MySpace Marketing

wackman

My soon to be brother in law asked me last night why I don't have a MySpace page for my company. Apparently, I looked at him like he was nuts, but he said he has one for his Rock band and they get all sorts of good stuff from it.

I don't know anything about MySpace and don't use it now.

Has anyone heard of a construction company using it and how?

There is a lot of people on there, and some I know do seem to be addicted. I had a customer ask me a few months back if we were on there and I just said "no", not really getting what he meant (and still not really getting it). Then I had a new client ask me the same thing last week. I just told him we had a web site. That's three people now. Maybe there is something to this.

Again, I'm really into learning more about marketing right now and want to keep my mind open to new creative ideas.

What do you think?

Wack

slickshift

MySpace is a great networking tool
...for a rock band
And a really great idea for bands/artists

I do not think it would be a great marketing tool, or even a decent marketing tool, for a construction company
Couldn't hurt though...doesn't cost anything but time

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Susan Betz

Wack, I would laugh at a construction company that told me their web page was on MySpace. You might find people that want to look up your personal profile though. It might be good for that. I put up a profile for Lorne months ago just to see if the search engines could find it. Nope. So as far as I'm concerned, MySpace is worthless to me. But that's just my opinion.

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dirt diggler

ditto ... i think you'd look more professional on craigslist

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deckman22

Unless your customer base is people 30 & under I doubt it would do anygood.

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firemike

Amen to that!

MySpace, along with being the virus petri dish of the internet, is targeted to the high school kiddies and that type. Adults I know moved to facebook a long time ago.

For business networking, I have been looking into linkedin.com. Many of the business professionals I do work for use it and tell me it is a great place to start. There is a basic free plan, and you can network all over the country. I haven't really explored all the posibilities yet, but a stock broker client said she has done quite a bit if new business from the LinkedIn referrals she has made. A real estate cleint has used it to help find reputable out-of-state agents for people who are moving out of our area.

It seems to be a little overkill for me, but the ones with large or multi-state companies may benefit greatly.

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Grumpy

www.myspace.com/chicagoroofer

When those kids that currently use myspace buy their hosue in 10 years I'll be ready to strike!

JenkinsHB

If you think that only people under 30 use myspace, facebook, and youtube, you're completely in the dark. And to compare myspace to craigslist is apples to oranges. I don't see how more exposure could be a bad thing.

All of your local radio stations, bigger bars, sports teams, schools, and such all have myspace pages, I'm sure you could figure out a way to use that to your advantage.

wackman

I don't have an account so I can't see your page Grumpy.

I can't see how it would be bad as long as it's professionally done and to the point of what we do. I do agree it's not the perfect fit for a construction company however.

What's facebook?

ruskent

Grumpys myspace page is the best i've seen!! It makes me laugh!

dirt diggler

you know that old saying that "all publicity is good publicity" (or whatever the real saying is ...)

yeah - i DO NOT think that applies to contracting.

For one - I've known Grumpy (via on this forum) for a good while. I have a lot of respect for him both as a businessman and a tradesman. If I ever have a question regarding business (that I'd share on here) - he'd be one of the guys I'd be looking for an answer from.


But - if I didn't know him from Adam - I'd say his myspace page makes him look like a one-man cowboy shop.


Not good. Takes any "professionalism" and sends it right out the door


He can do what he wants, i don't care - but I think it makes a mockery of his business.






Myspace is for Dave Matthews and Shakira .... not XYZ Remodeling who I just received an estimate from to do a $250,000 addition on my house



just my 2 cents & perspective. Maybe this works in his market ... wouldn't fly at all in mine


there are a few things that I will actually seriously say "I know what I'm talking about here"

this is one one of them

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BuiltByMAC

Damn, you must be Grumpy - even Tom doesn't wanna be your friend!!

My $0.02 - myspace is what I use (very occasionally) to track and catch up with old friends, schoolmates and extended family...I wouldn't think of it as a marketing tool for my business. The very idea of myspace is a personal profile of a person (or band) - with a business (esp. contracting), I'd want to be more professional, less personal.

No attempts at selling anything here! www.myspace.com/builtbymac

Mac

KentWhitten

Grumpy's gotten owned! We're your friends Grumpy

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Publisher1

I looked into social networking sites and their utility in marketing construction and related professional services for an article I've written for The SMPS Marketer to be published in February. It is unfair to 'scoop' my own story here, but generally, after speaking with several 'gurus' who have been selling and promoting construction-related services for some time, they don't see (yet) any direct business value in the social networking sites, at least for business-to-business construction industry marketing.
However, there are some uses; notably in recruiting, especially younger people. I attracted a talented young salesperson through a linkedin.com reference. And this may be relevant for contractors crying out for skilled labour. As well, there are (so far) some indirect potential benefits; like leveraging the intelligence you get from sites such as linkedin.com to build and develop proper one-on-one relationships.
Of course the exercise in writing the article served lots of useful 'social networking' functions for me -- it connected me to some rather influential people, who are now linking back to my blog! And that means even higher search engine placement for my business.
In essence, there are some marketing advantages/potentials in the social networking sites, but it is hard to quantify their value, just yet. I wouldn't make them a super-high priority, unless your market is primarily younger, but I certainly would set up a limited linkedin.com and facebook account -- if only to keep in touch with the trends.

Putty Truck

bwahaha! The hip hoppin' roofer!

Bone Saw

...

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Ahren

I personally feel that trying to market a construction business on MySpace would be about as useful as coming here to Contractor Talk to try to meet ladies.

Not to mention, what a virus pit that place is! (just as Firemike said) I poked around on there for about ten minutes, and Norton detected and blocked three different threats.

SFP

Good for you!

Grumpy

Account or not shouln't be a problem. Hmmm. I just clicked it and it worked for me and I am not logged in.

Grumpy

I do NOT accept friend requests from family or friends. This page is specifically for professional use, and I can not beleive I have that hip hop and house up there. Althoguh it us true, I like music with a beat, I will be promptly removing that.

You're crazy NOT to have one.