Other stories by Joseph Schuler Jr.

  • Fire opens the way to a remodel

    Homeowner John Carmean and his wife, Chris, are no newcomers to tragedy. Their daughter, Kerry, was just over a year old when a car accident in 1974 broke John's back, paralyzing him from the chest down, putting him in a wheelchair for life.

  • Before+After: Second Chance

    Homeowner John Carmean and his wife, Chris, are no newcomers to tragedy. Their daughter, Kerry, was just over a year old when a car accident in 1974 broke John's back, paralyzing him from the chest down, putting him in a wheelchair for life.

  • Understanding marketing basics

    Marketing: it's everything a business does that touches prospects and clients. It should be the heart of your business, from which all operational and management plans flow. So why do so many small-business owners fail to market or to develop marketing plans?

  • House of Cards

    A card deck service that targets owners of homes valued at more than $500,000 has returned solid leads for Washington, D.C.–area remodelers.

  • Have a Nice Trip

    Looking for a way to close sales or spur salespeople on to closing more business? Consider MVI Marketing's “Mini Vacations”

  • Add One Cube, Stir Architects

    Architects are intrigued by origami. And by high-profile architects. Contractor David Adams discovered that with a unique marketing gimmick that has roots in the sixth-century Asian art of paper folding. It helps that the gimmick also depicts the work of some renowned architects, among them New...

  • Before+After: Asian Flare

    The late Minoru Yamasaki, a second-generation Japanese born in America, is known for designing New York's World Trade Center, which he saw as a symbol of man's limitless potential. Yamasaki lived in Michigan and designed his first high-rise there. About his home, near his Troy office, he said...

  • Profile: Gilday Renovations

    Five years after winning Big50 in 1988, Tom Gilday and his partner/cousin, Kevin, were forced to cut by half their 30-employee staff at Gilday Design and Remodeling. The depressed Washington, D.C., economy was to blame.

  • Sense-ational Sales

    Big50 remodeler-turned-consultant Mike Gorman says people think in pictures, not words. Create a “movie” in their brain, transferring key moods, feelings, and associations, and you'll make a sale.

  • Personality Tests and Profiles Can Help Everyone Get Along

    What makes Mazmanian, a certified professional behavior analyst, so certain of the qualities of his client's employees is a combination of experience and tools. He has been working with contractors for 15 years and uses the DiSC, a behavioral profiling tool used since 1945 on about 20 million...