February 2013 The Paint Spot Newsletter
I think I ll start by recapping some of last month s issues. For starters let me bring up Auto Art Magazine . Selling this magazine is difficult and I believe the reason is that we are not in the business of pushing magazine subscriptions. We are a paint and supply retailer and that's what we do best, so with that in mind I've decided to re-think the Auto Art thing. Because I believe the information contained in this magazine is so important to what you do, and because many of you are not in the magazine mode when you place your orders I've decided to give our customers (free of charge) a copy of Auto Art with their orders. This will be done as a cost of doing business measure and should be tax deductible for us. You will receive new issues as they become available, and will get them with your first orders following their release. There is a wealth of information in these magazines, and now you have no reason for not knowing it. This is yet one more way that The Paint Spot can show you our willingness to do What Ever It Takes to earn your business! The 2013 Matrix calendars: Ok, I've heard all the jokes regarding the lost or duplicated days in January (no 13th and no 29th) but what about the rest of the year? I know there s got to be at least one of you readers with way too much time on your hands, so why don't you proof read the other eleven months and get back to me! I don't know how many of you know this, but I was a Printer for many years before (and even during) my body man / painter years. From that perspective I will tell you that whoever printed those calendars for Matrix committed a cardinal sin when they failed to proof read their work. A dollar to a doughnut says they tried to blame it on the customer! That was a very remedial yet expensive mistake, totally the fault of the printer, and if I were Matrix the 2014 calendars would either get printed by another company or they d get done for free!
A word to Matrix: If you're considering a new printer here s the best one in the country: The Dot Generator (562) 941-7022. Their quality is second to none and to prove it where do you think Slix and The Paint Spot gets their cards and labels from? Everyone has always commented on how cool they look. ( the package sells the product ) Speaking of Matrix, here s a tip Brian Lynch brought to my attention. When changing metallic toners on your bank you should first open the can and pre-stir it. The reason for this is to break up the settled metal on the bottom of the can. When Brian mentioned that to me the first thing I thought was how obvious why didn't I think of that ! All this time I had been using the shaker for about 5-7 minutes, opening, and stirring the paint and every time I did I would check the end of the stick and find chunks or metal stuck to it. Pre stirring insures that when it's shaken, it gets mixed thoroughly. The conversation between me and Brian started when I had brought up color match issues that I keep hearing about different paint brands. The ones that I pay most attention to are PPG vs. Matrix and Matrix vs. GenStar . When you're talking about these companies I'm here to tell you
Their paint matches! I have seen a couple of PPG colors over the years that didn't match (one recent was a VW blue) but since Matrix uses the same information, there s was off also. When this happens both Matrix and PPG do a pretty good job of finding out why and fixing it. Now this is not to say that paint matches always turn out right, but more often than not the reason is due to other variables. The tip that Brian brought up relates to a big factor. If a toner is not mixed thoroughly and you don't catch it, the second you pull the trigger that formula (and every other one you use that toner on) is subject to a bad match! The biggest variable however is the person doing the mix. Bad scale calibration, cleanliness, and a that's close enough attitude are the reasons, and if that's what s happening it doesn't matter whose paint you're using .it aint gonna match! Guide Coat:
I'm not interested in the argument of whether dry powdered guide coat is better or worse than Lacquer. If you're using the dry stuff you're wasting money and settling for an inferior job. Lacquer has always been the staple when it comes to guide coating your work. Now I know some of you are saying those aerosol cans get expensive too . At Slix they get expensive for two big reasons #1 since it's black it often gets used for spray painting brackets and small parts. #2, those cans get left on a shelf or a cart or the frame machine or anywhere other than the cabinet where they belong, and they reorder without really needing to. What if I told you that you could have at least five sprayable gallons of guide coat for $15.00 (fifteen dollars)? Would you be interested? Well, Danny s Hot Rods sure was, and Brian Davis called me back as soon as he used it and said we'll probably get a lot more than five gallons out of this ! Here s the deal our industrial line has toners that are basically just liquid color . They don't become urethane, enamel, lacquer, or anything until you add the binder. I took one pint of straight lamp Black toner and using about a thimble full, mixed it with lacquer thinner in a quart cup. I had guide coat for two days! Brian, over at Danny s Hot Rods did something similar and guide coated two 1956 Nomads, and still had leftovers. I've been doing this kind of thing for years but I realize most people don't want to use their gun when an aerosol can is so much easier. There is a benefit to using your gun however, and it's not just the cost savings, or spray ability. I dump out the leftover 2K primer that I just finished using to prime the vehicle and add the black right into the gun cup. I then add a bunch of thinner and stir it up real good. Since the majority of the mix is thinner, the gun is getting cleaned while I'm spraying the guide coat. So once you realize that your primer gun would have had to be cleaned out anyway, can you now see just how convenient (and cheap) this would be? Matrix vs. PPG: Here s something that just recently came up. One of our customers called about a toner that they needed to mix a 2013 Ford color (Z9). Since they know Matrix and PPG are compatible they wanted a comparable toner to #4207. I researched the toner because it didn't ring a bell to me and found out that Matrix had no such toner. Because our motto is What ever It Takes I called a PPG distributor and asked how much for that toner and they said $220.00 per quart. I was fully prepared to buy the toner and get it out to the customer, but in the meantime Matrix had researched the toner and found that it was only used in three colors. For that reason it was determined NOT cost effective enough to produce, but don't worry here s the formula ! I should have known better! The mind set between PPG and Matrix has always been different in that PPG thinks nothing of gouging your eyes out COST BE DAMNED! Just like the four digit toners that PPG came up with to cause you to buy more AND raise your cost while Matrix kept the old toners and formulas with their MSB line. It was history repeating itself! So what did I do for the customer? Well I could have mixed a pint, delivered it to him, and done so for a whopping $81.79 (and made a nice profit). Got him the quart of PPG #4207, not marked it up at all and sold it to him for $220.00 (making zero profit) which would have allowed him to mix the formula and then have it sit there on his bank till hell froze over before they ever needed it again. Or...Give him the Matrix formula and let him mix only what he needed with what he already had on his PPG bank. We took option # 3 and I think they were pretty thankful for us doing so. You may ask where s the profit in that ? Can you imagine how rewarding it is to know that because of the paint brand we distribute (MATRIX) we can actually do this for our customers and PPG can't (won't)
PPG= Create a toner for a formula and force you to buy it .or else! MATRIX= Create a formula utilizing what you already have! Verify: For those of you with Accushade (Matrix) look up 2013 Ford Z9 (MPB-931081). For those of you with Access (PPG) look up 2013 Ford Z9 (couldn't imagine what the DBC number is). Look at the difference !!!!!!!!!! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why Matrix is the only real game in town! Oh, by the way ..the customer is Central Texas Collision in Buda,Texas (Mike and Steve, I hope you don't mind, but I just couldn't resist)! Alrighty then, moving right along .. Health: I'm gonna let ya ll in on a little secret that's really not so secret .Apple Cider Vinegar! If there was ever a fountain of youth, it would have apple cider vinegar flowing from it. I met a man 8 years ago at Slix that was suffering from liver cancer and in a conversation he mentioned to me that his wife had heard of using this vinegar as a possible treatment. He told me that he took two tablespoons in an eight ounce glass of distilled water three times per day and it seemed to be helping. Now realize that this was after he was told by his doctors that they had done all they could do and at best he had six months to live. I have not seen this guy for about three years now, but up until that time I did see him periodically and he was alive and looked well. I started taking the stuff right after I met him and continue to take it to this day. Although I am also a Health By Choice customer which brings much more to the table, I swear by the apple cider vinegar. Benefits: It helps keep you PH balanced, keeps your metabolism at a high pace, relieves headaches, stomach cramps, heart burn, acid reflux, is an awesome mosquito repellant, great as an after shave or to keep your complexion clear, a natural deodorant, good for scalp and keeps hair healthy and shiny, is a natural antibiotic, and so much more, but my personal favorite is it will eliminate a hangover in a nano second! I recommend Braggs all natural apple cider vinegar. You can get it at your local H.E.B. if you live in Texas, and if you don't you ll probably find it at one of your local grocery stores. A word of advise: Hold your breath and just put it down the hatch .don't pussy foot , and don't whine! Now I want to bring up a product that I'm willing to bet 99% of you will bitch about, and coincidentally 99% of you have been brainwashed into thinking is good for you
MILK! If you drink milk of any variety that comes from a cow ..STOP RIGHT NOW! The American public has been blatantly lied to for years and years about this doing the body good . There is virtually zero health benefits from cow s milk, but conversely, the list of diseases that it is attributed to are staggering. VERIFY! Suggestion: If you are a milk drinker find out what your blood type is and choose from the list. Goats milk, soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, or coconut milk. If you give any one of them a try, I'm pretty sure you ll wonder why you didn't do it sooner, they taste so much better! History: This may turn out a bit philosophical but it is definitely history. With the recent election I was well aware that life as I knew it was about to change and that for at least the next four years we would all face challenges. So far business has been dismal at best and that has caused me to conduct business differently than I had previously. Now I know things are always changing and change should (could) be a good thing, so I should give it the benefit of the doubt. In thinking my way through the challenges that have already presented themselves I rely on wisdom provided to me that I know to be solid. This is where history comes in. There are many sources of good reliable information, but none rival the wisdom of two very important people to me: Ennio Ciotti and Elmer J. Owens. These two individuals were not just a wealth of wisdom and information, they were a blood link to me (my father and my grand father). Both of these two men started with absolutely nothing, and when I say nothing, I mean the likes of which any American today couldn't understand. Yet when they died they were both rich beyond belief. At this point I need to define richness . When they died the world felt it. Their life made other peoples lives better. They were givers not takers , selfless not selfish , and they were NOT alone! You see, this country was full of people like that, and that used to be the kind of person most of us aspired to be. Ya ll know what I'm talking about don't you? Most everyone who reads this newsletter had a family member that fits this description. Because of the blood link there is less likely to be a hidden agenda or misinformation , so why wouldn't I choose their wisdom over others? Some would say (and have said) Rick you're living in the past . Yes, I suppose I am, but consider this; the past holds all the answers! It s a fact and I can prove it. To apply past wisdom (I like to call it acquired wisdom and you can only acquire something with time) one must first understand that the past not only holds all the solutions , but it also holds the problems as well as the cause . Here s how and what I will use from my mentors . Ennio Ciotti: It s not what you make, it's what you save of what you make ! Elmer J. Owens: If you don't have the money (cash) to pay for it, you don't need it !
Now think of what America is doing right now (leaving politics out of it) and I defy any of you to tell me that the rationale of the past wouldn't be just exactly what the doctor ordered . I mean I really want ya ll to and stop right here and think for a few minutes! Now, look around and ask yourself this; Am I doing this? Have I raised my kids to do this? Do I expect others to do this? Is there any way in hell I could do this? Then ask yourself if anyone who has any influence on you or yours is doing this ? Think about it!
Teachers, doctors, CEO s, supervisors, police officers, fireman, elected politicians, business affiliates, and the list could go on for days. Think of just how hard it would now be to adopt that mindset, after all, we have to have all that we want, to hell with what we need. Not only that, we have to have it all RIGHT NOW! We ve been misled into thinking credit or handouts are a good thing. While credit is a common practice today, is it not at the heart of all of our problems today? Handouts could and usually equate to enabling , not to mention flies in the face of it is better to give than receive ! For the record I'm stating right here right now I want to die a rich man (and I don't mean monetarily) I want the world to feel it when I'm gone. To accomplish this and to help curb some of the current nonsense I choose to reach back and apply what worked for my dad and grandpa. The perfect venue for this is this business and actually I already have a bit of a head start