Introduction to the Painting Business Success Hierarchy

In the next series of blog posts I’m going to reveal the building blocks for creating a solid long term and (more importantly) profitable painting business. I say “More importantly profitable” because there are plenty of painting businesses that hang in there year in and year out who are barley making ends meet!

I call these building blocks… “The Painting Business Success Hierarchy”

Regardless of whether you are a:

• Full time, full service painting business…

• Part time one man show…

• Or a mammoth multi crew franchise painting contractor…

Developing your painting business using the proven building blocks of “The Painting Business Success Hierarchy” gives you the best possible chance of long term profitability.

Let’s get right to it…

Step 1 – Marketing! Marketing! Marketing!

It is important to realize that:

As soon as you decided to start your painting business you ceased to be just a “house painter”, you became a “MARKETER”!

”In order to build a profitable painting business you must develop a series of cost effective marketing strategies that allow you to target the specific jobs that work best for your business model.”

This is especially important when you are just getting started. The last thing you want to do is dump a bunch of money in an ineffective traditional advertising campaign.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for traditional advertising but it is certainly not when you are just getting started! Yellow page ads for example are only effective when you have the advertising budget to get noticed… (Half to full page ads that can cost TENS of thousands of dollars per month)

I talk to painting business owners all the time who are “Just Squeaking By” month after month because their yellow page ad eats up all the profits.

Most of them have no idea about the dozens of powerful cost effective marketing strategies that have been proven to work far better than any traditional advertising ever could… For PENNY’S on the dollar!

I reveal 15 of them in step by step detail in the Updated and Expanded 2008 Version of the Painting for Profits – Master Painting Business Success System which is being released to the public on January 28Th…

The truth is, unless you have a cost effective marketing plan that keeps a steady flow of new clients calling you for an estimate… You are dead in the water! It’s that simple.

In my next blog post I will reveal the second step in the Painting Business Success Hierarchy... Keep a lookout for it.

Consistency is Key to Success

I hope you decide to take action on the knowledge you are gaining during your information gathering phase…

Step #3: Be Consistent… Marketing is an ongoing process NOT a one time event!

The real key to building momentum is applying what you learn with consistency. Doing something once usually won’t give you the results you desire. You must consistently do the right things over and over until they become second nature.

Take marketing for example… Marketing is the life blood of your painting business; it is what you are and who you are. When you decide to start a painting business (or any business for that matter) you are no longer just a house painter, you are a business owner who paints.

…And being a business owner means you are a marketer. Why? Because unless you know how to market your painting business to get your phone ringing and keep a consistent flow of new customers coming in, then like it or not you don’t have much of a business.

One of the biggest misconceptions about marketing is that it is expensive. I guess I would agree, if your view of marketing only entails traditional advertising!

Unfortunately for most painting business owners marketing means placing a classified ad in the newspaper or yellow pages and then crossing their fingers and hoping the phone starts to ring. (Don’t hold your breath!)

As a business owner you need to begin to think creatively… You need to begin to become a student of business. By far the most successful painting business owners I have met regardless of the size of their business were constantly learning new and creative ways to market their business.

In 2007 I had the privilege of getting to know dozens of house painters and painting business owners personally - People from every walk of life and background using their painting skills to earn a good living being their own boss.

I talked to men and women, young and old, who have built thriving painting businesses…

Regardless of whether they were part time, one man shows or full time, multiple crew full service painting business they all had something in common...

Come back tomorrow I will reveal “The Painting Business Success Hierarchy” that helped each of them keep their schedules booked, and earn higher than average profits week after week, month after month all year long.

Have a great day!