PostNet

Before you ask for a quote on branded gifts, have these nine answers ready.

1. The date the finished items are needed.
2. Who receives them.
3. Approximate quantity.
4. Product type.
5. Sizes and colors, where they apply.
6. Your logo or artwork.
7. Preferred decoration method and placement, if you know it.
8. One destination or several.
9. Any packaging or presentation requirements.

That list is not paperwork. Nine answers can make the first conversation much more useful.

December shipping is decided in September.

Four things worth settling now:

Which carrier suits your actual mix of weights and destinations — UPS, FedEx, DHL* and USPS each win on different lanes.

Whether your packaging is costing you in dimensional weight, on every order, all quarter.

Your own cutoff dates, set earlier than the carrier's and published to customers now.

Who packs the fragile and high-value items.

None of it is urgent in September. That's exactly why September is when it gets done.

Tell us what you ship and we'll walk the options with you.

*DHL not available at all locations.

Week one of a new business tends to go the same way.

The sign isn't up. The cards are ordered. And someone asks for a brochure that doesn't exist yet.

Ordering the kit in one pass fixes most of it — cards, brochure, flyers, banner, window graphics, folders, thank-you cards. Less back-and-forth, and everything matches because it was designed together.

Opening this fall? Tell us what you're launching and we'll build the list with you.

A new business gets judged on its materials before anyone has used the product.

Ten pieces cover it: business cards, brochures, flyers, postcards, banners, yard signs, window graphics, presentation folders, business forms and thank-you cards.

Ordered together, all ten match. Ordered one at a time as each need appears, they usually don't.

The full breakdown: https://www.postnet.com/blog/printed-materials-every-new-business-should-have/