2012 Grandfathering Does Not Apply to Electrical Contractors

There appears to be some confusion over which registered licenses can now submit applications to become certified through the new Grandfathering statute. There were no changes to the Florida Statutes to allow for grandfathering of registered electrical contractors’ licenses. Only registered licensees under the purview of the Construction Industry Licensing Board can grandfather.

The DBPR has stated that some licensees have received letters from county building departments that they can grandfather their registered electrical contractor’s license. These letters are incorrect and there is no grandfathering for registered electrical contractors at this time.

If you are interested in becoming certified, we can help you file an application for the initial issuance of your Certified Electrical license. Or, if you do have a registered license governed by the CILB, you can find more information here:  http://licensesetc.blogspot.com/2012/09/registered-contractors-grandfathering.html

Revised Applications and New License Rules Effective July 1st

Some big things just happened at the state level regarding licensing and there are a couple of changes we need to report to you.  Home Inspection licensing was made more attainable during this year’s legislative session.  As of July 1st, Division 1 license holders can apply for a Home Inspector License via Grandfathering.  There are no additional CEU or experience requirements during Grandfathering, so take advantage of this one-time-only opportunity.  Grandfathering will be allowed until July 1, 2012.   There are also provisions for certain other inspectors to be Grandfathered under this new rule.  If you would like additional information, please let us know.  The fee to the DBPR is $330 and fingerprinting is still required.  As always, the gals at Licenses, Etc. can help you with the application.  Give us a call today to find out more.

A big revelation was that the Glass & Glazing license has lost its status as a specialty license and is now a Division 2 license.  This means that Division 1 licensees will need to hold a separate Glass & Glazing license in order to do work such as install windows, or will need to subcontract this work to a licensed Glass & Glazing Contractor.  We have been told that they will continue to use the same exam for this new license that they have been using for the specialty license.  All existing specialty glass and glazing contractors will be reclassified as Division II licensees.  The next available date to test for a Glass & Glazing license will be in August 16th and 17th.  The deadline to sign up is July 20th. 

And finally a note of caution to remind all that enforcement of unlicensed activity for Mold Assessors and Mold Remediators has now begun.  Please make sure that you are working within the laws.  Any contractor going into a location to assess for mold or to address a mold problem will need to be licensed to do so.  These are individual licenses and a license holder must be on site supervising or performing all work that is performed. 

We know that these are big changes in the licensing world.   If you have any questions as to how you may be affected, turn to the gals at Licenses, Etc. to answer all your licensing questions.  We are here to help you.

Congratulations, February licensees!

Congratulations to the following Licenses, Etc. clients who were approved in February:

·  Michael Wiecinski at Rohl Networks, LP of Pompano Beach, FL

·  Bob Stull at Stull Contracting, Inc. of Cape Coral, FL

·  Evan Gorny of Fort Myers, FL

·  Rodney Locke at Locke Builders and Contractors, Inc. of Margate, FL

·  James Brann at The Porch Factory, LLC of Fort Pierce, FL

·  Omar Pareja at AB&P General Contracting And Engineering, Corp. of Doral, FL

·  Michael Whitehouse at Oceanic Air Conditioning, LLC of Cape Coral, FL

·  Michael Utley of Fort Lauderdale, FL

·  Thomas Tomarelli at A/C Guys, Inc. of Ocoee, FL

·  Gregory Wellet at Key King Enterprises, Inc. of Key West, FL

·  Dazhi Yu at Unimeso, LLC of Gainesville, FL

·  Ralph Collazo of Miami, FL

·  Ernest Charles Miles at DR Swanson/Titan Golf JV of Port Charlotte, FL

·  Lowell Jones at Action Air Conditioning of South Florida, Inc. of West Palm Beach, FL

·  Josh Frank at Integrity Pools, Inc. of Port Charlotte, FL

·  Robert Ruck at Environmental Demolition Partners, LLC of West Palm Beach, FL

·  Russell Colodny at Excellence Property & Lifestyle Management, Inc.

·  Jeff Brieler at Karlsen Corporation DBA The Window Professionals of Jupiter, FL

·  Phillip Lee at Orion Merchant Solutions of Miami, FL

·  Gerard Reed at Reed & Co DBA DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen of Naples, FL

·  Jimmy Bowen/Michelle Apholz at Sun Star Energy, LLC of New Smyrna Beach, FL

·  J. Mark Nash at True Mark Builders LLC of Naples, FL 

We're also pleased to share the newly created or revamped Social Media Networking pages for these fine businesses we get to call clients:

·  TEC Plumbing and Construction

o    Facebook:  www.facebook.com/TECPlumbingandConstruction   

Be sure to connect with them all on Facebook and Twitter.

Would you like to be set up on Social Media Networking sites, too? Call Lisa at 239.963.5369 for more information.

Florida UC Assessment

It appears the Florida Department of Revenue is hitting mailboxes this week with tax assessment notices [bills].

These taxes ARE NOT due to an incorrect filing or underpaid deposit.

In a nutshell, the Florida unemployment ‘piggybank’ has been empty for years.  Because that fund is basically insolvent, Florida continues to borrow from Uncle Sam to meet its unemployment obligations.

All of us as Florida employers must bear the burden of paying the interest on that debt, and that is what these notices pertain to.  It appears the state is examining a look-back period of 7/1/09 through 6/30/10 for the purposes of computing each firm’s obligation.

The formula for calculating the payment is specified by law.  The calculation is based on your taxable wages reported from 7/1/09 through 6/30/10 which is listed as line 1 on your bill.  There will be a flat charge of $25 for any delinquent quarter which is line 2 on your bill.

Call us with any questions.

-    Thanks to Greg Borden at Olde Florida Payroll for this information.

The Power of the Press Release

You are constantly looking for the best ways to market your business… but I bet you are missing one of the most obvious ones:  The Press Release!  And guess what, other than the time put in, they are free.  Plus a newspaper article holds a lot more credibility in people’s eyes than an advertisement because it appears to be coming from a trusted, third-party source, rather than the company itself.

Let’s start by saying what a press release is.  Wikipedia defines it as “a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value.”  This means if you have something that people would want to know about, the press wants to hear about it.  This can be anything from a charity event you are hosting to the hiring of a new employee.

Press releases have a very regimented format and will only be considered by the media if written correctly.  There are many online sources to guide you, and there are even entire books written about this topic.  Take a moment to read up on this to be sure that you don’t waste your time.

Once your press release is written, choose the media contacts that you will be sending it to.  They are usually listed on the websites of the papers and trade associations.  Remember, not all of the media contacts out there are looking for the same stories.  A charity event would be directed to most of the contacts, but a new employee would go to the business section writers and trade publications.  So think about what you are sending and be realistic.

Thank them when your article is used.  This is such a simple thing, but so many people forget to do this!  You like to be thanked when you do something nice. They do, too. 

The last tip I will leave you with… Only send a press release once.  You may not hear back from your contacts even if they plan on using your story, but do not hassle them.  Nothing will put you on their block list quicker.

So take a moment and learn to use this powerful tool.  Or give us a call.  We offer press release services.  Isn’t it time to see your name in the headlines?

Congratulations, January licensees!

Congratulations to the following Licenses, Etc. clients who were approved in January:

· Khamir Patel at KHP Developers, Inc. of Tampa, FL

· Michael Armstrong at Armstrong Woodworking, Inc. of Indiatlantic, FL

· Isabelo Rodriguez at Accutilities, LLC of Miramar, FL

· Bryan Meklir at BBMK Contracting and Blue Team Restoration, LLC of Fort Lauderdale, FL

· Mino Campobasso at Bell'Aqua Pool Service, Inc. of Naples, FL

· Joy Iurato at Kemo Jama Enterprises, Inc dba Tampa Bay Construction Group of Tampa, FL

· Roger Frakes at Ecoswitch, LLC of Valrico, FL

· Scott Kish at Kish Enterprises, Inc. of Naples, FL

· Matthew Lyons at Expedited Development Services, LLC of Pompano Beach, FL

· Travis Carter at Granite Construction Limited of Naples, FL

· Joe Miceli at Construction Brokers, Inc. of Kansas City, MO

· Kevin Barry at Orion Home Inspections, Inc. of Bonita Springs, FL

· Braddon Cornish at Technology West Group, Inc. of Las Vegas, NV

· Dan Sheffield at J and L Electric Group, LLC of Seville, FL

We're also pleased to share the newly created or revamped Social Media Networking pages for these fine businesses we get to call clients:

· The Lykos Group

o    Facebook:  www.Facebook.com/LykosGroup

o    Twitter:  www.Twitter.com/TheLykosGroup

Be sure to connect with them on Facebook and Twitter.

Would you like to be set up on Social Media Networking sites, too? Call Lisa at 239.963.5369 for more information.

Get Motivated

You might have received our out of office reply on Tuesday that let you know we were “away from our desks”.  We were actually lucky enough to receive tickets to the Get Motivated seminar, which claims to be “an action-packed, fun-filled, explosive, exciting, inspiring, skill-building business event that is world famous for its mega-watt superstar speakers and spectacular stage production.”   We have to say that between the fireworks, confetti drops, and speakers like former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, former Secretary of State General Colin Powell, and former First Lady Barbara Bush, it was definitely explosive and action packed! 

Our personal favorites ranged from General Powell, who is obviously known to be a great speaker, to unknown James Smith, whose shock-and- awe style had us in tears with laughter.  But we also sat through a sales pitch that went a little far before the lunch break.  After a few minutes, they lost our attention and we started making infomercial jokes, laughing to ourselves.

Motivational was not an adjective that would have described them all.  Laura Bush discussed 9-11, Rudy Giuliani spoke about the reading initiative program, but the unknowns really got your blood pumping and gave motivation in the bucketfuls. 

We have heard both sides from others who attended.  Some say it was unbelievable and they are so glad they went, while others didn’t quite get why the event even exists.  All we can say is the gals at Licenses, Etc. have always been motivated and always will be motivated to find ways to help our clients achieve their goals!  As always, call us and we will help you get motivated to start a business, obtain your license, and market your business. 

Time Is Almost Up to Grandfather for Home Inspection and Mold Licenses

Our phones have been ringing with questions about Mold and Home Inspection licenses.  These new licenses came into existence in July of 2010.  The DBPR has provided a short window of time to get licensed via Grandfathering—a process with dramatically fewer requirements than the normal licensing procedure.  The deadline to Grandfather for these licenses is March 1, 2011.  It is important to note that having a State Certified Contractor license has NOTHING at all to do with getting any of these licenses; however having these new licenses may be a nice compliment to the licenses that you may already hold.  Grandfathering is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the DBPR.  Future requirements will be as stringent as the requirements to become a Certified Contractor!!

Mold Remediation and Mold Assessment are two separate licenses.  Each can be grandfathered in one of two different ways.  By far the easiest is by belonging to a state or national mold-related association, completing 30 hours of CEUs for Mold Remediation and 60 hours of CEUs for Mold Assessment on mold related services, and applying with the DBPR.   The other option is to Grandfather via Experience.  To do this you must establish at least 3 years of experience by submitting at least 40 invoices for mold assessment or mold remediation (as applicable to the license desired). The DBPR may investigate the validity of a mold invoice and, if the applicant submits a false invoice, may take disciplinary action.  
There are also two ways to grandfather into a home inspector license.  The easiest way is to belong to a state or national home inspection association, complete 14 hours of home inspection CEUs, and then apply with the DBPR.  The other option is to Grandfather via Experience.  To do this you must establish at least 3 years of experience as a home inspector and complete at least 14 hours of verifiable education on home inspection services. To establish the 3 years of experience, you must submit a list of at least 120 home inspection reports. The DBRP may investigate the validity of a home inspection report submitted and, if the applicant submits a false report, may take disciplinary action. 

Please note that these licenses are individual licenses—they do not qualify a business.  This means that there must be a licensee on site at each project that is being worked on.  So there will need to be a licensed mold remediator on each project while work is being performed.  You cannot have staff working on a project without having a licensee present.  Assessment work can only be performed by a licensed assessor.  Reconstruction can only be performed by an appropriately licensed contractor.

How can Licenses Etc. help you get licensed quickly and easily? 

As always, we make preparing the application forms as easy as possible for our clients.  We have created a special discounted fee structure for people who are trying to beat the grandfathering deadline.  Because we know that many of you will be applying for two or maybe even three of these licenses, we’ve developed a package deal. 

Initial Licensing:  Grandfathering (via certification and education only)

Mold Remediator, Mold Assessor or Home Inspector:

1^st application per applicant:  $300—additional concurrent applications $150 each

This charge includes the following:

§   Typed, easy-to-read forms (with the exact information required to get your application approved the first time!)

§   In-depth, 2-time review of the entire application package to ensure everything is exactly right and all necessary supporting documents are included

§   Overnight shipping to the DBPR

§   Monitoring of DBPR’s approval process and immediate response to any issues that arise

§   Unlimited time from us to provide assistance and answer any questions you have related to the license and application process

§   A copy of your entire license package sent to you once we send it to DBPR

You will need to provide proof of certification by a state or national association for the requested license type(s) through proof of a proctored examination and also proof of completing the required number of hours of education per license type(s).  We can provide information on different courses that are available…just let us know if you need details.

The other costs for you are the class/membership fees, the DBPR application fee, and the fingerprinting fee. The application fees must be separate checks made out directly to the DBPR for $330 for each license that you’re going to acquire. The fingerprinting costs are $57.25.

This pricing is valid for deposits received no later than February 15^th 2011.  Applications must be RECEIVED at the DBPR no later than February 28^th, 2011. 

Call us now and you can have the paperwork in hand when you complete the class.  What could be easier than walking out of class with everything together and ready to mail?  Contact us NOW…we’ll make things easy for you!

Our Very Own Running Man

We are suckers for a good charity, especially one for children.  So we were delighted to find out one of our LE friends, Gerhard, ran 163 miles for one such charity.  That was 52 hours of non-stop running from Cocoa Beach to Clearwater Beach, starting Friday night and ending at midnight on Sunday.

Volunteers were set up the whole way to run or bike with him for several miles at a time and also a support vehicle to carry all the provisions that he may need, including rain gear for when it started raining on Sunday afternoon. 

When he finished at midnight on Sunday it was really windy, cold & wet conditions on Clearwater Beach.  The weather was so bad, cruise ships were not allowed back into the Port of Tampa on Sunday as they were worried they wouldn’t safely make it under the bridge they pass through to get back to port. 

He was doing this to raise money for the Sunshine Foundation whose sole purpose is to answer the dreams of chronically ill, seriously ill, physically challenged and abused children, ages three to eighteen, whose families cannot fulfill their requests due to the financial strain that child's illness may cause.

If anyone would like to donate to this great cause, you can do so by either

Making checks payable to Sunshine Foundation

Mail to

Gerhard Treviranus

1731 Vintage St

Kissimmee, FL 34746

Or going online to www.sunshinefoundation.org/donations click on Donate Now and reference ‘Gerhard’s Run’ in the Notes/comments section of the donation page.

Run Gerhard, Run!

’Tis the season for Scammers!

Do you ever feel like everyone is out to get you?  Well, don’t dismiss that feeling all the time.

There’s a new scam out that is aimed at business owners.  The email you receive will start out with this:

Do not disregard this message. Your email address was provided by the
Florida Division of Corporations regarding YOUR COMPANY’S NAME.

NOTICE

ANNUAL REPORT ORDER NOW DUE:

Then the email will go on to list your federal tax ID number and lots of other personal information.

It even goes so far as to say that, “Your email address was supplied to us by the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations.”  This is not true!

When one of our clients called this morning to ask what this was, we immediately took action and called the Department of State.  They have NOTHING to do with this company.  Another clue was the fact that it’s too early to even file annual reports.

This is a SCAM and should be disregarded.

The real truth?  You DO need to file annual reports after the 1st of the year, but not through Arvitas.  Annual reports can only be filed through SUNBIZ.ORG.

Ever have a question about something like this, call us.  We are here for you.

Beating the Marketing Drum - Blogging (Part 2)

A couple of weeks ago, we discussed the benefits of having a blog for your company. Today we'll look at what you can do with a blog. Because you're probably questioning what you're going to blog about and who's going to read it, right? We know. We were once there and now we hear the same questions from other contractors.


Who Will Read Your Blog?
There are basically two types of people who will read your blog - those whom you tell about it and those who find it on their own, probably through a search. Since the purpose of your blog is to have conversation with (and market to) prospects and customers, this is who you want reading your blog.

This means you need to tell everyone about your blog, via social media networking, such as Facebook and Twitter, a link on your email signature line, in your newsletter...basically the same places and ways you tell them about your website.

The people who discover your blog on their own will find it by searching for certain keywords or because of comments you've made on others' blogs. (Aside: commenting on others' blogs is the key to gaining new followers who you would have otherwise never reached.) So, basically, they find it based on the content of your blog - what you have to say.

Which brings us to...

What Will You Blog About?
The beauty of blogging is that you can write about pretty much anything you want to at any given time, just keeping in mind your audience and what they would want to know. Ideas:

• Your current specials
• Pictures of a recent project you completed
• News about your company
• New products you can make available to your customers
• New ways of doing things that benefit your customers
• Informative articles that help your customers
• Industry trends

For example, a home-builder can post pictures of a home recently completed one time, announcement of a new employee another time and information about how customers can help keep their home within budget yet another time. An air-conditioning contractor can share tips on keeping units maintained and working efficiently one time, a special on service another time and the addition of a new manufacturer yet another time.

If you keep a regular schedule - the best is to post at least once a week, preferably more to keep people coming back - you can plan out a month's worth of posts in one sitting. For example, week 1 - pictures on Monday and that month's special on Thursday; week 2 - a new industry trend on Monday and company news on Thursday; and so forth. Frequency is more important than length - in fact, readers like short blog posts that they can read quickly.

With twice a week posting, you just need 8 topics to cover one month and some topics can be repeated. And if something comes up that you feel compelled to share on your blog immediately, go for it! That's what we mean about the beauty of blogging - it's quick, varied and can be done immediately, on the fly, or scheduled in advance.

Interested in having a blog but don't where or how to start? Need help with the writing part? Contact Licenses, Etc. via www.LicensesEtc.com because we can help! We can get you started and keep you going.

Beating the Marketing Drum - Blogging (Part 1)

We briefly discussed some of the benefits of Social Media Marketing (SMM) in the August issue of our ETC newsletter. Benefits such as:

• Opening conversation with prospects.
• Keeping your business in the fronts of people's minds, so when they need your type of work, your business is the first that comes to mind.
• Improving search engine rankings for your website.

We mentioned Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, YouTube videos and contractor-specific forums. What we didn't discuss is blogging and e-zines/e-newsletters. Although the latter isn't necessarily social media marketing, it goes hand-in-hand with blogging.

Why should you blog? It took us a long time to realize the potential benefits of having a blog for Licenses, Etc., and you're probably thinking the same things. What do I blog about? How is that helpful to my business? We already do a newsletter, why should we blog, too?

If nothing else, blogging boosts search engine rankings for your website. Every time you blog, you're putting up a new web page with a link back to your main website. Google and other search engines pick up on those links as increased popularity of your page and, therefore, increases your ranking. If you use Blogger, which is owned by Google, your blog itself ranks high on the search engine results. People click on your blog, like what you have to say and either call you right away (assuming your phone number's on your blog!) or click through to your website for more information.

Like other SMM sites, blogging allows for conversation with your prospects and customers. See that Comment form below? That allows you to leave comments to us, replying to what we have to say in our post. Then we can reply to your comment and...voila!...we have a two-way conversation going (and when more people comment, it can be even more than two-way). Newsletters/e-zines are a one-way conversation - you speaking to your prospects and customers without the opportunity for them to chime in.

Newsletters are still plenty useful, however. Think of them as ways to create questions so prospects/customers must contact you for answers, giving you opportunity to solidify your relationship and close the next sale. You can make your blog and newsletter work together by including links in your newsletter that point back to info-packed posts on your blog. And every click-through on each one adds points to your search engine ranking.

Still not convinced? Still questioning what to do with a blog? We'll talk about it more in future posts. If you're ready to get started, though, and don't know how, contact Chrissi (chrissi[dot]jackson[at]licensesetc[dot]com) or Kristie (kristie[dot]cook[at]licensesetc[dot]com) at Licenses, Etc. about our new SMM services.