The world's foremost resource on decorative concrete
From self-cleaning and self-repairing to bendable and glowing, concrete is constantly evolving, regularly bringing technologically improved products to market.
Recently an architect who was writing the polished concrete specification for a school district contacted me when he recognized that he did not know enough. The good news is that he asked for help in crafting an informative and realistic specification that allows educated bids with room for profit.
Marketing activities exist in multiple forms. In 1960, marketer E. Jerome McCarthy identified four distinctive types of marketing, often referred to as the “four P’s”: product, price, place and promotion. This marketing mix provides a standard framework for a decorative concrete professional to communicate and deliver lasting value to customers.
Today’s trend has less to do with any certain product and more to do with a weak economy and saving money. Just like people are finding ways to make their cars go another year to save money, so too are they are looking for ways to make their existing concrete work another year.
As adults we learn to communicate using our words when we want and need something. The use of certain words can change the entire intention of what someone is trying to say. For those who sell and install decorative concrete, when was the last time you thought about how words influence your client’s thought process regarding their decision to buy your products or services?
Almost all manufacturers of decorative concrete systems and equipment offer some sort of training on their products. Whether it is a one-hour watch-and-learn or a three-day hands-on class that people pay to attend, these programs have become mainstream in our industry.
If you missed this year’s World of Concrete in Las Vegas, let me bring you up to date on what is happening in the decorative concrete industry. The decorative all-stars were out in full force and they certainly delivered and the decorative concrete information highway ran straight through Las Vegas this year.
Profit is the byproduct of a high-quality decorative job. There is a big difference between learning to stamp concrete and learning to stamp profitable concrete. In this article we will discuss how to set your job up, as well as the installation process.
There are new profit opportunities in polished concrete for the decorative concrete contractor. This is a fact, and every decorative concrete contractor should look into polished concrete. However, nothing ever caused more people to go broke than too much optimism and too little planning.
You have, are or will make decisions on your decorative journey, and they will affect you and your family. Our industry, decorative concrete, has so many layers and many types of overlap. This magazine makes it obvious your choices are vast, but make no mistake, each decorative type requires different kinds of training, investment and manpower.
Decorative concrete is a highly specialized form of construction. The product itself is unique, the tools, materials and construction methodologies employed are specialized, and the people who produce construction art are creative, dedicated artisans.
