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Which barcode scanner will work best for me?

February 25, 2016 By The Barcode Lady

There are many different barcode scanners on today’s market and its hard to know if you are buying the one that will best meet your needs.

Save the time & headaches by letting The Barcode Lady help you determine what scanner is right for you.

First ask yourself these questions

1. How will the scanner be used?
A. Handheld Barcode Scanner
B. Presentation Barcode Scanner
C. Portable Data Collector with Scanner
D. In-counter Scanner
E. Fixed Mount Scanner

2. In what environment will the scanner be used?
A. In the warehouse for receiving or cycle counting,
B. Retail POS station
C. In an office with desktop or laptop computer
D. Outside in harsh environments

3. How often will the scanner used?
A. Everyday
B. Once or twice a year

5. What kind of barcode will I be scanning?
A. 1D
B. 2D
C. RFID

6. At what distance will the scanner need to read the barcode?
A. 10’ or less
B. 11’-25’
C- Over 25’

7. What is the quality of the barcodes I will be scanning?
A. Clear crisp
B. Fuzzy, Dirty

Answering the questions above will help us determine
A. What scan engine you need
B. What connection you need
C. Scanner durability
D. Scan distance
E. The perfect scanner to meet your needs

Call “The Barcode Lady’ TODAY!  We will be happy to help you with your barcode label and scanning needs.  800-827-9695

Filed Under: Advice for Manufacturing, Advice for Retail, Advice for Warehousing, Barcode Solutions

Take a step back – Small & Med size retailers retreat to price guns.

August 13, 2015 By The Barcode Lady

Sometimes the old way is the best way. A lot of small and mid size retailers are shutting off their POS systems and getting back the old cash register and price marking guns.

For the busy small business owner, being married to the computer is a time sucking task. It seems a lot of owners rather be spending time educating their customers on their products and increasing sales.

Many retailers put the price on every item they sell.  Sometimes they use barcode labels, tags or the hand held pricing guns.  The advantage to the old price gun… labels allow for color coding, date received, Sku numbers, Retail Price, Cost coded price, eliminate the errors at data imput in the computer and every customer knows the prices when they get to the checkout.

What it doesn’t do is update inventory, attach a salesperson to a sale, or capture the customers information.

So what is the best way for your business?  I want to hear from you!

Filed Under: Advice for Retail

CENTURY MARKING SENDING SHORT RUN LABEL CUSTOMERS OUR WAY!

August 3, 2015 By The Barcode Lady

Century Marking, a competitor for the past 40 years has recently changed their business model.  They are only doing big run labels for large customers.  The best part of this change is that they have trusted The Barcode Lady to service their small and medium size customers with short run specialty labels, price gun labels and stock and custom price gun labels and supplies.  We are so happy to service these new customers and show The Barcode Lady has the knowledge and service they are use to receiving.  It is our goal to exceed the expecations of each and every customer.  In doing so we have added the Century Speedymark Express line of price guns, ink rollers and labels to our list of offerings in addition to the metal / black handle Century One, Two, Three, Four and Five guns.  One customer e-mailed me after receiving their order…

Hi Marilyn, I just got my labels and hot damn!!!!! They are exactly what Century Printing used to make me. Thank you so very much for getting it so perfect. I may only order once a year but for sure you have a new client.
Do you have a catalog for other things by chance or just online?
Thanks,
Stella
Rex Trophies
This is what I want to hear from every customer new and old.  If you have something to say, good or bad I want to hear it.  If there is ever a problem I can’t fix it if I don’t know about it.  So please give me the opportunity to make it right.  All of our products are 100% guaranteed!  We want to make you happy so call today.  800-827-9695

Filed Under: Advice for Retail

Are you happy? 16 Ways to create your own happiness at work!

June 10, 2015 By The Barcode Lady

16 Ways to Create Your Own Happiness at Work

I liked this so much I just had to share!

Let’s face it, happiness and work do not tend to go hand in hand. A 2013 Gallup study, which reported data from more than 180 million people, found that just 13% of us consider ourselves to be “happily engaged at work.”Those who do rate themselves as happy are 36% more motivated, six times more energized, and twice as productive as their unhappy counterparts.The good news is that just 50% of happiness is influenced by genetics—the rest is up to you.  When it comes to making yourself happy, you need to learn what works for you. Once you discover this, everything else tends to fall into place. And making yourself happy doesn’t just improve your performance; it’s also good for your health.A critical skill set that happy people tend to have in common is emotional intelligence (EQ). At TalentSmart, we’ve tested the EQs of more than a million people and know what makes high EQ people tick. So, we went digging until we found 16 great ways that emotionally intelligent people create their own happiness at work.

1. Remember That You Are In Charge of Your Own Happiness
You have two choices in any dead-end job: find another one or make the most of the one you’re stuck with. Either way, your happiness is up to you and no one else. Remind yourself of this anytime you’re feeling stuck.

2. Don’t Obsess over Things You Can’t Control
It’s good to know how Greece’s economic troubles might affect US markets or that your company could merge with its largest competitor, but there’s a big difference between understanding these larger forces and worrying about them. Happy people are ready and informed, but they don’t allow themselves to fret over things that are beyond their pay grades.

3. Don’t Compare Yourself to Other People
When your sense of pleasure and satisfaction are derived from comparing yourself to others, you are no longer the master of your own happiness. When you feel good about something that you’ve done, don’t allow anyone’s opinions or accomplishments take that away from you.

While it’s impossible to turn off your reactions to what others think of you, you don’t have to compare yourself to others, and you can always take people’s opinions with a grain of salt. That way, no matter what other people are thinking or doing, your self-worth comes from within. Regardless of what people think of you at any particular moment, one thing is certain—you’re never as good or bad as they say you are.

4. Reward Yourself
Working hard is important, but never allowing yourself to take a break is detrimental to your happiness. A study of radiologists found that they made more accurate diagnoses when they received small rewards prior to reviewing patients’ charts. A Cornell study found that small rewards make people more generous, friendly, and happy. These small “thrills” also made people more productive and accurate in their work. Rewards activate the pleasure pathway in your brain, even if they are self-induced. Effective rewards can be small things such as taking a walk down the hall or eating a snack.

5. Exercise During the Work Week
Getting your body moving for as little as 10 minutes releases GABA, a soothing neurotransmitter that also limits impulsivity. A University of Bristol study showed that people who exercised on workdays reported improvements in time management, mood, and performance. The benefits of exercise always outweigh the time lost in its pursuit.

6. Don’t Judge and Gossip
Judging other people and speaking poorly of them is a lot like over-indulging in a decadent dessert; it feels good while you’re doing it, but afterwards, you feel guilty and sick. When you’re tempted to speak of someone else in a way that might be negative, just ask yourself if you’d want someone saying the same about you.

7. Choose Your Battles Wisely
Emotionally intelligent people know how important it is to live to fight another day. In conflict, unchecked emotion makes you dig your heels in and fight the kind of battle that can leave you severely damaged and unhappy for some time to come. When you read and respond to your emotions, you’re able to choose your battles wisely and only stand your ground when the time is right.

8. Stay True to Yourself
Crossing moral boundaries in the name of success is a sure-fire path to unhappiness. Violating your personal standards creates feelings of regret, dissatisfaction, and deactivation. Know when to stand your ground and express dissent when someone wants you to do something that you know you shouldn’t. When you’re feeling confused, take some time to review your values and write them down. This will help you to locate your moral compass.

9. Clear the Clutter
I don’t need to remind you of how much time you spend at work. Take a good look at your workspace. You should create a space that’s soothing and uplifting. Whether it’s a picture of your family, a plant, or an award that you’re proud of, display them prominently to keep them on your mind. Get rid of the junk and clutter that hold no significance and do nothing positive for your mental state.

10. Give Someone A Hand
Taking the time to help your colleagues not only makes them happy, but it also makes you happy. Helping other people gives you a surge of oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine, all of which create good feelings. In a Harvard study, employees who helped others were 10 times more likely to be focused at work and 40% more likely to get a promotion. The same study showed that people who consistently provided social support were the most likely to be happy during times of high stress. As long as you make certain that you aren’t overcommitting yourself, helping others is sure to have a positive influence on your happiness.

11. Let Your Strengths Flow
A University of Chicago study of peak performance found that people who were able to reach an intense state of focus, called flow, reaped massive benefits. Flow is the state of mind in which you find yourself completely engrossed in a project or task, and you lose awareness of the passage of time and other external distractions. Flow is often described as an exhilarating state in which you feel euphoria and mastery simultaneously. The result is not just happiness and productivity but also the development of new skills through a heightened state of learning. The key to reaching flow lies in organizing your tasks such that you have immediate and clear goals to pursue that play to your strengths. As you begin working on these tasks, your focus increases along with your feelings of adequacy. In time, you reach a flow state, in which productivity and happiness flourish. Set clear goals each day and experiment with task order until you find the secret formula that gets you flowing.

12. Smile and Laugh More
A study at Mannheim University in Germany demonstrated that we can actually manipulate our emotions by changing our facial expressions. One group of participants held a pen in their mouth horizontally, which forces a smile. When asked to rate how funny a cartoon was, the participants holding pens in their mouths found the cartoons much funnier than participants without pens.

As the study shows, it doesn’t matter if your smile is genuine because your facial expression can precede the feeling. If you find yourself in a negative spiral at work, slow down and smile or watch a funny video on YouTube. This mood boost can turn your day around.

13. Stay Away From Negative People
Complainers and negative people are bad news because they wallow in their problems and fail to focus on solutions. They want people to join their pity party so that they can feel better about themselves. People often feel pressure to listen to complainers because they don’t want to be seen as callous or rude, but there’s a fine line between lending a sympathetic ear and getting sucked into their negative emotional spirals. You can avoid getting drawn in only by setting limits and distancing yourself when necessary. Think of it this way: If a person were smoking, would you sit there all afternoon inhaling the second-hand smoke? You’d distance yourself, and you should do the same with negative people. A great way to set limits is to ask them how they intend to fix their problems. The complainer will then either quiet down or redirect the conversation in a productive direction.

14. Laugh at Yourself
When you take yourself too seriously at work your happiness and performance suffer. Don’t be afraid to show a little vulnerability. Something as simple as laughing at yourself draws people to you because it shows them that you’re humble and grounded (it also keeps them from laughing behind your back). Happy people balance their self-confidence with a good sense of humor and humility.

15. Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude
It’s all too easy to get caught up in things that could have been different or didn’t turn out the way you wanted them to. Sometimes the best way to pull your mind away from negativity is to step back and contemplate what you’re grateful for. Taking time to reflect on the good in your life improves your mood because it reduces the stress hormone cortisol by 23%. Research conducted at the University of California, Davis, found that people who worked daily to cultivate an attitude of gratitude experienced improved mood, energy, and physical wellbeing

16. Believe the Best Is Yet to Come
Don’t just tell yourself that the best is yet to come—believe it. Having a positive, optimistic outlook on the future doesn’t just make you happier; it also improves your performance by increasing your sense of self-efficacy. The mind has a tendency to magnify past pleasure to such a great degree that the present pales in comparison. This phenomenon can make you lose faith in the power of the future to outdo what you’ve already experienced. Don’t be fooled. Believe in the great things the future has in store.

Bringing It All Together
Applying these strategies won’t just improve your happiness at work; most of them will also improve your emotional intelligence. Pick those that resonate with you and have fun with them.
A version of this article first appeared on TalentSmart.com.
If you need price gun labels, barcode labels, ribbons, promotional products, receipt paper rolls, ink cartridges, custom forms etc… call us at 800-827-9695 or visit our website at www.TheBarcodeLady.com

Filed Under: Advice for Manufacturing, Advice for Retail, Advice for Warehousing, Barcode Solutions

GHS Deadline June 2015 – ARE YOU COVERED?

April 21, 2015 By The Barcode Lady

The GHS implementation deadline of June 2015 is quickly approaching.
ARE YOU COVERED?

What is GHS?
GHS stands for the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals. GHS is a system to standardize the way hazardous materials are classified. The idea is that the same criteria will be used all over the world to determine if a material is flammable, toxic or corrosive etc. We are then assured that if a material is considered toxic in China it will also be so in the USA, Europe, Brazil and elsewhere around the Globe.
 

So what does BS5609 mean?
It is a British Standard certification to determine the label’s overall durability in marine conditions. The label must pass certain criteria to make sure it can withstand weathering, abrasion, colorfastness and adhesion.

Why should I care about GHS? This new standard is important if you ship or store chemicals. You are going to need new labels as well as printers and ribbons. Give us a call at 800.827-9695 or email us at Marilyn@TheBarcodeLady.com to get your next quote in 3 hours or less.Discover More About GHS Labels
There are 9 Basic Universal Pictograms Here’s what they look like and what they mean.
ghs-labels
The Anatomy of the New GHS Standard
ghs anatomy
In order to make sure you get exactly what you need to be compliant this is what we need to know.
1. Does your label need BS5609 Section 2 & Section 3 approval? (If unsure, is your product going to be shipped overseas).
2. What type of print technology and printer will be used to print these labels?
3. To what surface will the label be applied?
4. Will the label ever need to be removed?
5. What type of temperatures and environmental conditions will the label be exposed to (heat, cold, humidity, salt water, etc)?
6. Will the label need to withstand exposure to water or chemicals? If so, what kind of chemicals? What type of exposure (spray, immersion, etc.)?
7. Will the label need to withstand any unusual handling (squeeze bottles, abrasion caused by contact against other containers, conveyor rails, forklifts, etc.)?
8. How long is the label required to last

 

 

Filed Under: Advice for Manufacturing, Advice for Retail, Advice for Warehousing

2D BARCODES ARE A PRETTY BIG DEAL!

April 13, 2015 By The Barcode Lady

2D BARCODES

Barcodes are a pretty big deal – and not just at the grocery store. 2D barcodes are the mainstream of recognition technologies used for mobile marketing.

In mobile tagging, the barcode is a printed symbol that connects a physical object (a magazine ad) to a digital experience on a smartphone (a cool video). Why should you care? Because a 2D barcode like a Microsoft Tag barcode adds a whole new dimension to your marketing campaigns, making them more engaging and interactive.

You can put a 2D barcode on just about anything – printed materials, packaging, posters, signs, websites, clothing. When people can scan the barcode with their smartphones, they instantly see the online content you’ve created – from a product video to a sweepstakes to a custom mobile site.

Need Help? We have solutions, let us help you use this technology to market your company or product.

Do you have ideas to share?  We want to hear from you!

QR BARCODE

Filed Under: Advice for Retail, Barcode Solutions

Happy Holidays!

December 4, 2014 By The Barcode Lady

It’s December and everyone is ready for big sales, big inventory jobs, and deciding what is in the budget for 2015.

*If you want to automate your inventory counting this year The Barcode Lady has portable data collectors that will simplify your process. Increase productivity and decrease man hours.

*If you want competitive prices on the products you use, barcode labels, ribbons, etc… Please add me to your bid list. Just e-mail what printer your using, label or tag size, if your media is paper or synthetic and what quantity you purchase at a time. I want to save you money!

*Do you need a new promotional product for an up coming event. Let our creative team present something special that will represent you company in the best light.

Remember, The Barcode Lady will meet or beat Any advertised prices!

We wish you and yours a happy and safe holiday season.

Marilyn Elkin
“The Barcode Lady”

Filed Under: Advice for Manufacturing, Advice for Retail, Advice for Warehousing, Barcode Solutions

How did it start? What is a barcode?

September 19, 2014 By The Barcode Lady

Put simply, a barcode is a machine-readable representation of data, either in one-dimension or two-dimension format. The benefits of barcoding are speed of data entry and accuracy. Black and white bars or matrix patterns are used to create the barcode, and depending on whether it is 1-D or 2-D. A 1-D barcode appears as vertical black and white lines, commonly seen on the products on our grocery and retail stores. A 2-D barcode will look like little black and white squares stacked on each other. The most common and public usage of 2-D barcode is by FedEx. They use 2-D PDF 417 barcode to track every package they ship.

The first bar code patent was issued in 1952 to Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver, using what looked like a bulls-eye symbol that was made of concentric circles. Bar codes were used as far back as 1932 when a group of students who did a project where they required customers to select their merchandise by removing the correct punch cards from the catalog that corresponded with the items that they wanted. In 1970, the Uniform Grocery Product Code Council and McKinsey & Co. created a numeric format for product identification in bar codes. In 1973, George J. Laurer invented the UPC (Universal Product Code) that we know today. Commercial bar codes were not used until the mid to late 1960s, and the initial application was for industrial use. Some of the early adopters of barcode technology were the railroads and the US Postal Service.

In 1967,bar codes were used on the American Railroad, known as KarTrak. It took almost 7 years before there was 95% coverage of the fleet, but the project was ultimately abandoned in 1975 because of the technical difficulties in reading the barcodes. At that time, a similar technology call RFID (radio frequency identification) became available but was considered far too expensive, so it was not used. However by 1991 RFID technology had improved and become less expensive and it became mandatory for all rail cars to be identified with an RFID tag.

The US Post started studying applications and uses for barcodes in mail delivery during the early 1970’s and by 1982 the US Postal Service implemented the POSTNET code for tracking mail delivery across the United States. Within five years the US Post had installed barcoding systems in most every major city in the US.

The actual first invention of the barcode was done by the Irish, and likely based on the Irish alphabet from the first centuries AD, which looks like a form of bar code itself. Today, barcodes have a variety of applications, including identifying retail products, mail sorting, warehouse use, and even for patient identification and tracking in hospitals.

About The Author: Godex International is an engineering company that specializes in designing and manufacturing BARCODE PRINTING products that lead the industry in the value price, high performance category. Godex has offices in the US, Europe, Taiwan and China and its products are distributed world-wide.

The Barcode Lady LLC is proud to be a distributor for the Godex line of barcode printers, label design software, re-winders and scanners.

Filed Under: Advice for Manufacturing, Advice for Retail, Advice for Warehousing, Barcode Solutions

Customer Loyalty

May 14, 2014 By The Barcode Lady

I am always thinking about ways to grow my business.  Mom always said that it’s easier to keep an existing customer than to find a new one.  Funny, she has said that for over 40 years and now I read it sales books today.  She has always been a smart business woman.

What promotes repeat business?

1. Good Products
2. Excellent Personal Service
3. Fast Shipping
4. Great Prices

For my company it’s all the above.  It’s my great customer service.  I have noticed that every company has something in their moto about great customers service.  But do we really give that service?

I was cleaning my desk and I came across an old handout from 1996 that I was given at a sales seminar I attended by speaker Shep Hyken.  He quoted Dr. Theodore Levitt, Senior Professor at Harvard Business School.
“The function of every business is to get and keep customers”.

If that’s our function, what do I do?  How do we build customer loyalty?

1. Don’t forget to say THANK YOU!  That sounds simple enough.  A phone call, an e-mail, a personal note, a little candy.  Everyone likes to be appreciated by a simple thank you!

2. Find out if you’re doing a good job, and if there are problems react quickly.  It’s necessary to follow up after a sale to make sure their expectations were met.  Shep noted that 96% of customers that have a compliant don’t tell you.  I always say if I don’t know there is a problem, I can’t fix it.

3. Continue to educate the customer on the benefits of using your company.  Reinforce why the customer made the right choice to do business with you.  If you do something different than your competition make sure they know about it.  It’s your opportunity to shine!

4. Guarantee your products and services. If there is a problem fix it.  No one likes to give a refund or exchange and replece items but sometimes you need to do what is best for the sales situation.  Your guarantee will make that customer want to continue to do business with you.

5. Make sure your talking to the decision maker.  don’t forget that others might be involved in the buying process.  Many times the buyer isn’t the only one in the decision making process.  Sometimes the buying decision includes a committee, an assistant, a secretary or/and a spouse.  Be inclusive and address each person with respect.

6. Spoil your customer with good service and excellent follow through.  If your customer should go to a competing company to shop around, they would expect the save level of service that they got from you.  Anything less from the competition reinforces that the customer made the right choice to do business with you.  In other words you have spoiled your customer.  What maybe your standard service is better than the competition.

I want to hear from you.  What other ways do you know to build customer loyalty?

Filed Under: Advice for Manufacturing, Advice for Retail, Advice for Warehousing, Barcode Solutions

Spring is finally here! What are you doing new to increase sales?

April 18, 2014 By The Barcode Lady

Today it looks and feels like spring. What does that mean to all my retail and manufacturing customers?  It means an increase in business.  People are receiving their tax checks, school will be out soon,
everyone needs to buy stuff… not only the essentials but our stuff.  They need things to get the kids off to summer camp.  They are packing up for the family vacation.  It’s time to take care of those projects
around the house.

Now is the hard part. With internet sales increasing and big box companies trying to make us extinct we need to set ourselves apart and remind our customers why they buy from us.
Service, product expertise, wide selections you can touch and feel.   With the economy in,  let’s just say not like it was 5 years ago we need to fight for every sale.

When customers are searching the internet they are mainly price driven.  One of my favorite retail pet shop owners was telling me a customer went down the street to a pet chain store.  He purchased
a fish tank with all the accessories.  He then brought the whole purchase still in the box to him for help with the set up.  There you go.  The big stores have minimum wage workers with no product knowledge
who sell what they  have on the floor and saves the customer a few dollars, maybe.  There is no special ordering, no product knowledge, no help with set up nothing.    “The nerve of that guy to buy down the street and expect me to help him.”

What do I do now?  Do I help him and hope he buys from me in the future?  Do I tell him to go back to the box store and try to get help when I know they aren’t going to help him?  My suggestion was to have a sign
posted in the store.  Fish tank set up $200.00 – free with system purchase.  My friend did not feel comfortable with posting the sign and was afraid that he might offend potential customers.

What do you think?  Please share your success story.

 

Filed Under: Advice for Manufacturing, Advice for Retail, Advice for Warehousing, Barcode Solutions

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The Barcode Lady’s staff always delivers customer service that will exceed your expectations! Our customers come first and we do whatever it takes to make sure you know it. After 43 years of service, we’re doing something right. It is all about the relationship and when you work with The Barcode Lady and her team you are guaranteed personal service, top quality products, fast delivery at a fair price!
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