Category Archives: Business

FAQ – Shipping and Handling Fees

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How much should I charge my customers to ship their order of my book or DVD?

I  have noticed many small publishers add just a small amount of money above postage for shipping & handling fees on their publications. This is a mistake. These fees need to cover not only postage but a variety of other expenses that the time-consuming fulfillment process entails. What about packing materials, overhead, labor for invoicing and payment processing,pick and pack and customer service, plus a profit margin.  All these items need to be taken into consideration when establishing the shipping and handling fees you will charge your customer. In other words, let your customer bear at least a portion of the fulfillment costs. Your overall profit margin will benefit.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com

Think before you leap!

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Many individuals have wonderful, inspiring and thoughtful stories to tell. With the availability of print on demand and desk top publishing, anyone can be a published writer.  But, there are a few things to be  aware of!

Independent publishing includes much more than just writing your book. A well developed plan is critical to a book that will lead to successful sales.

  • Research your topic or subject
  • Think about your niche market
  • Put together an comprehensive marketing plan
  • Remember – the author plays a critical role in marketing
  • Plan for sales and distribution issues (order fulfillment)
  • Research, plan and project costs of independent publishing
  • Decide what parts of the process you can handle on your own
  • Think about the business aspect of independent publishing

And always remember, writing the book is only part of the entire process. Be smart, plan ahead and get professional assistance in the parts of the process where you need help.

This blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com

Mix it Up Marketing!

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Key to any kind of business is a good solid marketing plan. In this day and age, there are so many options available – traditional print advertising, social media marketing, multimedia promotion, ezines, podcasts, rss…the list goes on and on. Trying to keep up with the latest and most effective methods is almost mind boggling. A variety of methods is often a good idea.

Lately, our focus at Cornerstone Fulfillment  Service, LLC has been to research and explore permission based email marketing. We are getting ready to launch our first attempt into this very exciting trend.

We will see! Being a traditionalist in many ways, I am not quite ready to put to bed the direct mailing method quite yet!

This blog brought to you  by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com

June – Rebuild your Life Month

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Spring is a good time to review the way we do business.  As a fulfillment company, we are constantly reassessing our ways of doing business.

In this time of rising fuel prices and postal increases, fulfillment companies need to reassess and possibly reinvent as well. Locating quality packaging materials at a good price, comparing methods of shipping/delivery, researching business software aimed at streamlining operations are on my mind at this time of year.  Making sure we can deliver products in the most cost effective, dependable way is ever important. And always key to a successful fulfillment business is making sure our independent publishing clients are offered and provided with optional services that will help “lighten the load.”

Happy Spring!!!!

Water lilies

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com

Customer Service at It’s Best

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Exceptional customer service is of utmost importance to our company. Having worked in the hospitality industry for many years, I am very aware of what a difference outstanding customer service can make to the success of a business.

Last week I visited F M Light & Sons in Steamboat, Colorado (well known for their cowboy hats & cowboy boots) in search of a pair of shorts. A friendly sales associate showed me what they had and asked  who I was buying for. I said “my son.” I said that “I thought I had better get some Carhartt shorts because they will be getting heavy use” and shared the fact that my son was working  on the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire this summer. I paid for the shorts and left.

Today, I received an envelope in the mail. I opened it to find a thank you note for shopping at FM Light and Sons. Not only that, a handwritten note from the sales girl,  saying “she hoped my son liked his shorts out on the Trail. ” Now I can truly understand why FM Light and Sons has been in business since 1905.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com