Ande does a private faux finish lesson

The Faux Pro is at it again. She did a private lesson today with a student all the way from Cali. She learned several of Ande's finish in a one-on-one intensive day lesson. See what she has to say.

Just Finished Cabinet Refinishing Job - New Video

Some of you have been asking about this. Now here are the after videos for the project we just completed. Wowwww!!!!!

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.

The Faux Finishers ROI Guide

Being in the industry and running a successful business I've had a lot of faux finishers ask how much to charge for doing finishes. The answer to this isn't a simple, short one or two sentence thing. First of all you have to answer a couple questions. One is: How much do I consider my skills to be worth? The fact is that it is different for everyone. It also varies by region of the country. A faux finisher in Los Angeles might be able to demand more or less than one in Wichita. It may also be based on your level of experience and the intrinsic value that you put on what you do. Maybe you offer finishes that are notnoffered by anyone else, or at least, anyone in your area. If that's the case then you could charge a premium. Then there's the economy part of it. In an up economy you might be able to get more than a down economy. As you've read before I'm not a chicken little type when it comes to down times and recessions and all. Another part of the equation comes from how much you have invested in the ENTIRE process. When I say investment you have to think about the time you put into it as well as the money you spend on your business and supplies to get the sale. So, now I'm going break it down for you. The following is a pretty good list of the line items and components involved in costing out your faux finish job.

-Regular business expenses a. Taxes (income, sales, local, etc.) - There might be several that apply b. Business licenses c. Marketing expenses - This would include your website, advertising, brochures, business cards, etc. d. Accounting expenses - Any costs you have associated with accounting software, bookkeeping, or using an accounting professional e. Supplies/Operations expenses - You do samples to show clients, buy brushes, rollers, sundries, etc. f. Miscellaneous expenses - There are other things that come up.

These would be specific to your business. Now that we have covered that we should now consider the entire order of things from getting a lead to finishing the project.

- Getting the lead You find prospective clients or they find you. This could be a referral from someone, answering an ad you've put out, finding you through a Google search, or another means. Sometimes there's a cost to this and sometimes the referral may come about at no cost. It is, however, something to consider in the equation.

- Meeting with the client for sales consults. In this case you could have several types of expenses. Gas and vehicle, samples to help get the business, etc. Then you have the time you spend with the prospect. Figure up how much that is (including all of the things you do with regards to selling them) and then multiply that time by the value you have placed on an our of your skills.

-Preparing for the job. Once you land the project then you have some more work to do. There could be more meetings with samples, you will have to order supplies and buy tools, and you will have to make sure your deposits and paperwork are squared away (time). There are obviously both hard costs and soft costs associated with this step. -Doing the job. Now that you've gotten the work you will have the expense of travelling to the job and the actual time it takes to complete it. You might also have to get more supplies and tools as you get into it.

-Post job. Even though the finishing is finished you still have some stuff to do afterwards. This could include going back to do touch ups, invoicing and collecting on the remainder of the project payment, follow up calls and thank yous, etc.

As you can see there are lots of moving parts when it comes to landing, completing, and tying up loose ends for a faux finish or cabinet refinishing job. For more information or questions feel free to email me at thefauxguy@gmail.com.

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.