While not all of our home businesses require us to interact on a regular basis with the United States Post Office—some do. Those of us who ship products or send manuscripts or do other sorts of mailing and shipping may have to work with the Post Office on a fairly regular basis. With changing postal rates and regulations, however, it can be tough part of our business operations to get a handle on…
For starters, if you do any mailing at all, it is helpful to know the Web site for the U.S. Postal Service. The site at www.usps.com has updated rates—both domestic and international, zip code information, updated regulations, and you can even purchase stamps and postage on the site. This is a good place to go for information and to get familiar with how your business is, and will be, affected by mailing and postage.
It might be worth your while to pay a visit to the Post Office, as well, if you have any questions that cannot be answered on the Web site. Be sure you go during “off” hours—this means NOT first thing in the morning, during the noon lunch hour, or immediately after work. You might consider calling ahead to find out when the times are with the least amount of traffic and finding out who you might be able to talk with. If you send large quantities of mail, you’ll want to get familiar with your “Business Mail Entry Unit” part of your local or regional U.S. Postal Service. Not every Post Office accepts and processes bulk or business mail—so call and find out where you will be taking yours. You can then find out the rules and regulations and all the preparation restrictions and guidelines for preparing mail that can be sent as “bulk.”
Keep in mind that the rules, guidelines and regulations are constantly changing. The Post Office often offers updates and classes for those who do a lot of mailing and shipping to help people keep up on the changes. If you get on the mailing list as a business, they will send you information and updates as they occur.
As you get to know your Post Office and the workers get to know you, you can find out when is the best time of the week and month to do your mailings, special tips and suggestions as recommended by your office, and other specifics that can help you better coordinate your mailings and experience less frustration.
See Also: What’s Your Strategy? and Ways to Use Postcards in Your Home Business