Archive for category: Business Recommendations

It was hard for me to come up with an enticing title for this story. Business Checks and Remote Deposit Stamps aren’t sexy or exciting. At all. But they’re usually necessary to have when running a business. And you know I like to share these kinds of tips, so here we go!

Business Checks – Costco

The Blue Gurus checking account is at Core Bank. They’re a blogging client of mine and I prefer to do business with companies that are doing business with me. I made that change about a year ago, and needed to get business checks for the new account. In the previous two banking relationships, I ordered checks directly from the bank. And they were a bit pricey.

There are lots of reasons I like to bank with Core Bank, and one of them is that Tricia Luedke takes good care of me. (Check out her LinkedIn profile… I love the summary she wrote starting with “You can take the Girl out of the small town, but you can’t take the small town out of the Girl!”) When I asked Tricia to order me checks, she told me that an excellent place to get business checks is through Costco. I had no idea that Costco did checks!

I’m a big fan of Costco… so I was definitely willing to give them a shot. Here’s the link to check services on Costco.com. (A third party called Harland Clarke Check Printing actually handles the ordering and printing of the checks. So you will end up going to CostcoChecks.com if you decide to order checks.)

I ordered general purpose, 2-part business checks (in blue of course) and a binder to keep them organized. I was also able to add the Blue Gurus logo to the design. They were about half the cost of the checks I’d bought directly through previous banks! After using them for a year, I can tell you that they’re printed on good paper, the 2-part duplicate feature works great, and I will definitely reorder when the time comes.

Remote Deposit Stamps – Vista Print

If you remotely deposit checks for your business, you’re probably required to stamp them first. This is called “franking” the check. A typical stamp reads, “Pay to the order of <Bank> for Deposit Only.” It usually includes your company name and account number as well.

Some check scanners do this automatically as you scan them in. And if not, you have to do it manually with a stamp. In my case, I have to do it manually. These kinds of  stamps ordered through a bank can cost between $40-$50. I’ve been using VistaPrint for self-inking stamps for years, and you can get them for less than $20.

You can order all kinds of stamps from VistaPrint, including self-inking stamps, pre-inked stamps, notary stamps, signature stamps, date stamps and replacement ink.

Thanks for reading! I hope you learned something useful… and I hope you’ll come back next week to read about Google Tasks!

Post written by Mic Johnson, talking about why you should attend the Aspire Business Book Reviews

For the past several years, business coach Shawn Kinkade, owner of Aspire Business Development, has been providing once-a-month Business Book Reviews in Overland Park. I’ve attended 30-40 of them. It’s always time well spent.

If you’ve never been, or haven’t been in awhile, do yourself a favor and get it on your calendar. Why? Here are just a few reasons…

7 Reasons You Need to Attend the Aspire Business Book Review

1. YOU DON’T HAVE TO READ THE BOOK!
   Shawn’s presentation provides you with the best concepts from each book. All you have to do is pay attention and then apply those concepts to your business and life.
2. It’s only an hour and a half of your time once a month.
   That’s such a minimal time investment to learn something new.
3. There are always great people in the room.
   It’s a great way to network and meet people. In fact, several people in my peer groups are people I first met at the Business Book Reviews.
4. You’re always going to walk out of the room having learned something.
   How many other events do you attend each month that provide real, tangible ways to improve your business and personal life?
5. Kolaches and Coffee
   Shawn provides kolaches from the Kolache Factory and coffee for you to enjoy while you learn!
6. Conversations that make you think.
   The questions people ask, and the ensuing discussions, are thought-provoking.
7. You’re investing in yourself.
   The concepts in the book will help you become more successful in business and in life.

If you’ve made it this far (and it’s before August 23rd), the good news is that there’s a Business Book Review on Thursday, August 23rd, at 8 a.m. The book is The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Sign up now!

If you can’t make this one, fill out the Contact Form and they’ll notify you each month about future Book Reviews. 

By Jason Terry, talking about creating custom stickers and packing tape with a company called Sticker Mule.

Back in April, I wrote a blog post called Branding is important. Have you ordered your tchotchkes lately? I’ve always been an advocate of putting your logo on stuff for brand awareness, but for some reason it’s been on my mind even more this year.

Sticker Mule

My friend Jeff Potts recently told me about a company called Sticker Mule. They can turn your logo or design into stickers, magnets, labels or packaging in just a few days. They also offer free online proofs and free shipping. I was surprised how easy it was to upload the Blue Gurus logo and get a batch of nice stickers back in a few days. It was fun to put a bunch of them on boxes of donuts that we were taking to a new blogging client.

Sticker Mule was having a sale on their custom poly bag mailers, so I asked Jeff to create a custom design for Blue Gurus and ordered a few. They turned out great!

And then I noticed on the Sticker Mule website that they can also create custom packing tape. I’m done sending client packages in re-used Amazon boxes with the Amazon packing tape all over them. From now on, it will be Blue Gurus packing tape! It’s a simple thing, but it will make an impact.

There’s a reason Amazon has invested millions of dollars in custom packing tape… for branding. If you think about other retailers, their packages usually come in a brown box with no special branding. I am positive that most of our clients will notice the custom packing tape when they get packages from us.

So if you’re in the market for custom, die-cut stickers or poly bags and packing tape, take a look at Sticker Mule. A great place to start would be to join their mailing list, because they send out promotional offers once or twice a month. It would be a great way to get a deal and try them out. I’ve been really happy with the three orders I’ve placed in the past couple of months.