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Grow your business  Right now - by generating more referrals. Here are three big ideas that will change the way you market and grow your business. You can grow your business, even in today's economy, if you have enough people out there selling your services! The most cost effective way to increase your sales force is by growing the number of people who advocate for you.

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Turning Firewood Into Gold  This time of year, especially, and in this economy specifically, all hardwood turns gold - when you turn it into firewood, that is. How "gold" is firewood? Let's compare it with another gold, "black gold" also known as oil.

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Beyond the Elevator Speech  Many of us, happily, aren't in a position of having to worry about having to make the perfect 40-second presentation of our business when we get on an elevator. That said, however, there are times when you're called on to speak about your business. This happens most frequently with potential creditors or major customers, but the need arises other times as well.

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Who is Responsible for Safety  Most injuries or fatalities happen not because of bad equipment, or the company doesn't care, or the industry doesn't have the best work practices, but because a worker made a poor decision. He or she used the "just this once" philosophy. When we get away with breaking the rules once, it encourages us to try and get away with it again. We never know when it's our last chance. That's why we've got to work toward creating a zero-injury environment.

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Chipping Away at Chipper Safety The tree care industry can be a dangerous one, but is becoming less so as the days go on, thanks to two things that can work independently or in concert with one another: Safer equipment and better operator training.

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ALB Raises its Ugly Head and Horns in Massachusetts Asian longhorned beetle, or ALB for short, is a shiny black and white-spotted insect that experts have dubbed one of the most destructive bugs ever to light upon North American soil.

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Warning: Undocumented Liability In a worker-starved industry such as tree care, many owners employ undocumented workers who are in the country illegally. Some do so unknowingly. But if that worker is involved in a vehicle or machinery accident, a company risks significant consequences.

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Precision Tree Felling Chain saw operators have to be able to think on their feet (or in the saddle) and adjust to their surroundings. Accidents can be dramatically reduced, and productivity increased, when workers have the knowledge, training and the skill they need to operate a chain saw properly.

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Fighting Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Throughout the southern Appalachian Mountains the eastern hemlock forests dominate many places in the landscape. They represent the largest (by wood volume), tallest and most common trees in places like Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Increasingly, the scenic overlooks there now offer vast views of dead giants. Hemlocks are in visible, massive decline - generating much public awareness, even though what the public is seeing is the impact of a crisis that has been mounting for two decades.

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