Compass

Yesterday, November 15, 2024, was to be the day that I closed on and moved into Cypress Corner, the new townhome that the builders just finished with all of my customizations. I’ve been looking forward to yesterday for many, many months, following the unit’s progress each time the builder sends an update, driving by the site to watch and take photos of the process, and making plans to move in right away, get new furniture, clean out my storage unit and unpack, and get out of my parents’ hair as I’ve been staying in their guest room for a few months after I sold my old home, waiting out building delays to get into my new home.

But yesterday wasn’t actually the day that I had dreamed it to be and planned on for so long. I got up early, as planned, and washed sheets and towels to prepare my parents’ guest room to be turned over to its next residents. I packed my truck and confirmed utility installations scheduled for the next day, got my documents and confirmation of funds together, got my Realtor®’s thank you card and gift ready, and was less than two hours from heading to the closing to finalize everything, sign my name, and get my keys, when I got a text from my mortgage company. Jason, a loan officer at the very small firm with which I went because they were said to specialize in working with entrepreneurs, said in his text, “We can’t close today.”

Actually, no. Jason doesn’t seem to care about professionalism. He actually said, “We cant close today.  I will call you.” I guess putting the apostrophe in “can’t” was just too much effort, though if he had removed the extra space he included between the sentences he could have then used that energy to type an apostrophe. But, I digress…

My heart sunk. WTF!? Is he for real? This has been scheduled, funds have been transferred, closing disclosures have been reviewed and signed, my closing agent is waiting at her office for our 11 a.m. appointment (or so I thought), I have my truck packed, I have utility installations scheduled for tomorrow, and my life has been sculpted around this day for months. What does he mean we can’t close today? What’s the issue!?

I sat in the rocking chair in my parents’ guest room and tried to take some deep breaths. Is this a joke? I texted back that this was not okay and that my truck was loaded and I was not given any warning that the scheduled closing may not actually happen. Jason responded and said that the underwriter hadn’t given a “clear to close” and that he was talking to them now and would call me when he was done.

He called a few minutes later and I had collected myself enough to not totally tell him off—a trait I’m prone to and that I work hard at trying to breath through so I’m not as hurtful in my reactions as my nature would let me be. He explained that the underwriter was taking longer than expected. I asked why they scheduled the closing if the underwriter wasn’t finished yet, to which he didn’t seem to have an answer. I had no idea everything wasn’t finalized and I told him that. I mean, they sent a message that funds were transferred and everything on my end was signed and sealed. For goodness’ sake, the closing was in less than two hours, but they were still waiting for the underwriter to give a green light? It seemed so absurd. Jason apologized and agreed that it was incredibly unprofessional and that he’d be riding the underwriter to get the clear finalized so we could close next week. I wasn’t too kind to Jason on the phone, understandably very upset, and I do regret some of my words and harsh tone. But, as my mom often says, there’s a difference between anger and righteous anger…and, in this case, I feel it was righteous anger as I was feeling. Nevertheless, it’s still anger and dwelling on anger and bitterness will only cause more harm.

I had to get away for a while, so I took my loaded truck to my storage unit and proceeded to unload everything I had just that morning loaded. I then started driving. Driving is sometimes good for me to clear my head and sort through emotions. And, since my storage unit is in the heart of the new town I’ll soon call home, I figured I needed to find my way around this town without using my GPS. So, I started going in the direction that I thought was correct.

After a while, I finally came out of the town in a place that I recognized—miles away from where I thought I’d come out and in the opposite direction of where I wanted to head. As I approached the big road (Delaware’s Route 1, which is the closest thing to a highway we have in Southern Delaware), I looked at my dashboard and noticed a little letter on it that I don’t think I had noticed before: S. I was headed south. I wanted to head north. And, what in the world!? My truck has a compass!?

I don’t think I had ever paid attention to my truck’s compass before, but there it was, smack dab in the middle of my dashboard above my odometer and speedometer. My truck is a 2020 and I bought it new, so for nearly five years now I’ve been looking straight at my compass without realizing it was telling me the direction I was driving in. That would have been so incredibly useful! Yes, I almost always have my phone’s GPS up on its dashboard mount, but there are times when I think I know the way and don’t use the GPS, then inevitably get turned around. My sense of direction is fairly non-existent.

I started driving, north this time after I successfully got on the big road going in the right direction. While driving, I passed a field that had been freshly harvested and cut back. I think it was a corn field, though I’m not certain. Delaware is a heavily agricultural state, with lots of corn, soy, alfalfa, beans, and other crops so beautifully and neatly grown in large farms that line its roads and give this coastal state with its beaches and wildlife sanctuaries and small towns a rural Midwest vibe. Anyway, in this one probably-corn field, I saw two bald eagles quite close to the road—a female with her brown variegated feathers and a male with his white head and dark brown body feasting together on some sort of fresh carcass. 

This was so cool. And rare! I slowed down a bit and the eagles seemed unphased. I thought of taking a picture, but then there was the issue of the carcass and that, to me, was gross. I have no interest in having an image of a gory carcass on my phone. Personally, I get incredibly grossed out this time of year when so many friends show pictures of their fresh hunting kills on social media. I’m not a hunter. I’ve never been hunting. I don’t imagine I’ll ever go hunting. I support those who enjoy it and their right to do so if they’re responsible about it, but it’s definitely not for me. And this is coming from someone who was at one time a biology major and who has had the incredibly exciting privilege of examining a cadaver up-close. I don't mind gore in clinical or scientific settings, but I don't want to display it or carry it around in my pocket. But, again, I digress…

I continued on my way, thinking about those eagles. They were so majestic. Was this a sign? I believe in signs and see them often. I shared a few months ago with some photos on Instagram (see part one of the post here and see part two of the post here) about how rainbows are often a sign to me and how multiple rainbows seen on a road trip to and from a faith gathering reassured me that The Almighty was still in control, despite confusion and conflict in our immediate view down here on Earth. If the eagles were a sign, what did it mean? I just decided that, like the rainbows, it was reassurance that there’s a much bigger picture and that my little moment of angst with my classic first-world problem of not being able to move into my brand spankin’ new home on the day I planned to is indeed not the end of the world. I took some more deep breaths and continued to feel better.

A mile or two further up the big road, I saw another bald eagle—another male feasting on another carcass. If the first two weren’t enough of a sign, the incredible low odds of seeing another in such a short time span sure was. I felt whole again and ready to address the morning’s mortgage and closing delay situation with a much more clear head and focused vision.

I stopped at Grotto Pizza for lunch. For those of you who have never heard of or been to Grotto’s, as it’s familiarly called, I’ll let you know that it’s a Southern Delaware mainstay—boardwalk pizza that’s honestly not my favorite, but rather a tradition, with restaurants popping up all over the bottom half of the state and not just on its coastline. I had a guilty-pleasure comfort appetizer favorite, fried broccoli bites, followed by half of a meatball sub that brought me incredible gastronomic happiness, all washed down with a Diet Coke. I then did some window shopping and checked out upcoming Black Friday deals for new couches, a dining room table, a new main TV, and other things that I’ll soon be buying to fill my new townhome. It was just what I needed.

After using my newfound compass and determination to learn without the GPS to swiftly and safely and much-more-directly return back to my parents’ house, I emailed Jason. Because I took the time to settle my mind, I’m glad to say that my email was much more clear and kind that it would have otherwise been if I had sent it in my immediate frustration that his morning text and call created. I was firm, don’t get me wrong, and called out the profound unprofessionalism in this situation…especially because, after I talked to my closing agent who, if you’ll recall from paragraph four I was assuming was also planning on closing that day, I learned that she had heard a few days earlier from my mortgage company that they needed to delay until Monday to finalize details with the underwriter. So apparently, a few days earlier, Jason knew about the delay but no one bothered to tell me until I had packed up my entire life and was almost on my way to the appointment. As is my literal job to do as a communications coach and consultant, I emphasized in my email to Jason and his boss Karen, with their entire team copied, that communication is so incredibly important and they had seriously dropped the ball on it.

Communication is one of the top things—if not the single top thing—that business professionals get wrong, screw up, and don't put enough effort or emphasis on, and it's also one of the simplest things that you can fix to vastly improve relationships, retention, and revenue.

A few minutes after I sent my strong but hopefully non-abusive email, I got a response from Jason thanking me for it and acknowledging their failure. He said he’d call me later in the day with a plan for Monday. Of course, that was yesterday afternoon, and now it’s Saturday afternoon with still no call, so perhaps Jason didn’t really learn a lesson in proper communication. Whatever. It’ll work out.

Life can be a series of disappointments and frustrations or a series of silver linings, depending on how a person looks at it. So, I’m focusing on the good. One good thing is I had saved all of my ready-to-go Christmas cards with change-of-address announcements for my friends and family until after closing, as my gut said not to mail them until I was in my new place because there was always the possibility of last-minute hiccups. So, those are still unmailed, which is good because I want to be sure I’m physically in my new address before everyone gets it.

Another silver lining is that this happened on a Friday and that meant that a fresh episode of The Great British Bake Off dropped, which helped distract and uplift me a little bit more. I also get a bonus weekend staying with my parents, three fewer days of paying a new mortgage, and an opportunity to once again learn the lesson that just because things don't go as planned doesn't mean that the way they go isn't the way it was supposed to go. 

And, I learned that my truck has a compass.

Your compass is your morality, your gut, your heart, your standards, your conscience, your Jiminy Cricket. We’ve all got a compass, whether or not we notice it, realize it’s there, trust it, or let it guide us. For me, my compass lately has been schooling me in how to treat people. I’m a human prone to anger, bitterness, pugnaciousness, and damaging behavior just like everyone else. My compass tells me to try to control that.

So, despite its disappointments, yesterday was a win for my compasses—both the one in my truck and the one in my heart. And I hope that, on all of our disappointing days, we can all ultimately end up in the direction our compasses tell us we should be heading.

…

Update on Wednesday: 

We didn’t close on Monday. In fact, I had to fire Jason and Karen last night. Long, gory story short, it seems this whole wait-until-right-before-closing-then-pull-out-the-rug tactic was intentional. After mass confusion and plenty of misinformation, they tried to slip in a nearly-two-points-higher interest rate on what they said was a redone loan because of an error they had made and miraculously discovered the morning of the closing. So, I called them out on their shady scheme and let them go. Be very careful, friends, as scammers and tricksters are everywhere and their wily little tactics are awfully sly.

I’ve decided to not mortgage my new place after all and have sent a message to the builder to rescheduled my closing while I prepare alternate funding. All being well, I should be able to close early next week to be in my new place by Thanksgiving and still be able to break in my brand new stainless GE oven (I think I’m more excited about all of the brand new appliances as I am about the new home!) to bake the pies for our family’s feast next Thursday. I can’t wait!

What a saga. 

...

Marty Johnson is the Communication and Vision Coach at AYM High Consultants, a columnist, and an editor, producing the mail and business center industry's leading magazine, MBC Today. In 2023, he sold his popular and growing brand, Uncle Marty’s Shipping Office, and retired from shopkeeper life to focus on writing and coaching. Subscribe to his Ask Uncle Marty™ newsletter and read more at askunclemarty.com; follow him on socials @askunclemarty. #AskUncleMarty

Burying the Hatchet

As I sat at my parents’ kitchen bar this morning to eat my leftover sesame chicken (last night’s Chinese takeout dinner), I noticed a copy of the Cape Gazette sitting there. Printed newspapers are almost a novelty in 2024, so as I ate, I started flipping through the pages, remembering days when I was young and reading the daily newspaper was an actual thing.

Between delicious bites of reheated globby morsels coated in white rice (sesame chicken is always better the next day, isn’t it?), I stumbled on a page that talked about “Return Day” in nearby Georgetown, Delaware—the county seat for Sussex County, where my parents live and where I too will be officially be calling home in just a matter of days.

Return Day is a formal celebration attended by incumbent, incoming, and staying-on elected officials from the State of Delaware where the recent election results are formally read, there’s a parade, the public celebrates unity with red, blue, and purple people all breaking bread together, and a literal hatchet is symbolically buried in sand from nearby Lewes Beach. Pictured in the Cape Gazette, front and center, were the chairs of Delaware’s Democratic, Libertarian, and Republican parties all standing side by side together; the governor and governor-elect were there, as well as lots of other people. Some where even dressed in Punxutawney-esque top hats and tails.

What a thing! In a country where we hear all the time how divided we are, fueled by media that loves the drama of division, here in my new home state people were celebrating unity, literally coming together to bury the hatchet after the election and find ways to move on together as one people full of diverse opinions, practices, priorities, and principles. My heart was so warmed by the article, just as my belly was being so warmed by the reheated-a-minute-too-long sesame chicken.

I know differences in politics, especially this year, are stark. I’ve seen so many posts about how “agreeing to disagree” is fine in principle, but not when it comes to misogyny, racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and so much more. And I agree that those harmful ideologies, as I’ve written about before, transcend politics and religion and all other things and should be called out and removed. But, as I’ve also written about, we’re not going to get anywhere by warring amongst ourselves. The best thing I can do (as in a topic like this I suppose the best thing I can do is just speak for myself) is to set an example of being inclusive and loving and also speak up for what I know is right and hope others do too, but not spit hate and name-call and sling insults at and cut out of my life others who have yet to learn the valuable lesson of the immense power in good-neighborliness.

Delaware is officially a blue state, but really is much more purple than blue. I saw a video not too long ago about how if our country’s electoral map was variegated shades of purple instead of divisive state-by-state blue and red distinctions, then we’d all feel much more connected and part of each other’s stories instead of at odds with each other. I agree with that and think that simple change would do wonders for our national conversation. But hope and love don’t sell clicks nearly as much as division does, I’m afraid. 

In Delaware, I’m thrilled to see that we elected the very first out trans person to ever hold a seat in congress, setting an example for our country and hopefully building bridges as other members of congress get to meet her and learn that she’s a beautiful part of creation just like they are. We’ve also just elected only the fourth ever in history Black woman to the senate—a statistic that shocked me when I heard it and I’m so proud to be in a state that values representation and has done a little bit to rectify a horribly unbalanced system. This incoming senate roster will be the first time in American history that two Black women will have served at the same time. How this is a fact in such a diverse country of ours is really a statement to how much work we have yet to do, but as an optimist with a core value to share positivity and not negativity, I want to focus on the positive and how this little step that Delaware has made is making a big difference. Onward!

What in our lives, especially after such a hard-to-watch election this past year, can use a good dose of hatchet burying? I can think of a lot of things in my circles—things which people are so angry, so hateful, so stubborn, and so blatantly disrespectful about. It's my opinion that we all need to be kinder and realize more clearly that loving our neighbor and giving them the freedom to love, worship, believe, and trust as they want is more important than trying to correct, control, or condescend to them. So, maybe with your help, as if you’re reading my column you hopefully are open to sharing a little bit of positivity and upward-motion as I also am, we can all do our best to continue to reach out to our neighbors, be there to show them we’re not horrible people but instead just fellow humans trying to figure everything out, and that we’d love to stand side by side and embrace our differences…and bury the hatchet, together.

...

Marty Johnson is the Communication and Vision Coach at AYM High Consultants, a columnist, and an editor, producing the mail and business center industry's leading magazine, MBC Today. In 2023, he sold his popular and growing brand, Uncle Marty’s Shipping Office, and retired from shopkeeper life to focus on writing and coaching. Subscribe to his Ask Uncle Marty™ newsletter and read more at askunclemarty.com; follow him on socials @askunclemarty. #AskUncleMarty

A Case for Email

Email has fallen out of favor with a lot of people. Some think it's too old-school and/or cumbersome, but I want to state my case as to why it's still incredibly relevant…and why it should be used more. 

Yes, more.

My colleague Fahim and I have written about the importance of professional communication in past articles like “Respectful Responsiveness: How to Be Professional in Email and Text” and “Consistently Clear Communication.” If you haven’t read those two articles, please do so as they have lots of important gems in them that will really make you shine as a more proactive, productive, and prudent professional. I won’t rehash everything expressed in those articles, but there are a two very important—yet often lost—points we make in “Respectful Responsiveness” that I want to re-make here:

1) If initiating communication, choose the medium that’s appropriate. Do not interrupt someone’s day with a text or direct message that is not time sensitive. Instead, with any non-urgent things or updates, simply send them an email so they can check when they have time later and not have to pause what they’re doing to get unimportant information.

2) When responding to communication, respond the same way it was sent to you. Do not text someone back when they first sent you an email unless they asked you to specifically or there’s an overarching circumstance that would require immediate notice back to them. 

I believe stongly that the vast majority of professional communication can and should be via email, including what’s often done by text and what’s often done in meetings. Email is searchable. It’s orderly. It can be labeled and filed. And it’s something most people have a dedicated time of day to sort through, rather than trying to volley back non-time-sensitive messages all day, losing focused, productive time.

In an email, you can CC people who should be looped in but don’t necessarily have to respond or be involved in the conversation. That’s what the CC field is for. Be sure to put those from whom you need a response or those to whom the message is directed in the To section and then use the CC section for heads-ups and loop-ins. This is important in responses too, so in responding simply rearrange the To and CC sections accordingly.

In email, you can install Grammarly or another spelling- and grammar-checking widget. This is very important. Other professionals may not take you seriously if your email looks like it was written by a kid texting their buddy with acronyms, fragmented sentences, and lack of clarity. 

Of course, over-emailing is also a thing. This is where the all-important professional traits of thoughtfulness and discernment come in. Keep notes and consolidate your thoughts into fewer, fuller emails so you’re not firing off messages left and right with every little thought you have. Notes apps work wonders for this type of thing. Just keep a daily note where you write down little things you have to tell someone, then once in a while send them a bulleted email with your thoughts. 

If you use email for marketing, check out a recent article that my mentor, colleague, and BFAM (brother from another mother) Fahim wrote: “The Power of a Monthly Newsletter.” It’s important to not over-saturate your email lists with unnecessary communications. Open rates will drop and you’ll start getting lots of people unsubscribing. Instead, consider collecting and consolidating messages into digest form.

If you do text marketing or notifications, understand that they are not for everyone. I acknowledge that younger generations and select individuals from my generation and older are okay with texts from businesses…and, in fact, many prefer it. So, I won’t yuck their yums, but I will caution that those who use text marketing understand that it’s simply not for everyone and that there’s a large group of people, including Uncle Marty here, who would prefer to opt out of it. Especially obnoxious are marketing texts or appointment confirmations that come outside of normal okay-to-text-someone hours. Why people schedule texts for early mornings or weekends is something I truly don’t understand, and nothing will get me to unsubscribe faster to a text campaign than if the text wakes me up from a lovely morning snooze sesh. 

Can you all do me a solid? The next time you get out your phone to text a vendor, client, or colleague something, ask yourself if it’s really important enough to break their concentration and elicit an immediate response. Could it be better served in an email that they could then read when they’re focusing on communication later in the day or early the next business day? I think, in doing this, you’ll find your productivity and the productivity of your colleagues increasing, your notes and information easier to organize and search, and the anxiety levels across your worksphere abate…just a little bit.

And then also do me another solid. If you’re like me and get thoroughly irritated every time your phone bleeps at you, and, like me, due to responsibilities outside of your control don’t have the luxury of silencing your phone, then put up some hard boundaries. I’ve done this and it’s given me a little more peace. I’ve removed all email and social notifications from my phone; I will check email and socials on my own time and on my own schedule, not when the notification wants me to. I also only initiate and respond to texts during certain windows that I’ve established for my own sanity: with friends and family, between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.; with business-related things, during business hours on business days. This means that if my best friend texts me at 10 p.m. and it’s not an emergency, she won’t get a response until the next day; if a vendor texts me on a Sunday or a holiday, they won’t get a response until the next business day. This, in my mind at least (even if they may not notice or realize it), is doing what I can to not encourage others’ bad habits by texting at personally inappropriate or grossly unprofessional times. Boundaries are so healthy.

Recently, my colleagues at AYM High Consultants and I had a good chat about this. The team members who were handling AYM High’s emails, calls, and texts were answering them at all hours, as people, when given permission (and often without permission), will reach out at odd hours with no regard to the fact that they might be interrupting someone’s sleep, meals, or prayers. So, after a good discussion and an announcement to our clients with our new response times, we successfully put up proper boundaries to not answer emails, calls, and texts outside of business hours. The boundaries we now have put in place for ourselves are awesome, allowing us much more focused time and a much healthier relationship with our clients. It also trains our clients to be more professional in their outreach and response timing, so we feel we’re doing our duty as their business coaches by standing by our own boundaries in hopes that they will put up and stand behind theirs.

All this being said, I acknowledge my bias on this topic. I’m a middle-aged man who is admittedly over-particular when it comes to things like this—a trait that, frankly, makes me quite a good editor and communication coach. It’s my job to notice these things and it’s my personality to be considerably irritated by the same. I don’t have a mind that can keep all the facts, names, numbers, topics, clients, events, and everything else I’m involved with straight, so I instead rely on a detailed system of notes and reminders and conversation chains to keep everything sorted out and accessible when I need to remind myself of something that’s going on.

I also acknowledge the effectiveness of text marketing. I may have disparaged it a bit in this article, so want to make sure I also state that I believe it has its place; there are a lot of people who like it and respond well to it. My colleagues at AYM High communicate with a lot of our clients via text and it seems to be favorable for most people. It’s not for me, but then again I’m certainly not most people. 

I in no way mean to disparage connectedness, technology, multiple platforms, or keeping in touch. I'm simply trying to make an argument for a technology—good ol' email—that some have all but given up on, but I still find to be incredibly necessary in 2024 business. I simply want to make the point that email is still very relevant, and it’s certainly the way to go for anything that’s official, important, of-record, or formal. I love change and progress, but I do fear that we lose some basic professionalism as options for communication become so prolific. 

In non-professional settings, please text your friends and family. Call them. Interrupt their days to share silly things that reinforce your relationships and bring them joy. That’s so important. But just be aware of proper boundaries when it comes to late nights and early mornings if you know they’re not a late night or early morning person. And for professional communication, please keep business stuff to business hours, send emails for non-time-sensitive things, and let’s all do what we can to establish and reinforce essential oft-lost boundaries in our uber-connected entirely-too-accessible world.

 ...

Marty Johnson is the Communication and Vision Coach at AYM High Consultants, a columnist, and an editor, producing the mail and business center industry's leading magazine, MBC Today. In 2023, he sold his popular and growing brand, Uncle Marty’s Shipping Office, and retired from shopkeeper life to focus on writing and coaching. Subscribe to his Ask Uncle Marty™ newsletter and read more at askunclemarty.com; follow him on socials @askunclemarty. #AskUncleMarty

November / December 2024 Edition of MBC Today

  

The November / December 2024 edition of MBC Today (Volume 26 Issue 6) just dropped. As it's the end-of-year edition, per tradition the digital version is unlocked for anyone to read and the print version is sent industry-wide, rather than just to AMBC Members and AMBC Trusted Suppliers. Check it out at https://lp841d.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/MBC-Today-Volume-26-Issue-6.pdf

Thank you to all who contributed to this issue of the retail print, mailbox, packing, shipping, and business center industry's leading publication, keeping both independent and franchise stores across the country up to date, in the loop, and networked together. It's a privilege to produce and edit this publication, but it's because of your hard work that it has such rich content.

I'll share my Letter From the Editor below. Enjoy!

...

Dear Readers,

Like many of you, I was saddened by the news of Theresa Whitley Starr's recent passing. She was a fixture at industry events for many, many years, and someone whom I considered a good buddy. As a ShipRite user for most of my career, I interacted with her quite a bit and she was always so warm and caring, giving me a big hug every time I saw her at a conference or training session. She truly will be missed.

It's relationships like those that Theresa had with so many of us in our industry that makes this network we have so special. In many ways, we're a big extended family with all of the quirks that come along with a family: camaraderie, common bonds, maybe an eye roll now and then, occasional disagreements, inside jokes, similar interests, similar struggles, and, above all, a whole lot of love. It's a true privilege to be part of.

As this is the November / December edition of MBC Today, the digital version is fully unlocked for anyone to read on ambc4me.org and the printed version gets sent out industry-wide, rather than just to AMBC Members as is the case with the other five issues of the year. To all of you who only read this magazine once per year as a result, and to those of you who may be reading it for the first time, welcome! Please consider all of the other benefits AMBC has to offer (ambc4me.org/benefits) and please at least take advantage of the no-commitment $5 first month membership offer (ambc4me.org/join-today). I may be biased as this publication's editor and producer, but when you do your initial membership trial, be sure to take advantage of the unlocked archives of past issues of MBC Today in the members only section of the website and dig into decades of past issues of this industry-leading publication and all of the richness each edition holds.

I know many of you are still abuzz about AMBC-U, the online and on-demand training platform that is bringing not only AMBC's certified courses in packing, shipping, and CMRA to people on their own schedule, but also now has incredible streaming seminars in printing, guest services, and more. It continues to grow and is something I am so proud to see being successful. I had the privilege on working on the concept many years ago when I was AMBC Board Chair and to see that vision a reality as a result of so many incredibly hard-working board and staff members is uplifting. If you haven't delved into AMBC-U yet, I hope you'll soon discover the incredible wealth of training, certifications, and knowledge available at your fingertips. Check it out: ambc4me.org/ambc-u.

Here's to a record-breaking December for each and every one of you. Stay hydrated, take your vitamins, and remember that a smile will produce better results than almost any other tool in your toolbox.

With gratitude and care,

Marty Johnson (he/him)

Columnist | Ask Uncle Marty™
Editor & Producer | MBC Today
Founder | Uncle Marty's Shipping Office
Communication & Vision Coach | AYM High Consultants
Co-Host | To-Be-Announced Podcast Launching Soon(ish)
askunclemarty.com · @askunclemarty · #AskUncleMarty

Milton Mail Boxes

I want to tell you a little story about a little store and a lovely couple running it whose potential is anything but little: Angela and Zach of Milton Mail Boxes in Milton, Delaware.

Those who've read my column regularly know that this past year has brought a lot of changes in my life: semi-retirement after selling my business, Uncle Marty's Shipping Office, my part-time post-retirement coaching career ramping up with the launch of AYM High Consultants, the selling of my home in Ithaca, New York, the building of a new home to be closer to my parents in Milford, Delaware, a move from old to new home, and quite a bit of travel interspersed—mostly to visit clients of AYM High, but also a little leisure traveling too (like the nine-day cruise I just returned from). Life has been so incredibly different than the six-day-a-week retail shipping business existence I had known for the majority of my career. This December will be my first December in a long time not covered in tape and surrounded by gifts to pack and ship; I'll hardly know what to do with myself! I suppose I'll just have to hit nearby Rehoboth Beach in my new coastal Delaware life, sip my Diet Coke, eat my Thrasher's boardwalk fries, and think of you all still busting your behinds behind your counters.

I jest...sort of. It's true that I won't be running a shipping store this December season, but I'll still be plenty busy helping AYM High clients continue to soar during their busiest month of the year. And I'll be stopping in to visit Zach and Angela at Milton Mail Boxes, the neighborhood shipping store that has become my go-to place for packing, shipping, shredding, printing, and all of the good things that I built a career selling. It's strange to pay someone else to do that now, but it's a good strange. Despite their schemes to not allow me to pay full price, I still insist on it. Angela and Zach are simply wonderful people who make my life so much easier.

I first stopped into Milton Mail Boxes a number of months ago and Zach was working alone, busy, and yet still took time to greet me, flash a big, bright smile, and make me feel very welcome. When we got to chatting, I asked him if he used ShipRite or PostalMate® and he gave me a slightly dropped-jaw look, bemused that some stranger off the street knew about the very specific industry software options available to a retail shipping business. Milton Mail Boxes, it turns out, are ShipRite users, and as a ShipRite user myself for most of my career we got to talking about a few tips and tricks in the software. After we chatted a while, I gave Zach my contact information, information about other businesses I thought he'd get some useful information and inspiration from following online, and information about AMBC and the incredible network that it is for independent and franchise shipping, printing, mailbox, and business centers.

The next time I stopped into Milton Mail Boxes, I met Angela. Zach had purchased Milton Mail Boxes before he met Angela, but after they were married she came on board with the business, giving up her career as a corporate pastry chef, and making a huge difference in processes, creating some standard operating procedures (SOPs—absolutely essential to any business looking to start a team and build an exit strategy, no matter how down the road that may seem), and adding another gigantic smile to the bright, cheery arsenal of warm grins that are their biggest assets.

Visit after visit, I got to know Zach and Angela more and more. We have become friends and, honestly, they're probably the first genuine friends outside of family and church that I've made since moving to Delaware. They joined AMBC and found tremendous wealth in its network and resources, have implemented new strategies with ShipRite, have added services and tweaked rates, and, little by little, are really working hard to create an absolutely stellar business.

One night a month or so ago, Angela and Zach took me out to an amazing Italian restaurant to share an evening of friendship...and to pick my brain a little bit. It was wonderful! While I only have a small amount of Italian genes (Sardinian, to be specific), I do come from a heavily Italian community in New York and, since moving, have been missing authentic Italian food terribly. Let me tell you, the chicken parm at Touch of Italy in Rehoboth Beach is something to write home about. I was so grateful for their kindness in taking me there.

Most recently, Zach, Angela, and I were talking about their front windows. I hope they don't mind me sharing this, but when I first visited one of the first things I noticed was the window clutter from old signs and mismatched marketing materials. I had suggested that they gut the windows and make some new signage that included a clearly defined service list, carrier-approved logos, and basically clean up some of the confusion to make their messaging clearer. So, on my last visit to their shop, Zach took me to their design computer and showed me what he had come up with...and I was so incredibly impressed! Soon after, while I was away for a few weeks on client visits, industry events, and aforementioned cruise, he texted me photos of what he had printed and installed. Wow! What a difference!

Getting to know Angela and Zach has been a true honor; it's honestly been an inspiration. I'm going to be stopping in as often as I can when I'm in town to see each time how much they continue to grow and improve.

And maybe, just maybe, this December if I'm pining for packing peanuts and holiday shipping chaos while sipping aforementioned Diet Coke and eating aforementioned Thrasher's boardwalk fries, I'll pop in to see if they need any help with crowd control or packing up gifts. That is, if they'll indulge me...

... 

Marty Johnson is the Communication and Vision Coach at AYM High Consultants, a columnist, and an editor, producing the mail and business center industry's leading magazine, MBC Today. In 2023, he sold his popular and growing brand, Uncle Marty’s Shipping Office, and retired from shopkeeper life to focus on writing and coaching. Subscribe to his Ask Uncle Marty™ newsletter and read more at askunclemarty.com; follow him on socials @askunclemarty. #AskUncleMarty 

...

Article slated to be published in MBC Today volume 26 issue 6 on November 1, 2024.

PRINTING United Expo '24

Last week, on behalf of AYM High Consultants, I attended the massive PRINTING United Expo ’24 in Las Vegas. The show took over two full halls at the Las Vegas Convention Center, with over 800 exhibitors from all over the world and roughly 30,000 attendees!

I spent three days at the convention center, fueled by my favorite Vegas bagels and schmear from adjacent Siegel’s Bagelmania, walking roughly 11 miles each day to try to cover as much of the show as I could and visit with as many exhibitors and attendees as I could.

I went for a four main reasons:

    1)    I love Vegas and will make any excuse to go

    2)    I wanted to see what other consultants there were doing, if they had booths or not, and have some chats with others in similar spaces to learn from them

    3)      To meet with exhibitors and source special requested information, products, equipment, and services for AYM High clients—whom we now call “Soarers”

    4)      To meet up with industry colleagues from the Association of Mail & Business Centers and other organizations and contacts I’ve made over the years to network and continue positive relationship building

I didn’t encounter too many other consultants there though. Are there not many doing what we do in the printing world? Up until now, with AYM High Consultants we’ve really been specializing in the mailbox, print, packing, and retail shipping industry and I thought surely there would be others specifically specializing in print. But I didn’t find too many—if any! This tells me there’s a great opportunity there, so I’m excited to look more into it to see how AYM High can help small and medium print shops get started, get going, and keep growing.

By the end of the three days, I had compiled three full bags of swag, catalogs, business cards, brochures, and giveaways, including a giant pile of pens to bring to my BFAM (brother from another mother) Fahim, who is a tradeshow pen aficionado. I left myself over 100 voice memos during my visits so I could later sit down and sort through all of the information I gained, and ended up compiling a 25-page document full of ideas, photos, contacts, and suggestions that we’ve now shared exclusively with our Soarers.

I also had a great time meeting with organizers of the PRINTING United Expo. Will AYM High be presenting there next year when the show happens in Orlando? There’s a good chance! And an even better chance we’ll be even more involved in 2026 when the show comes back to Vegas. Stay tuned!

Check out AYM High Consultants’ socials @aymhighconsultants or my personal socials @askunclemarty for photos and videos from the experience.

…

Marty Johnson is the Communication and Vision Coach at AYM High Consultants, a columnist, and an editor, producing the mail and business center industry's leading magazine, MBC Today. In 2023, he sold his popular and growing brand, Uncle Marty’s Shipping Office, and retired from shopkeeper life to focus on writing and coaching. Subscribe to his Ask Uncle Marty™ newsletter and read more at askunclemarty.com; follow him on socials @askunclemarty. #AskUncleMarty

September / October 2024 Edition of MBC Today

 

The September / October 2024 edition of MBC Today (volume 26 issue 5) just dropped. A free preview version is available on the homepage of the Association of Mail & Business Centers (ambc4me.org) and AMBC Members may access the full version in the Members Only section of the site; AMBC Members will also receive their printed copy in the mail soon!

Thank you to all who contributed to this issue of the mail and business center (MBC) industry's leading publication, keeping both independent and franchise stores across the country up to date, in the loop, and networked together. It's a privilege to produce and edit this publication, but it's because of your hard work that it has such rich content.

I'll share my Letter From the Editor below. Enjoy!

...

Dear Readers,

I had lunch today with a dear friend. She was in town knocking Delaware off of her visit-all-50-states-before-age-50 list and I was in town between consulting jobs for a day or two to get some laundry done and repack my suitcase, so the timing worked out perfectly.

We went to Big Fish Grille, a local Rehoboth Beach favorite. I had seafood pasta and she had the herb crusted cod. We sat and talked non-stop for nearly two hours, each so happy to see each other and get updates on what we've been up to the past year or two since we last hung out at an AMBC event.

As we were visiting, I was reminded what a truly unique industry we're in. The friendships we make are genuine; the relationships we forge are strong. We see each other like no one else sees us, because we have this weird, wacky thing in common: owning retail shipping businesses.

Over lunch, my friend told me all about her latest ventures—property and business acquisitions, new equipment, new staff, new products, new services—and I told her all about what I've been up to. She is absolutely killing it and I'm proud and grateful to call her a mentor of mine as I learn from her and continue to be inspired by her incredible success and the impact she has had on her community. She's a rock star.

As I travel quite often now with AYM High and visit clients, present at events, and participate in summits across the country, I'm admittedly having a hard time keeping things and people straight. I have to keep detailed notes and spreadsheets to remember conversations, who's who, what's what, and sometimes even where I am at any given time. My brain just doesn't file people, places, and anecdotes away like some other people can. But, despite all of the new stimuli, people, places, ventures, and adventures, one thing remains the same: relationships.

As I've said so often over the years in this magazine, on my blog, and in presentations at events, we are in the business of relationships, not transactions. We forge bonds. We solve problems. We sell solutions, not products or services. We treat people right and do our best to live by the golden rule, because only then will this all-too-karmic universe open up doors that we couldn't even approach on our own.

This issue of MBC Today is, once again, filled with relationship-oriented content. Why? Because AMBC is a non-profit, member-run organization, built on relationships and strong in relationships. Its #membershelpingmembers philosophy is its secret to success and using that same philosophy in your business will be your secret to success. I promise.

With gratitude and care,

Marty Johnson (he/him)

Columnist | Ask Uncle Marty™
Editor & Producer | MBC Today
Founder | Uncle Marty's Shipping Office
Communication & Vision Coach | AYM High Consultants
Co-Host | To-Be-Announced Podcast Launching Soon(ish)
askunclemarty.com · @askunclemarty · #AskUncleMarty