The month of May is my busy season, and it's just winding down now. My shipping and storage business is in a college town and, as graduation approaches, the students—the majority of whom hail from lands far away—all move out in a mass exodus peaking on Memorial Day...

Here is a great piece of advice when posting online: If you are planning on promoting your business through social media, please keep your personal profile clean. Specifically, don't post anything political on your personal profiles. This week, I received a heartfelt...

Dear Uncle Marty, I know you’re involved in some community groups. How do you suggest I get involved, and what are the best groups to join? Hoping to meet new people, Friendly Florence “Flo” Fenstermacher Dear Flo, Indeed, I highly recommend joining some community...

I love talking on the radio. I don't do radio ads often, but when I do I always get a thrill going to the studio, sitting in the soundproof booth, and letting it rip. And every so often I get the opportunity to be interviewed on the radio. Today was one of those...

Dear Uncle Marty, Am I allowed to send anonymous packages when people don’t want their name to show on the return address? Under an assumed name,  Incongnito Ignacio Dear Ignacio, I’ve asked a few store owners and my fellow AMBC board members about this since...

In addition to late deliveries and other automated refund types, there are other parts of your UPS and FedEx invoices that deserve your attention.  Many people rarely go over an invoice; they usually have an automatic payment on file with the carrier and are just...

I just made a kids' mailbox. It's a concept I've heard of before, but completely forgot about until Henry reminded us of it at the PostalMate regional training weekend a few weeks ago in New York. It's really quite a brilliant idea: put the key to one of your large...

Ten years ago, I ran an eCommerce site selling personalized leather gifts to businesses and individuals. I learned SEO from experts and got on the social media bandwagon very shortly after March 2007. I've studied many aspects of online checkout over the years,...

What a weekend! Fahim and I had the honor and privilege of attending another PostalMate regional training weekend, this time in a little place near and dear to both of us: New York City. PC Synergy, the makers of PostalMate, asked AMBC to participate in their events...

Prepare yourselves. AMBC's dynamic duo, Fahim and Uncle Marty, are teaming up and teeming with excitement to present our brand new class, Get Social!, at the PostalMate Regional Training Weekend this Sunday in New York. Our new seminar takes the concept of how we...

A little over a year ago, in January 2016, during our AMBC board meeting, I had mentioned to our directors about trying to move towards having video conferencing meetings via a new app called Zoom (www.Zoom.us). At the time, it was relatively new and unheard of by...

Have you ever done a suspension pack? Suspension packing, or "packing in air," is a fantastic, simple technique that we teach in AMBC's RSi® certified packing classes. It's not a method to use every day, but one that comes in quite handy for uber-delicate items and...

Last night, after his soccer practice, my son and I stopped off at my favorite grocery store, Wegmans, to buy some urgently needed items from my wife's grocery list, a task that should've only taken 15 minutes and cost $20. Well, 50 minutes and $85 later, I came out,...

Dear Uncle Marty, What are some alternative services I can offer in my store to bring in business? Looking for something new, Inquisitive Ingrid Dear Ingrid, I like how you phrased your question: “…services I can offer in my store to bring in business.” You’re...

This week, during a monthly networking group meeting, an interesting topic came up from a veteran attendee: How to acquire new clients to your business - paid vs. unpaid leads (AKA word of mouth marketing). The gentleman, a trusted insurance agent in our community,...

I was at Jo-Ann this past weekend. As I was checking out with my three and a half yards of purple and grey upholstery fabric, Lexi the clerk asked if I had any coupons with me. How could I forget? Like any good red-blooded American that comes from a family of sewers...

I'm sure your inbox does not look like mine, at least I hope not! Last year, on my wife's birthday, I started swimming [don't worry, I'm getting to my point...]. It was the latter half of September and my doctor told me that I needed to lose a few pounds and that once...

I was flipping through an issue of Architectural Digest last night and came across this stunning ad for JW Marriott--a simply perfect piece of marketing magic. The intention of this delightful spread is to communicate something exceptional to look for on your next...

As we head into the new year, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the many changes in our industry in 2016. What a year it has been! On one hand, we've been dealing with dimensional weight issues with carriers for several years, but this year's news has been...