Interested in a Five Star Painting Franchise?

Interested in franchising? Well today is your lucky day. Five Star Painting focuses on franchising as a means to increase growth. Franchising represents one of the largest economic drivers in the Unites States today, representing nearly nine percent of gross domestic product. The franchise model attracts entrepreneurs from all walks of life looking to take advantage of Five Star’s years of experience in the painting industry. It is widely accepted that most small businesses fail in the first three years, the franchise model has been shown to increase the likelihood of success. This success is partly due to the combined buying power and brain power of entrepreneurs under one brand.

Franchise Times magazine published the Fast 55 ranking of the fastest growing franchises in 2010. Five Star Painting is ranked no. 16 and the average unit growth number from 1004-2008 is 416.09%.

Franchise Business Review ranked Five Star Painting as the number one franchise painting system and in the top five best franchise systems in the home services market.

The painting industry is estimated at nearly $100 billion annually, is it one of the oldest and largest industries in America. It is not difficult to understand why; with ever changing trends, homeowners and business owners are regularly changing the interior and exterior paint colors of their homes and businesses. The result is a stable and growing industry.

If interested in learning more about opening up a Five Star Painting franchise in your area, click here.

Need Professional Help for Decorating?

This is for busy people everywhere – are you wanting a professional to solve and complete your home decorating dreams in colors, fabrics, window treatments, paints, furnishings, lighting, and more? Well today is your lucky day…Decor & You has partnered up with Five Star Painting and are excited to help those who are having decorating blues.

Are you tired of collecting a million paint chips, trying to measure your own windows, fighting shopping crowds and unknowledgeable sales people, and deciding which colors will make you happiest? Now imagine how convenient it would be if you had your own personal interior decorator come to your home to take care of everything for you – with talent, creative ideas, and an incredible array of brand names you love, all to fit your taste, your style and most importantly your budget – this is where Decor & You comes in.

Some of the most significant aspects of a room are the artwork and accessories that embellish the walls. This is also why choosing what goes on the walls can be such a difficult decision. Artwork is usually eye-level; it is the first thing we notice when we enter a room and the thing we focus on the most. So, it is important to use pieces that we find pleasing, and place them where they will fit best.

Changes to your home don’t always have to be drastic, but a new piece of artwork can easily freshen up your space. There are many aspects to consider when placing art or accessories: Does the overall color scheme of the room agree with the piece? Is it positioned well in the room? Is it in the right room? Color is important – try brighter accessories to quickly liven up a room, and neutral ones to capture that peacefulness you desire.

So make a difference, and have some fun with artwork and accessories in your home. Click here to locate your local DecorDeisgner who can help you get started today.

Five Star Painting of North Shore Boston Sponsored a Benefit Race

Through torrential downpours and high-winds, die-hard runners and walkers prepared to participate in the North Shore 30K to benefit Neurofibromatosis scheduled on March 14, 2010. This benefit was sponsored by Five Star Painting of North Shore in Boston, Massachusetts. With over 100 participants, the relay teams and walkers did a 15K course, while the majority of runners ran the same course twice totaling 30K.

The weather was far from perfect – course markers and signs were blown away, traffic cones were knocked over, puddles were knee-high, and water cups were filling on their own. While it was cold and windy, the participants remained strong and remembered what the race was for – serving those with Neurofibromatosis. This disorder is genetically-inherited in which the nerve tissue grows tumors that may be harmless or may cause serious damage by compressing nerves and other tissues.

Steve Oransky and Carmelina Procaccini of Five Star Painting were happy to lend a hand in sponsoring the fundraiser for such an important event. Participants and volunteers proved that if they set their mind on a goal, they can accomplish it. This will be one race that they will remember for a long time.

Does Your Home Need a New Face Lift?

Do you want to give your home a face lift? If so, Five Star Painting is here for your service. Cleanliness, timeliness and being on budget are the hallmarks of our company. We would be pleased to give you a FREE estimate for any painting project you have in mind. Visit our website or give us a call to set up an appointment with your local estimator.

When it comes to decorating, choosing paint color can really be a challenge. There are so many choices to choose from, you would think you’re bound to find the right one, but you may not know where to even begin! Five Star Painting can help you decide what colors will radiant your home. Check out the tips below if you have a painting project in the works.

Patience

It’s great to collect paint chips when planning a room, but hold off making final choices until you’ve developed an overall room scheme. Paint is available in millions of colors and is the most versatile element of your room decor, the easiest to change, and the least expensive. Get ideas but make the final decision after rugs, wallpaper, and fabrics are finalized.

Color Shopping

When you go shopping, you’ll need to refer to your fabric, carpet, tile, wallpaper, and trim samples constantly. Be sure to take everything with you wherever you go. You never know when you might see something wonderful. Consider which paint finish might be best for your project. Matte or flat finishes hide wall imperfections, but glossier finishes will reflect more light.

Colors for Trim

The shade of white or off-white for the moldings, doors, and windows are the most popular. If you’re feeling brave, consider the palest shade of color to coordinate with the walls. For a really striking look, try lighter walls and dark tones or bright color for trim.

To Prime or Not to Prime

Paint stores encourage their consumers to use a primer under the top coat of paint. This makes them a lot of money of course, but is not the best advice. When someone wants to use primer, they only think of two different capabilities – priming and sealing. In reality, primer is about two different applications and probably two different products.

1. A sealer is meant to ‘seal’ something into the wall, like water stains or ink from a pen. Have you ever tried to paint over a pen mark on the wall? If so, you probably noticed that the ink bled right through the paint you just put on. Then you paint it again, and the same thing happens – you still see the ink. A sealer will fix this. The sealer will seal the ink into the wall and not allow it to bleed through the finish coat of paint. You will notice that the ink will bleed through the sealer, but that’s fine because you will still need to apply the top coat. Once that is done, you will never know that there was ink on the wall.
2. A primer does something a little different. It primes the surface to make it ready for the top coat. For example, you need to prime raw wood for the top coat to stick to it. There are three main substrates that need priming – raw wood, new drywall, and raw metal. Some paints have a primer built into it and you may be able to use it as a primer and a top coat all at once. But most of the time, you will have to prime these substrates before applying your latex topcoat.

Remember this rule – If the substrate is already painted, you DON’T NEED a primer anymore. You may need a sealer if there are pen marks or a water stain, but not a primer.

So the next time you question buying primer, remember these tips. If you have any questions or would like a FREE estimate, call Five Star Painting at 1-866-965-STAR (7827).

Preparation for the “Will it Paint?” Video Series

Is there a better way to paint? This past year Five Star Painting has been creating a video series taking suggestions on which method is a better way to paint. These suggestions have come from people all across North America. We have taken into consideration to attempt these different methods and here is a sneak peek of a few shots we captured.

Stay tuned later this week for when we launch these videos.

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.