New Title for a New Day

This blog has been wearing me out a little. I just found it hard to keep up with and a little repetitive. I finally decided that the focus was a little too tight. I already spend most of my days entrenched in faux finishing. Then I update my website fairly regularly with the latest projects and pictures, so by the time I get here i just don't really care anymore. I've also been struggling with how to talk about and display my other artistic interests too. So I've decided to rename this blog, The Design Guy. It'll give me a place to showcase other fun projects and hobbies I have that may or may not be work related. Hopefully this will open things up a little more so my posts won't be so redundant.

The Comeback Kid! Again!

I'm not sure how I keep ending up here. Just when I think that this business is on it's last breath or that the industry has dried up once and for all the phone starts ringing off the hook and we're back at it again! This business has managed to survive the recession despite me. I'm not sure how, but I've decided to stop analyzing it and just go about my business as though there were no recession. No sense focusing on the negative. My New Year's resolution this year will be to refocus my efforts into my marketing and be thankful that there is still a business to market.

Coming out of retirement!

This rollercoaster ride called g3 Studios is now on the way up again! Sort of. On one hand my phone has been ringing which has allowed me to quit an insanely crappy job I was forced to take to make ends meet during a particularly slow time. On the other hand I line up a few jobs which seem great, and one of them turns out to be a complete nutjob that I have to contest the second half of my payment with. Just in time for Christmas! What a complete loser!

Anyway, enough negativity about someone who doesn't deserve the energy! My other clients are dream clients and the job is worth over 5 times what the hassle job was. Good thing it wasn't the other way around! They were actually previous clients whose house had sadly burned down and they are now rebuilding and asked me to participate. They have a lot of imagination and their stuff always turns out amazing so I will post pics as I go!

I'm trying to find the joy in the day to day activities because I know that a phone can stop ringing at any moment, but I am frustrated that the whole world seems to think they should be able to take advantage of people because the economy is bad. I'm having a hard time believing that's what the Holiday Season is all about!

Anyway, I'm also using this time to meet with new distributors and get reaquinted with new products because many companies went out of business in the last few months. I'm going to start posting some thoughts and results from my R&D sessions just to add a different dimension to the blog! First up, Proceed's line of Full Bodied Glaze. I just recieved a few gallons and can't wait to try it out!

Thank you for the support!

Thinking some more about the plight of my unfortunate clients, the economy, the industry itself, and many other factors it dawned on me that I too often worry about the negative and injustices of the world.

I truly do know how lucky I am most days and that all things considered I lead a pretty charmed life. So, in that way I am grateful, but I don't acknowledge the people around me that contribute to that. In other words I don't say thank you enough to the people that matter and that support me, even when I'm down and don't know they are.

This often comes from unexpected places. Sometimes it's from acquaintances I hardly know, sometimes from past clients I run into, the forums I view and the people out in the world who offer kind words and encouragement even though we haven't even met. The most obvious are the people who have commented on this blog.

Thank you sincerely, I don't think you realize how big something so seemingly small can be to someone when spoken at key moments in their lives. I have to try and be more positive to others around me, because you never know when they really need it the most!

Putting things into Perspective!

What started out as needing a break turned into needing some perspective. My entire life had become overwhelmed, inundated and overtaken by my business. The problem was that on many levels it was actually getting too big and I felt the pressure to let it keep growing which was turning into ridiculous time lines, bid wars, over bloated projects, and ego driven decision making.

I took a deep breath and a short hiatus and really examined what it was I enjoyed about this business and which aspects were important to me. Once I answered these questions truthfully things started to sort themselves out.

On top of all of this, I recently saw a news story in which a very good client of mine suddenly lost their home to a fire! The house was valued at 1.6 Million dollars and declared a total loss! The fire was beyond control within 15 minutes! 15 minutes. A blink of the eye. It takes me longer to update this blog.

Despite the value of the house and all of the belongings, I know that the most important thing in the world to them besides the safety of the family is their two dogs, which got out safely. So in their mind they didn't really lose much in the grand scheme.

How many people really hold those kind of true values and would so easily see how lucky they really were in the face of such tragedy and heartbreak?

It's clients like that, people like that who really inspire me to see how lucky I am everyday.

Trying to get in some downtime!

Sorry about the gap in posts but I have been a busy guy lately! Getting ready to start a new project on Monday and getting together the last minute details. Trying to use the slowdown in the market to get a few ducks in a row. I hope the falling gas prices and the election being over puts people in a better mood and gets things going at a more regular pace again. The holidays are sure a lot more fun when you have money!!! Took my son to see the new James Bond film last night. It was a pretty cool movie but the saddest part is that I think I spent more time looking at the distressed walls and run down buildings in all of the exotic locales than I did on the plot of the movie! I'm such a nerd. Here are just a few. I have to get out more often!

Adapt or Die!

It's a long standing catchphrase in the entrepreneurial world. And it's never been truer. Right now our industry is facing a major downturn thanks to the volatile housing market which in turn is hurting the economy. Not to mention the whole "old world" look is starting to wind down also. The worst of it seems to be that the look and style so many of us are executing is going to be a constant reminder of an ugly time in the marketplace. Maybe not so much to the average homeowner but to the builders and designers it's always going to remind them of when things were great and when things went ugly. It's tough being associated with something like that. Couple this with the green movement which is also taking on a whole new look and style and things don't look so good.

That's the bad end of things. The good end is that it's forcing us as an industry to become more creative than ever. To come up with new color schemes, textures, and green looks and effects. It's forcing us to look at who our clientèle was and who it's becoming. It's forcing us to look at our pricing structure and the products we use. In short it's forcing us to re examine our business' and what it is we're trying to accomplish.

Why is all of this good. Because for those of us who are in this for the long haul, it's going to weed out the weak, the pretenders, the under cutters, and the quick buck people. It's good because we get to become a little closer to our business and learn something new at the same time. It's good because we get a chance to add a whole new facet to what we offer. We are getting back to basics and starting over in some ways by networking to new people, marketing in a different way. This can only make our business' stronger in the long run.

It's a lot of work that most of us thought was behind us when we started out. I for one am exhausted lately from getting adjusted to the new world of faux but in order to survive we really do have to adapt or die. It's that simple. So instead of seeing the negative and all of the hard work, just look at it as a chance to get better and make more money. It's just not easy money!