The Online Resource for the Painting Industry
Articles on the business side.
“How much should I charge?” One of the most divisive topics in any contractors group is pricing. Ask that question, and watch the fireworks begin. May as well ask “How much is a bag of groceries?” There are several unfortunate methods like Despermating, WAG (wild ass guess) and RID (rent is due), or asking strangers […]
It doesn’t matter what industry you work in these days, customer reviews have become an integral part of a consumer’s purchase or subscription process. When it comes to professionals who offer residential services, reviews are that much more important. After all, would you let someone with a spotty past work on your home? Despite having […]
When it comes to painting a house, the quality of the products used and their application can be the difference between a paint job that begins to crack and chip as soon as it’s done drying and one that can last decades. In fact, every step of the process of painting a house — the […]
All of our customers are special Some customers may have needs that require some special attention. When they want painting and remodeling it’s our job to provide those services. At times it’s not clear they have special needs and in some cases they might not consider themselves to have any special needs. With all of […]
We’ve all experienced it before: That feeling of being let down when things don’t go exactly as we’d planned. It’s the feeling that arises when nobody comes to your New Year’s Eve party, or when you lose a football game against the worst team in the district. Your clients may very well have gone through this disappointment […]
I left the painting industry about 3 years ago. I had pretty much grown up in the industry, having worked for my painting contractor uncle for several years. I later was co-founder of Jalapeno Paint Werx in Naperville , IL. With our unusual name we quickly grew into a well-known residential repaint company in our […]
A funny thing happened on the way to the forum….. My name is Roger Coulter and I own and operate a small residential painting company in the northern suburbs of Chicago with roughly 15 years of experience. Painting is my life and I am fully committed to providing for my family through it. I have […]
Eyeball vs Measure Which do you usually do for an estimate on an exterior repaint? Do you measure or break out the different substrates? Recently one of our readers had an opportunity to use a new technology after we posted this press release and he commented. PaintScope hooked up Nick Dunse from Thinkpainting with a […]
The Art of Social Media I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of Guy Kawasaki’s book, “The Art of Social Media” recently. The first thing I read was this: Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Ralph Waldo Emerson That’s always […]
Marketers pledge all the time about the importance of social media and how you should incorporate the use of it into your marketing campaign. There are a lot of markets where social channels are pretty easy to work with, but when it comes to the painting industry that’s not always true. It can be difficult […]
What are you doing to better your business today? This was a question asked on a forum recently. The answers were widely varied, from “stocking up on supplies” to “putting a plan on paper”. A lot of good ideas, but no real action plans. It’s hard work running a paint contracting business, especially if you […]
Google+ Profiles-Google+ Pages and Google+ Local! Is your head spinning trying to keep it straight? I have spoken to several contractors that have their pages set up incorrectly, Google’s changes over the past two years have caused many to set up pages incorrectly. Let’s look at the different types first. Google+ Profiles If you are Facebook […]
Do you have something to share? Visit any forum, blog or Social Media site and you will find a wealth of very experienced folks sharing their advice freely. These are great resources in many ways to get general information and advice. A lot of the ones I frequent tend to be peers sharing information, but […]
Are you using Snapchat to market your painting business yet? If the answer is no, you’re missing out big-time. Snapchat is taking hold of the mobile market. In 2013 one of the app’s co-founders Evan Spiegal reportedly turned down a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook. Surely, this highlights the confidence the young entrepreneur has […]
