Quote Of The Week

Quote of the Week:  "It's choice, not chance, that determines your destiny." - Jean Nidetch

Custom Components Appears In designandbuildwithmetal.com's Ezine

Custom Components appears in designandbuildwithmetal.com's ezine.  Click here to view

http://tinyurl.com/6loaftp

Business Tip of the Day

Start Small with Pay Per Click Advertising

New to Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising? The best way to get started is to start small, iterate, and expand. Being able to effectively track and manage progress within your campaigns is critical, and there is a very real management cost to building out an overly large campaign out of the gate. Pick a subset of the products you sell, the locations you can target, or the terms you can use within your campaign and start there. Iterate within that smaller subset, then start to apply your early findings to the creation of new parts of your campaign.

Source www.manta.com

View Our Latest Newsletter

View our latest newsletter at http://tinyurl.com/7uhe8uo





How Do You Spend Your Time?

I don't think I have ever heard anyone complain that they don't have enough to do..  Somebody once said that we spend approximately 40,000 hours of our lifetime in the workplace.  How do we make that time productive?

A few years ago, I was introduced to a time management philosophy that made sense, and really seems to work.  It is based on the Pareto principle that basically says "80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts."

Another way to look at this is to divide your work tasks into three groups (A, B and C), based upon the impact those tasks will have on your or your company's success.  The "A" items will have the biggest impact, the "B" items will have a lesser impact, and the "C" items the least impact.  Let me tell you right now however, the irony in this system.  Typically, the "A" items are the most difficult and take the most time to complete, the "B" items, are less difficult, and take less time complete.  The "C" tasks are generally the easiest and take the least amount of time to complete.

An example of an "A" task is a large project or complicated quote that can bring in millions of dollars.  An example of a "C" item is clearing out the spam from your email inbox.  Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, and wanting a sense of accomplishing something (I do it on occasion), people will fall into the habit of focusing on those "C" items, with very little return.

The real focus should be on spending most of your time each day on your "A" tasks,then your "B" tasks, and the least amount of time on your "C" tasks.  A physical aid for this process is to have your "A" tasks in a prominent position on your desk and your "B" tasks nearby.  Take your "C" tasks and put them in a desk drawer, out of sight.  After six months, take a look at those "C" tasks in the drawer.  If no one has asked you about them, throw them out, as chances are no one will ask about them.

Like I said, it's a process that seems to work and improve productivity.  It's not easy, at first, because it involves changing habits.  But give a try.  I think you'll improve your productivity, impact and results.

Dave Janosz

Marketing Manager

Custom Components Company

Quote Of The Week

Quote of the Week:  "Excellence is not an act...it's a habit." - Aristotle

Respond Promptly to Requests for Information

When customers request information about your company via email, a website form, over the phone or through some other means, they expect a quick response. When a company fails to respond--due to poor organization, incorrect contacts or a busy schedule--customers are left feeling abandoned and likely won't do business with you now or in the future.

Source:  http://www.manta.com/

Vince Lombardi On Winning

"Winning is not a some time thing, it is an all the time thing.  You don't do things right once in a while...you do them right all the time."  What does it take to be number one? Winner of five NFL Championships and Super Bowls I and II, Green Bay Packer Coach Vince Lombardi was at the top of his game, both on and off the field. His secrets to winning are captured in this video..

View the video

Source:  http://www.simpletruths.com/

Construction Humor

Make The Most Of Your Business Cards

Business Tip of the Day: 

Business cards are a great tool for marketing because they're easy to deliver and most people keep them. Some ideas to enhance their value: Include a QR code that links to a video, testimonials from satisfied customers or an irresistible offer. And remember to use the back of the card as well as the front.

Source:  http://www.manta.com/

Custom Components Company Announces New Project - University of Florida Stadium Club

Custom Components Company just finished a new project, the University of Florida Stadium Club in Gainesville, FL.  The Stadium Club is a newly constructed building designed to take advantage of Florida's outdoor lifestyle by providing maximum street exposure to college students, community residents, and sports fans alike.  It is located directly across from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at the University of Florida.  The building is a mixed use venture that features shops and restaurants, as well as luxury condos.  Lugert Development Corp. of Ocala, FL is the general contractor.

Custom Components Company supplied and installed a custom designed and fabricated aluminum trellis structure that dominates the rooftop of the building.  The beams for the trellis are 3" x 8" x 22', fabricated of stretch formed aluminum  from Southern Stretch Forming in Denton, TX, and powder coated in an AAMA 2605 Spraylat Newlar powder coat finish.  The beams were then placed in a specially designed transport and positioning jig that was "flown" up to the rooftop, by crane, for installation.

Quote Of The Week

"It's not the circumstances in which you find yourself; it's the choices you make that define the person you become." - Nido Qubein

Be Quick When Making Decisions

How fast or slow does your company make decisions? Rapidly growing businesses have tied the speed of their decision making to their success. There are not a lot of examples that show success from slow or drawn out decisions. Business owners need to be quick, smart and able to change their view based upon new facts.

Source:  http://www.manta.com/

Strive To Exceed Expectations

You should always deliver on your customers' expectations, but you can achieve even greater success if you exceed those expectations. Stay in touch before, during and after a job and inform customers about deliverable dates and any delays. These actions go a long way to build customer loyalty, repeat business and word of mouth referrals.

Source:  www.manta.com

Don't Try To Hide Negative Feedback

Business Tip of the Day

Don't Try to Hide Negative Feedback

Face negative feedback head on instead of shying away from it. Addressing customer concerns builds trust, helps diffuse a tense situation and can help you win back an upset customer. Even better, it gives your brand advocates a chance to come to your defense.

Source:  http://www.manta.com/

Gateway Arch - Optical Illusion?

The Gateway Arch or Gateway to the West is an arch that is the centerpiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri.  It was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States.  At 630 feet, it is the tallest man-made monument in the United States, Missouri’s tallest accessible building, and the largest architectural structure designed as a weighted or flattened catenary arch.  The Gateway Arch looks taller than it is wider, but it is exactly 630 feet by 630 feet.

Beat The Competition With Better Service

Contrary to popular opinion, most purchasing is not based on the lowest price. Service is a key component in many buying decisions and can take many forms: shorter turnaround in shipping, a customer-friendly website, dealing with problems quickly, admitting, correcting, and paying for mistakes. Excellent service almost always wins out in the end.

More Trivia

The extended right arm of the Statue of Liberty is 42 feet long.