Five Star Contractor Referral Service Your source for reliable contractor referrals in Olympia & Thurston County

A common misconception among folks driving newer cars is that you must have the dealer perform preventative maintenance services to keep the factory warranty in effect.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Any certified repair shop can service your vehicle without affecting the factory warranty.

If you have been taking your newer vehicle to the dealer for preventative maintenance, and you are nearing the end of the factory warranty period, it can be an excellent idea to have an independent repair shop do an inspection for any defects before the warranty expires. At Bron's Automotive our Technicians are ASE Certified, and if you should desire that we perform maintenance work, we use only factory approved fluids for our services.  If we see a condition covered by the factory warranty, we'll simply document it on our invoice, and you can have the dealer perform the warranty work for free.

For detailed information just Google "Magnuson-Moss Warranty act of 1975," this is federal law on the subject.

Have a question you want to ask a mechanic?  Just email us at bron@bronsautomotive.com.  Happy Motoring!

If you are a traditional contractor, such as a landscaper, home builder, or painter, you are probably very aware that referrals are your primary source of new business.  

What may surprise you, however, is that referrals are absolutely essential for digital and virtual businesses, such as mine in website design and social media management.

One might assume that since my business is building and online presence for other businesses that my source of new business would be my website or social media accounts.  

What is that?  Well, remember the old adage that "people do business with those that they know, like and trust?"  That goes ten-fold for web designers.  If you have not had a bad experience with a web designer, rest assured that if you ask one of your friends or business acquaintances, you will uncover a story of a website "held hostage" or a web designer that vanished, nowhere to be found.  As a result, people are very leery of web designers that they do not know personally.

That is not to say that my website and social media presence is ineffective.  On the contrary, I find that many of my potential clients have visited one or more of my online media channels to learn more about me or my business.  Maintaining a strong online presence as a contractor creates a powerful stream of public relations to reinforce what people learn elsewhere.

But when it comes down to it, most of my new business is done with a face-to-face meeting and a handshake.

Often  a topic of discussion is when do I fertilize? For western Washington I recommend 4-5 times per year. Keep it simple and follow the major holidays;

• President's Day
• Easter/Mother's Day
• Fourth of July
• Labor Day
• Halloween/Thanksgiving or Christmas (depending on weather and how your lawn looks)

If you only had to pick one or two times- the Labor Day and late fall/early winter applications are best.  At this time turf grass will store up the nutrients in the roots and save them for the growing season.  Like carb loading for a marathon.