PR May 2007

Orfield Design & Construction combined Arts and Crafts and art deco to save this home from its previous remodels.  By successfully blending the two styles, the company created an award-winning project.

Designing and building outdoor living areas for your clients triggers a quandary: What style should it be? The easy answer is to slap a wood or composite deck onto the back of the house. But your clients are likely to be more delighted with an outdoor living area that takes its design cues from the house itself.

I have been in business for 19 years, and I will tell you hiring is by far the hardest yet most important aspect of my job as president of my company. I have tried more approaches to hiring than I ever care to admit. In these past 19 years, I have found a few helpful areas to focus on that I would like to share:

If you have a Trade Secret you would like to share, e-mail Senior Editor Jonathan Sweet at jonathan.sweet@reedbusiness.com.

Products for building or remodeling a deck.

New product showcase plus flooring products and tools

Once you've been in the business for a while, a lot of your clients can be referrals. Does your marketing plan change to attract those referrals? Tom: Today's subject is "Marketing for Referrals." Jeff, in your terms, how would you define marketing in and of itself? Jeff: I would consider marketing as what our image is in our community.

There is an old saying, "numbers don't lie." This is true, but they can also be very confusing when it comes to your remodeling business' profit and loss statement. Why is that? Most financial programs are set up to accommodate IRS standards. What you and I need is a program that helps us run a more effective and efficient business — a business that pays us well and produces a double-digi...

This month's cover story makes me feel old. It's one thing to look in the mirror and see the wrinkles creeping across your face like cracks in an old plaster ceiling. It's another matter to discover that American business thought leaders are beginning to pay less and less attention to my generation — baby boomers — in favor of a younger, wealthier one — Generation X.

Auditing a home for energy-efficient upgrades