[JusticeConst]

We are out of CT working from Danbury to Torrington to Hartford and beyond. Currently about 75% of our projects are coming for Service Magic and the quality of these clients is as you would expect. Always looking for the low bid rather than quality. My partner and I are both LEED AP's with the USGBC and that has resulted in little to no project calls. We have tried post cards, we will be doing home shows this year, we have online free listings. Does anyone have any ideas marketing to 'Green' consumers? Thanks

 

[MagicPoolSvcs]

Just throwing this out there, but have you ever considered creating a blog about your industry ?

Do you have a presence in Social Media - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube ?


Is your website optimized for local searches ?

Last not but least, have you checked out Stimulus Watch ?

Maybe some of the money is being spent on projects your areas and you can network on these projects.

http://www.stimuluswatch.org/2.0/

 

[mike stanislaw]

We are out of CT working from Danbury to Torrington to Hartford and beyond. Currently about 75% of our projects are coming for Service Magic and the quality of these clients is as you would expect. Always looking for the low bid rather than quality. My partner and I are both LEED AP's with the USGBC and that has resulted in little to no project calls. We have tried post cards, we will be doing home shows this year, we have online free listings. Does anyone have any ideas marketing to 'Green' consumers? Thanks

I would be the last person to soil this earth or worst destroy it for others. I just believe there has been to much propaganda about being green. The concept has been over worked.
Just lately one of the adm. Czars has been found to connected to a very radical left wing org. He was hiding behind a green poster if you know what I mean. Global warming has cool down and I can't get anything for my Al Core trading cards anymore.
I just think if I was a big CEO of a Big construction company I would be serving my stock holders badly if I joined forces with anything that is a green whatever. One thing that is sure whats hot today will cool off tomorrow. Remember the tech stocks. But I'm not here to talk about the stock market. I believe the American market is changing as fast as it's political parties are scrambling for the front of the food line.
If I was going to try and cash in on a concept I would go the opposite way from green but then again I might be dead wrong.

 

[Jimmy Cabinet]

I agree with Mike Stan, probably because he is right. This green thing is all a fad a gimmick, a fraud. A fraud that is making ol Al Gore very very wealthy. Most of the intelligent among us always knew that global warming was the biggest fraud since radon and Y2K. Now we publicly find out that global warming is all a fraud too.

My cabinets are certified green by KCMA. Not one single customer gives a flying fart about that. We use the language in our advertising because it catches eyes but in the end no one cares about green. Americans are wasteful and our society in the west is wasteful. We are born that way and we will never change.

If people cared about the environment and their health then the invasion of Chinese cabinets and other junk China products would have never made it to America.

 

[electricohio]

I agree with "green" feeling a bit warn out these days. It had it's time but when it comes down to it most people are not looking at the green marketplace as a way to help the planet.

The green marketplace is basically all that we focus on in our contracting business. But we don't hype the fact that you are helping the plant...Like I said when it comes down to it most don't care.

The only thing that people care about is the green in their pocket. Most of the services that would be offered to help a building be green saves money. Focus more on that and you'll find work.

Also just to spin things a bit more don't focus on the "savings" focus on how much money they are losing. Think about it would you rather save money or stop yourself from losing money?

Human nature!

 

[joe greene]

I just installed a bamboo floor for a customer who is all about green. They just purchased the house and wanted some remodeling work done. After completion I taped cardboard to the floors so the movers wouldnt damage the bamboo but it did nothing. If you drop a plastic fork on this floor it will dent. After they were settled in they realized they made a big mistake and agreed that always going green isnt as efficient as its stated to be. On the same note they are talking about recycled glass countertops now so I guess if you are in the frame of mind that you are helping the environment nothing will deter you from your goals. I dont really care i just want to be compensated when the job is over!

 

[ryanjm]

Would you guys say, of those concerned with green building, that they're more concerned with the materials used in construction, or energy cost savings by using extra insulation, geothermal, etc...?

 

[ParatusFoam]

I find a lot of people interested in the idea of products being "green" at first, but when it comes down to it they really seem to be concerned with saving money. That is why products like spray foam insulation, solar, and wind are so popular in my opinion. They have both of the afor mentioned interests to consumers.

Forgot to add this, here is a blog post I wrote about Going Green with Spray Foam Insulation hope that can give some insights and ideas too.

 

[welterweight]

if you deal with service magic,you are going up against "bid collectors". in other words, they just collect 12 bids and choose th cheapest. YOU MUST HARD SELL and close on the first visit or else you will be wasting alsot of time and money. service magic leads are a different breed and they need to be treated as such. i will take heat for this but are you in business to make money or in it so some customer ca tell you what a nice guy you are because you did'nt try to close on the first visit. tell that to the motgage company when you can't pay your bills.

 

[Solar Control]

The original poster of the question hasn't been back since they posted the question. Hopefully, they have already found out the answer through experience.

The primary interest we see in sustainable products is when the architect and building owners request it early on and the CM/GC is required to attain a certain number of points. Most of our customers are not opposed to it but will not pay extra (significantly) for it.

We naturally recycle most of the old products we remove. It just makes sense financially for us.

 

[Electric_Light]

Because of media hype along with some real threat, I think people are increasingly aware and interested in reduction of stuff that's not just harmful to the environment, but occupants too.

California now disallows lead containing plumbing components for the most part.
PVC is now mostly gone from bottles and wrappings, because of environmental impact.
PCBs once used as plasticizers are gone because of environmental pollution as well as toxic effects on people.

I think chlorinated polymers in construction materials are the next to be pressured for reduction including CPVC and PVC in favor of PEX as the latter does not produce toxic phosgene, dioxins or hydrogen chloride in fire.

I suppose you could market PEX in that when it is burned, it does not give off infamous dioxins when they eventually end up getting incinerated.

People are expressing concerns about BPA in their water bottles and mercury used in CFLs.

It's generally agreed upon that, even though PCBs and asbestos are not acutely toxic, people are scared of them horribly.