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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Safety Apparel

It won't be long now before the extended daylight hours begin to shorten.  The  bright evenings will soon give way to darkness along with the perils of not being as visible to others as you walk, bike or jog.  School will also be starting soon and the early, dark morning hours will see students on the streets heading to class.

We all trust that a cars headlights will illuminate us so that we can be seen by the drivers and be safe as we go about our routine and activities.  However, a cars headlights only provide us with a false hope that we can be safely seen.  It also doesn't help that so many people like to wear dark colored clothing, only adding to the danger of being outside in darkness.

So is there an answer without compromising our fashion sensibilities?  Yes.  The answer lies in safety reflective materials used to embellish garments and accessories.  One such product is 3M Scotchlite with certified safety ratings.

This product is used by emergency personnel like fire and police agencies.  It's also perfect for roadside work crews and anyone else that might be working in a hazardous environment and needs to be seen.  What's so great about this product is that the material can be computer/plotter cut so logos and company names can be added to the garments.  It gives business owners the flexibility to create custom apparel while adhering to the safety of their work force.

Students can have hoodies, t-shirts or even backpacks adorned with this reflective material, cut to a favorite design and still be fashionable.

Joggers can start that early morning run in the winter darkness and be confident that they are better prepared to be seen by those with which they share the road.

Bicyclists can peddle away with a greater sense of security knowing they will be more visible to others that are on the road with them.

Whatever your need for safety reflective apparel is, let www.mwcenterprises.biz help you be safer at work and play.

E-mail us at sales@mwcenterprises.biz for more information

Friday, March 25, 2011

Remember the Wounded Ride and TAPP

Just a little over a year ago I had the pleasure to become a part of the Remember the Wounded Ride program.  Scot King will begin a bicycle journey across the country to bring awareness to wounded veterans.  His ride kicks off on May 7th, 2011 from Salem, Oregon.  The first leg of the journey will take him to Portland, Oregon and from there it continues until he reaches Washington D.C.  His journey will take approximately two years to complete.

Scot served in the United States Marine Corps from 1985-1990.  A very patriotic person, Scot is genuine in wanting to help our Veterans.  He is a person who is committed to action.  I wish Scot safe travels as he takes on this "mission" of help, hope and awareness.

"My life has been full of challenges but I have always remained true to myself.  The ride is about all the men and women in uniform who have given so much for this great country.  It is my mission to educate and remind Americans why we owe so much to those who have fought for our freedom and have given so much to keep us safe.  The injuries our service men and women bear are not always those you can see".

Cpl.  Scot King

Visit Scot's web site, www.rememberthewoundedride.com to follow along.

Through Scot, I have also been fortunate enough to become involved with The American Patriot Program.  This non-profit is an organization that honors wounded veterans and brings them recognition for their sacrifices and service.  Wounded Veteran's are nominated and receive the gratitude of a grateful nation at a National Hockey League game or Major League Baseball event.  In conjunction with the NHL and MLB these Hero's are given the Honor they so deserve.

Wes Hazlet, the National Director of The American Patriot Program has been the inspiration and driving force.  He is humbled by the courage and devotion of the brave men and women in uniform.

I had the fortune to be in Anaheim last week for an event honoring SSGT Octavio Sanchez.  The event took place at the Honda Center with the Anaheim Ducks National Hockey League Team.

SSGT Sanchez was wounded in Ramadi, Iraq and suffered 3rd degree burns over 70 percent of his body and facial area.  With his wife and 3 of his 4 children there, it was a very emotional experience to be in the company of this brave man.  Saying Thank You just doesn't seem to say enough to show my gratitude.

Representatives from TAPP and the NHL were on hand to present pleasantry gifts of gratitude.  My wife Anna and I were in good company with the TAPP team.

Also there was GySGT Blaine Scott, a 2010 nominated Patriot and his wife Lilly.

Thank you Wes and www.tapp.kk5.org for all that you do.

www.presteejustees.com and www.mwcenterprises.biz look forward to the day that all of our men and women in uniform return home safely.

Friday, February 18, 2011

The Art of Writing

January 28th, 1986 was a day that many of us won't forget.  The Florida sky was blue.  The air crisp as people gathered for the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger.  The first astronaut teacher, Christa McAuliffe, was to make history by soaring into the sky and to teach class from space.  Her parents watched proudly, beaming with a joy that sometimes only a parent can know.  They were still expressing that joy when the Challenger veered from a straight path and began to fall from the sky.  It took her parents a moment to realize that something terrible had happened.

That was the visual I remember that day.  Sometime later, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech to reassure a nation coping with grief.  It was a line in that speech that I will never forget, because even today it evokes within me an emotion of sadness and grief that has been imprinted into my soul:  "We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'  The words were taken from a sonnet, "High Flight" written during World War II by an American aviator serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force, John Gillespie Magee, Jr.  


So now I wonder, have we lost our ability to take pen to hand and communicate with written words.  Words, that when assembled into a structure can bring pause, inspire into action or evoke an emotion. How important is it anymore?  Some may think that it really isn't that crucial in this day and age, but I disagree.


In business we still need to write letters, whether short memos, sales proposals or just a Thank You for your business.  They need to be written accurately and convey a message.  Would you do business with some who writes like they text?  I'm guessing that you might have some second thoughts about partnering with that business.


Love letters used to be written all the time.  Words that eloquently described feelings for someone.  How many love letters are tucked away in "Memory Boxes" stained with tears from the time they were first read?  


On the other hand, ending relationships used to involve writing letters.  While it may have had a different emotional result, time was taken to communicate why it was being done.  Now, it seems it's a simple text, devoid of any emotion.


Writing for personal joy is one thing I enjoy.  If it's not read by anyone, that's okay.  I still enjoy it.  With blogs, anyone can take a few moments to share their thoughts or start that manuscript.  Even if you don't have to write anything, do it.  You'll be a better person for having mastered the gift of the word.


For www.presteejustees.com and www.mwcenterprises.biz, our words on shirts are just bits and pieces of text.  Just a synopsis.  It's the rest of the time that we write for a greater purpose, to bring pause, inspire into action or evoke that emotion.


In speaking, you will be remembered for a moment.  When you write, you will be immortal.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Hello 2011

Mistakes, I've made a few.........But I did it my way.  Frank Sinatra's words could certainly apply to me.  As we finish our first partial year in business I have an opportunity to look back, and to look forward.  And, yes, there were mistakes.  Did I gain any knowledge from these mistakes?  Does the little piggy go wee wee wee all the way home?

But that was yesterday, and yesterday's gone.  Are you sensing a musical theme here?  So now I look forward to 2011 with the knowledge I gained from our first year.  That new insight will be to the benefit of our customers.  Focus on the two or three things that most people want and do them great.  We have always done things well, we just want to be better.

So in 2011 our main focus will be on apparel decoration.  While the other items to decorate are great, most people look to us for apparel.  What methods are we going to use for decorating apparel?  Again, there are several choices.  Screen printing, vinyl, with all of it's varying types to rhinestone, all of which I like.  There are also a couple of other methods of heat transfer, but our focus will be on the three mentioned.

To outsource or to do it ourselves?  We have and will continue to do our own apparel decoration, with the exception of embroidery.  However, there will be more focus on providing embroidered products.  To be able to create the quantities you want and need is our goal and by outsourcing, we would have to have larger minimums.

We will however outsource promotional products.  There are so many different types of products available that we want to be able to offer and the best way is to utilize the synergy of a Promotional Products Distributor.  With their ability to pull from different manufacturers, it gives us the tools and means to bring to you and abundance of advertising specialty products.

There are many other tid bits of knowledge that we picked up along the way.  Inventory, vendors and vendor relationships, shipping, packaging, pricing, advertising and the list goes on.

But what we gained the most this past year is the friendship of many great people.  Many of you encouraged us, applauded us, thanked us, advised us and were there for us.  Without you we would be packing it in right now and be looking to do something different.  So thank you for supporting www.presteejustees.com and www.mwcenterprises.biz and for being our friends.

May you enjoy the Spirit of Christmas and have a fantastic New Year.

George and Anna Rivas
MWC Enterprises

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Mid Term Elections Satire

The commercials are airing and the door hangars are appearing.  People are knocking on doors.  All this is going on so I can be made to vote for the candidate they are representing.

In 1972 I turned 18 and voted in my first Presidential election and I haven't missed one since.  I've voted for Congressmen, Senators, state legislators, city council, school board and water district commissioners.  I have been an avid supporter of the political system.  I believe in our system, and I think it's the best in the world.  So what is the point of this essay and why am I putting it in this blog?  Because I have become disillusioned with how politics are being played today.  Also, starting a small business, my choices can have a more direct effect on that business based on what type of legislation is passed.  With that, I'm rethinking my past beliefs and adopting new ones.  Here in no particular order are what is important to me?

1.  Tax Bribes.  Okay, refund, rebates whatever you want to call them.  As long as we are going into massive debt, why not just give the money to me.  I'll spend it, recirculate it and put it back into the economy.  It's got to be better then giving it to banks and Wall Street who just horde it.  They wouldn't even buy large boxes of Tide with Fabreez, but I would.

2.  Earmarks.  They need to get rid of them.  Unless MWC Enterprises can get one.  I would be happy to receive a $20,000. earmark to study the effects of Tide with Fabreez on t-shirts.

3.  Term Limits.  Come on, really.  A lifetime of living off the generosity of the taxpayer.  I think a one time term of 6 years ought to be enough.  If you can't contribute to fixing problems in that time, then obviously you are a loser and don't deserve another chance.  That should cover just about everybody who's in office now.  At least with term limits we can get a new loser every six years.  Oh, and no retirement and medical benefits when you leave office.  You have to live like the rest of us.  Good luck with that.  Oh, and you can't wash your clothes with Tide with Fabreez.  You would have to use the stinky detergent.

4.  Political Ads.  They have gotten so nasty and mean spirited over that last few elections.  Remember the adage "if you can't say anything nice".  So, no political ads "if you can't say anything nice".  That should get rid of all political ads and I can start watching regular Tide with Fabreez commercials again.

5.  Overseas Jobs.  The politician who can get the law changed that says:  If the job can be done in the USA, then it would be  illegal to take it overseas.  That guy would get my vote.  I'll bet just about every job that goes overseas now could get done here.  We could make our own Tide with Fabreez.

6.  Immigration.  What a huge mess that is.  I'm sure there is someone though who has the courage to get immigration laws changed.  It would take someone with a backbone and immense courage to get the law changed so I could immigrate to Cabos once a year for 2 months.  I would even teach people there how to use Tide with Fabreez so they could  contribute to their local economy.

7.  Social Security.  IT'S FOR RETIREMENT.  PERIOD.  If we stopped using it for things other then retirement, we wouldn't be running out of money and wouldn't have to think about raising the retirement age to 99. Well retirement, and one box of Tide with Fabreez every month so we wouldn't be stinky old people.

There you have it.  Why certain things in politics are important to me now that I have a small business.  We can't continue with business as usual, or I won't survive.  We need these changes.  Small businesses are the wheels that turn this economy, and if we can succeed, then the economy will once again be productive and unemployment will again be low.  And everyone, except ex-politicians will smell good, because our clothes will be washed in Made in the USA Tide with Fabreez.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Being a Home Based Business

I don't know how many times a day I hear cars drive by our house.  They drive by but yet they don't stop.  No cars pulling in the driveway and asking us what we have for sale.  No minivans with families popping out ready to shop.  No couples with their Starbucks cup in hand rummaging through our shirts.  We don't have a large billboard of a sign out front (darn zoning laws) announcing who we are.  No, none of that.  Not having a retail store front, but rather being a home based business we miss out on that.  So is that a bad thing.  No, because we enjoy working from the solitude of our home.

But it does present its challenges.  How do we find our customers?  Well of course we use the internet with our websites, use social media and pretty much pester all of our friends and family.  I do think it's having an effect in that our circle of friends seems to be shrinking.  So what does a home based business do?

Our first tool is our website, www.mwcenterprises.biz.  Simple enough, right?  No.  Just like customers trying to find your physical location, they still need to find your online presence.  No simple task.  I mean they can't pull into a gas station and ask for directions.  Men, I'll explain that one some other time.  With websites it's all about being search engine friendly and getting noticed by the multitude of search engines out there.  Search Engine Optimization is a full time job in and of itself.  So we do what we can with respect to SEO and hopefully over time we get more results.

Next, we use social media, with Twitter and Facebook being the most used.  I know there are a variety of different social media venues out there but within my diminishing circle of friends, those seem to be the most relevant.  Are they effective?  I truly believe the answer is yes, but it doesn't just happen.  Again, it's something that evolves over time.  Initially, your friends on Facebook (again, the remaining ones) support and encourage you.  They are the ones that give you the strength to continue and fight the battle for another day.  Over time more friends and their friends become a part of your Facebook family.

Twitter on the other hand I'm still grappling with.  Twitter with it's constantly moving time line is something that really seems to be hit and miss.  Trying to deliver the right message in 140 characters or less in that moving time line is more difficult.  There is also a lot of Twitter etiquette that you need to know about.  I recently saw an article of 100 do's and don'ts with respect to Twitter.  Thank goodness there isn't 101.  Having "followers" on Twitter doesn't mean customers either.  I do try to follow people in my local community in hopes that I will eventually "tweet up" with someone who can be a customer.

This year will be our first in having a Yellow Page ad promoting promotional products and custom apparel.  The book comes out in just a couple of short weeks and we will have to wait and see if it's an effective form of advertising.  If it turns out that it is, we will expand our ad next year into other nearby communities.

There is an ongoing ad on Craig's List that hasn't been very productive, but it's free, so it will stay.

This winter we will be attending flea markets.  We can offer a variety of shirts at "flea market" pricing and possibly promote custom services and our e-commerce website, www.presteejustees.com.

We have looked at attending various events to set up a booth, but some are very costly, and for some the waiting list to get booth space is pretty long.  It is however, and area to pursue.

One other area under consideration are some local community newspapers.  In some cases you also get an online ad at no additional cost.  Since we are providing a service to the local community it would seem a good  venue for advertising dollars.  There are also some "shop local" mailers that can be considered.

Line cards and good old fashion sales calls also are being planned.  Face to face communication is a time honored tradition that I don't think is completely obsolete because of the internet.  Call me old fashioned.

Our best advertising however comes from our repeat customers and good old word of mouth.  That has been our best and most cost effective way so far.  It's the one that also validates what we do and makes us feel good about the choice we made to be a home based business.

So do we need a parking lot in front of our house with painted yellow lines and a physical location.  No, just a sense of eternal optimism, faith in our product and those that support us.

Monday, June 7, 2010

I Believe


I Believe is the latest shirt that's going to be added to www.presteejustees.com. I Believe is a shirt with just a simple statement without any great graphics or artwork. It's just a statement that there is a belief that you have.

This was an idea that my daughter came up with. Maybe it's for children who want to believe in Santa Claus. A child grows up so fast anymore, and to be able to hang onto that belief just gives them a longer childhood. A gift that can warm a child's heart and make him smile, even a simple gift, can only have been brought to them by a Saint, named Nick. Let them Believe.

We all have strong beliefs'. I believe that we live in the greatest country on the planet. We fought, we endured. We dreamed, we built. We had obstacles, we overcame. Throughout our history, we faced challenges and rose above and created something better. So, in this place, I Believe.

There are people of Faith. Diverse, yet a core belief that Someone is guiding their life and lifting them up through all of the roadblocks on their journey forward. So, in Faith, I Believe.

Dreamers of all kinds who have had ideas and a drive to make things happen, Believe.

Entrepreneurs that take risks, Believe.

People who envisioned equality and civil rights, Believed.

The people looking out into the stars for another place like ours. They believe.

I Believe can be whatever you want it to be. You just have to "Believe".