Newsletter
26 JULY 2001- Recycled HTML
Version
Volume 1 Issue 5 - Association
for Better Insulation
(Be nice to your eyes. Please open full-screen for best
viewing...Ed)
In Today's Newsletter:
1. Associate Update - New Member Roster
2. Website Update -
@www.betterinsulation.com
3. Marketing Tips - Ways to Spread the Word
4. Industry News - BREAKTHROUGH IN
MARKETING
5. Political Passions - Worker's Comp &
Insurance Rates
6. Reader Submitted Articles - Fiberglass
vs. Cellulose
7. Featured Products - Sponsor Search
8. The Legal Stuff Newsletters Must
Have
9. Quote of the Week.
10. VIRUS ALERT RUNNING IN OUR
CIRCLE
Welcome to the fifth issue of the
ABI Newsletter.
A Special Welcome to the new members in the
past week, since the last issue:
WELCOME TO THE ABI CELLULOSE FAMILY! - New
Listings:
Custom Spray
Insulation - Greenwood, AR. USA - www.customspray.com
Trial Member
(special apology to Custom Spray,
we mistakenly listed them in Arizona instead of Arkansas but they signed
on June 16th. Our sincere apologies... We fired the resident geographer.
One thing about us, our screw ups are only the most noticeable kind and
fixed quickly! Other than that, we are every bit as perfect as the rest of
you...Ed. ;o)
Brant's Fuel Savers - St. Joseph, MO.
USA www.ponyexpress.net/~fuelsavers/ *Full
Supporting Member
Four Way Roofing &
Insulation, Inc. - Hospers, IA. USA - www.fourwayinc.com Trial
Member
Colquitt Insulation - Valdosta, GA. USA -
www.betterinsulation.com
Trial Member
SPECIAL THANKS and our prayers for Mrs.
Deidre van Gerven, who lost a husband to the poison we fight. She has a
Web site at http://www.fibreaware.org.nz/
where you can find resources and a moment for reflection. She was kind
enough to link to our site as a resource. Don't ever forget how important
it is that you offer an alternative to fiberglass. It is a good thing you
do, and the world appreciates it.
Website Updates @www.betterinsulation.com
Sites owned by companies that want more
business and quality content on their site that have
placed a link back to the Better Insulation site on their site since
the past issue:
Winslow Energy Savers - Texas - www.winslowenergysavers.com
*Full Supporting Member
Jupiter Insulation - Russia - www.jup.ru
Trial Member
Polar Insulation - Florida - www.polar-insulation.com
*Full Supporting Member
Excel Industries (Warmcel) -
United Kingdom - www.warmcel.com
Trial Member
Payless Insulation - Texas - www.paylessinsulation.com
Trial Member
Ekofiber Isolering (Insulation) - Sweden - www.ekofiber.com Trial
Member
Great Job and Thanks! The first step to
better utilizing the Internet to increase your business has been
taken by the astute marketing personnel in these progressive thinking
companies. 80% of people who are having new homes built have computers and
are online. Companies that ignore the Internet as a source of commerce are
really missing the boat. So, jump on board the ABI steamship to success!
We are here to provide information, products, cutting edge marketing tips
and exposure for your company and product. Every single one of you should
be booked up at least a month in advance. We won't stop trying until you
are.
We've also added a link to DSIRE - The
Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy -
http://www.dcs.ncsu.edu/solar/dsire/dsire.cfm which
will tell you and your customers what incentives, co-payments, grants,
discounts and the like are available in your state for using sustainable
energy products like Cellulose Insulation. It's also at the bottom of the
"links" page on the website at www.betterinsulation.com
.
Something on the site you think should be
added, changed, or could be written to sound better or clearer to your
customers? Speak up. Don't just say it sux, send in a replacement
paragraph or suggestion and if it's better than what's up there now, we'll
use it! It makes sense for you to input content for the site. Your
customers are the ones going to it. If we don't use it, we'll
tell you why.
Just email suggested changes or additions to
moore@betterinsulation.com
.
In The Works:
ABI has successfully negotiated a marketing
package with Michael Holigan of the TV show "Your New House". www.michaelholigan.com
This package includes the insulation segment on next
year's 'Project House' that they build on the TV program each year.
We are also having a 5-7 minute streaming
video and CD ROM professionally produced starring Michael Holigan, that
we will make available to Members to stream from their websites on Real
Player entitled
"How to Reduce your
Energy Costs by HALF!" and will feature
Cellulose in new and retro installation and other energy savings tips by
Michael, such as water heater insulation, and fluorescent light bulbs. The
movie will also stream from the Michael Holigan website, which gets over
800,000 hits a month. We anticipate a minimum of 2500 views per month from
serious lookers from this one avenue. The title is designed to get
the most people to watch it and, of course, will link back to the ABI Web
site, which links back to YOU. (this digital movie will also be available
in a CD ROM that you can mail to prospective customers who indicate
they have a computer and want more information, instead of, or in addition
to, sending out a package of pamphlets (it's faster and easier for
them if they have a slow internet connection). All members will receive a
complimentary CD ROM in the mail with more information when production is
done. We hope to make them available to you at 2 for a dollar nicely
packaged (AOL) minimum order 400 and get them into the people's hands! Emblazoned
across the front will be the words:
"CUT YOUR UTILITY BILLS IN H-A-L-F!"
Free Secrets Revealed!
How to creatively and safely save thousands
of dollars. NOW!
And it will be up to you to distribute it.
Optimally, we should mail them out like AOL, but we simply cannot afford
to by ourselves. Keep the electric companies' lobbies stocked. Give them
to builders to give to Clients. These CDs would make the builder look very
conscientious; offering an option that will save the client thousands of
dollars. Of course, with the informed customer, the builder doesn't
have to dicker about price. An energy efficient home is worth more.
Everybody knows that... it's practically our duty to make our homes energy
efficient to lessen the load a bit on old Mother Earth.
This high impact marketing package will
cost the Association over $25,000. If you can afford to pay your $350
Annual Dues and become a Full Member before your trial membership is over
we would appreciate it. Of course, you'll still get the free 6 months
added to the year you paid for. Just drop us an email and we'll send you
an invoice and receipt for your accountant so you can claim it as dues to
a trade association on your taxes. Thank you for your support.
In next month's issue of the Cellulose
Insulation Journal, the industry newspaper you can subscribe to FREE by
emailing CIjournal@aol.com
or calling 1-800-627-7536, you'll see a full
page feature article on the Association for Better Insulation and the
Web site at www.betterinsulation.com
. It's a VERY informative magazine that you should subscribe to.
(If you don't have a website, or
would like yours revamped, let us know... we offer tremendous discounts to
Cellulose Contractors for professional design services (Contractor
websites $299), hosting ($15.99 a month), and search engine submission
(free
when we design your site or you change your hosting service over to us) domain
name registration through us is only $9.00 per year... Call
270.842.4658 to discuss ...or drop an email and we'll call you...Proceeds
will also go towards the promotion of the Web site, the Movie, and the
Industry...essentially, you....Ed.)
Marketing Tips: Ways to Spread the Word
In this section, we would like to share with
everyone ways to increase business through creative marketing and public
education. We would appreciate any member or reader suggestions for this
section to be included in the next issue. If you are doing something that
works, SHARE IT! The more market share
nationally and internationally that Cellulose Insulation gets, the more
the word will spread and YOU will benefit directly from that, as will the
global environment. Just drop us an email or give us a call...
~ How to Advertise Your Web site Inexpensively
Locally ~
The ABI TEST MARKET Run....
In the last issue (archived on the site) we
discussed a full blown marketing plan to get an additional 20 jobs a week
off your Web site. Some of you are cautious and the Internet is an unknown
marketing factor. Here we have an experiment that you can try for yourself,
inexpensively that will bring results. As we always say, the proof is in the
pudding...
This is going to cost you $200. It may turn
out to be the best $200 you ever spent, except for the $200 bucks you spend
on getting decals for your vehicles that have your Web site address on them,
if your website address name is catchy. (if not, don't waste your
money - put
www.betterinsulation.com
on your trucks. It'll come back to YOU... that's what
it's for!)
Spend the $200 on simple ads in local
newspapers and the Weekly freebies papers.
270-555-1212
TIRED of paying HIGH UTILITY BILLS?
Secrets Revealed. Free.
Line 1 Font = Arial 12pt. Bold - your number
Line 2 & 3 Font = Arial 14pt. Bold
Line 4 Font = Arial 12pt. Bold
Line 5 Font = Century 18pt. Bold Underline
Make sure you tell them to CENTER the ad and
write it exactly like the one above (including font types), except
tell them to put it in a box (border). Business card size ad. It works.
(The referred to Free Gifts are the Ebooks on
the site)
The object here is BRANDING. The ads need to
run CONSISTENTLY. The catch to advertising in print is to have your ad there
every time they open a newspaper. You are a Better Insulation Company and
the name is one they will remember and visit, get informed, click on your
state and listing and contact you... You need to understand that the Better
Insulation Site is just a big educating loop that leads back to your site.
Get over thinking you are advertising another site. It is YOURS because it
leads to you and educates your customer and you'll be taking orders and
scheduling installs instead of spending time educating.
Run it as consistently as you can for as long
as you can for the $200. At least Wednesday and Sunday in the Daily
Paper and Weekly in the Weekly Paper for a month. Monitor your phone
calls and ask people how they heard about you. Then see if that $200 paid
off. It will. Isn't it worth a couple of hundred bucks to see? If you get a
couple of jobs off the first run, it's a success. This BRANDING type
advertising pays off only with consistent advertising. Keep the ad running
for a month and you'll get significantly more business. Definitely more
than enough to pay for itself and that new boat you may want... if you
continue to run it.
But, the proof is in the pudding. I'm telling
you, the more you advertise www.betterinsulation.com
locally in your area, the more customers you'll get. The site leads right
back to you and educates the customer very well. When they call from the
Better Insulation site, they are ready to be installed. That old saw about 9
out of 10 people who UNDERSTAND about Cellulose vs. Fiberglass will choose
Cellulose is true. You all know that. Now, here's a desktop tutor for your
customers. But you have to tell them it's there. It'll do the rest. Is this
starting to make sense? It's a very valid marketing option that you should
consider. Using it will increase your business. Please excuse my directness.
It's your business. I'm just trying to help you use this marketing tool the
way it was meant to be used. Effectively to
increase YOUR business through the power of Internet Marketing.
~ Quotable Quotes ~
"I wish the deed transfer records were
online."
"When are we going to have a golf
tournament?
"We put our Web site address on all our
vehicles and ads."
"We're going to put www.betterinsulation.com
on our trucks."
"We look at the Better Insulation site
like having a Cellulose library or database hooked up to the back of our
site."
"They just don't get it. It's like me
coming to your door the first of every month and you handing me $6.00 (you
borrowed) and I turn right around and hand you $85. Every month for the rest
of your home's life."
"It's like this. Fiberglass is glass
fibers. Cellulose originates with wood. Take some boiling HOT water and pour
some in a glass cup. You can't touch it. Pour some in a wooden cup and you
can pick it up fine."
"What you're tellin me, son, is that the
only way fiberglass could compare in price is by them putting it in free and
paying me $79 a month to keep it? Have you had a drug test recently?"
"That Better Insulation site is like a
big circle of information that leads right back to my site."
"Is that guarantee one-ply or
two-ply?"
"It's diligence. We work for the
customer. We insulate every house like it was our own. That's why, for us, every
sale is 3 more sales over the next 2 years."
(Quotable Quotes is an occasional feature
with quotes originating with anonymous contractors, salespeople and
customers...Ed.)
Industry News
BREAKTHROUGH IN MARKETING IN THE CELLULOSE
INDUSTRY!!! Missouri Rules! And you can, too!
Brandt's Energy Savers and Five Star Insulators, both Better Insulation
Contractors and full members, are located only 75 miles apart. Sounds like a
recipe for a Cellulose War... Not so with Better Insulation Contractors.
What they are doing is teaming up and advertising www.betterinsulation.com
locally in a couple hundred mile radius on TV and Newspapers, splitting the
cost, and putting a hurting on the fiberglass contractors in the area.
Understand that the business they get off the ads will be folks ready to do
business and customers that neither one would have had anyway. Fiberglass
would have! So, how can they lose? Can't. Cooperative marketing in this
situation is very astute marketing. Congratulations on the next level of
success to both of these progressive companies.
(in the 5 days since they've
started advertising a little, the hits to the site coming from
their area is growing 50 times faster than the rest of the country! and
the newspaper ads haven't even come out yet... in our experience, that means
business coming their way...Ed.)
--------
The Alliance to Save Energy is very excited and pleased (as are we) that the Ways and Means Committee has adopted such a long list of efficiency incentives in its bill. Although there remains the need to make improvements and refinements in this bill, this is a great start. The insulation, windows, and appliance industries deserve special congratulations for their effectiveness! For more information visit: http://www.ase.org/policy/markups.htm
--------
FIBERGLASS COST INCREASE? We've
heard tons of rumors and so many different versions of the story, that we
tried to get the facts and the fact is, that across the board increases of
12%-15% for materials have been instituted in the fiberglass industry. That
means it makes even more sense for Building Contractors to start using
Cellulose... Revisit the Builders and re-present your proposal. If they only
realized how using Better Insulation will improve their reputations and
increase their referrals, they would be calling YOU. But, we have to be the
educators, and now it's a good time to offer to share some knowledge with
the Builders. Don't forget to tell them that they can build a whole
marketing campaign for their business around the fact they build energy
efficient homes. Energy Efficient Homes cost more because they save more.
Builders should know that... customers do.
--------
Does your company
publish an electronic newsletter? Want to increase circulation? Let
us know and we'll add it to the script on the Better Insulation Web site and
visitors and members can sign up from there!
The Political Passions
What's the BIG BEEF
for you to talk to politicians about, and network about, and email your
representatives about that NEEDS to be changed? It's the totally unfair and
unfounded categorization of Cellulose with fiberglass as an insulation for
the purposes of worker's compensation and insurance rates.
We thank Michelle at
Brandt's Fuel Savers in Missouri for being the fire that lit the
torch on this one. If anyone has a plan of action or the best place to start
a picket line, let us know. In the meantime, at least email your feelings to
your elected officials. You can find the email addresses of your US Representatives
at: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ .
You will get a response and we also need to work on a concerted effort. We
need our own category, or even better, an "insulation"
category and an "insulation
(non-fiberglass)" category. The Foam Industry should team up
with us on this crusade... It's all who you know, and we all know someone.
Start calling around a bit and drop some seeds in some ears. Cheaper
insurance and worker's comp payments is the deserved benefit. Why should we
pay for fiberglass health hazards when we are doing our part to help both
the environment and the energy shortage? Instead of being rewarded, we are
getting the shaft on this one! BE VOCAL.
(Many of you have been working on this problem for years and
we all appreciate your efforts and hopefully we can help by pulling together
as a team... we look to you for leadership if you have experience in this
endeavor...Ed.)
~ This Week's Reader Submitted Article ~
This weeks entry from
Fred at A.C.H. Insulation Services in Grand Terrace, CA. www.whatadifference.com
A
QUICK AND EASY COMPARISON:
Fiberglass vs.
Cellulose
A good way
to describe the benefits of "cellulose insulation" over fiberglass,
is to liken the fiberglass to the sand at the beach.
When you walk in the sand, it's hot. When the sun goes down, the sand is still nice and warm. It's mineral! Minerals retain heat, AND they conduct thermal energy.
Fiberglass is made of fine sand (silica). During the hotter months, an attic insulated with fiberglass will transfer its heat through the ceiling long after the sun's gone down.
"Have you ever wondered why your A/C is still running at 9 or even 10 o'clock at night?
It's because your sandy beach up there is still hot! And that hotter air is transferring to the 'area of least resistance...the cooled room(s) below!"
"An important thing to remember is we're talking HEAT TRANSFER here! Too many people think that during the summer the cooled conditioned air is rushing outside where it's hot (when there's inadequate insulation). WRONG!!!" The transfer, Mr. Jones, is HOT TO COLD. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but during the colder months, your heater goes ON, OFF, ON, OFF, constantly, right? And during the hotter months your A/C goes on....and stays on for ridiculously LONG periods of time, RIGHT? And then the cycles just repeat themselves."
"What's
happening in these examples is simple physics: The heater (during the
winter) warms the home really fast and the heater shuts off. Then the
newly introduced WARMED AIR rushes outside to be in the [area of least
resistance], and the heater starts another cycle. And just as the heat
transfer works in the winter, it's reversed during the summer. Your A/C
now runs longer periods of time and then shuts off for a brief while and the
cycle starts all over again. BECAUSE, MR. JONES, the hotter air outside is
rushing into the house, NOT ALLOWING THE THERMOSTAT TO GO DOWN...It's a
vicious circle!"
"NOW... Cellulose's base is paper…'trees'! Trees don't conduct
thermal energy…THEY'RE ORGANIC...they're neutral! Organic
products don't, and will never conduct thermal energy the way Minerals
DO!
"Ya know that hot day at the beach we just talked about? Well
... let's take that same HOT DAY and go to the highest mountain, pick out the
tallest tree, peel off the bark and touch the tree! It's COOL. You
know why? Because it's organic. Once again: Organic materials DO
NOT conduct thermal energy very well at all. Minerals (that fine sand that you
have (or want) up in your attic) DO CONDUCT ENERGY and THEY PROMOTE HEAT. And
further... bugs, and small rodents LOVE to play in the sand. They really
don't care much for the Boric Acid and Borax in the CELLULOSE.
When properly installed in the attic and walls, cellulose will create an
inside to outside temperature difference of as much as 12-20° …regardless
of the time of year...
'SO MR. JONES, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE INSULATING YOUR HOME?
--------
A.C.H. Insulation in Grand Terrace, California
www.whatadifference.com is another successful Better Insulation Contractor who is willing to share knowledge with the up and coming Contractors who are just starting in the business and the rest of us, who may have heard it before, but forgot.(To give is to receive in life and we appreciate contributions to the newsletter. Many of you have been very noble in your actions and should be proud to show your willingness to help others and your level of expertise. We are proud of our Members. They are good people... and World Class Small Business Successes, the heart of the world economy... if we can just convince George W. of this, we'd have more tax incentives to grow even larger...Ed.)
<----- Note: Articles and ideas in the Reader Submitted section do not necessarily reflect the endorsement of the Association. We welcome comments and will publish them in the next issue. ---- >FEATURED PRODUCT
To help with financing the promotion of this INDUSTRY RESOURCE, we are soliciting sponsors for this section of the ABI Newsletter and banner ads on the Web site. 6 line advertisements or announcements in this Newsletter are a very reasonable $30 per issue. Banners on the site are $50 a month or $500 a year. This is a great deal for targeted exposure to your clients and customers. We appreciate your support.
Thus ends another issue of the ABI Newsletter.
Thank you for your time and we hope you found some of this useful. And, as
always, Have a Well Insulated Day!
Please forward this Newsletter to whoever may
benefit from it in your circle of Associates.
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Need to contact us directly? Phone:
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Office...Ed.=Editor)
~ quote of the week ~
"It's diligence. We work for the
customer. We insulate every house like it was our own. That's why, for us, every
sale is 3 more sales over the next 2 years."
VIRUS ALERT: There is a virus called
W32.Sircam.Worm @ mm that first appeared on the Internet July 17th and
I've had it sent to me by 3 people in this industry in the past 2 days. So
it is there and it is an insidious WORM virus that emails itself to everyone
in your address book. It comes as an attachment that appears like you can't
open it. Please run a good, UPDATED virus scanner, or if you don't have
one, run a web based one. There is a good one at www.housecall.antivirus.com
. To find out if you have this virus on your computer, and you don't want to
run the virus scanner for some reason, go to START>FIND>FILES AND
FOLDERS on your computer (windows) and search for
cam32.exe and if you find anything close to
that, like Scam32.exe, for instance, you can go
to http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sircam.worm@mm.html and
download a removal tool or you can get directions on how to remove this
virus manually. It is very wide spread right now and you really need to
check to see if you have it. Like I said, 3 people's computers in this
industry have tried to send it to me in the past 2 days, so chances are
you have it because it sends itself out without you knowing if you aren't
running a virus scanner on all email attachments. It's set to gobble C:\
drives October 16th... but don't wait because it slows down your computer
now and keeps sending itself to people. If you get an email with an
attachment --- look at the file name. If it looks strange, like has too many
extensions (ex. testfile.doc.pif) then it's
probably this virus. Simply delete the email as it doesn't work unless you
open the attachment. You really shouldn't open any attachment you get in
emails unless you are expecting it and know what it is.