Catchy Phrases/Words For Advertising

CornerstoneGC

Okay, still working on my direct mail fiasco.
Pain in the neck to decide for sure where you're mailing away your hard earned $$$$ and if you are even doing this the right way. I've been relying on your input in this journey so far, as your experience is invaluable.

So here's the BUMMER. I am drawing a complete blank on the wording...the catchy phrases. From your input, I should put some sort of discounts to encourage calls....so I did that. I'm also following your advice on contacting some of my past clients for referrals (kind of hard since our client base was lost when computer got a horrible virus in 2007), but at least it's a start.

SOOOO....Can you give me some examples of words that have helped you in the past? I mean everyone uses stuff like "quality", "guarantee", "licensed"....BUT....what have YOU found to catch your eye? Yes, I am honest, responsible, have great reference and know what I'm doing....but help me out here....MAKE ME STAND OUT!

Looking for examples please...taglines...slogans...phrases...SOMETHING



Sevi

Remodel Bud

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CornerstoneGC

VERRRRYYYY easy question.....

Small company, I'm the Owner, Sales guy, Contractor, Collector, Estimator, and now Marketing Guru for the company.

I am GC and specialize in Home Remodeling, mostly Baths/Kitchen and flooring. For flooring, my bread and butter is marble and tile installation (no vinyl or hardwood). We also do painting (regular and faux) and baseboards, mouldings, etc. ..you get the idea...complete remodeling.

So I'm the one-man-show in that perspective, and I have a crew of 3 that work with me...good guys...I put them first before myself when payday comes..always.

Been doing this for about 11 years, never advertised before because there was no need...always had more business than I could handle, took what I can handle, never go greedy.

Through some circumstances, I had to move and start over in a new city. This is the hard part...now I have to advertise to get my name out there. For someone on a VERY limited budget in a crappy Florida market, this is hard to do per se.

I've done all kinds of jobs...from condos to single family homes to commercial bldgs to banks.

Well..that's all about me. Oh, favorite color is orange

rbsremodeling

What type of homeowners/customers are you looking for. High end or low to Moderate makes a bit of a difference on the type of marketing as well

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CornerstoneGC

Mid to high-end is what I mostly do (did). The problem is that it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to market to those high-end customers...I mean they don't really bother with the direct mail...they barely bother to read their own mail. I was blessed with those opportunities because I met a developer and did his unit in South Beach. We installed onyx shipped from a specific mountain in Italy, cut and arranged to mimic complete unity with all the veins...as it was in the mountain it came from. From there on, jobs kept coming and all was well. But I also worked in medium income levels, from marble/onyx baths to tiles....basically from homes valued at $500K and up.

I don't mind working within any budget...what I can't do is offer financing or no payments for one year to people that want things done and don't have the money. I just don't have the luxury. So no matter if you bathroom is gonna cost $3K or $13K....you gotta pay at the end of the job.

Soooo....my prefered market would be between $350K to lets say $1M. I can put a door hanger on the lower end house...how do I get the $1M one to notice me?

Hey, at the end of the day and in my situation, I'll take what I can get. If people want me to replace 2 doors and 5 tiles, what can I do....I'll even take that.

rbsremodeling

Parked you clean lettered van in an upscale neighborhood on a nice clear walk-ing weekend with magnetic business cards all over it 75-100 and see how many of them get pulled off and use

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CornerstoneGC

Wow...gotta get the truck lettered first

rbsremodeling

I know money is tight what kind of money are you looking to spend??

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CornerstoneGC

Oh, and about the nice walking weekend...I gotta wait until winter for that....

Ever try to take a nice relaxing walk in South Florida on a perfectly clear sunny day? It's like walking around in a sauna..... Gotta bring a gallon of water along and maybe a couple of towels and try your hardest not to take a dive in the first pool you see at the neighbors house.

CornerstoneGC

Well, I was going to spend money on a decent website first....

Then, I was going to throw in the garbage about $500 in direct mail and maybe $100 more in yard sign.

rbsremodeling

I would say the website for sure. Try footbridgeMedia if they are available.

Direct mail I would hold off on until you do more research and determine the best method, neighborhood etc to send them out in.

Definitely yard signs

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CornerstoneGC

Thanks


I did look into Footbridge media..but they don't seem too spectacular to me. I like WebFirstCreations but from what I understand they are not taking anymore new business. I spoke with someone who told me they could do something similar, we'll see what happens...

The one I have I have never had any leads from...you can't even find it on a search engine....one of those do it yourself templates that is nice and showy but good for nothing form what I understand...takes a year to load, etc. Check it out..I'm a little embarressed to even mention it... www.cornerstonegeneralcontractors.com

rbsremodeling

Having you name as a dot com may not be the best solution. NO one searches for your name. They search for a key word


How many searches for cornerstonegeneralcontractors.com versus remodeling contractor palm beach county or kitchen remodeling dade county??

Your dot com does not have to be your name but maybe something keyword/search related.

agreed i think footbridesites ( mine is one are not the best) but their SEO work placement is top notch. You can have the best website in the world if no see's it what use is it

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CornerstoneGC

yeah, but from what I understand the whole thing is all wrong. I have to get another one done from scratch. I wish I can download another template and do it myself, but I'm afraid to take the chance again....

rbsremodeling

They modified my old one and made it search engine friendly and add keywords etc as needed. Its only a phone call if you are not impressed with them, next. The beauty of america! what a country

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Remodel Bud

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Remodel Bud

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rbsremodeling

Agreed. A good ppc campaign and the right keywords/website can net you business in a few months

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Remodel Bud

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CornerstoneGC

YOU GUYS ROCK!

Thanks for the input...here's the DUMBO question...

What is this "pay-per-click" ? I keep reading about it on posts, but I am clueless on what it actually is.

So basically, you both agree...my first step is the website and a decent logo. I have a logo in mind but I need someone to make it happen.

Then, spend $$ on pay-per-click campaign....How do you mean to target more upscale clients?

Next, try the magnetic cards and postcards.

If I can make the website work for me, it would be AWESOME...does it really provide you with leads? I mean as for myself and my wife, we get everything done and researched online....hopefully many people do the same when it comes to finding a contractor.

Hey, I like that slogan.....if anything else pops up, keep letting me know!!

Thanks again!
Sevi