Being a “Go-To” Painting Company: The Bull in a Bear Market

Much to my wife’s chagrin, I willingly and somewhat credulously engage with some of the more far-flung segments of popular culture—to wit, more often than not I fall asleep listening to a late-night radio host she charitably refers to as “Alien Man.” I won’t bore you with received conspiracy theories or musings from this or that gassy knoll, but I would like to use one of the outer limit’s more interesting fields of endeavor as a jumping point for this article.

Predictive linguistics is, in a nutshell, the belief that within the unknowable magnitude of collected human chatter we might dig out kernels of future events, most often along larger-scale trend lines such as shifts in political climate. The governing logic at work within this study holds that humans both intuit and shape future happenings through language; in other words and on a smaller, cruder scale: get a group of 30 farmers together and give them a few hours to kill in a room miked for sound and by the end of the day, you’ll probably have painted a decent picture of next year’s harvest through careful notation of repeated phrases and tonal patterns.

So, the chicken or the egg? To a predictive linguist, the answer is “both.”

On that note, we’ve all worn our eyes to the quick–and likely lost a few winks as business owners–reading about the economy these last few months. Whether or not the credit crunch leads to further fiscal deterioration, the language concentration centered around ‘downturn’ is unmistakable, and it’s smart business to bet that a relational turn towards ‘value’ will take on a gathering intensity as Wall Street makes its uneasy peace with Main Street.

Indeed, to the savvy business, this fog of uncertainty represents a very real, tangible opportunity for growth: how might a successful painting company watch its billable hours climb out of the ashes of recession?

By adding…value.

Keep in mind that most residential customers see their painting projects as component parts to the greater aim of ‘home improvement’ or ‘beautification,’ and slap a double nickel on that relationship during times of economic hardship. They’re hiring for quality, finish, aesthetic, to be sure; as fingers tighten around purse strings it’s unavoidable that they’re also hiring with an eye on a quantifiable improvement to their initial investment in the residence—in short, they are hiring to add value!

And as surely as your customers will be hiring to add value$, they’ll also be hiring to add valueZZZ…consider how much proverbial—and sometimes literal!–sleep you save your customer by doing all the little things well, by covering all of their bases where possible. Time is always money, remember, and the surest way to add value across the board is by becoming a ‘go-to’ business, increasing your customer’s bottom line by decreasing his bottom time:



‘Go-to’ businesses hire, train, and employ go-to guys: Encourage your painters to develop and build upon small home repair skills whenever possible. A ‘handy’ painter might well save a customer the trouble of finding and locating an electrician, joint man, plumber, etc.

‘Go-to’ businesses use their network of contacts to provide their customers with solutions: Let’s say that during the walkthrough, your customer mentions they plan on an addition to the west wing at some point over the next six months. A ‘go-to’ business checks its contact list for a general contractor in that area and is happy to save the customer extra legwork by making an introduction at the right time.

‘Go-to’ businesses take the extra step, every step of the way: your painters are onsite to beautify and fortify your customer’s home; to that end, why not ask that your painters bring in empty trashcans or recycling bins on trash day, take in the customer’s mail or the paper as a courtesy, dust a coffee table that needs dusting? A ‘go-to’ business treats its customers’ homes as its own, and it holds its painters to that highest standard, seven days a week.



As the old saying holds, the list might well go on, and on–these are but a few examples of ‘go-to’ business practice. But for the most potent distillation of ‘go-to’ philosophy, take a good, long look at the telephone: a ‘go-to’ business functioning at its highest capacity is constantly challenging itself to be that first call for every one of its customers–at every point of the decision-making process.



Are you a ‘go-to’ business? If not, why not?

Repairing A Rotted Soffit

If you don’t even know what a “soffit” IS, then chances are you’re not the best candidate to do repairs on it! Many older houses naturally start rotting at the weakness points, one of them being the soffit – or the underside of an arch, stairwell, cornice or overhang. Often times even newer houses need their soffits replaces because squirrels and birds tend to nest in the eaves, gutters or outer wall space next to the attic. The soffit, typically made of soft plywood, hardwood, or soft panels of vinyl and aluminum, routinely comes into direct contact with rain water, ice and snow from the gutters. If your gutters have been displaced or if a shingle tears, the soffit will rot out over time. Atlanta painting contractors often specialize in solving this external problem for you, thus preventing more serious damage to the interior as well.

To replace the rotted soffit, you would need to pry off the shingle mold running along the top edge of the fascia board and yank out all the nails that held the rotting board in place. Next, replace the board with a pre-measured or trimmed piece of hardwood, vinyl or aluminum. Remove any decorative trim beneath the soffit and remove the rotted soffit. Note that this part of the process is usually rather disgusting, since you never know what kind of dirt, dust, bee nest, squirrel nest, or debris will come off. Now you should be able to see the frame clearly and ascertain where the water damage and decay started. You may need to rip out additional plywood sheathing and use your saw to take out the section of rotted rafter or roofing. You’ll have to cut four or more inches from the decay, to account for stress fractures that may have left room for water to seep in. This is where the tools come in handy: you’ll need a powder-actuated nail gun with a .22 caliber blank to nail in the new section.

You’ll also be attaching a pressure-treated 1×4 or 1×6 onto the newly sawed rafter, fastening it with 2.5” galvanized screws going from the new into the old rafters. Now you can cut a new soffit from a 3/8-inch A/C plywood, first coating the front and back flat surfaces with an exterior primer and the edges with a wax emulsion sealer (like AnchorSeal) to protect from water damage. Apply sealer with a foam or bristle brush. Nail the soffit into place and replace the trim you’ve removed. Cut a new fascia board and replace it. (Warning: This requires careful measuring to get the right size!) Now prime all four surfaces of this board. Seal the end cuts and install it, then nail up the shingle molds along the fascia.

Sound like a LOT of work? IT IS! The process is extremely convoluted for anyone who isn’t a skilled tradesman. What might take a novice several days could be done in an afternoon by an Marietta Georgia painting contractor. Therefore, you may want to track down a contractor to meet your needs. Not only will your home look totally renovated and newer, but more importantly, you will be protecting your home from premature aging as a result of water and rot damage.

There are a number of different methods available for when you need to paint, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. One method in particular shines through as one of the most efficient: the Point ‘n Paint painting system. Using an ergonomically-designed painting pad which is shaped in such a way that it can paint corners and edges as easily as it does open walls, the Point ‘n Paint system will provide you with an easy-to-use tool that will meet all of your painting needs. Best of all, using the Point ‘n Paint system can actually save you both time and money on your next painting project.

Painting a room can be a time consuming and expensive task; painting a house amplifies the complexity and cost of the task several times. The claim that the Point ‘n Paint can actually reduce both the time needed and the cost of painting might seem to be a big one, but there are several ways that the system can help you to save time and money when painting. Here are just a few of the ways that the system can help you cut your costs and increase the speed with which you finish painting so that you can get back to doing the things that you want to do.

Less Paint Waste

Painting can be a messy process, and paint generally is not cheap. When using rollers and brushes, a significant amount of paint generally has to be thrown away either because it has dried out in the try, gotten spilled onto drop cloths, or was simply left over in a brush or roller when it was cleaned up. The Point ‘n Paint system reduces a significant amount of this waste by letting you use only a small amount of paint at a time in order to get all of your painting done. The refill tray is designed in such a way that it helps the paint in it to stay in a liquid form longer, letting you pour any unused paint back into the can when you are finished for the day. Not only that, but the tray is also designed to make it harder to tip over to greatly reduce the chance of spilling paint onto the floor.

Fewer Accessories Needed

If you are painting with traditional painting supplies then you likely have a roller with its tray to let you paint the larger portions of the room as well as one or more brushes for corners and edges. The brushes will need a separate paint container or a can that they can be dipped in, and painter’s tape will be required in order to let you paint around outlets, windows, and other objects in the wall without getting paint all over them. Not only do all of these components cost money, but the time that it takes to switch from one to another can really add up. The Point ‘n Paint is essentially an all-in-one system, with the painting pads it uses being designed so that you can do perfect edging and corners even without the use of painter’s tape. The same pads are also able to paint the larger portions of walls with ease.

Faster Refilling

Refilling a roller or brush only takes a few moments, but those few moments generally require several steps in order to be successful and avoid drips or runs. The roller has to be rolled through the paint in order to get an even coating and then must be rolled on the shallow part of the tray to get rid of excess paint. Brushes need to be dipped and then brushed against the edge of the paint can in order to remove as much of the extra paint in the bristles as possible. The Point ‘n Paint on the other hand simply needs to be rolled over the wheel in the middle of its painting tray; this fills the pad with paint and lets you get right to painting with no additional steps.

Ease of Application

When using a roller, the same area often has to be gone over several times in order to get an even coat. Brushes are even worse, since you have to contend with brush strokes that can be all but impossible to get rid of at times. The Point ‘n Paint lets you apply paint in an even coat on the first try, the pad smoothing it out even as it is applied. You will spend a significantly smaller amount of time painting, often finishing up a room that would otherwise take a day in around an hour or so. Any convenience that can be taken advantage of while painting should absolutely be utilized; painting can be an extremely messy and difficult process. The Point n Paint painting system can help.