"Decorative Dangers": The housing market slowdown, and how to survive it. Keeping your decorative concrete business profitable during periods of economic slowdown.
Business & Technology
From self-cleaning and self-repairing to bendable and glowing, concrete is constantly evolving, regularly bringing technologically improved products to market.
Organization at the Decorative Concrete Job
This column is all about stacking the deck in our favor. You have probably noticed there are few safety nets in this business, which validates the importance of doing everything possible to control the controllable. Ask any successful decorative contractor and I will bet there is at least one thing they all have in common: organization.
Marketing Your Work With Photos
In today’s world, we tend not to listen anymore. There are so many of us, we are all talking, and our words have become background noises for the stimuli that really distract us. If you want to say something today, you have to use the language that transcends culture, geography, and time. You have to use imagery.
Relationship Marketing to Grow Your Business
Decades ago our country moved from an industrial economy to a service-based economy. More recently, that service-based economy has further evolved into an experience-based economy. Customers are wanting — and businesses are providing — an added experience and feel to compliment customer service.
Diving Into Decorative Concrete Commercial Projects
Thousands of contractors use decorative concrete in commercial projects because it is attractive, durable, affordable and easy to maintain. This article is about the explosion in commercial decorative work and how it may benefit your company
Pros and Cons of Specializing in Decorative Concrete
I have to guess some, maybe even most, of Concrete Decor’s readers enjoy the benefits of the decorative business as only a part of their contracting services. You may very well be one of the many who are wondering if you should make the leap to specialize in decorative work full time or simply offer it as one of many services.
Challenges of Working with Concrete in the Winter
If you live above the Mason-Dixon line, chances are your winter months are cold and snowy. It’s great weather for skiing, but not so much for those who work with concrete.
The Questions You Should Ask When Considering Decorative Concrete
There is nothing more stressful than deciding on the best path for your business. Making the right decision at the right time is very important in growing and in perfecting the decorative craft. I had to answer each of the questions below at some point in my decorative journey and I’m guessing so will you.
Dying for Decorative Concrete
There is not a comforting way to say the word “cancer.” Even in this day of strong chances of recovery and survival, it is a word that gets our attention every time. Although the products we use turn normal concrete into extraordinary works of art, some of those products are carcinogenic. Are you taking the proper measures to be safe?
Communicating Standards Through Industry Specifications
Too often we take the written word as gospel, but is that truly smart? Do we know what, or who, stands behind the words we read? After all, paper will not refuse ink. Our industry is growing, and as the industry grows, so do the misrepresentations and misunderstandings.







