Is My Blog Too Good To Be True?

Yes, my blogs are great works of literature; yes I get paid $15,000 for each blog; yes, my blog is read by millions of people in seventy different languages; and yes, if you believe this you had better read on.


I received a wonderful brochure from the US Post Office the other day.  A simple one-page flyer on how to avoid being a victim of fraud. With thanks to the Post Office for putting this together, here are some of their thoughts along with mine.


Watch for these warning signs in letters and emails:

• Sounds too good to be true
• Pressures you to act NOW
• Success is guaranteed
• You will receive three times the standard return
• Requires an upfront payment--even to receive your free prize
• Buyers want to overpay you and then have you send them the difference
• Something doesn't feel right...trust your gut feeling
• Your bank will never email or call you for your account number
• Don't wire money to anyone you don't know, no matter what the reason
• Some work-at-home job offers are real, but most are schemes just to have you buy their product.  Be careful here
• Foreign lotteries are illegal in the US--you cannot win no matter what they say

What can you and your employees in the glass industry do to help themselves?

• The government requires that the three major credit bureaus give every person a free credit report once a year.  The site is: annualcreditreport.com.  This is completely free and safe.  All of the free credit report ads you see on TV or the Internet have a catch---you have to sign up for some other service that will cost you. 
• Don't open suspicious email.  Don't click on a link inside an email to visit a suspicious web site.  If you really want to go to the site, type the address into your browser separately.
• The best web site I have ever seen for fraud and rumor verification is snopes.com.  Their research base is huge and totally reliable.
• On your browser, set your security filter at a high level to block as many emails as you can.  Make sure your firewall and virus checker are updated at least weekly, and don't turn them off. 

How does fraud prevention impact the glass industry?

• Don't believe that someone from another country has chosen you to launder their money.  Wake up!
• Don't cut glass in advance for a shipment overseas until the deposit check, covering at least your costs, clears your bank.  Don't attempt to make the shipment until payment, in full, has cleared your bank.  I have heard from many people who have bitten on this one, and every single one was burned.  If you are not sure about a possible customer, ask for and follow-up on credit references.
• Don't ever pay anything in advance for an opportunity to do business unless you are 100% sure of the reliability of the customer.  The Better Business Bureau (bbb.org) is a perfect site to check on  a business you don't know.
• Occasionally we all get a job that is clearly a home run.  You can make money in the glass business, but be careful and trust your gut feel more than the pull of your wallet.

And, in the operation of your business,

• Sign every check yourself.  If you can't, have two signatures on each check.  This will reduce your exposure by a huge margin.
• Watch your credit card refund slips.  Have each refund double- checked in your shop.
• If you have a bill from a vendor you don't know, learn who it is before you send the check.
• Check your weekly payroll logs from your payroll provider.  Investigate any names you don't personally know, and watch for any overtime that you did not authorize.
• You will always need some petty cash in the office.  Just keep an eye on it.
• Watch for supplies going out the door.  This usually means someone is moonlighting.

Now, send two ten-dollar bills to my home address.  You will receive a list of 5,000 top companies that will give you business, pay their bills in 10 days, and never, never, never give you a punch list or a charge back.

Will This Be My Last Blog For USGlass?

I have sent out my resume, followed up with a phone call, and any day now, I expect the call telling me the job is mine.  When that happens, regretfully, my blogging days will be over. A little history here will help.

Last week the Mets, my favorite baseball team, released their General Manager, Omar Minaya, and their Field Manager, Jerry Manuel.  I am not qualified to be the field manager, even though that is tough to admit.  But, there is no doubt in my mind I can do the General Manager's job.

Here is my list of qualifications that I sent to Fred Wilpon, the owner of the Mets.

• I love baseball and will never skip out of work.
• I met Fred Wilpon once, shook his hand, and he said it was an honor to meet me. I am sure he will remember that as our first interview.
• I ran the annual player draft at our youth baseball league for many years.  I learned how to qualify players skills and attitudes.  (Really, the main reason a kid was drafted was whose Mom made the best team snacks.)
• I have been to hundreds of Mets games, and still watch every game, even here in New Hampshire.
• I have actually thrown out a first pitch at Mets game, met all the players, and they showed me great respect.  It would be easy to pick up from that point.
• I collect baseball cards, so I know all the player's stats, and know who to trade for.
• Negotiating my salary will be easy...I will pay whatever Mr. Wilpon wants.

So that's my story.  This blog has been great fun and I will truly miss it.  The odds are in my favor to get this job, but if for some reason I don't, I'll be back with you next week.

Where There Is Smoke, There Is Money Burning

Whenever you see cigarette smoke in your glass shop, even your own smoke, money is going out the window.  Let's explore some of the ways that smoking affects your business...and your profits!

Before I continue, let me share my vice.  Chocolate.  It can be just as addicting, and does equal harm to the body.  But since this is my blog, I am allowed to be judgemental.  

It is easy for a non-smoker to spout the following facts and figures about smokers:

• A pack-a-day smoker, at age 30, who quites and invests the same amount of money in a conservative 401k, will, at age 70, have in excess of $250,000.  And probably more as cigarette prices go up.
• Throat and mouth cancer are 200% more prevalent in smokers.
• Life insurance costs about 100% more than for non-smokers.
• If you have individual health insurance, expect to pay 30% more.
• Most home insurance policies carry a 20% premium. (you are more likely to burn your house down!)
• The same for car insurance.
• Your dental care will be about twice as expensive over your life
• Your house will have a lower resale value because of the pervasive smell of the smoke.

Can you as an employer or manager make people stop smoking as a term of employment?  No.  Most states do not allow you to control some one's activities away from work.  You can't prohibit a Hershey bar away from work, nor can you stop employees from having a beer.  These are legal activities.

But you can, and in my opinion you should, regulate certain behaviors at your workplace during working hours. Why should you eliminate smoking at work?

• The productivity of your company will definitely go up.  That's a promise.
• Your health insurance costs will not increase as much, as your utilization rates will be lower.
• Your office, showroom or trucks won't stink.
• Your customers will linger longer in your showroom.

Many companies offer a smoking break for employees to smoke outside rather than inside.  Do you offer the same to non-smokers?  Can they stand around for five minutes and do nothing?  How many times a day do you allow this?  Why are you discriminating against the non-smokers?

Not one state makes you offer this very expensive benefit to less than 20% of the workforce.  

Can you hire non-smokers only?  Only in a couple of states, and those are being challenged.  You can make smoking prohibited in your building and anywhere on your property.  If you make this clear during the interview, you are fine.  Let the potential employee make the decision.

How do you implement a non-smoking policy when one of your key employees sets the all-time record for being a chimney?  Start by having a heart-to-heart with Molly Smoker.  Offer to pay for the stop-smoking medications that may not be covered under the insurance plan, or offer to pay the deductibles.  Support Molly in every way you can, showing understanding that for a month or two Molly may be a very uncomfortable person to be around.  Give Molly a bonus at the end of three months of non-smoking.  Have a chart in the office showing the non-smoking days for all employees and get the whole company to be a support group. 

You can also go with a two-tier program.  Employees hired after a certain date cannot take smoking breaks, while current employees are grandfathered under previous work rules.  This works in all fifty states.  

Some states allow you to ask if an applicant is a smoker.  Some do not.  Don't worry about it, just don't ask the question.  Simply state in your help wanted ad, or in the interview, that your business is a non-smoking location.  The heavy smokers will go somewhere else.  If someone is a three cigarette a day person, you should have no problem hiring them. 

Health insurance rates are set in two broad ways.  One is all companies of a certain size get the same rate.  The other is to look at the utilization rate.  This is the actual costs incurred by all members of a plan.  If the insurer lost money last year, this year's premium will go through the roof.  Smokers cost more in medical costs, that's a fact.  So fewer smokers can equal lower insurance costs for your medical plan.

The bottom line?  You can (and should) restrict smoking in your company and on your property.  You should encourage in all ways possible your current smokers to quit, and you can set a policy of new hires are not allowed to take smoking breaks.

I have to go now, I haven't had any chocolate in an hour, and I am due.

Mr. Trump, Can We Talk?

Dear Mr. Trump,

My name is Ace Glassman, suave and multi-talented investigative reporter for the glass industry.  I invite you to meet the United States Glass and Window Industry at the New York/Long Island glass industry trade show on March 17, 2011.  We will provide a limo to pick you up in Manhattan and bring you to the most important glass event in the New York region.

Here you will meet AMERICAN window manufacturers and installers.  Here you will meet real working Americans.   Sure, we like Chinese food, and we celebrate Chinese New Year.  But, we make windows here--in North America.

Between the US and Canada, we make the best windows in the world! 

Mr. Trump, we will treat you like a movie star, give you a private room to comb your hair before we interview you, and we will help you buy your next project with North American made windows. 

Our glass trade unions have plenty of apprentices for you to pick from.  Our aluminum extruders use energy produced in Niagara Falls.  Our glass comes from the sand of our country.

I, Ace Glassman, suave and multi-talented reporter, will be there to lead you through the trade show, introducing you to the right people.  I will stand in front of you so no one will throw rotten tomatoes at you.  What more could you ask for?

Mr. Trump, write me at aceglassman@msn.com.  When we tell everyone that you are coming to learn how to buy American, the country will be proud of you, your ratings will go up, your buildings will be more in demand.  Mr. Trump, I received over five emails last week regarding this issue.  This week, I expect eight! This is a growing grass-roots movement.  My readers won't be buying condos in your buildings if you don't show up.

Mr. Trump, thank you, I look forward to seeing you on St. Patrick's Day.

Ace Glassman
Suave and multi-talented investigative reporter.