If you own a business, either directly or indirectly, you are dealing with the shipping industry. Which means that you are dealing with everything from keeping the shipping boxes fully stocked to knowing about freight logistics.  Due to the exponential increase in shipping demands, primarily because of the exponential increase in ecommerce companies, freight logistics has been experiencing a lot of its own changes.

As a result, a lot of companies have begun to outsource their logistics management.  There are a couple things to look at when considering whether or not you should outsource, or if you are capable of handling your freight logistics on your own:

• Logistics business is incredibly large and keeps growing. Being able to stay on top of the trends and changes is crucial to improving margins and customer satisfaction.  Therefore, someone who knows what to look for needs to be in charge of this component of your business.  (Hint: the person ordering your shipping boxes should not be the same person in charge of your logistics).
• Logistics is international, with hugely emerging markets in countries like China and India. Part of the changes and trends related to freight logistics have to do with international policies, procedures, and regulations, which are also always changing.
• A lot of economic problems and challenges have begun to effect freight logistics. Regulations and taxes have become especially stringent and problematic.  Physical space being available for moving everything (truck space, place space, etc.) is incredibly limited compared to the demand.  The number of drivers is at an all-time low.  Profits are low, which results in equipment growing old and and not being properly repaired.  Whomever is in charge of your company’s freight logistics needs to have a working knowledge of all of these components and know how to navigate through them in order to find the best possible carriers to work with.

In short, freight logistics is a lot more complicated than putting some shipping boxes on the back of a truck and getting them from point A to point B.  Are you savvy enough to handle all of the ins and outs and ups and downs of maximizing your company’s resources?  Especially for an e-commerce business, shipping is a crucial component of the customer’s experience.  It is a large representation of how your company conducts their business.  You just might need to consider outsourcing to a specialized logistics firm.

Since the introduction of Pinterest, home organizing has never ben so simple.  Apparently there are a lot of people out there with really clever ideas on how to maximize space and efficiency in your home, using everything from cardboard boxes to old jars.  It’s pretty incredible.

While I definitely suggest you should jump on and check it out for yourself, here are a couple pretty cool ideas to wet your whistle:

• Instead of throwing out those little jewelry cardboard boxes (you know you hate to), clip them together, side by side, to use as drawer organizers for small office supplies, craft supplies, or jewelry.

 

• Baby food jars make amazing woodshop/tool bench organizers. There’s a reason you saw old jelly jars full of nails in your grandpa’s garage back in the day.  You can even attach the lids to the underside of a shelf so that all you have to do is screw and unscrew the jar.

• Shower curtain hooks hanging from your closet bar are an awesome way to store purses.

• This is one my favorite: those tissue cardboard boxes with the hole in the middle?  Save them!  And then stuff them with plastic bags and keep one under each sink in the house.
• If you are big into gift-wrapping, or scrap-booking, a paper towel holder makes a great post to hold your spools of ribbons.
• If you have the extra space, you can use a dish-drying rack to store coloring supplies. Put the coloring books where the plates would normally go, and then fill the utensil caddy with markers or crayons.

• Plain old Velcro makes a great electric cord organizer. You can buy all sorts of crazy, inventive items to help do this same task, but why not just spend five bucks and keep it simple?
• Once again, if you are into gift-wrapping, scrap-booking, or all other types of craft-making, using a pants hanger to hang up gift bags, sheets of wrapping paper, or pieces of cloth is an awesome solution to making sure that nothing gets crinkled or ruined.
• Using a desk organizer to sort your cutting boards and cookie sheets on the counter top is an awesome clutter- (and noise-) free option.

• Assign a bin to each member of the family where you can put things that you find laying around, or where you can prepare for the day ahead of you. Like Katie’s pair of sunglasses goes in Katie’s bin (if you are feeling generous), or Katie’s signed permission slip goes in Katie’s bin.

People consider moving to be one of the most stressful moments of life.  From trying to find cheap moving boxes to trying not to get ripped off by a moving company, it really is a harrowing time.  However, there are definitely things we can do to walk ourselves through the process with as little hair-pulling as possible.  When we are prepared and organized it really diminishes a lot of the feelings of chaos, and that is a really important thing to keep in mind.

Here are the four stages of moving and how to manage them with the least amount of stress:

Stage One: Preparing

This is the part of the “move” where you want to be procrastinating because it doesn’t feel like a move yet.  This is also the part of the move that is going to make it or break it for you.  Moving is not as simple as packing up your house and unpacking in a new one.  One of the first things you should do is start calling your insurance providers, and anyone else that sends you a monthly bill, and notifying them of your change of address and when its taking place.  This is also the time to start trying to find a reliable moving company, or the best deal on a moving truck.  Keep the lookout for cheap moving boxes (ask department stores, Craigslist, and other freeby sites).

Stage Two: Packing

You should start preparing to pack long before it’s time.  This is also going to save you some serious grey hairs.  If you start packing early enough, you should be approaching moving day with a much lighter heart.  This is when you will become thoroughly grateful that you gave yourself plenty of time to get your hands on cheap moving boxes, because moving boxes are NOT cheap, and you wind up needing WAY more than you think you will.  Purge your belongings and hold a garage sale.  Pack as you.

Stage Three: Moving Day 

Be prepared that things are not going to go as smoothly on moving day as you would like.  This doesn’t mean to have a negative attitude; it just means to have a realistic attitude!  And then, if things go positively swimmingly, you will be pleasantly surprised and incredibly relieved.  If they don’t, you will be no worse for the wear.

Stage Four: Unpacking

In your new home, as you begin to break into all of those boxes, and a giant pile begins to accumulate, you are going to be really glad you saved so much money on them.  Because after the move is over it all just feels like a giant waste.  There’s no rule that says you need to be unpacked immediately.  Take some time to explore your new surroundings!

 

 

What kid doesn’t love Halloween?  I think I have known only one, and he has such a profound fear of masks that the entire weeks surrounding the holiday are pretty much torture for him.  Okay, so I guess there are kids out there who don’t like it, but for the most part even the faint of heart still like to go out and knock on doors and have their costumes oohed and aahed over.

Unfortunately, there are definitely some safety precautions that need to be put into place in this day and age.  Halloween might be a really fun time, but it’s also a good opportunity for people who are up to no good, and the busyness of it all can have us off our game.  Here are some helpful things to keep in mind:

• Most of us probably know that you should inspect all Halloween candy before opening and eating. Even items that look sealed (skittles, little candy boxes of nerds, snickers…).  If a wrapper looks a little weird, like it’s faded, torn, or even unwrapped, you should absolutely throw it away.
• Eat a good dinner before you go trick-or-treating so you don’t fill up on too much candy while you’re out. Those little candy boxes of nerds that I mentioned earlier won’t seem nearly so detrimental if you already had mashed potatoes and meatloaf.  Make it fun by coming up with a meal that you can make as a tradition each year.

• Do not homemade treats that people are passing out, unless you know the people.
• Remember that chocolate is poisonous for dogs, so make sure they can’t accidentally get into your stash.
• Be aware that a lot of costume jewelry made outside of the United States may contain lead, which can be toxic if it is ingested.
• Have the number for poison control on hand just in case you think you’ve been poisoned.
• It’s going to be dark, and there are going to be a lot of kids running around. Even crazier- they are all going to be in disguise!  Find a way to distinguish your kids from the others.  Maybe have them wear a glow bracelet or necklace, and be sure that they have a copy of your name, phone number, and address in their pockets or pinned somewhere to the inside of their costume.  Be sure you go over what they should do if a stranger invites them into their car or home.
• Finally, what do you think 10 candy boxes of nerds equals? A stomach ache!  You can get pretty ill off of all the sweeteners from candy, so if you overdo it and wind up feeling terrible, chances are that you haven’t been poisoned and just overdid it.

Most walls are a blank canvas just begging to be used, but that’s easier said than done.  For one thing, artwork can be incredibly expensive, especially the larger pieces.  For another, it takes a lot of creative vision.  The internet is just brimming with DIY tutorials for stunning artwork (you would be surprised how many of them use cardboard boxes!).  Here are just a few:

• Whoever said that wall décor had to be pictures and paintings? Not I, says the person who can’t paint so save her life and has no photography skills whatsoever.  The alternative is buying a large canvas from your local craft store (Michael’s and Hobby Lobby have theirs on sale most of the time, or there are always coupons for both places).  Then, paint song lyrics on your favorite poem in your own handwriting!  Cursive looks the coolest, in my opinion.

• One of my favorite DIY art pieces is a hanging fringe tapestry. All you need are some dowel rods, some string to hang the tapestry, and some colorful string to make the fringe with.  Make a rope ladder type design with the dowel rods, and then hang the fringe in different lengths and spots along the dowels.  Cut triangles into the fringe when you are done to add extra dimensions.
• Do you have a lot of cardboard boxes laying around? Cut out varying sizes of squares and lay them overtop of each other to make a geometric, 3D mosaic.  Spray paint whatever color you want and no one would ever be able to tell this magnificent piece’s humble beginnings.

• Making artwork can be as simple as grabbing paint swatches from your local hardware store and using them to make “modern art”. You can overlay it with some big block letters that say something, or just leave it plain.
• Tissue paper pomp oms can be made in all shapes and styles, and they look seriously cool. The most amazing way I saw of these being used was an enormous overhanging of them in, no two the same, covering a large portion of the tallest wall in the house.
• Mentioning cardboard boxes again, you can make anything from lamps to deer heads to bookshelves with these! Type in “cardboard art projects” and you will have enough options to last you a lifetime.

• Finally, you can do anything with photographs! And the awesome thing is that you can get large photos printed at stores like Target or Wal-Mart, and even get them done online and shipped to your house, too.  Print them black and white and then embellish using nail polish or paper flowers.