News and Trends

• Report: Manufacturing activity weak, home-buying activity up
  Although manufacturing activity weakened across the board, the latest Beige Book from the Federal Reserve Banks showed some signs of economic stabilization. Home-buyer activity picked up in some districts despite an ongoing drop in real estate prices. Agricultural conditions proved favorable for most districts, with the exception of drought conditions in San Francisco and Dallas. Modern Distribution Management (4/15)

• Stimulus package offers green opportunities for distributors
  The economic-stimulus package could provide a boon for distributors by funding green opportunities. According to Pembroke Consulting President and NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence Fellow Adam J. Fein, $15 billion of the stimulus package will fund green projects such as weatherization or the smart grid. "If you sell into the utility market in any way, there's going to be a great need for your services," Fein said in a recent webcast. Modern Distribution Management (4/15)

• Weyerhaeuser considers REIT move
  Faced with overwhelming financial challenges, Weyerhaeuser Co., the nation's biggest producer of lumber, is looking into the possibility of turning itself into a real-estate investment trust. Executives believe the move would help reduce tax costs, although the change might require the liquidation of some nontimber assets. Bloomberg (4/16)

• Other News

• Fastenal's first-quarter net earnings drop 28.5% on declining sales
  Industrial Distribution online (4/14)

• Bunzl shares fall after first-quarter sales decline
  The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model)/Dow Jones Newswires (4/16)

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Best Practices

• Brown-nosing won't fix what ails a business
  Brown-nosing increases as people worry about their jobs, experts say. But they warn that failing to speak up about bad decisions or being unwilling to bear bad news is not good for business. Reuters (4/14)

• Write e-mails that work
  No e-mail should be sent out without revision, writes David Silverman, who offers a list of tips for writing more effective e-mails. Among them: Delete anything off topic, focus on your strongest message and kill anything that looks a little too cute. "If it sticks out, it's probably a tap-dancing gorilla in boxer shorts -- hilarious when you thought of it, embarrassing when it gets in your manager's inbox," he writes. Harvard Business Review online/The Start-Up Diaries blog (4/14)

Sales

• Convince customers they need to see you again and again
  The best sales professionals realize they have to develop strategies to influence their customers to see them again and again to fulfill their needs. The customer must receive something of value that justifies their investment of time with you, and some of the most important benefits for them can include those that help them do their job more efficiently. DaveKahle.com (4/14)

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by NAW SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Survey: U.S. recession might end in second half of the year (Reed/ACP Construction Data)

• Forbes select 130 companies as Global High Performers (Forbes)

• Five principles for improving manufacturer-distributor relationship (Supply House Times Online)

• 3 key strategies for becoming more organized (CE Pro magazine)

• Study finds which marketing strategies do, don't work in tough times (Harvard Business Review)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

Small Business Manager

• Overcoming stress with sense of control and humor
  One of the first rules of managing stress in the recession is to deal with unexpected problems quickly to get them under control instead of spending time reacting to them. Other advice from experts: Do a causal analysis of stress itself, put a positive spin on an issue, assume the worst in order to gain control and keep a sense of humor. NYTimes.com (4/14)

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Executive Life

• TSA changes in airport screening on the way
  The Transportation Security Administration has a number of changes in store for baggage screening, including some that travelers likely will welcome. As it works to eventually lift restrictions on carrying liquids, aerosols and gels aboard aircraft, the agency is rolling out new luggage-screening machines that can tell the difference between a harmless drink and an explosive. And by winter, it hopes to lift size restrictions on liquids that can be brought through security. Newsweek/Budget Travel (4/14)

• Germany's Hiddensee draws visitors with its peace, quiet
  Most seaside resorts in Germany feature interesting hotels, shops and eateries along with a scenic promenade, but the island of Hiddensee has resisted commercialization. Instead, it offers tourists peace, quiet and a way to relive life the way it was decades ago. Financial Times (free content) (4/11)

NAW Insider

• NAW Roundtables -- exclusive opportunities to network
  NAW's Billion Dollar Company CFO, Operations and Chief Legal Officer Roundtables are unique and valuable business tools that allow you to meet with executives from like-sized firms in a collegial setting that is conducive to sharing information and best practices. Relationships built during these events will become invaluable as you navigate your business through these difficult times. Register now.

Weekly Poll

• What is the No.1 thing you're doing to combat recession-related stress?
  After voting once, check out the real-time poll results on NAW's All Access page as often as you'd like.

	Taking control of everything that is in your power to control.
	Taking breaks throughout the day to unwind.
	Meditating.
	Exercising.
	Escaping through humor.
	Other.
	Nothing, my stress is out of control.
	Nothing, I'm not that bothered by the recession.

Chief Financial Officer HIS Company Inc. DBA HISCO Houston, TX

SmartQuote

Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation." --Judith Martin, "Miss Manners," American writer and etiquette authority