That's exactly how referrals should work. Not just handing someone a card, but giving them an introduction about what you do and maybe some examples. As a result, Caleb called me, and we met for coffee yesterday. This company is just now expanding its use of the Web for advertising because, as we all know in this economy, you need to do everything you can as reasonably as you can. He had even taken the time, ahead of time, to visit my site and learn more about what we do. This made my job of explaining the details much easier and I believe more digestible.

The other half of "networking-works", is listening. Many of you may have heard we have two ears and one mouth. So we need to use those ears most effectively. By listening to Caleb tell me his story about XYZ Company, I was more enlightened about his industry as a whole. This too, makes my job easier by helping me differentiate them from similar companies.

All-in-all, networking really does work when it's done right. So I encourage you all to do it right and help Oly5Star members grow to their full potential.

People wonder why a home refrigerator with the same basic system will work a long time and not lose its charge, while a car can lose a charge in 5-7 years?  It's because most refrigerators never hit potholes, speed bumps, curbs, etc.  All that movement and thermal cycling means that a cars A/C system can lose a little charge each year until it's finally lost enough that the safety switch turns the system off.

Modern A/C systems need a very precise amount of refrigerant to operate at peak performance.  A quality A/C service consists of drawing the remaining refrigerant out and recycling it to purify it of dirt and moisture, which would harm the compressor if left in, then adding the correct amount of new refrigerant and a little oil to the recycled amount, and recharging the system to full charge.

So how often should I service my system?  I recommend servicing every 4-5 years, while the system is still blowing cold, before it gets so low the safety switch turns off the compressor.  More frequent servicing is a waste of money, or it means that there is a refrigerant leak that needs to be found and fixed.  Service your A/C system now and you don't have to wonder if it will turn off during that vacation to Death Valley.

Bron Lindgren,

Bron's Automotive, repairing and servicing vehicles in Olympia, Tumwater, Lacey, Thurston County and all of South Sound.

Click image for video.

Sunset Air installs a new Level 2, commercial rated electric vehicle (EV) charging station.  Although most EV owners will not fully charge their vehicles on the road, they do take advantage of topping off or getting enough charge to make to their destination. 

Recently, commuters from Bellevue were running low on charge and were on their way to Olympia.  They used the car’s cell transmission device to locate Sunset Air’s charging station.  They plugged in for a couple hours while eating breakfast and continued on their journey.  A normal charge will take seven hours on a Level 2 station for a fully depleted battery.

Randy Norris, Sunset Air’s Residential Manager owns a Nissan Leaf and has used the charging station as a convenience.  Randy estimates that the 3500 miles that he has put on his Leaf has only cost him $85.  Compared with a gas vehicle with 25mpg @ $4/gallon would have cost $560 plus approximately $40 for an oil change.

Visit Sunset Air on the NW Eco Building Guild Green Tour April 21-22.  For more information visit http://www.ecobuilding.org/guild-chapters/olympia/green-tour

Sunset Air installs new solar panels and they are up and running.  Featured in this year's Green Tour April 21-22, 60 solar panels were installed on the shop building at Sunset Air's Lacey location.  It provides 14.4KW of power, enough to power Sunset Air's Service department in case of a power emergency.  Randy Norris, of Sunset Air wrote a grant proposal and Sunset Air received a $20,000 grant from the USDA REAP program.  The electric meter is bi-directional returning excess power generated back to the grid.  Sunset Air receives 18 cents/KW for excess power generated.  

New appliances can make for exciting and valuable addition to your home; however, they use a lot of electricity and can ultimately take a toll on your electrical system. As an electrician, I have seen it time and again—homeowners buy new appliances that use a significant amount of electricity, even when they have an “Energy Star” label. These homeowners are unaware that the new appliances can use more power than their old one, possibly causing damage to the existing wiring.

A lot of people seem to have the old “set it and forget it” mentality that when it comes to their new appliances. Many times the importance of installation safety is ignored (shock hazard – improper wiring – improper connections) and other potential dangers are overlooked.

Ideally, with the help of a licensed electrician, you should have no problems installing your new electrical equipment. Here are some tips that might help you prevent problems with the installation of your new appliances:

1) Check the electrical requirements of any new appliances, especially if they will be replacing older equipment. It’s important to ensure that the installation was done properly and that the transition from the old appliance to the new one is smooth. If the appliance needs to be relocated or altered a permit may be required.
2) Call your licensed electrician to help you remove old, hardwired appliances. This is extremely important! In many older homes, appliances were hardwired to the electrical system. Removing them incorrectly can result in serious damage to the wiring.
3) Turn the power off before installing new appliances. Some think that this goes without saying, but you’d be surprised how many people forget about this very simple rule. Not turning off the power can result in damage to the appliance, as well as shock and possible injury to you.
4) Hire an electrician to check that the new appliance installation was done safely and correctly, especially if it was done in an older home.
5) Chances are you may not need to call a licensed electrician to help you with every new appliance installation. However, if you have any doubts or questions about how to install your appliance safely, don’t hesitate to call us so we can make sure that your installation goes off without a hitch.

Give Mr. Electric a call today at 360-705-4225 (Thurston County), 360-426-7600 (Mason Co.), 253-203-1014 (Pierce Co.), or 360-458-4002 (Yelm area) and be safe out there!

• You purchased a low-cost website, only to discover that the site is leased.  You do not actually own the site.  If you do not pay the monthly maintenance fee, the company that created the site can delete it and effectively destroy all your online marketing efforts.
• There are errors or changes that need to be on your website, but you are not able to make them yourself and your web designer is nowhere to be found.
• You have no idea where your site is being hosted or access to vital account information in case of emergency.

At Alternative Marketing Connections, “We Never Hold A Customer Hostage!”   Our goal at Alternative Marketing Connections is to be as transparent and up-front as possible while provide a solid value to our customers.  

• All our customers have their own hosting account.
• We design all of our websites to be owner-updateable using “content management systems.  Aside from your web browser, no additional software is required.  We even teach you how to make the updates!
• ALL of our websites have owner-updateable sections for blog, news and testimonial articles.  This improves the freshness of your website, keeps visitors engaged, and improves your Google search rankings.
• We do not lease websites.  Once we build your website, you own it.  Period.
• We share all of the connection information for your website and supporting services with you and keep the information up to date.
• If you still want us to maintain and update your website, we can do that too!

We hope you will consider us for your next website.  We are locally owned and operated and love helping small businesses build their Internet presence.

Five Star Contractors Referral Service is pleased to announce its new logo and updated website design.

Five Star's marketing committee, consisting of Thayne Bryenton of RelyLocal, Erik Barrett of RSVP Olympia, and Russ Alman of Alternative Marketing Connections, conceived of the new logo to bring a more modern, professional image to the organization.  

Once the preliminary design was developed, a draft was brought to the general membership for feedback.  Thanks to this feedback, plus additional input from John Ketola of Ketola Targus Painting and Diane Gassman of Interior Dimensions LLC, Alman was able to develop a color scheme matching the organization's desire for a modern, eco-friendly look.

To complement the new logo, Alman redesigned the oly5star.com website using earthtones and a "green" look, including a grass pattern in the background.  The updated website is easier to read and slightly wider to better utilize the screen space of larger monitors.

Alman has also updated the Five Star Facebook fan page to comply with the new Timeline format guidelines and match the colors and logo of the new updated website.  The result is a consistent, clean image for Five Star Contractor Referrals.

What do you think of our new logo and colors?  We'd love to hear your feedback!

Five Star's marketing committee, consisting of Thayne Bryenton of RelyLocal, Erik Barrett of RSVP Olympia, and Russ Alman of Alternative Marketing Connections, conceived of the new logo to bring a more modern, professional image to the organization.  

Once the preliminary design was developed, a draft was brought to the general membership for feedback.  Thanks to this feedback, plus additional input from John Ketola of Ketola Targus Painting and Diane Gassman of Interior Dimensions LLC, Alman was able to develop a color scheme matching the organization's desire for a modern, eco-friendly look.

To complement the new logo, Alman redesigned the oly5star.com website using earthtones and a "green" look, including a grass pattern in the background.  The updated website is easier to read and slightly wider to better utilize the screen space of larger monitors.

Alman has also updated the Five Star Facebook fan page to comply with the new Timeline format guidelines and match the colors and logo of the new updated website.  The result is a consistent, clean image for Five Star Contractor Referrals.

What do you think of our new logo and colors?  We'd love to hear your feedback!

If you have been taking your newer vehicle to the dealer for preventative maintenance, and you are nearing the end of the factory warranty period, it can be an excellent idea to have an independent repair shop do an inspection for any defects before the warranty expires. At Bron's Automotive our Technicians are ASE Certified, and if you should desire that we perform maintenance work, we use only factory approved fluids for our services.  If we see a condition covered by the factory warranty, we'll simply document it on our invoice, and you can have the dealer perform the warranty work for free.

For detailed information just Google "Magnuson-Moss Warranty act of 1975," this is federal law on the subject.

Have a question you want to ask a mechanic?  Just email us at bron@bronsautomotive.com.  Happy Motoring!

What may surprise you, however, is that referrals are absolutely essential for digital and virtual businesses, such as mine in website design and social media management.

One might assume that since my business is building and online presence for other businesses that my source of new business would be my website or social media accounts.  

What is that?  Well, remember the old adage that "people do business with those that they know, like and trust?"  That goes ten-fold for web designers.  If you have not had a bad experience with a web designer, rest assured that if you ask one of your friends or business acquaintances, you will uncover a story of a website "held hostage" or a web designer that vanished, nowhere to be found.  As a result, people are very leery of web designers that they do not know personally.

That is not to say that my website and social media presence is ineffective.  On the contrary, I find that many of my potential clients have visited one or more of my online media channels to learn more about me or my business.  Maintaining a strong online presence as a contractor creates a powerful stream of public relations to reinforce what people learn elsewhere.

But when it comes down to it, most of my new business is done with a face-to-face meeting and a handshake.

• President's Day
• Easter/Mother's Day
• Fourth of July
• Labor Day
• Halloween/Thanksgiving or Christmas (depending on weather and how your lawn looks)

If you only had to pick one or two times- the Labor Day and late fall/early winter applications are best.  At this time turf grass will store up the nutrients in the roots and save them for the growing season.  Like carb loading for a marathon.

Modern transmissions are controlled electronically.  When the issue really is a transmission problem, diagnosis is the key.  Oftentimes a failed speed sensor will cause shifting problems, or a failed pressure solenoid can be replaced as opposed to rebuilding the entire transmission.  Occasionally the manufacturer will publish a service bulletin detailing a known problem that can be repaired with updated parts, often without pulling the entire transmission out of the vehicle.  Sometimes the fix is simply to reprogram the transmission computer, much the way Microsoft can cure performance problems with their updates.

The key to effective transmission repair is to correctly diagnose the problem.  This is only possible with smart technicians, so it is best to lean towards shops that employ ASE certified technicians. 

• Last year's tax return
• Original W-2 Forms
• Schedule(s) K-1 from any partnerships, S-Corps, estates or trusts
• Copies of other compensation documents, such as any 1099's
• Any retirement or pension documents, such as any 1099-R's
• Brokerage Statements
• Any 1098's including those for Mortgage interest
• Personal Property Taxes Paid

More information and an expanded list is available on my blog.  kdhbusiness.blogspot.com

View the entire article here

You can also view my website at www.kdhbookkeeping.com

Wishing a less stressful and happy tax season!

The other way is to have a transfer switch installed. Then all you do is plug in a larger cord from your generator to a power inlet, and flip a few switches. Now your gas furnace, well, lights, outlets, refrigerator etc. are running safely. This type transfer switch is fairly inexpensive to have installed properly by a licensed electrician! Be ready for the next storm. We give Free bids on every job.

1. Commit to a plan for at least two seasons
2. Start small- lots of color in a small area right by a entry has more impact than small plants scattered about.
3. Find a reputable nursery with good healthy stock. It's worth the extra money than to buy what's on sale at the end of the season at the big box store.
4. Understand that there will be some maintenance i.e watering, dead-heading and maybe  a little fertilizer
5. Use a couple different types of plants- maybe some contrasting colors, different heights. Don't be afraid to experiment a little bit.
6. When the season turns and those plants start to look poor, by all means, get 'em out and start fresh again.