Help! I'm Married but I'm in Love with Someone Else, Google Plus - May 2013

Let me start off by saying that I love my wife dearly and my two little boys. They are my world, wtihout them I have no reason to do what I do...and what do I do??? Well that's another story. Right now, I am blogging. The reason I blog is partly b/c I am falling in love again. With who you ask? Well, with Google Plus of course.

Over the past few weeks I have fully immersed myself into this amazingly great place that people call Google Plus. Ok, it's 2 years old, and I am late to the party, but here people don't care what time you arrive, they just want you to bring something unique to the party. Here everyone says "hi" to each other, and there aren't any circles of popularity. Ok, fine, there are plenty of circles, but just b/c you're in a ton, doesn't mean you take the "I'm too cool for school" approach like big wigs on other social platforms. Here it's based on the merit and value you add that gets you places. You don't even need to go places to get there, that's what's amazing about G+, you're already there, and you know where there is? It's right here. Make sense??? Good. You can just sit in your office or house, click the start Hangout button and BAM, there you are, conversing live via video chat w/other real people. Not some avatar that has 100,000 followers and says they guarantee to followback. Follow back??...How about a real conversation, good luck.

Whether it's business, science, poetry, linguistics, technology, food, aerospace, children books...it's all there and it's all available right at your fingertips. No more disparate apps to click on this to get to that. It's all centrally located right on G+. What can I say, it's a great place to be and I have only been active for about 2-3 months. 

What makes G+ so great is other people feel the same sense of social responsibility that you feel. They all had to start somewhere, they all realize that it takes time, quality interactions and just a good sense of social etiquette to make progress. Whatever your goals are, you can find people who are on the same page right there on G+. Possibly even literally on the same page...do jokes translate well on blogs? I hope so...or else this party just got really awkward. 

+Bruce Marko told me that Hemingway said to write the truth, write the truest sentence you know, that really is all you need to do. This quote epitomizes the true idea of Google Plus. It is saying that in order to succeed you just need to be you and represent truth. I have been tentative when it has came to writing in the past b/c I have always considered myself a "talker" and not a writer. However, after this past weekend, I feel like Neo tapping into the Matrix. (Thank you +J.C. Kendall for that one). I am in tune with the raw energy that is making me feel more complete. The connections being forged on G+ is breathing new life into me and allowing me to press into uncharted territory. Here's a little more about why everyone should abandon ship (or at least prepare to disembark) on other networks in favor of Google Plus w/another little serendipitous interaction.

Last week I circled a woman named +Diana Studer, I can't honestly say why, but I did. (I am very glad I found you Diana) Diana and I had chatted earlier that day, she from Cape Town, me from Chicago. I mean how cool is that in itself?  She mentioned my name in a conversation occurring, and when I got there it was almost as if I was ravenously waiting to jump in on what surely looked like a tasty little nugget of conversation. Being that I have 2 very young kids and it was Friday night, I had fatherly responsibility to attend to and being relatively impatient, I wanted to hit this conversation and drop my 2 cents in the comment piggy bank.

+David Amerland started a thread where +Marisa Goudy had made an offbeat comment (yes, back to the comment heard round the (G+) world) and for me it was off to the races. I got to interact w/all kinds of people, most of whom were not in my circles so it was a pleasure adding more quality to my stream. We had cameos from some pretty big firepower and spoke about all kinds of amazing things. It was like Haight & Ashbury in the 60's, things were happening man...(Here is the thread) The point is, that I met some amazing people and I am forever changed. 

One person was +Paul Stickland. It wasn't until Sunday night that I posted a picture taken w/my GS3 that this small world circled back onto itself. Keep in mind, I am a photographer, but have never considered using my phone to shoot photographs. I will say the GS3 is a beast at taking stills and I was impressed enough to post a shot or two, and diverging here for a second, someone from the mobile photography community +Robinson Olivar, Jr told me it was decent and I should look into their community. How on earth are there THOUSANDS of people that shoot amazing pictures w/their smart phones...I don't know...by I do now, and I'm back on the photography train. Just like that, my passion is reignited so thank you Robinson for bringing me back into the loving arms of photography.

Back to Paul, Paul was a part of the master the thread above and we crossed a path or two. That was the first and up till then, only time we interacted. However, Sunday I posted that pic, and he gave it a +1 and commented. He showed me a picture he took which was awesome and again let the engaging begin. Back and forth, back and forth. 8:45 pm for me 1:45am for him. Never would have known we weren't talking to each other in person. After all is said and done, I find out Paul was married and broadcast his wedding on G+, found his photographer on G+ ( +Lord Parker) and has been active for 2 years. He's a strong Gplusser. He also writes children's books. That's appropriate b/c I have 2 of those small people. 

Thank you +Paul Stickland Find Illustration Here

Long story short (or is it actually a long story long?) I told my wife about this the next morning and she looks at some of Paul's illustrations of dinosaurs and says "Hang on a second". She then comes back w/one of Paul's books. I couldn't believe it. This was too much but all too real. I had randomly found an author of a book in my house from a guy who I met 2 days ago (who lives 4000 miles away). It was inspiring to say the least. This is the power of Google Plus people, are you ready for it? 

That is why I love Google Plus. Where else could I connect w/an author who has sold millions of books or speak to a man who has been in 6 countries in 10 weeks or a guy who lives in FL that I would have never ever met but now feel a unique bond has been forged. Only on Google Plus folks. That's why I'm in love...I find it hard to think that such passion is evoked from other social networks...it just doesn't happen. If it does happen, I would love to hear about it in the comments. I would love to know if you love Google Plus and why...what are your thoughts about this burgeoning new platform? Only time will tell us the results in the battle over people's social media time but Google is now running in the race and it will be hard to pass them up. 

Michlin Metals is a Woman Owned Small Business, Aerospace Metal and Stainless Steel Distributor. Follow Michlin on Twitter @MichlinMetals, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ or on the Web at www.michlinmetals.com. More on the author on Google+. 

Why is Stainless Steel Stainless and What Makes Stainless Steel Stainless???

There are many things in life that I wonder about. Being in the steel industry and selling stainless steel I have at one point in my life asked myself, why do they call it stainless steel? What makes it stainless? It doesn't take much to find out but here is a very brief synopsis of what makes stainless steel stainless so that you can check one more thing off the list in your quest for knowledge.

Harry Brearley Picture from BSSA full article linked below

Stainless Steel might or might not have been invented by a man named Harry Brearley in 1912. Steel has been around for hundreds of years but it hasn't always been stainless. Only after the exact combination of elements had been achieved did we start calling a certain type of steel "stainless". His magic potion contained the keys to what is now called "stainless steel". That being said, the true inventor of stainless is still an ambiguous cloud at best. However, this isn't a discussion on WHO invented stainless but what stainless is and how it's actually stainless. Here is a great article posted by British Stainless Steel Association in regards to the history of stainless as a whole, see here.

So what is in this magic potion that makes a steel not stain or rust? As most of us know if you leave regular steel or metal out in the elements it will rust, oxidize, or stain. Why does stainless not stain? When Harry Brearley Brearley created a steel with 12.8% chromium and 0.24% carbon, that was believed to be the first ever stainless steel. Chromium is the element in stainless that improves the corrosion resistance by forming a chromium oxide film on the steel. This very thin layer, is what allows the steel to be impermeable to rust or staining and when placed under the right conditions, it can also be self-repairing to a certain extent.

There you have it. The answer is Chromium. Chromium is the element when mixed w/other elements in the proper amounts to form the thin layer that protects the steel from rusting, staining or corroding. Hope that helps you in your pursuit of knowledge. 

Michlin Metals is a Woman Owned Small Business, Aerospace Metal and Stainless Steel Distributor. Follow Michlin on Twitter @MichlinMetals, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ or on the Web at www.michlinmetals.com. More on the author on Google+. 

Why Quality Will Always Prevail

Over the past 18 months Google has released a couple black and white animals back into the wild in the form of algorithm updates. Their names are Panda and Penguin. Suffice it to say that these beasts are capable of destroying webpage rankings and penalizing pages based on their inferior quality or unethical SEO (search engine optimization) practices. Being that Google is in control of around 65% - 70% of the total search volume on the web, it's best to adhere to what they are saying. They will never divulge their algorithm but rest assured, it all goes back to quality, quality and more quality. This same concept permeates business itself on many levels.

Image courtesy of http://www.linkwheeler.com

Businesses looking to get ahead by cutting corners, shaving off quality to save money, using short cuts to get ahead, are in the same boat as those being penalized by these recent updates. For instance, it's fair to say that people who bought back links were less interested in quality, they wanted searchers to find their site through the easiest  and quickest way possible. They would spend (less overall) time buying links, to get out of doing the hard work of creating them through real relationships and good content. This is the same thing as trying to save money by buying the cheapest option available and "hoping" it won't catch up with you. Well as Google has proven (like Karma) it always catches up with you. So why buy cheap? Why not just buy quality first, and not have any other problems?

Well that's a good question. Another one is what if a customer doesn't have the budget to afford quality? Depending on their application, and necessary end result, the failure to purchase quality material could end in much worse results than spending the little extra money to A) get a better quality product and B) more importantly, set up a strong, long lasting relationship w/a solid (quality minded) supplier who will always supply that necessary quality product in a timely fashion. Here's a great example that typifies a buyers behavior that is only interested in saving money: Buyer gets pricing on a products from 3 separate sources, the buyer buys from the cheapest source based only on price. Regardless of previous supplier performance, the buyer has an application that needs this material to enter a production line setting where timing of material delivery is critical. Material arrives late b/c the quality of the suppliers word doesn't equate to material delivered on time, it's late. The production line goes down, all employees on the line are sent home for the day, now costing you your entire production staffs salary for the down time, an extra $1000, $5000, or $10000. In addition, there is the lost revenue from the product not able to be sold and the material has still yet to arrive. In a situation like this, doesn't it seem like the people responsible for making buying decisions should err on the side of caution, spend a little bit more money to obtain the quality they need to get the job done right?

Seems logical, but not everyone always looks at the big picture, employees and bosses included. Today everyone is so hyper-focused on right now, they don't know if they will even have a job tomorrow, so what does it matter to them if they don't get quality, as long as they do whatever little is necessary to get their job handled as quickly as possible so they can leave when the clock strikes 5pm. This quality lacking attitude that Google penalized should be penalized in every other market, unfortunately for commerce there is no regulating "private" body that is capable of exacting such precise reform. Imagine a world where in order to participate in business you HAD to produce quality. Talk about literally making America a better place.

What could possibly be wrong w/quality? Fine, it costs too much. Well we all know the saying. You pay for what you get. Buy cheap or take short cuts and expect there to be problems w/the material, eventually. It might not happen on the first purchase or the tenth but it will happen. Here's another example, we all buy clothes from different department stores or retailers. I am sure most of us have heard of Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic. Well, they don't have 3 brands for no reason, Old Navy is based on the lowest price, Gap is second, followed by their top tier Banana Republic. Buy something at old Navy and it will last 1 season, maybe 2. Gap is better for sure, the clothing might last for 3 - 4 seasons but Banana carries the torch here. Their clothing, obviously the most expensive, lasts the longest. I still own a pair of cords that have to be over 10 years old and you know what, they fit great and have lasted forever. I am not saying everyone should look to buy 1 pair of pants every decade...that's just plain silly. What I am saying is that opposed to buying a pair of pants every year for $40 and getting 2 years out of them b/c they are of less quality, why not buy a pair for $70 and have them last for 5 - 6 years. Your 3 pairs at $40 costs almost 2x as much as if quality had been purchased in the first place. So the cost savings incurred is mis-guided only by the lack of the buyers foresight.

This is the flawed thinking of buying on price, or trying to take short cuts. If you are in business to make money it's not recommended to buy cheap. It will only make the pain that much worse when it doesn't work out and you have to make another purchase to compensate for the poor quality of the previous purchase. We should all take a page from Google here regarding quality. Produce it, sell it, market it, be quality, embrace quality, if you do this, business is sure to follow. There are reasons why there are different stores for different people and not everyone CAN buy the best all the time but if your goal is to create a sound business it is advised to create one through a quality offering of products and services, not a short cut to make money quick. America is a great place where if you work hard you have the opportunity to succeed and move up the ladder, but the opposite holds true as well. What do you prefer? How do you run your business? Do you find justification for less quality? Let us know below and please comment.

Michlin Metals is a Woman Owned Small Business Aerospace Metal and Stainless Steel Distributor. Follow Michlin on Twitter @MichlinMetals, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ or on the Web atwww.michlinmetals.com. More on the author on Google+. 

How Google Plus Will Start Disrupting Business - May 2013

Usually disruptive technologies take time before they dismantle the current way things happen. Look at the life of how music has been stored and distributed for one very obvious example of disruption. From Records, Tapes & CDs to MP3s, iPods and now an almost instantaneous ability to stream whatever music you would like whenever you would like to hear it to any connected device. It's the connectivity and technology that have enabled a person to type in a song through whatever music app they have and call it on demand. Such amazing technologies have changed the way music is consumed and entire new industries have been born. I believe the same thing is happening in business and has been brewing for a while. 

Over the last weekend I was lucky enough to be involved in a discussion that +David Amerland started. FOUND HERE. It made a quick turn before it took off regarding how the environment of Google Plus is similar to College (thank you +Marisa Goudy  for the comment heard round the world) wherein people want to learn, share, collaborate and create new knowledge. For many of us Google Plus is still a new social media platform and for many others it's still yet undiscovered. One inherent flaw in this, is the rate of adoption. By people & businesses thinking that this is just another social network and maybe choosing to utilize their preferred networks they are missing out on a revolution. Google Plus is not just another social network, it's a place that can create synergies, enable better communication, allow for collective knowledge sharing and ultimately refine business practices.

Taken from http://SeattleSEOConsultant.com

What's So Great About Google Anyway?
What Google has done here is quite astonishing. They have taken their suite of products, amassed them into a compilation of functions and given us Google+. There are still some refinements which will make this an even greater tool. These updates are rolling out quite frequently, like their plan to create one master communication tool. Talk/Hangouts/Chat will be consolidated into one master communications tool "Babel" is rumored to be it's name and from within this chat tool people can instant message, use video chat and create hangouts where multiple people can join the conversation through their web cams. No more knocking on doors to sell your wares. No more unnecessary sales trips where customers who don't want to be sold are shown power points that don't want to be seen and dismiss 100 sales people daily. There is an attitude on Google Plus where helping to move conversation along in a positive fashion is encouraged regardless of the amount of followers you have or the degrees you hold. People honestly want to help one another. Here, "you get what you give" plays a big part of your overall experience.  

Customer Service in Real Time
Imagine a customer has an issue, they see you are signed in to your G+ account and ping you.Well you both have web cams so now you can speak in real time. No more body language is missed by a voice only telephone call, this is the real deal. Both parties sitting in their independent offices communicating face to face via a Hangout (video chat). Never before in history has the technology enabled such instantaneous and real communication. Yes, streaming video and video phones have been around for 20-25 years or so but have never been able to be used so reliably due to the lack of available bandwidth. That's all changed and Google is making it easier for all of us to interact in real time. The issue that the customer has, can now be discussed via a live video chat and they can even share their screen w/you so that you can see what they see and walk them through the problem they are having right on their own computer. 

If they have any type of files that need sharing, such as a word document, spreadsheet or database they can be uploaded into Google Docs & Drive, shared and examined and through collaboration right there, and problems can be solved. The great thing about Google Plus is, that through this medium, the social element is added. All business is social, so this makes sense on a very intuitive level. Customers respond best to real people when real emotional connections have been made. The more they interact with the real you the better connection you have. There are so many ways to engage but once a customer meets you through a hangout, they will most likely feel much more confident about the relationship as a whole. Knowing now, the person in real life, not just over the phone. Another very positive feature behind the scenes here is that anything done through Google Plus in terms of posting or sharing is all indexed by none other than Google. No other social network, independent CRM software or Apps can tout that claim with as much direct added value as Google. The inherent value in search is that any time a customer needs information 65% - 70% of the time, they go to Google. If your business is active on G+ you will start to see your posts showing up in search and what happens when you show up in search? People find you! If people find you, you have the chance to gain more business...See where I am going here???

Google Plus Goes The Distance
There is an amazing culture developing over in Google Plus, people want to share, they want to teach, they want to collaborate, they want to learn, they want to be happy. People are emotional beings and they connect with others based on commonalities. Imagine if businesses could do the same thing? Business has always been a closed door type of thing. Secrets must be protected for the risk of someone finding out what is done, copying, taking market share and pushing others out. This way is antiquated. What Google is doing here is forcing people to be open, and share. 

As Eric Schmidt says "The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance." 

Sharing is enabling intelligence to grow and discussion is cementing that new found knowledge. Learning is now happening at an exponential rate but why can't these amazing things be the same for businesses as they are for individuals? Well, I say, they can be. It's just going to take time for the rest of the world to catch on and understand that by integrating business processes and communication through G+ there is a whole realm of advantages that are known and many more than are unknown. How do you feel Google Plus will disrupt business? Do you think it's here to stay or just another social network? Please comment below as I would love to discuss.  

Michlin Metals is a Woman Owned Small Business, Aerospace Metal and Stainless Steel Distributor. Follow Michlin on Twitter @MichlinMetals, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ or on the Web at www.michlinmetals.com. More on the author on Google+. 

Social Media in 2013 (thus far): What I've learned, Who I've met and the impact it's had on Michlin Metals

Thus far I am confident in saying that 2013 has been the most trans-formative year for me in regards to social media yet. Computers are nothing new to me, I was born in late 1980 and had my first PC at age 4 -5 (This stunning Tandy 1000).

From there I never skipped much time from upgrade to upgrade and advanced right alongside with technology. I had a cell phone in '94 and my first digital camera in '98. So I have always loved and embraced  the newest (and most fun) technology. Then along came social media in the early 2000s. I was just leaving college and entering the real world. At that point, being in its infancy, social media had yet to take on the dominant and main stream role that it plays across the board today.

Having an affinity for all things tech and being an overall social guy myself, I got on Facebook and like most other people in the real world, I wasn't seeing a ton of inherent value for business though. So when twitter came around I slept on it for a while. I still technically don't have a personal twitter account but I'm covered through my Michlin account b/c I tweet mainly about what's important to me and how that impacts business today. Around 3 years ago, I switched jobs and came over to Michlin Metals. I redesigned the website and got connected with all the social media platforms so I could put those cool buttons on my page, you know, that way people know I'm social right? (as if that's all it took) I'd broadcast a single post daily through Facebook to Twitter & LinkedIn and thought that was being social (I didn't even shorten the links). Boy was I mistaken.

So along comes February 2013, my sister-in-law and her boyfriend (they have a dog, it's serious) come and visit. She's an IP & Patent attorney and he is a co-founder of a venture capital outfit both in San Francisco. After spending the weekend at my house and talking w/them I knew I had to change how I played the game. If these 2 incredibly smart people can be so heavily involved in technology and make lives from this, I had to alter my thinking and begin applying myself differently.

That's when I started learning what social media really is and how it can impact the bottom line in business today. Granted there is a ton of hype surrounding return on investment (ROI) in social media today and that's understandable. Here we all are, in the middle of the day reading a blog post (I hope) and it's probably completely acceptable. Just a few years ago, I know my boss would have been angry if he saw me "messing around" on the internet, AGAIN. Those thoughts still exist but are becoming less prevalent as the true impact of social makes itself known in business.

After becoming completely ingratiated in twitter (Let's say, post the catalytic tech weekend early Feb) I've taken Michlin's twitter follower base from 309 to now almost 1300. Not a bad 3 months, but this isn't a brag session, it's (leading to) a discussion about the amazing real connections I have made in the last 3 months and the impact that's had on Michlin Metals. So, after getting twitter tightened up, I kept getting this nagging feeling that a door was open and there was a draft coming in. I could either close the door completely (like most people and not let any new technology in) or I could open it up and embrace yet another social media platform.

Well, we all know what happened next. I decided to open the door and let Google Plus into my life and I haven't been the same since. The following is a list and a synopsis of some of the people who have touched my life thus far on my short lived Google Plus journey. Also, what keep in mind the journey IS the destination.

Google Plus, like most new technologies is highly intimidating to most normal people. However, there is always a distinct group of early adopters that join in and make it so that the second responders (people like me) can take advantage of a still wide open platform before the rest of the bell curve adopts and it goes fully mainstream. Some of those people that have impacted me have been the following: (in no particular order but a little order based on relevance and when I stumbled upon them)

Now anyone familiar to Google Plus will probably know all of these people and anyone not familiar, if I were you, I would circle them now (but not right this second, finish reading...comment, then circle them)

First, a young man (I'm 32, is that condescending?) named +Jesse Wojdylo. This guy is a genius, first and foremost, and I feel he has given me a great gift. Enlightenment. I joined his weekly Twitter chat (#GooglePlusChat Tuesdays 1pm CST) and started to meet a couple other great people. After I chatted for a few weeks I began to feel more at home and less tentative. It was my first real twitter chat experience where not only did I participate, but I did it in a matter which reflected myself...(this gets to the heart of social, being yourself, engaging and connecting on a personal level) That has since opened the door for further communications.

Last week Jesse and I did a hangout and spoke for about an hour. It was a great hour for me. I learned that I can connect with people through real life experiences that relate to business. It doesn't just have to be dry, mundane, boring metal stuff that no one cares about. I can make it HUMAN, people connect with all things human b/c we are emotional beings and make decisions (sometimes) based on emotions. He in essence fixed my flawed thinking about how connections are made on the web...I thought I could only get link backs from my customers or suppliers (neither of which have worked out yet). If I write to connect with people, as opposed to just broadcasting about "industry info" then people will respond as such. Blogging is about connecting with likeminded people whether in or out of your industry. They are people first, then business people. So thank you Jesse for continuing to show me the light. I truly am grateful for finding you and look forward to hanging out again soon.

+martin shervington is up next on the docket. Talk about genius. This guy has enabled the world to share in his Google plus awesomeness! He has created a full library of Google Plus resources. From Posts and Communities to Hangouts and Circle Management, Martin has taken what can only be described as a mountain of information and sliced it up into little easy to consume bite size portions. Here is a link to his site, take the time to familiarize yourself w/Martin, it will pay off in spades. Martin was kind enough to invite me to my first HOA as a participant, which has dramatically increased my thirst for more HOAs. I am excited to start making Videos for Michlin and thanks to Martin that is just a little easier.

Next is +Mark Traphagen. Is there another word I can use for Genius? How's Exceedingly Gifted? This man has been instrumental in getting me (along w/countless other thousands of people) up to speed with Google Plus and Authorship. It is both good and bad that there aren't a ton of metals people on G+. Good b/c Michlin is staking its claim, bad b/c there isn't much in the form of engagement from industry peers. However, I look at another good thing that far outweighs the lack of industry people on G+, and that's having my Authorship set up. Thanks to Mark, I am now (most likely) THE ONLY person who has this set up in my industry. Weird since metal sales probably surpasses a Trillion dollars annually...but you know what? I'll take it!!!! Early Adopter status for me in the Steel Industry! So, if you ever need Monel 400 Round Bar, you should see my face (only) pop up on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Thanks again Mark for blazing the path towards Google Plus greatness and allowing others to easily follow suit.

Another along the list of great minds on G+ is +Mike Allton. Mike was kind enough to take some time out of his day and talk me through some website conversion issues Michlin is currently facing. Mike has been working with Small Businesses for years, he was a great fit to assist Michlin in learning how to practice better engagement via social media. Mike is a contributor to The Social Media Hat, an internet marketing and consulting company based in Saint Louis. Mike is a whiz when it comes to Drupal and was very helpful in answering a bunch of questions we had regarding website migration. I look forward to working directly with Mike in the near future.

Another G+ Influencer is +Ronnie Bincer. If you need ANYTHING Video, YouTube, either of those + SEO, this is the man. I was lucky enough to catch a couple HOAs before I participated in one, that featured Ronnie. He has been involved with YouTube for years and I am not kidding when I say he knows (almost) everything there is to know. He is a great resource for everything necessary to create, optimize & distribute quality video content. Check him out at http://www.videoleadsonline.com.

Google Plus is great but the problem is, there are TOO many great minds...I could keep writing all day but it's time to wrap this up. The bottom line is you get what you give. Though consistent engagement Michlin (and myself) have now created viable relationships with these great people. I am asked often if my time spent is worth the money it costs to keep me employed, this reaches back to the ROI on social media. My answer is that you don't plant seeds and expect to eat fresh vegetables the next day. It takes consistent care, the right conditions, constant monitoring and a ton of time but the end result is that you have a garden filled w/amazing fresh food that if done properly could feed you for a long while. It will not happen overnight, but if you work at it and build these relationships one at a time the odds are in your favor that business will come your way, you just have work long enough to capture it. If you made it this far, please, comment below. It would mean a ton and I hope you enjoyed reading this.

Michlin Metals is a Woman Owned Small Business, Aerospace Metal and Stainless Steel Distributor. Follow Michlin on Twitter @MichlinMetals, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ or on the Web at www.michlinmetals.com. More on the author on Google+. 

May 2013 Nickel Pricing and its Impact on Inconel, Monel and Other Cobalt Aerospace Alloys

Most people don't know that the nickel market depends heavily on stainless steel production and stainless steel pricing also depends on the worldwide price of nickel. No matter how you slice it 66% of all nickel mined and produced will end up in stainless steel. So why is the price of Nickel so important to surcharges and the overall price of Inconel, Monel and other Cobalt Aerospace Alloys.

Only within the last hundred or so years have nickel & cobalt become a mainstay in steel production. Specifically for the creation of super alloys or specialty aerospace alloys used in missiles, jet engines, electrical components and numerous other defense and military applications.

Stainless steel is comprised of mostly chromium but nickel content in 304 (one of the most common grades of stainless steels) only makes up 8% of the chemical composition. However, nickel's impact on pricing is more prevalent. Up to 60% of the cost of stainless steel is due in part to the volatile nickel commodity trading price.

The US had a strategic stockpile of nickel due to the necessary needs during wartime and the usual lack of supply. As of 1999 though, the US had sold off the last of its stockpile. The United States is now 100% dependent on foreign imports and potential scrap sources for these necessary components of stainless steel.

Nickel pricing is currently around the same as it was last year at this point. With that in mind there is still pent up demand for stainless steel that is only starting to trickle back into the market in the form of purchases. Over the past 2 years, production of worldwide stainless steel is up which means that more nickel has been needed. If the trend continues and more nickel is needed, then we can expect the demand to continue and the price to rise. Therefore, we could potentially expect the price of stainless steel to rise since it's price is heavily weighted by the price of nickel.

There are many things that go into the price of stainless steel but hopefully the price will trend along the same lines as demand. More demand, equals less supply and thus a higher price in tow. That means that we as a country are consuming more steel and making more things. We could be upgrading our infrastructure, building out roadways, making more buildings, doing more with oil and gas...there are so many options that as long as the United States can continue to (start) consuming more stainless steel the entire economy as a whole stands to benefit. What are your thoughts as to how the price of Nickel impacts our overall economy? Please feel free to comment below and join the conversation.

Michlin Metals is a Woman Owned Small Business Aerospace Metal and Stainless Steel Distributor. Follow Michlin on Twitter @MichlinMetals, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ or on the Web at www.michlinmetals.com. More on the author on Google+. 

Why Michlin Metals Is Almost 30 Years Old - May 2013

Michlin Metals was started in 1984 and is a distributor of aerospace & specialty stainless steel. We recently became a Woman Owned Small Business and will shortly be ISO 9001 and AS 9120 Certified. Obviously selling steel isn't glamorous, however, there are certain things that Michlin does that separates itself from the rest of the stocking distributors around town. Michlin's core competencies are attention to detail, an almost instantaneous response mechanism when needed to handle any customer request and just an overall customer-centric focus that allows for the best overall customer experience.

All those things are great, but what do they mean, and why has Michlin Metals been able to stay in business for 30 years come 2014? Let's look at an example. A new government aerospace customer calls w/a problem. It's a Wednesday night after a major holiday at 4pm. Everyone in the country is on vacation or off early. The customer has been looking for material for a day already and have been unsuccessful in procurement. We have never worked w/this customer before but suffice it to say we would want to not only take this singular order but become a core supplier of theirs. The customer has a plane on the ground, again it's Wednesday at 4pm, and they need it off the ground by Friday at 0800. (that's 8am in military time) Now what happens?

The customer then goes on to tell us about the metal they need and that they need it w/in 36 hours. They needed a cut piece of metal that requires heat treatment to a specific condition. Well heat treating metal can take anywhere from several hours (both in the oven and then cooling) to several days(in and out of the oven, cooling, reheating, cooling, quenching tempering, re-annealing, and so on). Luckily this material only required an 8 hour cycle.

That being said we still had to work fast. We had a piece of this material dropped off that very night to the heat treater so that by 6am when they arrived the next morning they could pop it right into the oven and start the process. The piece of metal wasn't very long and wasn't a large diameter bar so in itself wasn't very expensive. The heat treatment however was a different story. In order to have this material expedited we had to push everything else off and just do this piece. That's not easy to do and doesn't come cheap. Not many people have a relationship w/their heat treater to even request a same day heat treat...this is why when the customer called us he had explained that not a single other supplier/processor in the country could comply and provide material in their required time frame.

So fast forward to 2pm Thursday. The material is now cooled, packed and ready to ship via UPS overnight to the customer. The fact that we accomplished heat treating metal that was ready to ship w/in 20 hours...is nearly miraculous, what's even crazier is that by the time the material was done, we hadn't even received a formal purchase order. However, that wasn't a huge deal based on the overall status of our new customer. We got the purchase order worked out and shipped the material overnight.

8am Friday morning the customer had their material. 36 hours total. We took raw material in a 12' bar, cut it to a shorter piece, delivered it to the heat treater, had it heat treated, cooled it, packed it, shipped it and was able to provide another customer w/exceptional service. That is why Michlin Metals has been in business for nearly 30 years. Granted, today's market is driven by price b/c the demand for steel is diminished
 by current economic conditions. That being said, if a customer has a need, sometimes money isn't the only factor in their purchasing decision, if your company needs the job done properly, in an expedited fashion, you can always count on Michlin to supply you the necessary material in the time frame needed.

Michlin Metals is a Woman Owned Small Business Aerospace Metal and Stainless Steel Distributor. Follow Michlin on Twitter @MichlinMetals, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ or on the Web at www.michlinmetals.com. More on the author on Google+.