So, so, so close

Just a few days out from the new website being up. It's looking really cool and is way easy to use. Stay tuned.

Want to learn faux finish or cabinet refinishing on video?

Our new faux finish and cabinet refinishing training videos are coming out in the next couple of weeks. If you wanna learn some of the incredible finishes at www.mojofaux.com then call our sales at 888-995-3289 ext. 3. These new faux painting vidoes are amazing!!!!

Latest Work

Check out some of the recent work the Faux Pro has been doin'.

Here's the Allen House bathroom done in our product, Can't Be "Suede"...




This customer needed a match to wallpaper she had up. She gasped at completion of the project and couldn't believe that Ande made it look just like what she had down. Chalk it up for another happy customer.






And here's the latest project and how to bring contemporary faux to a gorgeous horse farm home.

Before


After


Before


After

Time for a break!!! Halloween

We work a bunch. Life is not about work despite what our world and culture tell us. Of the whole person work is a small part of us. This is a new mindset for me. I used to be weighted so much toward work. Now I try to put it in it's rightful place. Segregation of things is really, really great. I mean of the different areas of our lives. So...I'm gonna shut it down and be with my family. Hanging out with friends and my fam. Dressing up as the "swine flu" today too. Have an amazing day!

Ande on TV!

Ande's gonna be on T.V. in just a few minutes between 1230pm and 1pm on Channel 4 here in Middle TN. Check it out if you get a chance!

Doing our own stuff

Ande's upstairs working on our top secret room. We'll be doin' the reveal very soon. Stay tuned for details!

Take the first online "Faux Finish Survey"

You and your opinion are so incredibly valuable to us. Please share your insight and take our first online faux finish survey. Just go to:

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2lp3t5mg0s4wc7s/_tmp/questions?continue=Continue+%3E

Thanks for your participation!

The Faux Dude

On my days off

Today is a "day off". But if you are a small business owner then you know that "days off" come very rarely. We do schedule times when we abandon the phones and laptops. Weekends are also usually somewhat sacred ground. The thing is though that on a "day off" there are so many other things to do besides the work. My favorite duty is to do marketing. Today I am calling people in our database I've gotten bids out to but haven't been in direct contact with for a while. On my next "day off" I think I'll go by some of our referral partners' places and try to stir up some leads. Remember. If you want your biz to grow and you want to keep busy then treat your "days off" as an opportunity to redirect your energies and attention and make something else happen.

Another busy week

This week is gonna be slammed. Ande's got two private lessons, and then there's a bunch of personal stuff we've got going on. Our upstairs is getting transformed into the coolest dance studio on the planet complete with mirrors, disco ball/ceiling fan, hardwood dance floors, and a stretch bar. I'll show you when it's completed. Of course, Ande is gonna do some faux too. If you've been to our house the old upstairs room was kinda boring. This one's gonna be the bomb!

"Psycho"-Delic Music Studio Faux Finish - Before and After Videos

I know it's not polite to brag, but come on. The Faux Pro has really outdone herself this time. Watch the videos below and see the amazing transformation. Never knew entire walls could be art? Well, it you know what you're doing they sure can. This entire finish was done with our Faux A Good Time product, Can't Be "Suede".

The Before Video



The Middle-of-it Video



The After Video



Detailed After Video

Ande to be interviewed on Danny Lipman's show - Saturday, July 11

As if things weren't already going extremely well, Ande will be interviewed next Saturday morning between 9am and 11am on the Danny Lipman Homefront Radio Show. Danny is a home improvement guru with appearances in the New York Times and on numerous television shows including CBS' The Early Show, Rachel Ray, and Regis and Kelly. The show is on more than 80 radio stations across the country. To listen to the interview go to http://www.dannylipford.com/homefront/ for the live show.

Current Project - Before Videos

Here is the project we are currently working on. Check out the before video so you can see what the cabinets started out as. We will be completing this project the first of next week. I'll be posting the after videos so you can see the amazing transformation. Stay tuned friends!

Enhance your marketing with viral video

I just put together a short minute-and-a-half viral video with a few client testimonials. There are a couple of other videos for our company on Youtube now. This is the first one with customers giving their thoughts about us though. One of the videos has gotten about 4,000 hits. A lot of these, I'm sure, have turned into traffic for the site. Viral videos are extremely effective as far as getting you more exposure and helping create leads. The one I just did was recorded on a new Flip Camera Mino HD that I bought recently and edited with some simple and affordable video editing software. When you get a moment check it out online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfhxkcQUElc. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or recommendations.

Consortiums, Associations, & High Society Blah, Blah

If you've been in the world of faux finish for long you might have figured out that some in the industry look at it and themselves as elitists. In a tough economy pomp and arrogance take a back seat to value, innovation, and quality. All that matters to people trying to sell their home that's taken a hit on value, or those who are trying to ride out the abyssmal housing market is that they get something that differentiates their house from others, but in a good and economical way. In terms of the faux finish business, the things to focus on now are not stroking each others' egos as much as it is coming up with sensible, client-oriented solutions. If I were a faux finisher short on business here are some things I would recommend doing.

1) Offer savings-based solutions such as cabinet refinishing, finishes on fireplaces, and altneratives for backplashes. You can still satisfy your clients' needs for something new and fresh. These can be really profitable for you as well.

2) Develop as many deep referral partners as you can. The nose in the air needs to come back down to earth. Some of your greatest business associates can be folks like cabinet makers, countertop companies, and carpenters.

3) Keep your organization lean. Spend any extra dollars on marketing. Again, don't let your ego get in the way of good sense. Deciding on renting a space for $3,000 a month or pocketing the profits should be a no-brainer. We are small business owners and one of our motivations (including great work, having fun, etc.) is to make a decent pay check. You and I are not General Motors. Our bail out plan is called elbow grease and some genuine low-budget creativity.

As always thanks for taking some time to check out our blog. Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any other questions.

More Private Lessons This Week

Ande the Faux Pro is at it again. She is about to wrap up the amazing faux finish project in downtown Nashville. Today is all about private cabinet refinishing lessons. Ben from Alabama is here learning how to do the really cool and marketable finishes that has won Ande the great reputation she has in Middle Tennessee and beyond. Anyone interested in private faux finishing lessons should call or email me, The Faux Guy, at thefauxguy@gmail.com. As always check us out online at www.mojofaux.com.

Private Lessons Take Faux Training To A New Intimate Level

When you try to learn anything there are tons of options. You can check out a book from the library. That's convenient, but impersonal. Videos and audio books are the same. You could also sit in a classroom. While this is great for hands-on and collaborative benefits you will also be in a class with other people. That can be a good or bad thing. Another option is to have someone train you one-on-one how to do something. That's what we are doing. My lovely and beautiful wife has been doing private lessons. Even though the investment is a little more than a live class you have the full attention of an expert. For more information on our faux finish services, training, and decorative painting products check us out at www.mojofaux.com.

New blood, new perspective

Like most people in our industry, we are always looking for the new angle on business. I am a firm believer in leveraging referral partner relationships to get leads. The fact is that over time if you keep dipping into the same well it can become dry. Becaus of all the information we get calling or emailing people too much can start to look a little too much like stalking. Today I got out of the box and went around to several businesses to meet new people and mix it up. With samples in hand the folks I met were warm and welcoming. I love meeting new people being a people collector. A few of them said that they have clients asking for our types of services. Now it's just time to nurture these relationships. This is just confirmation that when things get slow it's time to start marketing. As always check out our faux finish site when you get a moment.

Faux finish dictionary. Funny stuff

So we live in the Nashville, Tennessee area. I thought it might be appropriate in the spirit of songwriting and punnyness to do a short series of terms that we have come up with that have the word "faux" in them. With the industry having such a stuffy reputation (not everyone, just some) this will give us permission to let our hair down and have some fun with this. The first word is:

Fauxcuss (fow-cuss): The obscenities one blurts out when one falls short of the desired finish one wishes to achieve. Example: I tried and tried to mimick the 48-layered look that my client said she wanted on her 54 vaulted ceiling. Despite my efforts everything I did fell short of it. In fact I was so angry that I began to fauxcuss, and just let it fly. Now I feel much better.

If you have any puns you'd like to share it would be great! Feel free to send them to me and we'll get them posted.

Private faux finish lessons

This week we are doing something really cool. Ande, the Faux Pro, is giving private lessons to a business in our area. It is going to be sort of a mentoring/training thing at their place. Private lessons are great for so may reasons.

1) It is all about one-on-one attention. The customer gets so much love and attention and they so enjoy that.

2) It is more flexible than a classroom setting. The customer can ask questions and you can be more specific in teaching them.

3) Private lessons are a great way to increase your income!

If you are interested in getting private faux finish lessons or want to know more about it email me at thefauxguy@gmail.com.

Learn how to get more business!

This week is the final week to sign up for our small business marketing class coming up on Saturday. If you want to learn 5 proven methods to grow your business then you will definitely want to attend. For more info or to sign up go to:

http://estore.websitepros.com/2037472/Detail.bok?no=61

Email me at thefauxguy@gmail.com if you have any questions.