Archive for the ‘Hair Packaging’ Category

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Twitter, facebook and your hair business

Saturday, May 4th, 2013

A few years back, an e-presence basically meant whipping together a website, putting some product images on it and providing your contact information so that visitors could seek more details. However, social media has made such a rudimentary approach almost obsolete.  Now, you still need a website but it needs to be well designed, engaging, Search Engine Optimized and completely bursting with ways visitors can interact and engage with your content. That’s why no modern hair business can do a good job promoting itself over the Internet without having significant presence on the two most popular social media platforms: Twitter and Facebook.

Here are the top 3 reasons why you need to start tweeting and maintain an active Facebook page!

1.       DO QUICK UPDATES

Twitter and Facebook are a breeze to update. Whether it’s a one-line message announcing a ‘10% sale on all products’ or a gallery of the newest product offerings, Twitter and Facebook let you instantly publish the news, showcase images and videos and share your updates with all your followers and customers. This is a much more reliable, quicker and effective way of creating updates than depending on visitors to check your website for news. It’s also especially useful if you have a static website that you can’t update easily.

2.       REACH A BROADER AUDIENCE- AND KEEP THEM IN THE LOOP

Getting your customers involved in your tweets and Facebook updates is much easier because they are already using the services. They don’t need to sign up, provide contact information or go anywhere else- all of which prove to be obstacles in luring visitors to your own website. Because existing Twitter and Facebook users (and there are millions of them including your customers) can easily view, ‘like’, ‘recommend’ and ‘share’ your pages with their friends and colleagues, it’s also a great way to build word of mouth and have your own customers do your promotion.

3.       USE MULTIMEDIA

With Facebook photo albums and services like TwitVid, your Facebook and Twitter pages can be a highly interesting and multimedia experience for your customers. You can embed pictures, show videos and link to articles. Such activity gives your brand visibility and personality- two attributes customers respond to positively.

Facebook and Twitter allow you to build a professional network that you can use to easily reach customers and stay in touch with other small businesses and industry happenings. So instead of restricting yourself to your website, enjoy the benefits of social media and join the conversation. You will be benefiting both your business and your customers!

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Trademarks and Copyrights

Tuesday, February 12th, 2013

A lot of our clients ask us about the trademarks and copyrights associated with their business on the Internet and, especially, their websites and logos. While specifics differ from business to business, object to object and country to country, we decided to do round up the most commonly asked questions in a general introductory article on this topic to give you a place to start at.

What are trademarks and copyrights?

A trademark is your brand- legally registered or established by use. It can be a symbol, word or combination of words that represent your company and product. Your trademark can include your logo (which is a visual/symbol) but it can be other things as well. Your trademark protects your brand’s identity.

A copyright is also the ownership of intellectual property but just of another kind. Assets protected by copyrights are the work of an artist or author- such as photos, graphics and writings. A copyright grants the creator/owner legal rights over the ownership and use of the authored work- and provides protection against infringement during legal action.

Your business name and logo can be protected by trademark while the original photos and writings on your website can be protected by copyright.

Can I get my website copyrighted?

You can get your business name and, in most cases, your logo protected under a trademark. The original authorship on your website- such as writings, artworks and photographs that are rightfully yours- can be protected with copyright but mere facts and ideas can not. If your business is registered in the US, use these instructions to obtain copyright.

You can not get your domain name copyrighted but your logo can be protected under copyright or trademark if it contains sufficient authorship.

How can I obtain a copyright?

As the original creator or owner (if the creator has legally transferred you the rights) of your website, you automatically hold the rights to your visuals and corporate identity (such as your logo and trademark). The general rule for copyright is that you need to have sufficient authorship in a work to hold the rights to it. So for instance, any writing or graphics on your website need to be created by you or the original creator must have legally transferred the rights to you (as in the case of ‘ghostwriting’).

However, in order to seek legal action in case of an infringement, you will need to have your copyright registered with the governing copyright office in your country.

Where can I get more information?

The US Copyright Office has a very comprehensive FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) section on copyrights that can answer most of your specific queries on what constitutes as a copyright in the USA.

Contact the US Patent and Trademark Office for trademark protection and information.

How can I protect the content on my website?

  • Make sure you display a copyright symbol/notice on your website so that visitors know that they are not allowed to copy/reproduce/use your content without your consent.
  • Use websites like copyscape.com to check for duplicates of your content on the Internet.
  • If someone has copied your content, have your lawyer send them a cease-and-desist letter.
  • Get the appropriate copyrights registered at your governing copyright office.
  • Password protect and properly secure information on your server that you don’t want to be publicly available.

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Introducing Fabric Bags: An attractive and affordable packaging option!

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

The hair packaging industry is replete with box and plastic packaging. While these two dependable packaging types have served us well for a long time, as we move into the New Year, it’s time to spice things with up some packaging innovation. We at hairpackaging.com are always looking for fresh and effective ways to package and present our clients’ products, and we are proud to be the first to offer beautiful and functional fabric bags as a hair packaging option.

Fabric Bags. Cheap Hair Packaging Alternative

Our fabric bags are perfect for your hair products whether they are hair extensions, wigs or any other hair product. Here are 5 great benefits you get from using our fabric bags as your hair packaging:

1. Beautiful Packaging

Our bags are available in 20 different colors that you can choose from to best fit your corporate color scheme and branding strategies. The bags aren’t completely opaque- that gives them an ethereal, classy look and makes the product inside look even better.

2. Greater Protection

Our fabric bags will be shipped to you inside individual plastic bags (that are small, flexible and easy to ship) that not only protect them during the initial shipping process but can also be used by you to add an additional layer of protective packaging to your products. This is especially useful if you will be shipping your hair products to your customers.

3. Reduced Costs

If you are new to the hair business and want a cheap packaging option, fabric bags is the way to go. Not only will you save a lot of money on your packaging costs but you will also be able to incur lower shipping charges.

4. Easy branding

Fabric bags can be easily branded with your company/product name and other details using beautiful hand tags (which we also produce) that start at $300 for 500 hang tags.

5. Volume Discounts and Perks

We require a minimum 100-bag order to ship you the fabric bags but we offer a lot of quantity discounts that you can avail upon request. For orders over 3000 bags, we can customize the bags with your logo and product name.

Fabric bags are a breakthrough for hair packaging and they clearly have the potential of being more than a current trend. Help your hair products stand out with fabric bags: the most beautiful and different packaging type available!

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Best Packaging Colors for 2013

Thursday, December 27th, 2012

The expression ‘balancing act’ is something we all relate to as we strive to find harmony in the frantic pace of our everyday lives. The same can be said for fashion as we look for balance between light and bright, classic and new. This season’s color palette emphasizes this need for balance, while at the same time allowing for individuality, self-expression and excitement.
- Leatrice Eiseman, the Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute

The New Year is here and it’s time to start it off with a beautiful palette that will color our entire year from fashion to packaging and shape our moods and inspiration for the next 12 months. Pantone just released its latest color report for 2013 and, keeping its spring agenda in mind, the palette is full of pastels and bright colors but with some welcome surprises.

Pantone Colors for 2013Deriving inspiration from the New York Fashion Week, the colors selected allow for self-expression, balance and renewed energy. Lemon Zest, Tender Shoots, Nectarine and Poppy Red are vivid, exciting and full of youthful vigor while Emerald, Dusk Blue, Grayed Jade, African Violet and Linen add calm and serenity to the mix.  Monaco Blue sticks out from the pack because of its dark accents that add a touch of mystery, toughness and sexy to the 2013 palette- Spring would have been too wholesome without it!

As always, we have come up with some color schemes for you, using Pantone’s selection for 2013, that you can use to design your packaging and stay ahead of the trends in the New Year.

1. Lemon Zest and Poppy Red

Lemon Zest and Poppy RedFor the ultimate eye-catching packaging, we combined two of the most vibrant colors on the list- Lemon Zest and Poppy Red. If your target customers consist of young people who like excitement and bright colors in their lives, your hair packaging can reflect that personality type with this color scheme.

Use this color scheme carefully though. The result can be dangerously volatile!

2.  Dusk Blue and Nectarine

Dusk Blue and NectarineThis is quite the unexpected combination (suggested by Pantone themselves) that can produce rewarding results. Dusk Blue captures the calm that falls at the end of the day and provides serenity while Nectarine adds some fun to the mix by providing a dash of tangy flavor. Together the colors represent the balance between our needs for peace and excitement.

3. Linen and Tender Shoots

Linen and Tender ShootsLinen is airy and neutral. Tender Shoots is bright, active and cheerful. Together, they make for an understated combination that can be as open and nude as Linen or as invigorating as Tender Shoots. This is a safe color scheme if you aren’t sure what will connect with your customers as the combination will resonate with all age groups, genders and consumer types.

Once you have gone through the 2013 colors and decided on your favorites, do ask our hair packaging professionals for advice and further guidance. Depending on your specific packaging needs, we will be able to incorporate your color picks into a modern and functional packaging design that is high on aesthetic and on top of 2013 trends while still fitting your business needs.

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QR Codes and Hair Packaging

Thursday, November 8th, 2012

Have you suddenly started seeing black and white squares full of jumbled square dots everywhere?  Are you seeing them on everything from business cards and print ads to t-shirts and packaging? Don’t worry- your vision is fine. These particular little squares are called QR codes and, to jog your memory, here is a picture of one.

QR Code for http://www.hairpackaging.comA QR Code is a matrix barcode. The QR in the name is short for ‘Quick Response’ and their primary functions are information encoding and identification- same as traditional barcodes. However, while simple barcodes like UPC can contain limited information, QR codes can be used to encode a large amount of data- including everything from serial numbers and text to URLs. QR codes boast larger storage capacities and faster readability than traditional barcodes. And with the widespread usage of smart phones, users can now quickly scan a QR code- whether it’s on a print flyer or a T-shirt, through a variety of available QR codes apps and go directly to the promoter’s website.

QR codes started out in Japan as a Toyota project but they quickly found numerous uses outside the automobiles industry. Now every business- big and small- is scrambling to get its own QR code which they can use in promotional material to lead readers/viewers to their landing pages, offers and discounts etc.

QR codes help boost conversion rates. Instead of viewing a print ad or packaging- and instantly forgetting about it- users can use their smart phones to instantly scan the printed QR code and go directly to the company’s website. Once they are there, you can provide them with detailed information, showcase the entire range of your products and provide incentives for making a purchase. In fact, your print material should also include some incentive for the user to scan the QR code. By promising them a freebie or small discount, you encourage them to immediately scan your QR code and visit your website.

By using QR codes on your hair packaging and print promotional material (including flyers, posters, t-shirts, letterheads, business cards, etc.), you can give a boost to your web presence and lead your customer to all the important information and product offers that you can’t squeeze onto the print entities. To generate a QR code for your hair business, just go to websites like kaywa.com or use Google’s QR code generator.

QR codes present a superior alternative to traditional barcodes. By getting your own QR code and printing it on your packaging and other print material, you can increase your conversion rate and stand out from the competition.

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How to Choose the Best Colors and Typefaces for Your Hair Packaging

Monday, October 15th, 2012

The packaging for your hair extensions, wigs and other hair products plays a very important role in the success of your hair business. However, when it comes to planning your packaging design, you might find yourself overwhelmed by all the different design options and various looks you can choose from. Two of the biggest concerns in packaging are picking the right colors and typefaces. To help you pick what’s best for your hair business, we compiled the following tips:

Know your brand

The colors and typeface you will choose for your packaging design will not only represent your brand personality but also become an inseparable part of it. Therefore, before you dive into packaging decisions, it’s important for you to fully develop your products’ identity. Are you catering to the masses or an exclusive clientele? Does your target audience respond best to sleek and minimal designs or ornate patterns and celebrity shots? Do you want to position yourself as female brand or establish a generic unisex line? Answers to questions like these will help you pick colors and typefaces that correspond best to your brand’s individual identity.

Understand color theory

How to Choose the Best Colors for Packaging

How to Choose the Best Colors for Packaging

The colors used in packaging design aren’t picked just because they look ‘pretty’ or they are the packaging designer’s personal favorites. Each and every color invokes a particular feeling and gives off a different vibe. Pink can directly make your brand more amenable to a female consumer base, black can be used to represent sophistication and exclusivity, and bright colors like reds and oranges are often used to achieve a fun, youthful look. Depending on the brand image you are going for, your color palette might be anything from a burst of many different colors to a solid black.

Choose between serif and san-serif

Typefaces can be widely categorized into serif and san-serif types. Serif typefaces have tiny feet to their alphabets while san-serif fonts don’t.  For instance, the over used Lucida Handwriting is serif whereas the always dependable Helvetica is a san-serif typeface. Serif fonts are often seen as feminine, flowery, elegant and/or ‘handwritten’- which make them very popular for hair businesses. Generally, san-serif fonts are used to give off a modern, professional and/or corporate look.

As with colors, typefaces can also give a distinct impression that can augment or clash with your overall brand personality. For instance, you might be going for a ‘sleek, modern and sophisticated’ look but if use ‘Comic Sans’, you might end up being counterproductive.

Of course, you could always leave these decisions to professionals like us. We hear out your ideas and goals, and then design hair packaging that’s just the right fit for your business. Contact us now for advice and a free quote.

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The Role of Packaging in Successful Brands

Thursday, September 6th, 2012

Just how important is packaging to a product’s success? Should you be concerned about your hair business if your product is high quality but your packaging isn’t? You are probably no stranger to questions like these and they are all quite valid and good questions.   Let’s take a look at a few popular packaging case studies to get some insight on the matter!

Coca-Cola Brand

Coca-Cola Brand

iPod Packaging

iPod Packaging

Great packaging makes great companies

Packaging is a part of your overall brand identity. For instance, take the Coca Cola brand and its packaging. The classic logo and colors, and the distinctive shape are as much synonymous with Coca Cola as the drink itself. You don’t even need to see the name of the company anywhere to recognize Coca Cola’s branding and packaging. Similarly, the gorgeous box packaging Apple uses it for its products creates a positive emotional feeling in its customers, and emphasizes and complements the entire Apple experience.

Bad packaging loses money

On the other end of the spectrum, the horrible plastic-and-hinges packaging for the original Star Trek DVD series created thousands of disgruntled fans. The studio ultimately had to do away with the packaging and resort to simple boxes.

Knowing your target customers and their preferences in product packaging can make or break your brand- and save you from thousands of dollars worth of loss.

Your packaging will create customers

If you are a new entrant in the hair business, you will face a lot of challenges in making a name for yourself. Your biggest concern will be trying to shift from being an unknown company to a popular brand that your customers can trust. However, when your potential customers will walk into a store and see your product for the first time, they will probably not know anything about you or your product quality. The only thing they will be able to see is your product packaging. And that’s why your product packaging can be your most powerful marketing tool if you use it correctly. Attractive, eye-catching and visually pleasing packaging could draw in customers and make them curious. They will want to find out more about your products, read what you have to say on the packaging and give your hair extensions or wigs a try. Over time, your packaging will become part of your cohesive brand strategy that will make you stand out from the competition.  On the other hand, if your packaging is unattractive, unimpressive or downright ugly, it will put off potential customers no matter how good your product is.

The truth of the matter is that appearances matter. Your packaging will decide whether your product makes a good first impression or sinks without a trace.

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Project Spotlight: Some of our Hair Websites

Sunday, August 5th, 2012

Fulfilling the design and marketing needs of our customers has always been our top priority. In addition to offering top quality hair packaging design services to our customers through hairpackaging.com, we also provide e-commerce and website design and development solutions through our sister company, 8 Consulting. Here is just some of our recent web work for four of our hair business customers:

Unique Hair Extensions | www.uniquehairextensions.com

Unique Hair Extensions e-commerce Website for Hair

Unique Hair Extensions e-commerce Website for Hair

In addition to print work (including logos, product packaging, catalogs, business cards and a lot more), we were also hired by Unique Hair Extensions to establish an amazing online presence for them.

For the Unique Hair Extensions website, we created an elaborate flash animation that lets their customers flip through their many hair extensions and wigs products. We also created separate ordering for Unique’s retail, wholesale and distributor clients. Wholesalers and distributors can upload their retail certificates in digital format using the provided upload utility.

On the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) front, we worked closely with Unique to develop an effective marketing strategy. Besides the search-engine sensitive structure of the site and its content, an article manager allows Unique to easily upload additional content and articles to their website. Combined with an affordable monthly advertising plan, we helped Unique significantly boost their search engine visibility across all the major search engines like Google and Yahoo.

Other features include:

  • Fully accessible product catalog that includes 3 pricing levels and can be easily updated.
  • Shipping and payments in real-time with up charge for shipping so Unique makes money on each shipment.
  • Verification for addresses using UPS online tools (shipments are also connected to UPS and allow tracking information to be emailed).
  • Content management system to enable client to edit, add, remove content on site.
  • Streaming video tutorials

Check out the Unique Hair Extensions website to see all of these great features in action!

eHairAnnex | www.ehairannex.com

e hair annex e-commerce website

e hair annex e-commerce website.

eHairAnnex wanted a sleek and glamorous look for their website. Using a beautiful and streamlined silver and purple theme, we built a website that looks as good as it is technically effective. For eHairAnnex, we also developed an affiliate program, a map showing their many different distributors and a rewards program. The rewards program functions similarly to a ‘frequent flyer’ type program and customers can claim benefits for the points they have earned. All these additions make for a tighter and more valuable relationship between eHairAnnex, their customers and their distributors.

The website we developed for eHairAnnex also includes:

  • Wholesale and retail pricing levels
  • Articles manager
  • Content management system to edit/add/remove pages and content/images/products
  • Logo design

Check out all these great features and more on the eHairAnnex website.

Kybele Virgin Hair | www.kybelevirginhair.com

Kybele Virgin Hair e-commerce website for hair extensions and beauty products

Kybele Virgin Hair e-commerce website for hair extensions and beauty products

 

We designed the Kybele Virgin Hair website to have a strong and sexy black and pink look. The black creates connotations of hair and the pink directly targets Kybele’s female customer base. On the development side, we created a sophisticated referral/affiliate program for Kybele that lets their visitors refer friends and earn commissions. It is not only beneficial for the customers but also helps generate strong word of mouth and personal recommendations for Kybele. To increase Kybele’s brand visibility, we developed a WordPress blog that contributes greatly to Search Engine Optimization.

Our work for Kybele also includes:

  • Content management system to edit/add/remove pages and content/images/products
  • Logo, business cards and packaging design and printing

Check out the Kybele website to see what else we cooked up for them!

Tres Belle Hair | www.tresbellehair.com

Tres Belle Website WordPress Hair Site

Tres Belle Website WordPress Hair Site

Tres Belle Hair wanted us to design a website that was simple, modern and open. We responded with a minimalistic yet powerful black navigation bar, gorgeous high resolution images featured prominently in a slider and a strong development core. A simple WordPress content management system and blogging tool lets Tres Belle Hair easily edit and update content and images.

Our services for Tres Belle Hair also include:

  • Logo, business cards and packaging design and printing

Feel free to flip through the Tres Belle Hair website to see our hard work on display.

If you want us to work our magic and dedication on the website for your hair business as well, contact us right now!

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Why Blogging is important for your Hair Business

Monday, July 30th, 2012

In these days of ‘tweets’ limited to 140 characters, it may seem a little tedious to write a substantial article or blog post. However, as many small and medium businesses know, blogging continues to be a very powerful marketing tool. Here are 5 great reasons why you should maintain a blog on your hair business website:

Why Blogging is Important

Why Blogging is Important

1.       Connect with your customers

Facebook likes and twitter followers are all very good and valuable, but great, high quality content is what makes customers stick around and become brand loyal. Through your blog, you can post articles on relevant and useful stuff that makes your hair business stand out from the competition. Regular hair care tips and updates on hair industry news can make for an engaging and dynamic blog that you can use to build a readership and soft sell your services.

2.       Promote your products

Every one of your blog posts- whether it’s directly or indirectly related to your business and products- is a platform for self-promotion- whether you do it the soft sell way or the hard sell. Blog posts are a great way for positioning your hair business a certain way and developing your USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Whether you are discussing hairstyles for different hair types or showcasing your newly launched hair extensions and wigs, your blog posts provide emphasis to your business.

3.       Improve customer service

To become a more customer centric company, you can use your blog to provide customers with helpful advice, tips and tricks. In addition to the previously mentioned hair care and hair styling content, you  can post articles on every day hair concerns that your customers will find useful. You can also use the blog as a discussion platform and ask your customers to provide comments and feedback.

4.       Increase social media presence

Your blog can be hooked up with ‘like’, ‘tweet’, ‘pin’ and other social bookmarklets/buttons that users can use to share the content on your blog. That way your customers can do the advertising for you!

5.       Establish yourself as an expert/authority

By blogging about all things hair, you establish your hair business as a leader or authority in the hair industry. The hair customer wants to deal with experts and industry veterans. By running a popular hair blog, you show that you have the knowledge, insight and success of a great hair business.

So what are you waiting for? Start your hair blog today!

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We celebrate 8 years soon and this is what our customers are saying about us!

Thursday, July 19th, 2012

Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

I am happy to provide a testimonial for 8 Consulting, LLC, who has produced web and print projects for our work at Emory University, Genetic Metabolic Dietitians International (GMDI), Southeast NBS & Genetics Collaborative and the Southeast Regional Genetics Group (SERGG Inc.).

We have worked with 8 Consulting, LLC since December 2005.  Our consultant Dinesh (Dino) Mahtani and his team have helped us create innovative marketing and educational materials for ongoing projects and medical conferences, including website design with registration, online payment solution and content management systems. Also created and enhanced logos, brochures, envelopes, letterhead, attendee badges, and course syllabi.

Dino took the time to listen to our needs and integrated his web and graphic design expertise to truly capture the vision we wished to present.  The 8 Consulting team worked tirelessly and delivered timely, satisfactory results.

Based on my experience working with Dino and his consulting team, I highly recommend the exemplary services of 8 Consulting, LLC.
Sincerely,
Rani H. Singh, PhD, RD, LD
Director, Nutrition Section, Division of Medical Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine www.emory.edu
Founding President, GMDI www.gmdi.org

Vision Airlines, Suwanee, Georgia, USA.

It is with great privilege that I write in recommendation of 8 Consulting. Our company was poised to  announce a major expansion and 8 Consulting was an integral component of our successful launch.  They possess an extensive knowledge of IT related issues and the skills to execute the assigned tasks quickly and eciently. 8 Consulting also has the ability to foresee growth opportunities, and was very informative in suggesting additional avenues for our company to follow regarding our presence on the world wide web.
Best Regards,
Michael Swing, Manager of Interactive Services and Design, Vision Airlines, Inc. www.visionairlines.com

Caminar Latino (non-profit organization), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

I just wanted to say thank you to 8 Consulting for the incredible work that your company has done for Caminar Latino. Since we first began working with 8 Consulting, you all have gone above and beyond to ensure that we had the tools necessary to reach our community and do our work in an effective manner. Not only do we have an incredible new website that we are able to manage ourselves but also the knowledge that we can contact 8 Consulting for any additional support. Working with 8 Consulting made me feel that we were not just another client, but instead an non-profit organization that was valued in spite of our limited budget!
Thank you 8 Consulting for all your hard work!
Sincerely,
Jessica Nunan, Executive Director, Caminar Latino, Inc. www.caminarlatino.org

 

Southeast Federation of Stamp Clubs, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Southeast Federation of Stamp Clubs is extremely pleased with the web site developed by Dinesh Mahtani and the folks at 8 Consulting. From our first meeting, 8 Consulting was professional, courteous and helpful in the planning and design of our website. Dinesh took the time to ask questions and to get to know our clubs and what things were important to us. He offered suggestions and recommendations that really enhanced the look and usability of our site… things that we would have never thought of on our own.
Thank You
John Coles, President, Southeast Federation of Stamp Clubs www.StampClubs.com

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