We can talk about the importance of building strong relationships all day long. That’s for a different post.
Yes, as a construction small business, you need to develop your relationship-building skills. You need to add value to your community. You need to develop strong relationships over time.
But building strong relationships is more of an attitude, a mindset, or a culture you can create than it is a marketing action you can take today.
So what actions can you take today to jump-start your marketing as a contractor?
Take your “relationship building” culture, and inject this culture into the following marketing actions:
1. Ask for referrals by calling your past customer list and other contacts.
3. Overhaul your website, and take action to move up the search engines and get found online.
4. Send out a mailer to a quality list, with a good offer and call to action.
5. Offer your ad to print media at a remnant price (tell them they can run your ad for x amount if they have vacant spots - set your own price.)
6. Go to networking events and try to meet 75% of the people there (ask about them, don’t talk about yourself.)
7. Build a ramp for someone in need, and do a press release about the build.
These are 7 marketing actions you can start with right now. Today. Right after you click away from this page.
Yes, you should absolutely focus your energy on building relationships. You can begin building some new relationships by taking these actions right away to jump-start your marketing as a builder, remodeler, subcontractor or any construction small business.
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.
Is all the work dried up? No. Is most of the work dried up? Yes.
“So you’re telling me there’s a chance.”
Look, we all know things have changed for the worse around here in the world of construction. (Understatement!)
I remember many strategy sessions back in the “fat and happy” times a few years ago.
We discussed things like…
What would happen if the bubble burst?
Will remodeling remain steady and firm?
Will new homebuilders start taking all the remodeling jobs at their dangerously low profit margins (you guys know what I mean….wink, wink)
Will the contractors who are spread thin go out of business?
Will only the strong survive?
Will real estate prices plummet?
Unfortunately, we all know the answers now. And we’re forced to deal with it.
This recession is very rough on the typical construction small business. Guys are hurting, I’ve seen it first hand.
It’s very difficult to operate when you’re desperate and worried. It can almost seem impossible.
Prospects can smell desperation, and they will run far, far away when they do.
So what the h*ll is the point, you ask?
My point is this:
Forget about the economy. Forget about the news. Forget about all the other struggling contractors.
Focus on your business.
One single business, and that’s all.
We can take the ultra-micro economy of your one single solitary business and get you into some work by putting you out there, right up in front of the few prospects who are looking for a contractor.
Take it one step at a time.
Focus all your energy on your marketing.
Here’s how:
FACE TO FACE MARKETING
1. Get your a** into a good mood, right now. Whatever it takes.
2. Go to every single networking and socializing event you can find, and talk to every single person in the room.
3. When talking, be 100% focused on helping the person you are talking with, in any way you can.
4. Do not talk about yourself, ask the other person about himself or herself all day long.
Sorry, it’s cliche. But there’s a reason for that….
5. If they need help moving, help them. If they need a laugh, make them laugh. If they need advice on how to fix their plumbing without a contractor, tell them how to do it. Be selfless, be upbeat, and be as generous as you can be.
6. Keep a running tally of how many new people you meet per day/week/month. Try to beat your records.
7. When you’ve met 250 new people, you are getting somewhere. (Link ‘em In!)
8. Never talk about yourself or your business until asked. The first time they ask, give a one word answer and ask another question about them. They WILL eventually force you to tell them what you do for a living. THEN, you’re a contractor.
9. Offer as much free advice, helpful tips, knowledge, friendliness and kindness as you can possibly muster. Ask for nothing in return.
10. Watch in amazement as you begin to see opportunities appear out of thin air.
1. Post helpful comments on industry-related blogs, social networking sites, and forums with a link to your website.
2. Use social bookmarking sites to link to your website.
3. Make 15 short, informative videos and post them around the internet everywhere. They don’t need to look good. Mine look like crap, but I give my best information and it works.
4. Submit your website to directories.
5. Turn your videos into podcasts and post them to podcast directories.
6. Post new content to your website every day. Just pick your favorite past customer, and imagine you are writing advice directly to him or her. Be helpful, add value.
7. Pay $300 for a dir.yahoo.com listing. It’s Google juice, baby. You don’t have to believe me.
8. Submit to DMOZ and wait wait wait….
9. Add new pages to your website with your target keywords in the title. Like DragItHome.com/website-services/.
10. Do this stuff steadily, over time. Never lose a link, or get links from non-reputable sources. Don’t go crazy, be consistent, or you will fall in the search rankings.
11. Be as awesome as you can be. (For me, that’s just mildy-to-barely awesome. But I try my best.)
So, to sum up…
We need to try way harder than we used to have to try.
We need to get in front of as many people as possible, and help them.
We need to position ourselves online so that when someone actually wants to find a contractor, we are there. Boom. Opportunity seized.
This stuff is hard work. I do it myself. It keeps me up late at night, and it nags me out of bed in the morning.
But that’s the new reality we live in. So let’s live in it. On purpose. As hard as we can.
Good luck.
And seriously, if I can help you with your business or your marketing in any way, please contact me immediately.
Now why aren’t you at a networking event right now? You are really p*****g me off.
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.
For many construction businesses, it is a time of crisis.
Times are tough, and marketing for the typical construction small business has gotten more difficult.
For many contractors, what this really means is, now they have to actually use some marketing strategies, whereas back in the fat and happy times, almost no marketing was necessary.
Dave Ramsey said one day that all a contractor really had to do to succeed was just answer the phone, return calls, show up on time, and stay at the project all day. Just do the bare-minimum basics as a builder, and you shine like a light in the dark.
That was before.
Now, we have to hustle a lot more. We have to be the best at marketing, or “no soup for you.”
New home builders, once housing starts dried up, all decided to start remodeling. This put the crunch on remodelers. Commercial contractors have been hit hard too. Even handyman companies struggle to get by. And lets not forget that all subcontractors, vendors, suppliers, and even realtors are hurting.
So what can you do about it?
You can circle the wagons. Hole up and wait it out. “Tighten your belt,” right?
Or, you can be a marketing sniper.
(Are you a marketing sniper?)
You can, with very little money or resources, do the things you need to do to make sure you get the projects that actually do come down the pike.
I believe the fastest way to get to this point is by studying marketing, or the master craft of “drumming up work.”
There are great opportunities out there, even in this tight market.
Working your past client list, using online marketing to get found on the internet, creating a referral system, using direct mail, and pursuing joint ventures are all activities that can provide results.
Circle the wagons if you must. But if you want to make some progress, I am here to help you do just that. Please feel free to contact me if I can help you improve your business, or your marketing.
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.
The other day I caught wind of someone saying “I hate to rain on your parade, but….”
Then this individual went on to gripe to some contractors about how learning and making progress with online marketing is somehow not worth it, because the all mighty “Google” will change everything in the next couple of years anyway.
Wrong on one hand, right on the other.
It’s wrong to complain and have a negative attitude about the changing future of marketing a business on the internet.
It’s right to anticipate change.
Do you know who hates change? People who are complacent and want to keep all their cards close to their chest.
Look, being conservative and cautious is virtuous, respectable, and necessary when it comes to things like finances, your health, the well-being of your family, etc.
But there’s no place for a victim mentality in modern-day marketing. The marketing world is changing FAST. I mean, like, every DAY.
If you embrace change, stay mobile, and aim your eye to the horizon every now and then, there is more opportunity than you can imagine.
The barrier to entry for business opportunity is lower than it’s ever been in my lifetime.
Online, even more so.
The opportunities for contractors, builders, and remodelers to dominate their local market online blow my mind sometimes. I get so excited every time I look at a new market with a contractor. I mean I’ve seen some HUGE opportunities for the average construction small business to grow and really get found online.
Don’t complain that the internet is changing and you might lose your “position.” It was never yours to begin with.
Stay on your toes, and keep an eye out for construction marketing opportunities. There are so many it’s just stupid to spend a moment worrying.
Move.
Change.
Grow.
Figure it out.
Don’t just give up because things are going to change some day. And don’t spend your time discouraging others, either.
If you try to discourage me, I will not listen. There’s too much business opportunity out there.
There are the “Haves,” and the “Have-Nots” in this business environment.
Who wants to live in a world where only the “haves” will succeed?
“You and I are the raptors in this world. We should have no fear of the brontosaur’s size or the tyrannosaur’s ferocity.”
(By the way, Alan Weiss is a “Have,” rather than a “Have-Not.” Big time. But he keeps thinking like a raptor.)
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.
Hi, I’m Seth. Good to meet you. Look around, everything on this website is yours for free! Oh, and let me know if I can help you and your business in any way.
It’s an exciting time for online marketing. Our changing economic landscape combined with all the crazy, fun new changes in the way the internet works add up to some interesting opportunities.
There’s all this new stuff like social media, “new media” link building, and online video marketing.
I talked to one established construction marketing expert the other day who mentioned that “social media” has been killing him lately. And I know some folks who are real newbies, but have cracked the social media nut and are achieving huge results.
Also, I’ve found there are rafts of old, outdated information floating around in our sea of knowledge. Watch out for them, because if you jump on one of those rafts, you might go adrift towards the marketing “Bermuda Triangle.”
Marketing has changed. BIG time.
Has “relationship building” changed? No. Do we have new ways to establish relationships now? YES.
Have referrals dried up? No. Are there exciting new ways to maximize referrals? YES.
Is advertising obsolete? Yes. Ha ha. Sorry, I mean “No.” But do the old established advertising methods work for contractors? Not really. Not anymore.
Overall, adding real value for free, and making real personal connections will get you far.
1. Be helpful with no expectation of gaining anything in return. You will gain instant trust.
2. Help others make connections and grow their businesses every chance you get. Watch them reciprocate with referrals.
3. Answer questions and give your best information away for free. Become a trusted advisor (and make the sale.)
This new wave of online marketing and the viral spreading of ideas might be foreign to you. That’s OK. You don’t have to become a social media expert to run a construction business.
But you can take a look into the future of ALL small business marketing by taking note of the principles that the online community has adopted.
People buy from people they like. That’s a timeless principle.
Why is today’s marketing landscape different from the past?
Because now we have access to tools that allow us to connect exponentially faster than before.
Add value to the conversation, and make personal connections. Do this by shaking hands, one at a time. OR, inject these principles into your online presence, and do it everywhere, all at once, even while you sleep.
That’s the opportunity we have today.
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.
“Of course it’s much easier to sit around asking if any marketing is working than it is to go out there and start marketing your business using multiple tactics.”
But there are people out there like “gmstang” from Contractor Talk who go out there and get things done. Check out this thread about a marketing action that has been working in this market.
In case you’re not already familiar, ContractorTalk.com is an unparalleled resource of construction business advice. (Maybe get a little humor in the mix as well. Which in my opinion, is an absolute necessity!)
Cliff notes: Send a hand addressed, targeted mailer that focuses on solving a problem for your prospect. It’s cheap, easily testable, and virtually risk free. Why not try it?
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.
Many contractors are considering spending money on online marketing these days.
The main benefit? To get found online, get more leads, beat this recession and grow your business.
Once your website has reached a certain level of quality, the next question is usually whether you should focus on Adwords Pay-Per-Click (PPC) or organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
I’ve been helping folks make decisions on this topic quite often these days. Here’s a very interesting little tidbit of information from SEOMoz:
The Disconnect in PPC vs. SEO spending
There’s a big disconnect in the way marketing dollars are allocated to search engine focused campaigns. Let me highlight:
Not surprisingly, search advertising should continue to be the largest category, growing from $9.1 billion in 2007 to $20.9 billion in 2013.
- Source: C|Net News, June 30, 2008
OK. So companies in the US spent $10 billion last year on paid search ads, and even more this year. How about SEO?
Conclusions: SEO drives 75%+ of all search traffic, yet garners less than 15% of marketing budgets for SEM campaigns. PPC receives less than 25% of all search traffic, yet earns 80%+ of SEM campaign budgets.
What does this mean to you, as a contractor trying to market his business?
If you’re going to spend money on promoting your website, you should:
Use Adwords PPC as a garnish, not the main course.
Spend the bulk of your time, money, and energy working to dominate the top of the organic (relevant) search listings so you can capture most of the traffic in your market.
Good luck in your campaign to get found online and grow your business!
It’s easy, as a contractor in the construction industry, to simply throw up your hands during the holidays and assume you can’t land new work until the new year comes around.
If you’ve ever considered doing the door-to-door thing to try to drum up new business, read more and see if this gets your brain juices flowing (or perhaps tells you what you need to know to rule it out altogether.)
Check out Mark Buckshon’s in-depth article about the ins-and-outs of canvassing in construction.
Mark took a bullet for the proverbial Construction Marketing Team by flying to Columbus, OH to go on a canvassing training reconnaissance mission.
Here’s a little excerpt of what he found:
“I felt a little like an FBI surveillance agent today, sitting in the back seat of a car, camera in hand, as I observed canvassing consultant Joseph Needham show Rob Sangster, working on contract for Feazel Roofing, how to knock on doors.”
“So the trick is to drive through the neighbourhood, assess whether the roof is the ‘right’ (cheaper) type, and then knock on doors, to see if they would like a free inspection, and if anything is found wrong, to prepare a proposal for repairs that would be covered by the home owner’s insurance. (And if you agree to put a sign on the lawn, you can have a $250 credit towards your insurance deductible costs.)”
“Is this a magical formula for everyone? Obviously not — You need the systems, processes, and organization to handle the leads, (or the willingness to stomach the rejection and tension involved in canvassing yourself), and obviously this type of canvassing works rationally when there is a visible exterior problem or qualification for the service (it would be harder, if still possible) to canvass for interior renovation and maintenance work.)”
Going door-to-door (like cold calling) is the black sheep of sales and marketing tactics. But if you’re like me, the thought has at least crossed your mind once or twice as an idea for finding new work.
Buckshon gives us a much appreciated glimpse into what’s possible, how it works, what to expect, as well as drawbacks and benefits of implementing a canvassing campaign.
As for me, I’m going to continue with my current marketing strategy which is heavy on networking and online marketing. But I can see why some want to sip the Canvassing Kool-aide, especially if you’re a roofing, siding, gutter, window, or painting company. Or maybe a landscaper or lawn guy.
Construction Marketing Bottom Line: It looks like canvassing could be a viable option for some…if you’re willing and able to fully commit the time, money, and energy into a professional, well-thought-out campaign.
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Are you maximizing 100% of all four marketing quadrants in your business? Which areas are you neglecting?
I’m going to break construction marketing down into four quadrants. Doing this allows us to drill down our marketing strategy and allocate our time and resources to the most effective marketing activities.
Here are the four quadrants:
1. Face-to-Face Marketing
Ask Questions – Focus all your energy on how you can really help your clients most.
Use a strategic referralrequest system.
Networking on steroids -Only go to events that put you in front of real prospects, not fellow contractors.
Know how, when (and if) you should give a prospect your business card.
Form strategic alliances and joint ventures with other business owners.
Use positioning & reversal techniques to close more sales.
2. Direct Response
If you don’t use direct response you are leaving cash on the table.
There are two very simple keys to direct response that will explode your results:
-An Offer
-A Call to Action
Integrate your direct response marketing offer and call to action into everything you touch.
Use persuasive communication (NOT intrusive sales jargon) to influence your prospects to buy from you.
Use media to drive prospects to your offer and your call to action.
Use “guerilla” free press techniques to position yourself as an expert, and—you guessed it—drive traffic to your direct response system.
Use persuasive copy and direct response in all your sales letters, ads, flyers, brochures, tv & radio scripts, webpages, articles, yellow page ads, signs, your trucks, and ANY contact with a potential prospect.
4. The Internet
Use email autoresponders to build a list of prospects so you can market to them.
No one cares if your website is pretty, especially if they can’t find it. Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Don’t make the common mistake of designing your website like it’s just a way for the people who already know you to find your address.
If your website doesn’t offer something of value, you are wasting your time (and $) on an expensive “business card” hidden in the cyber jungle.
Offer + Call to Action + Autoresponder = “Drag It Home” approved marketing.
So, those are the four quadrants. Look around the site to learn more about how to maximize all for quadrants in your construction business.
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I'm Seth Holdren, and this is my website.
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