IN THIS ISSUE

01. The Contractors Group .com - Who we are

02. The idea behind our website

03. Recent changes in the contracting industry IMPORTANT INFORMATION

04. Recent changes in payroll requirements IMPORTANT INFORMATION

05. Advertiser spotlight

06. Advertising at our website

07. Webpages for general contractors and developers FREE

08. Webpages for architects FREE

09. Subcontractor benefits FREE

10. Forwarding of our newsletter

11. Subscribe/Unsubscribe

1. THE CONTRACTORS GROUP .COM - WHO WE ARE

**Hello! We are C and D Acoustics, based in Victorville, California, halfway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, off of the I-15 freeway. Our website however, ( http://www.thecontractorsgroup.com ), is completely different.

2. THE IDEA BEHIND OUR WEBSITE

**We have been in the acoustical trade for about five years, and we have had quite a few experiences (not all of them pleasant!). We often advise new contractors (free of charge) of what their various requirements are in all the different aspects of the contracting trade. After these contractors have followed our advice, they come back and tell us that we ought to write a book. Well, we took it one step further and created the website. We felt that a website was better than a book because 1) you don't have to pay for it, 2) the site is constantly updated based upon changes in the laws, etc., and 3) the information is accessible to contractors at any time of the day and/or night (very handy for contractors who install during the day and handle paperwork at night).

Many people have asked us if we are concerned that, by providing the website free of charge, we will be giving our competitors an advantage... The answer is no, we are not concerned about that. What we are concerned about is 1) the lack of on-going support for contractors in their day-to-day operations, and 2) fair practice in the contracting industry.

3. RECENT CHANGES IN THE CONTRACTING INDUSTRY

**For those of you who have been in business for a while, and have your own forms in your computer, have you been made aware of the fact that the preliminary forms have changed? Are you aware that if you do not use the new form, your rights will most likely not be protected? Follow this link to obtain an updated version of the preliminary form (if there is not a live link here for you then please highlight the link and paste it into your browser) http://www.thecontractorsgroup.com/list_of_forms_to_print.htm

4. RECENT CHANGES IN PAYROLL REQUIREMENTS

**Did you know that the government changed the overtime requirements again, effective January 1, 2000? Follow this link to read the new guidelines (if there is not a live link here for you then please highlight the link and paste it into your browser) http://www.thecontractorsgroup.com/hiring_employees.htm

5. ADVERTISER SPOTLIGHT

**Southern California Insurance Brokerage Inc. was founded November 1, 1972 and is licensed to sell all lines of insurance.  Over the past 10 years, the agency has become one of the region's top rated Contractor Insurance Specialists. Their goal is to be the best contractor insurance brokerage in the region. They believe there is one way to accomplish that; by setting the industry standard for service and products, then progressively raising the bar of excellence. They are committed to ongoing insurance education for all staff members.  They believe in the importance of clear and effective communication delivered quickly.  They process certificate requests within 2 hours of your request, and utilize state of the art systems throughout their company. The Contractors Group .com would like to take this opportunity to thank Gary Oltmanns (License #0451587) and Gabriel Hill (License #0700772) for believing in us. Welcome to the website and we wish you all the best. Give these guys a chance to quote your insurance needs. Follow this link to their webpage http://www.thecontractorsgroup.com/southerncaliforniainsurance and/or click this link to e-mail them direct scib@socalinsurance.com

6. ADVERTISING AT THIS WEBSITE

**We hope to be able to support this website by selling advertising to suppliers of the construction industry, such as: Insurange agents and brokerages, accountants, attorneys, plan rooms, material suppliers, equipment rental yards, etc. Our advertising fee is minimal compared to other sites out there. We only charge $350 per year, which includes all perks (you don't have to pay extra to get the webpage, or to be 'spotlighted' or to have a link to your e-mail, etc. etc. etc.). We received a quote from Double-Click to advertise our site and they wanted $10,000 per month with a minimum of three months, OUCH!! Needless to say, unless we raise our rates dramatically we will not be advertising with Double Click! If you are interested in placing an ad at our site, please e-mail us contractors1@earthlink.net, and we will send you the information.

7. WEBPAGES FOR GENERAL CONTRACTORS AND DEVELOPERS

**We would like to welcome the following General Contractors to our website...

Golden Land Building and Engineering http://www.thecontractorsgroup.com/goldenlandbuilding ,

The Jaeger Corporation http://www.thecontractorsgroup.com/thejaegercorporation, and

R.E. Fleming Construction http://www.thecontractorsgroup.com/reflemingconstructioninc .

Free webpages for general contractors and developers!! Why? Because when you send your subcontractors to your free webpage you will be generating the traffic we need to entice our potential advertisers. Why would you send your subcontractors to the website? A couple reasons - 1) we have created and posted many forms (in Adobe Acrobat) for use by any and all contractors, free of charge. How many times have you had to provide forms to your subs? How many times have you had to educate your subs on how to complete the forms? No matter how many times you have in the past, if you let us build a webpage for you then you won't have to educate your subs anymore! You can use your unique address in any and all advertising you wish to. You can include, with your contract paperwork to your subs, a flyer indicating your unique webpage address directing your subs to the site to obtain the information and forms they need. In addition, we would like to post the projects you are taking bids on as well as addendas for those projects. Interested??, e-mail us contractors1@earthlink.net, and we will send you the information.

8. WEBPAGES FOR ARCHITECTS

**Free webpages for architects!! Too many times we have been caught by surprise with addendas to projects, addendas that for whatever reason one general contractor has but another does not. We want to build webpages for architects and list jobs that the architects have drawn plans for, addendas to those projects and also bidder lists. This would really cut down on phone calls to architects by subcontractors seeking information. Interested??, e-mail us contractors1@earthlink.net, and we will send you the information.

9. SUBCONTRACTOR BENEFITS

**Hey subcontractors, do you need forms? We have forms, from W-9's to prevailing wage reports to releases http://www.thecontractorsgroup.com/list_of_forms_to_print.htm . These forms are all created in Adobe Acrobat with a pretty slick feature... You can actually edit (fill in) the form(s) prior to printing them! Of course you can print them and then fill them in with a pen or a typewriter, but why?, when you can edit them on-line? Also, as indicated in section 7 above, we intend to list projects that general contractors are taking bids on, as well as addendas to those projects. We also plan on listing architects, as indicated in section 8 above, so that you subs can submit your bids to all the general contractors taking bids (instead of just the one who has invited you to bid) thereby increasing your odds of winning the project. If you bid to only one general and your bid is the lowest but that general does not get the job, you are out of luck. If you bid to all the generals and your bid is the lowest, guess what??, you have just greatly increased your odds of winning that project! Go to the website www.thecontractorsgroup.com, type in general contractor in the search engine (the search engine is on the third page you will hit) and you will see a list of general contractors at the site. Currently we have only three general contractors listed, but we are actively pursuing more. If you know a general contractor (or more than one) that would like a webpage, forward this newsletter to them so that they may contact us and we will create a page for them.

10. FORWARDING OF OUR NEWSLETTER

**To every person who receives this newsletter.... Please forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested. We are very excited about this idea, as are many people we have spoken to about it. Success of this website will be based mostly upon word of mouth, so help us if you please. Should you wish to submit an article for publication in our newsletter e-mail us contractors1@earthlink.net and we will contact you. Your article can be about your company, or about contracting related issues, or maybe you want to make a special offer for anyone who responds to your article through our newsletter. Thank you for your time and we hope to hear from you soon!

11. SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE

**This newsletter is published as a free service to contractors and others. Should you wish to quit receiving our newsletter please e-mail us contractors1@earthlink.net and type unsubscribe in the subject. Should you wish to provide us with e-mail address of others who you think might be interested in receiving our newsletter please e-mail us contractors1@earthlink.net, type subscribe in the subject and type in the e-mail address(es) in the body.