Seattle Small Business Blog

When the internet came into popular usage many predicted that postal service would become under used as people relied less on paper documents and more on email.

What really happened is that businesses popped up all over the internet (Amazon, Toys ‘R’ Us) selling online – thereby increasing the load for home and business delivery. While couriers like UPS initially took over this area the United States Postal Service realized what small businesses would be looking for: convenience, cost efficiency and service.

Keeping up with marketing and mailing needs can easily swamp a home business. Stuffing envelopes, delivering packages and getting stamps and materials eat into time and profits.

Since UPS gobbled up the majority of residential delivery’s in the first ‘Online Shopping’ Christmas season in 1999, USPS has been fighting fire with fire by providing online solutions for individuals and business owners alike.

What services are now available to help businesses like yours?

Ordering Postage and Packaging Supplies

Are you ready to send out the monthly invoices or have a rush shipment but no box to pack it in? Not only can you now order these items online so you never run out, but the packing supplies are FREE! Hard to beat that value.

Order your stamps and boxes ahead of time and you won’t be rushing at the last minute to find what you need – or waste valuable time standing in line at the post office.

You can also check out services like stamps.com which allows you to print the postage (think: no stamps). Anything to make business faster and more efficient.

Arranging Pick Up

The competition with FedEx and UPS has instigated a positive change in the postal service’s customer service. Just like the couriers USPS will pick up your mail instead of making you stand in another line up. You can even make the arrangement through their website.

Marketing Solutions

Postal services have upped the anti with the creation of mailing services for gift cards, business post cards, periodicals or even letters and flyers.

Business owners know how important it is to stay in contact with their clients, but who has the time to stay on top of the mailings? If you register to create and mail them from your computer there is no excuse. USPS will send one or one thousand — whatever you need, whenever you need it.

The internet has helped small businesses in numerous ways. Now you can get all of your mailing services with the touch of a button. Whether you need to create a mass mailing, get packing materials or pay for stamps you can get it done online – saving business owners time, money and stress.

They come via e-mail… voice mail… fax… instant message… pager… PDA… cell phone… Skype. You receive even more during meetings, be they teleconference, video conference, Web conference, or the good old fashioned face to face kind. Even before we get to the office in the morning and, for many of us, well into the evening, we are inundated with incoming communications from these sources and more. It seems as though during every moment someone is trying to inform, teach, solicit to, solicit from, question, update, delegate to, warn, disagree with and sometimes even entertain us.

This tidal wave of incoming communication can be overwhelming, leaving us feeling fatigued, irritable and/or distracted. It can negatively impact everything from our work performance to how we interact with our families and friends. It can result in something as minor as forgetting to buy milk on the way home to as major as being involved in an automobile accident. In other words, communication overload can be harmful to our health.

While for the most part we are unable to control or lessen the amount of incoming messages we receive each day, we can develop strategies for dealing with them more effectively rather than letting them engulf us. Incorporating the following tips can enable you to nip communications overload in the bud:

1. Schedule your time better in advance. Are you checking your e-mail between every other task you perform? Break that habit by trying to limit your trips to the inbox to specific time periods during the day, such as an hour at the beginning and end of the day, or 10 minutes at the top or bottom of each hour. You’ll be amazed by how much more time you’ll have to accomplish things that matter more to you.

2. Cloak your instant messaging screen name or, if that’s not possible, put up the “Do Not Disturb” sign on your instant messenger once in a while to carve out some uninterrupted time. During this span, also let your phone calls go to voice mail and text messages go temporarily unanswered. These actions are particularly important during times when you’re interacting with people face to face; except in rare circumstances, live interaction should always take precedence over technological devices. Watch how your interpersonal relationships both at work and and home soar when you begin to give people more undivided attention.

3. Learn to determine and rank the urgency of each message you receive, regardless of means. Delete, file or ignore unimportant ones, and devote as much time as possible to only those that pertain to pressing or essential issues. When you look back on your day, you’ll discover that you’ll experience a greater sense of accomplishment when you do this.

Taking a few proactive measures to confront communication overload is so much healthier than multitasking your way into a state of exhaustion or allowing incoming communications to control your life. Not only that, but you’ll also see immediate improvements in your work, home life and overall sense of satisfaction as well.