Initiative 1098 is a ballot referendum asking the voters of Washington state the following.

Should the state levy an income tax on an individual income earner, whose income is $200,000.00 a year or higher, conversely, should the state also impose an income tax on couples filing jointly, whose earned income is above $400,000.00?

Since this blog will not only be read by Washingtonians, but also by those residing in the other forty-nine states. I need to inform the reader residing in states other than Washington, that The State of Washington, does not currently have any form of income tax.

Therefore, since the residents of other states are now on the same page, I will continue with my opining.

I was interviewed yesterday October 15, 2010, by a local television station in Spokane, Washington, concerning Proposition 1098. The primary question asked, “Will you vote to approve or will you vote against Proposition 1098?” Here is the video: http://bit.ly/dfgB37

Therefore, as a registered voter, someone asked, “How say you on this matter?”
My answer is straightforward. To levy a tax against one-group verses another group, is class warfare. History as and object lesson, if we allow such class envy, we are endangering of being the next target.

The idea to punish other people for being successful is not economically wise. If we as a nation or any state travel this road of punishing the efficacious entrepreneur, where would any of us be employed? Many may not like the truth; the poor generally do not employ anyone.

What has happened to the ideal whom every American, young, old, poor, or middle class desire to better their economic condition?

Do not all American’s desire their children to attain to a greater degree of success than they did?

Have we as Americans come to believe that the government is our road to success?

America’s economic strength isn’t understood, until you understand the American Spirit. The American Spirit found in the individualism, entrepreneurship, and the risk takers, of the people who populate this nation. America’s foundations are sunk into the bedrock of its people.

If we as a people surrender the very individualism, and defer to the government as its subjects, then the American ideal is lost. If we are mere subjects of the ruling class, no matter what party, subsequently we are no longer America!

America is great because we believe in our ability to be great.

Since the laying of the foundations of the United States of America, the world at large called our country a bastard nation. Why such coarse word to describe America? The word bastard does befit our identity. The idea of a bastard is a child without a father. We are a nation without genetic similarity to any other nation on the earth. We truly have no father.

America is the envy of the world. If this is not, so why is it that most of the people of the world want to come to America?
Then why would we as American’s want to be like the rest of the world.

Initiative 1098 ask us to declare war against our more successful brothers, and sisters. Let us not be like every other nation. We are Americans let us be the shining city on the hill, that everyone else wants to be like.

Revoke to attempt of government to make us their dependents. Government should be our tool not our master.

This editorial will be a view of liberalism, and conservatism systemic beliefs. Furthermore, what these two divergent philosophies impede or promote.

The terms’ liberal, and conservative I believe are really talking points. The more accurate terms are socialism, and individualism.

These two philosophies can and do mutually exist in the economic system in the United States. The danger is when we believe that either viewpoint must dominate the economic landscape.

Historically, we learned that pure unadulterated individualism without regulation failed. The runaway corporate greed of the late nineteenth century gave rise to the term “Robber Barons.” These tycoons thought of their own welfare. The regulation of “Antitrust Laws” enacted not only protected the common good. By reestablished the most important tenant of capitalism competition.

Nineteen seventeen began the grand experiment with the establishment of the communist form of government in Russia. This form of centralized authority naturally fit well with the socialist economic system. This undiluted socialist system truly was the antitheses of the pure individualism.

The two philosophies socialism, and individualism, left undiluted did, and destined to fail.
These two divergent economic systems so polarized, and on opposite ends of the commercial spectrum. Each ideal impedes the same economic necessity competition.

Socialism, and individualism seek to promote the same thing the common good. Both economic systems left unregulated overlooked one important fact the human condition.

The social welfare manipulated by the state with absolute power, as we know, absolute power corrupts absolutely. The historical footnote found in the tyrannical reign of Stalin over the Soviet Union, and the “Robber Barons” of the late nineteenth century. Both examples expose’ the human frailty of greed.

To believe that the state knows what is better for the common everyday person is a fool’s desire. That the individuals are not responsible for their own needs, but the state is, ends in slavery. The unbridled greed of the “Robber Barons” of the early twenty-first century or any century, leads to servitude, too.

As a business owner, I operate my business under this supreme rule. I treat other, as I would want to be treated. This phrase probably sound familiar; it should it is the golden rule utter two thousand years ago by Jesus Christ.

In closing, I ask should all of us not only be concerned with our own needs, but also the needs of others.

Many visitors have asked, “How did you learn to write”? The standard answer I offer is, “Writing is a learned skill, the more you practice, the better you write.” To all those would be authors start writing, compose something every day.

As an author I am embolden by the kind comments of the readers of Mr. Decal’s blog post. I am also thankful for those who analyze my writing talent.

Before September of 2009, I had not written any article, save the essays written in school. Since that first published article writing has become a passion. Two months ago, I challenged myself, to write a twenty-page narrative. The project had three purposes, first to write a story, two to develop characters, and three to write dialog. The fourth unmentioned objective that the story line, with characters, and dialog, would all work together to form a plot, and the readers are entertained. During this self-imposed undertaking, I did learn how to construct a plot using the three elements noted above.

A friend helped me identify another bright spot in my writing ability. He is an author and teaches writing at the university level. He recognized my talent of painting pictures with the written word. Something I always wanted to be able to accomplish.

After I completed the writing project, I found a hobby that I loved. Because of my experiences during the assignment, I did not want to stop writing. The next decision came from the newfound passion. I decided to write a novel.

Writing a novel is a daunting task. The average novel consists of 250,000 words, a narrative that is interesting, and keeps the reader turning pages. I find the task overwhelming, exhilarating and challenging. I write everyday a minimum of 500-1,000 words. I am learning the frustration of writers block, and taking advantage of the creative juices when they flow unabated.

Therefore, I want to thank all of my readers of Mr. Decal’s Blog for your kind comments and helping me launch my writing career.

There are two types of plastic security signs, the first a non-reflective, the second, is a reflective security sign. This article will highlight only the reflective security signs.

The reflective security signs are not to be confused with self- luminous materials. Reflective materials require light to illuminate or reflect. These signs are similar to the road signs we all observe while we are driving. The reflective materials used to manufacture a reflective security sign also employ the glass bead to reflective light.

The yard security sign is the best advertisement for the home owner, because the sign communicates to a potential burglar that this house is protected. Since most criminals are opportunistic and will gravitate to the path of least resistance. These home thieves’ will not attempt a B&E because of the security devices in situ in a home. Most burglars’ do not want to be caught they will move on to a home that does not have a security system.

The reflective security sign continues to advertise after dark that a home has a security system. The potential home invader then chooses a home without a security system to burglarize. The reflective security sign increases the security customers’ peace of mind.

There are two schools of thought of how a reflective security sign should be printed. The first idea states, that the sign must be printed with transparent inks, so the entire sign reflects light. This is similar to how road signs are printed; the whole sign reflects when automobile lights illuminate the sign.

The second proposal of how reflective signs should be manufactured. The inks on the sign should be opaque. The areas of the sign without ink will reflect the lights of an automobile.

The background of the sign would be printed, utilizing opaque inks. The letters or words of the sign would be reflective as they are reversed out of the opaque background. The following is an example of this process. If a sign had the imprinted message, HOME SECURED BY ABC SECURITY, only the words, HOME SECURED BY ABC SECURITY, would reflect the illumination of cars lights. The background of the sign at night would be invisible.

Both printing paradigms are valid, and will convey the message desired, by the security company and the home owner.

If I had to choose I would rather have a reflective security sign protecting my home.

Doug Bryant

The Decal Factory – The best decals, signs, labels, posters, stickers and banners in the industry for business and hobby.
Toll Free – (800) 369-5331

The night before brewing, I had to cold steep coffee in other words I had to take my ground coffee add cold water to it and let it sit overnight.  Then the next day we added that coffee mixture to the water.  Because the coffee has certain oils in it, it will actually kill the head of a beer.  So as part of the grain mixture we had to add carapils.  These make the head frothier to counteract the oils in the coffee

You start off with 6 gallons of purified water (which gets boiled off to 5 gallons).  Once you bring the 6 gallons to a boil you start adding the ingredients.  The first thing you have to do is add the barley grains.  You can use wheat but for my brew we used barley.  You use a grain bag which is essentially a mesh bag you use to put the grains in and steep the grains.  Much like you would steep a tea bag in a hot cup of water.  However this cup is 6 gallons.  After the water has cooled down to 170 degrees you put the grains in the bag and you steep them for about 20 minutes.  Basically you are adding the grains for color and flavor only.  You are not extracting sugar from the grains with the steeping (which is called mashing).  The reason you are not extracting the sugars is because I bought a recipe that had an extract in it.  Once you add the extract the mixture is now called the wort.

Once the extract is added then you bring the wort to boil.  Then once the mixture is at a rolling boil you start a timer for 60 minutes and you add the hops.  When you add hops this early in the boil you will not get any of the aroma or the flavor.  These are called the bittering hops.  They add bitterness to the beer.  The reason these are bittering the beer is because all of the boiling you have to do is extracting the alpha acids out of the hops.  Once you add those hops it gets boring because you are just letting the wort boil.

Just before the boil ends I had to add the lactose (which is milk).  I wanted to brew a coffee milk stout so I have to have lactose in there. Now the lactose has to be un-fermentable sugars because I wanted the milk taste in the beer.  I did not want the yeast to eat the lactose sugars.

Once the boil ends things get very fast and interesting.  You have to take the wort off of the burner and you have to put a wort chiller in the wort.  Basically it is a heat transfer system.  It is a very long copper tube that is twisted around and around in a circle and goes in the wort.  You run cold water through it and the cold water cools down the wort, to the point where it is safe to pitch (add) the yeast.  Basically you have to pitch the yeast at a certain temperature.  Too cold and the yeast takes longer to get active.  Too hot and the yeast dies.  You want to infect the wort with the yeast ASAP.  Basically you are infecting the wort with the yeast so that nothing else can infect the wort.

Once the wort is chilled, you transfer it to a car-boy.  A car-boy is a 5 gallon glass bottle.  Up until this point it has been very easy to keep things sanitized because everything that you are working with is at a boil so anything that got in there was killed instantly because it was boiling.  Now that we are no longer boiling it can get infected very easily, and everything must be sanitized.

Once the wort is transferred to the car-boy you pitch the yeast.  What the yeast is going to do is eat all the fermentable sugars and poop alcohol, and fart CO2.  That is how the beer gets its alcohol content.

That is basically how you brew a coffee milk stout.  Or at least it was my observation of the whirlwind of activity in the process of brewing beer

Jason Bryant

www.decalfactory.com

The Flexo presses have different printing stations for each color. Some machines have three colors stations some have six color stations. The cost of a Flexography print machine is a function of the number of color stations and the web width; a 3-color press narrow web would cost much less than that of a six or eight color wide web Flexo press.

The Flexo press can have another attachment; that is known as a turn bar. A turn bar is an apparatus that turns the stock over so you can print on the liner without removing the print job from the press. The other styles of printing do not offer this feature, if a print job calls for a coupon on the liner, the screen-printing press operator would remove the stock then reload the stock to print the liner.

The Flexo press also has an in-line cutting station. The labels can be left on the roll or can be individually cut into single units. In the other styles of printing, cutting of the label is accomplished off-line.

The advantage of the Flexo printing is once the machine is set up to print, the press operator would not have to touch the stock again until the completed labels are taken off the press. The other advantage of this method of printing is it is very fast.

Flexography printing is designed for large quantities; because set-ups and make-readies are expensive, thus roll label printing is not a good solution for 500 labels. The normal minimums for this type of printing would be 1,000 labels. Large quantities for this method of printing would be 100,000-millions.

The disadvantage of roll label is not a good solution for small quantities. In addition, the inks used by most roll label manufactures are water based and will fade in direct sun light. 

Flexography printing can print on paper and plastic substrates, and is a great solution for inside applications. This type of printing is used to brand consumer products from salsa to televisions, and warning labels for inside factory machines.

Screen-printing is a very old type of printing invented in China during the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD). This type of printing called silk-screening, because the mesh used to press the ink through was made of silk. The term silk-screening has not been used since the 1960’s. Currently synthetic threads commonly used in the screen printing process; the most popular mesh in general use is made of polyester. Special mesh materials of nylon and stainless steel are available to the screen printer. 

Screen-printing uses a mesh of polyester, which resembles a screen hence the term “screen printing,” the mesh coated with emulsion that is photo-reactive. When this emulsion exposed to light is leaves a stencil imprint of the graphic that is to be printed, each color to be printed has its own screen. 

Screen-printing method because resembles a stencil and forces ink through a screen deposits many times the thickness of ink onto the substrate being printed. Each color has to be printed separately after the first color dries. Since the ink deposited is thicker, the resistance to fading due to sunlight exposure is a benefit. Disadvantage is each color is printed by resetting a new screen for the next color to print.

Table below will explain advantages and disadvantages better than a host of words will.

Obviously there still will be many questions, please free to call or Mr. Decal aka Doug Bryant at dougb@decalfactory.com or (800) 369-5331, to ask your question, because nothing is ever black and white there are exceptions to the standard guide lines.

Call The Decal Factory (800) 369-5331 for more information on your label or decal requirements.

Doug Bryant

<br><a href=”http://www.decalfactory.com“>The Decal Factory – The best decals, signs, labels, posters, stickers and banners in the industry for business and hobby.</a> <br>Toll Free – (800) 369-5331

The social media topics that was presented by the experts and evidence illuminated by the panel focused on the social media tools of “Twitter,” “Face Book,” “LinkedIn,” and “Blogs.” The message that the seminar communicated was loud, clear the networking that all business people use, and rely has changed.

Networking can be defined using a phrase we are all familiar with “word of mouth.” The business owners, sales people, and marketing department, are aware that a customer referred to them is a warm lead and is almost an assured sale.

The networking in the past was accomplished by asking for referrals from your current satisfied customers, or your client referred your company to their colleagues or friends. Hence the term networking by word of mouth, one person at a time.

Electronic media as not changed the dynamics of networking referrals or word of mouth, because the easiest sale is still the referral. Social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and blogging has changed the effective footprint of networking. The tools available in social media if used correctly allow the business owner, sales representative, or the marketing team to reach and influence thousands.

Promoting of a product or service on a national level use to be only reserved for the company who possessed the monetary fund has to grease the wheels of advertising. Today the small business owner can promote their product and services to the nation. How can the company with limited funds reach a market that yesterday was not a consideration?

The blog is a tool so you can tell your story to the world, by presenting the knowledge, experience, and how your service or product enhances the market place. The use of Twitter’s 140-character limitation used as short promotional word bites of products or services and using Facebook a company can use inexpensive video commercials seen by thousands transmitted free of charge.

One of the panel members at this seminar on social media, who is a marketing director of a hotel company, informed the attendees how she used Twitter to promote their hotel to potential vacationers to Kauai. This marketing director would go outside with a camera and take some beautiful pictures or videos of the palm trees and the sun-drenched beaches of Kauai. Then a link of the pictures or the video sent via Twitter to the Twitter Followers of this hotel with this caption “Don’t You Wish You Were Here?”  This promotion sent and viewed by thousands at no cost.

Unlike e-mail, the people who follow a company on Twitter by following that company give their permission to receive information from the company they follow. The followers of a particular company on Twitter can also stop following and by doing so will block promotions from that company. Therefore as a marketing team the promotions of your products or services are welcomed and will be seen and viewed, not deleted as so much spam e-mail is.

Marketing with social media is here to stay it is to your advantage as a small business to utilize this free advertising medium. Connect with your customers, and your potential customer. Electronic social media extends your networking reach to the nation and the world at virtually no cost.

The company that can purchase mass amounts of broadcast media time pays less for that commercial spot. The enterprise that purchases ad space in a particular magazine will pay a lower cost for a twelve-month insertion order verse a one-month ad term. The basic premise of advertising is purchasing more is the pathway to better pricing for your advertising dollars. Therefore, the small company that purchases in smaller quantities pays a higher price to implement their marketing plan.

That being stated most small businesses do not use the mass media outlets of television, radio, or national magazines to advertise. These forms of advertising for the small business are too costly.

Smaller enterprises that sell a product or services do utilize trade shows and trade publications to target their marketing dollars to a particular customer or industry. There is another form of print advertising and product branding that is very cost effective. The product I am referring to are decals. The decal can target a small audience or can inform a mass market. Although even trade fairs, trade publications, and the employing of decals the small business can still pay higher cost because of purchasing small quantities.

How can the smaller companies change the cost dilemma of small quantities equal higher cost? The one-word answer partnerships with other companies or pooling your purchasing with other companies purchasing the same items.

What do partnership look like in the different advertising opportunities available at trade fairs, trade publications, and decals. The trade shows the company could collaborate with a non-competitor where the symbiotic relationship of the two products or services would complement each other’s business. To do this both companies could purchase a larger booth splitting the cost the benefit of having a larger space is location, location, location, both companies will have a larger presence and a better booth location, which translates into higher traffic counts.

Advertising in a trade publication collaborating with a firm again that is not a competitor and their combined products or service complement each other. Each company purchases a full page of ad space instead of a one-quarter page splitting the cost. The most import fact of this partnership the full ad space purchase has a greater impact, verses if each of the companies purchasing smaller ads separately.   

The decal used correctly is a powerful tool in the toolbox of a marketing team, because of two factors. The first is the cost of the decalcomania, which is very low; the seconded is the message duration, counted in years not minutes or months. The ubiquitous decal if designed correctly will communicate brand awareness long after broadcast and print media, complete its task, the decal will keep reminding the consumer of your brand as a 24-hour a day silent sales person.

Even the decal if not purchased in larger quantities the cost is much higher for small quantity purchases. The average small business that orders decals usually orders quantities of 250-1,500 decals.

    New Program Offered

 The Decal Factory® has a program to take advantage of the large number of small businesses that order decals. The Decal Factory® gangs all the various orders together thereby the 500 unit decal order will be priced like a 10,000 unit decal order. Therefore, The Decal Factory® felicitates and creates the partnerships with various companies that purchase decals. To participate all you have to do is order your decals from The Decal Factory®.

Call The Decal Factory® if your company wants to take part in this new and exciting program.

Doug Bryant

<br><a href=”http://www.decalfactory.com“>The Decal Factory – The best decals, signs, labels, posters, stickers and banners in the industry for business and hobby.</a> <br>Toll Free – (800) 369-5331

 We see these new products every day, or a new business such as a window washing service, a lawn treatment company, many up-starts like pest control companies, and we could fill this chapter with many different products, services, or retail store ideas. 

The business owners are running a business, learning more and more because they believe hard work, and knowing more than the next person will get us the brass ring or at least another day or month in the black. When they see new vista of increased business they tend to apply their usually business model hard work and more knowledge will win them conquest of this current summit these are the true over-achiever. 

The business owner has built their business with the equity of blood, sweat, and tears; also, they consider the business as one of his or her children. Which one of your children are you willing to give up? These entrepreneurs work long hours an eight-hour day considered a vacation.

A term which some may use to pigeonhole business owners is a work-alcoholic; this has become a negative term to define someone who is addicted to his or her business, or their life is the business, their business identifies them. This person when ask who they are? Their response is; I am a mechanic; I am a window washer; I am a salesperson, Etc, Etc. So the work-alcoholic is defined by what he or she does, each person is more than their profession, they could be a husband or wife a father or mother, a son or a daughter, a Christian, a Buddhist, etc, etc. 

It its much like Jeff Foxworthy stand up routine you know you’re a redneck when; Well you know you’re a work-alcoholic when you and your significant other have nothing to talk about except business. You know you are a work-alcoholic when you go on 14-day vacation and it takes 13 days to relax. You know you are a work-alcoholic when you do not take vacations. You know you are a work-alcoholic when hotel rooms on a vacation become your second office.  

Sadly, the negative connotation of a work-alcoholic does have some merit because many business owners have no life except in and through our businesses. In the beginning, being a hard working business owner is very important; in fact, it should never be any different. Most business owners are tireless hard working entrepreneurs that tend to be work-alcoholics.                                             

The work-alcoholic business owner believes no one can do their job better than they can. The business owner truly believes that he or she is the best resource for their employees because the employees do not possess the knowledge or the passion of the owner to be successful. This business model centralizes control, and limits the growth of the company to the owner’s vision and limitations.

Therefore, the first paradigm shift we need to navigate is from a work-alcoholic to a diligent business owner. The definition of a diligent person is not of a person addicted to work but he or she is conscientious, persistent, and hard working with care. The diligent owner can have time to become a CEO.

The companies that grow into a large successful company have CEO’s at the helm that believes their employees are their best resource. The giants of industry such as Microsoft, Starbucks, Ford, allowed their employees knowledge, experience and new ideas to attack new markets, produce new products. The CEO became the arbitrator of what market or new product proposed by the employees would be worth investing time and money in.

What the founder and business owner needs to accomplish is to become a CEO. The business owner operates a business with their wit and knowledge. The CEO oversees the resources in each of the company’s employees, and defines the overall vision so each new marketing paradigm aligned to the company’s vision.

The CEO allows the resources that are intrinsic in each employee be vetted to expose the resources that are honed to the company’s vision corner stone. The manufacturing or marketing paradigms that do not replicate the company’s mission the CEO rejects as a viable program.

As a business owner, I am currently morphing into a CEO and the day-to-day operation of the business is someone else’s job description. To let go was very difficult, but I have found that it liberated my employee’s to be all they can be. I still guide and direct, but I am no longer the only resource, my employee’s are building their business while they increase mine.

Become a CEO and enjoy your business again.

Doug Bryant

<br><a href=”http://www.decalfactory.com“>The Decal Factory – The best decals, signs, labels, posters, stickers and banners in the industry for business and hobby.</a> <br>Toll Free – (800) 369-5331

The opening of small businesses increases during economic downturns. The driving force behind this increase of small enterprises is the unemployed people unable to find employment. The unemployed who stop looking for employment do not just sit at home crying in their beer, as the news media would have you believe. No right think person who has a family just gives up trying to supply for their families needs, many start their own business.

The small business to the medium sized enterprise employs approximately 70% of those employed. A medium sized business defined in the United States as a business with fewer than 500 employees. Small and medium size businesses are not so small since the numbers of those employed by these concerns are about 50-70 million employees.

Now that we have a base line for this article, I would like to expose the difficulties of growing a small business into a medium sized company and then transforming this business into a large business.

Most of us who hear the word entrepreneur we think of Henry Ford, Bill Gates, or some other larger than life business owner who has in our minds earned the right to be called entrepreneur. The dictionary defines an entrepreneur as a person who undertakes a commercial risk for profit. The everyday small business owner does not see himself or herself as a larger than life entrepreneur.

One of the underlining difficulties facing a small business is that the vision of the small business owner is small. I do not say this to demean the small business owner, because the vision of each owner of a business is how to survive today, next week, next month, and throughout the year. These business owners are amazing people who not only drive sales, marketing, accounting, and purchasing, but do it all themselves.

Most entrepreneurs are the persons who will learn of their future business, while working in the profession as an employee and tirelessly learns the pros and cons of a product or a service. These are the people who eat, sleep and drink their job; we used to call these employees a company-person. They are the people who become successful even in the most difficult circumstances.

This is the person working as a salesperson, a chef, a press-operator, office worker, we could name almost any job title, and this person goes the extra mile. These employees can do their job better; in fact, they become an expert in their field. Soon because of their level of knowledge, they become a resource for others, and they begin to see that they can do their jobs on their own.

This trait of being an expert, which causes the business owner to succeed, is the same trait that will keep them small. The reason is the owner of the business knows too much, when someone knows too much they are not open to new ideas.

Being oblivious to what cannot be done and doing what others say is impossible has an example in nature. According to aerodynamics, the bumble bee should not be able to fly. The reason the bumble bee has such small wings to body mass to be able to fly, but the bumble bee flies because no one has told the bumble bee of this fact. The self-made business owner who keeps on impressing to their employees that certain things cannot be done. Effectively, grounding their employees so they will not soar to new heights by apply new business paradigms that will change the vision of the company.  

The entrepreneurs who are able to grow from a small business into a medium or a large company can traverse these boundaries if the founder does not tell the employees they cannot fly. If this entrepreneur vision allows for developing paradigms beyond the owner’s knowledge then company’s growth will result.

Part two of The Small Business owner to follow…

Doug Bryant

<br><a href=”http://www.decalfactory.com“>The Decal Factory – The best decals, signs, labels, posters, stickers and banners in the industry for business and hobby.</a> <br>Toll Free – (800) 369-5331