Decorative Concrete News & Tips Brought To You by Engrave-A-Crete

Below is an article reprinted from Smartbrief.com:

Facebook has surpassed Google as a gateway to major Web sites such as Yahoo! and MSN, indicating that social media has a growing role in how users find content, according to a study by Compete.

Experts note that while search engines still play a vital role in how users find content, the fact that social sites can serve as a portal and a destination gives them an important advantage.

“People are spending less time navigating the Internet on their own and are now navigating the Internet based on their friends’ recommendations,” said Dave Yovanno of Gigya.

This story published in SmartBrief on Social Media on 02/22/2010

Marty Meewis of Colors on Concrete, Upland, CA was hired to create some custom work for the local library in Monrovia, CA.

It is an eight foot circle with the city logo installed on a new slab of concrete.

He had an adhesive backed vinyl template made for this project, the lettering was done with a light sandblast, and the mountain/leaf relief was engraved using the Baracuda, free hand.

He was also asked to help in the renovation of a historic building in the city of Claremont, CA.

The building in the backgound is a restored lemon packing house that was built in the early 1900’s.

For many decades it had been used on and off by various business’ but the building slowly fell into a state of disrepair.

Marty was approached during the construction/renovation stage and was asked to engrave 28 lemon trees (6′, 7′ and 8′ diameters).

Their portion of this renovation took 5 weeks.

A double template was used for the engraving due to the extensive detail needed to show leaves and branches of the trees.

With two KaleidoCrete systems running full-time he learned real quick which tools were best for each area of the templates.

“Our Wasps got the work out of a life, every edge on every tree had to be detailed out.

For three days straight, we had four people detailing edges, the Wasps worked flawlessly….

The other big helpers were the Rac-a-Tac carts with the chest pads, I honestly do not think we could have done the detail work as fast as we did without them.”

Colors on Concrete is located in Upland, CA and can be reached at 909-239-5374.

Their website is http://www.colorsonconcrete.net.

Once you’re done transforming a dull gray interior floor into a beautiful work of art, there are a few steps to consider when finishing the job.

In this video, final tips to avoid frequent mistakes in decorative concrete staining and engraving is demonstrated.

This is part 31 of an on-going series on Decorative Concrete, and is taken from the DVD Mastering Concrete Engraving, The Basics.

 

 Flash Video [1:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Standard Podcast [1:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Some final tips and reminders to avoid the most frequent mistakes.

Before you begin any project, figure out all logical sequential steps before doing anything. An hour of preparation before beginning work could save hours of time later.

When you want to come up with a new design, use graph paper, a pencil, a ruler, and a compass, and sketch out your vision. Some of the most unique and innovative designs have been thought of while doodling. Sketching a design to scale on graph paper is also a good way to practice laying out a project before you show up to the job site.

The use of solvents and materials which contain solvents, like clear coats and paint strippers, should not be used indoors. The fumes are toxic to humans and animals, and can pose a risk of fire and/or explosion.

Use the right type of sprayer for the material being applied. Reactive Acid (RAC) stains contain acid; 100% plastic sprayers are required. Remember, rack stains are packaged in plastic bottles for this reason.

Solvent?based sealers must be sprayed using metal sprayers equipped with Viton seals. Remember, solvent?based sealers are packaged in metal cans.

Purchase the DVD Mastering Concrete Engraving, The Basics to see this series in its entirety.

Yesterday, I posted an image of a menu from a major organizations website:

And invited you to submit what website this menu comes from.

Concrete Colorscapes got it right! This is the top 2/3 of the main menu of the DoD’s website.

And notice exactly where this menu is located.  Right in prime website real estate space.

That section of websites is the number one place where visitor’s eyeballs land, and is the place where website owners place their most important information, the information they want you to see over and above any other information on the site.

This says that, before anything else, the DoD wants you to connect with them.

How does this help your business?

Are you trying to connect with your customers and potential customers and develop an online relationship with them so that they trust you and will not think twice about doing business with you?

I know that social media seems like a juvenile use of time because it can be so enjoyable and new, but it can also be an excellent long term investment in your decorative concrete business.

Have a look at this picture of part of the main menu from a major website:

Take a wild guess what website this is from.

Here’s a few hints:

• One of the buttons on this picture reveals what website this is from.
• This is the top 2/3 of the main menu – the bottom third (not seen here) is devoted to actual internal links of the site.
• This is not a juvenile or fly-by-night website, but a real legitimate organization with very serious subject matter.

Notice how the first thing they want to do, as evidenced by their menu, is to connect with you the reader, or visitor.

They want you to connect with them, and they want to make it easy for you by giving you many many options.

Post in the comments below what website you think this came from, and I will reveal the answer tomorrow.

By the way, there is a very good marketing lesson here for all decorative concrete contractors and business owners.

Leave your comments below.