Window Cleaning News

Nikol Window Cleaning Wet Wipes: Nikol window cleaning wet wipes, the Hogla-Kimberly Clark brand in Israel, is presented as the best way to clean windows in this print advertising campaign from Israel. Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth and Nicolas Sarkozy are shown with their faces squeezed against windows. “Stop using newspapers”.

'Say No To Cold Callers' Week. Trading Standards Institute National Campaign: Residents are being urged to use traders whose work has been vetted and turn away cold callers as part of a week-long national campaign. The Trading Standards Institute's National Consumer Week begins today (November 12th) with a 'Say NO to cold callers' theme. Its key messages are:

• Never deal with cold callers, they could be anyone
• No means no!
• If the person on your doorstep or in your house is not leaving when asked, they are committing a criminal offence.

Derbyshire County Council is backing the campaign and encouraging people to use its Trusted Trader scheme which is the largest of its kind in the country with over 1,300 members. Councillor Kevin Parkinson, Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: "Our Trusted Trader scheme means there is absolutely no need for any Derbyshire resident to ever employ a cold caller. "Over the four years it has been running, Trusted Trader has built up a strong reputation for excellence. "Every single member of the scheme has been checked out by our trading standards officers before joining and Trusted Traders are not allowed to cold call for business. "We want people to be confident that the trader they are employing will do a good job at a fair price."

The Trusted Trader register is accessible on line or by phoning Call Derbyshire on 08456 058 058. Its 1,300 traders have 222 different trades - ranging from accountants, face painters, and oven cleaners, to mobility aid companies, window cleaners, joiners and dog trainers. The County Council produces door and window stickers which advise doorstep tradesmen not to cold call at a property.

Window washer rescued from seventh-floor in Deerfield:  A window washer got stuck on his suspended scaffolding equipment around 3 p.m. Friday afternoon while cleaning a seventh-floor window at 520 Lake-Cook Road, reported Lt. Jim Victor of the Deerfield-Bannockburn Fire Protection District. Victor said the fire department personnel helped him down using a ladder truck. The man was able to climb down without injury. Ambulances also responded, Victor said, because the department didn’t know the scope of the situation. The scene was cleared within 20 minutes.

Hong Kong’s Falling Windows Spark Fears: Dozens of windows have shattered at two of Hong Kong’s high-end residential developments in the past year, calling attention to what experts say is an industry-wide problem with a material widely used to construct skyscrapers around the world. In more than 90 incidents at The Arch and Larvotto, panes of tempered glass—some measuring as large as 16 square feet—have shattered and in certain cases pieces have also fallen out of their frames, raising safety concerns among residents. In the past year, similar incidents have been reported in places from Toronto to Texas.
The culprit behind such breakages, industry experts and engineers say, is nickel sulfide, a kind of imperfection in glass that expands when exposed to strong heat. With enough temperature fluctuations, such impurities make tempered glass vulnerable to spontaneous breakage. While experts say such breakages are inevitable, lawmakers have said they will raise the issue in the city’s legislature, including whether the city’s regulations for testing such glass are sufficient. At the moment, the city requires that all tempered glass be heated to temperatures of around 280C for at least two hours, a process used to detect any areas vulnerable to breakage. Two hours is the standard in many countries, including the United Kingdom, but experts say that longer testing times could help reduce incidents of breakage.

The Arch, which is located in one of Hong Kong’s priciest neighborhoods, has seen nearly 60 windows shatter since 2008, or about 0.4% of its total 14,000 panes of glass, according to developer Sun Hung Kai Properties. The company says it has been investigating the issue since 2010, and that emergency teams have been set up to respond within one hour of any breakage. Workers at both The Arch and Larvotto are monitoring the buildings with binoculars to make sure that any fractures are quickly noted and dealt with. If left alone—for example, if the apartment is unoccupied—the glass runs a higher risk of actually falling out of its frame to the ground below.

Chichester burglar given prison sentence: A window cleaner has been jailed for three years after being found guilty of a burglary in Chichester. Daniel Hobden, 30, of Victoria Drive, was found guilty at Brighton Crown Court on Thursday (November 8) for a house burglary at East Row, in Chichester, on July 19, 2012. The court heard Hobden had been working as a window cleaner at flats in East Row when an occupant of a first floor flat heard a window at his property open and close and then discovered money had been taken. The victim called police and Hobden was arrested on suspicion of burglary after he was seen to attempt to discard money.

After he had been found guilty the court heard Hobden had been previously convicted of more than 12 offences of house burglary. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. Detective constable David Midgley of the West Sussex crime investigation department said: “This is an example of a quick-thinking homeowner assisting police to bring an offender to justice. “The sentence handed down also shows just how seriously the courts view individuals who choose to commit crime in our homes. I believe this sentence sends out a strong deterrent to would-be burglars that if you commit crime in Sussex you will be actively pursued, arrested and prosecuted.”

Father blamed handbags theft on toddler daughter: A father of four, who blamed the theft of expensive designer handbags on his two-year-old daughter, has avoided prison. Window cleaner Spencer Russell stole £10,000 worth of clothes, shoes, and accessories, from a home his wife was paid to look after while the owner was away. Russell, of Melbourne Close, Banbury, stole from the house in Souldern, near Bicester, between July and November last year. And the 47-year-old put stolen items up for sale on Internet auction site ebay, Oxford Crown Court heard last week. But when homeowner Barbara Camm spotted items missing he said his daughter had taken them to play dressing-up. And when he returned some handbags, he planted dummies and sweet wrappers in them. He later admitted the crimes and on Friday was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for a year.

Recorder Julian Knowles said he had spared Russell an immediate jail term because he was in now work and had a family to look after. But sentencing him, he said: “You rooted through Mrs Camm’s property on a regular basis, sorting out what tasty morsels you wanted to sell for yourself. “Rather pathetic excuses were given that perhaps your two-year-old daughter had put them in your car.”  He added: “This was a nasty, underhand, unpleasant crime.” Russell was also told to do 200 hours of unpaid community work and to pay his victim £500 compensation.

Mike Bolek, 59, passed away at Hospice House on Nov. 4, 2012. He died from an unusual and aggressive form of prostate cancer and the family encourages others to get tested sooner rather than later. Mike was born in Ravenna, Ohio, on March 14, 1953, to Stanley and Ludmilla (Zagar) Bolek. He was raised in Phoenix, Ariz., and graduated from Camelback High School. After graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corp and served 13 years. He was attached to the USS Midway during the Vietnam War, usually attached to the Air Wing, but also served as a drill instructor and recruiter. In the late ’80s he moved to Coeur d’Alene to raise his family. He worked for the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office for six years. Also successfully established Arise and Shine Window Cleaning Service, a family owned and operated business.

Cleaning of tiled walls and hard floors with a pressure washer is a popular choice for contract cleaners and facilities managers because it is fast and highly effective. However, one drawback of using high pressure for this kind of task is that a lot of splashing can occur and the water used for cleaning is left standing on the ground. As well as the obvious recontamination from foot or vehicle traffic, standing water creates a potentially severe trip hazard. Kärcher's highly innovative FRV 30 hard surface cleaner provides a superb solution to this. The device attaches to a pressure washer to clean floors and walls quickly and very thoroughly, and features a Venturi system that automatically pumps cleaning water away - meaning that the object being cleaned dries more quickly but with no extra power or water being used. 

Because no waste water is left standing, the FRV is ideally suited for use indoors in tiled areas. Whether used indoors or out, it dramatically reduces the downtime of the area being cleaned or simply the time taken to manually clear away the water. As well as reducing cleaning time, the FRV 30 consumes no extra power than the pressure washer it is attached to: it uses the power of water to create its vacuum. The FRV 30 can be used with hot or cold water pressure washers at temperatures of up to 60°C.

Shining light Stephen offers great window of opportunity: People from all walks of life are getting behind the Post's 5 Tons of Tins campaign. Collection boxes have been distributed to more than 50 businesses, shops and pubs. The project seeks to collect five tons of tins to fill the city's food banks this festive period. Window cleaner Stephen Brazier is the owner of Reflect Cleaning Solutions and will be taking two boxes for customers to fill with tins with him in his van. The 43-year-old said: "We've got a large customer base and we want to collect as much as we can. People will hopefully have their tins ready. "It's an incredible idea for people in a desperate situation and it's really good that there are people concerned about it. "A tin or two is nothing to most of us but it could be a dinner for someone. A couple of tins here and there will really add up." Stephen has stuck an advert for the campaign on his van and will promote the scheme to customers.

People camp overnight for SJ food pantry - San Jose, California:  People in need are camping overnight at a San Jose food pantry. Sacred Heart Community Service is giving away thousands of food boxes for the holidays. At Sacred Heart the line continues to grow. People are sleeping in the cold and some are even waiting in line with their small children. One couple we spoke to came prepared. "We brought blankets, and food, snacks, and a tent. See what we do for our kids?" said one woman. They're all waiting for a box of food for the holidays. Starting Friday morning, people in need will be able to reserve a box for Thanksgiving and another one for Christmas. Families will also be able to sign up for toys for the little ones. Sacred Heart anticipates giving away over 7,000 food boxes and over 16,000 toys. 

"Some of them have part-time jobs where they used to have full-time jobs and they're really struggling right now, especially with so many years of the recession, they're assets are drying up very, very quickly," said Jay Pecot from Sacred Heart. Julian Loredo is thankful he'll have food for the holidays. He says he's had a hard time making a go of things. His window washing service never got off the ground. "Nobody wants to pay nothing. I mean, I even went down to as little as $10 to do a power wash on a mobile home and they didn't even want to pay $10," said Loredo.

'Save our car park' plea by Waterfoot traders: Almost 1,000 people have signed a petition opposing the redevelopment of a car park in Waterfoot. Traders and residents in the town outlined their fury at a packed meeting in the Rossendale Mencap Gateway Club. Social landlord Green Vale Homes and Rossendale Council have held preliminary talks with a view to transforming the empty Mytholme House complex in Burnley Road East into 21 houses. But campaigners argue the demolition of a 33-space free car park on the site would have a serious impact on footfall in the town centre as it is used by hundreds of shoppers each day. Around 80 people attended the meeting.

Window cleaner Ronnie Harvey said there was ‘unanimous opposition’ to the proposals. He said: “We’ve seen how businesses in Cloughfold have struggled because of double-yellow lines outside their shops. “Waterfoot is probably thriving more than any other town in Rossendale. If they lose that car park, shops will close. “There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s always full. We all want something done about the building but leave the car park and children’s playground alone.” Mytholme House has been vacant for five years and has become a hotspot for gangs causing vandalism.

Serious and organised crime and anti-social behaviour were the focus of Strathclyde Police's Operation Myriad: The two-week initiative, which ended on October 26, also saw almost 70 litres of counterfeit vodka taken off the streets of East Kilbride and officers also targeted window cleaners who were operating without a licence. Strathclyde Police teamed up with organisations such as the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), Trading Standards and South Lanarkshire Council to carry out road blocks.

Small firms want changes to sick pay rules: Small firm bosses say they should not be made to foot the bill if workers take unnecessary risks with their health and end up claiming sick pay, the Telegraaf reports on Friday. The paper says the economic downturn means small firms are increasingly unwilling to take on new staff partly because of the requirement they fund sick pay for workers who become injured outside work. ‘To ensure small firms continue to generate jobs, we have to break through the taboo which says there is no difference between work-related and private risks,’ Mark van der Horst, the chairman of the small firms' association MKB in Amsterdam, told the paper. In total, some 850,000 people work in the sectors where employers are urging change, the Telegraaf says.

‘A window cleaning company with three employees cannot carry the extra cost of losing a colleague to injury,’ Frits Huffnagel, chairman of the Fokwa small firms association said. The situation in the Netherlands with regard to risk is skewed, Huffnagel said, pointing out that employers would be responsible for paying staff who were injured while taking part in a riot. However, the FNV trade union federation dismissed the plan as ‘unsavoury’. ‘No-one goes on a skiing holiday to break a leg,’ a spokesman said. In Dutch law, employers are responsible for paying sick workers at least 70% of their salary for two years. Many pay deals include a top up to 100% in the first year.

GOBLES, MI -- Cheerleaders from Gobles High School, with help from a few volunteers, have followed through on a promise to store owners in downtown. Before the Gobles football team went to the playoffs, the cheerleaders went door to door asking store owner to let them show support for the Tigers by writing motivational messages on storefront windows. "We were trying to motivate our boys," Alexis Pierson said about the messages cheering on the Tigers.

Now that the team has lost, having been eliminated from the playoffs last week by Pewamo-Westphalia, Gobles cheerleaders spent more than an hour going window to window Wednesday cleaning off what they had written. Many of the stores had to trust that this year's group of girls would clean up afterwards. A different group of students did the windows last year, Pierson said, adding "they didn't wash it off and all the stores got pretty mad." After all was said and done, the community came together to support their Tigers and the store owners had their faith in the students reassured for the future. 

 I would be willing to trade it for a free gutter cleaning  or a nicely framed copy of the United States Constitution.

And finally....  The woman who has a phobia of toilets: A woman from Wales is so scared of toilets she flees when one is flushed -fearing she will be swallowed up after developing a phobia in childhood. Ney Decino, 20, has an irrational fear of toilets and struggles to go to the bathroom without a family member to flush for her. Her phobia is so bad she must work close to home so she can use the only toilet she feels safe on. Decino has been scared of using toilets since the age of four when she saw a talking toilet in 1990s Hollywood film Look Who's Talking Too. In the film the character The Toilet Man, screams he wants the child's urine while posing with big eyes, sharp fangs and a creepy voice which has stuck in Ney's head ever since. She has set up a Facebook group to help fellow sufferers and admits her phobia is silly, but cannot escape from the power it holds over her life.

Window Cleaning News

Dragon’s cash leading to national success: A cleaning firm boss who won backing from celebrity entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne on television’s Dragon’s Den plans to launch a national franchise network to help grow his firm’s annual sales from £370,000 to £2.5m by 2011. Tony Earnshaw entered the Dragon’s Den with his Newcastle-Based Uk Commercial Cleaning Services Company last year and got £100,000 investment from Darlington leisure tycoon Mr Bannatyne in exchange for a 35% stake in the business.
Mr Earnshaw is now planning to use the cash to set up offices in London to complement his site in Leeds, and wants to franchise the business to prepare for large national contracts that are in the pipeline. He said: “This is a massive step for us as it allows us to not only expand nationally but to service large contracts which are in the pipeline for this year.
“This opportunity is fantastic for anyone looking to start their own business, as it removes the risk of them starting from scratch because they have the advantage of our brand, materials, and current workload. The cleaning industry is worth an estimated £10bn in the UK and we are giving people the opportunity to get a slice of the cake by starting their own franchise.”
The firm, which will employ 40 staff once its London operation opens for business, expects to employ 60 staff by 2011 to help with its growing portfolio of contracts, which includes window cleaning for Ladbrokes, Sunderland City Council and the Bannatyne’s Health Club chain. Mr Earnshaw has also set up a crime-scene cleaning division.
Duncan Bannatyne said: “Franchising is an excellent option for anyone looking to expand their business and UKCC has a sound business and profit model, which gives people the opportunity to invest in a solid franchise option.
The company’s humble origins make its future aspirations all the more impressive, with Mr Earnshaw starting out in 2004 after buying a window cleaning round for £300. As a 19-year-old, he quit his role at waste management company Biffa and proceeded to transform the window cleaning round from a handful of houses into a £6,000-a-month business in just six months. Expanding his cleaning enterprise nationally is something which Mr Earnshaw has been working towards since 2004 when he bought a window cleaning round for only £300.

Cleaning business launches franchise: A young entrepreneur who won the backing of Duncan Bannatyne on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den, is to franchise his industrial cleaning business. UK Commercial Cleaning Services (UKCC), which founder Tony Earnshaw grew from a window cleaning round in Washington, Wearside, to a £1.5m turnover business, is to be franchised across the UK. UKCC, which Mr Earnshaw established in 2004 with £300, when he was 19, is making the move in order to increase its workforce and prepare for large national contracts that are in the pipeline. Mr Earnshaw operates from depots in Leeds and Washington, and is using franchising as a way to expand the business, with ambitions to deliver services to Scotland, Wales, the South of England, and Ireland. North-East based entrepreneur Mr Bannatyne, who backed the company with a £100,000 investment in the last series of Dragons’ Den, has backed the move, saying: “Franchising is an excellent option for anyone looking to expand their business.” Mr Earnshaw said: “This is a massive step for us as it allows us to not only expand nationally but to service large contracts which are in the pipeline for this year. “This opportunity is fantastic for anyone looking to start their own business, as it removes the risk of them starting from scratch because they have the advantage of our brand, materials, and current workload.”
Mr Earnshaw is working with franchise experts to firm-up plans for the venture, which is due to launch next month. Estimates suggest that it would cost an individual around £30,000 to take on a franchise. Franchisees will be given machinery, a branded vehicle, a depot, and key contacts in which to generate business. They will also be given work from national contracts which have been secured by UKCC. Anyone interested in starting a franchise can call Mr Earnshaw on 0191-415-5610 Previous Blogs: Here & video here.

Villages want ban on cold calling: Work is under way to get villages around Corby designated as 'no cold calling zones' following the arrest of a bogus salesman. The group of doorstep salesmen – known as the Nottingham Knockers – were stopped recently in Weldon and one man was arrested. A spokesman for the Corby Rural Safer Community Team said: "One of the group was wanted by two other police forces. The team has been giving presentations to various locals to raise awareness about doorstep crime and PCSOs have visited vulnerable residents in the parishes. "We are also consulting with all parish councils to try to agree to a 'no cold calling zone' being established in the parishes." The safer community team trialled the scheme in October last year in Gretton, Cottingham, Middleton and Weldon in a bid to protect the most vulnerable and elderly residents from scam-artists and distraction burglars. It is hoped other villages will soon follow their lead and adopt the ban.
Corby rural councillor Stan Heggs said: "The police have been really on the ball with this one. We have worked hard in the villages around Corby and why should people come from Nottingham and fraudulently take things from us? It is concerning, particularly for elderly residents." Joy Smith from Stanion said: "I think there should be a total ban. There was an old lady in the village who had someone who said he was a window cleaner and then took £120 from her and another claimed to be from the water company and took £100 from her bag. "I think these people can tell if people are living on their own and target them."

MELBOURNE, Victoria (Australia): Madewell Enterprises has introduced BillsTrust, an innovative and secure online bill payment web service. Uniquely BillsTrust requires no data entry and can pay any bill, whether handwritten or printed – meaning more obscure bills can be easily paid without any chasing around like fines, plumbing, garden maintenance, school fees, suppliers or window cleaning. The service is suited to businesses and busy individuals that receive large numbers of bills and who find it a pain to remember and shuffle upcoming bills in order to pay them manually closer to the due date.
BillsTrust has been running in Australia since September 2009, and has been developed by former MYOB employees including Craig Winkler, co-founder and former CEO of MYOB who understand the financial and lifestyle challenges faced by businesses and busy individuals. “BillsTrust is like having a virtual cash flow assistant working for you, as bills will only be paid at the last possible moment by the due date, or you can delay payments to your own payment terms,” said Craig Winkler, Managing Director of Madewell Enterprises. “We provide clients with personalised barcoded stickers that they stick onto the front of their bills as they receive them. They simply fax or scan & email their bills to us and that's all there is to it...send and forget. When a bill is paid, our client receives an SMS and email notification of what bills have been paid and how much.”
BillsTrust aids clients to avoid late payment fees while saving them time, yet without sacrificing control of their bills. When they sign into their BillsTrust account clients can see their bills all queued up ready for payment, view a timeline of upcoming bills to be paid, and view historical payment information and digital copies of bills in an archive. As such BillsTrust provides visibility of clients bills all in one place, rather than individually.

More States Require 'Green' Cleaning Products: More states are requiring schools and government buildings to use environmentally friendly cleaning products, raising debate about their costs and benefits. After a burst of legislation last year, 10 states including Connecticut, Illinois and New York require or encourage "green" floor waxes, window cleaners and other products in schools, according to Green Seal Inc., a nonprofit that certifies the products. Similar bills are expected to be debated this year in at least five states.
Critics say that while the measures are laudable, states should not mandate which products schools and agencies must buy, especially if they increase costs for governments that are struggling financially. But supporters say the laws protect the environment and reduce the use of harsh chemicals that can harm workers' and children's health. "The goal of the bill is to make schools and other public space less toxic and healthier for kids and the general public," said Democratic Rep. Cory Mason, sponsor of a bill in Wisconsin.
Nevada lawmakers watered down a bill last year that would have required green cleaning products in schools after school officials raised concerns about the cost and their lack of expertise in such cleaning. The bill signed by Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons only requires schools to use environmentally sensitive floor cleaners.
In Hawaii, Republican Gov. Linda Lingle last year vetoed a bill that would have required the Department of Education to give preference to products approved by Green Seal. She said it was inappropriate for the state to rely on certifications from "a single private organization." The Democratic-controlled Legislature overrode the veto.
Mason's plan, like those in other states, would require public buildings in Wisconsin to use cleaning and paper products certified as environmentally sensitive by the federal government or several private groups. But it also would encourage agencies to apply the products in ways that reduce water use and the amount of chemicals released into the air.

Local gov't cancels open bid after embarrassing e-mail blunder ICHIKAWA, Chiba: A local government here announced Tuesday it has canceled an open bid for its school cleaning contracts after mistakenly sending Cc (carbon copy) e-mails to participating bidders. According to the Ichikawa Municipal Government's educational facilities division, the bidding was for contracts for window cleaning at 63 elementary and junior high schools in the city. The bidding was to be held without designated bidding companies and without prior notification of planned prices and the lowest bids. Last Friday, however, when sending a question-and-answer form to 17 participating bidders, a person who was in charge of the bidding process accidentally sent e-mails to all of them via Cc instead of Bcc (blind carbon copy). The mistake was revealed on Saturday night when one of the bidders contacted the municipal government. In an attempt to prevent collusive bidding, the municipal government canceled the bidding that was scheduled for this coming Friday.

A body builder who battered a teenage reveller to death has been jailed for at least 14 years after “trying to get away with murder”. He confronted Mr Lund, a window cleaner of York Road, Eastbourne, in the basement of the venue, in Pevensey Road, which has since closed down, on the night of July 11 last year. Nicholas Sitko (pictured), 24, was convicted last week of killing Ben Lund at the Funktion Rooms nightclub in Eastbourne, because he suspected the 19-year-old was chatting up his girlfriend. Appearing at Lewes Crown Court Judge Richard Brown sentenced the burly digger driver to life imprisonment and told him he would serve a minimum of 14 years behind bars before he is considered for release. The judge told Sitko he had tried to get away with murder by lying to police that Mr Lund had started the fatal fight. Judge Brown said: "No sentence this court can impose can ever start to reflect the value of a life lost or bring comfort to family and friends devastated by the loss of a loved one. "In a moment of alcohol-fuelled jealous rage you attacked a respectable, bright, intelligent man. He had done nothing to justify any physical response from you. "Ben lost his life as a result of your totally inexcusable, uncontrolled violence.

About CleanPower, LLC: Clients include corporate headquarters, multi-tenant buildings, medical clinics and offices, schools, financial institutions and industrial facilities. CleanPower, has offices in Milwaukee, Madison, Eau Claire, Stevens Point, Wausau, Racine, Sheboygan, Appleton and Green Bay and serves clients at over 700 locations statewide, cleaning over 38 million square feet of workspace for more than 100,000 individuals. CleanPower, LLC is a member of Marsden Holding, which provides contract-cleaning services in Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, Michigan, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Utah, California and Arizona. With the recent acquisition of Al’s Window Cleaning, CleanPower, LLC.’s annual revenues will exceed $40 million.

Ten candidates qualify for two city races: A crowded field of candidates will vie for the two Gainesville city offices up for grabs in the March 16 election. One of the candidates is Don Marsh: Owner of Marsh Window Cleaning; Republican candidate for Alachua County Commission in 2002. Campaign Web site here.

A Fair Trade: Bartering gains momentum as economy sags and businesses seek ways to retain cash. An age-old practice spanning centuries and continents, bartering, the simple swapping of one service or product for another, is enjoying a contemporary resurgence spurred by the economy’s tumult. As restaurants struggle with declining customer counts and seek ways to stir traffic and boost revenue amid fixed costs, bartering is gaining increased appeal and acceptance.
Though traditional bartering takes place between two parties, third-party bartering companies witnessed growing membership numbers in recent years and spearheaded a barter renaissance. Unlike one-on-one bartering, members of exchanges are not obligated to barter directly with a seller. Rather, members can have their account credited with fair market value for a sale and then use those credits for future purchases. In effect, the exchange creates a savings account based on trade dollars versus traditional currency.
John Kubisiak, owner of three Toppers Pizza locations in Wisconsin, did not know such exchanges existed when he opened his first Toppers location in 2005. Two years later Kubisiak joined the bartering service International Monetary Systems (ims), a publicly traded, Wisconsin-based barter company serving 50 U.S. markets. Barter dollars started coming into Toppers immediately and Kubisiak has since used his credits for equipment maintenance, window cleaning, and employee incentives, including spa and restaurant gift certificates. He enjoyed a pair of Caribbean vacations on barter as well.

Sell your home RIGHT NOW: Prepare for viewing daily, especially if your agent has keys. Wash up after every meal, keep bins empty, and put away laundry. Above all else keep your place spotless. Running the vacuum cleaner around is one thing, but dusting and keeping windows gleaming will make a difference. Viewers really will be scrutinising every inch.

Art Gallery abuzz sorting out plethora of pre-opening bugs (Alberta, Canada): In the front entrance, they were repairing a drip in the ceiling. (Don't worry, you won't get wet.) In another room, they were creating a drip in the ceiling. (Don't worry, it's part of an art installation.) Last-minute preparations at the Art Gallery of Alberta had the newly renovated gallery abuzz Thursday with activity and noise. Dave Perrott, a window cleaner, admitted his job has gotten tedious. No wonder -- he's been at it since October so that the building would look nice during construction, too. "It's been, 'Do it, gets dirty, do it again,' " said Perrott. At this point "we get kinda ticked if someone else messes it up." The big challenge, he added, was cleaning the borealis, the metallic swirling accent piece on the front of the building. "No one really knew how to clean it properly. Every time something touches it, it changes colour." The solution was handwashing the borealis with a rag and CLR to get rid of grease and "make everything blend."

Sunday Window Cleaning News-Watch

Two rescued after ninth-floor scaffolding breaks: A crowd gathered along the street and workers peered from their office windows Friday morning as two construction workers hung from the side of a nine-story building. The workers were pressure washing the exterior of one of Mutual of Omaha's buildings at 33rd and Farnam Streets when the platform holding them broke apart. Rescuers pulled one worker up and off the platform about 11:30 a.m. The second man was rescued about 11:40 a.m. A co-worker identified the men as Dan Gibbons and Nick Grimit. From the time the ordeal began shortly before 11 a.m. until the second man was rescued, onlookers gathered along the street. Office workers could be seen looking out nearly every window in the buildings along both sides of Farnam. Another employee of the construction company said the platform the men were using was brand new. It was still near the top of the building and had not descended very far when the platform broke. The platform is constructed in three sections, and the right-hand third of the platform broke loose shortly after the men began descending the building. Rescuers and the two workers secured the platform with ropes before the men were removed. Battalion Chief Steve Ausdemore said a passerby saw the scaffolding hanging broken on the side of the building and called 911. "Our speciality rescue team trains for this type of event every week in order to be prepared for a real- world high-angle rescue. This rescue went like clockwork," he said.

Doctors at Coventry’s University Hospital began crying as they told the 66-year-old he had less than two months to live. But the grandfather of three was in for an even bigger shock. After planning his own funeral and wake, Mr McCann was called back to the hospital and told the doctors had made a mistake – he could live for years. Mr McCann and his wife Elizabeth, of Castle Croft, Cheylesmore, were given the “devastating” news in September 2007. He’s decided to speak out now after reading about other NHS mistakes in the Telegraph. “The doctor’s eyes started filling up with tears as he told us,” said the former window cleaner. “He said he needed to get a glass of water – I thought it was for me and I said thank you but he sat down and drank it himself. “We were crying all the way home, we didn’t know what to do.” During the following days Mr McCann began counting down to his “imminent death” and making preparations. He contacted the Co-op to start paying off his funeral plan and arrange the service, and he booked a room at the Cheylesmore Social Club for his wake. His two younger sisters even borrowed money to fly over from Belfast to support him during his final weeks. Then on October 2, Mr McCann was called back into hospital and told the diagnosis had been a mistake. Doctors also sent him a letter of apology, assuring him the tumour behind his eye would not kill him any time soon. “When we went to the hospital they couldn’t apologise enough,” said Mr McCann, who has lived in Coventry for more than 40 years. “But at the same time they asked my wife and me whether we really wanted to know what the cancer was going to do to me, because if it were them they wouldn’t want to know. “I was terrified.” Mr McCann, who needs oxygen 16 hours a day and takes more than 20 tablets including morphine, contacted the Coventry Telegraph to share his story after reading about other mistakes made by the hospital.

Phoney tradesmen told to stay away from Portsmouth: Police have warned rogue traders to stay out of Portsmouth after an operation targeting dodgy workers. Trading Standards joined police officers to carry out spot checks on the likes of builders, window cleaners and gardeners to make sure they were not ripping people off. PC Neil Lancaster said the aim of the operation was to target those who coerce elderly people into paying for unnecessary work as well as distraction burglars. PC Lancaster said: 'Obviously there's a lot of good workers out there and it's the minority that are causing problems for the majority. 'The day was about distraction burglaries and people being taken advantage of. These sort of things obviously have a devastating affect on people.' No arrests were made on the day and all those who the authorities spoke to were bona fide workers. But Trading Standards officer Dave Taylor said it had been a worthwhile operation.
'Unfortunately we didn't find anybody who was a rogue trader as such,' he said. 'But rogue traders should see this as a warning that we are looking for them and we will be out again looking for them. 'We want these people to keep out of Portsmouth and anything we can do to disrupt their activities will help to protect everybody, particularly the elderly and vulnerable who are reluctant to say "no" when people knock at their door.'

A grieving husband has paid tribute to the woman he married twice, after she lost her brave battle with a rare illness. George Black said his wife, Terri, managed to keep her “bubbly and jovial” personality despite her painful muscle and tendon condition. The mother of four suffered from fibromyalgia, which often left her exhausted and in agony after only slight exertion. Mr Black, 54, of Murray Place, Portsoy, said: “Even though she was suffering, she tried to make the best of every hour. “The last couple of years were very hard for her but she always tried to keep up her spirits.” He said his 37-year-old wife had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia two years ago and took medication to combat the condition. Sufferers can experience chronic pain and fatigue in muscles and tendons and an increased sensitivity to pain. Mr Black and his London-born wife met through their membership of the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious movement. He said: “We were both members of the congregation at Portsoy and got married in 1996. At that time, we stayed at Portknockie for a while and then moved to a farmhouse in the Bogmuchals area. “Unfortunately, I became ill and that caused a strain, and we split up and got divorced in 2003.
“We kept up with each other as friends and I came to stay in Portsoy. “A couple of years ago, Terri also came to Portsoy and we were living not far from each other. “My health problems had improved and we decided to get married again.” Mr Black, who formerly worked as a landscape gardener and window cleaner, said: “Terri always made a great impression on everybody and was well liked.”

Don says "So, what happens when it just pours all week? You may not ever have that problem, but if you live in a tropical climate like I do, this can be an issue. Not only is it hard to clean windows in a downpour, but it suppresses interest in those who might be your customers. Check out this 3 minute video!"

Students find recession tough - More are opting to start their own companies. A difficult economy means students are having a hard time finding work this summer. When Andrew Graham started recruiting for his summer window-cleaning business, he got more than 50 résumés, twice as many as a year earlier. The 21-year-old Carleton engineering student hired six students, twice as many as he had in his first year. "There are definitely more people looking for summer jobs." The recession is putting a squeeze on the job market, including summer employment opportunities. The result is some young people like Graham are turning to alternatives like starting a business. Governments are pumping more money into job placement programs, including providing wage subsidies to encourage hiring. Almost 25,000 jobs have disappeared in the last five months in Ottawa-Gatineau, lifting the unemployment rate to 5.5 per cent in April - well below the national unemployment rate of eight per cent. Unemployment of workers between the ages of 15 to 24 was 10.9 per cent in April in Ottawa-Gatineau, up from 10.5 per cent a year earlier. That is more than twice the 4.4-per-cent unemployment rate of people 25 and over.

'No-cold-callers zone' to fight conmen: A Scheme to warn doorstep callers and cowboy businessman to stay away from an elderly residential area has been set up in town. The 'No-Cold Calling Zone' has been set up in Manners Street in a joint effort between the police and trading standards. The area was chosen after reports from a number of people living in the area of conmen going door-to-door. PC Tony Gallagher, community beat manager for the town centre, said: "We have been plagued by a number of cold-callers and distraction type burglaries in this area. "We have had cases of people posing as gas workers, window cleaners, even people calling themselves police officers. "We are hoping this scheme will help give the residents the confidence to say 'no' by giving them the information to be able to contact us quickly." PC Gallagher and PCSO Alfie Kent went door-to-door in Manners Street on Tuesday to talk to people about the problems, offer advice and provide an information pack on how to react to doorstep sellers. A number of signs have been put up around people's homes by the police warning possible cold-callers not to go door-to-door in the area. Dave Callan of Trading Standards said: "We want to discourage rogue traders from coming to this area. "We get people charging exorbitant amounts for doing very little work, people distracting the person at the front door while someone else gets into the house and even people being taken to the bank to withdraw money. The problem in the Manners Street area has becoming worse in recent months, with residents raising the issue at residents' meetings. Barrie Cox, a neighbourhood watch co-ordinator, regularly attends such meetings. "I think the zone is an excellent idea. "We have had quite a few distraction burglaries up here. They always come in the evening and we tell people not to open their doors to anybody but some still do and this has resulted in people being robbed. "Putting the signs up should deter people from going door-to-door."

Al Sarabasa Jr. He pounces on the slack: Al Sarabasa Jr. has seen a few economic slumps during his almost 24 years as owner of D&A Building Services Inc. in Longwood. Which is why he now uses downturns to take up market slack left by out-of-business competitors and expand his company's service offerings. "If we come out strong enough at the end of this, we will be in the position to expand and pick up more markets," he said. From humble beginnings as a window-washing business with one employee, D&A has grown to become one of Florida's biggest Hispanic-owned businesses, with annual revenue of $19 million, according to California-based Hispanic Business magazine. The company's main line of business is built around janitorial services, facility maintenance, window cleaning, waterproofing, construction cleanup and communications networks.
Already this year, Sarabasa has lost some contracts and had to reduce his work force by 25 percent through layoffs and attrition. But he has also added lawn-and-ornamental treatment services to his landscape-maintenance unit. And he has expanded geographically, adding a fifth state last year with the opening of a Dallas office. "It's not about affordability; it's about the possibilities once we get out of the recession," he said of the expansion and added services. "It's tight, but we make it work."

No Cold-Calling & Flyer Zones

It seems that a lot of window cleaners are having trouble with door to door knocking of late in the UK. Groups set up by Community wardens or managers, Parish Councils, Housing agencies, Tenants’ associations, Age Concern/Help the Aged, Social Services, Home Improvement Agencies (accessed through local councils), Citizens Advice Bureaus & Faith organisations. Even back in 2003, a complete ban was requested but denied. Almost all of those polled – 95.7 per cent – backed a ban. Some 15,000 people a year complain about doorstep sellers and their often high-pressure tactics. Under a separate scheme householders can avoid the nuisance of cold telephone calls and junk mail by signing up to a list of addresses companies are prohibited from contacting.

The purpose of ‘No Cold Calling’ zones (NCCZs) is to discourage cold callers from specific residential areas, usually a street or small cluster of houses. The introduction of the scheme provides householders with the opportunity to collectively discourage the often-unwelcome practice of cold calling. The zones are visibly identified by overt signs and by each participant displaying a sticker on their door. The ‘No Cold Calling’ zones are designed to discourage rogue traders who, for example, tell householders work needs doing to their property and then charge exorbitant prices or who try to trick their way into the house to commit a burglary. It is a voluntary scheme which relies on residents of the area to say no to Cold Callers and to report them to Trading Standards or the Police. The zone is there to give a message to callers that they are not wanted in that area and that people in the area will not do business with them so there is no point in them calling! Is it time to buy a canvassing licence?

REMEMBER it is not illegal to cold call. The zone is a message to callers that they are not wanted and that you will not do business with them. However, if residents in the zone then encourage callers this will send out the wrong message and the zone will not work.

In the United States, flyers are generally illegal when put in mail boxes according to Section 1725 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code -prohibits placing mailable materials like circulars and sales bills with unpaid postage in mailboxes with intent to avoid payment of postage. Do-Not-Call List Revives Door-to-Door Sales: While telemarketers have been banned from calling consumers who added their names to Do Not Call Registry, don't expect them to leave consumers alone. Having had one channel of communication essentially shut off, many marketers will simply shift to other methods of reaching consumers. Some marketers are now experimenting with the old, door-to-door approach to marketing and sales. Door-to-door sales used to very popular and prominent in the 50's and 60's but died out almost altogether. Though with the jaded, "seen it all" mentality of the current American culture, there will certainly be a lot of doors slammed and "Solicitors Not Welcome" signs hung if this tactic becomes popular.

Perhaps its time for a different type of buying/selling approach...enjoy.