Monthly Archives: January 2015

  • Three Ways to Advertise Your Small Business

    Logo Floor MatsAs a small business owner, you rely on advertising to get the word out and let people know about your company. With so much competition, it’s easy to go unnoticed if you don’t find ways to draw attention to your business but that can be difficult when your funds are limited.

    Small businesses simply can’t spend thousands on ads to gain recognition like larger corporations do. However, there are ways to advertise your small business that will get you the attention you need without draining the bank account.

    Advertise Your Small Business Using Social Media

    Social media is thriving and all types of businesses are using it to draw attention to their company. Social media puts you in direct contact with your customers. You can share information about your business in a way that is interesting to consumers.

    People don’t pay as much attention to ads as they once did but they enjoy leaning more about the personal side of businesses. That is why using a social platform like Twitter, Facebook or Instagram is so effective.

    However, it’s vital that you make a good impression on your customers so you do have to be careful how you use them. If you don’t have any experience using social media platforms for business, it would be wise to seek the help of a professional.

    Use Logo Floor Mats

    Another excellent way to advertise your small business is to use logo floor mats at all of your physical locations. It may seem like a small thing but these mats have the potential to make a big impact. They help build brand recognition through repetition. When customers see your logo as they enter your place of business, throughout the facility and again when they leave, it helps them to remember you.

    We provide custom logo mats here at Floor Mat Systems and our Waterhog logo indoor/outdoor floor mats are an excellent choice for entrances. The super absorbent polypropylene surface and rubber-molded borders are designed to keep debris and moisture off the floor.

    Using quality floor mats will also keep customers safe when visiting your facility by reducing the risks of slip and fall accidents. Showing that you care about the safety of your customers will help build a positive image for your company so logo floor mats serve multiple purposes.

    Take Advantage of Promotional Items

    Giving away promotional items is an old marketing technique but it’s one that stills works great today. People love getting free gifts and they enjoy carrying them around with them and showing them off to others. One of the greatest things about promotional items is that you don’t have to give away some extravagant gift to get attention. You simply need to choose a quality item that people actually use.

    For example, a hardware store could give away promotional rulers. This is something that your customers would use and enjoy. Other items that can gain businesses a lot of attention include lighters, mugs, mouse pads, T-shirts and hats.

    Using social media, logo mats and giving away promotional items are simple ways that small businesses can make a huge impact on consumers. They can help you compete with other businesses in your industry while staying within your budget.

  • Three Ways to Protect Your Clean Room from Contaminants

    tackymat1From the medical field to electronic and computer manufacturers, many industries have special areas within their facilities called clean rooms. The environment inside these rooms must be carefully controlled to maintain a contaminant-free work zone.

    Some clean rooms such as the ones used in the medical field must strive to keep out all intrusive particles, which is why they normally require workers to wear suits and gloves when working. Hair, sweat and skin particles can be a problem for these industries and this type of gear will help prevent contamination.

    Other industries such as the electronic and computer manufacturers only need to eliminate dust and similar airborne particles that can damage small computer chips and similar devices. Below are three ways these industries can help keep their clean rooms free of contaminants.

    Ventilation Systems Will Help Protect Your Clean Room from Contaminants

    Having a good ventilation system is vital to keeping dust particles and other contaminants out of your clean room. Some systems use HEPA or high-efficiency particulate air filters and others use ULPA or ultra-low penetration air filters because these are the most reliable and efficient filters available today.

    The air entering the room must be monitored for contaminants and to make sure the temperature and humidity levels remain within the specified range. Therefore, it’s very important that you choose the right system for the job.

    Use Contamination Control Mats

    Using contamination control mats is another way to protect your clean room from contaminants. A large portion of dust and other debris is tracked into the room from the bottom of your shoes and on the wheels of the carts carrying equipment and supplies. To prevent these contaminants from entering your room, use these specialty mats.

    You can rest assured that all of our mats here at Floor Mat Systems are designed with quality and efficiency in mind to ensure the best possible results. Place the mats on the outside of all entranceways leading into you clean room. When someone walks over it, the sticky adhesive will pull the dust particles and other debris from the soles of your shoes and anything else that touches it. When the top sheet of adhesive becomes dirty, peel it off to expose a new sheet.

    We can help you choose the right size and color contamination mats for your clean room. We can also provide you with useful tips on how to use them correctly, so you’ll receive the full benefits these mats provide.

    Clean and Sanitize the Room

    It may sound simple, but cleaning and sanitizing the room is a necessary step to keeping your clean room free of dust and other contaminates that can affect your products. Create a cleaning schedule and have everyone that cleans the room sign off on it. This will eliminate any confusion over who is responsible for doing the cleaning and ensure that the room is being cleaned regularly.

    Keeping your room free of dust and debris will protect your sensitive equipment and help save your company money. Installing a good, quality ventilation system, using contamination mats and cleaning the room regularly will help keep your clean room free of contaminants.

  • 4 Key Areas in Fitness Centers that Require Floor Mats

    In our recent blog posts, we discussed how fitness centers could promote safety among their patrons by using the right floor mats in their facilities. Assuming that you already have the appropriate floor mats for your space, now we’re going to share the most important areas in your facility (other than the workout area) that require the same materials.

    Here’s where you should have floor mats laid down:

    1. Entrance

    This seems to be the most obvious area that needs floor mats; it keeps dirt, moisture, and grime from getting into your space. Understand, however, that entrance floor mats are not just for maintaining cleanliness—they are also effective in promoting your business image and brand. How? The answer is custom logo mats. You can build a great impression for customers and strengthen your brand just by placing customized mats that bear your brand logo at the entryway of your center. At Floor Mat Systems, we use topnotch tools to replicate images or typefaces precisely. Our materials are made of durable rubber and superior quality textile, ensuring that the floor mats will stay in tip top shape even with heavy foot traffic.

    2. Behind the check-in desk

    Your front desk staff are the first ones to make an impression on clients. A team of vibrant, vigorous and accommodating employees sets you apart from other gyms and they are sometimes the reason why clients keep coming back. It is crucial that you provide a comfortable environment for employees so they stay happy and productive in helping clients. Our anti-fatigue mats are effective in reducing stress for employees standing for long hours.

    3. Under locker room benches

    Place floor mats not just in shower rooms, but also in changing areas. Bacteria are present in these spaces, especially along the floor surfaces under lockers and benches. We highly recommend placing locker room mats to avoid germs and moisture in these areas and prevent slip-and-fall accidents. Our products are made of durable materials and easy to clean and maintain.

    4. In the administration office

    Office chairs in the admin office can create scratches on your floors when you slide them around. It is important that you keep the polished finish of your floors by placing the right floor mats. We offer a range of chair mats you can choose from. We encourage you to browse through our website.

    Knowing where to place floor mats in your fitness center will ensure safe experience for customers, comfortable working environment for employees, and clean and functional space for everybody. Contact us for your floor mat needs.

  • Restaurant Kitchen Safety Tips

    Commercial Entrance MatsThings move fast in the restaurant business and working in the kitchen area is certainly not as easy as many workers make it look. You’re often working under a lot of pressure and it’s vital that you don’t make mistakes. Giving someone the wrong order can hurt business but making a mistake when handling, preparing or cooking the food can result in serious complications.

    This is why restaurants require strict guidelines, exceptional management and dedicated workers. When you have good employees, you need to take care of them because you can’t keep your business afloat without them. Making sure your employees have a safe work environment is the first step and there are several ways to accomplish that goal.

    Restaurant Kitchen Safety Tips for Preventing Burns and Cuts

    Burns and cuts are two dangers employees encounter when working in commercial kitchens. Employees handle knives and equipment with sharp edges that pose a risk for cuts and there are many hot surfaces such as ovens and deep fryers that can cause serious burns. The fast-paced environment makes it difficult to concentrate on safety at times. You get in a rush and accidents happen.

    It’s easy for anyone to get distracted or even careless in this type of environment when the pressure is on but it’s even easier for someone with little experience. Since many restaurants employ teenagers and young adults, the risk of someone getting cut or burned increases because they’re not used to the hectic environment.

    Restaurant kitchen safety tips include providing your employees with the proper equipment and tools to do the job safely. You also want to make sure everyone is properly trained before allowing them to work in the kitchen, especially during rush hours. Make it a point to let all employees know that safety comes first, even if it means getting a little behind on orders.

    Use Kitchen Floor Mats

    If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant kitchen, you know how greasy and slick the floors can be. There is no way to keep the food, grease and other debris off the floor. This creates a dangerous work environment but you can’t stop and clean the floors, especially during a rush. To keep your employees from slipping and sliding around, use good quality floor mats.

    The Ring Mat heavy-duty drainage floor mat is a great option for kitchens where grease is a problem. The thick design is durable and the anti-fatigue properties provide extra comfort for employees, which make it easier for them to concentrate on their job. Here at Floor Mat Systems we have a large inventory of commercial floor mats designed to help create a safer environment throughout your facility.

    Encourage Teamwork

    Employees handle a lot of heavy items in the kitchen especially when moving the stock around. Encourage them to work together and help one another with the heavy items and it will help protect them against back strains and other injuries caused from lifting something heavy. Make sure all workers go through a training session on proper lifting techniques, as well.

    Keeping your kitchen area safe is top priority. Provide proper equipment, floor mats and training for your employees to help keep them safe but have an accident action plan in place, too. This way, if something does happen, everyone will know what to do.

  • Help Keep Your Home Cleaner with These Tips

    Recycled Commercial Floor MatsNo matter where you live, it’s impossible to avoid tracking dirt into your home but there are ways to cut down on the amount of dirt that gets tracked in. Dirt, grime and moisture can cause serious damage to your floors in a short amount of time and it can cause other problems, too. Therefore, keeping as much of it out of your home is a priority for homeowners.

    You could insist that everyone entering your home remove their shoes as soon as they enter and leave them at the doorway. Providing a bench, shoe rack and slippers for family members will make it easier for everyone to remember to do this.

    However, this practice can be inconvenient at times such as when you’re carrying in groceries or when you have guests over because it makes some people feel very uncomfortable. There are other ways to help keep your home cleaner and protect your flooring.

    Keeping Your Porch Clean Will Help Keep Your Home Cleaner

    Sweeping often to keep the dirt and debris from collecting on your porch is a great way to help keep the inside of your home cleaner. Each time you step onto your porch, you’re bringing all the dirt and other debris stuck to the soles of your shoes with you. On top of that, the wind blows dust, leaves and even dirt onto your porch. By making a habit of keeping it clean, you’re greatly reducing the amount of dirt tracked into your home.

    Use both Indoor and Outdoor Floor Mats

    In addition to keeping your porch clean, use indoor and outdoor floor mats. Outdoor scraper mats will pick up the majority of the dirt and grime before you even step foot inside. Good quality mats are tough and designed to use in all types of weather. They won’t curl up on the ends when the temperature changes nor will they crack or fade and they do a great job of keeping the dirt out.

    On the inside, use indoor floor mats to catch anything left behind on the shoes. You have a wide selection of indoor mats to choose from that vary in style, shapes and sizes. For example, you can use message floor mats to rely inspirational messages to your family members and guests or you can choose floor runners to cover more of the flooring.

    If you’re looking for ways to incorporate green living into your home, we even have a wide variety of eco-friendly floor mats to choose from that will help protect your floors. Be sure to use floor mats at all entrances and clean them regularly for maximum protection.

    Avoid Using Carpet at Entrances

    Carpets create a warm and inviting space within your home. They’re great for bedrooms and living rooms but they do have a tendency of collecting dirt. This is why expert designers recommend you don’t use carpet at entrances. Instead, choose a flooring that is easy to clean such as tile, linoleum or even hardwood floors that you can vacuum and mop easily to remove the dirt and debris that does enter your home.

    Following these simple tips will make it easier to keep your home free of the dirt and debris that gets tracked in daily and they’ll help protect your flooring.

  • Accident Prevention Tips for Rainy Days

    Eco Friendly Entrance MatsWhen the weather takes a turn for the worse and the rain just keeps coming down, business owners need to think about keeping their customers safe. Slip and fall accidents are a serious problem for any business that has a physical location and rainy days contribute to this problem. As soon as someone walks through your doors, it’s imperative that you do everything you can to ensure their safety.

    For this reason, you need a plan to help you maintain a safe environment for your customers and your employees. Below are a few accident prevention tips to help reduce the risks of slip and fall accidents in your place of business, especially on rainy days.

    Accident Prevention Begins with Awareness

    Hold meetings to make your employees aware of the problems associated with rainy weather. In many cases, workers don’t think about someone slipping and falling until an accident occurs. Making them aware of the dangers in advance will help ensure they take the proper steps when needed. Assign someone every shift to inspect the floors and mop up any excess water tracked in due to heavy traffic. Be sure to keep your wet floor signs out for several hours after the rain has stopped while you’re waiting for everything outside to dry out.

    Use Entrance Mats and Runners

    Using commercial entrance mats and runners will help to keep the moisture out of your facility. The entrance mats will catch the bulk of the water and trap the moisture before it’s tracked inside. The runners will catch anything that the entrance mats don’t pick up. This double layer of protection will go a long ways in keeping your customers safe on rainy days when the risk of having a slip and fall accident increases. We have a nice selection of all weather commercial floor mats to choose from suited for any type of business. Feel free browse around our site and check out some of your options.

    Use the Right Floor Cleaners

    Did you know that certain types of floor cleaners could make your floor slicker than it should be? It’s for this reason that certain types of floor cleaners are recommended for different types of flooring. Using the wrong type of cleaners can greatly increase your risks of slip and fall accidents anytime but the risks are even greater when it’s wet outside. It’s imperative that your employees know what to use on the floor and why it matters. This is the best way to avoid mistakes that could result in accidents.

    Provide Umbrella Stands for Your Customers

    When it’s raining, many people like to use umbrellas but carrying a wet umbrella around your facility can create a problem. There is no way to prevent the water from dripping onto the floor and if you’re busy, it may not get cleaned up in time to prevent an accident. Having a couple of umbrella stands with bags is a great way to prevent this problem and your customers will appreciate your thoughtfulness.

    When it comes to accident prevention, sometimes the little things make the most difference such as keeping your floors clean and using proper floor cleaners. Simply providing customers with umbrella stands and investing in entrance mats and runners are also excellent ways to prevent slip and fall accidents, especially on rainy days when the risks are higher.

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