Greg Hoffman is President and co-founder of Roofing Contractor Marketing, a company specializing in marketing and advertising for roofing contractors. (Despite the similarity in name, the company is not related to our magazine.) 

Public speaking is tough. As Jerry Seinfeld once noted, “According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”

Every time I get to the bottom of the peanut butter jar, I think about the environment. Here’s why: The plastic container is recyclable, and my neighborhood has a great recycling program. However, they only take clean containers.

New research confirms the conventional wisdom about green roofs: Vegetative roofs can help reduce heat gain and heat losses, resulting in significant energy savings in mixed climates.

When you think of commercial buildings in midtown Manhattan, green space isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. However, that might be changing. When it came time to replace the roof on the United States Postal Service (USPS) Morgan Mail Processing and Distribution Center on Ninth Avenue in New York, a vegetative roof was at the top of the wish list.

Trade shows are wonderful ways to meet new people, find out about new products, network with your peers, and take advantage of educational sessions. The downsides, as we know, are crowded plane flights, travel costs and aching feet. Virtual trade shows are designed to provide the advantages of a trade show from the convenience of your computer. 

If you work with a roofing contractor who does top-notch work, treats its employees like part of the family, and promotes a safe and healthy work environment, you can nominate them for consideration as Roofing Contractor’s Contractor of the Year. 

It’s only a matter of time before solar applications will revolutionize the roofing industry, and the sooner roofing contractors see the light, the better off they’ll be.

Liberty Lines Inc. is one of the largest privately owned transportation companies in New York. Headquartered in Yonkers, the company has 750 employees and operates a fleet of 350 vehicles.

Business consultant Ellen Rohr thinks big. I always get a kick out of her presentations, and she does a great job of explaining business concepts in fun ways that help drive the point home. At one of our Best of Success conferences, she presented a session on managing other family members while managing a family business.