By Alyssa Gregory
I am so excited to be working with Avery® on this sponsored post, which will hopefully help you save time and money.
I have used many types of printers — inkjets, laser printers, multi-purpose machines — and regardless of the type of printer, I faced the same challenge when it came to printing labels: it took an inordinate amount of tinkering to get them to print correctly. It didn’t matter if I was printing bulk return address labels, mail merged address labels, or printing labels to organize the binders in my office. It just took forever.
On a good day, I would speed through the beginning of the process: downloading or updating my template, creating my labels and printing the test sheet. Then, I’d hit print on the full job, hoping I could move on to something else while the printer did its job, only to have the 3rd or 5th or 10th page shift alignment or completely jam.
I’d have to stop the printing, fix the problem and then restart the process. This happened somewhat often, so it wasn’t uncommon for me to set aside an hour to get all of my labels printed… and I’d need a few extra sheets on hand for re-dos.
This is why I was so excited when Avery approached me about testing out their new address labels with Sure Feed™ technology (the label sheets have these blue textured strips that help the pages feed properly while reducing misalignments). Labels made to be more reliable with better print alignment and less jamming? Yes, please.
I decided to test them out by creating a new set of return address labels; I hadn’t updated my labels since I refreshed the Small Business Bonfire logo earlier this year, so timing was perfect.
Once I had the template ready to go, I printed the test sheet and had to make one small adjustment — I used an image file as my label instead of text, so I had to shift them over just a smidge to be centered on the printed labels.
I printed one more test sheet and it lined up perfectly, so I was ready to go. I decided to print 10 sheets at once to really test for better alignment and less jamming. And, it worked wonderfully — not one page misaligned and zero jams. They look pretty good, right?
So instead of needing an hour to get the job done, I was finished in 15 minutes, no re-dos needed. What could I do with the time I saved? Well, I started writing this post, for one. 🙂
But what about you? What could you do with the time and money saved from streamlining your label-printing process? Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
- Leverage your momentum and get something else on your to-do list done right away.
- Treat everyone on your team to coffee and a well-deserved break.
- Kick off your weekend or holiday or summer vacation just a little bit earlier.
- Call for an all-hands office chair race.
- Catch up on email. You can finally do something with all of those messages collecting dust!
- Clean your office, declutter your desk or even just organize your computer desktop.
- Turn up the music and kick off an impromptu office dance party.
- Make a list of your top priorities for tomorrow so you can hit the ground running when you get to work.
- Meditate or take a power nap or stretch or take a walk.
- Grab a few pieces of gum and challenge a coworker to a bubble blowing contest.
- Find a volunteer opportunity in your community for your team to do together over the next month.
- Eat lunch away from your desk for a change.
See what I mean? The possibilities are endless. I bet you have a few ideas of your own, too. Head on over to Avery’s website to learn more about Sure Feed labels and grab a pack today to put them to the test and see how much time and money you can save.