Apprehension Towards Your Future

As I wind down this evening, I’m taking a few minutes to just dream about the future, especially the retirement future! I am feeling hopeful and excited, but I’m also feeling a tad bit apprehensive. Apprehensive that I haven’t planned financially as well as I could have? Apprehensive that it is wrong to dream about tomorrow since tomorrow is not promised? But mostly I am just taking a few minutes to think of the day I look back and say “ I made it, this is the day I dreamed about for so very long.” “This is the day I knew would come to pass.

My number one dream for the future is to become a grandmother. It’s actually very hard for me to put that grandmother scene in my mind though. I don’t believe that is because I think it won’t happen, I believe it’s just hard for me to picture tomorrow because of my job. The stress of my job can make me feel oppressed. It can dim that light that I know is at the end of the tunnel. It can bring an uneasy feeling about tomorrow. But I fight the oppression, I strain even harder to see that light (that is there) and I rebuke those uneasy feelings, with all my strength! Sure, tomorrow might not be promised, but death isn’t promised tomorrow either. No one knows when their time on earth will end, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have hope. Hope is what gets us through to tomorrow! (And maybe some extra shipping boxes on your doorstep to fuel your online shopping habits.) So when I feel apprehensive that it is wrong to dream about tomorrow, I make sure to remind myself that I’m totally fine to dream away!

My financial apprehension is probably very common for most soon to be retirees. Maybe we could’ve gotten out of debt sooner, but then again maybe we couldn’t have? After all, the one who helped us to finally get out of debt had to walk the path he walked, to be educated enough to help us. And just maybe we couldn’t have gotten out of debt without his help? Maybe the apprehension is actually a good thing? Maybe that means we aren’t dumb enough to think it will be easy or dumb enough to think we won’t have to watch our budget closely? Maybe being apprehensive is exactly what is going to ensure that we move forward in an excited, yet wise way? Maybe we could’ve put more money in the retirement fund, and then again if we had maybe the financial growth might not have been much better even with the extra contributions? So really there’s just no reason to second guess yourself.

Nope, there’s just no good reason! Instead don’t worry about what you can’t change, ask for forgiveness if you need to and move forward, even if forgiveness isn’t given. Go ahead, try with all your might to dream that vivid picture of being that grandmother who gives her grandchildren huge shipping boxes filled with holiday gifts in the winter. Let that hope strengthen you, let that hope carry you through hard days, let that hope help you to get healthy today, for your grandkids tomorrow. Use that hope to declutter, in preparation for tomorrow. Box up all the stuff that is tying you down, organize and store it neatly, or give it away totally (both tangible and mental stuff.)  Go ahead dream about the future, dream that big dream, dream that unfathomable dream, use that dream for all its worth, ride that dream as long as you can!

Let Your Packaging Market Your Product

Perhaps you have heard the expression, “You will never have a second chance to make a good first impression.” That is true for your business also. When customers receive a package, the first thing they notice is the box. Before they see they what’s inside, they get an impression of what the product is like from the packaging. Therefore, the right shipping boxes are important to your product brand. You want to package your product in the packaging material that will make your customer want to open the box. When they like your product, they will look forward to seeing that same box again. Studies have proven that customers make about one-third of their purchases because of the box the product is packaged in. 

Create a Good First Impression

The next decision to purchase your product will be an easy one if the product’s first impression matched the customer’s expectations. Understanding how customers select products because of their visual attraction to the packaging materials should encourage you to put more effort into selecting the right shipping boxes for your product. Prior to being able to examine your product, potential customers learn everything that they know about your company from the box your product comes packaged in. The quality of the package sends a message to the customer about the quality of the product inside.

Customers will be able to select your product from a wide range of options when it is successfully marketed by the packaging. Half of the sale is made when the packaging draws the customer to the product. Your brand logo and the material the product is packaged in work together to leave a lasting impression on your customers. You want your logo and the package to make the best impression possible. 

Focus on the Aesthetics


An attractive box will get a customer’s attention and draw them to the product. The customer will not realize how much they are affected by everything from shape of the box to the type of lettering that’s printed on the outside. The font style should be one that is read clearly from a distance. Graphics on the packaging should not be so busy that it distracts the customer and takes their attention away from the product. The colors used in the packaging are also important. Different colors say different things to different people. You will want to use the colors that are best suited for your product. 

There are many options available when it comes to choosing the type of packaging material for your product. You should choose a material that is not only attractive, but one that is durable enough to protect the product from damage. 

Be What's Trending Online

Studies reveal that young people share their purchases with online. By capitalizing on this fact you can create help a presence online for your product. When others see your product’s package in stores they will be able to relate it to what they have already seen posted on their friend’s social media page. Therefore, you want the image of the product that is circulated online to be positive. 

 

Choose the right packaging material to visually attract customers. Do some research to make sure your packaging materials are the perfect match for your product.