Come to South Dakota!
 

Welcome to our South Dakota Archive. Have fun browsing!

 

Article #18: Presentation and First Impressions can be Everything in the Success of Your Home Office Business

(Browse for more articles)

 
"Presentation "according to the marketing which is why print quality can vary with
guru Riteway Strokon can be everything. humidity - the same printed page can be
It often amazes "youngsters" and what we printed differently in summer rather than
take for granted today is the winter, in Florida or South Dakota, in a
democratization of the "Home Office cool air-conditioned office or in a
"afforded by the modern introduction of sweatshop.
computers. Moisture affects another aspect of the
Not long ago to set up a company was a laser printing process: paper feeding.
major ordeal. The greater the moisture content of
First a downtown high rent location was paper, the more prone it is to curl. And
essential for both appearances and as a result if the paper has too much
visibility and to "rub shoulders" with "curled" it is more prone to jamming the
the movers and shakers. printer.
Secondly one had to have a receptionist As a result, it is important that you
greet customers as well as answer and store paper carefully - if possible in a
direct phone calls. cool, dark place and to take care to
Lastly there were the intrinsic close the packaging on partial reams.
assurances of the basic competency and The paper making process creates paper
integrity of the firm - a letterhead on that has two distinctly different sides,
printed stock paper was first. Letters though the difference is not always
that were received from the firm with the obvious to the eye or touch.
distinctive font of an IBM "Selectric The top is called the "felt" side and the
""Ball Typewriter". bottom is called the "wire" side.
By the way that simple typewriter cost The rule is to print on the "wire" side
approximately $ 3,000 which in the 70's first. Look on the label at the front of
was the price of a Japanese economy car. the ream wrapper for an arrow indicating
Consider that all of this can be done by the "wire" side. Keep this in mind when
one or two persons in a low rent, loading your printer's paper trays. Be
residential basement home office and you aware of course whether your printer
can see the importance of presentation in trays load from the face-up or face-down
clinching deals and dollar volumes of positions.
business. Another factor to consider that will
With a little extra preparation and affect paper jamming is the weight of the
thought you can appear to be in the same paper.
league as the "Big Boys". The basis weight is a standard measure
How is anyone else halfway around the based on 500 sheets of paper. Most paper
world with a business or purchase is rated at 20 pounds m, although some
decision to know otherwise? higher quality papers can be heavier.
Remember that it is often said "First Paper that is rated too light or too
impressions are everything". heavy will of course be more likely to
Factors to Consider When Choosing Paper jam. Many people assume that
for the Office Laser Printer "weight:" means the same thing as
The first step is to understand the "thickness" and "stiffness". It is true
printing process. that these three measures correlate
Laser printers rely on electrical charge together.
to hold the toner to the paper, and then However these factors are not the same.
hear and pressure to fuse the toner to "Stiffness "is a measure of how much a
the page. So it stands to reason that paper resists bending whereas thickness
good laser paper will have special describes physical dimension. It is quite
electrical and heat resistant properties possible to have three sheets of
similar to a photo copier setup. different 20 pound paper - one can be
Brightness is rated according to the significantly stiffer than the others,
amount of light reflected by the paper. another can be noticeable thicker.
A sheet with a brightness rating of 90 % One can of course sum up this article by
reflects 90 % of the light striking it: a stating "Check your printer's user
high brightness rating makes for a high manual" or "check with the manufacturer".
contrast between the page and the ink, This is true. The basics of life are
Color paper may be misleading as to usually quite simple.
brightness, because a dark purple sheet For the prosperity and success of your
does not reflect light as well as a light home office business remember the
tan of the same rating. importance of first impressions and
Electrical resistance comes from a number presentation.
of factors in the papermaking process. Often the simple choice of choosing the
Paper manufacturing can either add right paper for your home office laser
resistant chemicals to the surface of the printer can be the determining factor
paper or mix them into the paper itself. whether you or your competitor gets those
The moisture content of the paper has a orders.
significant impact on paper's resistance,






1 - A - B - C - D - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 - 32 - 33 - 34 - 35 - 36 - 37 - 38 - 39 - 40 - 41 - 42 - 43 - 44 - 45 - 46 - 47 - 48 - 49 -