Michael Ference Fluid Power Marketing

In my continuing review of the 2015 ICUEE Show held earlier this year in Louisville, here is a video with our Associate Editor, Mike Santora interviewing Mat Alagna of Thomas-Magnete. In this series of videos from ICUEE, we review some of the fluid power products on display at the show.  These quick reviews offers our audience an opportunity to see and get an explanation of various components while directing them to more information. If your company would like to be included in future trade show videos, we can discuss that.

I still have a lot to share from the 2015 ICUEE Show held in Louisville in September.  Here is a video that takes our work to new heights, Our brave Associate Editor, Mike Santora, takes a 105-ft. trip on a Terex lift vehicle used in utility applications to show the strength and safety delivered by hydraulic systems. Check it out!

In their excellent business book,  Great By Choice,  authors Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen make some very interesting points about luck in business.  They summarize it by suggesting four possible outcomes from luck and they are: Great return on good luck Poor return on good luck Great return on bad luck Poor return on bad luck In business, we are going to have some timely breaks and some untimely bad twists in fate.  This is a given but what we make of these can to some degree be controlled.  In the book, they give several examples of businesses that have capitalized on both good and bad luck.  They also outline some missed opportunities. The same carries over to all aspects of life.  It would be great if we could figure out ways to make the best of whatever comes our way. At Fluid Power World , we don't rely on luck for the success of your ad program.  In fact, we guarantee results from our digital network.  If you would l...

We still have one more issue of Fluid Power World for our readers this year and that is our December issue.  The last month of the year is as good as any for reading and learning about fluid power components and systems and how they work. As we close out our first full year of service to our audience and advertisers, our December issue will feature reports on industrial hydraulics, pneumatics, mobile hydraulics, and more.  We cover the supply chain with our distributor section as well as research and development.  Our editorial includes both tutorials about specific products as well as application stories on how components are best applied. If you would like to subscribe to Fluid Power World, please visit our online subscription page .  I also invite you to visit our four fluid power websites including Fluid Power World , Pneumatic Tips , Mobile Hydraulic Tips , and Hose Assembly Tips . Each on of these titles also delivers information to our online a...

This is what Fluid Power World magazine and digital network  will do for your company in 2016.  We have the means to accomplish both goals and I would like to consult with any fluid power company interesting in having my assistance. As Publisher of Fluid Power World, I am in a unique position to work with your company to raise the awareness of your company and products while finding new customers and prospects.  In addition to our magazine which will be published 8 times in 2016, our network of websites and e-newsletters has an excellent reach into the buying audience. We still have time to set up a program for success.  Just contact me at mrference@wtwhmedia.com.

This is not about greed, it is not even about wealth necessarily.  It is about return on investment, that is the investment of  your time.  I suggest that everyone visit the library or Amazon.com and look into getting a copy of this book.  The book was written by George S. Clason in the 1920's but it is still relevant today. The basic principles as I understand them are that "A part of all you earn is yours to keep," and trust your investments to experts.  The concept is that you keep at least ten percent of all of your earnings for your entire working life.  So for example, if you earn $30,000 at your job, live as if you earn $27,000 and bank the $3,000 every year.  If you earn $50,000, live as if you earn $45,000 and bank the $5,000. It is not enough to just bank the money though, you need to make it work for  you.  That is very difficult in today's economy because of the very low interest rates payed by banks.  This is where the a...

Last week, I finally got a chance to listen and watch the archived version of the NFPA economic update webinar, done by ITR, Institute for Trends Research.  I came into it expecting more worries but came away encouraged that 2016 will actually be a reasonably good year for our fluid power industry. You can take in the webinar for yourself if your company is a member of the NFPA.   Just visit their website.   Just register and get the webinar for free.  You too will enjoy Eric Armstrong's energetic introduction .... Goooood morning everyone!!! The theme for this program was Cautious Optimism, which sounds good to me since we have had a bit of a rough go in 2015.  It looks like increased existing home sales, housing starts, and retail sales have helped the economy of late and gives cause for optimism for 2016.  We are still cautious of the energy sector and the strong dollar for exports. Overall, there is a nearly 4% growth in fluid power proj...

When it comes to a job, your job perhaps, there is no absolute security really. Things could change at any company or organization that require a change in the job landscape. In such cases where change happens, there is not much an individual could do about that. Having said that, there are things that you could do to sustain your job or career and they are rather simple policies that you could follow. They all center around respecting your job. If your job is what is funding your very living and lifestyle, then I would think that showing the greatest respect for your job should come naturally. But what does that mean? Well, being very respectful of the requirements of the job is a starting point. Show up on time and stay until you are supposed to stay and do what you are required to do in between is a minimum. There is a lot more to it. Here is a perspective that works. Think of how you would approach your job if you were a major stakeholder in the business and your very perform...

In 2016, Fluid Power World  is expanding to eight issues including February, March, April, May, June, August, September, and November.  We will join forces with Design World for our annual Leadership in Engineering issue in January. This gives our fluid power advertisers nine print issues for the year to go with our five websites and e-newsletters.  Combine that with our content marketing opportunities and our advertisers have a great resource in Fluid Power World. Every issue will include mobile and industrial hydraulics, pneumatics and a product focus.  Our regular features will continue to include Research & Development, Association Watch, Distributor Update, Energy Efficiency. Design Notes, Training, Fundamentals, Maintenance and Safety.  Now that we have added fluid power expert, Ken Korane, to our staff, we will feature Korane's Outlook in every issue also. We are looking forward to a great year of serving our readers and our advertisers in 2016...

I love analogies. They help to make your point and they are fun to figure out. Writing on a blog IS LIKE having a diary that you WANT people to read. You are sharing thought with others and not just your future viewing. Thank you so much for reading by the way. Having professional sports teams compete with widely varying pay structures and vastly uneven overall payrolls is not fair to the fans or the teams. It IS LIKE having a 100-yard dash with a field of 8 sprinters. Numbers one and two, you guys are good to go; numbers three and four, put on these winter coats, numbers five and six you run with these work boots; numbers seven and eight, you carry these barbells. Ready, set, go... not fair:( Here is another. Doing good works for others IS LIKE mining gold. Some words are large and produce quick results on a large scale, while others are nuggets. Many nuggets add up over time and the results are still large. What analogy can you share? Having a great product or service and NOT...

Everyone is going to have people in their lives who are difficult to deal with, difficult to get along with. This is true for your professional life as well as your personal life. That is a given and what you do about it is the variable. At a recent conference that I attended, one of the presentations was about this very subject. The speaker was Steve McClatcly of Alleer, a training and consulting company. What Steve advised in dealing with such situations was to focs on people's strengths and manage their weaknesses. We all have both and if you want to increase the number and percentage of people you call friends, this method works. In a relationship, you focus on the strengths and manage the weaknesses. Then you build a like and an interest in the other person. Its not that your friends are perfect, you look for the things that you like and focus on those. Discover the things that you love about that person and make those the center of your attention. For the things that you ...

For professionals in the markets served by fluid power technology, their attention is attracted to good content.  That could be in the form of editorial content found in Fluid Power World , including our print issue, digital edition, website, or e-newsletters.  It also includes the content provided by our advertisers. Our digital edition is now distributed to 100,000 readers so, if you are not receiving an issue, please sign up today.  You will find a registration page on our website. Also, by content I am referring to the growing list of technical white papers and videos that we now offer to our audience.   Click here for our Engineering White Papers website.   There you will find several very good white papers on a variety of fluid power topics.   Finally, our great content can be found in the form of video in our video library. For 2016, we plan to surround our engineering audience with content in several forms and let them con...

A few years ago, I attended a really excellent presentation by a speaker named Steve McClatchy about relationships in business and how good relationships are critical to success in many ways. I quickly realized that all of what Steve was presenting is also very applicable to relationships in every aspects of our lives. Of course one of the key aspects of a good relationship is trust that is a two-way situation. This trust has to start somewhere in a relationship. Starting first in this trust is similar to "I'll like you if you'll like me. But someone has to go first. The same is true in a trusting relationship. We may very well have a natural mechanism that prevents us from going first but it makes sense to start a trusting relationship by going first. Starting first and building trusting relationships can be a very life enriching practice. We are faced with many situtaions in life where having trusting relationships built up over years are extremely helpful. For mor...