The crucial problem with postponing until, planning around and making resolutions for the NEW YEAR is one critical element, well two, but the argument about whether time even exists can wait for another day (HA HA see what I did there).

The critical element is YOU! The plan has to be built by you, the postponing has to be ended by you, and the success of the resolutions depends on you. And you are essentially the same person you were when the Times Square Ball lands as you are counting it down.

Building so much pressure and expectation into an already busy life is not a receipe for success. Every day has to be built around a common thread that leads you where you plan to go in tiny steps, and constant detours and interuptions and corrections and getting back to the primary tasks. 

So sure, if you can take some time to look at the big picture that's helpful and necessary, but try to scale down to the runway level in a way that generates forward motion every day of the year; focus on and reward yourself for the successes achieved any Wednesday at 10:37 A.M. don't pin all your hopes and plans on a specific date set by somebody else, there lies disappointment.

Call or email PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442 on126@postnet.ca for help every day on making your business successful.

I just got an email update from Canada One Business Directory http://www.canadaone.com/index.html to announce some changes and advise me to update my listing.

While I was on the site I was thinking about what a great FREE opportunity it offers to present yourself to potential Customers. Over 75% of Customers now look for information on purchases and local businesses online before they buy. You need to be as visible as possible online.

May I suggest two actions that will raise the visibility of your business?

1. Today, go to http://www.canadaone.com/index.html and create an account and claim/ create your business.

2. Then for the next 30 days, every day do a Google search of keywords for your business and/or search for your competition (and ALWAYS add your town or city or neighbourhood to the search) and look for FREE directories in the first 2 or 3 pages of results.

When you find a directory - from Yellow Pages to Gold Pages to Canada One and on down the line - check for your business and if you are listed make sure all of the information is correct or email the site to correct the listing and if you are not, register, create an account, create a listing. If you start at the top of the Google searches at the end of 30 days you will be listed on the top 30 directories for all of your products and services.

If just 1 person a day runs across one of your listings that is a potential of 30 NEW prospects EVERY month (365 NEW prospects a year!) who may have never heard of you before but now know something about your business. For FREE! (Well it "costs" you 10 minutes a day that you are in the store or office anyway, and I would consider that an investment.)

If 3 out of every 10 - in a month that's 9 NEW Customers-  go from your online listing to walking into your store or calling you on the phone and buying at your average transaction rate, what does that translate to in your top line? Could you use that extra cash flow? What if they come back again, and again? What if they became your best Customer?

Get online. Get visible!

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

You’ve probably made some New Year’s resolutions for yourself – exercise more, eat right, spend more time with family. But have you thought about your resolutions for your small business? How about resolving to be more strategic about your marketing?

If you’re ready to get serious about your small-business marketing, here are four important steps you should take:

Look at what’s worked in the past.

If you’ve been doing a good job of tracking your marketing efforts, it should be easy to go back and see what worked. Did you get a boost in sales after you sent out those postcard mailings? Did that trade show result in enough qualified leads to justify the cost of attendance? Make a list of all of your marketing efforts from 2011 – from sponsorships to newspaper ads – and rank how effective each one was. If you think there are changes you could make to make the activity more effective in the future, make a note of it.

Put together a plan for the future.

Now that you know what worked last year, put together a plan for 2012. Break it down by month or week, whichever helps you best stay on track. List what products and services you want to push; who the target market is for that product or service; and how you’ll reach them.  Remember, repetition can be good when it comes to marketing (it creates brand recognition for the consumer), so don’t be afraid to copy last year’s efforts.

Examine the look and feel of marketing materials.

Once you’ve decided what tactics you’ll use, review the materials you use for each tactic. Look at your business cards, email marketing pieces and direct-mail pieces. Are they modern and professional-looking? Do they look cohesive? Do they truly reflect the image you want your business to reflect? If not (or if you’re not good at judging things like that), it might be time to enlist a professional graphic designer, like the ones at your local PostNet, to clean everything up.  

Follow your plan.

When you’ve put together your marketing plan and budget, stick to it! Don’t be swayed by convincing sales pitches or great “bargains” on advertising. While it’s still OK to try new things, make sure you thoroughly vet them first and make room for them in your budget.

Here’s to a 2012 full of successful marketing efforts!

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

 Ask us how at Postnet Whitby!

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

The weather is getting colder here in Whitby and it is time to start thinking about the Holidays. With your big party right around the corner, it is time to stop putting off your holiday printing needs and time to come see us sooner rather than later.

Whether it's as simple as printing your holiday cards or creating a custom calendar: We can do it! We can print your favorite photo on canvas, bond paper, or repositionable wall cling.  We can help with the professional presentation that make these items an instant gift.

Here at PostNet Whitby we can also help you with your Holiday mailings. Let us mail out your holiday invitations while shipping all of your holiday packages to clients, family and friends.

We provide shipping and professional packaging services. Come in and have your pick of the following carriers we offer: Canada Post, FedEx, and Purolator.

At PostNet Whitby we can help! Come in and visit us today we are located across from the Kendalwood Mall.  PostNet Whitby your Neighborhood Business Center.

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4     905.240.0442     on126@postnet.ca

If you have a small business with a bricks 'n mortar location you should be on Yelp* NOW!

Recent reviews by Don M.

What's this?

If you don't have a physical location then go on Yelp* and review your business community, show your support for the businesses that you work with and refer folks to.

If you want help to link your Holiday PostCards, AdMail, or other printed materials to Yelp*, or foursquare, or Gowalla, or your web site mobile landing page with a QR Code or Microsoft TAG, call us at PostNet Whitby, we can help.

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442 

Becky McKay cares about ALL small business. At PostNet Whitby we focus on YOUR small business. Come talk to Don about BRANDing - how to tell your story, maximize your strengths and make strong connections with past, present and potential Customers!

How to boost holiday sales

via Small Biz Survival by Becky McCray on 10/16/11

Holiday season is rolling up on us. How will you make the most of it? Barry Moltz asked me if I could share some tips local business could use, and of course I said yes.

I started with being human, forming a real connection to your customers. And you might recognize a few other points we discuss here, too.

Here's what we came up with: Local Rules: How To Boost Holiday Sales, at Open Forum. 

We have Holiday Cards, and can help you with Addressed AdMail and UnAddressed AdMail to reeach out at this special time of the year.

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

PostNet is now FSC^® certified!

Design, Print, Copy, Ship

Print and copy services for all your projects!

• Whether you need a short run of 100 business cards or 10,000 copies of a presentation, PostNet can take care of your print and copy needs.
• Let our graphic designers help create your business cards, flyers, brochures or even wedding invitations.
• We can scan images and documents to CD, or scan and archive documents so you can quickly reorder print jobs.
• We also offer document finishing services like binding, stapling and laminating. Not sure what you need? Come in for a free consultation so we can help guide you to the best finishing options for your project.

Pack and ship services

• FedEx Authorized Ship Centre
• Purolator Authorized Shipping Agent
• Canada Post Authorized Business Centre
• Our packaging experts can pack and ship your items. We specialize in fragile, oversized and intricate items, so you'll never have to worry about getting it there in one piece again!
• Our safe, secure private mailbox suite rentals include package receiving from all the major carriers, plus you can get e-mail updates when you receive new mail.

PostNet Whitby welcomes our new Graphic Designer, Tracy. 

Tracy joins us this week and brings a strong portfolio and an energetic and can-do approach to your business card, postcard, flyer & brochure and other marketing and operational printed materials and signage. She can also help you with binding, lamination, fax and shipping your critical business documents and products anywhere and anywhen in the world with our partners, Purolator and FedEx.

Drop in soon to meet Tracy and talk to her about your next project - from brightening up a business card, rethinking your company logo or creating an eye catching WOW! marketing campaign to reach out to past, present and potential Customers.

I look forward to Tracy's contributions to the growth of our business, and yours!

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

Sad day, happy day at PostNet Whitby. Melissa, our first Graphic Designer, who has been with us from Day One is moving on to return to school in Vancouver.

Melissa has been an important part of our success in our first year, bringing her strengths, skills, knowledge and experience to both sides of the business, store operations and graphic design.

Many of the business cards currently being exchanged in the Whitby business community have been created and/or developed by Melissa, and I know her fans will miss her, as will I and I know she will continue to grow her talents in the coming days.

Best Wishes to Melissa!

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

PostNet On126 Whitby

Promote your Page too

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

Business Cards, postcards, business forms, NCR forms, brochures, flyers, invitations, stickers & labels, stationary & letterhead, newsletters ... if you need it on paper we can put it there. Call us for print solutions.

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

Security. Identidy Theft. It's a scary world out there, and you don't want the need to get the word out on your small or home business exposing you to the danger of having your home address broadcast across the web.

If you can Google you or your business and your home address comes up, anyone can do the same, for whatever purpose they want. Provide security for your business and family, as well as a professional Suite address for your business with a MAILBOX RENTAL at PostNet Whitby.

With 24 hour access, convenient location and what one Customer told us her research showed were "the lowest prices in the GTA" a mailbox at PostNet Whitby makes sense. Call or drop in to rent your mail box today!

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

When you have hard copies of valuable information or images then can get lost or damaged easily. Now that it is so easy and inexpensive to store information securely online, why not drop by PostNet Whitby and scan documents up to 11" X 17" in size into an electonic file that you can store savely, use anywhere, send by email, and print on demand as needed down the road. SCAN at PostNet Whitby: easy, convenient and secure.

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

Small businesses face situations everyday that require signature exchange, or other paperwork transactions and passing of information that can't easily be done by email or quickly by courier.

When you need it now, anywhere in the world, drop into PostNet Whitby and make use of our old school (and very reliable) fax machine. We can send 1 page of 100 pages while you wait and confirm receipt with a hard copy print out to document the transaction for your records, or court records for that matter.

You don't need the cost or trouble of having a fax machine you only use once in a long while, when you need to fax come down to PostNet Whitby, your Neighbourhood Business Centre. We're close by and faxing starts at just .99 cents a page.

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

... EVICT PROCRASTINATION!

Is procrastination renting a room in your brain? Is it always disrupting your attempts to get started on the important stuff you have to do? Procrastination is a bad tenant, eager to become a bad manager of your all time and energy.

Stop procrastination in its track and evict it from your brain by exerting focussed energy to overcome inertia and GET STARTED NOW!

Let’s pick a task every small business owner absolutely loves: COLD CALLING ‘er, Business Development Calls.

Here are 10 reasons you have to make the call NOW:

1. Customers are the star of their own movie, you are at best a bit player, to get noticed you have to put yourself front and centre in their camera viewfinder. Make the call.

2. Customers are very busy, just like you; but unlike you, they may not have a reason to call you right now, and you need to call them ... right now. Make the call.

3. You have information, expertise, knowledge, experience, and products that can help that potential Customer, so be proud and confident and call to let them know all you can offer. Make the call.

4. You aren’t retired and living in a villa in Costa Rica, or wherever your dream and goals are intended to take you. So if you are not there yet, you need to do something now to take a step in the right direction. Make the call.

5. You are part of a community. For success, you need to contribute to that community. The best way to do that is to help. Your products and services help, they benefit your Customers, so reach out and let them know how you can help. Make the call.

6. Your entire life you have been learning new things. So if you are new to business development calls you need to make them to learn what works and what doesn’t in the real world. The best way to learn is to do. Tom Peters says “Ready. Fire. Aim.” Make the call.

7. Into each life, a little rain must fall. We all have things that MUST be done. Period. Think how many things you do because they have to be done: to maintain health and hygiene, to build your relationships, to care for your loved ones, to maintain the infrastructure of your life. If you can not only do all of those things, but do most of them as routines and habits, you need to add another to take care of your business. Make the call.

8.  Did I mention? Make the call.

9. No one else is going to do this for you. Like it or not, you own your own success. So, step up, accept the responsibility, take action and ... Make the call.

10. When you make the call, it’s done. You survived, you touched another person, you made your  10 second investment (yes, that’s all it takes to get to success) you got their attention, you engaged the gatekeeper, you left the dynamite voice mail message, you arranged the 20 minute appointment to understand the decision makers business better, even if you got a “NO!” you were a SUCCESS! Fantastic! Now, celebrate that success; and you know what the absolutely best, most powerful, useful and valuable way to celebrate is?  Make the next call.

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

We are open from 9:00 til 2:00 every Saturday for the convenience of our Customers, especially for Purolator Pick Ups for commuters who day is too long, and life too busy for them to get into the store during the week.

Saturdays tend to be quieter, and it's possible to carve out a larger chunk of time to do project work, look at the bigger picture, focus on the important, not just the urgent. So Saturday is a Win/Win for our Customers and for us.

Do you find the time to step back from the busy runway of your life and regularly climb up to the 30,000 or 50,000 foot level to see that your daily efforts are moving you toward your goals? It's a key part of success to take the time to plan, and take time at least weekly to review where you are and get back on course.

Where can you find 90 minutes in your week (every week) to sit down with a favourite pen, a pad of high quality paper and the liquid beverage refreshment of your choice to see how you are doing?

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

Please help us spread the word about PostNet Whitby by writing a review in Google!

Click here and scroll down to "Reviews By Google Users" to write your review and thank you for being a valued PostNet Customer!

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

The little slice of Whitby life that I see out the front of my store shows me a wet, muggy and drizzly day, but I don’t mind. It’s bright and just the right temperature here inside (we need to keep our high end XEROX digital printers at a constant humidity and temperature to deliver the best results for our Customers) and we have the 80’s on 8 on the XM Radio, so we are rockin’ out old school new wave style, just a little bit.

Some folks get down – or shut down - on rainy days or Mondays or (insert external factor here), but  as small business owners we can’t afford the luxury of letting anything other than our professional passion and our plan impact our day. It will rain, it will be Monday, bad things will happen (even to good people).

But as you gaze out the tent flap from Base Camp, and you see the rain that will fall, remember that you have already identified today’s priorities and, yes, you may have to adjust your plan for the weather, or whatever, but you control your actions and regardless of the weather, you know what needs to be done today to create your best tomorrow, so as the Cable Guy says: “Git ‘er done!”

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

As small business owners, we have an infinite amount of "STUFF" that we have to think about, plan, remember, move forward, write, try, get and do. It can be overwhelming, and result in non-productive activities - spinning in circles, multitasking to nowhere, and all forms of procrastination (web surfing anyone).

Here's a suggestion: take a breath, a pad of paper and a pen, and a liquid beverage refreshment and commit to 10 minutes spent dumping all the things that are top of mind onto the page. You will and should take more than 10 minutes to get it all out, but commit 10 minutes to start and keep going until you have all of the open loops down on paper. 

Then scan the list looking for two kinds of items:

1. things that can be done in under 2 minutes - an email response, a facebook post, a quick phone call - and when you find them do them and cross them off as done or record the next action you will take on them on the list.

2. things with deadlines - if you have a sales call later today, a project due later this week - identify those and put them in order of what is due NEXT. Then take that NEXT item and create a list of actions that are required to be 90% ready to go when the clock hits the scheduled time; then start working on the list now.

Three things just happened: you cleared all the stuff out of your head and captured it on paper, you cleared some minor tasks and have the satisfaction of crossing them off your list, you prioritized the remaining tasks and have started on the NEXT item due.

So, now you have a base camp, you know where you are, you have the map (list) in front of you and you can start to do the things that are most urgent and most important, and cross them off the list.

And don’t forget to take a moment to look around and enjoy the view from your first base camp.

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

And ask us about YOUR QR Code!

Don't have one???

See us TODAY!

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.

And ask us about YOUR QR Code!

Don't have one???

See us TODAY!

PostNet Whitby 1800 Dundas Street East Whitby ON L1N2L4 905.240.0442

PostNet Whitby is your one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs. From BRANDing and marketing consultation and printing of business cards, sales collateral, postcards, trade show setup, promotional items and more - we can help.