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Obamacare's Impact On Small Business

Months after the 2,000-page (which most legislators didn't read) national health care reform bill was signed into law, confusion still reigns over what it means for small business owners. Here's a good review of some of the highlights.

Also, if you haven't already done so, check out Dr. Bart Basi's article, A Layman's Guide To Obamacare (And The Tax Laws Hidden Within).

AEC Store Corner

Must-Have, Tried and True Product Training Series! Order this CD for you or your staff. 

College of Product Knowledge CD
by Don Arnold - $89.85

The best-read, most highly acclaimed product training series ever published in the plumbing /PVF industry has been made available to fill the gaping hole in the industry's knowledge training.The College of Product Knowledge is ideal for wholesalers, manufacturers, agents, designers, contractors, technicians, engineers, architects and other pros who need to understand a variety of systems and components.

The College of Product Knowledge CD is simple to navigate and provides:

• More than 100 products into 27 sections in 300 pages;
• 4-color diagrams showing product cut-aways and flow direction;
• New section on tankless water heaters and more;
• Overview, Glossary and Section Quizzes (and answers);
• Clickable Table of Contents;
• Expert compilation by top industry consultant and writer, Don Arnold
• Expanded content includes: Residential Faucets, Supply Piping, General Application Valves, Water Heating, Fixtures, DWV Pipe Fittings, Water Treatment Products, Disposer Dispensers, Shower Valves, Tubular Goods, Chemicals & Compounds, Drains, Sump Pumps and More!

Follow this link to purchase this item.   Quantity discounts apply to bulk orders. Call 248/244-1275 for bulk orders.

Visit AECStore.com to view all of our technical resources, CDs and DVDs.

Tech Tip #48
by Gregg Marshall

To help you make the most of the Digital Age.

Listservs Help You Stay Connected

I'm a big advocate of collaboration, groups of people working together to share information. There are lots of ways to collaborate, wikis, forums, listservs, etc.

When I search Google for an answer to a problem, very frequently I'll end up finding it on an archived forum. For instance, a forum I have recommended for really learning the ins and outs of travel is a website called FlyerTalk, www.flyertalk.com.

My only problem with forums is you have to remember to check them regularly for updated information. I have to be honest; I rarely get to FlyerTalk more than once a month anymore, despite its usefulness. I also have found RSS feeds for forums either non-existent or they generate hundreds of articles a day.

I have a friend that started a forum-based community for retailers that had very little activity. When she switched it to a listserv, participation jumped. What is a listserv? It's a way to rebroadcast emails to a group. People subscribe to the listserv via the web or by sending a special email to the server. Then when anyone sends an email to the listserv email address it is rebroadcast to the group. Any replies to that message are also rebroadcast to the group (usually, it is possible for the list owner to configure the server to make replies that only go to the original sender).

When you subscribe you can select to receive emails as they are sent, or get a daily or weekly digest of emails. I recommend getting individual emails. They are easier to scan for interesting topics and to skip over topics that aren't of interest to you. Since active listservs can generate upwards of a hundred messages a day, I recommend you set up an Outlook filter to route your listserv emails to a special folder to review at your leisure.

Setting up a listserv is easy and usually free. Google groups (http://groups.google.com/) and Yahoo! groups ( http://groups.yahoo.com/) both provide free listserv services, supported by small ads at the end of the rebroadcast messages. Most commercial web hosts also include the Mailman listserv, allowing you to create a listserv with your domain in the email.

Check your CPANEL. I have gotten a lot of great information from listservs over the years. I can recommend them as a great way to get a group sharing ideas. As with all collaboration you need to keep encouraging participation for them to really be effective.

Gregg Marshall, CPMR, CSP, is president of Rep Connection Inc. He can be reached by e-mail at gmarshall@repconnection.com, or visit his LinkedIn profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/greggmarshall.

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