All roof contractors are not the same. Most roofing jobs look great from the street. But did you know that one out of two composition shingle roofs installed today are not installed properly?

The number one installation problem will cause your roof to blow off before your neighbor’s roof does in a wind storm. Well, assuming your neighbor’s roof is installed right.

A starter course, when installed right, is designed to keep the shingles at the eave from lifting at the edge of the roof when the wind blows. Once the wind gets under a loose shingle, you can guarantee that the next strong wind will take it off, perhaps along with many others, and deposit them in the next county.

Here’s the Test
You can quickly determine if the starter shingles were installed correctly. You don’t even have to get up on the roof. Lift the first shingle at the edge of the roof. There should be what looks like two shingles stuck together. If you can’t lift more than three or four inches of shingle at the edge of the roof and the first row is stuck down to the starter shingle under it at the edge, you have a pro for a roofer.

If the first shingle is not stuck down or you can lift more than 4 or 5 inches of the whole business off the roof edge, you have a problem.

Here’s the Fix
A qualified roofer will be able to lift the shingles in the first row and nail down the starter course near the roof edge. He will then apply roof adhesive to seal down the bottom edge of the first row of shingles to the starter.

The Starter Course Quiz
If you are having a new roof put on, you can ask a couple of questions of your roofer. “What are you using for a starter course?” and “Are you installing the starter course according the instructions from the roofing manufacturer?” Every composition shingle roofing package will typically have basic installation instructions on the back. Review them with your roofer.

Here are the key words to listen for when your roofer answers the starter strip question: “We always use a standard shingle and turn it 180 degrees for the starter strip.” Wrong answer.

The right answer is: “We always use a starter course, manufactured for that purpose. We install it with the seal-down strip at the edge of the roof and nail it 3-4 inches from the edge of the roof.” Right answer.

An alternative answer is: “We cut off the exposed tabs of a standard shingle and install what’s left along the edge of the roof with the seal-down stuff at the edge of the roof and nail it 3 or 4 inches from the edge of the roof.” Right again.

The Bottom Line
Just so you know I am not making this up, the people in the know can tell you themselves. The National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA), and all roof manufacturers have specific and tested installation methods that work when you follow them. Use a qualified roofing contractor and make sure they follow the instructions.

The most critical component of custom building is obtaining the right budgets – Yes Plural - “for you.” I can not emphasize this point enough. Every family has different needs and objectives. You are allocating resources (monetary, emotional, time, etc.) to your custom home and you expect to maximize your return on investment.

However, a custom home’s return on investment is not the same as a stock holder’s return on investment. Your return on your home’s investment is personal. Yes, it should have financial implications, but it “MUST” reflect your family’s lifestyle, values and personal sense of style. Your home should be an oasis. A place for entertaining, retreat, and solitude.

Therefore, you should require two budgets. One budget that outlines what you expect to pay for your home. No More, No Less. This is the financial budget. The second budget is a personal budget. This budget defines how your home will reflect your lifestyle, values and personal sense of style.

The personal budget outlines your requirements for items such as views; The style of architecture you want; How you entertain; What type of privacy your require; Do you work from home; Is there a need for a play area; How many Bedrooms do you need; What floor would you like the Master bedroom on; Etc.

It is “critical” that you are honest with the architect and your home builder regarding what you expect to pay and your requirements for your new home. No More, No Less. Without open, honest communication, the architect and your builder can not do the job they are hired to do – Design & Build Your “Custom” Home.

You should have both your financial and personal budgets prior to meeting with an architect. Your builder and the architect will work with your budgets to maximize your homes return on investment.

You have just started a new Home Business that provides a product or service and now you are ready to get out there and let the whole world know about it! Where and how do you begin? First you will need to ask yourself some questions to help you start in this process. Such as, does this market really want and need what I have to sell? To what degree? Do I enjoy this market and will I enjoy it five or 10 years from now? Can this market help me achieve my financial and business-building goals? Will this market need my help long into the future or is it susceptible to change?

Here are some good steps to take in getting started.

1. Call your Local Chamber of Commerce . They can help you with your questions on how accommodating your local area is for whatever service or product you have. For example, if you have 20 landscaping businesses in a 10-20 mile radius that might be a tough business to break into in your area..

2.Attend local Chamber of Commerce events. Joining the Chamber is expensive but has many benefits. However, you can attend events without joining. Use the services of people you meet as soon as possible to reinforce relationships. Be patient. It takes time to build credibility. Commit to five or six repeated exposures.

3.Join forces with another business to promote your company. Partnering with a company in a related industry is one of the cheapest and easiest forms of marketing that you can employ. If you make soaps or lotions for example, you may convince a local spa or salon to carry your products and offer a discount to their customers. Likewise you may offer gift certificates to that spa or salon if they buy your products.

4.Put your company and website name on everything you print: Put it on your T-shirt. Business cards, press releases, stationary, advertising, invoices, statements, get a vanity license plate, coffee cups, posters, ... the more times it is seen the more traffic you will see.

5. Go around to business in your area letting them know you are new in the area and give them your business card. { Side tip here, a good way to generate leads here would be to tell the business owner that you have just started a new business and you are looking for some sharp and motivated people to bring on and if they have any referrals}

6. Place an ad in your local paper.

Bottom line is you have to wear your business like a coat everywhere you go!

Candi May is a internet marketer and Success Mentor. She specializes in helping others succeed in marketing online and building Successful home businesses. She love hunting and fishing and working with her horses in her spare time.

So, you’ve done all the work and set up your home business. That means you did all the paperwork, set up your book work, wrote your business and marketing plan, and basically have everything in place for your success. It doesn’t matter what kind of business you have. All businesses need to get set up in some way.

The next step is to go through the process of actually building your client and customer base. There are several ways to do this. You could advertise, cold call, or find clients or customers on the internet or through your website. The ways of finding customers are almost endless. However, you will find that this is an aspect of your business that takes the most work, at least at first.

Networking is an important aspect of finding customers and/or clients. All businesses benefit from this kind of networking because that means that you will always have a steady reserve of people who are potentially interested in your product or service. These are called “quality leads” because they are valuable. Contacts obtained through personal networking are already interested in your product or service because they expressed an interest in it already. They just need some extra prompting to finally make a purchase.

Networking is Not What You Think

When you think of networking, what comes to mind? A lot of people have the wrong idea of what it really is, probably because they’ve had a bad experience or two with someone who was too forceful. This kind networking includes going door to door or cold calling people out of the blue to generate interest. Some business owners have success with this kind of network marketing, but this isn’t necessarily the best, most effective way because you are not dealing with “quality leads”.

This is good news for people who dread the thought of going door to door or calling strangers. In fact, it is this kind of “prospect hunting” that often turns people off from even owning a home business.

Provide a Good Service and Business Will Follow

The fact is that a good business will grow from word of mouth. If you provide a great service or product, your existing customers will tell others about you. This is the best type of networking to utilize and it is also the most costs effective.

Word of mouth networking is effective because your existing customers are getting people excited about what you have to offer. Therefore, they come to you already interested. It is easier to build your client or customer base this way. One way you can speed it up is to ask your existing customers for referrals. You can ask your customers to tell their friends and family that you may be contacting them so that they can expect your call.

Other Ways to Promote Your Business

There are other ways to find potential customers and clients, or prospects, besides asking for referrals. In fact, it is best to use a combination of different methods. These other methods include:

* Promoting your website
* Writing ads to post online
* Sending out press releases
* Posting in forums related to your business
* Keeping in touch with existing customers
* Contacting referrals or potential customers or clients by phone, email, or writing them a letter

It is important to use several methods at once. That way you can have a steady stream of clients and customers coming in.

Always Work at Finding New Prospects

No matter how busy you are, you should always find time to build up your list of prospects for customers and/or clients. Your existing customers may not always stick around. Not everyone will be a repeat customer, or need to use your service more than once. Neglecting this aspect of your business is a recipe for failure.

Building a successful home business takes a constant amount of work. In the beginning you may find that you are spending a lot of time finding people who want your product or service. But once you are more established, you will spend less time looking for business. This does not mean that you should ignore it. Spending time on this aspect of your business will help you stay successful.