Busy Busy... What has Universal Windows Direct been up to?

It's been a month, dear reader.    Sadly we have allowed ourselves to get behind in our blogging but do not worry, we did not forget about you!    We are back at it and ready to get caught up.     Business has been good, our personal lives have been good, we've just been running like crazy. 

We have successfully finished our summer show and event season.    Gone are the days of hanging in the tent, hoping for good weather overnight, and searching out our next great meal from a food truck.   I think that Taco Cielo from the Dakota County Fair was my favorite this year!   Mmmmmm!!!

Our fall and spring home show season gets underway soon and we have all of our dates finalized.   Sometimes I feel like we're a rock bank booking our next great tour.   We always have free or discounted tickets for shows so definitely check our website or call us if you're interested in enjoying a home show and vising your favorite window company!

Speaking of home shows, we are moving forward with some awesome new displays for our larger products.   They will debut in 2012!

New product options!   Our UniShield siding has come out with new colors to provide you with even more options for customizing your home and creating the look you've dreamed of.     Our UniShield fiberglass entry doors have just release new styles that include 3/4 glass on the front.   A nice way to get the look on the front of your home "just right". 

We are growing!   We have brought on another installer and are currently looking to grow our sales department.   If you know anyone looking to get some sales experience, send them our way. 

All work and no play?  No way!!   We have a vacation scheduled in December and are looking forward to our annual sales meeting in January.    Not only that, but with fall TV underway, we are glad to "see"  all of our old friends.    Hey, there is nothing wrong with some quality couch time, right?

Beyond all of that, we are happily selling high quality, energy efficient windows, siding, and doors at factory direct prices to homeowners all across the Twin Cities.    To learn more about our products or to schedule a free, no obligation estimate, contact us today.

UWD MN at a Summer Events: A behind the scenes look at UWD working outdoor events

Raise your hand if you've been to a Fair or Outdoor Festival this year.    Raise both hands if you've been to more than one.   Now smile because you feel silly with both your arms in the air.

Summer in MN is the best thing on Earth.  Every weekend you can find a summer festival in a local city,   Celebrations center around everything from raspberries to potatoes to stock cars to just the city itself.   No matter what they are celebrating you are almost guaranteed to find yummy food, activities for kids, a midway, a live band, a car show and a business fair.

Show and event marketing is a huge part of our marketing plan at Universal Windows Direct MN.    Throughout the summer (June - August) we spend the majority of our weekends working in a booth to promote our business, and our awesome line of UniShield windows and doors.  Needless to say, we have it down to a science.

We can go from everything in the truck to "open for business" in about 20 minutes.

We have the perfect size cooler that ensures we drink a gallon of water a day.

We have perfected the "show food" shopping trip to keep us eating and snacking right in the midst of full on fair food temptation.

We have made events into networking and social events.  Building relationships and enjoying the connections with familiar faces and other local business owners.  Some days would get very long without our friends.

We have a section in our closets dedicated to UWD wear - which ensures that no matter how many days the event is, and no matter what the weather has in store for us...  we will be branded.  In layers.

Last but not least, we know that working these summer shows are different than working home improvement expos.  We know you didn't head out to the fair with a window replacement project in mind.   So we show you our windows, we give stickers to your kids, we answer your questions and if you don't want to schedule a free estimate, we'll give you a brochure to take home.   We know that when you're ready, you'll call us.

Thanks to every single person this summer who stopped by our tent to talk with us. Days can get long and we can get a little crazy.

Thanks to previous customers who made a point to visit.  Thanks to all the show sponsors who make us feel appreciated and welcome, and thanks to that girl at Pride with the pink and purple pigtails who bounced in to give us a smile because we looked lonely.   It isn't easy to work those events, but it's worth it.   We love our company and we  love offering such a great product at a factory direct price.

If you're looking to get a free quote on replacement windows, sliding glass patio doors, front entry doors or vinyl siding, contact us today.   We'd be happy to stop out.

Just another day in the office: Behind the scenes with Universal Windows Direct

Hi!  Welcome back to our blog.   I know I promised a more personal glimpse into the business, so here I go.

I started work today at 8:30 and this was my morning:

• General administrative paperwork

• Finishing up the blog on vinyl siding

• Receiving the latest window and door shipment   (everything we expected arrived, except the brochures for the upcoming show, of course)

• A meeting with a potential new credit card processing company.

On the way to the meeting we got a call from a lady who was referred by a customer of ours we installed a year ago.  I love that!   She was hoping someone had time to meet her at 1:00 today and luckily Steve was open.   He spent the afternoon with her talking about windows and ultimately selling them to her.   Of course, on the way he stopped to drop off some materials for the installers and on the way back he visited the install site again to check on progress and make sure the customer was thrilled.

Meanwhile, I ate my lunch (leftover spaghetti!) and planned out menus for the next week. You see, we have a big home show coming up this weekend and nothing - I mean NOTHING - makes you want to plan a menu more than the thought of being trapped in the convention center eating grease for 3 days.   Not only that, but I have learned that a person who works quite a bit from her home office gets much lazier about meals than a person who leaves to work in a cube.   If I don't have a plan, nothing happens.   But I digress.

I ran to the bank to make our deposits from yesterday, dropped off a cable box at the cable company, completed the grocery shopping ($35 in coupon savings!) and then ran to meet a remodeler at our warehouse to pick up the windows he ordered.

Since I was so close I went into the office to check on the status of a few orders and to check emails.   I didn't get the email I was hoping for.  Apparently L&L Exhibition Management, the promoters for the home remodeling show this weekend,  are running a TV ad to promote the show that features Steve at the beginning of it!     A friend of ours called to say she saw it today while watching "The View".   I'm dying to see it and so I called the company asking if they could email me a copy of the commercial.  Stay tuned.  If I get it I'm posting it!

Here it is, 4:00pm on this beautiful day I'm finally back at home and ditching the office in favor of the sunshine and the fresh air.   This is my favorite part of the day because I get to blog a little and do a little work on our web marketing campaign.  When I'm done out here I'll  get a little workout in and hopefully get started prepping for my garage sale.   That is, unless I get tempted with a nice long walk outside.

If you want to be part of our day - in the form of an in-home consultation for windows, siding, or doors, contact me.  I'll send Steve out and you guys will have a ball!

The price reflects when you buy direct.  Universal Windows Direct, MN offers you the highest quality home improvement products at factory direct prices.