Maui Printing Company

Having to terminate an employee is never fun. Even if you've had to execute this task hundreds of times over the course of your career, it never gets easier. Everyone understands how devastating and humiliating it can be to lose a job and, as a leader, you must find a way to handle the dismissal in the best way possible. Come Prepared Nothing is worse than a manager who is wishy-washy. Go over the employee's track record ahead of time to confirm the employee’s performance merits dismissal. Ideally, you would have met with the employee previously and given them the proper warnings and a chance to rise to your expectations (think: three-strike policy). Regardless, the employee is going to want a clear answer to why he or she is being let go, and you need to provide a compelling reason. Before the meeting, get all your ducks in a row regarding termination policies. Be prepared to settle the questions whirling in your employee's mind: When will he get his last paycheck? I...

Stampy Longnose. It's not the kind of name that immediately translates visions of millionaire status or successful CEO personas leading fast-moving, highly successful companies. However, this moniker represents one of the most prolific and successful YouTube operations based on the concept of entertaining kids with Minecraft stories and humor all while generating real-time dollars in advertising income monthly. The marketing approach is one of the most effective used online today. Simple Equals Incredible Stampy Longnose, otherwise known as Joseph Garrett of Portsmouth, U.K., in real life is a young fellow in England at the ripe age of 23 years. He currently brings in a respectable gross income of 200,000 British pounds a month creating cartoons of his video game adventures in the world of Minecraft. The game itself is extremely simple to play, like an electronic world of toy building blocks, and the tools used to make the videos don't require rocket science either. Howev...

Customer service is never more important than when something goes wrong. Your actions can either win your customer back, or it can cost you that customer for life. Nobody knows this better than Amazon, who has built a massive reputation for fast and reliable order fulfillment. Through their consistent excellence, they’ve completely changed the retail industry. But what happens when mistakes are made? Overcoming Mistakes As a general rule, Amazon offers their Prime customers a free month of their Prime service if a package doesn’t arrive by its guaranteed delivery date. That’s about what you’d expect them to do, right? Amazon has been known to up the ante, though, when bigger customer service problems exist. For instance, an expected December 24 delivery that was late prompted Amazon to provide a personal phone call with a sincere apology, not to mention a $20 credit that could be used on a future order - and this was before the customer even reported the is...

People love free stuff; they always have, they always will. This is why branded promotional products are so effective. It doesn't even necessarily matter what "it" is. So long as it's free, people are going to come running. Choosing the right type of promotional products can have a huge marketing impact because of their longevity and because they're functional in a way that people truly appreciate. If you're thinking about experimenting with branded promotional products but aren't sure if it's something that will be worth your time and effort, here are a few key reasons why now would be an excellent time to start.  Branded Promotional Products Earn You the Right Kind of Attention According to a recent study , 53% of people used some type of promotional product at least once per week. More than that, six out of every 10 of them said that they tend to keep promotional products for up to two years. This means that when you invest money in creating...

Tattly was started almost on accident. Design blogger Tina Roth-Eisenberg was looking at the temporary tattoos her daughter received at a birthday party, and was disappointed by the uninspiring fake tattoo designs available. She had many talented artist friends due to an artistic coworking space she'd recently founded. Bringing these folks together to create a new product seemed a natural fit. Soon after, she had a range of high-quality temporary tattoo designs that she was offering for $5 a piece. In addition to artists from the coworking space, she solicited work from artists who she knew online through her popular design blog.  Two months after beginning work, Tattly launched with 16 designs. The company has grown quickly, with their designs showing up everywhere from high-end retailers like Macy's to the Tate Museum and the gift bags at the annual White House egg hunt. Over 8,000 retailers now carry Tattly temporary tattoos. Roth-Eisenberg's success is due as...

Tattly was started almost on accident. Design blogger Tina Roth-Eisenberg was looking at the temporary tattoos her daughter received at a birthday party, and was disappointed by the uninspiring fake tattoo designs available. She had many talented artist friends due to an artistic coworking space she'd recently founded. Bringing these folks together to create a new product seemed a natural fit. Soon after, she had a range of high-quality temporary tattoo designs that she was offering for $5 a piece. In addition to artists from the coworking space, she solicited work from artists who she knew online through her popular design blog.  Two months after beginning work, Tattly launched with 16 designs. The company has grown quickly, with their designs showing up everywhere from high-end retailers like Macy's to the Tate Museum and the gift bags at the annual White House egg hunt. Over 8,000 retailers now carry Tattly temporary tattoos. Roth-Eisenberg's success is due as...

Sometimes things become trends for a reason. Case in point: brochures. Brochures are still incredibly effective marketing tools. Why?  Because Brochures Have Versatility to Spare Brochures are the perfect supplementary tool to give to someone to clue them into more information about your product or service WITHOUT having to rely on the internet. Did you just come across someone at a trade show or other event? Give them a brochure. Did you just have a walk-in that you weren't expecting but don't have time to dive into the deep details you need to make a sale? Give them a brochure. Any good salesperson can tell you that the number one rule of marketing is "always be prepared," and a brochure allows you to do precisely that. Because It's A Marketing Tool in More Ways Than One Another one of the most important reasons why brochures are still incredibly effective comes down to the many ways in which they can be used beyond straight selling. Yes, this is a gre...

Returning to work after the fun and exciting Christmas season can feel like an uphill battle. If you really want to keep your employees happy, healthy, and engaged during the dreaded month of January, there are a number of essential things to keep in mind. Encourage Your Employees to Spend Time Outside Part of the reason why January is so terrible for so many people comes down to SAD, or " Seasonal Affective Disorder. " It's a very specific type of depression that relates to changes in the seasons and is often brought about by how cold and dreary January has a tendency to be. The key to combating this is, thankfully, a simple one - encourage your employees to get outdoors as much as possible. Take them out for lunch at that great new restaurant down the block and insist that you all walk there. Get as much natural light into your workplace as possible. Even getting just fifteen minutes of quality sunlight exposure every day can have a big impact on their mood and th...

Motivation matters. Why? Because without it we fail to thrive. Lack of motivation is linked to lethargy, depression, and higher employee turnover. In contrast, studies show goal setting (even goals WITHOUT attached financial incentives) improved worker performance by 12 to 15% . How well you can motivate yourself or others can have a substantial effect on the pleasure and profit you experience. Drive and Thrive: Kicking Motivation into High Gear How do you increase motivation, especially for tasks that aren’t always fun? Dan Pink, the author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us , says recognizing what types of motivation work in varying situations can be helpful. For example, while simple extrinsic motivators (bonuses, team incentives, public recognition) are often helpful for linear, task-oriented projects, these “carrot and stick,” conditions are not always best:  “The trouble is . . . that for work that is non-routine, for w...

Running a successful family business inevitably comes to a critical decision - how to continue the business when the current business owner decides it is time to retire and step away? Some decide to shut the business down. Others sell it to an outsider. Still, others decide to groom a family member to take over, but this can be fraught with risk if the young person turns out to not be interested, prepared, or the right fit. Ready for a Change Virenda Gupta found himself in a critical decision place when he was ready to enjoy the rewards of his own hard work building his property tax consultancy. Founded in 1986, RETC was a well-run operation that had taken years and years of dedication, especially in the highly technical accounting world of tax advising. But it was time for Virenda to travel, see family, go back to his historical home in India for visits, and reap some rewards for a change. However, RETC needed to still be managed and directed. Positioning for Success V...