Technorati Tags: Online Marketing, Social Media

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?

Think like a “have not.”

Like consulting rock-star Alan Weiss said,

“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.

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Technorati Tags: Alan Weiss, Change, Construction Marketing, Online Marketing

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?

SEO: $1.3 billion (11%)
- Source: SEMPO data via Massimo Burgio, SMX Madrid 2008

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:

1. Use Adwords PPC as a garnish, not the main course.
2. 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!

More….

Technorati Tags: Construction Marketing, contractor website, Online Marketing

Check out this brilliant web design article by Dmitry Fadeyev over at Smashing Magazine.

Here’s a quote that sums up the must-have philosophy for sound web design:

“Web design isn’t art. It involves a whole collection of different skills — from copywriting and typography to layout and art — all fused together to create an interface that not only features a pleasant aesthetic but that communicates function and facilitates easy access to its content.

“But in order to combine all these elements of Web design together and achieve successful results you must have a clear direction, a direction that will guide each and every aspect of your design towards common goals. You must think strategically.”

Amen, brother. Usability is key. So is marketing strategy.

How many business owners do you know of who’ve spent thousands of dollars to get a website designed, and all they ended up with is a fancy looking porfolio site that gets 3 visitors per month?

It’s crazy.

In addition to all the great tips in Fadeyev’s article, your online marketing master plan must come first, bar none.

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Technorati Tags: Online Marketing, web design