print shop to order your marketing materials, promotional products, and business printing.

Your Office Stop is proud to announce the re-launch of our online print shop. While we have offered online printing services since the start of our business in 2003, our new website has been updated, and new products have been added, to service the printing needs our customers have been asking for.

Now printing online has never been easier! Our new online printing site allows you to either design your printed items from our web-based design interface, or upload completed designs in .TIFF, .BMP, .EPS, and for color printing, .JPF file formats.

Why Buy Refurbished Office Equipment?

Buying factory refurbished equipment is a great way to get a bargain on an otherwise expensive item. Many companies buy their equipment exclusively as refurbished. When many people think of the term "refurbished" they think of old, used, torn apart, rebuilt equipment. However, that is not generally the case at all when it comes to electronics!

Basically, an electronics item can be classified as refurbished if it meets ANY of the following criteria:

Customer Return - Most major retailers have a 30-day return policy for their products and many consumers, for whatever reason, return products within that time period. These are fully functioning items, that are the same as new, but because the box has been opened they must be sold as refurbished. Most of the time, if there is nothing wrong with the product, stores will just reduce the price and resell it as an open box special. However, if there is some sort of defect present in the product, many stores have agreements to return the product to the manufacturer were it is inspected and/or repaired, and then repackaged for sale as a refurbished item.

Shipping Damage - Many times, packages can get damaged in shipping, whether due to mishandling, the elements, or other factors. In most cases the product in the package may be perfectly fine, but the retailer has the option to return the damaged boxes (who wants to put a damaged on box on the shelf?) to the manufacturer for full credit. The manufacturer, then, is obligated to inspect the products and repackage them in new boxes for sale. However, they cannot be sold as new products, so they are relabeled as refurbished units.

Creating Effective Email Signatures For Interacting With Your Customers and Clients

In our line of business it is important that our emails get delivered through to our customers. Our company sends important information such as order confirmations, shipping updates, and other pertinent information in regards to orders via email. We have been asked by some customers, why in this day and age, we still use text based email formatting, rather than rich text or HTML formatted emails. The answer is plain and simple – deliverability and readability.

While we now have the ability to create fancier, graphically oriented emails that some people seem to be so fond of, the question is should we do it. In business you have to be cognizant of the fact that not every email client is going to deliver the exact same viewing experience to your customers. Emails may look one way on the Macintosh Mail app, and another on a PC in Outlook. And, they can look different on Gmail, then they do on a Blackberry, Android or iPhone.

Therefore we use text based email to make sure that the message is (1) delivered and not caught in SPAM filters, due to excessive graphics, HTML formatting, and links; and (2) is legible across the board, on all devices. Often times people will check their email from a smartphone or tablet, rather than a computer. We want to make sure the customer gets the same experience, whether checking it on the road, or from behind their desk.

One thing we have always struggled with is keeping an email engaging to read, using just plain text. One area of special interest has been our email signature line. Because we aren't including fancy graphics, or the equivalent of a pretty digital business card, we want to make sure we include pertinent information in our signature, so customers know who they are dealing with, at first glance, without having to rack their brains.

An overly long signature can make it difficult for the recipient to wade through the information to find your contact info. However, not providing enough information in your signature may leave a new client or customer wondering who you are and why you are contacting them.

Therefore, we have come up with some best email signature practices that we like to follow when our staff create their email signatures, and thought we would share them with you.

How To Detect Counterfeit Money

Counterfeit bill passing costs businesses millions of dollars in lost revenue every year. Those businesses that fail to carefully examine the bills that are passed on to them are victimized daily. Don't let the counterfeiters get the best of you and your business. Learn how to spot counterfeit money and stop the thieves in their tracks.

You can help combat the threat of counterfeiters by becoming more familiar with United States currency. Examine the money your business receives. Train your employees in how to spot fake bills. Compare suspicious notes with genuine ones of the same denomination and series, paying attention to the quality of printing and paper characteristics. Don't look for similarities – instead look for differences.

There are a variety of things to look for when examining money for counterfeit bills.

Portrait
A genuine portrait on a bill appears lifelike and stands out distinctly form the background. A counterfeit portrait is usually flat and lifeless. Details merge into the background, which is often too dark or mottled.

Federal Reserve and Treasury Seals
A genuine bill will have clear saw tooth points of the Federal Reserve and Treasury seals are clear, distinct, and sharp. A counterfeit seal may have uneven, blunt, or broken saw tooth points.

Border
The fine lines in the border of a real bill are clear and unbroken. On the counterfeit, the lines in the outer margin and scrollwork may appear blurred and not distinct.

Serial Numbers
Genuine serial numbers have a distinctive style and are evenly spaced on the bill. The serial numbers are printed in the same ink color as the Treasury Seal. On counterfeits, the serial numbers may differ in shade or color of ink from the Treasury Seal. Also, the numbers may not be uniformly aligned or spaced, as they will be on a  real bill.

Paper
Genuine current paper has tiny blue and red fibers embedded into it. Often counterfeiters will try to simulate these fibers by printing tiny blue and red lines on their paper. But on close inspection, one may see that on the counterfeit notes the lines are printed on the surface, not embedded in the paper. It is illegal to reproduce the distinctive paper that is used in the manufacturing of U.S. currency.

But, if your business deals with lots of cash, it is often impossible to stay on top of the counterfeits all of the time. This is where counterfeit detectors come into the picture. Counterfeit detecting machines are specialized pieces of equipment that are used to spot fake money.

The price ranges on counterfeit detectors runs the gamut, from very cheap to very expensive. You are paying for the technology that is embedded in the machine model that you choose. Obviously, the more sophisticated machines, with several modes of detection, will cost more than a simple tabletop non-electric model.

Microsoft Releases Office for iPad and Expands Cloud Services

Yesterday Microsoft released the long awaited version of the Microsoft Office Suite for iPad. Many individuals and small businesses who rely on their iPad for daily use and business use are excited to hear that it has finally arrived. And, from preliminary reviews, it is actually pretty good, unlike their earlier release of Office for the iPhone.

Now Office 365 users can simply add an iPad as one of their chosen devices included in their subscription and they will be able to create and edit documents with Word for iPad, PowerPoint for iPad and Excel for iPad. The iPad apps are available as free downloads from the App Store, however they will only allow people to read and present documents, spreadsheets and presentations, until they subscribe to the Office 365 service ($9.99 per month or $99.99 per year), at which time they will also be able to edit these documents, and create new documents, on their iPads.

The Office 365 subscription not only gets you the Office for iPad apps installed on up to 5 tablets, but also 5 copies of Office for your PCs and Macs. With one subscription all of your devices are covered, allowing more freedom for people so they are not chained to their desk to be productive.

At the same time Microsoft also announced the Enterprise Mobility Suite, a set of cloud services to help businesses manage corporate data and services on the devices people use at work and at home.

“Microsoft is focused on delivering the cloud for everyone, on every device. It’s a unique approach that centers on people — enabling the devices you love, work with the services you love, and in a way that works for IT and developers,” said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer for Microsoft.

Clean Desk Person or Messy Desk Person - Which Are You?

So, as you sit in your office and look around, are you a clean desk person or a messy desk person. What does one or the other say about you?

Researchers have, in the past, studied how certain personality traits affect health choices in people. Not surprisingly, they found that people who tend to be more organized and predictable, typically eat better and live longer than people who were less orderly. They also tend to have very clean offices and desks.

However, what has been less clear is whether or not clean work environments can create good habits, even in those who aren't necessarily as organized as others around them. In a study done by Dr. Kathleen Vohs and the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management, researchers decided to find this out.

Businesses Need To Stay Aware of Domain Name Scams

We recently received an email from a Chinese domain registry company, warning us that someone was applying to register a set of domain names based on our company name. It is not the first time we have received such an email, so I figured a warning to other businesses may be a good thing.

According to these messages, the company contacting you is trying to "warn" you that someone else is trying to claim your trademark, brand or domain. They give you a limited amount of time to reply, and warn that if you don't you are at risk of losing your rights to your name. It sounds so very official and scary, right?