2011 May KLEINNewslettercomplete (PDF)

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Circle ofSafety

™

Your Consumer Awareness Advisor ™

By: Chris Klein

P.O. Box 307, Eagle Bend, MN 56446 ~ 800-732-5752 ~ klein11@midwestinfo.com

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Organizing a Safe &
Profitable Yard Sale
It's that time of year when the urge to spring clean starts to
get the better of us. And, for many of us trying to make
space and declutter our lives, that also means organizing a
yard sale. Naturally, you want to make as much money as
you can, while protecting your interests as the hordes
descend on to your property. With that in mind, here's a
short stack of tips to help guide you safely towards success:
What should I sell? That depends on how radical you want
to be but anything you haven't worn or used for over a year
is a contender. Be firm with yourself – no saying: "I might
need this one day." You probably won't.
When should it be? Undoubtedly weekends, and Saturdays
are better than Sundays. Don't start any later than 8am. You
will do more than 75% of your business in the morning.
What sells well? Kids' books and toys, unused beauty
products, garden tools, good condition furniture. What
you've probably got most of – clothes – don't sell well,
though children's wear can be an exception.
How should I price stuff? If you're decluttering, price low.
Otherwise, start out at around 10% of what an item would
cost new and be prepared to bargain down. Try bundling
items together. Slash your prices for the last few hours.
What about safety? Use common sense: Strong tables, no
clutter on the ground, sharp items out of kids' reach. Have a
first aid kit close by; in warm weather provide drinking water.
Am I insured? Homeowners and renters insurance likely
will cover you for liabilities to others, though you should
check your policy (or with us) for limitations and exclusions.
For instance, if you sell other people's stuff, craft items you
make, or regularly hold yard sales, your activities might be
deemed a business, for which you'd need additional
coverage.
Final words: You know from TV shows that people
sometimes find really valuable items at yard sales. If you
have antiques or anything that's been in the family a long
time, get them appraised first.
Finally, if yard sales are not your idea of fun, consider
donating your surplus items and writing off the value against
your taxes. Then you can take the day off instead!

IN THIS ISSUE: ▪ Safe & Profitable Yard
Sales ▪ facebook and twitter ▪ Shredding
Party and BBQ▪ First Aid For
Unsupervised Kids ▪ Did You Know?▪ Get
Your Deck or Patio Ready For Warmer
Days

Find us on facebook!
Follow us on Twitter!
Over the last several months we have had
numerous people asking us if we have a
facebook page and twitter account. We
can now say “Yes, we do!” In today’s
world of instant communication we are
glad to offer this 21st century way to
communicate with you. Please search for
Klein Insurance and Financial Services on
facebook to find our page. Once there,
we’d appreciate it if you would “like” us
and, if you’re happy with our service, even
“suggest” us to your friends. We are now
working hard to make our facebook page
another resource for you to access
important insurance information and
deliver timely messages. Please check
back often this year as we work to make
this tool as helpful as possible for you.
Additionally, we have now set up a Twitter
account and are “tweeting” pertinent
information several times per week. Our
Twitter account is KleinIns. If you tweet,
please consider following us on Twitter
today!

Are you Client of the
Month? See Page 3

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Join Klein Insurance for a BBQ
and Shredding Party!
On June 21st, 2011, from 12-2pm Klein Insurance
will be hosting a “mobile shredding party”! In an
effort to help protect our clients from the dangers of
identity theft, we’ve contracted with a local
shredding firm to bring their mobile shredder truck
to us. The shredder will be at the Highway 71 park
in Eagle Bend (just a block from our office). Gather
up all your old bank statements, insurance policies,
you name it, whatever you want to shred and get rid
of, bring it in and you can watch it shred!!!
There is no limit to the quantity you can shred, so
start gathering all your old papers up now and bring
them by on June 21st between 12 and 2pm.
In addition, as long as we’re going to be outside, we
figured we might as well have a barbeque too! So,
we’ll also be providing free hotdogs, hamburgers,
chips and soft drinks. This is your official invitation
to come on by and enjoy a bit of the day with us!

Klein Insurance switching to summer
hours on May 16th
As of May 16th, we are switching to our summer hours, just
like last year. Our hours will be:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 9am-3pm
Tuesday and Thursday 9am-5pm
We are also glad to make other arrangements with you as
needed.

First Aid For Kids – For When You're Not Around
In a previous issue, we discussed what to do when circumstances
force you to leave children home alone. Here's another question:
Would they know how to apply first aid if there's no adult about, or if
the adult is the one needing help? Well, the American Red Cross has
thought about that, offering a program for K - 3 children called FACT
(First Aid for Children Today). For "oldsters" – aged 8 to 11 – there's
When I'm In Charge (WIIC), which prepares children to respond safely
is situations where there's no adult supervision. Find out more from
your local Red Cross chapter via http://www.redcross.org/where.
The scouting movement is also a great resource, providing badge
training for cubs and brownies upwards.

DID YOU KNOW…?
Klein Insurance
offers all different
kinds of insurance!
That’s right! At Klein
Insurance we offer just
about every kind of
insurance imaginable. If you
don’t have ALL your
insurance with us, you could
be missing the boat! You
might have coverage gaps
or might simply be paying
too much! Give us a call for
quotes on all your insurance
protection. Examples of just
some of the different kinds
of insurance we offer are:
 auto
 home
 farm
 business
 life
 boat
 snowmobile
 motorcycle
 health
 cancer
 disability
 flood
 annuities
 liability
 commercial auto

Thank You for Referrals!
Thanks to all our clients who
graciously referred their family,
friends and associates to our
agency.
We build our agency on your
positive comments. We
couldn’t do it without your
help!
Cleo Hanson

WIN! WIN! WIN!
This month Klein Insurance is sponsoring a Trivia Contest and
offering you a chance to win a $20 gift card. Test your knowledge!
Answer the question below and you could be this month’s winner. The
entry that comes closest to the correct answer to the following
question will be the winner. If more than one person has the exact
answer, the winner will be the person whose entry reached our office
first. Write down your name and answer, and fax to (218) 738-3452 -or mail to P.O. Box 307, Eagle Bend, MN 56446 this page -- or email
your name and answer to hinzmann11@midwestinfo.net. Good luck!

Jane Voge

Gail & Don Sells

One of the oldest-surviving animal species, this lizard
has been around for 40 million years and is only
found in the wild in Eastern Indonesia. It's also the
world's heaviest lizard. What is it?

Sharon Kempf

Your Name: _________________________________________

Al Jenson

Address or Contact Details:______________________________

Fred & Karen Wurst

____________________________________________________

DeWayne Peper

Your Answer:_________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

Are You
Our Client of the
Month?
Our agency is nothing without
your loyalty and faith in us.
Even if your name doesn’t
appear below this month,
please accept my heartfelt
thanks for your support. I truly
appreciate it!
For outstanding work telling
others about our agency,
this month we honor:
DeWayne Peper
as our Client of the Month!
DeWayne will receive a $25
gift card! Thanks for your
continued business!

Last Month’s Winner:
Congratulations to Gen Keranen for correctly answering last month’s
trivia question! For the correct answer, Gen Keranen has won a free
$20 gift card!
Last month’s question was:

When should you have a tetanus shot? Yearly? Every
10 years? Whenever you suffer an open wound?
Answer: You need one every 10 years to maintain immunity. If
it’s been longer since you last had one, speak to your primary
care physician. With an open wound outside the 10 year range,
if your physician is not available, go to the emergency room.

Tell Others About Us and Win a Prize
Who will be our next Client of the Month? Could it be you?
Referrals are the lifeblood of any business, and there’s no better
source than you, our clients.
Just mention KLEIN INSURANCE to a friend, relative, or colleague
and have them give us a call at (800)-732-5752. Don't forget to tell
them to use your name, so we can enter you for our prize draw! Thank
you in advance.

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Return Address:
Klein Insurance
P.O. Box 307
Eagle Bend, MN 56446

Klein Insurance Agency’s

Circle of Safety™
Your Consumer Awareness Advisor ™

To:

IT'S A FACT: Electricity from a lightning bolt is only enough to power one light bulb for a
few weeks. The power is in its concentration for a fraction of a second.

Clear the Decks! Get Ready for Spring and Summer
There's nothing quite like sitting back on a comfy outdoor chair, or dining al fresco, when the sun's up and all
seems right with the world. But if that's the sort of opportunity you have on your mind right now, maybe you
should be getting a little groundwork done. And, if you have a patio or deck, that means checking it for wear
and tear, making repairs and sprucing it up for the best of the spring and summer months.
The life expectancy of a wooden deck is around 10
checking for metal corrosion or missing fixtures, and
to 15 years and the Home Safety Council reckons
rot or big cracks in the boards and posts. Don’t try
that in any one year 20 million decks may be at risk
to repair any of these items – replace them.
of collapse. It's a serious business. On average,
With ground-level patios, usually concrete or tile,
one or two people die every year and about 60
the main safety issues are slippery surfaces and
people are injured when their deck collapses. You
cracks. Broken tiles can be replaced but slab cracks
can improve your safety factor and achieve the
are a bigger challenge. You can use a filler to seal
highest deck life expectancy, and maybe even
the cracks but, in the longer term, the patio will have
extend it, by doing an annual check, replacing
to be replaced, especially if cracks cause part of it
damaged or missing items and by cleaning and
to slope towards the house. Slippery surfaces,
treating the wood with preserver.
usually the result of moss, are best dealt with by a
The first thing to check out is the overall structure,
high-pressure cleaner. You can buy solvents at your
starting with the state of the wood or composite
local hardware store to loosen or even remove
material and the fixtures that hold the whole thing
moss but there'll likely be a residue to be pressure
together, especially the connection – the ledger –
washed. None of these jobs is particularly pleasant
that fastens the deck to your house. Make sure you
but by doing them now you'll be able to sit back and
look underneath your deck, using a flashlight,
enjoy the outdoor experience when the time comes!

Worrying is the most natural and spontaneous of human functions. It is time to
acknowledge it, perhaps even to learn to do it better.
Lewis Thomas, US Pathologist (1930-1990)