PPB March 2016

BALANCE WITH MY BUSINESS

and

personal life became imperative

as I almost lost my relationship

with my family. I decided to set a

schedule. I would get up early in

the morning before anyone else

did and do my promotional

advertising emails or prep my

checklist, and set up my commu-

nications with my factories for

the business I needed to com-

plete in the next two days. I

would make lunches for the kids

and for myself, and cook break-

fast, eat with the kids and then

send them on their way. I would

take one hour after that to do

something for myself.

I never schedule any

appointments before 10 am and

rarely ever any after 4 pm,

though I have met customers at a

Chamber of Commerce after-

hours event to get ideas one-on-

one socially. Balance to our busy

lives is paramount. Keep yourself

from having heart failure, sadness

and stress by balancing your life

with exercise, good nutrition and

a happy family. It’s so important

to stay positive, directed and

focused. Smile every chance you

get when you’re feeling over-

stressed. Get away from the

computer every hour and move.

Since interruptions are dis-

tracting, when amazing ideas

come to mind, write them on a

chalkboard or dry erase board,

and direct your mate to look at it

on a regular basis so you can talk

about them, and schedule meet-

ings to do so if you need to.

Marie Motschman

Owner

Marie’s Solutions

UPIC: Marie

MY HUSBAND AND I OWN

our

own printing company and work

together at the site. After busi-

ness ends, we go home and have

set our boundaries of having

home and work as separate enti-

ties. Sometimes, however, work-

related issues come up in the

home environment and a gentle

reminder is spoken that it is to

be taken care of on the next

business day. Setting boundaries

inside your home since you have

a business/home environment

may include keeping all work-

related items in one room entirely.

Or, if working on financials

and/or advertising requires sepa-

rate spaces, then have two devoted

rooms only. Use other house

areas as relaxation or family-ori-

ented areas only. Setting these

boundaries increases more pro-

ductive thought processes and

enables you to step away into

other areas of home for a break

from work-related issues.

Vanessa Tope

Corporation

Treasurer/Secretary

Tope Printing, Inc.

UPIC: TOP22027

I HAVE FOUND THAT

it is a waste

of your time to reach clients on

Monday mornings and Friday

afternoons. They are off, or really

busy, or just plain catching up. So

you, too, can use that time for

personal reasons. Step away from

the desk when you start feeling

exasperated by the pile of “things

I gotta do!” Prioritize the proj-

ects. Most of the pressure we feel

as independent sales distributors

is self-induced.

So many times when I put

pressure on myself to get a quote

out, or get a catalog to a client,

etc., always thinking that time is

of the essence, the client isn’t

waiting at their door for this.

Always ask the client, “What is

the timeline for this project?”

Do not eat your lunch or

dinner at your desk. Do not work

after dinner. Do your housework,

yard work and have family time.

Try to quiet your mind from

sales thoughts, business

thoughts, how to impress clients

and instead think of your hobby,

kids or anything but business.

This is part of the self-discipline

needed to survive.

Glen D. Eley

Owner

Eley Imprinted Products

UPIC: ELEYP001

MARCH 2016 •

PPB

• 23

“

Balance to our busy lives is paramount.

Keep yourself from

having heart failure, sadness and stress by balancing your life

with exercise, good nutrition and a happy family.”

QUEST

ION

DO YOU

HAVE AN

ANSWER?

A SUPPLIER ASKS:

invested in expensive

four-color printing

equipment (a UV

Logojet printer) and

have now found that

there isn’t as much

demand as we

thought. As a result,

the printer nozzles are

clogging from infre-

quent use and I’m

concerned that we

aren’t going to be

able to profit from this

investment. Have

other suppliers run

into this same lack of

demand for four-color

printing when the cost

differential from one-

or two-color printing

is not that much, and

the result is so much

better? And does any-

one have any creative

ideas for how to use

this equipment more?

WHAT’S YOUR

ANSWER?

answers along with

your name, title and

company name to

Question@

ppai.org

by March 15

for possible inclusion

in an upcoming issue

PPB

magazine.