One of the joys the way the internet and modern manufacturing processes are interacting is that we’re now geting mass and personalised manufacturing working together.

We’re all aware of Henry Ford’s old saying, that customers could get a Model T in any colour they liked as long as it was black. That was what mass manufacturing was all about: making everything the same. However, now you can order a car over the net and ask for the colour you want, the trim options, there are thousands of possible variations of just one model of car.

This is also true of such things as checks, you can now get your check printing done exactly as you like it. Yes, you still get the great low prices which centralised and mass manufacturing allow, but youalso get to personalise them as you would like them. As I say, it’s the interaction of the net and the older mass manufacturing techniques that make this possible.

And to get you to try out the system Vistaprint is making a great offer to you. Choose which type of check you would like, add in your personal details, fiddle with the design, tell them the colours you want and then, when you get to the checkout (sorry, unavoidable pun there) enter in this code: "BlogFreeChecks08".

That’ll get you 25 free checks. A pretty good way to try out the service, don’t you think?