A roadmap for entrepreneurs, inventors, startups and dreamers of the Next Big Thing.

Inside:• Shipping integration• Pickup & returns • Great savings

ShippingG U I D E

Get Started

Think biggerSo. You’ve got this business going — maybe just out of your garage, on nights and weekends — and you’re thinking you need to get a better handle on the shipping side of things. Or, maybe you just have a great idea for a business that will require shipping at some point. But what’s the best way to ship — jump in the car every time you need to send something? That might work for now, but what about when business picks up? How do you get to the next level, where shipping is an easy, economical part of your business that doesn’t take up a ton of time and worry?

In this guide you’ll get all the tools you need to start shipping like a pro. You’ll also hear about (and from) real-life micro-enterprises that used FedEx to get started and take it to the next level.

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Your story is a sales tool! Think about what makes your business unique — whether it’s honoring a family tradition, serving a good cause, or carrying out a brilliant idea that hit you out of the blue. Watch one successful business owner tell how he took over the bricks-and-mortar family business and expanded it online: smallbusiness.fedex.com/case-studies/catullo-prime-meats.

You’ve got a business and you needto ship — what now?

You can

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i s as e asy as 1- 2 - 3 .Setting up a world - class shipping department

Open an account and gain eligibility for discounts.

1.Get a quick-start guide with customized service maps.

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• Go to fedex.com/new.

• Click “Go to the quick-start guide” and then “Customize your guide.”

• Enter your ZIP code and click Continue.

• On the next screen, uncheck any of the info you don’t want included.

• Click “Finish” and you’ve got your own easy-to-use guide.

Connect with Fedex for personalized advice.

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• Go to fedex.com.

• In the top left-hand corner, click Register Now.

• On the left-hand side of the next page, click “Open a FedEx account.”

• Enter your contact info, create a user ID and password, review and agree to the T&Cs, and click Continue.

• Check “This is a business account” and enter your credit card info.

• If you know your shipping needs already, answer a few questions, or just click “Complete.”

That’s it! You’ll get an email confirming registration.

• Go to fedex.com/smallbusiness to access a wealth of information and resources.

• Got a specific question? Call 1.800.GoFedEx 1.800.463.3339 to speak to customer service.

• Need a more in-depth chat with a real person? When you call, ask to hear back from a salesperson. We’ll hook you up.

We help with your growing pains As you grow, you may hit some speed bumps and need hands-on help from a FedEx sales rep. See how we helped Unique Vintage when they “hit a wall” in their shipping growth: access.van.fedex.com/video-unique-vintage.

How to competeAs you’re planning and doing the math, you may be thinking, “Should I make customers pay for shipping? What if the price turns them off and they decide not to buy? But if I eat the price of shipping, how am I ever going to turn enough profit?”

With the big players — on a startup budget

You look at the online competition, some of whom offer free shipping right off the bat, and others who offer it for bigger orders. And you might start to despair: How will you ever compete?

First, keep in mind: Many people want to do business with the little guy. And what you offer is special. Plus, there are lots of ways to be smart about your shipping costs.

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Strategies to Help Retailers Win the Web’s Free-Shipping WarMay 2011

FedEx Online Retail SolutionsWhite Paper: Summer 2011fedex.com/wecommerce3

1. Now that you’ve set up your Fedex account, you’re eligible for these discounts:- Up to 16% off FedEx Express® services

- Up to 8% off FedEx Ground® and FedEx Home Delivery® services

- 60% off FedEx Freight® LTL services

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Plus there are ways to increase your savings: - Thinking about joining a trade or business association? Many offer their members

significant FedEx discounts, including NFIB and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Contact them to learn more.

- Merchants with online marketplace Open Sky (opensky.com/merchant) also enjoy

extra savings with FedEx.

To enroll in one of these (and many more) alliances, call a FedEx Advantage®

Program enrollment specialist at 1.800.256.6717.

as your volume grows, talk to your sales rep about even deeper discounts. Your shipping costs don’t have to grow as fast as your business does.

Call 1.800.GoFedEx 1.800.463.3339 and ask to hear back from a salesperson.

.Look into all the services we offer. Not every shipment requires the same speed. And our economical services might be faster than you think: Check the map in

your quick-start guide or at fedex.com/maps to see how many days it takes

FedEx Ground to reach anywhere in the U.S. from your location.

Remember these tips:

if you pay for shipping with your suppliers, see if getting them to ship on your Fedex account will save you money. Your discounts apply inbound as well as outbound.

Start thinking strategically

about competing with free-

shipping e-commerce sites.

Download the white paper at

fedex.com/us/ecommerce/

retailers-free-shipping-war.html.

How to win the free-shipping war.

You can boost your FedEx savings even more when you pay for FedEx® shipping services with your Business Card from American Express OPEN. For details go to fedex.com/open savings.

Import addresses instantlyTip: Importing your existing address book into fedex.com is really easy. No need to type everything in again — we can import 17 file types (including files from UPS and DHL).

Integration is easyNo-sweat

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Don’t need to integrate with any other programs yet? Try FedEx Ship Manager® at fedex.com. Go to fedex.com, hover over Ship and click Create Shipment from the drop-down to get started.

If you sell on a variety of sites, such as eBay, Amazon and Google Checkout, go to fedex.com/integrationmanager to easily manage all the shipping on the same page. When you’re setting up your

shopping cart or order management platform, check if FedEx shipping is integrated into it. If not, ask us if there’s a plug-in option.

Want one-on-one assistance? Call to be connected with a FedEx integration specialist who can help you figure out the best solution — or combination of solutions — for you.

Still weighing various options? At fedex.com/compatible, you can see a list of 100-plus solutions with FedEx functionality built right in. (To purchase one, contact the provider.)

When you buy or sell on an online store, shipping can be a seamless part of the process. That kind of integration is possible for your business, too. FedEx shipping is built right in to tools you may already be using, such as logistics

and shopping cart software. If it’s not automatically integrated, there are plug-ins that can do the trick. Check out these tips, and remember, your account pricing applies no matter how you manage your shipping.

Regular pickups: Timesaver? Lifesaver!

Meet your new returns department: Us

Sick of driving to a drop box or ship center to ship your packages? You can call for package pickups as needed, for a small fee. But if you call for several a week, a regular scheduled pickup may be in order.

• FedEx Express offers a free regular weekly pickup if you qualify.

• FedEx Ground regular pickup comes with a weekly fee, which can decrease as you ship more.

In business, returns are natural and inevitable. We can help make them painless. Whether you use a shopping cart with FedEx integration or ship on fedex.com, returns are built right in. Either:

• Make a return label at the same time as your original label. It’s the most convenient option, for both you and your customer. Just click “Create a return shipment” while processing your shipment. You don’t pay for shipping unless the return is needed. Choose from 3 kinds: print, email and tags that your FedEx driver brings when picking up the return.

• Create a return label after you find out the return is needed. Just choose “Create return shipment” under the “Prepare shipment” drop-down. It’s just like creating a regular label, except you choose which type of return label you want (print, email or tag).

Call your sales rep or 1.800.GoFedEx 1.800.463.3339 to see if you qualify for either pickup.

Nicole of Darn Good Yarn on regular pickups: “At first I was hesitant to pay for a regular pickup, when I could just drive to drop off packages myself. My FedEx rep convinced me to calculate the cost of a daily pickup versus the value of gas plus the time I lost making all those drop-offs myself.”

Supercharge your returns. As your sales grow, so might your returns. If so, contact your rep to find out about our volume returns programs. You can save money and time if you have a higher, more predictable number of returns.

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Doing what you love

• Go to fedex.com/fbo and set up your billing online. It works equally well whether you ship 10 packages a day or 1,000.

• Take invoice management to the next level with our online reporting tool. Go to fedex.com/ reporting to sign up. You’ll be able to create reports and see records that help you make better shipping decisions.

Ditch the file cabinetEspecially if you’re working out of a tiny home office, the last thing you need is to be chained to your desk, or drowning in paperwork.

And that may lead to changes in number of packages, average weight or shipping speed needed.

If you’ve got an account rep, he or she will regularly review your shipping behavior to make sure of that. Or, if you want to go over it at any time, call 1.800.GoFedEx 1.800.463.3339 and ask to hear back from a sales rep. We’ll make sure you’re using just the right services and getting the best deal possible.

Give your account a checkupOnce you start using all the tools we offer, you’ll be able to focus on growing other parts of your business.

Take us with you wherever you goYou don’t need an office or even a desk to manage your shipping. Download our mobile app at m.fedex.com and take your show on the road.

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Get back to

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3 ways to

Delight yourcustomersYou may be small, but you’ve now got a powerhouse shipping department. Not only will we help you score with reliable on-time delivery, we’ll help you make your customers happy in other ways.

Today customers want to be in charge. So give them choices! They can choose delivery when they need it, whether it’s FedEx Express overnight service or one of the convenient FedEx Home Delivery options — like evening delivery or delivery by appointment. Show them the rates upfront so they can choose based on speed or cost.

Let them know they can have their packages held at a FedEx location and pick them up at their convenience. It’s easy to request at fedex.com/delivery or just by calling 1.800.GoFedEx 1.800.463.3339.

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Tell them about FedEx Delivery ManagerSM (fedex.com/delivery). This free-to-join option lets them customize home deliveries and notifications so they get packages when and where they want them. Bonus: Fewer emails and calls to you about where their order is.

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Right-size your social media campaignTrying to reach your customers on a shoestring budget? Social media is the way to go. See how two business owners use very different social media tactics.

smallbusiness.fedex.com/digital-marketing-advice

smallbusiness.fedex.com/master-your-digital-marketing

of an accountThe benefits Let’s put it all together and see how

connecting with FedEx can transform the shipping side of your business — and your bottom line.

No discounts = no savings

No salesperson assistance = no extra insight into smarter shipping

No integration = less seamless shipping and billing

Driving to drop off packages = gas wasted and time lost

Calling for one-off pickups = costs building up vs. predictable pricing of regular pickups

Without a FedEx accountQualifying for discounts plus ways to get even more = savings

ability to connect with a rep = ideas to ship smarter and grow

easy integration = easier shipping and billing

Regular pickups = no gas used or time taken to drop off packages

Regular pickups also = no one-off pickup charges

With a FedEx account

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Tips from aSeasonedentrepreneur

Think scale. The key moment in Katie’s evolution as an entre-preneur? “It was when I realized I could sell more than one of something if I switched from authentic vintage to vintage-inspired clothing,” she says. When she moved from reselling to building her own brand, business took off.

Remember Katie Echeverry, from the Unique Vintage video on p. 3 of this guide? Her journey from garage sales to global entrepreneur is proof positive that even small businesses can think big. It’s also a journey you can use as a pattern for your own business. Katie has 5 key tips to help your business succeed:

Take a leap. Katie quickly realized she would need to partner directly with a manufacturer (versus wholesalers) to deliver exactly what her customers wanted. “The internet is a wonderful place,” she says. “It was actually easier for me to find a manufacturer in China than here in L.A.” She’s been working with a Chinese manufacturing partner ever since. Together they create approximately 24,000 dresses per year.

Lean on trusted vendors. As Unique Vintage grew from 10 orders a day to 500, it moved out of Katie’s garage and into a warehouse — and the staff grew as well. Great news, except Katie didn’t have expertise running a warehouse. Enter John Broker, FedEx senior sales executive, who brought in FedEx consultants to streamline warehouse operations and help with software platforms.

1.Make shipping a customer service weapon. Katie loves FedEx Home Delivery service for its speed, dependability and Saturday delivery. “Because so many people are last-minute shoppers, and we deal with events like prom, our customers want their dresses right now,” she says. “Saturday delivery prevents a big chunk of our customers calling us on a Monday and saying, ‘Where’s my package?’”

Celebrate your impact. As Katie’s online empire has grown, she’s also opened two bricks-and-mortar locations around L.A. to capitalize on prom season. That’s meant more staffing up — which makes Katie proud. “I feel really good,” she says. “Not only is my business creating jobs, but they’re in a fun, hip, creative environment, because that’s our culture.”

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Get a quick-start guide: fedex.com/newGet valuable business tips: fedex.com/smallbusinessGet e-commerce business tips: fedex.com/ecommerceFind compatible software: fedex.com/compatibleIntegrate multiple shopping carts: fedex.com/integrationmanagerShip: fedex.com/shipTrack: fedex.com/trackManage billing: fedex.com/fboLet your customers control their deliveries: fedex.com/delivery

Resources at your fingertips

1.800.GoFedEx 1.800.463.3339

G U I D EInternational

A passport to the world for budding global entrepreneurs — and those dreaming about it.

Inside:• Shipping integration• Calculating tariffs• Government resources • Great savings

Get Started

Thinking about taking your business global? Learn where to begin with the Get Started International Guide.