December 2012 Tile Talk Newsletter

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New Arabesque Cement Tiles Bring Spanish Flair to Any Décor

Our newest line of cement tile offers not only a classic, time-tested look, but also the durability and craftsmanship of traditional handmade cement tile. Introducing Arabesque Cement Tile!

The geometrically inclined Arabesque pattern, part of our cement tile collection, pays homage the rich look of classic clay bisque tiles that have been used in Spain, the Mediterranean, and northern Africa for centuries. With Arabesque, you'll also receive the durable, time-tested benefits of cement tile with the added benefit of a broader color palette, and sizes and shapes that can be adapted to any décor and environment.

Further, by using our Arabesque Spanish Cement Tile in your next design project, you'll feel good knowing your choice is also good for the environment. Made in the USA, this collection is made using a high percentage of locally sourced materials, which minimizes transportation impact. Moreover, the cement used for producing these tiles is supplied by an Energy Star Certified factory.

Arabesque Aragon Cotto Dark

Arabesque Mudejar Cotto Dark

Finally, unlike their bisque counterparts, Arabesque features a Paver Color Palette that includes 30 colors and two blends. The Classic Color Palette (in six shades) takes its cue from clay bisque that would be historically used to make Saltillo tile, brown Spanish pavers, and red clay tiles.

For a contemporary look, you can choose from our extensive collection of 24 colors within the Premium color palette, which includes subtle greys, green, plum, rust and tan. Prices for the Arabesque collection start at $15 per square foot. Your choice of color, size, format, and finish will affect the final cost. There are 8 designs within the collection. Most designs are available in two or three styles allowing you to choose a larger, smaller, or slightly different format. Our online product catalog details the available styles, tile sizes, shapes, formats, color, and price for each design. Remember, each piece is handcrafted, therefore, please expect to receive them within 4 to 6 weeks from the time your order is placed.

Pinterest: Inspiring, Trend-Setting, Project Organizer

In the November issue of Tile Talk News, we touched upon our Pinterest boards and how we make it work for us. In this issue, we'll be sharing some best Pinterest practices that we've incorporated into our daily Pinterest schedule and ever-expanding boards.

We recently attended a Pinterest-focused twitter chat for kitchen and bath industry professionals, @KBTribechat where we left with newly found encouragement to continue to do what we've been doing. The chat featured Beth Hayden @bethjhayden, a nationally known speaker and social media expert, who taught us and dozens of other attendees a couple of new things. Here are some tips that both we and Beth have found that led to successful, profitable pinning:

• Use descriptive titles, keywords, proper credit for photos, active links to where the image was sourced from.
• Inspire visitors of your boards to go to your website to purchase what they like.
• Pin every day, even if it's just a few things. You.ll keep things fresh, and chances are you'll get re-pinned more often.
• Use the Pinterest Popular tab to see what kind of content people love, and what they are sharing. Beth mentioned that the "Popular" tab is her own trends spotter.
• When clients are looking for a specific project type, i.e. kitchen, patio, mud rooms. You can send them to our Pinterest boards, or, they can send you to theirs. It's almost as if you're swapping portfolios.
• Make sure you have your website listed in your Pinterest profile, and that you're posting your own blog posts.
• Pin things that your audience (client base, customers, friends, etc.) are into, such as travel, architecture, design, nature, and so on.
• Most importantly, remember your manners. As in all social media platforms, good manners will get you far, while bad manners will leave you stagnant. If someone takes the time to like or repin what you've posted, or has left a comment, make sure to thank them!

Lastly, did you know you could find out what people are pinning from your site? This invaluable piece of information, http://pinterest.com/SOURCE/[yoursitehere.com], can help form or reshape your online strategy.

For instance, take a look at ours: http://pinterest.com/source/aventetile.com/

This isn't a live link, so you'll have to copy and paste it into your browser. And where it says [yoursitehere.com], that's where you'll enter the website address where you want to see who is pinning from it, and which images have been pinned.

We hope this information has been helpful. If you're already on Pinterest, let us know how you use it, and what successes you've had with it. We'd love to hear your suggestions and/or questions, too! Follow our Pinterest boards and let's get pinning together!

May the holiday season bring you joy and fulfillment, and the warmth of being surrounded by friends and family!

Deer in Moonlight Ceramic Tile Mural