What is happening at BP?

It’s been a great ride so far!

The Blogging Painters are an eclectic group of business owners whom are passionate about the painting industry. Sounds kind of silly doesn’t it? Like a bunch of guys who like watching paint dry? But it is more than that!

I wrote that in one of our first posts in July of 2011, and it still holds true! Over the last few years BP has grown and evolved into something I never imagined it would. And I have loved every minute! We currently have close to 400 subscribers and over 6,000 visits every month. But the numbers are not the real story, the community is. Over the past few years, we have built a community that shares best practices, new products, business strategies, marketing ideas, website help and more. These ideas, opinions and resources are shared across platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and forums. Not only do we share online, but in real life. Many in our community have had the great pleasure of meeting each other at expos, workshops, conventions, PDCA meetings and sometimes just for lunch!

The community is expanding

Recently, I wrote about how the relationships between contractors and manufacturers is evolving. Here at BP we have developed some key relationships with major manufacturers who are watching what our readers say and take notice. Last year we added the Readers Review section to provide a place for our readers to provide their opinions on products. These are not the in depth, detailed reviews like you might find over at Topcoat Review, but a good indicator of what the “guys in the field” think of new products. I encourage you to leave your thoughts!

And then there are the inventors..

This has been a interesting development. We have been approached by several folks that have invented a new product, many being contractors trying to find a solution to a problem they have encountered in their own business.  These folks need to to have the feedback from professionals to make improvements or judge the viability of a product. A few examples:

• Job Wizard– Neville Solomon has created a time sheet app for painters, several of our members have provided feedback and have suggested improvements, which have been implemented.
• The Hangman-Adam Goldberg created this and has launched a Kickstarter program, check it out and make a pledge
• The Bucket Buddy-BP was recently asked to provide feedback on this new product
• The Painting Buddy-I recently sent these out to our Product Test Team for feedback

We are looking forward to connecting our readers, the experts, with some of these products. I realize that some may be panned, we won’t be doing paint pads ;), but our readers are the best ones to give meaningful responses.

If you are a regular BP reader and would like to be part of the dialogue between painters, inventors and manufacturers, or to join our BP Test Team, please leave a comment below. We also welcome general feedback about what you would like to see on BP.