Kinda Quiet

[brmax]

It must be very busy, Because I'm not seeing much lately on site  Great Job! everybody!
curious on all your task lately Rock On and post up when ya get the break.
Good Days there

[kodydog]

Yep, we've been busier than a mosquito at a nudist colony. Its been 3 months and counting to close on our house. Everything was done, the papers were all filled out and sent to the underwriter. Should have closed last week but the underwriter said one crucial paper was missing. Proof the buyer is qualified for a VA loan. The bank neglected to order it. It should have been the very first thing they did because it takes 30 days to get one.

Originally we were going to lease the house back for one year while the new owner sells his house in NC. But now he wants to move in right away. Yikes. We asked for an extra month after closing seeing his bank keeps screwing up.

In the mean time we have our eye on several pieces of commercial property and hoping for a smooth transition from one shop to another.

We have plenty of upholstery jobs and I spend every spare minute keeping this house maintained and getting our new house ready to move into.

No dull moments around here. I sure have been sleeping good.

[SteveA]

When holidays are close customers tend to shy away from business.  After labor day it's going to be crazy -
SA

[sofadoc]

When holidays are close customers tend to shy away from business.  After labor day it's going to be crazy -
SA

I think brmax is referring to how slow the postings are on this forum. Implying that we must all be too busy to post.

I am, and always have been "busy as I want to be". 40 hrs. a week is enough for me. I turn down the rest.

I think the main reason why this forum has been slow, is that more and more have gravitated over to FB upholstery group forums. Myself included. This forum is technically still my favorite. I still am not a huge FB fan, but "If you can't beat 'em........join 'em". Facebook is where all the activity is at.

Seems like there are only a handful keeping this forum going. And we keep re-hashing the same topics. How many times have we beat that interior decorator topic into the ground?

I know that many are anti-FB for privacy reasons. And I certainly understand. But if you like chatting about upholstery-related topics, FB will give you a ton more options than the old fashioned discussion board format. It's becoming a dinosaur. I wish there was something we could do to pump new life back in to it.

[kodydog]

Face Book is just too easy. People just don't want to do the extra clicks it takes to get here. I personally like the professional atmosphere and experience behind this forum.

[brmax]

Now that's to dang funny Kodydog, don't care what anybody says.
I am trying to understand why even so many of my much older friends say FB is the cats az, makes me feel older than them. Hard headed I guess, and  shhhhhh no comments on that you all.
Doc it seems many very qualified members here I don't see/or hear anything on the site as much, makes me wonder in a care kinda way sometimes, as even my brother said I had a feeling maybe 2, he's nice huh.
OMG Kodydog that house signing paperwork drives me crazy, though sounds like your ahead of the game.  Sorry drawing a blank here, are you all staying in the present local or close.
Exciting looking for commercial property I can imagine, du to du ya yep hey take a right. hahaha!

SteveA as I recall it gets busy busy in the Florida areas also after all the summer fun is done up here, what brings a lot of the business your way east in the fall times. Crazy! nice weather here for august in Missouri I have always considered this month to be the hottest of all, something weird suppose to be in the 50s tonight?
Just to throw this out for info,
Doc do you see ( as I don't have a clue )the other online or medias use much photo storage other than their own.
Reason I ask is this has always boggled me and I have not pursued any, and my youngsters do not mention and factually don't use anything except FB, Pinterest or whatever, as I have ask.
At the present I have data on my cell but only to send a pic or two as I cannot see them on my small  screen.
Hey sorry to ramble and I'm dam glad I found this site several years ago and was let in, Thanks

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

I don't like FB for the privacy reasons.  However, I am considering starting a business page as a cheaper advertising method.  Told Dex where they could get off this year.  Never got that much business from them.  Get most from: A) referrals; B) yard sign; C) car but I always feel like I should do something more.

I have also noticed that the forum is much quieter than when I first joined.  Figured that people were just busy, you know working on upholstery, etc.

I'm just about to dive into the Royal Indian Cuisine project full tilt.  Contractor brought over the fabric this morning.  I went over to the job site this afternoon to double check measurements (they are adding a vestibule which takes part of one window and needed to see exactly how much window I am losing) and to pick up my retainer check.  Love this contractor.  He found me late in the game.  Had talked to someone else (don't know who) and the price they quoted him was almost twice what it is costing him to install a bar in the restaurant.  I've checked and double checked my estimates and I feel like I'm being handsomely paid for my work.  Contractor is paying me a bonus if I meet opening day.  Sooooo, if you don't see much of me for a while, I'm working fast and furiously on these window treatments.

As far as work goes, I've not had much of a shortage since I started.  I could be busier if I wanted to be.  I keep trying to slow down just a tad and then I get called like this contractor for the Royal Indian Cuisine and I jump in and go full throttle.

Virginia

[kodydog]

Facebook business page is all about getting likes. Most people think it's really impressive when they click on your page and see 200 likes. Another thing people like to see is  recent post. Nothing turns me off more than clicking on a business page and the latest post was over a year ago.

When I first started my fb business page my goal was to create more business. But after 1-1/2 years it has evolved more to just keeping in touch with current customers. I can't remember ever getting any new customers from fb. But I always try to follow up when someone comments on one of my posts. I try to thank everyone who "like" my page and I post a picture of almost every piece I finish. Posting often is important. Most of your followers will not see every post. I would post once a day if I could think of that much interesting stuff. The best posts that generate page clicks are the ones that tell a story.

A couple weeks ago I watched a webinar on getting more traffic to your FB business page. It was interesting and worth the time. But I don't see changing my strategy anytime soon. The leader spoke very fast and related a lot of information in 1-1/4 hours.

She starts out explaining that in 2014 (Just about the time I created my business page) fb redesigned their logarithms. They said people wanted to see more stories from "friends" and less promotional content. Business that post overly promotional content should expect their organic distribution to fall significantly over time and reach 0.

What are considered promotion posts?
1. Posts that have the sole purpose of pushing people to buy product and call to action.
2. Posts that push people to enter promotions, giveaways or contests.
3. Posts that reuse the same ad content over and over.

So far I'm doing good because I don't do any of that stuff. But if you are one that does there's good news. You can now BUY ads.

So this is where she starts promoting her business. She is after all a sales person. She helps businesses connect with customers and build relationships. She goes on to say that simply boosting your post doesn't work. People are too distracted and often miss it. She says you need to do something to grab their attention. Create high impact ads. She then goes on to percentages. How spending a little money can boost sales 40% to 60%.

That's where she lost me. In a labor-intensive business a 40% increase in business would mean hiring employees. Something I'm not ready to do. Yet. But if you are ready this program may be just what you need. In the end she promoted her business and that is when I turned it off. I did glean useful information from her Webinar and would recommend anyone who is interested in boosting his or her fb presence spend an hour and listen to this lady.

http://www.onlinemeetingnow.com/register/?id=up4noriwt6

[Mike]

Kody were is the new home ? still central or st agustie?

I do have FB and have a business page but I don't really have much interaction like a forum. I was late getting on FB and still don't understand tritter  linked in ect. I have to admit ive been doing a lot more at a new forum last year directly for marine work. 
I have been busy and now has been  unusually busy when September is tradionally the slowest month looks to be very busy this year.

[Dede]

Still here but don't have much to say these days... 

I really hope this forum doesn't go away!

[SteveA]

Sorry brmax to try and take your post in another direction - sometimes I don't process what I read - smelling too much lacquer here.
Anyway now that you mention it - maybe a little lite on chatter here but not terrible.  Like Dede said and all imply " I'd hate to see this site go away."

Maybe something that can help is answering topics that you wouldn't ordinarily reply to.  Just to show that you're out there , involved, and the forum is alive.  What happened over at Fine Wood Working was a shame.  Posters left for the Burl and that never took off.   If I had to rate this site against the 3 others I visit - this one is the best because of the contributors here.  So put down that coffee and start typing.
SA

[kodydog]

I'm always looking for that dadgum like button.

[kodydog]

Kody were is the new home ? still central or st agustie?

It took us 1-1/2 years to fix up our St Augustine house and get it ready for resale. We then bought a house in Gainesville where Rose found a accounting job working for the state. When we put our country house on the market it took us a long time to decide where we wanted to move. St Augustine on the coast and start our business from scratch or Gainesville where most of our customers live. We kept going back and fourth on this but finally decided on Gainesville.

It seems like once we made a decision things started to happen fast. Now our Realtor is telling us we may close on our country house next week. Our business continues to grow and soon Rose will rejoin me at our new location and take over the day to day running the business. We will implement our marketing plan and continue to grow our business.

[brmax]

Hi everyone! good to see ya!

Hey Congrats on the news Kody, and I'm hitting the like button on all the talk.
Great perspective on the FB biz, Id like ads more if they were all mine but that's not all the strategy I kinda understand.
I find the photo storage sites to be a dilema as the ads are not mine nor interesting in most cases and I think they bother most folks. In this what bugs me is I am more than willing to pay for a service but would like my money to keep ads from bothering others, that's a pita.

SteveA its just a big coffee table here and have many reasons to want to listen with everyone, so no worries its a circle for any interest shop talk is good anywhere, I'm not sure if it was the same but did have a subscription to Fine woodworking ages ago somewhere in the early 90s so I'm sure a great crowd no matter as the interest are alike, its a bummer on the site news. Rock on

Virginia good news on the job, sounds like a contractor that is great to work with.

Mike your a busy man and keeping all the sites alive, good days to ya there.

Morning All

[Mojo]

I am very deficient in social media. I spoke with Miami's media consultant and we devised a piggy back method where they are going to start supporting us with some of our marketing efforts. I admit I really need the assistance as I am out to lunch with social media programs. I know this Miami Rep is an expert in her field and will hopefully point us and get us started in the right direction. Tim their President has pledged his support in our conversations and I now need to take advantage of that.

I watch a few of the guys here on Facebook and when they post I try and make a positive comment or two. I know I did this once on Mikes post and it resulted in a sale for him. I really enjoy helping other friends on here by either support or pushing sales this way. It is awesome when we all support each other.

We are ready to embark on some advertising, the first we have ever done. It is expensive but I will never know the impact on sales that strategic advertising can play with these media outlets unless I make a play. I used to structure ad campaigns and brand awareness programs all the time but I am behind the times with internet marketing and need to catch up. Time will tell. We have instituted a new phone / email inquiry form and on this is a question " How did you hear about us ". I really need to start nailing down how we are gaining customers. So far it has all been referrals.

Thankfully Mindy is running the business on her own and I have more free time. It is awesome to have a manager that has a grasp on our business, can take the reins and run with the operation. She has been a God send and rock star.

Chris