Two Painters In A Pod . com

Have you ever wondered if you really need a website? Do faux painters and mural artist get new customers from websites?  

The answer is Yes and Yes!  

Part 2 of my interview with Dawn Papandrea-Khan of Surfaces With Paint in New York proves it.  Dawn took several months to learn to build her own website, and boy did she do a fantastic job.

You have to remember that Dawn has two small children ages 2 and 3 and she is painting of course… so for her to have learned everything that is needed to put up such a professional looking site is downright amazing. 

I share an advertising secret I have used when painting at businesses. You have to use this simple idea… you will be amazed at the calls you will get.

Should you charge for client consultations? Dawn and I discuss the pros and cons of this sticky issue and why she has switched from free consultation to paid consultations. 

Do you charge for samples? You should… Dawn tells us why and we share a tidbit on copyrights for your sample boards. 

Have you checked out the MuralsPlus forum yet? Dawn shares one tip she got from this forum that has helped her weed out lots of potential clients that aren't really serious. She shares it with us in this interview. 

Can you take Credit Card Payments for your Faux Painting and Mural work? If not… find out how Dawn does this…. so easy! I was stunned at how easy she makes it for her and her customers. 

Oh… and how about a discussion on hiring assistants? Yep… we go into that as well. I describe my perfect assistant and how I wish I could clone her… yes, she was the perfect assistant. 

The biggest question for all of you that do have websites? Have you submitted yours to any directories? Dawn has done some of the legwork for you and listed many of the faux painting directories for you… check it out in this interview. You will also find out why it is so important to have your website linked in these directories.

Visit Dawns Website:  http://www.surfaceswithpaint.com/

Click on the Blue Arrow to play or the tiny orange mp3 logo to download.

 

 [TPIAP] Show #16 - Part Two Interview with Dawn Papandrea-Khan [46:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A successful faux painting business requires a constant stream of returning and new clients. Most decorative artists find that advertising in the local newspaper is a waste of time and money… so how about a few new twists on some old ideas?

I met Dawn through my newsletter and blog. We have only met in cyberspace and on the telephone, but Dawn had such enthusiasm and great ideas that I just had to get her on a podcast. After a bit of schedule shuffling we finally got together and boy did I get some cool ideas!

Dawn Papandrea-Khan and I had a fantastic interview. In fact it lasted so long… I had to cut it into two different sessions.  In Part 1, Dawn shares some interesting ideas for easy, inexpensive marketing (advertising) your faux painting business directly to the most likely potential clients.

The name of Dawn's company is Surfaces with Paint which is located in Westchester and Putnam Co., New York.  She has done an amazing job of creating her own business websites. 

Website: www.surfaceswithpaint.com

Blog: http://surfaceswithpaint.blogspot.com/

On the call we discuss

• The issue of sales tax.
• Loosing your business partner.
• How to learn professional finishes without classes.
• Why I recommend an accountant for every small business.
• Dealing with competition and why you should be friends with them.
• The only difference between a good painter and a great painter might be the way the floor looks when the job is done.
• Why you should have several finishes that you could do in your sleep.
• The challenges of being a full time mom and owning a business.

Dawn tells all of us what her biggest faux painting challenge has been. It required tiny brushes and the Catholic Church. You will have to listen to the call to find out what the challenge was. 

Here are some of the business marketing ideas we discussed for faux and mural painters : 

• Signs on your car
• Signs for the job site
• Door-to-Door sales
• Construction site advertising
• Join a business networking group
• of course… Word of Mouth, Business Cards and Flyer's

Be sure to check back next week for part two of my interview with Dawn Papandrea-Khan of Surfaces with Paint.

Her website is filled with many great ideas for a faux painting artist's website.  

Dawn is also very interested link exchange with other artists…

Click on the Blue Arrow to play or the tiny orange mp3 logo to download.

 

 [TPIAP] Show #15 - Advertising Your Faux Painting Business [19:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Patricia Hansen of Carolina Custom Interiors… the newest faux painter in the North Carolina area, has begun learning how to set up her new website.

She knows that this will be a great marketing tool. Showcasing her work online will allow her to share her talents and ideas with many more potential clients.  By displaying her website and email addresses on all her marketing materials, she has expanded the 'net' for attracting new clients.

The cost for setting up a new web site? Good hosting plans with plenty of room for expansion and a ton of tools, should only cost about $7 -$8 per month. This is an inexpensive use of limited start-up business funds.  

The hosting services Patricia decided to use is LunarPages.com  LunarPages has a 1 month guarantee, so if you're not happy you can cancel and get your money back!  What have you got to loose?

For more helpful tips for choosing website hosting click: Web Hosting Tips 

This podcast/call is an actual conversation Patricia and I had while I am instructing her during her LunarPages.com set-up, which included all the little tidbits of information you must enter while signing up for website hosting.

The website does not show up instantly… as we haven't uploaded any files yet, so Patricia and I moved on to the discussion of web design and web software and templates for web sites.

I helped Patricia review several different websites, and we discussed what she liked and didn't like about each one. I tutored her on the faults as well as the great ideas we could find on each web site. This bit of research is necessary when beginning to design a new website…  you must always have a plan, even if it is bare bones, before starting any project.

The format for Carolina Custom Interiors website will be a Wordpress blog, installed on a server at LunarPages.com using Fantastico.

You can find the  WordPress Software to install at WordPress.org

Never use a free hosting service for hosting a website such as blogger or Wordpress.com:

• You do not have any customer service
• You do not have any control if your website is canceled for unknown reasons.
• You're website name will never look professional.

The WordPress "software" is easy to install at LunarPages.  I hit the highlights in the podcast.

The websites we visited and discussed:

•     www.victorialarsen.com
•     www.artoflivingonline.com
•     www.designamour.com

Some websites we visited after the call. These are the sites Patricia found interesting:

http://www.jenniferrebeccadesigns.com/

http://www.artisansbythesea.com/

http://www.unfauxgetable.com/

http://www.roomerhasit.com/index.asp

http://www.paintinthetown.com/portfolio.htm

Theme sites we visited:

•     http://themes.wordpress.net
•     www.onehertz.com/portfolio/wordpress

 Follow the progress of website installation and design by visiting 

www.CarolinaCustomInteriors.com 

 My copy of this book has cornered pages, notes and post-its on so many pages it really needs to be replaced. I love how easy it was to learn to use Wordpress and all the options it gives when setting up your new website.

Click on the Blue Arrow to play or the tiny orange mp3 logo to download.

 

 [TPIAP] Show #14 - How To Start A Website - Step 1 [36:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download