If It Prints, I’ll Let You Know, an awesome blog about printers and accessories we love here at Smart Office, has a great post up on how to make your own professional-quality business cards at home. As If It Prints notes, all you really need to make your own business cards is card/cover stock paper and basic design software such as Microsoft Publisher. You can get the card stock fast and cheap at OnTimeSupplies.com, and there are a number of sites offering free business card templates you can try as an alternative to the Microsoft software. Give it a try–every business and professional needs a good supply of great-looking business cards, and this way you can eliminate professional printing expenses from your budget!
Category: Office/Business Resources
This Year’s Super Bowl More Green Than Ever
No office hosts any events as grand as the NFL’s Super Bowl. That’s why it’s so exciting that the organization is boarding the green business express! The NFL has its own Environmental program headed by Jack Groh, who says the organization is adopting a set of policies that will make this year’s big game the greenest in history! A couple of the new NFL green initiatives can be adapted to any workplace. All the leftover food prepared for the event will be donated to community agencies. The NFL will also donate leftover office supplies, decorations, and building material after the Super Bowl. Consider adopting these policies for your next company banquet, meeting or training event.
Check out the other ways the Super Bowl is going green this year here. Oh, and GO COLTS!
2/2 Daily Deals at OnTimeSupplies.com
You have about five more hours to save 49% on fire-proof safes and binder refill sheets, and 55% on C-fold paper towels!
2/1 Daily Deals
There are just over seven hours left to take advantage of today’s Daily Deals from On Time Supplies! Today we’re offering 49% of Quadrille-Rule Computation Books, Steel Money Changers and Binder Strips! Hurry over to get yours now!
3m Giving Away Office Supplies!
3M is giving away free samples of their new Durable Tabs. 3m says the new write- on tabs are stronger than other varieties, and designed for long term organization of planners and filing systems. They are available in 1- and 2-inch sizes. The giveaway lasts until March 31, or “while supplies last,” so head on over to get your tabs now.
OnTimeSupplies.com Set to Launch New Site!
On Time Supplies is launching a new website! Soon, you can get all your office products from a more attractive, user friendly OnTimeSupplies.com. The new site will feature tabs for the major categories — Office Supplies, Office Furniture, Technology and Janitorial — with links to the most popular products. That way, the supplies you need the most will be just one click away. Plus, On Time Supplies knows that not everyone wants to quit their day job and become an interior designer. That’s why they’ve developed furniture collections and placed them all in on place, so you won’t have to try and get in touch with your inner Martha Stewart to outfit your office attractively and sensibly. The new OnTimeSupplies.com will also take the guesswork out of toner buying with a new toner finder with enhanced search and click-able icons.
My favorite feature of the new site is the Community page, where you can take advantage of expert advice on choosing, and then using, a range of office products. Trust me, you’ll find out everything you ever wanted to know about office supplies there, from how to select the best printer for your office to why all staples are not created equal. My second favorite feature? The Deals of the Day! You’ll want to check out the new OnTimeSupplies.com every day. The site will feature one-time only, 24 hour sales on their most popular products–deep discounts on cool stuff.
Of course, not everything will be different at the new OnTimeSupplies.com. You’ll still save money when you order in bulk. You’ll still get your order fast when you take advantage of 1- and 2-day shipping. And you’ll still connect with a real, live human being when you call the toll free number or take advantage of live chat. With the new OnTimeSupplies.com, you get all that, and an attractive, easy-to-navigate website too!
Avery Dennison and Stamps.com Debut Complete Internet Mailing and Shipping Solution
PRNewsWire uploaded an announcement that Stamps.com will be teaming up with Avery Dennison, makers of the popular Avery line of labels, to provide an all-in-one internet-based mailing and shipping enterprise. From the press release:
Avery Dennison Office Products and Stamps.com unveiled the Desktop Postal Center as part of Avery’s Mailing Center service, a comprehensive set of tools and services for mailing and shipping needs. Together the Avery Dennison and Stamps.com alliance provides the most convenient and cost-effective postage solution for small businesses and home office professionals, helping them accomplish all their day-to-day shipping and mailing projects. By transforming a computer/printer into a shipping machine, the Desktop Postal Center can save time and resources by accurately calculating exact postage with a postal scale, automatically verifying addresses through Stamps.com, tracking packages via e-mail notifications and eliminating the need to ever go to the post office again.
So basically, Stamps.com provides the postage, Avery provides special labels. Simply add money to an account, print out shipping labels, and leave the packages for your postal carrier. All in all, a cool idea brought to you by a trusted brand. I might be taking it for a test-drive shortly; I’ll let you know how it works!
Treasures for Teachers receives $11,000 from Discover
EVliving.com has reported that Treasures for Teachers, a non-profit organization that helps provide struggling teachers with much-needed school and classroomsupplies, has received an $11,000 gift from Discover Financial Services.
“This gift comes at such a crucial time for us and for education in Arizona,” says Barbara Blalock, Executive Director of Treasures 4 Teachers. Just last week the Governor’s office announced a $144 million budget cut to education directly affecting classroom supplies.
The funds will be used to provide scholarships to teachers and help offset the costs of operating the 10,000 square foot facility in Tempe, Arizona,” says Barbara Blalock.
Heartwarming! It seems not all big corporations are heartless jerks. According to Jim Phelps, vice president of Discover’s Phoenix Operations Center: “Treasures 4 Teachers directly ties to Discover’s mission of supporting educational initiatives. We are glad to make this donation that will help support continued operations of their facility and help teachers further their education.”
Good on you, Discover.
Article: Can a Big-Box fix your computer?
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting quasi-investigative piece on whether or not a big-box store can adequately fix your computer. They basically take in a bunch of computers with various maladies and provide anecdotal evidence of how well their issues are addressed:
Our first stop was Staples, where a repair for a problematic desktop dragged on for about a week and involved four visits to the store. When we first brought in the machine, which was essentially not running, we were told by one of Staples’ “EasyTechs” that it shouldn’t take long to evaluate. True to her promise, the tech got back to us that night with word they needed to do an operating system restore, and that we needed to bring in the system disk to proceed with the repair.
But after that, things went awry: A different tech said repairs were delayed because they were very busy. And when we came to pick up the supposedly fixed computer, we were told it was now on the fritz again. A day later, we got the final verdict: The computer was hopelessly broken. Although the desktop could now boot up, it still had problems shutting down, and a bad motherboard was the suspected culprit.
The article goes on to list tech tests from Office Depot, Best Buy, and a mail-order company called IResQ. Not exactly hard-hitting, and nothing new to anyone tech-savvy, but overall, a very interesting read.
Big Box News: School District joins Office Depot investigations
News from Florida: the Lee County School district has announced that they, too, will be starting an investigation into potential overcharges by Office Depot, making them the fourth governmental agency in Florida to seek a refund.
The most interesting part of the whole thing, to me, is that officials from Lee County were contacted by none other than David Sherwin, former Office Depot accounts manager and all-around crusader for those who were taken in by the company’s fraud. To see his name keep popping up warms my heart; he said he was going to fight OD and he’s been sticking to his guns.
As is tradition, I remind everyone that the lesson to be learned from all these Office Depot mishaps is to find a reliable vendor that you trust for all your office supply purchases. Stick with the little guy; he’s got more incentive to treat you right.