A Picture is Worth a Thousand Connectors

When I was 14, I received my first camera as a gift from my parents for my 8th grade graduation. My mom was always in touch with her children's interests and she always encouraged them. I would always ask to take pictures with her camera so I guess she realized it might be worthwhile to invest in my interests.  Other than a photography class I took my sophomore year in high school, I pretty much kept it to a casual hobby. I remember taking "portraits" of my dogs Prince and Daisy. Setting up backdrops and moving all the living room lamps and my dad's work lights and using them to create my "studio."  Years would go by before I'd take another photograph.  I remember the early 90's when I dusted off the camera to take our "cool" band pics.

My band "Down Down Mary". Photo was found years later with water damage from being stored in a wet basement

Nico, our Malamute hanging out on the pier in Park Falls, Wisconsin at sunrise 2011

Fast forward to today and I'm still doing the same thing, taking photos of my pets and improvising to get the best possible photos, not just for my own enjoyment now but for Quick Cable. 

6,000 SKU's

When your company has over 6,000 SKU's and you're the head of photography for your company you're bound to have some thoughts on product photography.

• Rescue products are beautiful! These are probably my favorite products to shoot because their engineering and aesthetic qualities are so intertwined. You can see their durability, ruggedness and functionality in plain sight and at any angle. 

Rescue® 1060 Power Pack.

• 360° Degree Photography is the future. Recently we started shooting our Rescue packs on revolving turntables to give a 360° view (Watch this!) We'll be expanding this to other product categories soon.

Katie Markson,  Quick Cable Photographer taking photos of Rescue 6000 for 360°

• Shooting our connectors and seeing them in print, you realize that they're not just a commodity but something special. Its important that customers are able to see what they are buying. To see the quality and details of a product like our Quick® Connectors is worth a 1000 connectors. Our goal is to accurately represent our product selection and help you sell more! They have to be good.
  
  

  

  Quick® Flag Connector
  
  

  As a Quick Cable dealer or distributor, you probably don't have your own dedicated photo and video personnel but you don't have to. We've made all our photography available for download for your next catalog or web overhaul. Just contact your Quick Cable account manager and we'll set you up the same day for bulk download of our product photo library. Like the old phrase "Mi Casa es Su Casa.",  consider our photo library your photo library and leave the fussing with the lights and background to us! Happy Sales!

  
  

  Richard Sosa

  Video Producer/Photographer

  Quick Cable Corporation

Lead Acid Battery Safety

With no moving parts, your car battery just sits there looking harmless, but we know better.
According to the University of Wisconsin article on battery safety, 2,300 people are injured nationally each year using lead acid batteries, most of these are acid burns to the eyes and face. Honestly, when I read this statistic, my first reaction was actually "Wow, that's seems low." I mean with the inherent dangers of lead acid batteries and the amount of vehicles and machinery that require regular battery maintenance I just figured it was going to be higher. So I looked up things that seem inherently more dangerous like power saws, ladders and nail guns. Here's the stats:

1. Table Saws - 60,000 injuries annually
2. Nail Guns - 42,000 injuries annually
3. Chain Saws - 32,000 injuries annually
4. Ladders - 140,000 injuries annually

After seeing how many injuries result from the use of those common household tools I came to a conclusion. Maybe its not that those tools are more dangerous but that those of us in the battery industry are more aware of the dangers of lead acid batteries and are passing down this tribal knowledge to our co-workers, service personnel, even our family members. I still hear my dad's voice saying "Make sure the clamps are connected right!" last time we gave a car a jumpstart. There's a reason for all the caution around lead acid batteries: The type of injury a person can sustain while working with a lead acid battery can be life changing, from blindness to disfigurement, even death so I try to take as many precautions as possible around a battery.  I always make it point to keep a pair of nitrile gloves and goggles in the glove compartment, just in case the battery decides to die while parked at Pick 'N Save.  Those are the basics though. UW-Wisconsin put out a great article on general battery safety that is much more comprehensive. Quick Cable takes this pretty serious as well so we produced a very comprehensive video outlining many of the best practices when working with lead acid batteries. As the old cliche goes, one injury is one too many. Stay safe friends!

Richard Sosa
Video Producer/Web Contributor
Quick Cable Corporation

Sources:
http://www.uwsa.edu/oslp/em/compliance/battery_leadacid.htm
http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/reviews/power-tools/4286772
http://quickhowto.com

Can Video Help You Sell More?

Lets be clear. We're not here to tell you how to run your business. At Quick Cable we understand that every business is unique and if you've been around a while, you probably have a proven method of doing business. That being said, there are things we can all do to improve our bottom line. Video is one tool that CAN help you increase sales and give your business more visibility. If you haven't implemented a business strategy that includes using video you could be missing out on increased sales.

Video is king and here to stay!

According to a recent article on 3PlayMedia.com, video accounted for 56% of consumer web traffic in 2012. More proof is in the way major online retailers are publishing videos on their product pages. At last count (2010), Overstock.com led all online retailers with an estimated 166,499 videos published on its product pages with Amazon (67,021). These retailers' prime purpose is to sell products.

Does it really help?

Product videos sell products. Period. A recent case study by Treepodia revealed that shoppers who view a product video are purchasing products at a higher rate than those who decide not to watch the video. But here is the real interesting part: Even those that chose NOT to watch the video are converting at a higher rate than shoppers viewing the same product pages without the option to watch a video. That means just having product videos available to your customer base is an advantage without them even hitting the play button. Whether its trust or some other factor, the mere presence of video could help you sell more products.

How do I get started?

According to Kissmetrics.com, you shouldn't go into this haphazardly. Hire a professional, preferably a local company. Someone who knows the ins and outs of lighting, sound and setup. Just as easy as it is to grab someone's attention with a quality video, its that easy to lose them with a poorly shot video.  But if you don't have the budget or the time to get started now you can still implement a video program by latching on to the vast library of Quick Cable videos.

How do I get video on my site?

If you're a Quick Cable distributor, you can easily embed our videos from our Youtube Channel or Quickhowto.com websites.  Many of our distributors already are taking advantage of this resource and are finding it to be a valuable sales tool. We at Quick Cable will continue to be a partner you can rely on for quality products, programs and customer service and support.

Happy Sales!

Rich
Video Producer
Quick Cable Corporation


Sources:
http://www.3playmedia.com/2013/02/28/video-seo-series-on-page-seo-basics-your-video-keyword-strategy/
http://www.reelseo.com/videos-sell-products-watch/
http://blog.kissmetrics.com/product-videos-conversion/

The Life Expectancy of a Battery: Maintenance Helps

So today as I began to write this blog on the life expectancy of a battery I decided to take a look at the life expectancy of humans just for fun. What I found was amazing and a little disturbing.  Per the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). Population Division:

1. Japan has the highest life expectancy of any country at 82.73 years overall.
2. United States was a surprising 40th right under Taiwan at 77.97 years overall.
3. There are 15 countries that have a life expectancy under 50 years!

So what did I take from all this information? Well, I was surprised to find the United States so far down on the list. A country that has all the resources, technology and education at its fingertips still managed to place 40th! I also was surprised at the huge gap between the longest and shortest life expectancies; almost 33 years!

According to howstuffworks.com, there are many factors that have an effect on life expectancy; disease, access to health care, wealth or lack of, clean drinking water, sanitation, education. So many factors that it can effect a country's average life expectancy by 33 years!

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH BATTERIES?

Similarly you can find many factors that contribute to the life expectancy of the lead acid battery in your car.  A recent article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel discusses the many factors that can shorten or extend the life of a battery such as extreme cold or heat, routine monitoring and proper maintenance. Even installation of a replacement battery with the proper cold cranking amps can contribute to the battery's life expectancy. 

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

If you're one of those drivers that live in Fairbanks, Alaska or you're living near Death Valley, you can't do much about avoiding the extreme environment and the toll it takes on the battery but we can all be pro-active in proper battery maintenance. Batteries should be checked and cleaned regularly. 

1. Check the terminal connections. Make sure they are clean and tight. They should be tight to the cable and tight to the battery. Dirty and loose terminal connections can cause early electrical failure and drastically shorten the lifespan of a battery.
2. Check the electrolyte level. Not all batteries permit this but if yours does, make sure the cells have the proper level. If you're not comfortable doing this. Take it to a professional or ask your mechanic next time you get your oil changed.
3. Clean the battery regularly.  Many online posts will tell you to use a mixture of baking soda and water but there are some shortcomings to using baking soda. First, baking soda has no color change properties therefore it cannot locate acid leaks. It also creates a messy paste that is difficult to remove.  Quick Cable has plenty or battery maintenance chemicals that are specifically formulated to work on a battery - Quick® Battery Cleaner w/Foaming Action, Quick® Battery Cleaner w/Leak Detection and our 1 oz. Battery Cleaning Pump Spray.
4. Protect your battery connections by applying protective washers to the battery terminals. Add some Red Corrosion Preventative, QuickCote + Corrosion Preventive or Silicone Preventative to keep the corrosion away even longer. 

"MAINTENANCE FREE" DOESN'T MEAN "FORGETABOUTIT"

We recently asked one of our battery distributors what percentage do "Maintenance Free" batteries make up in their overall sales of batteries. Not surprisingly they came back with a 65% figure. Maintenance Free sounds like a hands off solution but really all is means is that you don't have to check or change the fluid inside the battery. You still need to check the outside of the battery and do the maintenance mentioned above.

So I know the basics to make my car battery live longer. Now I need to go get me some kale at the farmer's market and work on improving my own chances!


Richard Sosa
Video Producer/Web Contributor
Quick Cable Corporation

Sources

• http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/human-biology/life-expectancy2.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,  Extending Battery Life Starts with Maintenance by David Thome, Special to ADAMM
• http://www.batterystuff.com/kb/articles/battery-articles/battery-basics.html