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Sales brochures, direct mail campaigns, promotional materials…  Even the idea of a printing project can seem overwhelming. Here are some tips for making sure it’s as easy as possible.

Assess your print & fulfillment needs

Simplify the process into easy to manage steps. Are you submitting print ready files or do you need help with the design and physical layout to maximize U.S. postal standards?

Ask questions. A good printer will help you find the most cost effective methods to achieve your goals on press and in the mail house while staying on budget.

Think ahead

Will this campaign be used for multiple mailings? If so, consider running higher quantities and inventory materials for future mailings (monthly, quarterly, etc). Remember, higher quantities will yield lower unit costs and larger runs will help you maximize the press run. (Basically, you'll save money!)

Execute your plan

Secure an updated & current mailing list. Choose a printer who can manage the entire process for you while keeping you informed. One point of contact for print production & fulfillment takes the burden off you and provides consistency for all your direct mail collateral.

A little planning and the right questions will save you time and money, so you can focus on your business not on printing.

Outdoor furniture care & cleaning

One of the best ways to keep Sunbrella^® brand fabrics looking good and to delay deep or vigorous cleanings is to properly maintain the fabrics. This can be accomplished by simply brushing off dirt before it becomes embedded in the fabrics, wiping up spills as soon as they occur or spot cleaning soon after stains occur.

Outdoor furniture care & cleaning (pdf) / Stain chart

General or light cleaning

• Brush off any loose dirt.
• Prepare a cleaning solution of 2 ounces (1/4 cup) mild soap per gallon of lukewarm water (less than 100°F/38°C).
• Use a sponge or a soft bristle brush to clean.
• Allow cleaning solution to soak into fabric.
• Rinse thoroughly to remove all soap residue.
• Allow fabric to air dry.

For removable Sunbrella fabric umbrella and cushion covers, machine wash in cold water (less than 100°F/38°C). Depending on wash load size, use normal amounts of mild laundry soap. Allow fabric to air dry.

Spot cleaning

• Apply a light mist of our recommended cleaning solution using a spray bottle.
• Work the solution into the stain by lightly scrubbing the area with a sponge or very soft bristle brush.
• Rinse thoroughly to remove all soap residue.
• Blot excess moisture with a clean, soft towel or sponge.
• Wet-vacuum or blot excess water.
• Repeat these steps until stain is removed.

Heavy cleaning for stubborn stains and mildew

Sunbrella fabric does not promote mildew growth, however, mildew may grow on dirt and other foreign substances that are not removed from the fabric. To clean mildew, or other stubborn stains:

• Prepare a solution of 8 ounces (1 cup) of bleach and 2 ounces (1/4 cup) of mild soap per gallon of clean water.
• Spray on entire area and allow to soak into the fabric.
• Scrub vigorously with a soft bristle brush, sponge, or clean towel.
• Rinse thoroughly to remove all soap residue.
• Allow fabric to air dry.

If stain and/or mildew are severe, bleach quantities may be increased.

For removable Sunbrella fabric umbrella and cushion covers, machine wash in cold water (less than 100°F/38°C). Depending on wash load size, use normal amounts of mild laundry soap and add 1 cup of bleach. Allow fabric to air dry.

Re-treating the fabric for ease of cleaning

Sunbrella fabrics have a special finish that enhances water repellency. The finish is designed to last for several years of normal use, but may be refreshed after a thorough cleaning or extended use. Glen Raven recommends 303 High Tech Fabric Guard™ as the preferred re-treatment product for Sunbrella fabrics.

Applying 303 High Tech Fabric Guard

303 should be applied to Sunbrella fabrics after each thorough cleaning, which typically removes the original finish and reduces the fabric’s water repellency.

• Clean Sunbrella fabric, using one of the cleaning methods.
• Allow Sunbrella to completely air dry.
• Apply 303 Fabric Guard in a well-ventilated area following instructions on the container.
• Apply 303 in a thin, even coat and allow fabric to dry completely.
• Apply a second thin, even coating of 303. (Two light coatings are more effective in restoring fabric water resistance than a single heavy coating.
• A 15-ounce bottle provides coverage of up to 50 square feet of fabric.)

For more information, please visit www.303products.com.

Let us look at the facts of what makes the world turn and I'm not speaking scientifically here

1. Demand
   
2. Supply
3. Naivety
   

Generating a buzz for your business is crucial to its early success and/or growth, but it doesn't mean you have to sell yourself short just to catch the deal-of-a-lifetime wave.

I have met many and watched many deals go down over the internet over the last ten years, but the current "gold rush" in deal websites is going to reach such a quick saturation that consumers will soon be turned off to buy anything at full price. Aren't we as independent merchants struggling enough? How do we find ourselves quickly to discounting our product or service prices to the masses for pennies on the dollar? What does that say about the product we offer? How ever will first time customers comeback and pay full price?

There is only one answer, discounts are to be offered as an incentive to try out the product or serviced offered, not offer up the whole farm as collateral. How some of the local restaurants can justify a $20K liability into one ad campaign only to find themselves understaffed and cutting customers short on service or menu items is beyond me. All I know is that for those of us who decide to participate in such a discounted promotion, build your campaign correctly 'cause if those customers never come back your out a lot more than the 50/50 split.

Final word of advise: If your a merchant looking into riding this wave - I highly recommend you make sure that those first time customers have the experience of a lifetime, because if not, your soon to be short of your own livelihood.

4G "hot-spots", ipad, tweet-ups, hashtag #w2e, free tacos from Kung Fu Taco sponsored by Mashery and Microsoft tag. What does it all mean? Well, according to the overall turnout and the lack of true innovation ceasing to appear itself on the expo floor it means nothing. Where was hootsuite? how about gowalla, loopt, foursquare, team google latitude, yelp, twitter and facebook?

Not only was the lack of innovation apparent at the web 2.0 conference during my 3 hour expo hall tour, but the lack of well known 2.0 leaders attendance is a direct reflection of not only the economy, but how far beyond 2.0 the leaders are in this space. Hence F8.

Citizens of the US, have you done a google or bing search on yourself lately? Thanks to gray area privacy standards we all might as well be walking around with our flys (pants zipper) down. Truth be told, with so many open api ( application programing  interface ) solution's available, any smart start-up company can gather and collect data VERY quickly by simple association to a major platform like facebook or twitter.

OK ok, i'll be the first to admit that I am happy to facebook connect this and twitter OAuth that, but with all these options, applications and devices available the shake down that I predicted months ago is now occurring. Call this a bold prediction: device specific development means nothing in five years and comcast, google and/or sprint have everything to do with how I access my everywhere data.

Foreword/Disclaimer: I guess the new blog rules state that I must declare or disclaim if Wild Apricot is paying me to write this and they aren't, but I will admit that without Wild Apricot, I would not have the freedom to build the relationships necessary to make Peninsula Shops what it is today.

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When I started using a computer in 1987 (Pong and Atari 2600 not included) the internet was barely being breathed about and a user interface consisted primarily of a command prompt line and cursor displayed on a monochrome (green, brown or white) screen. Here we are some 30 years later and within an instant I can share an HD Video to, well, the world!

It's is more than cool to realize how awesome the pace at which innovation is moving in today's digital world, but one might ask themselves how does anyone make any money with these tools if all this stuff is free? I actually know that a lot of money isn't being made and if it is, it's not by you and me. Truth be told there are billions of dollars being thrown to the wind in hopes of the next big thing and well who knows what the next big thing is going to be! Whatever it is, it has to be useful, disruptive and digital.

So back to the point of the blog post! When I started Peninsula Shops ( follow us on Facebook or Twitter ) I was determined to prove how easy starting a new business in the new world can be. Not only did I want to have direct control of the content being created and utilized by members of Peninsula Shops, but I also wanted to be able to administer and control a membership of professionals that needed a cost effective solution to extend their community reach and local advertising presence. Most companies tend to use several different systems to administer the various parts that make up bookkeeping, web content, membership management and group communications.
Not Peninsula Shops!

As a digitally savvy professional, I came across Wild Apricot in doing an extensive comparison for a client of mine who wanted to start a professional community online. After a solid evaluation and beta test I quickly realize that the affordable solution offered was something I needed to utilize myself.

Kudos to Wild Apricot for helping me build a robust website that helps me help the community I know and love as the Peninsula.

Is the smart phone (data enabled phone) the wave of the future or has the ipad just moved beyond what billions of investment dollars have stood for over the past 10 years?

It is amazing to see that no matter how complex data and computing solutions become, the easier it is to obtain and work with the data the more useful computing is. I am not here to talk about Computer Science, but lets face it Apple has made the modern science of computing into a complete form of pop-art.

The truth in the ipad becomes nearly surreal. No longer will you need a mobile phone to actually make or receive calls. Eventually instant messaging through cyberspace will be the norm...oh wait, it already is. Further more, what is stopping you/me from synchronizing your bluetooth enabled headset to your ipad while connecting your call through a VOIP application like Skype or Vonage? Yes I know that 3G is not really the solution to the bandwidth necessary for the QoS (quality of service) that voice and video data services require, but who really cares at this point; Sprint and the 4G wave are moving fast!

I get really excited at knowing what the future has in store and all the possibilities that are out there, but sometimes I think Apple may just have a crystal ball. Better yet, maybe Apple is the crystal ball and we are all just playing out the future.

What a perfect day for the Belmont Farmers Market on Sunday. Picture a yummy collection of organic fruits and vegetables, a beautiful array of flowers, plants and herbs and a sweet display of pastries and other baked goods. That is just the beginning. Soft, morning music is playing while people are choosing which eggs to purchase for their morning breakfast. The ambiance at the Belmont Farmers Market is really cool to say the least. Plus you can get a free green bag from us to help cut down on the number of plastic bags used. Our green bags are just one of many ways we help our environment.

This last Farmers' Market was especially exciting for me because I just moved and bought a new refrigerator so I had to fill it up with our local farmers' goods.

First stop, Black & White Bakery. I chose to give a yummy looking banana nut muffin a good home...in my tummy! It was delicous and even had pieces of real banana in it.

At Beckmann's Old World Bakery from Santa Cruz, Dean helped me pick out a Pesto Focaccia "mini pizza" bread. He shared this tip with me: Put them in the freezer and throw them in the oven for a quick meal. Can't wait to try mine!

I needed some veggies and eggs to keep my girlish figure so...off to Olivera farms. Ron told me all he could about the eggs (and the hens). I opted for the brown Rhode Island eggs because they were a great price, and the hens are cage free which is very important to me. If you know me, you know I'm all for humane animal treatment. I'm going to hard boil some for Adam and I (he's on a health kick and it can't hurt so...).

For veggies, I tried a couple of different vendors. At J&M Ibarras I chose red leaf lettuce and white mushrooms. I'm going back to my "vegan inspired vegetarian" ways to I will be eating lots of salad. At Barbagelata Farms, I found broccli, brussel sprouts and a few other items that I could not pass up.

Finally, I stopped at A. Cozzolino Nursery from Half Moon Bay and discussed garden items. At my new house, I have plenty of room for flowers and herbs. That is my next project. I was able to get quite a bit of information about which flowers to plant and when to plant them.

All in all, I had another great experience at the Farmers' Market. We were able to help the environment by passing out our green bags and I supported our local farms in California by shopping them. We are at the Belmont Farmers' Market just about every Sunday - stop by and say "Hi". We would love to see you!

Here are some pictures - check it out = ) http://www.650595cars.com/belmont-farmers-market/?SSScrollPosition=0

A+ Japanese Auto Repair

W www.650595CARS.com

T 650.595.2277

E APlusCarCare@yahoo.com

We proudly serve the cities of San Carlos, Belmont, Redwood Shores, Foster City, San Mateo, Redwood City and more.

Our ASE Certified Master Technicians specialize on Honda auto repair, Acura auto repair, Toyota auto repair, Lexus auto repair, Nissan auto repair, Infiniti auto repair, Subaru auto repair, Mazda auto repair, Mitsubishi auto repair, Scion auto repair, Hybrid auto repair and more.

Tips for Better Gas Mileage

With gas prices beginning to rise back up, it is important to get as many miles out of a tank of gas as possible. Following are three ways to improve your gas mileage:

1. Replace your air filter.

2. Keep your tires properly inflated.

3. Use the recommended grade of oil.

For most people, a vehicle is a major investment, second only to buying a house. A study found that at least half of consumers neglect routine maintenance, with young people being the least likely to keep up with service schedules. Almost two-thirds of automotive technicians believe that consumers can take care of their vehicles maintenance and repair needs for less than $500 annually.

A+ Japanese Auto Repair

W www.650595CARS.com

T 650.595.2277

E APlusCarCare@yahoo.com

We proudly serve the cities of San Carlos, Belmont, Redwood Shores, Foster City, San Mateo, Redwood City and more.

Our ASE Certified Master Technicians specialize on Honda auto repair, Acura auto repair, Toyota auto repair, Lexus auto repair, Nissan auto repair, Infiniti auto repair, Subaru auto repair, Mazda auto repair, Mitsubishi auto repair, Scion auto repair, Hybrid auto repair and more.