Construction Marketing

Listen to the Construction Marketing Podcast by clicking on the triangle below:

This episode is about the fastest and cheapest way to get new leads coming in to your website in a hurry.

For more detailed construction marketing information, check out the Marketing Manual for Contractors here.

First Post in a Series of Posts About Online Marketing for Contractors

There is a whole lot of clutter in the world of “marketing advice” these days. This is true even for marketing advice specifically targeted to construction small business owners.

How do you sort through all that marketing clutter?

I spend a large chunk of my time scouring every marketing book, blog, report, video, and news source I can find.

Some sources of construction marketing advice quickly rule themselves out as long-winded, outdated, over-simplified, or just plain wrong. Other sources are chock full of valuable, effective marketing nuggets.

It’s almost a full time job screening out the junk from the gems.

Truth is, I enjoy doing it. But I have to do it. Every day. Because that’s a huge part of my business. Most of you out there have bigger and better things to focus on.

Bigger and better things like:

• Keeping your employees “in work.”
• Keeping your construction business afloat.
• Keeping up to date on all the latest construction best practices in this “Green New World.”
• Keeping your existing clients happy.

You don’t have time to sort through all the clutter to get to the good stuff. You want the stuff that works, and you want it yesterday.

Remember back about three years ago? Back then, far fewer construction small businesses were focusing their attention on marketing. They were too busy actually completing construction projects.

But now, almost every contractor I know who is still in business is highly focused on marketing; drumming up work, bringing in new business, getting clients NOW.

Sound familiar?

And what is the most popular construction marketing topic of the day?

It’s the internet.

Does online marketing work for a local construction company?

Well, yes and no.

It depends on whose advice you follow.

This is the first part of a series of posts about online marketing for contractors, builders, remodelers, and other construction small business owners.

We will talk about what works, what is a waste of time and money, and what you can do today to start getting new construction leads online.

Check back often for more posts about how to reach more new customers online.

In the mean time, you can check out some of my videos about online marketing for contractors.

As a disclaimer, I do offer these services and charge for them…but there is plenty of good content and how-to advice for those who are looking to do the legwork on their own.

Any questions, please feel free to shoot them to me on my contact form.

Happy marketing!

Hey contractors, subcontractors, vendors and business owners…any of these situations ring a bell?

My favorite one is “We’ll go ahead and pay for this this time, but just show us how you made it, so we can do it again in-house, from now on.”

In the construction industry–especially lately–it’s a common occurance to get low-balled and otherwise manipulated by vendors, contractors, and subs. This video shows us how ridiculous these situations can be to construction companies and, really, all business owners.

More favorites:

1. We didn’t budget for this.

2. I mean, lunch at the taco stand was about $12. Sir, this is not the taco stand. Well, it was, I had beef… Sir, you had the filet. Yeah…cow.

3. I’m not making any money on this either.

4. We can do this. This is not a challenge. This is an opportunity.

5. Well I can cover your hard costs, but that’s really as far as I’m willing to go.

6. We’re gonna make it up on the next one.

Heard any of these before? How do you deal with these “opportunities” in your business?

(This video was brought to my attention by the awesome folks over at CenterNetworks.)

An interesting question arose in a conversation yesterday about whether it’s best to withhold your competitive secrets until after a sale is made, or if you should give your knowledge away freely.

A huge part of construction marketing is the sales process. Your salesman (for many of you, you are your only saleman) should be well versed in your marketing process, because business development is the essence of marketing.

Personally, I’ve found that the more people I help, the more clients I get. This means going into an appointment or a meeting with the mindset of “I will do my best to steer this person down the right path.” If I focus on “sales” I lose. If I focus on adding value with no expectation of reciprocation, I usually win.

When I go into a meeting with a prospect, I try to act as an advisor, treating him like I would my best friend or a family member.  I often say things like, “Even if you end up hiring someone else to do this, make sure they do X, Y, and Z. Because otherwise you might not get the best results.”

I say things like, “If this was my own project, I would do it this way because XYZ. Make sense? I would be happy to walk you through the process if you have more questions.”

I am free flowing with my information. I will sit down with a prospect for an hour or two and spill everything I can in that amount of time. You might think it’s crazy for me to do this, but the whole point of this process is to build trust.

If a prospect doesn’t trust you, then you are sunk. (Especially in the construction industry, right my friend?)

Also, I know the real value I bring to the table is what I can do for a client, not what I can tell him in a two hour meeting. If a client could learn how to do my online marketing process by himself in two hours, then I really don’t have a valuable service, now do I?

The same is true for a construction project. If a homeowner is trying to take advantage of you by milking you for information so he can do the project himself, ask yourself this question: Could you teach a novice how to remodel in a two hour meeting? Of course not. So I propose that the fear of giving away the farm for free is unwarranted here.

Also, you can usually screen out the tire kickers before you waste time doing a house call, right?

Let’s cut to the chase: Some people are very tight lipped about their “trade secrets” and think it’s best to play their cards close to their chest. I understand this mindset. But for me, I’ve found that the more people I help, the more new clients end up finding me. And I think being a free flowing resource is a great way for you to achieve the same results.

It all boils down to helping people. If you help enough people accomplish their goals, your marketing will take care of itself.

Your thoughts? I’d love to hear other opinions on this issue.

You may have already seen this video from my original Construction Marketing Video Series if you are on my email list.

Some basic tips about how to think about and design your website as a marketing tool are explained in this video.

(Sorry about the wind noise.)

More (and much higher quality) videos are coming soon!

Would you like to show up at the top of your local Google listings for keywords like “Construction”, “Contractor”, “Remodeling”, “Plumbing”, or “Builder” etc?

If you’re like most local construction businesses (and other service-based small businesses) you know that getting found online can be the difference between 100% booked for 6 months, and sitting idle waiting for the phone to ring.

Here’s a story of how I helped a business owner get to number one with only a few minutes of time and a few very easy changes to his Google account:

HOW TO GET YOUR CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS RANKED ON PAGE ONE OF GOOGLE LOCAL

If you’ve been paying attention to the world of search marketing, you know that Google has been getting very serious lately about displaying localized search results, even when the searcher doesn’t type in a location.

Google uses information from the searcher’s IP address (and more, especially if you’re using Chrome as your browser) to pinpoint the searcher’s location and display results based on that specific geographical area.

This is why, more and more, you will notice the “Google Local” listing right at the top of the results. You will recognize it by the map, with up to 10 listings, usually A though J. We call this either “Google Local”, or the “Google 10 Pack”, or “Google Maps.”

The other day I got a call from a contractor in New York who had not seen any activity from his website like he had hoped he would.

Also, he was ranked number one in the “organic” Google listings for his best targeted “remodeling” keyword.

Usually, the organic listings get around 70% of all clicks, so this will normally get the job done. But not this time.

I told his it was probably caused by two things:

1. The market is still awful in his area.

2. He’s getting trumped by the Google 10 Pack.

So, we rolled up our sleeves and tried to change that situation.

Long story short: After spending about 30 minutes talking him through some changes in his local business account, he is now ranking as number one for a few high traffic keywords and on page one for many others. 

I’ll check back with him to see if he starts getting calls, but you too can begin to make progress in Google Local if you follow the steps below.

GOOGLE LOCAL MASTER PLAN

1. Change the title or “Company Name” in your listing to your base keyword (Remodeling? Construction? Contractor?) first, then your company name second. (Warning: don’t go crazy with excessive keywords…just use the ones that get real targeted search traffic.)

2. Fill out every detail in the entire listing. (This includes business hours, payments accepted, coupons, pictures, video…EVERYTHING.)

3. Fill out all five of the allowed business categories, using the keywords that get real search volume.

4. Get real, honest reviews from your best clients. (Best way? Whenever you hear a compliment from a client, say thank you and then ask them if they’d be willing to do a review for you on Google. Send them a link to your listing. Repeat.)

Set a goal of 10 reviews over the next month, and watch the magic happen!

Long post, I know. I try not to yammer on since people simply don’t read long posts on the internet.

BUT, if you’d like to know more, fill out my contact form and I’ll see if I can help you out.

Good luck, and happy optimizing!

Every day I talk to contractors who are looking for new ways to improve their marketing campaigns.

Overwhelmingly, my time is spent answering questions about how to create an online lead generation campaign that gets results in the construction industry.

For most contractors, builders and remodelers, this goal can be achieved with either a minimum of effort, or a minimum of expense. But you usually have to choose one or the other.

You can pay someone to do it for you, or you can do it yourself. Assuming you have a bare minimum level of tech savvy, you can create your own lead generation website system.  This is true as long as you have some serious time on your hands. (If you’re already to the point where you can’t sleep at night from the stress of economic uncertainty, this might be the best way for you to spend those early morning hours.)

Conversely, you can find someone to do it for you. This can cost anywhere from $0.00 all the way up to $10,000+. And, to a point, you get what you pay for.

If you are thinking about trying to dominate your local market on the internet, here are some free resources to help you determine either how to spend your time, or how to get your money’s worth:

1. Report: How to Dominate the Internet Marketplace in Your Industry

2. SEO Book Video - The Web is a Social Activity

3.


Construction Marketing Website Awesomeness.

So, take a look at these resources and see if you can’t come up with a way to create your own lead generation website that works for your business, your budget, and your lifestyle.

Pass it along: If you know someone who could use help with website promotion and online marketing, feel free to send them a link to this page, or link to it on your own website.

We all know that better online visibility and a strong web presence can lead to increased profits, a full pipeline, and maybe even more free time to actually work on the “construction” end of your business (or golf, wink wink.)

As a contractor trying to enhance your marketing and drum up new business, you’ve probably spent some time thinking about how to get more business from your website.

I’ve found that most local markets, even in big cities, are quite attainable.

“The average contractor can dominate his local market online if he puts a strategic plan in place.”

If you’re an up-and-comer in the world of online marketing, I created this free report just for you. Think of it as a primer to get yourself where you need to be strategically to begin building your online empire.

You can check out this free report here.

Pass it along: If you know someone who could use help with website promotion and online marketing, feel free to send them a link to this page, or link to it on your own website.