Product Spotlight: The Mighty Badge®

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Are you in a business where you hire temporary staff, experience a high turnover rate, host events, or looking for flexibility when creating name badges?  This professional name badge system offers a quick, easy way to create and customize reusable name badges. These versatile badges feature a metal plate, elegant domed lens cover and printable transparency that you can replace again and again. The stationary kit contains everything you need to get started, including 10 reusable badge plates (silver or gold); 10 Lens covers; two crystal-clear, printable insert sheets for 40 badge inserts; two bright white, printable insert sheets for 40 badge inserts; 10 magnet fasteners; 10 pin fasteners; and name badge design software. Letter-size, insert sheets are compatibleMighty Badge Fan with inkjet and laser printers. Simply print and peel off the nonadhesive label to apply to the metal plate. The software gives you the flexibility of printing only what you need when you need it so you can reuse the same insert sheet. Choose from a magnetic fastener or pin fastener to hold the badge in place.  They are available in both rectangular or oval shapes.  Once you have the name badge holders, insert refills are available to update your name badges whenever you like.

  • Promote a new product
  • Acknowledge an employee-of-the-month
  • Create holiday-themed badges
  • Great for temporary employees
  • Update the last name of a recently married employee
  • Advertise store promotions
  • Promote your website
  • You’re only limited by your imagination!

We’ve got The Mighty Badge in stock and ready to ship to your desk tomorrow.  Visit our website at www.FirstClassSOS.com for more information.

Optical Media Prices On The Rise

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We recently received this information from one of our wholesalers and wanted to pass it along to you…

All media vendors have been increasing the pricing on optical media (CD & DVD discs). So far increases are exceeding 30% and it is believed that they will go up again after the 1st of the year.
There are many reasons for these increases:

  • Petroleum costs fluctuation
  • Transportation costs are escalating
  • Manpower costs are increasing overseas
  • For some, licensing fee increases
  • Japan has some effect as they sell the special coating for some folks.
  • Demand has dropped significantly as we all choose to store data/music/pictures/movies on flash media and using the “cloud” storage which allow us to stream data directly to our devices.

Please keep this in mind as you consider your options for data storage.

Product Spotlight: Speedy Spine™ by Samsill

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Speedy Spine Binder

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Nominated in the category Best Product – Core Office Products of the 2011 North American Office Products Awards is Samsill’s newest innovation in 3 ring binders: The Speedy Spine™ Binder.

If part your job requires that you prepare presentation materials, this product is just what you need to save you time and (more importantly) frustration!

These binders are available in round-ring and D-ring formats.  Sizes available include 1″, 1½”, 2″, and 3″ in either black or white.

There are also templates available to customize the spine of your binder.

Speedy Spine™ Ring Binder Features:

  •     Patent pending spine channel construction for the fastest and easiest spine label insertion.
  •     Save money and be more efficient by loading spine inserts in seconds.
  •     5 times faster than traditional view binders on the market.
  •     No more damaging spine labels by wiggling, pushing or forcing them down the spine.
  •     Clear overlay to customize front, spine and back cover.
  •     Ring mounted on back lid to reduce wear on paper.
  •     A Binders for Life™ product – Guaranteed for Life.

See it in action:

View this new product when you place your next order with us at FirstClassSOS.com

Newest Highlighter from Sharpie®

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Sharpie Gel highlighter provides their strongest smear protection across pen and marker inks and ink jet printouts.  Many ink highlighters can loosen pigments and ink from highlighted areas causing smudging or smearing.  The Sharpie Gel highlighter keeps pigments and ink intact allowing you to have a smear-free experience.

Sharpie Gel highlighter glides smoothly across the thinnest of pages without bleeding through.  Unlike a regular ink highlighter, the Sharpie Gel highlighter is unique in three important ways:

1) It goes on the page dry so you never need to worry about bleed through

2) Because it goes on the page dry, it works on all paper surfaces including glossy and thin papers, magazines and Bibles

3) It won’t dry out- even if you leave it uncapped.

For those frustrated with highlighters that smear, bleed through thin pages or dry out, you’ll quickly discover the Sharpie Gel highlighter solves these problems with ease.

So whatever you use your Sharpie Gel highlighter for:  a text book highlighter, a Bible highlighter, a notebook highlighter or a magazine highlighter, you’ll find it’s reliability will soon make it your everyday highlighter.

We have these new highlighters in stock!  Log in for discount pricing.  Don’t have an account?  Contact us to set one up.

Got funk in your office? Clean it up!

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For more information and the full Genuine Joe Product line, visit our website!

A healthy office is a productive office

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5 tips for a cleaner desk

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papersDoes this look familiar?  It’s not a picture of my desk, but it could be.  For some reason, filing papers is on the bottom of my list of things-to-do.  It seems that I always find something more important to do.  Lucky for me, Anne Chase Moeller’s dad had the same problem.  Her solution was to set aside one day a year (the second Monday in January) and proclaim it “National Clean Off Your Desk Day“  So…today is the day!

It’s time to wrangle those papers and get control of your desk once again.

Here are 5 tips to help you get your desk in order:

(and maybe even keep it in order, so that next year you can go out to lunch instead of clean your desk)

1.  Letter Trays

Letter TrayInstead of having one big pile of papers, create separate action trays for your desk based on the importance of the document.  The inbox is only for documents you haven’t looked at yet.  Once you touch it, look at it and take action.  Create a paper flow system that works for you and your job.

2.  Desk Organizer

Desk OrganizerOnly keep the items on your desk that you use on a daily basis – and have a place for them.  A desktop organizer can go a long way when you’re on the phone and you can’t find a pen.  If your supplies have a home, you will always know where you can find them.  You can even go one step further and get a desk drawer organizer and minimize the clutter on top of your desk even more.

3.  Vertical File System

vertical file systemWall-mounted vertical file systems are another way to get your desktop clutter under control.  There are many different configurations.  Most are modular, which means that you can add as many ‘pockets’ as you need.  There are also some that are magnetic – great for the side of a file cabinet.  If you are in a cubical – there are systems that easily attach over partition walls.

4.  Wastebasket/Shredder

WastebasketThis might seem like a no-brainer, but keeping a wastebasket within arm’s reach is a necessity if you want to keep control over your desktop.  When you don’t need the document anymore, don’t set it down…toss it! It’s also a good idea to have a shredder close by so that you can safely dispose of those documents which might have sensitive information in them.

5.  Cleaning Wipes

Cleaning WipesKeep a canister of cleaning wipes in your desk drawer.  Make a habit of wiping off your desk on Friday before you got home.  You’ll wipe away dust and germs, plus it might just help you keep your desk free of clutter.  Not only will you get sick less, Monday morning will be a lot less of a drag if you can start your day with a clean desk.  Cluttered desk = cluttered brain.

For these products and more, visit us at www.FirstClassSOS.com.

If you have a way to keep your desk organized that you’d like to share, leave your tip in the comments.

DIY Office Supply Christmas

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Here are a few DIY Christmas crafty ideas using office supplies…

Binder clips in all of their glory (make sure you have your sound turned on because it adds a dose of awesomeness to the viewing experience)

We featured this project last year, but it is worthy of a repeat appearance.  The power of a Sharpie® and cordless drill – BAM!

This is for those of you who don’t throw anything away (a sparkly gem-embellished wand is an added bonus)

Of course we always recommend shopping at your local independent office supply dealer ;)

It’s  @SHARPIESUSAN!

I hope this inspires you to look around your desk, get crafty, and show your Christmas spirit.  If you are inspired…please take a picture and post it to our Flickr Group.  We would love to see your creations and maybe we’ll even feature it in a future blog post!

Going Green Just Got Easier

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Our Favorite Office Objects: The Endlessly Versatile Binder Clip (via Lifehacker)

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Our Favorite Office Objects: The Endlessly Versatile Binder Clip

Shiny-Binder-Clip.jpgPatented 100 years ago to mitigate the time-consuming process of manually hole-punching and thread-binding papers and manuscripts, the classic piece of office-supply brilliance known as the binder clip deserves a prominent spot in every office, home, and quick-and-dirty DIYers’ toolkit.

A Brief History of Binder Clips

three-states.jpgLet’s marvel for a bit at the design mastery behind the binder clip. It’s made of one solid but flexible piece of steel and two hinged wires. When folded back, the binder clip’s metal hooks provide the leverage necessary to open the powerful spring-loaded clasp. After you’ve bound your papers (or whatever you’ve fit into the mouth of the binder clip), the metal arms fold forward, flush against the bound object. Or you can remove them altogether.

Unlike its older and significantly more simplistic cousin, the paperclip, the binder clip binds significantly larger stacks of paper together with ease; unlike staples, hole-punches, or thread, the binder clip is a completely non-destructive method of binding and organizing paper with a vice-like grip. (You can even completely remove the wires if you prefer to keep the clip fastened and want to lose the cruft.)

Per Wikipedia, the binder clip has undergone next to no significant design improvements or changes since it was invented nearly 100 years ago. You can find the indispensable gadgets in a variety of sizes, from the tiny roach-clip style to clamps the size of your hand (but with a significantly stronger grip).

In the UK, it’s called a bulldog clip. Yeah. Update: Reader Mark clarifies that the Bulldog clip is actually just a brand, like saying Kleenex instead of tissue.

Beyond Paper

So yeah, binder clips hold paper together. That’s not terribly sexy, and even the fact that it’s stood the test of time and remains one of the most reliable and ubiquitous office supplies doesn’t really change that. But the binder clip transcends the yawn-factor of office knighthood through the many brilliant and clever ways they’ve been put to use outside the piles of workspace papers. Let’s look at a few of our favorites:

Binder Clip as Cable Catcher

Our Favorite Office Objects: The Endlessly Versatile Binder ClipThe picture says it all, but you can also combine binder clips with magnets for an even better hidden alternative.

The Hipster PDA

hipster-pda.jpgSick of digital tools like Evernote and long for the days of analog capture? Personal productivity guru Merlin Mann’s classic Hipster PDA is a bundle of 3″x5″ notecards and a binder clip. Done.

Smartphone Stand

Our Favorite Office Objects: The Endlessly Versatile Binder Clip Combine binder clips with a sturdy sync cable and you’ve got yourself a syncing stand. Or you can do a little bending for a smartphone stand of a different style.

smartphone-stand.jpg

And So On

The binder clip can also stand in as emergency cuff links in a pinch, keep your toothpaste squeezed, stop hanging folders from sliding, create a quick DIY photo wall, hold your duvet cover, and more. It’s one of those “let your imagination run wild” DIY tools, and its surprising versatility seems almost endless.

So it’s in that spirit that we salute the classic binder clip, this editor’s favorite understated workplace timesaver.

Send an email to Adam Pash, the author of this post, at tips+adam@lifehacker.com.

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What now? every time i post a post with this pic it dont get posted and the text is all in a red background…

I had to not mention the word “D-ra,g’on f`ly”, ad rename the file to make it post ?

What the phuque is that about? Reply

MaxellDVD1 approved this comment

I use one to keep my cat5 cable nice and neat in my laptop bag. Reply

kflott promoted this comment

I did a Google search. Man did I see a ton of other clever uses.

Sleeve Holder:
Link: [davidscrimshaw.blogspot.com]
Pic: [2.bp.blogspot.com]

Bucket Tubing Holder:
Link: [silverbased.org]
Pic: [silverbased.org]

Wallet/Key-Chain:
Link: [www.realsimple.com]
Pic: [img4.realsimple.com]

Picture Holder:
Link: [www.realsimple.com]
Pic: [img4.realsimple.com]

Poster Hanger:
Links: [www.abovethemedia.com]
Pic: [www.abovethemedia.com]

I mainly use them to close bags of potato chips. Reply

Nice. I have friend who uses a binder clip, attached via elastic to the top tube of her bike. The clip is attached to her skirt to stop it riding up her legs. Disappointing for some, but reassuring for her. Reply

danielblakes approved this comment

There are three kinds of people in the world:Those that roll the toothpaste from the bottom up.

Those that don’t care.

And then Those that use a paperclip and fold the toothpaste tube from the bottom up.

I am proud to be the latter. Works wonders :D Reply

I buy the biggest of them all (1″ wide)and used them on cereal, potato chip, pretzel, cheetos, coffe bean bags an so on….At any time I have dozens in use…. work 1000 times better than those silly plastic clips. Reply

I use them as nose hair trimmers… not very effective, but hey. Reply

muteboy promoted this comment

At my previous job where I was basically a paper-shredder using an industrial shredder, we hated these. We had to remove each and every one to make sure it didn’t hurt the shredder.Now I use them as cable-catchers and I love them! Reply

You know when those crappy little plastic keyboard feet snap off? Yep, replace them with the little metal handles. Reply

I used a mini binder clip with one arm removed as a cable minder in my car to keep the power cable from flapping around between my 12v outlet and my PDA that I used for nav and music. The clip was the same color as the piece of trim that it clipped to and the whole solution was so tidy that most people never noticed it. Reply

I forget my cufflinks regularly and binder clips work great… in a pinch. Reply

How do you make the binder clip as cable catcher? I’m fiddling with one right now, and none of my cables fit through the clip. Reply

They are used in molecular biology labs around the world for holding gel electrophoresis rigs together.There’s even a company that sells stainless steel ones for this purpose. Reply

gotta say I love the binder clip photo wall, that’s pretty genius, beats buying picture frames for the home office where I’m the only person that sees them

[content.photojojo.com] Reply

You guys forgot this little thingy. [gizmodo.com] Reply

Platypus Man promoted this comment

Several uses of the binder clip were still not mentioned here Adam.Though, those uses may be better covered in a post on the Gawker blog not mentioned in the banner at the bottom of the page. Reply

Put several clips on their side and place your laptop on it to improve airflow and viewing angle.
#laptopstands Reply

Better iPhone stand that doesn’t require bending. Reply

It also makes the best money clip you can use. That’s been my “wallet” for the last 7 years. Reply

I use them as a money/card/license clip when wearing a suit or something where my real wallet is too bulky. Reply

cable catcher i didn’t even know her! Reply

I use them to clip the edges of blankets to furniture and as tie-offs for impromptu tents and forts in my daughter’s room.We also use them as clamps for small projects – especially school projects. Reply

I’ve been using this as a wallet for ten years now and I love it. Holds more cards and is actually smaller than most people’s wallets when they compare them to it. Reply

flinx1 promoted this comment

More office supply awesomeness!

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