How I Got Through The Lockdown of 2020

The year 2020 was a rough one for all of us. Many of us have different experiences when it comes to how badly we were affected by the pandemic, but we can at least share some experiences and can all attest to how much it sucked. Personally, I hated when COVID hit because I got sent home early from my semester at college and was forced to finish up my classwork at home online. Do you know how hard it is to stay motivated and do your classwork when you’re at home? 

It’s super hard. Well, that was pretty much my life for the entire month of April as I had to finish all my classes up. Obviously the work was super easy and final exams were a joke, but my motivation was just completely gone. Kind of like mind motivation to write the rest of this article - basically non existent. Anyways, the summer of 2020 was a wild one for me. 

I spent a lot of time at home for the first couple months and basically did nothing with my life. Once I finished up with school at the end of April, I had absolutely nothing to do because I did not have a job. I basically stayed home and played video games all day. I played so many video games, in fact, that I decided to order a new gaming computer online to fill the void in my soul that was created by the COVID19 pandemic of 2020.

While I did end up dropping almost a solid grand on ordering myself a new computer, it is safe to say that it was a pretty easy decision. Most people prefer to order all the parts for the computer and build it themselves because it is “cooler”, but I honestly could not be bothered. Why would I want to build it myself when I can have someone build it for me? Plus, while historically ordering a pre-built computer is more expensive than building one yourself, pre-built computers are actually becoming a lot more affordable and I got a really good deal on mine. 

The reason that I got an even better deal on my computer was because they literally took about 2 or 3 weeks to actually ship me the dang thing. I understand that there were a lot of surplus orders coming in because of COVID and everyone being in lockdown, but it was a huge hassle to try and get my computer. I ended up getting sick of it and asking for a full refund from Amazon, since that is where I ordered it from. However, as soon as I asked for a refund, the company reached out to me and told me they would take a discount off the computer and ship it to me the next day. So of course I agreed!

My computer did end up arriving on schedule (after a long wait) and I could finally play it after longlast. The computer came in some massive shipping boxes and was packaged very neatly. After all, I’m sure they have to use quality shipping boxes and materials to keep that thing safe during transit. Anyways, I have since been very happy with my purchase and I love playing video games on that computer when I have the time.

Rules for Unpacking

It sounds so simple. The idea of moving from one place to another.  There is always so much excitement about moving to a new location.  Think about moving to college or from home to your first apartment.  It is usually a positive experience before it happens.  So when moving is involved I like to set out some goals to help ensure it is a positive experience.  I like to create a schedule so I would like to share that with you.  I am not sure it will fit your needs but even if it is a small help then it is all worth it.

First thing I like to do is plan out how much stuff you will be taking with you.  I know this is really hard because everything has a different size.  If you are able to eyeball the amount then you can get an idea of what materials and even equipment you will need to move.  I like to think of packing in terms of shipping boxes.  Think about your clothes and get several different sizes of shipping boxes to estimate how many you will need. From there you can get an idea if you will be able to use a van, truck, or maybe even just cars to move.  If you need something larger like a trailer or a moving truck then you will have to make plans to get one. 

That is the next step, set a schedule for transportation.  This may be as simple as calling a friend who has a van or a truck. But make sure you know how many trips it will take and how much stuff you have.  You want to be honest with them in how much gas it will take and what types of materials they will be moving.  If they are moving steel items that may scratch or dent their vehicles and no one wants to be that friend.

Once you have it all packed up and have got the vehicles set aside to move you are almost there.  The move day arrives and you get all the items and boxes in the new place.  Then the fun part starts.  You must unpack and this is the part you need to plan.  Most of us get the important stuff unpacked within a few days, but there are always 4 to 10 boxes of things that don’t get put away.  So I suggest you put it on a calendar to unpack one box each week until they are gone.  Boy it looks like it will take months, but if you don't do it it could be years or never!  Hope this schedule helps a little and I wish you the best of luck moving!

Is it safe to ship again?

Today is certainly different than it was 7 weeks ago.  Currently, almost my entire country is on an emergency shutdown.  We have not been able to leave our home except for essential and emergency situations for 7 weeks.  This is all due to pandemic.  It has been labeled a pandemic and it has certainly made lots of normal things hard.  I generally sell several items a week online and to be honest I am not sure if it is safe to go out.  If the virus is so easy to spread I am not sure I want to take the risk of shipping until there is a vaccine created. So I am going to go over a few things I am doing before letting my shipping boxes be taken to other people.

I have now decided that it is going to be ok for me to do some shipping.  There is risk involved in everything we do in life.  Take driving for instance, there is a greater chance of getting killing on my way to work than any other risk I will take in life.  That is really wild to think about, its more dangerous to drive than to get all diseases in the world at least in general. So it is ok for me to take some risks and get my sales back on track.  So what I do is clean all my items with intent. 

Before I ship an item I get a clorox bleach wipe and bleach the entire item.  I then carefully pack it up in paper and not plastic.  I have read many articles that say the virus only lasts a day or two when attached to paper and can last 3 to 5 days on plastic.  So I have made the change to paper.  Yes, it does cost more to pack in paper or styrofoam but as a health risk I think its a wiser choice.  I don’t want to be responsible for giving the virus to another.

 

Once the item is in the paper I then take a antibacterial cleaning spray and mist the paper product.  Then I place it in the cardboard box. Most shipping boxes are made of cardboard and I believe that is the same as a paper product. Please see your healthcare provider to check on any medical facts.  I then tape and attach my shipping label to the package.  After all I spray it with the antibacterial spray again. This makes me feel better about myself not passing the virus on and keeps my customers safe.

Packing tips for Small Businesses

When it comes to packaging, first impressions are a big part of it. A lot of small businesses and ecommerce brands oftentimes try to do everything possible in order to stand out. Sometimes just custom packaging is enough to catch the eye of a person, and the interest to buy too. Packaging that’s done right also offers other benefits, and if the shoppers buy again and again from you as well.Most shoppers do say that custom packaging will definitely say a lot more abut your business than anything else, and they get excited about the orders they receive. But what are the benefits for small business owners? Here are some reasons to have it. 

Helps you Know the Target Market 

You may know about the target market, but custom packaging of your products definitely helps catch the eye of the customers you want. Take for instance, you have a brand that gives scented candles, but you give a packaging that is more trendy and minimalistic, and soon the shoppers won’t really come to it. Custom packaging is a good way to target the market completely, offering more designs that appeal the most to the people that you want to market. 

Sustainable Packaging is Good 

Sustainable packaging is a good way to offer custom packaging. 

A lot of people look for brands that are more ecofriendly. 

Being eco-friendly is good for you business, and it does the following: 

• Reduces the carbon footprint and offers environmental protection 

• Improves the image of the brand and offers better responsibility for the environment. 

• Reduces the impact on the resources

Custom boxes can be totally recyclable, and you can get them using recycled materials, and they can even be biodegradable. 

This does appeal to customers and is a benefit of custom packaging. 

Coloring for the Target Market 

Some customers like certain colors for the product and brand. 

For example, red shows excitement, energy, and passion, and a lot of brands will use tis to push for action. 

Green, blue, or even purple and others can offer peace, balance, and trust. 

Using the right colors for the brand your brand can definitely help, and it offers you a chance to attract the right types of people. You want to make sure that the right coloring is offering the proper communication to the others that are interested. 

Can Be Simple 

For a lot of people sometimes less is more, and designing the right custom packaging is something that a lot of people like.

Keeping it simple with your custom packaging is a good way to start. Simplicity is a good way to help you not only understand your customers, but if you want something fresh, and keeping it simple is one of the best ways to keep that as well/. Simplicity also helps you decide how you want to make your custom packaging, since there are other ways for you to stand out including the colors you use, the styles of the boxes or the designs of the font, and this will all keep your packaging from looking bland and boring too. 

You definitely should consider custom packaging or a variety of reasons. 

You do need to figure out if it’s good in your budget, and if you can stand out using it in order to get noticed. You may wonder how you can use this to push your brand forward, but it’s simple to do, and ultimately very effective at the end of the day, especially when it comes to the packaging that you need as well too. 

Losing Money Selling online with the wrong box

Over the years I have sold thousands of dollars of items online.  This is a great way to make some extra cash and also help people out who want to buy something you have and that they need.  It is a fun way for me to essentially have a garage sale and make real money before throwing stuff away.  But it is not all good and awesome.  To be honest I hated it the first time I sold an item online.  That is because I was young, and did not do my research.  I now see people in their 50's and 30's losing money hand over fist by not understanding what is happening and that is what I want to help everyone out.  There are some basic things that lots of people don't think about before they end up selling online and let me tell you the first sale I lost money on.  That was a valuable lesson and one I don't want anyone else to go through.  So let's dive in.

 

What you need to know is that if you are selling an item online that you have to get that item to the buyer.  Sounds simple, and sounds easy, but have you thought about the cost of doing this.  Did you know a roll of tape can be from 5 to 10 dollars?  What if you don't have a marker or a label to put on the package.  Well then now you have to go out and buy one of those labels or a sharpie as well.  But you say I already have that.  Ok, but now you have to buy a box or a bag to secure your item to send to the buyer.  You may also have to end up buying stuffing to put in that package in order to make sure the item arrives safely.  What I am saying is that shipping supplies can cost you a lot of money and if that costs 10 bucks for each item then you need to factor that into your selling.

 

You not only have to pay for shipping supplies but also the shipping of the item.  If that box takes 10 dollars to ship to the client and you spent 10 dollars on the packaging, that is twenty dollars that you lost on that item.  Make sure you factor that cost into the cost of selling, but that is not the only cost that comes with selling online.

 

Most platforms charge 10% and sometimes 15% of the cost of the sale just to use the platform.  So every single item sold loses 10% or 15%.  Make sure you can take those losses.  So if you put an item up for 100 dollars and it sells.  The platform takes 15% and that would be 15 dollars of the item.  Now you spent 20 dollars to package and ship that item to the individuals.  That is now 35 dollars of losses you just took and you are only getting 65 dollars back from that sale.  Wow, that is a lot less than 100 dollars.  So make sure you know what you will lose and that is not all.  There is an extra processing fee from the credit card or digital processor.  This is usually 3 to 5% of the sale. So you may now be down to 60 dollars of profit.  How much did the item cost you?  Don't lose money, be smart and charge accordingly.

How to Choose the Correct Packaging Company for your Business

There are certain considerations to look at when you’re choosing a packaging company. These are vital, for if they’re not properly looked at, it can create a lot of trouble for businesses of all kinds. Understanding what’s exactly needed is vital, and here are the top considerations to look at when choosing the right supplier for your business. 

Learn about the company 

Understand that not every single provider gives the same services and understanding the company that you choose and the services that are required is vital. There are two types: solution providers and manufacturers, and each of them may not be able to provide what the other has, so it’s important to understand. 

It’s important to understand that manufacturers are those that haver certifications, expertise, and know the processes of such.  You should understand that comparing and contrasting the companies that you employ for packaging is important, and the right certifications and processes offered are important for manufacturing products. 

For example, if there is one manufacturer that offers a better response time, printing that high quality, and on time, while another has lower error rates, is sustainable, and also FSC certified, then it comes down to what you’re willing to pay. A fast response time is good, but if your packaging durability is bad, then you’re going to have a lot of problems down the line. 

You’ll be more likely to spend a lot less money and time with the company that you choose, especially fi they have lower error rates, than you would if you spent the money on new packaging that you might have to possibly replace in the event that it’s not correct. 

This does take time, and the packaging is engineered specifically for the specifications that you have so you want something that’s not high in error rates, and of course, is the most effective, and of course something that works with the parameters of the business that you have. 

The budget 

The next consideration is to look at the budget. Some people may feel a smaller budget with large minimum orders is a good idea, but that’s hard for some to maintain, especially those who don’t need to have custom ordered boxes for everything. With volume planning, youwnat to figure out the details including the quantity of orders, the plan for product launch, along with setup costs. The details and decisions for the packaging are vital in order to determine the costs, which in turn help you make a decision on what you should choose. 

You also should understand that some of them may have higher minimum order due to the production costs and setup, so if you’re a smaller business, you want something with a lower minimum order, and you should also look to see if the company can handle smaller workloads. 

Packaging Materials 

Finally, you need to look at the materials that are there. Just because something is offering high-quality materials doesn’t mean that you need to opt for it. You should compare the materials that are suggested, because this plays a large part in the product packaging that’s chosen, with many packaging specialists looking at the optimization of materials too, and some of them may use this. 

Which means they choose what’s best for you based on the branding you have, the specifications needed, and the journey of the customer. These are all factors to consider when you’re choosing this, and when you’re looking to find a packaging company that fits you, you should definitely consider these options as well.

How packaging Increases sales

Through packaging of products, you’ll be able to transport them and get them onto the market. About 72% of people do say that packaging does influence their decisions, and if you’re not focusing on the packaging enough, you’re missing out on a ton of opportunities for brand promotion. Here, we’ll look at just why this is so important. 

Is packaging that Important? 

The short answer is yes, but packaging plays a huge role in a customer’s life, and also is critical for brand awareness’s sales, and marketing too. 

This is something that protects the products when being transported, and it’s something that protects everything right up to when customers open up the product package. If this is destroyed or damaged for whatever reason, it alters the perception of what they think of the company, and it’s something that you’ll either have to refund or replace over time too. 

Packaging is something that should be easy for a customer to open and offer a really good brand experience too. This also is used to help customers identify the kinds of products that you’re selling, through providing enough information in the images, texts, and other kinds of communication so that customers can determine what’s inside your package. The differences in terms of color and whatnot are also good for looking at different product models too that do play a role in this. 

Logos, colors, fonts that are branded and whatnot also help customers identify the way a product is made, helping new customers learn about the brand and also improve the awareness of the brand. Packaging is a big part of brand awareness and brings the personality to the company that is delivering the product. 

How it Increases sales 

Since about 70% of shoppers say that packaging is a big part of their purchase, companies need to look at packaging not just from functioning, but also how they can use the marketing to properly impact sales. When customers get a bunch of choices in terms of products that are within the store or online itself, this is a huge factor in the decision of product packaging. When choosing the product to pull off to purchase, a lot of customers don’t have enough information to go off because unless they did research beforehand, they’re pretty much banking on what interests them and catches the eye. Some people may even buy a product just from the way it looks on a store shelf. 

Once they pull it off, they read the label, and it’s important to offer the correct information in an easily digestible way. Packaging is the first impression that customers usually get, so you want to make sure that the packaging is good. High-quality packaging is something that customers will likely associate your brand with, so it’s vital to ensure that the packaging does reflect the products. When it does no, customers may not care enough, but if you are able to create good packaging that appeals, you can get customers from outside your normal area. 

Packaging is great for brand awareness, in that you can put your logo and other parts of your packaging on there, with the package itself reflecting the brand too. When customers see this, it builds awareness, and they’ll definitely think of you when they buy. Customers also like it because they’ll want to take pictures and show this off, which does boost sales through the sharing of social media, and this is critical for unboxing. Product packaging matters, and here we went over just why that is, and the impact of packaging too.