To Freeze or Not to Freeze

One of our professional painters has learned the hard way when freezing his paint brushes over night. He mentions that back in the good old days when he used to be able to freeze his brushes instead of cleaning them, it helped greatly because the paint didn’t dry on the brush. He didn’t have to spend the time cleaning them out at the end of the day. He was only able to do this because he used oil paint on just about everything – and oil paint does not freeze. Nowadays, the use of oil paint is long gone.

There are many people who still think they can use the freezer method with the paints we use today. Since oil paint hasn’t been used in years and latex paint is the new thing, it will freeze and you’ll find yourself with a brushsicle in the morning. It will be quite some time before you can actually use the brush again. Paint brushes can be quite expensive and it would be a shame to throw them out. Most latex paints, once frozen, will not go back to their natural viscosity – it turns into a jelly mess, rendering the brush completely useless. If this occurs and goes unnoticed, your painting project could end up being a disaster and a waste of time and money.

The moral of the story is –take the time to wash out your brushes after you paint, unless you’re still able to find some old oil paint lying around. It is worth it in the end for a professional looking paint job. For any questions that you have please contact us at 1-866-965-STAR or visit our website to chat live with a representative.

Spring Ahead

Spring is the perfect time to give your home a fresh look. Liven up traditional design with the hottest spring colors, serving as inspiration for the entire home. Spring traditionally awakens a sense of freshness and new beginnings, with sprouting shoots and blossoming flowers that inspire people to breakout of the winter blues. From serene shades to vivid hues, here are some color schemes you’ll want to try this season.

Bright & Clean

Spring hues are ideal for a girl’s bedroom. Use a polka-dot pillow and damask fabric in apple green as inspiration to complement a pink wall. A white headboard would make the pink wall pop.

Energizing Appeal

One of the most appealing shades of spring is the deep blue. Combine it with other favorite hues, like tomato red, turquoise and apple green, to create an energetic and bright design.

Luxurious Surroundings

The classic blue and yellow combo is always a favorite. While white is often paired with this palette to keep it light and airy, using black accents to create a richer, more sophisticated atmosphere also works well.

Serene and Restful

Welcome nature into the bedroom with a soft green. The great thing about shades of green is that they look fabulous and they’ve got a nice calming effect. Add some floral textiles to create this calming retreat. Refer back to a previous blog post on Color Trends for 2010 for more details.

Accessorize Your Home

Create a fresh and open space with cheery spring accessories. Use a color to paint the walls and the remaining colors for pillows, lampshades, rugs and other great accessories.

Five Star Painting would be happy to present some helpful color schemes, as well as decorating tips to give your home a fresh look. Please call us at 1-866-965-STAR.

Before and After Paint Jobs

It is amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do to a home or commercial building. What a difference it can make in the curb appeal of your home or the business that it can bring in.

For a FREE estimate, give Five Star Painting a call at 1-866-965-STAR or chat with a local representative on our website for any questions that you have.

Check out these great Before and After examples that have been completed by Five Star Painting franchises.

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Why are Email Signatures Important?

An email signature is usually a few lines of text placed at the bottom of an email message, forum or newsgroup that identifies you, your company, and your product or service. People don’t fully understand the effectiveness of email signatures and therefore lose out on an opportunity to gain new customers.

There are many ways you can create your email signature, but having a poor signature can hurt your professional reputation. With that said, here are some general instructions that can guide you in formatting a professional signature.

Email Signature Tips

• Include your name, your phone number, email address, company or website title, and your website address.
• Compact your information into fewer lines by using pipes (|) or colons (::) to separate the text.
• Keep it short (four lines is standard).
• Recommend matching the theme and personality of your website.
• Simple plain text is best; skip bright colors, special fonts, and graphics.
• Avoid including multiple phone numbers and email addresses. Pick your contact preference and get rid of the rest.
• Include links to your most important social media profiles, only if they are appropriate.
• Skip your mailing address — not every recipient wants or should have access to that information.
• Use the signature delimiter (– ) to help your signature get recognized
• Be careful with HTML formatting because it may not appear how you want it to for everyone.
• Optimize your logo or other graphics, upload the files to your server, and use an absolute URL.
• Consider using an email signature service. Here are a few to check out:

1. Exclaimer
2. CodeTwo
3. WiseStamp

• Instead of using hyperlinks, be sure to write out the full URL to ensure that the link will go through in the sent message.
• Update your signature on your cell phone if you frequently use it to send messages. Here are some easy guidelines on popular devices:

1. iPhone
2. BlackBerry
3. Nexus One

• Reconsider including a quote; you never know when you might offend someone or give the wrong impression.
• Avoid including a legal disclaimer unless required to do so.

Examples of Email Signatures

Default version:

–

John Smith
President | Top Web Design USA
555-555-5555 | john@johnsmith.com | http://www.websiteurl.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/twittername | LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/linkedinname

Replies:

–

John Smith
555-555-5555
http://www.websiteurl.com

To optimize the effectiveness of your email signature, you need to also track them. You’re your website address is written out in your signature file, you can redirect it by tracking the full URL. The best way to go about this is by using ad tracking software. This allows you to keep track of any traffic that comes your way through your email signature.