What Defines a “Small Business”?

The year closing and it seems all we are hearing is of the talk about healthcare and what it will do to small businesses.

What is the best definition of a small business? $5 million or $20 million in sales or under 50 people employed? Does 100 employees grant a big business?

Who actually knows the answer? We prefer to define small business as those that are under 50 employees and innovate quickly, introduce unusual products to differentiate themselves or their products from others and operate year round without losing or laying off employees.

We refer to this product differentiation as a fusion of product design and technology.

For example, we actively seek out innovative designs and new products and receive many emails back about our 'cool' designs and as a small business owner we see these comments as positive and our gamble to innovate as a success story.

(Cool used to describe the new VinoPaQ™ wine BarrelPaQ® pouch and very cool for the new graphics on the draft beer StadiumPaQ™. The variety 12 pack was described as the ShotBox)

We operate a very diverse business in that we sell to the liquor, food, chemical, household segments and across many global markets. Nothing is the routine or the same here!

Each year at this time we look at what went wrong during the year, and ask could we have prevented it and how to recover for next year.

This new business plan is very tough in that we only want to include items that are innovative or use a patent and that the sale can be achieved with the least disruption by competitors.

For example how many machines can PGS sell in 2010? What brands can we sell? What markets need our machines and then we decide what innovation disruption our competitors will throw at the customer to stop the sale. After that, we finalize our budget.

In the BPG market we look at how many more states will be approved for ShotPak®? How can we find the right distributor and partner? How can we convince 100 outlets to buy our 22 Ready-To-Drink cocktail products on a weekly basis? How to introduce our new very GREEN 'Bag-without-a-Box' to the wineries? What's the theme for our new nutraceutical waters? What sport or stadium would be the best to introduce the CarboPouch® for draft beers designed to replace paper cups?

Both divisional plans are fully discussed, scenarios are played back and forth and then we analyze what we think the competitors will do to disrupt our sales team's efforts.

From this we have learned over the years all about disruptive activities in today's commercial world. Big emphasis is made on the new social networks and how they can disrupt plans.

Think how quickly a bad experience can be broadcast by Twitter or a video of an event posted on My Space or Facebook.

Simply said, we ask what can go wrong to prevent sales, rather than how many can you sell and to what disruption can occur to stop the sale?

Imagine our sales team is thinking why won't we sell, rather than we can sell so many units and then hope for the best.

This disruption technique approach forces us to design and be innovative to stay ahead and make the sale and as a small business we can introduce our ideas much faster if competitor disruption becomes a headache.

So next time you wonder why you lost the sale ask yourself what was the disruption that caused failure and how could you have prevented it?

Best wishes from our staff for the Holiday Season.

Our Brands in The Next Dimension...

Throughout the past months one of the most common questions asked is, "Where are we heading with the Beverage Pouch Group and PPiTechGROUP machinery brands?"

We have spent the past 18 months explaining that the Beverage Pouch Group [BPG] is a unique company in that it markets beverages in its own patented sustainable, green, eco-friendly pouches filled on PPiTechGROUP machinery all over the world. A one of a kind company!

You are all probably aware that this past month Shot Spirits Corporation [SSPT.pk] changed hands with Greenbridge Industries acquiring 51% and thus management control and they will, when the dust settles and the various agreements are completed, own 15% of the Beverage Pouch Group. Within BPG we see this as a very positive alliance and we have not sold our stock in SSPT.pk as we believe only good things can come from this new venture.

The biggest brand in BPG is ShotPak® our nine ready-to-drink products are now available in California, Nevada, Texas, Ohio, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and Indiana. The next dimension..... is the launch in the first quarter of 2010 of thirteen more ShotPak® products bringing the product line to 22 under the theme "Take your best Shot!"

Just released by the BPG VinoPaq™ division is a double gusset BarrelPaQ® wine pouch with tap that replaces the traditional and environment unfriendly bag-in-a-box package. The next dimension.... for VinoPaq® is that they will not only sell these patented "Bag-without-a-Box™" pouches to wineries all over the world, but also buy wines packed in our pouches from our customers and sell them in other regions including the USA. The proverbial double whammy!

Starting to bubble within BPG is our patented CarboPouch® for draft beers sold cold at stadium or celebrity events. A truly unique invention, that keeps draft beer fresh, uncontaminated and safe. The next dimension.... is the development of the shelf stable CarboPouch® and a post application HandiTap2 opening device. The beginning of the end of glass packaging.

Personal health has never been so important and the elixir of life is water. Good water is at a premium. However, bottled water is now perceived by the consumer as wasteful and the BevPaQ™ division is ready to step to the front of this debate with their patented pouch and EnvoSmart™ spout fitment, filled with nutraceutical health water products for men, women and children. These are definitely the next dimension.... in the water category.

The Beverage Pouch Group is ready to become the market leader in each category it sells products into and will be setting the standard for the next dimension.... in eco-friendly, green, pouch packaging.

The PPiTechGROUP machinery has all been redesigned with sustainable SECAMP standards of operation and we offer flexible, fast and efficient systems with pouch material from FlexSource™ USA.

The PPiTechGROUP machinery division offers the top-of-the-line premade or form-fill-seal systems and their next dimension.... electronic machines that are intelligent and run without operators. The machines fill directly onto returnable store shelving, without any secondary packaging, a really green, sustainable, eco-friendly solution.

So where are we going? What's the next dimension? .... For our brands, we as a small, family-owned entrepreneurial business have done much in the past 15 years, but as we look ahead we still can't stop our enthusiasm from showing. We have strong, unique, sustainable, eco-friendly green pouch solutions that are needed in every country in the world and we have plans to exploit our technology and go global with several joint ventures in 2010.

Welcome, Generation G!

Following up on our story last year about being wired or now more commonly referred to as being part of the online social networking revolution we introduce Generation G.

Brand Managers take note: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, QZone from China, Hulu online video and LinkedIn operate freely disseminating and exchanging views, and videos as well as good and bad news 24/7.

Today's old fashioned Brand Managers want to maintain contact with Generation Y (born between 1970's and late 80's so 21 plus age group) and feel comfortable. Boring....

Modern Brand Managers spend all their time online trying to reach Generation Z, born After 1990 who hardly use email and are our future market. Remember 30% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands. Tweets on cell phones are real time and imagine a bad customer experience!

Advertisements are no longer trusted with 70% preferring peer recommendations. Good bye newspapers....

The new revolution is that in the future the news will FIND the consumers. That's the ShotPak® model.

We try to be everywhere we can in the 12 states and export markets we sell in. Our goal is to send out good vibe video and happy pictures of our customers enjoying the product.

Our plan is simple and shows small down-town store promotions in Northern California to huge turnouts on San Diego beaches, we have consumers enjoying our ready-to-drink products.

In the center of the country we have our band Early Pearl performing in rural towns and in Tennessee we are at all the street summer parties. What are we learning from this is that from the barrier islands in Texas to small island bars in Ohio and the sunny beaches of Florida the message is clear, ShotPak® is a fun easy to socialize product. Now in Jamaica it is becoming the drink of the bars. One advertisement is not responsible for this growth but the world wide web social networks. Amazing and powerful. We recognize the need for over 21 support and diligently follow this requirement.

Now by year end we will offer 10 cocktails, plus 6 Premium drinks in the Near Year with Vodka energy and first time ever Tequila caffeine Buzz-A-Rita's including the recently unbanned Absinthe products. More variety and easier socializing. One of the tweets said the other day stated "these are not your father's drinks". Nice words, but explains the need to try them.

Let this message go out to consumers tired of the bottle and the old fashioned distribution methods.

This is an appropriate time to introduce you to Generation G.

They are disgusted with greed and current consequences for the economy. They are looking for companies that care. They like our Safe, Secure and Social ShotPak® message with a single six-pack sale and not a bottle. This Generation G is an online fueled culture of individuals who share, give, engage, create and collaborate in large numbers. In fact the message is clear and the new status symbol has replaced 'taking' with 'sharing a passion' and receiving recognition.

They don't want to drink all night, they don't want bottles of the same liquor, and they want environmental friendly American products. This extends to their car choices, no dependence on oil from foreigners, and this product list goes on. Unsure about this change and if it is happening just talk to the cola companies, look at Seattle coffee shops, and what burger chain is growing and their all new menu. The list goes on.

Remember you read it here first, our PPiTechGroup machinery and FlexSource USA pouch group have altered their selling modes, our BPG ShotPak® retail products group have all recognized this societal/behavioral shift and we no longer push devotion to the company, but to the consumer needs they require from a brand.

Change; recognize you can't do it the old way. Welcome Generation G.

We are ready.

Change in Status Quo 2009

In the future liquor packaging will be dictated by lifestyles.

Out of interest (also out of touch) a Senior Vice President of a well known USA distributor stated, “When you go to dinner, you want to bring a nice glass bottle of wine. Can you imagine a waiter bringing over a PET bottle?”

Honestly, think about his statement. When was the last time you looked at or touched the wine bottle at the dinner table in a restaurant? The waiter opens, pours and keeps the bottle until needed. This VP is just plain out of touch missing out on today's lifestyle choices and when his competitors grow the segment he will wonder why? He probably does not have a Blackberry or i-Phone either! Dead scared to think of a new package, and hanging onto the old way until retirement.

For busy people, or people on the go, people concerned with eco-friendly green earth decisions are all aware from the world wide web news, that all grades of wine in South Africa, New Zealand, France (yes, France), Sweden, UK, Italy and soon USA are served on a daily basis in StandUp pouches and in large price favorable patented double gusset BarrelPaQ™ 1.5 and 3 liters pouches without the box.

These are lifestyle changes.

Going to the beach and need wine? Take a VinoPaQ™ pouch...... Having a pool party? Serve a BarrelPaQ™ wine complete with easy open tap pouch..... Travelling and can't carry wine on the plane? Place a multipack of wine Selects™ in your checked bags without risk of breaking. It's called lifestyle needs and satisfaction.

In Oklahoma, Grape Ranch just launched this month a wine that is filled into a one liter StandUp pouch. This is a frozen wine variety with all the fun of mixing and pouring when you are ready to drink.

Looking at the beer industry and a cold one at a ball game. Often wondered how the vendor pours three cups at one time and not a drop is spilt? Where’s the foaming head? Think Grease (ugh)! Coming soon is CarboPouch™, a patented system of tubes of draft beer sold to you sealed and fresh and uncontaminated. Be trendy, modern, healthy and call for the eco-friendly CarboPouch™ tube at your next game!

And now to ShotPak®, who started the revolution and rode the wave with their new patented StandUp pouch and easy-tear feature filled with ready-to-drink cocktails and premium shots.

Every day our ShotPak® pouch sales increase, the 11 states we are selling in now have 1,000 stores, night clubs, c-stores, bars and stadiums offering singles or six packs.

This week the Freedonia Group published a report on alcohol packaging and predicted that by 2012:

• Beer in plastic will grow from 300 to 600 million units.


• Wine will grow from 25 to 100 million units.


• Distilled spirits will grow from 1,800 to 2,575 million units.

For the Shot Spirits Corporation (SSPT.PK and www.shotspiritscorporation) their investment in the Beverage Pouch Group is sure to reap many rewards if plastic packaging grows at the rate forecast by the Freedonia Group (www.freedoniagroup.com) in the next three years.

The Beverage Pouch Group (www.beveragepouchgroup.com) are leading this pouch plastic package revolution and its parent PPi Technologies Group (www.ppitechnologies.com) are selling pouch machinery in over 20 countries.

Believe me, the status quo has changed. Consumers want convenience, safety, earth friendly green pouch packages in their new, busy lifestyles. The glass bottle - just like the can - has a definite place in future packaging, but no longer owns the segment. The pouch is joining and offering another choice.

The Future....

Running three different businesses in today's economic conditions is a challenge. However, because our entire product portfolio is very strong and our customers are brand loyal, we are seeing growth.

Recall that we have said all year that we are planning to come out of this economic downtown stronger than ever and with improved capabilities to serve our customers. It is working!

ShotPak® has taken a leadership position in the ready-to-drink cocktails segment in 11 states. USA case sales in 2009 are ahead compared to 2008.

Our PGS pouch machinery group expanded into the detergent market with high-speed, eco-friendly systems.

Our pouch supply group, FlexSource™ USA, has launched the BarrelPaQ™ a green, low carbon dioxide footprint pouch for wine in several overseas markets and this will be available in the USA later this year.

Taking care of our customers is critical to our success. Using the internet to communicate news, show new product details and benefits has proved to be popular. Viral marketing at its best.

The events section of www.shotpakinc.com is a most popular spot and the three guys feeding it, Pfunk Ramirez, Noel G and Vinnie Pryme are capturing the spirit of the streets. ShotPak® is all over the place.

So looking into the future, we continue to see bigger, greater results all round.

BPG ShotPak® will launch by year end another eight products ranging from Mojito to Absinthe in their patented, one-of-a-kind 1.7 ounce pouch.

PGS machinery will introduce systems for packing new organic baby foods in a pouch with reclosable zipper to energy drinks in a StandUp pouch with spout fitment.

FlexSource™ USA will introduce their patented double gusset pouch for wine, paint, home chemicals, food service products and water.

Exciting, new, leading edge stuff that makes people comfortable and want to buy or be part of. Think positive, be positive and grow, grow!

Shot Spirits Corporation's investment in BPG is a winner and the future is bright once you analyze the news and the future in this blog.

R. Charles Murray

Perspective on the Future....

We seem to still be surrounded by doom and gloom. We are trying to get away from these people and the negativity they preach.

For example, our machinery group is experiencing many new inquiries for machinery and looking forward to implication of these future orders.

Our FlexSource USA flexible pouch group is expanding with new products like BarrelPaQ™ for the paint industry to replace metal cans, VinoPaQ™ elegant shaped StandUp wine pouches to replace glass bottles made overseas and "The pouch without a box" development for wine and any liquid needing a new concept, all of these are brilliant eco-friendly opportunities.

Then throughout all this uncertainty our ShotPak® brands have continued to grow and are now available in 12 states [CA, NV, AZ, IN, KY, OH, TN, TX, OK, AL, FL, GA].

So we see opportunities all over and are chasing these where we can.

To quote Wolfgang Grulke of Future World, "The future's so bright, you've got to wear shades."

Our approach in this bright sunny environment is to manage our way out of the 'current mess' in the financial world by concentrating on our customers and our brands. Keep the customer satisfied and they will support and continue to buy.

As the CEO of the group it has become the perfect time for me to build optimism in the management team running the PPi Technologies Global GROUP as we move forward.

We immediately started to study the three types of customers our three divisions are exposed to, we found our biggest challenge today as brand managers is that we now have several categories of market segments and all require different approaches.

First we found Boomers who are due to retire in the next five years from strong companies and looking for the message that this product works for you.

Civics who are very conservative and have been around for a lifetime like brand names and support them.

Gen X don't put a premium on formal dress code and prefer informal approach at business and in stores and have zero brand loyalty. They believe clearly that they can use new technology in their lives and you have to market brands in a way that they have contact with them in order to sell to them. They ignore traditional products especially if their parents use them!

Not to be outdone in difficulty is the Gen Y someone from 25 to mid 30s, where traditional marketing is about controlling the message and Gen Y utilizes the internet for most decisions misses the message all together. They use blogging and social networks for their news. The Gen Y also likes products that create praise and how wonderful they are when using them. They love technology and text messages allow them to be in touch with a huge group all day.

So armed with all of this customer knowledge we then had to decide how we were going to get a simple message across to our three types of customers?

Our machine group decided to invite engineers and project managers to visit other customer plants running our machines for on the line touch and feel. Message here is tried proven and trustworthy machinery.

Our pouch materials group decided to make samples up with all the logo printing and let the customers do market tests before buying the final product. Message here is let all groups in the market try the product before making the final choice. Let the customer choose.

For Shotpak® brands the decision was to make the brands available in happy relaxing venues like nightclubs, swimming pool or beach bars, golf clubs and of course the biggest market the celebrity events where the internet is doing the marketing for example www.rockontherange.com where the customer can touch, smell and taste the product while enjoying themselves.

In 90 days I will let you know the success or not of these three approaches.

Enjoy spring as summer is just around the corner.

Shotsational regards,
R. Charles Murray
PPi Technologies Global

A Growing Recognition of What SSC and BPG Have to Offer

Every day I get emails or comments on the SSC website or calls from investors asking when will SHOT Spirits Corporation (SSPT.pk) stock go up?

I guess just like the person asking the question I really don't know, but have a basic idea that unless we have huge increase in sales of the ShotPak® brands by Beverage Pouch Group, the market sees little advantage in owning the SSC stock at this time. I guess the easy marketing 101 reply comes to mind, sell more and be recognized more.

However, it goes deeper than that. Very few market makers understand what SHOT Spirits Corporation acquired when they invested and concluded the technology deal with Beverage Pouch Group. Both SSC and BPG are not your father's beverage company! All other beverage companies in the market today are in one or two segments, normally closely allied to their top brand. BPG is a one stop beverage company and is in the liquor segment, ready to drink cocktails segment, nutraceutical water, fortified water and natural spring water segments, wine segment and draft beer segment. All this plus pouch patents and relevant machinery business. These various segments could all be stand alone companies.

What most investors don't take into consideration is that the base point of SSC on 1/1/07 was zero value and with huge losses and debt. The company actually had Caveat Emptor status and was bankrupt as well as having a share with little value.

BPG took it over on 1/1/08, after closing the technology deal (which included the use of the exciting ShotPak® cocktails) with SHOT Spirits Corporation and started to build our two ShotPak® brands using the principles below.

We planned to work with distributors and consumers to build our two brands so that they got noticed and drew fanatical consumer support from across the country. We emphasized the sensory features of the pouch and quality of the products.

We decided to build new innovative flavors with our distillery partner, Imperial Brands, for long term growth and for both the domestic and international market places. We now have 20 product lines. We decided to offer our patented pouch design to other liquor companies and pack for them. Our first contract is with California Blue® Tequilas.

We decided to build both of our Brands with the mission to stand the test of time and truly stand out as niche products. We had to think outside the glass and can 'box' traditionally used in the liquor industry. We saw the opportunity to create a modern, eco-friendly American Global StandUp pouch package with two different brands viz. ShotPak® 34 proof ready-to-drink cocktails and 80 proof STR8UP® spirits.

We invested in viral marketing and built a website that has become an online destination for all to learn about all our brands and the BPG company range of pouched beverages.

We also emphasize our good citizen mission and strongly support charities helping injured children, families needing nutritional support and recognize that alcohol needs to be dealt with as an adult beverage through education. We do not advertise in the press or on bill boards. We introduced six and 12 multipacks pushing the price point beyond $7.

Back to the stock question and why no movement upwards.

Let me say I am unashamedly what the market calls a Baby Boomer. We were the first generation to recognize the value of brands and growth by association. Thus now you understand why we decided to concentrate on ShotPak's growth in year one.

Remember we Baby Boomers invented 'growth'. That's the tool by which we are always measured. So we had to get the pouch in as many hands as possible and watch it grow from there. Our marketing themes were relentless, "Party in a Pouch / Share with your friends / Take your best shot" to get the adult beverage pouch into night clubs, celebrity events, golf courses, the transport segment, hotel pool areas and beach resorts as well as selected liquor stores.

As a Boomer our measurement of a Company's success was the stock market and their demand for ever increasing growth. No one bothered to really look inside a company, only that it grew.

This I strongly believe is the answer to the price question and the reason why our share is not moving. We are a sleeping giant and not fully understood! We are measured on growth alone and not potential. Our five parts can't be compared to any other company and we are missionaries in this regard. A beverage technology company.

Today as I reflect back on my previous 17 years in the beer industry, everything we did as Boomers was driven by the desire for maximum growth above all else. Each quarter had to be better than the last. More stores, more consumers, more export countries, reach higher and higher targets.

And then crash...

Now, suddenly in 2009 it seems, the new demand from investors is will you be around in six months? How strong is your brand? What is the depth of your company's intellectual property?

The indications are that brands that can deliver modest and measurable results are back in favor with investors, compared to say those that predict huge sales with doubtful bottom lines.

In addition to owning up to being part of the 'Baby Boomer' generation I have added another label of entrepreneur. I am finding that our beverage businesses is suddenly attracting venture capitalist interest.

Why?

Maybe they recognize that most entrepreneurs will continuously innovate regardless of the chaos around them and that winning the game is the very definition of entrepreneurship.

So suddenly what do or have they seen in Pink OTC SHOT Spirits Corporation (SSPT.pk) and its 15% investment in the Beverage Pouch Group?

Why the telephone calls? Why the visits?

I believe that they now see BPG as a unique one of a kind hard to duplicate small beverage company, with patented products and huge domestic and global potential.

A major plus for shareholders in SSC is that the Executive Committee has kept the free trading shares under a minuscule 45 million and a very positive benefit considering that year on year the SSC loss was reduced by over 60%, the assets were increased fivefold and this was done with no outside investors. Thus buying shares from this tiny pool of free trading shares is going to be harder as the second year results are reported.

It is not lost on the analysts that in the worst economy in 50 years, in the most regulated industry in the USA that both ShotPak® brands grew and now in 2009 have started to reach cult status. For example ShotPak® cocktails will be the exclusive ready-to-drink liquor at several major national concerts this summer (first is www.rockontherange.com). BPG is now working with celebrity industry partners like AEGLive, Sam Coplin Associates and Global Music. This exposure to hundreds and thousands of willing thirsty happy consumers will hopefully continue to support our market plan of further developing a niche and cult status and 'must have product'.

There is no question that our positive trend results and first year market penetration has awakened the interest of some forward looking money managers.

As they look closer they will find our BevPaQ™ Company will begin to offer nutraceutical health waters in a eco-friendly pouch in the third quarter as part of a technology collaboration license with a major pharmaceutical company. Same time we will start collaboration with The Nevada Bottling and Beverage Company and offer a range of their fortified and natural waters.

The VinoPaQ™ Company has already proven itself with its patented wine pouches and stand alone half gallon BarrelPaQ™ pouches are now being sold internationally. Suddenly the thought that in the USA we will be able to offer a 5 oz StandUp VinoPaQ™ wine pouch with open and close spout for consumption at any outdoor venue, will allow the wine traditionalists in this very conservative industry a chance to grow their events party market segment without harming glass sales.

Finally the catch phrase "toss me a tube" at a ball game, will hopefully be on everyone's lips as the CarboPouch™ from our BeerPaQ™ company starts to replace paper and glass packages at stadiums. This innovation allows breweries to sell fresh unpasteurized draft beer to thirsty consumers fast, and without the handling and pouring nightmares at present. Fresh beer, safe package, fast service, low carbon dioxide footprint and a Brand Managers dream of a pouch. The kind of stuff that made USA Brands famous around the world.

So now why won't SHOT Spirits Corporation shares go up in price? I don't know why, because we are doing all the right steps. What I do know is that there are a small number of shrewd investors who are not selling shares, because they understand where we are heading and the potential upside in the future.

A Shotsational April.

Creating the "WOW Factor"

Earlier this month we were at the Nightclub, Bar and Hotel Show in Las Vegas.

This show really tests a liquor product’s ability to stand out and create the WOW factor amongst so many competitors.

With more than 100 products to catch the imagination of the show visitors, there is only one message to the brand owner, get it right the first time or lose it!

For the consumers at this show the product decisions are endless.

With all this in mind, we needed a "WOW factor". We had a corner booth with 3 high table bars, stools and existing ShotPak® brands for tasting, plus a full range of the 8 new cocktails for tasting in plain silver unprinted pouches. The new product on its own would have to do the selling!

At the end of the show it was a pleasure to hear all our personnel reporting that the new and existing shots were a big hit with the consumers.

Imagine for 6 hours a day the booth personnel never stopped serving shots. The new Mojito created an instant fan club, as did the three caffeine enhanced cocktails. GRAVITY®, our 100 proof vodka with infused caffeine, was strongly supported by the Californian Blue infused caffeine Tequilas called Buzz-A-Rita natural or strawberry, and we instantly created a new ready to drink segment of caffeine infused ready to drink products in our StandUp pouch. Consumers tasted all three products were very impressed. They are all different but, in fact, complement one another.

The Cosmopolitan and Pomegranate martini are going to be welcome additions to any social occasion and our web site and e-store have been flooded with requests for when these will become available.

So, as we wrapped up after two busy days we learned that hard work pays off and that the consumers were more than satisfied with our new product additions.

On the selling side, we are available in 7 states and licensed in 5 more. Applications in another 11 states are underway.

By year end we will offer 12 ShotPak® cocktails and 12 STR8UP® spirits. This list of 24 products are the WOW factor of our www.shotpakinc.com web page. We await government approval of the label copy before we can sell these products. Hopefully, as you get your taste buds exposed to the new products and spread the word of how good they are, viral networking takes us to the next level.

Shotsational regards,

Charles Murray
PPi Technologies Global

The 30 hour day!

How many of you feel like you have too many 30 hour days?

Competition for my time is increasing, and the abundance of digital software makes it virtually impossible to hide. Think emails, voice messages, texting, pictures, videos, messages, phone calls, faxes and just plain old hand writing notes makes it impossible to do this in a standard 8 hour day. Everything is double viz. Answer phone while watching video. Answer emails in meetings etc. Is 30 hours enough?

No I am not indulging in some of our new ShotPak® cocktails in front of the fireplace as I write this blog, but on a plane thinking some days it just never seems to end.

Who misses the 8 to 5 office day, stop for a cocktail on the way home to miss the rush. Then the family at dinner and some after dinner activities followed by the news and bed at 11pm the latest. Up at 6.30 and the easy repeatable boring day.

Today up at 5.30am and on the cardiovascular machine for 20 minutes and opening the Blackberry for overnight text messages, emails as I run at a fast pace. Now 20 relaxed minutes become 40 active minutes as you do two projects at once. (20)

Shower, shave and leave by 6.45 with 30 minutes to the office and start returning calls while driving, another double activity and thus 30 minutes of double activity.

50 additional active minutes already and I am not at the office!

The office, no longer a refuge of cups of coffee, sports stories around the water cooler, but a race track of digital activities.

I log on and look at the emails in, emails requiring answers and meeting appointments flash across the screen taking up another 2 unplanned hours of the day. The phone message light is flashing and the number 4 shows we have a catchup game to play as well.

Start breathing slowly as I sort the work load. 70+ emails, 6 urgent from the day before, 4 telephone calls to return. I decide to walk to my mail box and find some letters, internal mail and a fax. Who longs for the days of the fax machine and no email?

7.15 I start on the 6 urgent emails and its 8 as I finish and the phone starts.

Next off to the first meeting of day and with my trusty Blackberry start answering emails whenever the meeting drifts from my sphere of business. Netresult one hour meeting and 20 minutes of double activity emails. (70)

Back to the office emails have crept up to 85 which in my business is 85 opening and 85 minutes replying. What happened to my secretary and her shorthand and 150 minute typing skills?

The phone starts and conference call for 30 minutes and I am opening and reading mail at the same time. 30 double activity minutes. (100)

Email and calls and its lunch time. What happened to the one hour lunch break?

Start eating joined by others and discussion heads to the afternoon meeting. Finish lunch and back on the job after 40 minutes to get ready for that meeting.

Email back up to 60. Between telephone, mail, meetings faxes and visits to various offices it is 6 pm. All the time double tasking means 150 minutes of double activity. Where did the day go. 20 from lunch and 60 after 5pm means I have worked already 250 double activity minutes.

Drive home and answer messages and another 30 minutes of double activity. (280)

Dinner, open my home private email and wish I hadn't. Finally while watchingTV holding a yes/no conversation with my better half I open the daily news paper.

Relax with the newspaper and one eye on the 11pm TV news I take one more look at the Blackberry to find 30 more emails and text messages. 80 minuteslater = (360 minutes or 6 hours of double activity time I am ready for bed).

Midnight fall into bed and the 5.30 alarm seems to be just too early.

So from 5.30 until wake up the next day my body has 24 standard hours and 6 hours of double activity action which is the perfect 30 hour day.

How did this happen?

Let's move to viral marketing, which we mentioned a year ago was our chosen method of marketing ShotPak® brands.

What does viral marketing mean?

Internet advertising or marketing messages that spread exponentially whenever a new user is added. Viral marketing assumes that as each new user starts using the service or product, the advertising will go to everyone with whom that user interacts with.


So now I realize part of my 30 hour day is caused by viral marketing news reaching me. Imagine as this develops, is the 50 hour day far away?

In conclusion, each email you send gets you two more back and it never stops.

We Americans are already one of the hardest working nations in the world and now with viral marketing we will some day not sleep longer than 3 or 4 hours a night.

USA Economy and the Future

With the health of the immediate economy tied to a government bailout package and some people planning the obituary of the USA industries, it is probably time to look at what the true picture is.

The statistics show with just 5% of the global population, the USA accounts for 30% of global domestic product and produces more output in a single year than the next four economies viz. Japan, Germany UK and China. In fact America's economy is more than four times the size of China's.

The USA is still a manufacturing powerhouse and the 2006 global manufacturing output data has hardly changed from the 22% in 1990. China ranked a distant second at 13%.

As for marketing, the USA has more than half of the worlds top 100 brands and of the top 10, eight were American.

At the same time the USA remains the most innovative economy in the world.

This is a good time to talk about our PPi Technologies Global packaging machinery and BPG-ShotPak® product lines.

Our proven pouch machinery allows many of the top food and beverage companies to get their products to the consumers at best price and quality. Similarly the ShotPak® ready-to-drink product pouches are modern and often feared by our competitors.

ShotPak® has grown about 30% in 2008 and is sold in only 5 states.

In 2009, we hope to have ShotPak® distributed in a dozen states with all the benefits of the larger market place.

Amazingly all this growth with no print advertising, only articles through the internet and appearances at public venues like golf courses and rock-n-roll dance clubs has spread the word. An incredible story that demonstrates our American innovative capabilities in production and marketing of a new regulated consumer liquor product.

So based on the above comments our view is all is not lost and the USA remains the most competitive and resilient economy in the world and we are happy to be part of the recovery. A strong 2009 to all of you.