Embrace the Future of Work: The Virtual Office has Arrived!

These days, more and more businesses are working virtually in some way or another, whether that be in a hybrid manner or completely remote. The most obvious benefit to having a remote business is from a financial aspect- if you don’t need to pay for a physical office, supplies, and utilities, why would you? Until recently, it was necessary to be in the same place as your employees and coworkers to run a business smoothly. However, we are in a new day and age with technology that allows for effective communication between people who are not in the same vicinity. More specifically, virtual offices are evolving and becoming readily available to the masses. 

A virtual office is an office space that enables employees to work from home (or any other location, depending on company policy). Not only does a virtual office save your company money, but it can allow for easy scalability for your operations. This is especially useful for new businesses that do not have the money to invest in a physical space. Flexibility is also a huge advantage. Being able to work anywhere that the WiFi can connect will put your company openings at the top of the list for job-seekers.

Here at Liquid Screen Design, we utilize a completely custom virtual office (powered by Gather) for our day-to-day work. Employees and guests can navigate through our office and communicate with each other using just their computer or mobile device. Each employee gets their own personal space that they can personalize to their liking and we are able to add things like arcade games, go-karts, and a pet park that features our employees’ furry friends! This space allows for office-like communication, and creative individuality.  

Now, let’s address some of the former hurdles to remote work and why they are no longer a problem with our virtual office technology. First, communication. It’s not a question that being face-to-face is most effective for human interaction. However, a video call is very close to the same thing. In the very recent “old days”, we had to send a link to invite someone to a video chat. But, what if the link got broken during the copy and paste? What if the attendee needs to change the meeting time and you have to regenerate your invite? It just wasn’t ideal for a quick chat or question. 

Another complaint about remote work is the extent of company culture that it allows for. Our custom virtual office allows for employee individuality through virtual space decoration, avatar personalization and as much (or as little) communication that you would want with each other. We hold company-wide team building exercises in our virtual office and encourage active participation in our staff group chat games. Despite being physically separated from each other, our employees actually feel quite comfortable with each other in the virtual workplace we’ve created. 

The last hurdle of remote work we’ve eliminated is the ease of accessibility of remote software. Our virtual office sits in its own internet tab on any computer - laptop, PC, tablet or smartphone. No app download necessary. You can keep your remote office bookmarked on your browser and join with the click of a button. Whether you are a new company, a currently-remote company looking to amp up your productivity, or an in-office looking to move to the digital world, we can help you build a custom workspace designed with your needs in mind.

Need to keep record of your rival’s criminal activity? Look no further than these journals!

After winning the Shipshewana Hotdish Cook-off last month, I’ve found myself locked in a brutal rivalry with my next door neighbor, Barb Larson, for knocking her off the throne she so unrightfully occupied for three consecutive years (again, a seven layer dip is NOT A HOTDISH and should have been DISQUALIFIED!!!)

Numerous times now I have discovered her lurking outside my house, seemingly plotting something sinister. Just this morning I walked out to my carport and discovered her crouching down to examine the exhaust pipe on my 1997 Ford Taurus holding a banana! Uff da! After contacting Sherriff Strongbottom to report her suspicious behavior, I was advised to keep a diary of each encounter with her, and thankfully I’d just gotten a shipment of these Comfort Touch Hardbound 5" x 7" Journals with my face printed on them — never too early to start campaigning for next year’s Hotdish Cook-off!

So I rushed home, cracked the spine on one of these fellas, and could not believe my eyes — the journals were the perfect fit for the job, down to the 80 lined pages to write down every single move Barb made, a color-coordinated elastic band to keep her filthy, seven-layer-dipped paws off the pages, and a ribbon to bookmark the most important page — a detailed account of a particularly unsettling encounter I had with her involving what I believe were low-frequency sound waves intended to alter my memory. Barb may have been trying to cook my brain, but little did she know, I was cooking up a little Justice Casserole myself! And you can bet your soaking snow tires that at Janice’s house, we don’t use microwaves!

Sherriff Strongbottom says I’ve got a strong case (as well as excellent penmanship, which I already knew, of course, being the 10-year-champion of the Annual Shipshewanna County Penmanship Competition)! As I write this, Barb’s being relentlessly questioned by the FBI regarding the delta wave situation, as well as possible involvement in the Havana Syndrome conspiracy! Trust me — if you are the target of a potential biological attack, these notebooks are the perfect solution!

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Janice Lundberg-Bloomquist is a consumer product reviewer and social media influencer for the Askov Weekly Standard. She has been reviewing products sine 1992 after a stapler jammed while she was teaching 4th grade and wrote a strongly-worded letter to the manufacturer (which she did not send – heaven forbid) and a new career was born. An amateur ukuleleist and enthusiastic coffee addict, Janice lives at home in Mora, Minnesota with her three “children”, a British-shorthair named Smokey, and her two prize-winning Tabbys, Jennifur and Mitchell. Janice was the 2012 Bea Stevenson’s Award Winner for Excellence in Consumer Reviews and Reports and has been featured on the television show Extreme Couponing: Midwest Madness.

It’s March 10th… Where is my Christmas present?!?

There are no venti cups at Starbucks, no dish soap at the grocery store, and the holiday gift that was supposed to arrive by Christmas still has not shipped.  It is the middle of March 2022 and the supply chain issues caused by the pandemic are still wreaking havoc across nearly every industry. 

When you think of Liquid Screen Design, you probably immediately think of some amazing swag or a completely custom swag box that you received in the mail, but over the past two years we have become experts in the supply chain.  The LSD team got together to share a bit about what we have learned and more importantly what you can do to make your life easier in 2022.

THE TRENDS AND WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022

Everything last year was about shortages. Vaccine shortages to start 2021 were replaced by fears that we would struggle to buy home essentials, then turkeys for thanksgiving, and toys for the holidays. For most of the year, grocery stores, car dealers, and even coffee shops were emptier than usual. Some shortages were resolved quickly, others were not. So, are we facing another year of shortages, or will the supply chain crisis relax in 2022?

It’s worth noting that the shortages have happened for many reasons. At the beginning of the pandemic lockdowns there were sudden runs on essentials like toilet paper.  To satisfy demand retailers ordered more desperate to satisfy demand, but once that demand was satisfied, they were left with an oversupply which in turn took up valuable shipping and warehouse space.

This is what happens when demand temporarily changes. The effect magnifies with each tier of the supply chain as every supplier adds an extra buffer to their order to be on the safe side. Very small changes in customer demand can therefore result in huge extra demand for raw materials. This is called the bullwhip effect. As with a whip, a small flick of the wrist can lead to a big crack at the other end.

Even though these initial changes to consumer behavior started to take place almost two years ago at this point, we are still experiencing the crack today and we don’t expect the reverberations to end any time soon.  So, what do we do as consumers?

PLAN AND ORDER EARLY

If you are ordering anything, order early.  If you think you are ordering it early enough…order earlier!  Bryan Goltzman, Liquid Screen Design’s co-owner, said “My wife’s birthday is in October.  This year when I ordered her birthday gift, I also ordered her a Hanukkah gift.  I knew that if I wanted to have it in time, I was going to need to order months in advance.”

The same is true with anything you are ordering online weather it is from Nike or custom swag.  The earlier the better.  Shipping is taking forever with major inconsistencies across all the major shippers.  Things are going in and out of stock so quickly, if you don’t act fast, they may be gone and the replacements might not come in for months. 

“We are talking to costumers about custom swag every day”, says Lily Nelson, LSD Inside Branding and Swagging Consultant.  “Our best advice, have a plan and be flexible. We know there are going to be outages and delays.  So we prepare our clients and help navigate them through these rough waters. We can captain them through any issue that comes up so that their swag still comes through the way they want it and even more importantly on time.”   

IN STOCK NOW DOES NOT MEAN IN STOCK IN 10 MINUTES

Arielle Epstein, LSD Branding and Swagging Architect who works closely with suppliers on the production side says, “It has happened countless times this year.  Our client calls us to place an order.  We call the vendor to confirm they have stock in the right color, we call the client back to confirm a quantity and they need time to confirm with their team a final count and by the time they get back to us, the stock is no longer available with the next shipment not coming back in for a few months. Now it is time to pivot and find a different option.” 

If there is something specific you want, order it now and don’t give someone else the chance to swoop in front of you.  Like shopping at a thrift store, if you see something you like, pick it up because you likely will not ever see it again. 

According to Mariah Lax, LSD Inside Branding and Swagging Consultant, “The major trend of 2021 was to make the supply chain more resilient. However, building additional capacity, holding inventory, and safeguarding against disruptions is expensive which is being passed on to the consumer. We are seeing price increase up to 40% on some products.”

Ultimately, supply chains are driven by people, and 2021 showed the limitations of the system. As companies and consumers adapt, current knots will untangle somewhat. By understanding the supply chain and ordering early customers can save the hassle of changes, not have the worry of items not arriving on time or being out of stock for months, and keep the price increases at a minimum.  

Call Liquid Screen Design Today

If you are interested in learning more about the supply chain or want to place a custom swag order give us a call at 612-234-7230 or email us at info@liquidscreendesign.com.  We can help you navigate the strange and changing world of the supply chain and find you the right swag for your event or staff!

Katie Woznak is a Branding and Swagging Architect at Liquid Screen Design and can be reached at kwoznak@liquidscreendesign.com. 

Behind the Sends: Fulfillment is the Other Side of Amazing Swag

Today we will take a closer look at how Liquid Screen Design (LSD) sends out 2,500 packages a week from Liquid Screen Design’s fulfillment center in Chicago. Ranging from custom swag boxes or individual t-shirts to everything in between, LSD has built a large-scale fulfillment operation to help our customers meet their swagging goals.

Wait, I didn’t know LSD did fulfillment!?!  How did that happen?

Operationalizing swag fulfillment at scale is no small feat and is not something that can be done on a whim. “At the beginning of the pandemic, as many of our customers shifted to virtual events, employee appreciation, and even virtual camp experiences, customers began reaching out to us because of our past fulfillment work with spiritwear. They asked if we could help send additional items to their participants and employees,” says Benji Bearman, Liquid Screen Design co-owner and known as “The Box King of Chicago”. “We told them, of course, we could help!”

What Makes Good Fulfilment

Fulfillment is a simple process to understand: accepting orders, picking, packing, and shipping it, but actually doing fulfillment is difficult.  While everyone knows the process, there are some ins and outs that make it more efficient and that LSD does that make it go far beyond the pick and pack process.

Everyone knows the current climate of the supply chain.  We live in an “Amazon world” where customers expect next-day delivery!

A good fulfillment operation should have a few things in place:

A Highly Skilled Staff

The most important thing to have successful fulfillment is having adequate staffing.  Says Arielle Epstein, Branding and Swagging Architect, “We learned early on that without highly skilled staff there is no fulfillment.  Every order is custom.  What goes to whom, what size, what color, which notecard, etc.?  Each order has several iterations and we need to ensure that each package is correct takes time and people that know what they are doing.” 

“We built a fulfillment staff that comes every day and has seen it all.  Whether it is international shipping and customs forms or individualized notes for each package, they have seen it and know how to handle it.”

Relationship with All the Major Shippers

Statistically, things will go wrong with shipments. Fulfillment operations with high volume and great carrier relationships make tracking missing or damaged packages much easier. At Liquid Screen Design, we take responsibility for missing and damaged packages, replace them quickly, and work directly with our carrier reps to be reimbursed.

“I talk to our shipping reps at FedEx, UPS, and USPS weekly, and not just when we have problems,” says, Paulina Jakubzcak, Branding and Swagging Manager, “we check-in and just see how things are going and when there is a problem they jump through hoops to make sure we get things resolved quickly.  Being a small business sometimes you are treated like you don’t matter, but our relationships with them make me feel like we are Amazon calling and that helps our customers in the end!”

Discounted Shipping Rates

Discounted shipping rates with major shipping carriers. The big three are UPS, FedEx, and USPS. A good fulfillment operation will have discounted rates due to high volume.  At Liquid Screen Design those discounts are then passed along to our customers. 

So why doesn’t every swag company offer fulfillment?

The easy answer, it’s hard to do well. 

When looking for a swag company, learning the different services they offer should be a way to figure out if they are the right company for all your physical marketing needs.  Nearly anyone can print a few hundred t-shirts, but can they package them with custom coffee, a custom mug, a custom s’more kit, in a fully customized box and ship them to several hundred locations across the world and still meet your “event” date? 

What does this mean for our LSD clients?

This means we can make their swag hopes and dreams come true!

Whether an in person event has suddenly changed to virtual, or clients don’t have the time and resources to send out hundreds of individual spiritwear items, we take care of it all - no stress needed!

-PRESS RELEASE- February 16, 2022

Liquid Screen Design Owner, Bryan Goltzman, Joins Counselor Magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.- Liquid Screen Design (LSD) co-owner, Bryan Goltzman is joining the Counselor Magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board in 2022.  Counselor Magazine is the voice of the promotional products industry, delivering award-winning content to executive level distributors and owners responsible for the future of their businesses. The magazine’s content is focused on leadership, management, business operations, industry news, and analysis of trends.

Prior to starting Liquid Screen Design in 2010, Goltzman was the Director of Public Affairs for a regional non-profit organization where he led statewide policy campaigns and managed online marketing strategies.  He brings that creativity, background, and expertise to LSD’s customers.  

“Promotional products and physical marketing is a $27 billion dollar a year industry.”, says Goltzman.  “Look at your desk, it is almost guaranteed that you have something branded on it.  That is not possible without the leadership and knowledge shared in Counselor Magazine.  Counselor explores all aspects of the industry from new trends to supply-chain challenges and everything in between.  It is truly the guiding light and magazine of note in the promotional products industry.  I am excited to work alongside them and expand upon our industry knowledge and influence.”