The $1-a-minute man
IF I OFFERED YOU $50,000 a year salary, guaranteed by a cash bond, to do nothing but come over to my house and daily clean up my dog's droppings from...
Marketing lessons lived, learned, leaned upon
OK, CLASS. Take out your No. 2 pencils and a sheet of paper. It's time for a pop quiz." First, why did it always have to be a No. 2 pencil? What was wrong...
Make my (Christmas) Day
DO YOU FEEL lucky? Well, do ya, punk? And, of course, as you know, the bank robber wasn't lucky. What in the world does Dirty Harry have to do with this...
Use solar radiation for snow-melt systems
WE DISCUSSED THE potential of waste heat recovery as an alternative to conventional heat sources for powering commercial snow-melt systems in last month's...
Software makes PDFs from CAD drawings
ENHANCED COMMUNICATION in the office and in the field can make everybody's day easier. Here are three programs with distinct capabilities. PDFs in a jiffy...
New Year's Resolution: Plan for 2007
OF THE 90,000 to 100,000 plumbing and HVAC contractors in business today, less than 10% do any planning, consultant John LaPlant told us a couple months...
Retirement plan rescue' saves a ton of taxes
RAISE YOUR HAND if you have a "substantial amount" in a qualified retirement plan such as an IRA, 401(k), profit-sharing plan or the like. For our purposes,...
Mexican or Italian, which would you prefer?'
I HAD BEEN in Dallas for four days conducting sales training seminars with a fine group of success- ful contractors. We covered all aspects of the sales...
Troublesome issues that aren't in your contract
WHEN A CONTRACT arrives in the mail for you to sign, you read it, and take out your pen and start marking it up. Most contractors know bad language for...
Christmas gifts wrapped in work clothes
December 22nd already I can't wait till noon when we get off work!" The long weekend leading to Christmas was an exciting time for Mike. Life had been...
Not your father's plumber
INDUSTRY EDUCATOR STARBUCKS, WHICH convinced us that a cup of coffee is worth $4, is now selling safe water. In full-page ads in The New York Times, Starbucks...
Place your bets at 'Casino Spec Build'
BY JOEL BOUCHER HEATING CONTRACTOR IT'S LATE IN the afternoon, and I am on edge and running behind. At the last minute, I had received a call for free...
TIPs column so popular it hit No. 1 on Google
BY IRVING L. BLACKMAN TAX ACCOUNTANT THE PURPOSE OF this monthly column always has been and still is simple: to show you, my readers, how to save taxes...
Estimate heat load by room or whole house
BY WILLIAM AND PATTI FELDMAN COMPUTER AUTHORITIES THE FIRST STEP when specifying and recommending a residential heating system is to determine the heat...
Think through partial substantial completion
BY SUSAN LINDEN McGREEVY CONSTRUCTION ATTORNEY ASK THE AVERAGE person what it means to be " substantially complete" and you will probably get an answer...
Work smarter, not just harder
BY BOB MIODONSKI PUBLISHER AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR WHENEVER THE government releases statistics that boast about how productive American workers are compared...
How to become an 'instant project manager'
BY H. KENT CRAIG MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR IT'S 2 P.M. FRIDAY. You've just learned that the senior project manager for your company, Mr. Alias, was fired...
Hot holiday marketing strategies
BY ADAMS HUDSON MARKETING CONSULTANT I've BEEN KEEPING a secret from you. Well, actually a couple of them (I'm waiting for the background check results)....
Murder in the boiler room
Murder in the boiler room BY DAVE YATES PLUMBING CONTRACTOR IT'S BEEN SAID that Dead Men tell no tales, but the gang of murderers I was investigating...
Unconventional heat for snow melt, part 2
BY MARK EATHERTON HYDRONIC HEATING AUTHORITY WE BEGAN DISCUSSING the potential of waste heat recovery as an alternative to conventional heat sources for...
Software solution streamlines sales processes
COMPUTER AUTHORITIES OPPORTUNITY MANAGER Version 3.3 (Opportunity Interactive, www.opactive.com, 877/816-6649) is a sales process/sales management tool...
Turn insurance mistakes into tax-free wealth
IT'S FRUSTRATING. Year after year our office is asked to give a second opinion on the completed estate plans of owners of family businesses. It is rare...
LEED accreditation will be vital to your future
MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR IF YOU HONESTLY think this socalled "green revolution" is a fad, ask yourself: Do you believe that gasoline is going to drop back...
The coming wave in plumbing marketing
MARKETING CONSULTANT THIS FORM OF MARKETING is no longer a secret. Well, except for about 94% of you. Brace yourself. This is big: You like getting new...
Hot water recirculation saves money, energy
PLUMBING CONTRACTOR SAVING MONEY AND conserving energy aren't always the first things on our customers' minds when asking about retrofitting or adding...
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