OK, So DIY'ers Are A Small, Problematic Lot-2 Sides Of The Story...

Ivinni

I believe Mike Finley hit it on the head when he said this about DIY'ers:





Then, the other side of the story comes out when Silvertree said (and so did Tinner666):


So , from both of the experienced men we see both sides of the coin. Who is right? I bet the answer lies somewhere in the middle or with a marriage of both philosophies. (I believe they are both right in what they say).


So, here are the facts:

DIY'ers are a pain in the ass that take up a lot of valuable time,

Yet,they will spend around $100M per year after they realize they can't do the job (Paul's numbers) which is half as much that goes to professionals in a year (roughly).

So the question then becomes "Do we want to ACTIVELY PURSUE a piece of this business?"

I believe it is worth pursuing if it is done the in a manner that doesn't suck up all your time and has a great ROI. That said, what is the best way to do it?

If you knew you could get another $100K in work next year by performing an extra 8 hours of work today (only 8 hours and no more), how would you do it?

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its not going to get better with straps, or new footings or even aroma therapy.

Max Nomad

I'd pick out 2 or 3 of the most common DIYer projects that my company does professionally and teach them how to do it.

Either once or twice a month I'd hold workshops geared toward teaching that discipline. For example, since my team specializes in custom tile installs I'd have a couple of our guys teaching how to do backsplashes, tile the kitchen floor, or tile the bathroom floor. The cost of the materials, workbooks and time would be figured into the workshop fee, no more than between 5 and 8 DIYers per class to insure good hands-on attention to all students. The workbook would be Wire-O bound trade paperback-sized book with photo illustrations of the same processes they're learning, branded from front to back with my company's logo and contact info. I'd also have a message forum set up on our website primarily for our past and present students.

Why would I take this approach? Simple -- giving the customer what they want and, on a more subtle note, showing them what they need. In my case, once a DIYer sees all the tools and wetsaws and such they'll realize it's more than just watching that episode on HGTV and then taking a quick trip to Lowes. If they learn enough to do the job right then go home and do it right, we're happy. If they figure out they'd prefer to hire professionals to do the task, we're happy too because we're right there in place ahead of anyone else (and if they've taken the class we'll give thm a discount to that amount).

Either way we're enjoying a piece of the local DIYer market.

__________________
Majestic-Tile, a division of Majestic Home Improvement, LLC.
http://www.majestic-tile.com/
My Publishing Company and Graphic Design Portfolio:
http://www.bgpublishing.com/

Ivinni

Excellent, Max.

But I believe that is a little more than 8 hours.lol

What if you did that once, publicized really well and created a video of it?

Or just simply did a video and hosted it on Youtube and your site and advertised it on the web?

You already have the work going on, so it would be easy to shoot the video, then edited and produced with free movie software. (most people have a copy of Windows Movie Maker on their machines)

What if you created a page(s) on your site for each of your services that listed a tool and materials list? That alone will scare a bunch of them away from DIY, I would think. And take a lot less time.

I am learning something here. I may do this for myself.

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its not going to get better with straps, or new footings or even aroma therapy.

Max Nomad

Ahhh yes, the video. You've hit upon the little gem that I'd left out of my post. Also, the workshops could easily be set to 4 or 8 hour sessions.

My team has already been approached about doing a series of videos. We did one for how to do backsplashes where we got the permission of the homeowner, had the videographers meet us at a house, they set up their lighting and we did the shoot in a day. Although my biz partner knows the director, we still haven't seen the edited footage yet so I can't tell you how it came out.

From past experience with the unpredictability of shooting video with "untrained talent", I'd wait until after doing 6 or 7 workshops before planning/shooting the video. That way, the chances of the presenter saying a bunch of "Uhhhhs", "Ummms" and "Y'knows" are greatly reduced and the instructions will flow much better. You'll also want to hire a professional videographer, definitely one that does more than just "Weddings and Barmitzvahs" because you're going to need at least a basic lighting setup, basic audio setup along with some lapel mics and a boom mic. Good lighting and great editing is key to making the DVD profitable and marketable because the viewer has to be able to see the richness of the color of the wood/stone/ceramic/whatever and get excited about it. Because of things like High Definition TVs and such, people expect much higher quality in whatever they buy. Poor or amateur production quality will lead to bad reviews which will often cut into the sales.

As far as creating the equipment inventory page on the website, that's a great idea. I'd probably also include approximate prices for purchasing and/or renting what they need.

__________________
Majestic-Tile, a division of Majestic Home Improvement, LLC.
http://www.majestic-tile.com/
My Publishing Company and Graphic Design Portfolio:
http://www.bgpublishing.com/

tinner666

As a side note, if I have one calling me, I'll invite him/her to a similar jobsite and let them watch, or even supply me some free labor so they can 'feel it out'. That often creates a convert.


Keep in mind, I don't feel like I'm losing anything. They aren't my client at this point anyway. Just another 'shopper'.


My DIY site clearly states there WILL be a fee to talk about the project. I get paid up front to discuss it with them.

__________________
Frank Slate Roof Repairs, Richmond, Va.

Ivinni

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its not going to get better with straps, or new footings or even aroma therapy.

tinner666

__________________
Frank Slate Roof Repairs, Richmond, Va.

Max Nomad

That's a DAMN good idea... would like to try that one day... nothing too heavy duty, just maybe let 'em mess with mixing up some thinset..

__________________
Majestic-Tile, a division of Majestic Home Improvement, LLC.
http://www.majestic-tile.com/
My Publishing Company and Graphic Design Portfolio:
http://www.bgpublishing.com/

tinner666

This one helped a lot.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
Frank Slate Roof Repairs, Richmond, Va.

Ivinni

Nice work boots.

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its not going to get better with straps, or new footings or even aroma therapy.

silvertree

Lets talk numbers.
I used 1 billion in sales to make the math easy. Its closer to 300 billion in remodeling expenditures. So take that 100 million X 300 and your DIY conversions is now 30 billion. Gets real, doesn't it?
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu

Thats the Harvard studies site, it has some pretty good info on home spending patterns.
Since this is a tough crowd, I want you to know I'm not just pulling numbers out of my *ss.

__________________
Vote for Pedro
Kitchen, bath, St Paul remodeling
Minneapolis Remodel Blog
203K Loan Consultant Minnesota

Max Nomad

These reports are enlightening to say the least, definitely a great 30,000 foot view of the madness we're running around in every day. I can't wait to see what they publish after assessing the effect of 2008.

__________________
Majestic-Tile, a division of Majestic Home Improvement, LLC.
http://www.majestic-tile.com/
My Publishing Company and Graphic Design Portfolio:
http://www.bgpublishing.com/

duckdown

The do-it-yourself marketplace can be very profitable. You just need to understand that the way to be success if for you to focus on the harder tasks and still yet them do their part. You don't need to get the entire job.

The marketplace has fell in love with the crew from This Old House and every customer would love this type of interaction. Satisfy their craving to learn while also allowing them to participate and you will be successful...

Mike Finley

Let me ask you a question in regard to DIYers.

If the economy turned around today and your phone was ringing steadily with good non-diyer customers looking for a somebody to spend their money with, how much time would you all continue wasting with this DIYer market?

I'm guess Zero, Nada, Ziltch.

I got cha, I totally understand... it's about being slow and scratching for anything. Lets keep it in perspective.

DIYers are no missed gold mine, they are hardly some revelation to build a customer base on or a business on, they are simply getting attention from you because you have capacity to fill. If tomorrow your capacity started getting filled with excellent high paying easy to work for, profitable customers, DIYers will be the first leads you will turn your back on.

Business worth thusly - there are only 3 models.

A company that goes after customers who are only XZY.

A company that goes after customers who are XYZ, PDQ, ***, CAT, DOG and DIY.

A company that goes after customers who are only DIY.

If your the 1st type of company going after DIY now means you are trying to fill capacity based on short term cicumstances.

If you're company type 2, then going after DIY now means you are doing what you should be doing and will be doing next year and the year after.

If you're company type 3 then you shouldn't be spending any time with anybody but DIY.

Max Nomad

The DIYer discussion kinda goes beyond just the cut-n-dry pursuit of customers. There's no question about the money they spend. There's also no question that chasing them to sell your primary services can be a waste of time.To me, this is more of a matter of how to accent your current business model with their existence without losing focus on your core revenue stream(s).

Two cases in point: If I were to take the average person to a Supermarket and then ask them what the business model is, more than likely they'd say "To sell food and related products". This is only part of the answer. A Supermarket's business model is that of a Leasing Company -- they lease space to distributors to sell their products. Yes, they make money off the products, too, but that's only part of the equation. Another example is a Magazine or a Newspaper Publishing. Although they often charge for subscriptions, most of their revenue stream comes from selling Ad space.

In regards to Contractors, DIYers are just a secondary (or tertiary) revenue stream. The way I see it is similar to that of a Magazine Publisher, particularly a trade rag like "Kitchen and Bath Design News". As expensive as it is to print, they give that magazine away to anyone that subscribes. Why? Because the larger their distribution, the more they can charge for those full-color ad spaces. In the context of this thread, DIYers might be another sideline revenue stream but, in reality, they are actually a marketing expense -- each one can be used to help you gain mindshare in your market and any products or services that can be geared toward them might be worth exploiting as long as it's cost effective and doesn't take away from your core focus.

I don't recall the Marketing Term for this principle but it's the same reason why chain restaurants like TGIFridays have started to private-label things like their fried Mozarella sticks and sell them in the frozen foods section in stores. They know they're not going to move away from their primary business model but something as insignificant as Mozarella sticks can suddenly become a miniature marketing engine unto themselves.

__________________
Majestic-Tile, a division of Majestic Home Improvement, LLC.
http://www.majestic-tile.com/
My Publishing Company and Graphic Design Portfolio:
http://www.bgpublishing.com/

tinner666

I'm the first type 'First'.
I've had the DIY for about 15 years. To me, since I normally quit around 2-3pm, it means I can have a visit scheduled for my trip home. I stop off, give advice, maybe do some work, and continue home with another $200.-$500. in my pocket.
Oh, and sometimes a contract in which case I will discount the fees paid while I was there on that first visit.

Current economy, it could be lots of trips like that, if business slows down any.

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Frank Slate Roof Repairs, Richmond, Va.

silvertree

Mike makes a good case, then Frank makes just as good a case.
Now if Frank is happy and so are his customers and he runs his own business the way he wants, then he has set a good example for how to run a successful business. Just winners when you think about it, only different because each guy is happy with their different approaches.

__________________
Vote for Pedro
Kitchen, bath, St Paul remodeling
Minneapolis Remodel Blog
203K Loan Consultant Minnesota

Mike Finley