Oct./Nov. 2009TPI ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS Taking Care of Business.................Page 2 - Your Employees' Ordinary Greatness Can Save Your Company Safety Management.................Pages 3-4 - Tree Trimmer Electrocution - City and Rural Driving Training - Federal Guidelines Encourage Employers to Plan for Influenza Season - Not so Good Vibrations - Increase in Farming Fatalities Sparks ASSE Safety Tips Marketing Tip...................................Page 5 - Six "Must-Have " Social Media Profiles for a Great Marketing Campaign Shrewder Computing..................... Page 5 - Beware Deceptive Domain Renewal Letters - Save Money Refill Ink Cartridges TPI Action...........................................Page 6 Spotlight on Turfgrass Benefits.... Page 6 - Turfgrass captures and suppresses dust Say “Aloha” to Great Room Rates Great room rates of $200 for single/double occupancy are available at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, host hotel for the TPI Midwinter Conference, February 1-5, 2010. Act fast! This group rate is available until January 4, 2010, subject to availability. Call 866/716-8109 or 808/930-4900 to reserve your room. The Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa features the full-service Ho'ola (the Hawaiian word for healing) Spa, where you can enjoy lomi lomi massage or hot pohaku (stone) massage treatments and oceanfront treatment patios with magnificent views. Sample tropical beverages poolside at the Manta Ray Bar & Grill. Big Island-grown fruits, vegetables and freshly caught fish highlight romantic dinners at Kai. Stunning ocean vistas from Crystal Blue Lounge are second only to the sight of graceful manta ray feeding in the surf below. The Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort features 521 spacious guest rooms and suites, each with a private lanai. High speed Internet access is available resort wide. BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Turfgrass Producers International Seven Tips for Selling More in a Tough Economy You hear it everywhere you go, “Sales are down because of the economy. My customers aren’t buying as much.” But, some people argue that the economy does not matter. They contend that it is what is going on in your head that matters. While what goes on in your brain is always more important than outside circumstances, the economy is still affecting many businesses. If yours is one of them, put the following seven ideas into practice and you will find the economy’s effect on you will be minimal. In fact, you may notice a positive change. 1. Don’t let the economy be your excuse. After a tough day or some difficult sales calls, it is easy to use the economy as an excuse. People will hear it in your voice and you will sell less. This attitude also leads to working less. In a down economy, when salespeople should increase their calls and activity level, the average salesperson cuts calls by 37 percent. The answer? Use the down economy as motivation to work harder and smarter. If you back off, business will go down. If you work harder and smarter, business will improve. 2. Get better at selling. When there are fewer sales opportunities and prospects, do better with the ones you have. Read books, listen to tapes and CDs, watch DVDs—absorb everything. This strategy has helped many salespeople actually sell more in a so-called down economy than they sold when times were good. Constant and consistent learning is the best way to grow your sales. 3. Keep a good attitude. Your attitude is your most important sales tool. Put as many good ideas as possible into your brain. Pick up anything that is inspirational, motivational, positive and upbeat and use it to keep a good attitude. Surround yourself with positive people and stay away from negative people. 4. Prepare for price objections and build value. People are focused on price more than ever these days. Prospects and customers will do everything they can to commoditize vendors and go with the lowest price. Therefore, it is very important to build value. What are your Note: For permission to reproduce and distribute any part or Business Management newsletter, contact Managing Editor Lynn Grooms at 847/649-5555 or lgrooms@TurfGrassSod.org. primary benefits? How are your company and your product better than the competition? Are you local? Is your long-term cost less? Can you respond to service calls faster? Accentuate your primary benefits, make them as powerful as possible and provide proof in return on investment models and testimonials. Develop some solid responses to price objections. 5. Build relationships. The relationship with the salesperson is the top reason people give for doing business with a particular company. We have all seen it happen, you make an overwhelming case for your product versus the competition and yet, the prospect still buys from your competitor because they are golf buddies. Focus not only on staying in touch with customers and prospects, but also on taking that next step and building solid relationships. 6. Go back to the basics. Now is the time to increase the personal touch. Make more face time with customers, send handwritten notes, stop by occasionally simply to say “hello” and drop off the proposal in person instead of mailing or e-mailing it. Your objective is to touch the customer more often on a more personal level at a time when your competitors are calling less and being less personal. 7. You are completely responsible for your success. Five years from now, you and your career will arrive somewhere. The question is “Where?” If you decide that something outside of you, such as the economy, is responsible for your success or failure, you give away control of your destiny and your ultimate success. Provided you have solid goals and strong enough reasons why you need to get there, you will arrive where you decide to arrive, regardless of the economy. If you put the above tips to work, you will see an improvement in business. What are you capable of if you really set your mind to it and get to work? The sky is the limit, so stay positive, work hard and smart, and dream big. John Chapin is co-author of 'Sales Encyclopedia, a comprehensive how-to guide on selling. He is the co-founder of Complete Selling Incorporated. Visit www.completeselling.com or johnchapin@completeselling.com Taking Care of Business By Pam Bilbrey and Brian Jones, coauthors, Ordinary Greatness Why Your Employees’ “Ordinary Greatness” Can Save Your Company The men and women who work with you already possess the skills, knowledge and insights to pull your company out of its slump. If your company is like most, you are defi­ nitely feeling the recession. Revenues are down. Customer demands are up. Employees seem fro­ zen in place with anxiety, and their fearless leader (that would be you) is not living up to the tide. You may find yourself wishing that some busi­ ness superhero would sweep in and rescue you. But rather than seeking outside help, you might try looking closer to home. Greatness does not always come with a flowing cape and superpow­ ers. Everything you need to be successful already exists in your workforce. You are just not using it. Organizations like to say, “People are our most valuable asset,” but they simply do not capitalize on their human resource asset. Very few leaders fully leverage the knowledge, ideas and talents of their people to drive business results. If they started doing so, they could rescue themselves from the recession. Your employees are a storehouse of passion, energy, skills and commitment just waiting to be tapped. By recognizing and reinforcing their or­ dinary greatness, you help them bring their unre­ alized potential to the surface. Not only will this benefit your company right away, it will generate more of the same. Organizations that are able to access and harness the ordinary greatness of their people align themselves for greatness—even in challenging economic times. Here are a few strategies that will help your organization achieve its own brand of ordinary greatness: • Make sure employees are absolutely clear on where your organization is headed. Remember the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderlands His words of wisdom seem prophetic: “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” In times when we are re-evaluating and redefining everything we know as normal,’ the importance of a clear vision and direction for the future is ever more important. If leaders are fuzzy on the details, it is time to get focused. Then, make certain to communicate your plan to the entire company. • Do not force your employees to guess where the organization is headed and what they should be focused on right now. They will guess wrong. The fear, anxiety and frustrations employees are experiencing will not disappear entirely, but a sense of comfort and trust will develop when leadership provides clarity around the strategies and actions needed to move past existing chal­ lenges and take advantage of opportunities. It is the road map that will point to where you are going. Inspire ownership by involving employees • in major decisions. Are your employees renters or owners? If they are the former, they treat the company much like they might a hotel bathroom (they leave wet towels piled on the floor) or a rental car (they turn it in with a bug-splattered windshield). If they are the latter, they actively look out for the company’s best interests and its bottom line. Leaders inspire ownership by involv­ ing employees at all levels in resolving problems and pinpointing opportunities. We all make decisions about how much we are willing to commit to an organization. The most successful companies are the ones that have figured out that employee ownership is the ingredient that can propel an organization to success. This is especially true in the middle of a recession, when your very survival likely depends on engaging staff and getting their best ideas on the table. • Do not hide the (scary) truth. Transparency is a hallmark of good leadership. This is even truer in times of uncertainty. Ironically, that is when leaders display a natural tendency to hunker down and communicate only the positive aspects of the situation with employees. Sure, you are trying to protect your workforce, but what you are really doing is undermining their trust. Employees know, or at least suspect, the com­ pany is facing serious issues. Without accurate information from you, they will fill in the gaps themselves. Assumptions and rumors will run rampant. • Leaders must break through the rhetoric and tell it like it is. Communicate with employees in a timely, understandable, meaningful and inspirational fashion. Open, frequent communi­ cation will generate the commitment and energy needed to rally the organization with a sense of ownership that says, “We can do this.” Identify faulty systems and processes. • Finger-pointing can be a hallmark of stress­ ful times. Leaders may be tempted to suggest that employees are at fault for lackluster results, missed deadlines and low morale. While this may be true in some instances, leaders must never rush to judgment. Instead, they should examine the systems and processes that dictate how work gets done. Frankly, they may be the culprits who are holding employees back. Many companies have existed for years with broken systems or misaligned processes or both. But, perhaps, back when customers were beating down the door and money was flowing, they were able to succeed in spite of these shortcom­ ings. Now, of course, it is a whole different ball- game. Work to solve these structural problems and you will find that your employees’ ordinary greatness can finally shine through. • Make sure leaders are well trained in creating desirable workplaces. Ordinary greatness thrives in companies with strong leadership. A recent survey of federal workplaces found that the qual­ ity of an organization’s senior leadership is the important element in building a great place to work—coming in even above pay and benefits. (See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ content/article/2009/05/19/AR2009051903621. html for more information.) The Washington Post article that reported the study mentioned that employees value bosses who communicate well and provide workers with sufficient training and opportunities. So perhaps the most important thing you can do to make sure you get a positive return on your human in- vestment is making sure all leaders are thoroughly trained in these tools. Ultimately, committing to these strategies will go a long way in reducing the elevated absentee­ ism, lack of focus, conflict among coworkers and general feeling of apathy that are often present in challenging times. Do not just pay lip service to the idea, but actually prove that your people are your most valuable asset by recognizing, promoting and cultivating the ordinary greatness that is right before your eyes. If you are seeking rescue from the recession, the men and women who come to work every day are your last, best hope. Pamela Bilbrey helps organizations maximize their strengths and bring out their ordinary greatness to achieve extraordinary results. A consultant, coach and international speaker, Bilbrey has authored three books and more than 50 articles on employee engagement, leadership and team development, and organizational change. Brian Jones travels the country helping teams and organizations achieve real results with tools and advice. He is the author of sev­ eral articles on leadership development and employee engagement. For more information, please visit www.ordinarygreatnessbook.com Ordinary Greatness: It’s Where You Least Expect It... Everywhere (Wiley July 2009, ISBN: 978-0-470-46172-3, $24.95) is available at bookstores nationwide, or directly from the publisher by calling 800-225-5945. In Canada, call 800-567-4797 Safety Management Tree Trimmer Electrocution If you are a tree trimmer at work or at home, you really should review this fatality Green tree limbs are conductive. Yes, wood is an insulator... when it is dry. Green limbs have killed many tree trimmers and electrical lineman. When working around guy wires beware. They can be energized at the same voltage as the highest voltage on the pole. The amount of current avail­ able can exceed 200,000 amps. If you have guy wires near your business or yard at home, visually inspect them for damage. Do not grab the guy wire and shake it. If you think it might be damaged, guard the area around the guy wire and call your power provider immediately to request an inspection. In this particular incident, a subcontractor supervisor and two of his crew were trying to remove a partially broken tree limb that was obstructing a pub­ lic street near a greenbelt area adjacent to a chemical plant. While dragging the limb between utility pole guy wires, one of the wires became detached from its lower anchor point and became slack. Work stopped, the crew assembled and the work restarted. For reasons unknown, the deceased (IP) held the guy wire, which became energized when it came into contact with a 7640v power line on the utility pole. The IP was found unconscious lying on the guy wire. EMS was called and the property owner was notified. The IP was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead. The IP held a guy wire that had separated from its lower anchor point and was electrocuted due to the uninsulated portion of the guy wire contacting an energized power line. Root Causes The work crew did not plan their work to minimize hazards of interacting with guy wires. The supervisor did not fully risk assess potential hazards and consequences regarding tree limb removal once the guy wire was identified as being damaged. The placement of the insulator on the guy wire permitted the wire to become energized when it contacted a power line. The utility company did not identify the guy wire corrosion or a need to repair it prior to the failure of multiple wire strands. Immediate Corrective Actions The utility company replaced the damaged guy wire and all other guy wires associated with the utility pole. The utility company was then to inspect all other guy wires, anchor points and insulators within the greenbelt and repair as needed by a specified date. Systemic Corrective Actions Protocols were enhanced for contractors to identify and mitigate hazards for conducting work in the greenbelt. Refresher training with contractor and subcontractor on loss prevention system fundamentals and expectations was planned as was a stronger process for developing, reviewing and modifying job safety analyses. Carl Potter, CSP, CMC, works with organizations wanting to create safe environ­ ments. He and Deb Potter, PhD, CMC, conduct workshops, advise industry leaders and speak frequently at industry-specific and safety-related conferences. For information, contact 800-259-6209; www.carlpotter.com. City and Rural Driving Training Programs Available Driving in both rural and city areas presents specific hazards. For this rea­ son, J. J. Keller and Associates Inc., Neenah, WI, has developed City Driving and Rural Driving training programs to help drivers prepare for the challenges they will face. J.J. Keller and Associates specializes in safety and regulatory compliance products and services. The City Driving program provides strategies to help drivers successfully navigate hazard-packed city environments. City driving requires an under­ standing of some of the toughest parts of driving a tractor-trailer: traffic, turning, negotiating intersections, speed and space management, maneuvering in tight spaces, and cargo securement. The training program covers: • The importance of thorough route planning (taking into consideration known traffic bottlenecks, problematic traffic times and customer delivery times) • The importance of vehicle inspections • Defensive driving in a hazard-rich environment • Safe vehicle maneuvers in high traffic areas • Specific driving techniques for safer city driving The Rural Driving program helps drivers recognize and deal with the unique set of hazards they normally do not contend with when driving on interstate highways. The program addresses: • Sharing the road with school buses, farm equipment and horse-driven bug­ gies • Tips for handling high-risk situations • Specific driving strategies for safer rural driving • Negotiating passing lanes and passing • How to avoid falling into routine or pattern driving Both programs cover critical safety topics in just 18 minutes and keep drivers’ attention with dramatic footage, dynamic graphics, 3-D animation, a hazard perception challenge scenario and “Road Wise” commentary from seasoned transport pros. To view video previews online, visit www.jjkeller.com. Federal Guidelines Encourage Employers to Plan Now for Influenza Season Department of Commerce (DOC) Secretary Gary Locke, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Home­ land Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano have announced new guid­ ance for businesses to plan for and respond to the upcoming flu season. The guidance, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is designed to help employers prepare now for the impact that seasonal and 2009 H1N1 influenza could have this fall and winter on their employees and operations. Employers’ plans should address such points as encouraging employees with flu-like symptoms or illness to stay home, operating with reduced staffing and possibly having employees who are at higher risk of serious medical com­ plications from infection work from home, according to the CDC guidance. It is not known whether the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus will cause more illness or more severe illness in the coming months, but the CDC recom­ mends that everyone be prepared for it. Because seasonal and 2009 H1N1 influenza pose serious health threats, employers should work with employees to develop and implement plans that can reduce the spread of flu, and to encourage seasonal flu vaccination as well as H1N1 vaccination when that vaccine becomes available. Secretary Locke suggested businesses set the right tone in the workplace. That means implementing common sense measures to reduce the risk of spreading the flu and encouraging workers who are sick to stay home. The guidance notes the importance of using actions to help reduce the spread of flu, including regular and frequent hand washing and routine cleaning of com­ monly touched surfaces. Employers should review sick leave policies and ensure employees under­ stand them, according to the guidance. Employers should try to make sick leave policies flexible for workers who may have to stay home with ill family members or if a child’s school is closed, the CDC says. Employers should consider encouraging employees to be vaccinated against seasonal and H1N1 flu. Employers also might cancel non-essential face-to-face meetings and travel. “Keeping our nation’s workers safe is a top priority,” said Deputy Secretary of Labor Seth Harris, who participated in the announcement. “Faced with a renewed H1N1 challenge during the coming flu season, we are developing tools that will help ensure America’s workers stay healthy and our businesses remain viable.” For more information, visit www.flu.gov Not so Good Vibrations Landscape and farm operation workers often spend many hours driving a lawnmower or tractor, and it is not uncommon for them to feel the effects of these long hours. Some of these could include shoulder, neck and back pain, poor circulation in the legs and a potential for degeneration of spinal discs. Lifting heavy objects after long hours of driving also can lead to an increased chance of low back injury. This is why it is important for machine operators to take rest and stretch breaks, even just five minutes per hour, reports the Farm Safety Association (www.farmsafety.ca), which has published Safety in the Landscape Industry an operation and safety manual for landscape workers and owners. Making sure that the seat is properly adjusted along with the steering wheel will go a long way to reducing stresses on the body, reports the FSA. Operators need to be to able to reach and operate the pedals without moving their back off the seat. A good suspension system and extra padding will absorb vibration from the machine. Shifting positions while operating also will help. Rough terrain can cause whole body vibration that stimulates bursts of back muscle activity. This results in tired neck and back muscles at a greater pace and decreases the support these muscles give to your spine, reports FSA. This whole body vibration over time can lead to herniated discs in one’s back. Sitting for long periods of time in a vehicle can speed up this process. Whole body vibration may affect multiple body parts and organs depend­ ing upon the vibration characteristics. Segmental vibration, unlike whole body vibration, appears to be more localized in creating injury to the fingers and hands of workers using tools, such as pneumatic hammers, rotary grinders or other hand tools which cause vibration. Hand-arm vibration exposure can cause a condition known as “white-finger” disease or Reynaud’s phenom­ enon which affects the fingers. Early symptoms of this disease are tingling and numbness of the fingers, especially when exposed to the cold. Prolonged exposure may lead to persistent numbness and loss of grip. Take a look at your situation and make some of the suggested changes above, and your back will last a lot longer, the FSA advises. Increase in Farming Fatalities Sparks ASSE Safety Tips With the recent release of fatal work injury statistics showing an upward spiral in the farming industry, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) is stressing work safety tips. Workplace fatalities in the farming in­ dustry rose by 11 percent in 2008 to a total of 651 deaths in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industries in the U.S., according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This increase was led by worker deaths in crop production, which rose 18 percent in 2008. Most farm-related traumatic injuries are caused by machinery, with tractor accidents next, accounting for a high rate of fatali­ ties. According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), from 1992 to 2007 more than 8,000 farm workers died from work-related injuries in the U.S., with tractor overturn deaths accounting for an average of 96 deaths annually. About 243 agricultural workers suffer lost-work-time injuries every day, and about five percent of these injuries result in permanent impairment. As most farms do not fall under the auspices of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules and regulations, ASSE urges farmers to train all workers in all aspects of farming, including safety. ASSE established a new Agricultural Branch, as part of the ASSE Envi­ ronmental Practice Specialty, to provide a forum for safety, health and envi­ ronmental professionals in the agricultural industry. This forum is aimed at discussing risks and addressing solutions in this industry. It provides a venue to network and gain knowledge regarding best practices in safety and health issues affecting agricultural production operations of all sizes, including seed production, agricultural chemicals, transportation, equipment safety, compliance and enforcement. A combined effort by safety professionals and the agricultural commu­ nity can lead the industry into a new direction to prevent future traumatic injuries and illnesses, says ASSE Director of Member/Region Affairs and agricultural safety specialist Terry Wilkinson. ASSE offers the following safety tips: • Develop an awareness of hazards on the farm or operation and prepare for emergency situations including machinery entanglements, fires, vehicle collisions, electrical shocks from equipment and adverse health effects from chemical exposures. • Reduce the risk of injury and illness with preventive measures. Read and follow instructions in equipment operators manuals. Follow instructions on product labels for safe use, handling and storage. • Conduct routine inspections of your equipment to determine problems and potential failures that may contribute to or cause an injury. Properly maintain tools, buildings and equipment. • Conduct meetings with employees and family members to assess safety hazards, discuss potential accident situations and outline emergency procedures. • Provide approved rollover protective structures (ROPS). ROPS are compartment structures (usually cabs or frames) intended to protect equipment operators from injuries caused by vehicle overturns. Use seat belts while the tractor is in operation on tractors equipped with a ROPS. • Make sure guards for farm equipment are put back on after maintenance to protect workers from moving machinery parts. Also, keep all equip­ ment at least 20 feet from any overhead power lines or wires that support poles. • Review material safety data sheets (MSDS) and labels that come with all chemical products. • Communicate information concerning hazards to all workers. Prevent pesticide poisonings and dermatitis caused by chemicals by ensuring that protective measures recommended on the labels are taken. • Farmers are at great risk of contracting respiratory problems due to the amount of dust and chemicals they breathe in on a daily basis. Wearing protective equipment, which is readily available, can prevent acute and chronic respiratory illnesses. Protective equipment, such as mechanical filters and chemical cartridge masks, are air-purifying respirators that help protect lungs from harmful gases and dusts. • Seek out local resources from ASSE Chapters, County Extension offices, Farm Bureau and health facilities focusing on the agricultural commu­ nity. For more information about agricultural safety and health and to view the downloadable ASSE farm safety facts for rural areas, farm safety and health tips, and farm safety tips for young workers visit www.asse.org/newsroom Marketing Tip By Heather Lutze www.FindabilityGroup.com The Six “Must-Have” Social Media Profiles for a Great Marketing Campaign Every day it is harder for small business owners and advertisers to keep pace with all the social media platforms on the Internet since there are now more than 400 such platforms available. Any marketer knows the value of setting up a social media advertising campaign on these free platforms. But, with so many options and limited time, one needs a strategic and targeted approach to social media advertising. Social Media Advertising Formula There are six essential platforms to harness the potential of social advertising. Each plays a specific role, and the combination of all six will take your social advertising campaign to the next level. The formula calls for a touch of optimization on each platform. This allows your social media to work with your Website and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns to dominate the first page of search engine results. Essentially this formula will make you the only choice as far as he searcher and Google are concerned. Linked In: A popular business profile site, Linkedln ranks very well in search engines and is a great platform for sending event updates to business associates. When optimizing your Linkedln profile, select one core keyword. Use it frequently without sacrificing consumer experi­ ence and watch your profile skyrocket in the search engines. Facebook: As a closed community, Facebook does not rank in the search engines and makes the best choice if you want a personal profile online. However, optimizing your Facebook profile with your business keyword can make it an invaluable marketing effort. Optimize your Facebook profile for one keyword and become the “go-to” expert in your industry for more than 22 million Facebook users. MySpace: As an open community, MySpace ranks great in the search engines. It allows busi­ nesses to have fully-developed profiles, including personally designed backgrounds. In addition to optimizing your profile with a keyword, you can search for your target audience in MySpace friends and create an amazing outreach network. YouTube: YouTube is one of the best forums available to create a viral marketing campaign. From publishing client video testimonials to creating social proof of your abilities, YouTube videos are a great way to get other site owners to link to your website. Each new video is a new opportunity to optimize for a different keyword. Be sure to include your keyword in the title and at least once in the description section in each video. Blog: If you only have the time to create one social media platform, consider a blog. Blogs give users a few distinctive advantages over other platforms. First, search engines love blogs. They have plenty of content and are easy for the spiders to crawl and categorize online. Second, consumers love blogs. They are not hard sales, but instead a mix of marketing and education that online shoppers trust. Next, every blog is a new opportunity for you to go after a new key­ word. Whether you want to dominate a search page with one particular keyword or just have a presence under a different keyword, a blog is a free and easy way to get you there. As with a YouTube video, every blog is a new keyword opportunity. Use a keyword tool and select your keyword before writing. Then, in­ clude it in the title and throughout the content. Remember, never sacrifice consumer experience. Also, be advised that repeating a keyword too many times will show up as spam in the search engines. Twitter: Twitter is a micro blog that limits posts to 140 characters. Although you will hear the most skepticism about Twitter, it can be an amazing tool. Twitter plugins allow you to update Twitter and push it out to your other platforms, such as Facebook. Twitter posts also rank in the search engines. Select one keyword and include it in all your Twitter posts. Remember to personalize your Twitter background for a unique and branded look and feel. With the combination of these six social advertising platforms, your online marketing campaign is sure to be a success. Heather Lutze is CEO of The Findability Group, a Search Engine Marketing firm that works with companies to attain maximum Internet exposure. She is the author of The FindAbility Formula: The Simple and Non-Technical Approach To Search Engine Marketing (Wiley and Sons). She is a speaker for Pay Per Click Summit and previ­ ously spent two years speaking for Yahoo! Search Marketing. Shrewder Computing Beware Deceptive Domain Renewal Letters The following article featured in The Rhino Charger, a newsletter published by the Rhino Group, a professional Website developer based in Hundey, IL, addresses an important topic for all businesses—outside attempts to gain control of your domain name. Over the past several weeks we have received multiple phone calls from our customers with questions regarding the renewal of their domain names. In many of these cases, people are receiv­ ing what looks to be a legitimate letter from a company regarding the renewal of their domain. This letter looks like an invoice that simply needs to be entered into your system for payment. Upon closer inspection, it is much more than that. These notifications are actually domain trans­ fer requests. If completed and paid for, they will allow another company to gain control of your domain name. In many cases, these letters come from the “Domain Registration of America” or a similar name. The fine print states that by sign­ ing the invoice and remitting payment you agree to transfer your domain name to their service. If you receive one of these notifications, DO NOT fill it out or submit payment. Your do­ main name is one of the most important items that you own as a business and making sure it is secure is critical. For questions regarding current domain names or the registration of new domains, contact your domain registrar or a member of the Rhino Group sales team, 847-515-8000, sales@rhinogroup.com. Save Money, Refill Ink Cartridges If you do not want to have most of your office supplies budget going to printer ink and toner, what can you do? You could switch from brand name to “house brand” ink cartridges. Many people will tell you the ink is not as good or the colors are not right. But, for most applica­ tions, close is good enough. Shopping on-line results in even less expen­ sive “compatible” ink cartridges. For instance, a friends Epson CX9400 uses $35 Epson ink cartridges. The local Office Depot brand is about $ 15. A Google products search showed cartridges selling for $ 1.99 each. Or, try refilling your cartridges. Some have internal fuses or memory chips to record they have been used up. If you do not let them run out, you can often refill them. Some laser cartridges require burning a hole for refilling. But many are easy to refill with office supply store kits. TPI Action Make Your Voice Heard On EPA WaterSense The EPA’s WaterSense outdoor water-use efficiency criteria regarding landscapes could pose a threat to turfgrass producers and other green industry professionals by placing an arbitrary cap of 40 percent turfgrass for new single-family homes. If the EPA finalizes the specification in its current form, turfgrass could be reduced by 60 percent or more. You can voice your concerns about these criteria now by writing to your legislators. Tell them how WaterSense could affect your livelihood. Writing your legislators is easy. Just visit http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=pln&botissue=58 and follow the instructions. A sample letter is included. Watch the Benefits of Turfgrass Video The Lawn Institute has created “The Benefits of Turfgrass” video, which you can see at www.TurfGrassSod.org. It showcases the environmental, community and human health, and economic benefits of turfgrass. Turfgrass sod producers, industry professionals, consumers, landscape contractors, media or anyone interested in learning more about the benefits of natural turfgrass can view the full video on the TPI website. “The Benefits of Turfgrass” video is narrated by well-known farm broadcaster Orion Samuelson. Check Out Photos From TPI Summer Convention You can view photos from the 2009 TPI Summer Convention and Field Days in East Lansing, MI, as well as other TPI events by visiting the Members Only section of www.TurfGrassSod.org. Click on Events and then the TPI Summer Convention & Field Days. When you click on “Check out the pictures from the summer convention and past TPI events,” you will be directed to www.smugmug.com where you can view several galleries of photos. You can also download or purchase these photos online. Spotlight on The Benefits of Turfgrass This article is the second in a series of articles focusing on the numerous benefits of turfgrass. Consider the environmental benefits of turfgrass: • Cools the air • Produces oxygen • Filters air and reduces pollution • Captures and suppresses dust • Recharges and filters groundwater supply • Reduces storm water runoff • Controls soil erosion • Retains and sequesters carbon • Assists decomposition of pollutants • Restores soil quality With its above-ground network of leaves, shoots and stems as well as an extensive fibrous root system below, turfgrass removes dust and dirt from the air, reports The National Turfgrass Research Initiative, which is sponsored by the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program, United States Golf Association, Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, Turf Producers International, Pro Lawn Care Association of America and the Irrigation Association. The University of California-Riverside Turfgrass Research Facility reports that perennial turfgrasses offer one of the most-cost effective methods to control water and wind erosion of soil, thus reducing dust and mud around homes, schools and businesses. Functioning as vegetative filter strips, turf can reduce sediments transported into surface streams and rivers. This reduction in sediment protects soil resources and reduces sediment-linked non-point surface water pollution. Business Management Turfgrass Producers International 2 East Main St., East Dundee, IL 60118 e-mail: info@TurfGrassSod.org ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED FIRST CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID Dundee, IL 60118 Permit No.2590