Effective Marketing?

thom

Many of you guys disliked my comments on Guerrilla Marketing. If you really want to market, follow the link below.

A little about me. I taught marketing for 2 years (1977-1979) immediately prior to starting in construction. I did well enough in construction that I retired after 28 years, when I was 56. My wife did not work nor did she provide any income, the construction company did it all.

I did have a significant advantage over my competition, I understood business. I have/had an MBA with management experience starting when I was in High School.

Marketing is not about a snazzy website with gobs of bells and whistles, it's about marketing the product your customer is looking for, where, and when your customer is looking for it.

http://www.starfire-properties.com-a...vicesmarketing

DarrenB

I found it useful. Thanks.

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Bathroom_Remodeling_Acrylic_Tub_and_Wall_Systems_N orthern_Virginia_Stafford_Fredericksburg_Richmond_ and_Central_Virginia

cbscreative

I would say that ought to be very helpful to members here, thom, and I would echo your points about marketing to the consumer rather than your own ego, being real, and addressing the needs and concerns of your potential customer.

I've hinted at my background in past posts, but it's kind of the opposite of what you shared. I started in business (sign biz) where I had a number of contractor clients since I provided job site signs. Back then, right before computerized sign making, us "sign guys" only needed talent because the signs were in demand and only talented people could succeed at making them.

Once the computer changed that, I learned the value of marketing the hard way. So now I'm in marketing because I discovered that even the most skilled professional can fail if they suck at the marketing part.

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Steve Chittenden
Web/SEO Geek • Graphic Artist • Writer • Marketing Guy
One reason I know so much about the web and marketing is that I don't have to know as much about construction.

JV Marketing

Beautifully said...We work 100+ websites and you would be amazed at what converts visitors to customers. A common sense approach is one that we have used with quite a bit of success.

Crawdad

I use some of the techniques that you dislike so much, because they work.
I also use some of the techniques on your page you just linked us to, and I'll be using more of them, thanks.

buddy110

This is gold, Thank you!



People have a variety of questions and concerns. They will pay most attention to the site that answers those questions and concerns. Effective marketing on your web-site is about answering every important question they might have, while making it extremely easy to navigate.

Give them a documents page with a clickable outline. This should include:
• Our basic contract and terms
• Our standard warranty
• Our state contractors license (include a picture)
• Our workmens compensation insurance and what it means to you
• Our liability insurance and what it means to you
• Our awards
• Our Better Business Bueareau membership
Each of the above is a picture with a one sentence caption above it explaining it. Tell them why workmens compensation insurance and the other things listed are important to them, and tell them in only a few words.

JimHo

I have a friend who has started to outline a website for me, and some day soon I'll be there too. In the meantime, I've started taking digital pictures of every job I've been doing with a before and after shot as well as some stuff in progress. I save these on my computer in a separate folder for each project. I have long names for the folders which include the type of job being done so I can find the right picture later on when I want to include it in my site.

Martin Co

Brilliant! Not to often will a long post keep me reading more, excellent points, you hit the nail on the head with that one! Was a pleasure to read..

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Alyssa Gagen

Mr. Thom,

You made an excellent point in this post and that was a great article to follow as an overall premise for marketing your business.

While the customer is always the most important asset to ANY business, I feel that with the eruption of today's technology, many tactics that are viewed as "soliciting" are necessary to improve the visibility of your business on the Internet, i.e. links, page ranking, SEO content, etc.

By no means do I feel that it is appropriate to put printouts on someones windshield while they are running errands on a Saturday afternoon, however, links to your site, distributing articles and participating in forums should not be classified as "splattering your marketing crap everywhere". It is simply the new wave of social media marketing.


Alyssa Gagen
GenNext Media LLC.

Surefire Social Contractor Edition: Effective contractor for the digital age!

Kenny K

I agree it is not about how nice it looks, it is how effective the numbers, result oriented. Just look at effective ads, auto business.. might be cheezy but works

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Replacement Windows and Vinyl Siding by Illinois Remodeling Company

R.G. Barnes Co.

The topic of web sites for a construction company or painting contractor seems to me to be confusing. Is the main point of the web site to get customers to your door for a consultation, or to showcase your work. I live 50 miles north of Atlanta, GA. I have secured customers as far as Valdosta (320 miles) to Knoxville, TN. The point I am trying to get at is, What are you trying to accomplish? I also hold an MBA with a consintration in Sustainable Industry Technology.
I have experience in manufacturing (Owner/Founder of the Welch Grill Works LLC. and Class 8 Custom Flooring Inc.) Oh yea, and I use to paint for my fathers company. We had a web site built for $60,000 and maintained for $3500 at the Grill Company. It killed me to think we spent that much, but for what we did it was nessesary. I started a painting company for my son and all we have is the Yellow Pages and word of mouth. Started in 2005 and currently he has completed 316 new construction, 148 residential repaints, and he has saved enough to finish paying for his college.
If a customer asks me if we have a website, I just tell them; My company can provide over 100 refrences if need be, photos of past projects, or anything eles you may feel comfortable with me producing, but currently I am concerned with only one potential customer and that is you. Not everyone that can Google "painters".
I tell my son that he needs to sell himself, not the paint, or the method, or the beautiful things that he can create. All that will come if the customer has faith in your ability and feels comfortable with you as their contractor.
I have seen may websites that are very nice, (and considered overhead).

JV Marketing

A website is nothing more than another way to market a product or service. It's no different than an ad in the paper, listing in the yellow pages, TV commercial or radio ad.

There is a cost associated with it, just as with any other form of advertising. The question I would ask is...why am I getting for the money I am spending on advertising.

It is absolutely overhead...but if the ROI justifies the expense then it is well worth it in my opinion...if the ROI does not justify the expense then its not worth it.

I think everybody should have a website...they can be put up pretty inexpensively and don't require a lot of upkeep if all you want is a website.

Not everybody needs a full f ledge internet marketing department. Nor is it a good idea for people to just throw money at a website hoping it will work out.

There needs to be a definite goal to the website...one that can be measured to determine it's success. There needs to be a budget in place before you ever start the project...otherwise the cost will get out of hand in a hurry. You should also have a time-line set.

Hope this helps

j

MOTB

This is well said, and at the end of the day, every contractor should have a basic website with Search Engine Optimization and an easy method to be contacted. No website is worse is the equivalent of not having a cellphone and a business card. Some things are a requirement and this is one of them. You can always enhance a website, but one must exist. Brian

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Helping contractors find work, manage jobs, communicate with others and get paid quicker using software over the Internet

Duck042

Ok, not to flame, but I'm not sure what everyone else is seeing as being "gold." Overall, reasonable common sense suggestions, but I honestly can't believe you sent people to this site as some penultimate example of Internet marketing!

I see you copied the format for your marketing rant from the main page with your rental houses, but even that looks amateurish, with the windows colliding against each other, text spilling from one line to another, broken link to the third picture, and all the houses and links crammed up against the right side of the page.

If you're not going to drop a few grand to get it professionally done, at least get familiar with Frontpage, otherwise just put up a copy of your business card. Sending people to a web page that looks like garbage is going to make them think (at least subconciously) that your work will be garbage as well.

I don't imagine potential renters are getting a great first impression going to that site, nor would someone looking to spend $40k on a new roof or $20k on a kitchen remodel.

Guess that came off sounding harsh. Maybe it was because I was one of the ones who didn't like your A-holish response in the other post, or maybe it's because I don't understand why someone who retired from an allegedly uber-successful construction business is schlepping two-year-old rental houses that are probably 50% underwater...