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logo-abcmc-1148102It’s true that people will remember you based on the work you do on the job from start to finish. But before you can get the job, first impressions matter and that includes visual elements that help you stand out from others the prospect may be considering. That’s what makes developing a good logo important.

We know what you’re thinking: “How much $$$ is that going to cost me?”
Thankfully, there are new services popping up to make getting a logo from a professional designer easier and more affordable. One example is Fiverr.com, in which you can have a logo designed starting at $5.

So getting a logo is more cost-effective than ever and we know that having someone say, “Hey, nice logo,” when seeing your business card can be more powerful than it would initially appear to be. But how do you know what makes a better logo than a mediocre one?

Remember that it has to feel like a logo that you haven’t seen before.
It’s perfectly fine to have many types of logo styles out there that you admire – and truthfully, sharing these logos with a designer could be immensely helpful to them and to the results you’ll get back from them. But after you’ve shared those examples, you don’t want to see a total mirror image of another logo either.

It’s got to feel like yours: An ownable design with the kind of type and colors that align with the rest of your brand – in short, something you’re proud to represent you as the very first visual element that a customer can point to. It’s going to be everywhere a customer can potentially find you.

If this logo is the very first design element of your entire brand, think about how comfortable you’d be with certain type styles, color schemes and shapes. Do certain colors seem less masculine to you? Are there type styles that you don’t like because they’re challenging to read? These are good things to express to your logo designer to save the both of you some time. The more you can think and convey what you like (and don’t like) upfront, the smoother the process will go.

Also, some people try to force their logo to say too much about their business. In reality, a graphic design in itself may be difficult to accomplish that, but having a descriptive font below that design that’s easy to read and complements the image above it can do the job. Yes, Apple has an apple for a logo, but not every business is going to be that easy – particularly service-based ones like yours.

Finally, err on the side of keeping it professional in feeling. You’re aiming to communicate a sense of credibility and build trust, so an image that can come off as too playful may not be appropriate for someone in the refinishing trade, for example.

Good luck and enjoy the process. You’re on your way to making an investment in the kind of visual reminder of your business that may appear like a minor detail now but is a big step toward making a first impression.

It’s true that people will remember you based on the work you do on the job from start to finish. But before you can get the job, first impressions matter and that includes visual elements that help you stand out from others the prospect may be considering. That’s what makes developing a good logo important. […]

servicesIt’s true that a good word from a trusted source can go an awfully long way. But what happens if one of your prospective customers has a referral that points to you and to someone else? What then? Or what if there’s no referral at all and the homeowner needs to rely on an impartial source to find a credible contractor?

In the past, this is where a consumer might explore the Better Business Bureau to see if the business was listed and how it was rated. However, two of the more popular rating services, Angie’s List and Yelp make the field a little more crowded – and for businesses like yours a little more confusing as to where you should be listed, if listed with any of them at all.

Let’s take a closer look at each of them:

The Better Business Bureau is certainly the most well-established organization of its kind, being over 100 years old. Companies are rated on an A+ through F grading system. There are millions of businesses in its database but only a portion of those are referred to as “accredited” businesses by the BBB. Once the business pays an annual fee and meets a variety of requirements from the BBB, it is eligible to be an accredited business in the database. Despite some controversy in recent years about accredited businesses in the BBB receiving special treatment, there’s no evidence of this.

Angie’s List is a 20-year-old business with at least two million members and, like the BBB, grades on a system of A through F. Consumers who pay an annual fee for membership can review companies, but anyone can leave a review of a company, member or not. A couple of distinguishing differences about Angie’s List you should be aware of: 1) Companies that are rated high enough by consumers can buy advertising that puts them at the top of many searches. So you’re not getting a completely unbiased system in terms of visibility. 2) Grades are done on an average of reviews, which is fine for giving a good picture of a company if there are many reviews, but if a company only has two reviews, it can feel a bit skewed. Despite this, Angie’s List appears to maintain good credibility overall as a ratings service.

Finally, there’s Yelp, which may offer the greatest visibility in terms of number of visitors to its site. People don’t pay to use Yelp and can leave a review any time they wish. Is it perfect? Frankly, no. When you have a system where anybody can leave a negative review, it’s not so easy for a company to reach out to that person to make things right. There are positive stories of customers amending reviews, but it doesn’t always happen.

Knowing this about three of the most popular ratings systems, where should you list yourself as a contractor?

Remember that trying to list yourself everywhere might not be the best policy. What you really may need more than anything is a solid number of positive reviews on one site. Then, once you have this, you have a place that you can point prospects toward by saying, “Go to this site and check out what people are saying about me.” After all, if you have this going on in the form of 10, 20, 50 different reviews…do you need to be anywhere else? Probably not.

So after a successful job, encourage your customer to go on the site you’re most comfortable with being listed and provide a positive review if they were happy with the service. Because that glowing review will mean the most to a prospective customer evaluating your services, no matter where it’s found.

It’s true that a good word from a trusted source can go an awfully long way. But what happens if one of your prospective customers has a referral that points to you and to someone else? What then? Or what if there’s no referral at all and the homeowner needs to rely on an impartial […]

 

In a trend that reflects the changing contemporary tastes of homeowners, we’re seeing more people forego many of the “bells and whistles” associated with showers and tubs such as body sprays and shower jets. In addition, whirlpool tubs are losing some popularity too.

Why? Functionality and practicality. Homeowners complain that whirlpools are too noisy and don’t gel with the concept of a quiet, peaceful bath experience. In addition, they can be challenging to maintain and too big for certain spaces. Meanwhile, jets and sprays, which may seem like a luxurious feature, aren’t being utilized as much as some homeowners originally imagined.

Despite the chatter we occasionally hear about eliminating a bathtub entirely, homeowners smartly realize that having a bath-free home can have quite a negative impact on value and future sale (especially to a future buyer with small children). A bathtub is a virtual necessity – it’s what kind of bathtub that more homeowners are gravitating to: The freestanding tub.

Getting into a freestanding tub may not be an enticing option for seniors, but for many others, the curved freestanding tub lends the bathroom a great deal of elegance with simplicity, giving the space a spa-like feel.

Though some freestanding tubs can cost several thousand dollars and far more than a built-in tub, it’s still the type of addition to a space that can compare quite favorably to an extensive bathroom remodel. A recent poll of designers by the National Kitchen and Bath Association found 60% of those designers ordering freestanding tubs for their bathroom projects. Sometimes we think of such tubs as something copper and antique that Benjamin Franklin would sink into – based on this poll, not so much. Many designers expressed a more contemporary look was occurring and with the contemporary styles that many manufacturers offer today, the category isn’t limited.

In addition to the expense compared to built-in tubs, those considering a freestanding tub will need to make sure that they have the proper space of at least six feet or so to accommodate the tub, a floor drain solution for overflow and how it actually feels in a store/factory environment prior to bringing it home.

Overall, a growing number of homeowners who strive for a spa-like environment in their bathrooms are willing to pay for it, going for the higher investment of a freestanding tub. This should be welcome news for those of us in the trade such as refinishers who can help protect that investment for the long haul.

  In a trend that reflects the changing contemporary tastes of homeowners, we’re seeing more people forego many of the “bells and whistles” associated with showers and tubs such as body sprays and shower jets. In addition, whirlpool tubs are losing some popularity too. Why? Functionality and practicality. Homeowners complain that whirlpools are too noisy […]

It’s not like you have the most complex designed website in the world. So why should you care about how “mobile-friendly” that website is? Well, let’s put it this way:

  • Do you care about how you’ll be found when people are searching for contractors like you?
  • Do you care about how readable the type on your site is when someone’s looking at it through a smartphone?
  • Do you care if your website’s links are hard to find?

hands-coffee-smartphone-technology-large

Hopefully, the answers to questions like these are, “Yes, yes and yes.”

Sure, a lot of business in the tradesman’s line of work may ultimately get done over the phone or face-to-face, but before that, your prospective customer may be in “research mode” looking for a contractor. Considering that 182 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones by the end of last year according to marketing measurement leader comScore, Inc., you can be sure that many of those prospects are doing researching from the comfort of their smartphones.

1 in 4 searches around the world are conducted on a mobile device, which makes a mobile version of your website just as important as a traditional version for the desktop. On top of that, Google continues to suggest that if your website doesn’t have a readable version for mobile, your search ranking will risk being hurt so that people will have a harder time finding you.

So what are you supposed to do about it? Start learning a bunch of code? Not at all.

The word here that you’ll often hear with this topic is “optimized.” You want your website optimized for people to view and use on their smartphones too. To get there, interview a few different website writers or designers your colleagues have used. Tell them that you’d like to see your site load fast on a handheld device and be just as easy for people to read on mobile as it is on a desktop.

Naturally, they’ll have some thoughts and suggestions too, which can be great, but don’t let them talk over your head in programming language. Ask them to break it down in plain English. You need to understand what they’re doing from start to finish. If you’re not understanding what they’re saying and they can’t explain it well enough, move on to someone who can.

Then, based on your comfort with their style, plan and affordability, make the call on someone who can do a lot for ensuring you have a version of your site that reflects the devices your prospective customers are practically glued to. If you need help optimizing your site for mobile platforms please give us a call. We can help you find someone competent to do so.

It’s not like you have the most complex designed website in the world. So why should you care about how “mobile-friendly” that website is? Well, let’s put it this way: Do you care about how you’ll be found when people are searching for contractors like you? Do you care about how readable the type on […]

a-simple-house-1190323-640x480At least 1 in 4 people in America seem to believe that home values didn’t go anywhere last year – and they’d be wrong. Nationally, home values grew by 4%.

Nearly half the people in Tampa believe that home values have either dropped or stayed exactly the same this year. Wrong again. The city’s home values overall grew by 9% compared to last year.

What’s going on here?
According to Zillow’s Housing Confidence Index, homeowners in a variety of markets are underestimating the home values in their market, creating a perception gap between belief and reality. In markets such as Atlanta, Dallas, San Francisco, Las Vegas and others, there were a very small number of people who correctly estimated the growth of home values. 

The opportunity for tradesmen: Education
Clearly there is a more positive trend in actual home values than what people believe it to be, so greater education on homes in the neighborhood and market is needed.

As more homeowners will be pleasantly surprised by these upward trends, they may be simultaneously more open to starting a kitchen or bathroom project. After all, the investment they make in a kitchen or bathroom, even a minor one, could yield even more positive returns on the home’s value. Frame your refinishing project as playing a key role within the “big picture” of home value, especially when kitchens and bathrooms are two of the most important rooms in a home for adding that value.

At least 1 in 4 people in America seem to believe that home values didn’t go anywhere last year – and they’d be wrong. Nationally, home values grew by 4%. Nearly half the people in Tampa believe that home values have either dropped or stayed exactly the same this year. Wrong again. The city’s home […]

hourglassSay, where did you put that piece of equipment you purchased? And the prospective customer’s phone number – it was around here somewhere, wasn’t it? There’s an invoice that needs to be paid that was just on your desk a minute ago, so what happened to it?

We all misplace items in the course of our week. It drives us crazy trying to find it until most of the time, we do. But did you ever think of just how much time is lost in productivity trying to locate missing items…in a year?

The total may blow your mind: 76 hours a year.

You read that correctly. A recent survey by Brother International finds that the average employee spends 76 hours per year trying to find items they’ve misplaced in the office or on their computer.

If that number seems outrageously high, consider that you can get there fairly easily if you spend just under 20 minutes per day looking for something either in your office or on your computer. Even if you haven’t lost a physical item this week, like a calculator or file folder, think about how many times you’ve had to search for anything on your computer that you couldn’t find right away – and suddenly, that 20 minutes wasted each day doesn’t seem difficult to reach, does it?

How do you reverse the trend and find the time?

Give yourself a paperwork home base.
That home base shouldn’t mean putting it in a corner of your desk or stuffing it all into one of your drawers either. Dedicate a special box for your invoices, credit card statements, bills you’ve paid, annual policies, etc. If it’s something you’re going to refer to on a semi-regular basis within the year, don’t put that box away in storage. Keep it handy and accessible. Other records, such as legal and financial paperwork that you don’t need every year but still need to hang on to could be filed away in a separate folder.

Scan everything else.
With a scanner, you can eliminate a lot of the hard copies of files and paperwork that you may not need this very instant and could build up too much on your desk if left in their original paper form. Older receipts are a good example of this. A scanner lets you keep these records in a secure place online while de-cluttering your workspace. Arrange them by the month or quarter.

What kind of secure place are we referring to?
Not your computer. A computer can be stolen or damaged, leading you to scramble to save your information. Instead, once scanned, consider putting your files on an external hard drive (also called a “flash drive”) or an online cloud storage center such as Google Drive or Dropbox.

Keep your most regularly used files close and send those less-than-urgent files into digital storage. You’ll whittle down the average of 76 hours per year thanks to being more focused and productive on the core business that matters most.

Say, where did you put that piece of equipment you purchased? And the prospective customer’s phone number – it was around here somewhere, wasn’t it? There’s an invoice that needs to be paid that was just on your desk a minute ago, so what happened to it? We all misplace items in the course of […]

seniorAccording to a new report from CareerBuilder, the remodeling industry isn’t just back. It’s poised to become one of the fastest-growing fields between now and 2019. In that time, the residential remodeling industry will grow by 26%, adding 148,000 jobs in this field alone. If this is the year that the remodeling market makes a full recovery to levels seen before the recession – and continues to grow beyond that – one key demographic that may influence this growth is the baby boomer audience.

Fueling the boom by aging-in-place
As the boomer generation continues to age, the type of remodeling work done may very well shift with it. True, some may engage in full-scale kitchen and bathroom renovations of over $75,000 in preparation of a move, but it appears likely that a greater number may choose less expensive projects to accommodate their aging in place. Think less about bathroom overhauls and more about bathroom with wheelchair accessibility. It’s not unreasonable to think that, if the budget is right, boomers will at least explore converting a 2nd bathroom on the main floor into a full bathroom. Similarly, the timing may be right to have a conversation about kitchen or bathroom refinishing in that the investment is quite economical for an outstanding return. In fact, a report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) at Harvard University, “Housing America’s Older Adults,” suggests that the peak time to talk to boomers may be those in their early 50’s who are still working and are likely many years from facing the kind of long-term care expenses that would compete for remodeling dollars.

Nearly 1 in 3 will be minorities
If current trends hold 15 years from now, decisions made on remodeling could even impact more people within the household. Why? Within the age bracket of those 65 to 79-years-old, 30% will be minorities. It’s predicted by Harvard researchers that this segment, particularly Hispanics and Asians, will embrace the environment of multiple generations living under one roof more so than we’ve ever seen before. In other words, rather than frequent moves from place to place, expect a significant number of boomers to look to beautify their existing space – all with the goal of maximizing their dollars as well as in the event multiple generations join them in the same household. Considering the size of the boomer audience to begin with, it’s the kind of demand should fuel one of the hottest industries for jobs for many years to come.

According to a new report from CareerBuilder, the remodeling industry isn’t just back. It’s poised to become one of the fastest-growing fields between now and 2019. In that time, the residential remodeling industry will grow by 26%, adding 148,000 jobs in this field alone. If this is the year that the remodeling market makes a […]


email“Hi! I’m (name) and I’d like to tell you about all the great services I offer here at Company ABC!”

Have you ever gotten an email like this from someone trying to sell you their services? It’s rarely the kind of communication you like to receive because you didn’t sign up for it. But the funny part is, they may actually have something you want to buy…but what that “thing” is could be buried down deep in a long list of services that you don’t have the time or energy to wade through to find. You delete the email in no time because, let’s face it – it’s just not worth it to read.

Now think about this from your end. When you reach out to prospective customers, are you launching into stories of all the people you’ve helped far too soon in the process? Or are you aiming to start a conversation based on a potential “pain” they might be feeling? Small lead-ins and questions that take up no more than a paragraph may be much more effective.

Where do you start?
Think about the biggest headaches that your customer has conveyed to you about their kitchen or bathroom. What misconceptions do they have? What causes them stress about that room? What do they think it costs to fix the problem? Using some of these common traits you find that they say, incorporate that into your lead-in, such as: “Many of the homeowners I’ve worked with in your area think countertop refinishing may cost thousands of dollars more than it actually does. However, I’ve found that when I tell them the actual price and timeframe, they’re shocked to learn how little it requires.”

You’ve just spoken to two potential pains – money and time. They’re not only concerned about cost but also about the disruption to their daily life that they’d have to experience.

Plus, if you focus on one small area of the kitchen or bathroom with the topic of refinishing, they’re likely to see this as an easier, more manageable conversation. You’re not going to go into a meeting or call selling thousands of options. You’re focused on one option. And even though everyone likes to make a sale, it’s important that you not come off as overly aggressive in attempting to make one. Instead, position yourself and the conversation as one where you are aiming to give the homeowner great clarity on the subject. This helps bring down some “walls” that the prospect might have and be more forthcoming with their concerns and desires.

Contrast this with the person who talks about a “laundry list” of services. What’s the prospect’s first thought? “This aggressive time waster is going to try to get me to buy everything he’s selling and run up a fortune.”

OK, but what if they really do want to hear more?
Believe it or not, you have to be careful here too. Don’t assume that wanting to hear more is the same as wanting to hear everything and then some. Resisting the urge to tell someone about all you offer, all your tools, all your success stories and more is extremely difficult. Especially when it’s a person who actually conveys that they’d like to hear more!

Still, even in the event that you think you may have an interested customer, remember to respect their time. You want to find out the most important challenges and concerns they have so you can point them to the very best solutions. When you’re giving them endless options, you’re not guiding. You’re potentially confusing them.

So be the expert who listens instead of lists. Start your conversations, including the email ones, with a provocative question or two that has the goal of getting a response. Then you respond back with a little more information and so on.

Keep your goal of the first impression manageable.
It’s great if you achieve a sale through this back-and-forth email communication, but a more realistic goal is to schedule a phone call or a meeting in person with a specific date in the coming week or two. Rare is the kind of person who is so ready to buy right now.

When you keep that type of “first step” goal as your next step, you’ll be amazed how you don’t have to press so hard to make a sale. You’ll be more at ease. And chances are, so will your prospect.

“Hi! I’m (name) and I’d like to tell you about all the great services I offer here at Company ABC!” Have you ever gotten an email like this from someone trying to sell you their services? It’s rarely the kind of communication you like to receive because you didn’t sign up for it. But the […]

tightened-100-dollar-roll-1377964-mLast month, we talked about some new avenues in lending opening up to potentially help with cash flow for your small business, so you can finance equipment, training and more. From Kabbage and Fundbox to PayPal and Square, these online lenders are getting more credibility as a legitimate alternative to traditional banks than they have in past years.

Now let’s take a look at another category of online lending that might be a good fit for your business – peer-to-peer financing. 

How does it work?
Peer-to-peer lending (P2P) is different from a traditional bank in that you’re not borrowing from a brick-and-mortar financial institution. You’re borrowing from a composite of a variety of lenders in an online auction marketplace. Each lender represents a very small piece of the overall loan.

Once you set up an account and read about the types of loans available, you post the amount of the loan you need. You’re also able to select the maximum interest rate you will pay when someone bids for your loan. The bidding process then begins and with the more competition bidding for your loan, the more likely you’ll receive a favorable interest rate.

The actual peer-2-peer service handles a great deal of the actual transaction between you and the lending individuals, including monthly deductions from your bank account, verifying identities, communicating with credit bureaus and more.

A couple of the most popular resources for peer-to-peer lending are Lending Club and Prosper. Both of these tout a very easy application process in which you can receive multiple quotes in minutes. No matter what your interest rate ultimately is, it is done on a fixed basis year to year.

As an industry, P2P lending is absolutely exploding. In just the last 5 years, it has grown more than 65 times over. And based on what analysts are predicting, that’s just the beginning with up to 10% of traditional banking customers moving over to either P2P or another type of alternative in the next 5 years. That’s about $11 billion dollars worth of change.

 

“If I could actually get a loan from a traditional bank, should I forget going through a P2P lender or another type of online lender?”

Well, not so fast. You may want to still keep your options open until you fully investigate all possibilities. Consider this – traditional banks can have a lot of overhead, including the building itself they’re in and all the associated costs with it. A P2P or other online service cuts out this “middleman” and the possibilities of such overhead costs being passed along to you.

So do check out what the traditional bank is offering but keep the whole picture in mind, including your interest rates from institution to institution. With more potential options for getting the financing you need for your business, the more you could find yourself in the driver’s seat. And isn’t that really where you deserve to be in the first place?

Last month, we talked about some new avenues in lending opening up to potentially help with cash flow for your small business, so you can finance equipment, training and more. From Kabbage and Fundbox to PayPal and Square, these online lenders are getting more credibility as a legitimate alternative to traditional banks than they have […]

Cash flow – it’s the lifeblood of your small business. You need clients to pay you so you can pay for a variety of items like equipment and and keep things humming right along financially. But where do you turn when invoices aren’t paid promptly? If you think about obtaining a standard loan or credit line from a large traditional bank to bridge the gap, you’ll probably start to have a headache. With all the hoops small business owners have to jump through, it’s no wonder that many are frustrated by the process. The application requirements involve many documents. The time for an approval decision can take weeks.

cashflow1

However, a number of online lenders are, well, giving these traditional banks a run for their money. And as more of them enter the market and become popular, they’re no longer seen as a “fringe” way of financing but a very practical solution for some.

One of them, Kabbage, touts itself being able to help businesses qualify for credit lines as low as $2,000. The application takes minutes, the decision can often be made instantly and approved customers take as much as they want from the loan when they want rather than receiving it in one lump sum.

Another resource is Fundbox, which gives small business owners cash advances for outstanding invoices. The customer creates a free account, chooses an unpaid invoice to clear when funds are needed and then an advance is automatically transferred to the customer’s bank account. Advances are repaid, plus a small clearing fee ($52 - $72) over 12 weekly installments. Like Kabbage, the Fundbox minimum credit line starts very small – as small as $1,000, in fact – and borrowing on loan amounts can be done in just $100 increments. Large banks don’t typically concern themselves with smaller dollar values in a loan.

We’re also seeing PayPal and Square, who you’ve probably known primarily as payment processors, get into the lending arena. For Square, merchants are given a small amount that is repaid with a premium. The repayment is collected through the business’ credit card sales.

“OK, but what about the rates?”
One of the first questions many people have about online lenders concerns the rates they charge. However, several of these lenders are aiming to make their rates and fees as transparent as possible for the borrower’s benefit. So you know what your potential fees and weekly repayments are. There’s also an element of convenience, security and speed that often helps when cash flow is temporarily sluggish. These benefits are often outweighing any hesitation small business owners may have previously had about online lenders.

And this is just the tip of the financing iceberg.
Next month, we’ll take a closer look at peer-to-peer financing, which may not be as well known as a financing category but could also be a terrific fit for your business. There are more companies in the online lending space than ever and that can only mean good things for small businesses like yours.

Cash flow – it’s the lifeblood of your small business. You need clients to pay you so you can pay for a variety of items like equipment and and keep things humming right along financially. But where do you turn when invoices aren’t paid promptly? If you think about obtaining a standard loan or credit […]