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Meetings are a necessary evil. Nobody likes to see them pop up on their calendar, but the results often lead to constructive collaboration and much-needed face time with colleagues. Make your next get together productive and appreciated by following these tips!

Prepare and Distribute an Agenda

At least 24 hours before the meeting, send a copy of the agenda via email to everyone in attendance. This allows them time to browse the topics, and come ready with questions and ideas. If you’re going to be discussing a specific document, attach a PDF of it to the mass email so the information can be reviewed prior to the meeting.

Pick an Offsite Meeting Location

On the agenda, include the meeting location and time frame so everyone can block out space on their schedule. If your business has a lot of drop-in traffic, plan to have the meeting away from the office. A lunch meeting at a local sandwich shop or gathering at a nearby park to soak in the sunshine will make you more productive than being interrupted by phone calls and visitors.

There are a handful of team members here that hold their Monday morning meetings offsite at different coffee shops around town. Suddenly Monday morning isn’t so bad. If your business is flexible like this, a change of scenery might be a productivity booster.

Set a Goal

Before you officially start each meeting, declare what you’d like to accomplish. Example: “From this meeting, I want to set a Q4 budget number and submit it by Dec 1st.” It easier to see whether a meeting was successful when you set clear goals.

Adhere to the Meeting Agenda

Once the meeting gets started, stick to the items on the list. If a new topic comes up, or something seems to be taking more time than expected, table it for another meeting. If you tend to have frequent tangents, block out time at the end of the meeting to address new business briefly.

Make Decisions and Follow-up Steps

During the meeting, as items are discussed, the facilitator should confirm that decisions have been made and what the next steps will be. Point out, by name, who will do what to move projects forward. If it’s a lengthy project, send a follow-up email showing a task list of items to be completed, by whom and due dates.

Keep it Fun and Engaging

Finally, meetings don’t have to be so ho-hum. If you’re gathering at the end of the day or on a Friday afternoon, bring snacks for everyone to enjoy. Or, bring a silly hat that must be passed around and only the person who dons the funny headgear gets to speak. And always offer colorful, unexpected office supplies such as bold highlighters, novelty paper clips, and colored ink pens for use during the meeting.

Need a few extra supplies to make your meetings more fun and productive? Check out Paper Direct online for festive paper, sticky notes and awards!

Attention shoppers! We’ve got a fall paper giveaway starting today, celebrating the arrival of fall and the wonderful promotions your business or school can do with colorful paper. The contest runs from Now- September 30, 2016, and the winner receives $50 credit towards any fall paper purchase.

Here’s a quick preview of the fun products to choose from.

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How to Enter

• Go to our Facebook Page.
• Fill out your information. (feel free to give PaperDirect a like, too!)
• Users will get a bonus entry if they share the contest with their Facebook friends.
• PaperDirect team will choose a winner by September 30th and will reach after afterwards.

Good luck & Enter here!

Click to download

Even in this age of one-click shopping from basically anywhere in the world, there’s a satisfaction that can’t be matched from buying local. That satisfaction applies to both local shoppers and local business owners, and you can encourage the practice with a Free Image Download (LINK) to print out and hang in your storefront window.

Just in case you need a little boost to urge folks to buy local, we’ve compiled five reasons business owners benefit from local consumers.

Avoid shipping hassles

Sick of packing, taping, calculating costs, finding boxes, printing labels, setting up pickups, tracking packages and otherwise engaging in the massive hassles of shipping your items? Sell your stuff to local walk-in customers and you can simply take the money, bag it up and watch them merrily walk out with the goods in hand.

Boost local economy

Local shoppers help boost the overall local economy. Think about it. When local walk-ins spend loads of money in your shop, you may generate enough business to expand your operations, hire more local staff to work there that now have their own money to spend on other local businesses and do the same.

Another economy boost comes from the services or goods you’re selling. Local bookshops may offer books by local authors. Art shops and galleries can do the same for local artists. And restaurants can have a heyday serving up meals prepped with locally grown produce.

Get to meet (and treat!) your neighbors

Emails and phone calls may be quick and easy ways to take orders, but they can never replace the friendly, face-to-face meetings you can enjoy with your in-person customers. Running a local business is about more than making money. It’s about contributing to the very fabric of the community.

Not only do you get the chance to become a community fixture, but you can offer your expertise, advice, and personalized service. You can also participate in community events, give back by volunteering at local organizations, and otherwise become an integral part of your business’s neighborhood.

Serve as example for others

Your own thriving local business can not only serve as a community hub, but it can serve as a model for other would-be local business owners to set up their own shops. Better yet, you may even get to act as a mentor or guide, sharing tips, tricks and regulations you followed on the path to your own success.

Offer something truly unique

Sure, millions of people can buy online. But in many cases, millions of people can also buy the exact same thing online. Your business can instead serve up unique, quirky or otherwise memorable services or items people can’t find anywhere else in the world.

Ready to promote buying local yet? Simply click for the Free Image Download, print it out, stick it in your window and watch the local folks flock on in! You can also add to the message with buy local banners, invitations, handouts or other printable goodies to share with the local masses.

While it’s been said that great leaders are born that way, others can certainly be made by developing and fine-tuning a number of must-have qualities. Here come the top 10 qualities to look for in your own team leaders to ensure they lead with conviction, determination and get the job done.

Communication

Whether your leaders are verbally outlining instructions for the team or writing up the agenda for the next project, nothing will get done correctly unless they can communicate effectively. Communication involves speaking, writing – and listening, taking others’ input into account.

Confidence

Slouchy, tentative leaders will produce slouchy, tentative teams. Confident leaders who truly believe in themselves and their team will end up with amazing results.

Creativity

Whether team leaders are forced to make an off-the-cuff decision, fix a problem or get a wayward project back on course, they’re going to need creativity to do it. Creativity also helps leaders think outside the norm to develop the most effective solutions.

Delegation

Delegation is a biggie for leaders, or they’ll end up doing all the work themselves. Not only do they need to delegate duties to the best-equipped team members, but they need to give members enough breathing room to succeed.

Decisiveness

Leaders need to make numerous decisions about numerous issues, and flipping a coin won’t cut it. You want leaders who collect all relevant information then make the wisest choice based on the data – then stick with their decision once it’s made.

Inspiration

Team leaders need to be inspiring enough for their team that the team never gives up no matter what. Leaders need to make their team see the vision of success, then help ensure each member is totally invested in it.

Generating enthusiasm and maintaining high morale is no easy feat, especially when the going is tough. Leaders will know when to use feedback, pep talks, praise, certificates of recognition and other tactics to help maintain high motivation.

Integrity

The package of integrity includes openness, honesty, fairness and treating others the same way you’d like to be treated. No team leader should leave home without it.

Interpersonal Skills

Regular interaction with other people is par for the course for team leaders, making exceptional interpersonal skills essential. Leaders who possess them will have a much easier time collaborating and developing positive relationships with their workforce.

Optimism

While a Pollyanna team leader may be a little much, especially early on a Monday morning, you do want leaders that possess and emit a positive attitude.

They can still be realistic while focusing on the positives, whether it’s a lesson learned from a mistake or with a team member who’s riddled with self-doubt.

Organization

From managing projects and delegating tasks to planning objectives and strategies, team leaders must possess keen organizational skills. Not only do they need to keep everything on track, but they need to prioritize tasks that deserve immediate attention.

Regardless of your type of company or industry, you’re going to need leaders who can help move others forward for the overall good of your organization. Look for leaders with these 10 traits and you’ll be on solid footing for success.

Postcards can be small in size, but they can make a huge impact when it comes to getting people to pay attention to your business. Unlike other types of direct mail, postcards are already opened and screaming to be noticed. Ensure your postcards get a second glance with these savvy postcard design tips.

Pick a purpose

Unless you truly have way too much time on your hands, you’re not going to send out a postcard just for the heck of it. Postcards provide a fast, easy and eye-catching way to get your recipient’s attention. Your postcard should have a definite message you want your recipient to pay attention to. Perhaps it’s meant to:

• Promote a sale or event
• Drive customers to your website
• Announce a new product or service
• Double as a percent-off coupon

Whatever the purpose, make sure your postcard design sticks to that single objective to avoid including unnecessary information.

Select a focal point.

Whether you want to highlight a detailed photo of a new product or the word “Sale” in a big, red font, choose a single focal point that quickly draws the eye right to that point. All other information and details on the card should be designed to support your focal point.

Limit colors and font selections.  

Postcards packed with too many colors and multiple fonts can be overwhelming, confusing – and just plain annoying. Keep your postcard design simple, streamlined, and direct by choosing no more than two different fonts and two or three main colors. If the layout you choose has a colorful border, incorporate those same colors into the body of the message.

Use striking imagery.

Whether you’re choosing a detailed border, illustrations or photos, you want imagery that is crisp, clear and professional. Printed images require a higher resolution than those you showcase online, so format your images accordingly.

Write short, concise copy.

Now’s not the time to go off on a zillion tangents or include loads of extra information. Think of your postcard as more of an outline, rather than a thesis, and keep the copy focused on supporting the main message and purpose of the card. Bold, catchy headlines work well, as do bullet points and other formatting that allows the text to be read and absorbed in a jiffy.

Take advantage of both sides of the postcard.

The front of your postcard is your main attraction, but you can also take advantage of extra space on the back to include your company’s address, website, contact information, and other details.

Be creative.

Just because your message is streamlined and focused doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Play around with clever wording, exciting action verbs and other colorful language that sets the right tone to support your message.

One more tip is to remember you don’t have to reinvent the proverbial wheel. Review existing layouts and ideas that you can easily customize into a postcard design that truly reflects your company and the purpose of the card.

At PaperDirect, employee appreciation matters to us. We believe that employees are happier and more productive when they feel appreciated.

That’s why we’re giving away a custom set of specialty certificates to one lucky winner on our Facebook page. All you need to do is visit our page, enter your email address, and push a button (we like to make this easy). Here are the rules:

• Contest Dates: May 10- June 10, 2016.
• One randomly selected winner will receive a set of custom specialty certificates (up to 50)
• Winner will be contacted on or about June 13.

Share appreciation with your team by entering to win a Custom Set of Specialty Certificates (up to 50). Once received, you can customize them with employee or volunteer names and award titles. No better way to recognize your valuable people as we head into summer.

Enter here!