Blog

Getting the Word Out

2010-05-05T13:16:01Z

The Board members of your Residential Forum are working hard for you. We work to bring you a quality Painter’s Rag and have put in countless hours in planning the 2010 Advanced Shop Talk. We are now in the process of calling and emailing our membership to encourage attendance to this year’s event. It is a tough year for all of us, but do not be discouraged. The Advanced Shop Talk is not just an event to fellowship and enjoy talk’n shop. This is a workshop. You will be working! You will leave AST 11 pumped up with the tools to grow your business.

We have partnered with some keynote speakers, such as Linnea Blair, Brian Nolan and Debbie Zimmer (PQI) and we strongly encourage you to make plans to be at AST 2010.

Download the Speaker Topics

AST 11 Available for Non Members

2010-04-30T22:59:02Z

A big change for this year’s Advanced Shop Talk event in Charleston, SC is that the Residential Forum has opened registration for non PDCA members. We are doing this to encourage attendance and hopefully boost the PDCA membership. As many of you know, AST is well worth attending and can have great benefits for your painting business.

So help us spread the word and invite other painters you know to attend AST 2010. We will be doing some local Charleston advertisements in the Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore stores too.

Peer Groups Starting Soon

2010-02-02T20:18:01Z

Wouldn’t it be great to start the new year by setting small, attainable goals and discussing the seven most important aspects of business success? Join the Shop Talk Groups today!

DOWNLOAD THE REGISTRATION FORM

What: You receive a one hour session with a discussion facilitator and several Residential Forum peers for seven weeks on seven topics

When: Groups begin February 16th, 17th, or 18th. Open the attached registration form and FAX it in today! fax number: 651-688-9503

AST 2010 in Charleston, SC

2009-10-21T15:27:01Z

This is just a reminder to plan early for our 2010 Advanced Shop Talk (AST 11) which will be held in Charleston, SC next July. The exact dates will be posted soon. We have finalized the hotel, which is the Doubletree.

More information will be available shortly. Your board of directors are working hard already for next years conference. If you would like to help us prepare, please let us know. We are looking for members to get more involved!

2009 AST in Portland was a Success!

2009-08-05T18:27:00Z

Despite a tough time for painting contractors throughout the country, this year’s AST 10 in Portland, OR was a success. We had close to 60 contractors and sponsors in attendance. We heard presentations about web marketing, using the latest in technology, “Blue Ocean” strategy, estimating software, sales tips, marketing tips, member presentations, shop tours, a tour of Purdy brushes and much more!

We are very grateful to our sponsors for their support and for those members who were able to help make this year one of the best ASTs yet! Stay tune for more information about AST 11 in Charleston, South Carolina.

Does Direct Mail Still Work?

2009-06-10T15:35:00Z

Many painting contractors have been talking about how direct mail and print ads are not working like they use to in past years. We are curious to hear from those who are doing direct mail and have not stopped. Is direct mail still working for you?

Good marketing involves patience, consistency and targeting to your ideal clients. It appears that paint contractors are moving a lot of their marketing dollars over to the web. Is that a smart thing to do: to put all your “eggs” into one basket? The web is a very powerful marketing tool and not very expense, but is it the best place to advertise your entire painting business? We’d love to hear from you!

Final Deadline to Attend Advanced Shop Talk

2009-06-04T19:24:00Z

In order to research your hotel room and a spot at this year’s Advanced Shop Talk (AST), please sign up by Wednesday, June 10th. We look forward to seeing you in Portland!

SIgn Up Today For AST Portland 2009

2009-05-18T16:07:00Z

The board of the Residential Forum has completely updated the format of Advanced Shop Talk for this years AST in Portland. You do not want to miss the exciting topics, panels and presentations we have on the schedule. Do not forget to sign up for AST. It is fast approaching. Learn More

Painter’s Rag: The Spring Edition Help

2009-03-03T20:42:00Z

Just a reminder that we are accepting articles for the next issue of “The Painter’s Rag!” In keeping with our theme of making 2009 a year to THRIVE, we are again looking for articles to share with the Forum. We would love submissions on positive thinking, goal setting and marketing approaches that are helping you now. We want to hear how you are approaching your spring/summer and how you plan on ATTACKING these difficult times!

Do you have something helpful to share on the ‘Technical’ side of the business? Send it in! Please submit articles NO LATER THAN 3/11/09!

Finally, remember AST 10 is coming to Portland, Oregon July 16 – 18, 2009! The main AST begins on the 17th, in case you can’t make the “shop-hops” on the 16th. Make your plans now to attend!

Sincerely,
Tom Reber, Jalapeno Paint Werx, tom@jalapenopaintwerx.com
Julie Gehrke, Signet Painting Inc., Julie@signetpainting.com

Join Us On Facebook

2009-02-20T16:22:00Z

Ken Anderson, current board member, recently started the “unofficial” PDCA Group on Facebook. Facebook is a fast-growing website that connects you with old friends and helps with networking. There are many ways a business can use Facebook to help grow their business, and we hope you’ll take the 2-3 minutes to join Facebook and the PDCA Group.

If you do not have an account with Facebook, the first step is to sign up for one. The membership is free and takes 30 seconds: Sign Up For Facebook. The second step, once you’ve joined is to Join the PDCA Group.

Hope to see you on Facebook soon!

How Are You Doing This Winter

2009-02-06T19:35:01Z

We are curious to know how our members are doing during the beginning months of 2009. We've been hearing from several paint companies across the company who have definitely slowed way down, so we are wondering what kinds of things you all are doing to keep your staff working. What marketing is working for your company? How have you changed your business plans for this year? How are you marketing to existing clients? We'd love to hear from you, so comment away!

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-05T14:36:00Z

We wanted to wish all of our members a Happy New Year and hope that you all will have a successful year in business! Your board of directors are working hard in the planning of Advanced Shop Talk 2009 to be held in Portland, Oregon. We have some exciting topics and speakers that you will not want to miss. We have listened to your comments from St. Louis and will be making some quality changes that will not disappoint you in July! So save the dates for this years AST 10: July 17-18.

Correction Dates on AST 2009

2008-08-20T15:37:00Z

I wrote an email to all of our Residential Forum members with the new dates for AST 10 in 2009. However my dates were wrong by 2 days! The new dates for AST 2009 will be July 17-18, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. More information will be emailed at a later date. Our goal is to have 125 members in attendance. This will be a record for the forum, and we know it is possible. Plus, the Board of Directors will be working hard to make some quality changes that will benefit all those in attendance. You will love the new format, but in order to find out what it will be like, plan ahead to attend!

Successful AST 2008

2008-08-18T16:17:01Z

This years Advanced Shop Talk in St. Louis was another success! We had approximately 55 in attendance including several of our sponsors. John Peek, one of the founding members of the Forum, had this to say, "How can every AST be the best one I have ever been to?"

And one final testimony from one of our sponsors about this years event:

"It went fantastically...I was very excited to see so many 1st timers at this event. Wow!...AST is, in my opinion, the ultimate PDCA program. It does better than any other program, share the experience of the members for the building up of the whole association. The format is awesome! Again, I learned a whole plethora of new things about running a painting business." John- Wooster Brushes

AST 2008 Reminder

2008-06-05T21:27:00Z

Thank you to all who have registered for this years Advanced Shop Talk. We have sent out an EVite asking for you all to consider attending. I wanted to share a quick testimony from one of our members about his experience with AST:

"I won't be at AST this year for a couple of reasons. One, I'm not a residential contractor, as we do approx. 94% commercial work. I did attend AST III...and found it to be excellent. Actually, many things applied to my business, and I feel that every residential contractor in PDCA is missing out big time by not going..."

I know it is a tough year for all of us, but I hope you will find the time and the money to invest in this years event! We all need each others bright ideas and help to keep us going.