The General Contractor

Successful online marketing is not just getting lucky. Instead, successful Internet marketing is about making a plan based on the tools that have already proven successful and working that plan until they prove successful for you as well. Though your Footbridge marketing consultant manages 95% of your online marketing, it is good to be aware of what you can do to help and increase your online marketing.

The following tips for Internet marketing should help you get started and be successful as well.

Online Marketing Tip #1 Well Designed Site
A well designed site from the font to the colors used as well as the layout is critical for success. Once you get people to your website you want them to stay there and in order for this to happen your site needs to look professional, be user friendly, informative, and have all the information easily accessible to visitors. Your website reflects your business, and actually the work you perform. If there are problems with your website, then it reflects on your business.

If you cannot design a site yourself then hire someone to do it for you. This expense really is worthwhile because a professional site reflects professional products and services whereas an amateur looking site reflects an amateur business that is not to be taken seriously.

Online Marketing Tip #2 Links
Links are very important to your online marketing campaign simply because they will help you in the search rankings. I am not saying go out and swap links with anyone who will do it. You need to be specific and cautious. Your own marketing consultant does this for you, but you may have dealers, partners, and even family websites, that your consultant cannot access. Compile a list of these types of sites and contact them to see if you can get a link back to your site. If you belong to any forums, make sure that there is a link in your signature tag to your website. This helps out as well. Be careful: Do not submit your website to any link farms, or overloaded directories. This will hurt your site as well.

Online Marketing Tip #3 Keywords
This is what your consultant focuses on the most. Your keywords and you should be aware of what those keywords are. Your consultant most likely focuses on your main service and then takes the most populated area, i.e. “Los Angeles replacement windows”. But there can be multiple types of keywords that you can come up on. You should review your website and see if you come up for what you want to come up for. If there are keywords that are not on your website, then contact your marketing consultant immediately.

Online Marketing Tip #4 Things to Avoid
Your online marketing can be perfect and bring in lots of visitors, however if your site uses frames, flash, JavaScript, and things of that nature that make it difficult to load your site then you will lose your visitors no matter how low your prices or great your products or services. So, when you are designing your site be sure you are aware of the different design methods that could make your site look really good, but take too long to open and turn visitors away. Also be aware of graphics and photos. In order to maximize your visitor’s experience, please do not put graphics on your website that are too large. There are plenty of free program out there that you can use to condense your photos.

Online Marketing Tip #5 Emails
Though I do not believe you need an email address on your website. If you have some type of online submission form, then the email address is mute. Having an email address on your website is only going to be picked up by spammers. But, if you plan on using an email address, please make sure that you use one that manages the domain name of your website. Having a YAHOO, MSN, AOL, or any free email service is just unprofessional.

If you have any questions about your website, please contact us today.
We offer free website analysis for contractors and want to help all contractors with their online marketing, regardless if they are a client or not.

Unfortunately, that’s not the norm in our industry. In fact, the norm is to make a lot of promises and then under-deliver. To do “just enough”. To cut corners. To be satisfied with “good enough”.

By doing the “little things”, you help to distinguish yourself from the rest of your competitors that can’t or won’t take those extra steps. What you are trying to do is exceed expectations.

Here are some ways you can do that:

After you’ve sold the job and included everything that’s going to be done on the signed contract, look for something extra you can do while you’re there (then tell the client that you did it). It doesn’t have to be big. Does their lamppost need painting? Something minor need to be repaired? You get the idea. Don’t however, be so concerned about doing something extra that you don’t do the best possible job on what you’re contracted to do. It’s not enough to be good at what you do. To get tons of happy clients and tons of referrals, you have to absolutely blow them away!

Here is a checklist of some possible things that you can do:

1. Show up the day the work was promised at the exact specified time. If impossible, then call the minute you know it’s impossible and tell the truth. Communication is key.

2. Complete the job exactly to the contract specifications. No short cuts.

3. Look for something extra and do it. Give them More than they Expect!

4. Dress to convey the image you want to send. Whether it be in a coat and tie or casual shirt and paints, be aware of the image you’re sending to your clients.

5. Keep a clean work site! Nobody likes having their house or property cluttered up with dust, discarded materials, tools, etc. Clean up after yourself everyday! Some contractors where booties, which adds a little more to the client experience.

6. Bring muffins or doughnuts for the homeowners on the first and last day of the job. Remember this is there home and having any type of project or work can be stressful.

7. Personally drop in on your client a couple days after the work has been completed, and after you’ve been paid. Bring out a small surprise gift of appreciation. A tin of cookies, a plant, whatever. You can personalize your thank you gift to your clients. For example, if you had a client who likes fine wine, bring out a nice bottle of wine as a token of your appreciation. I’ve seen contractors give photo albums of before and after shots, which have worked very well.

8. A personal written thank you note.

Remember, the underlying premise in receiving a ton of repeat and referral business is to “WOW” your client.

Anytime you send a direct mail letter, you must mail to the same prospect at least three times. Each of the three letters will be a little bit different than the first and must refer to the previous mailings. Most contractors who attempt to use direct mail make a huge mistake. They get a list of names and mail their message to the list once. When they get little response they quit. To get maximum response, you have to send out your message at least three times to the same prospects! According to the Direct Mail Association, a consumer needs to be hit up to 9 times before they make a buying decision. So the more you market to your list, the better your response rate will be.

Sending your message out three times will generally double your response. For example, if you get a 5% response on your first mailing, you’ll get a 10% response from all 3 letters. If you don’t mail your second and third letters, you are leaving half of your profits behind - just walking away from them.

Most homeowners aren’t inclined to respond (or buy) until they have had at least 3 contacts with a particular business. A contact can be receiving a letter, a follow up telephone call, a copy of a newsletter, etc. Many people intend to respond to your offers, advertisements, or letters but “never get around to it”. By sending multiple mailings you provide a gentle reminder.

It is just plain naïve to think that just because you’ve mailed a prospect once, they’ve read your letter. People are busy and are easily distracted. The kids, the TV, the job – they’ve got a lot going on. You must provide a “gentle reminder”.

Here is how sequencing works:

1) Prepare your direct mail piece, albeit a postcard, sales letter, etc. and send it out to your mailing list.

2) Fifteen days after you delivered the first letter, deliver the second letter to everyone who did NOT respond to the first letter.

3) Then fifteen days later, deliver the third letter to everyone who did not respond to the first and second letters.

For example, your second letter in the sequence will have a big, bold…

“SECOND NOTICE”

typed at the top. Your third letter, when it arrives says…

“THIRD & FINAL NOTICE”

This sequenced mailing approach works like magic even if you just put a simple post-it on the second mailing that says, “You may have missed this the first time when we sent it three weeks ago.”

This method can work for any type of contractor. Sending a sequenced letter (i.e., First Notice, Second Notice, Final Notice, can increase results by as much as 100%!) So please, promise me you won’t even consider mailing a direct mail piece unless you intend to mail to those prospects at least three times!

We have launched another new client, Suburban Windows and Siding, a Hartford County Replacement windows contractor. Suburban Windows & Siding is family owned and operated and employs only experienced professional craftsmen. The company provides quality workmanship at a reasonable price and guarantees all work. The company is fully licensed and insured and is a Connecticut registered contractor.

A new site launched today, and though it is in a different industry, we beleive we will be able to assist Maids On Time, Inc. with generating online leads. This Chicagoland Maid service provides cleaning solutions and maid services for homeowners in the Chicagoland area.

We have just launched The Kitchen and Bathroom Factory website. The Kitchen and Bath Factory is a division of Morey Construction, Inc., a well established design and build contractor in Southern California. President, Benjamin Morey has been recognized for fine design by The National Association of Home Builders as one of the Big 50 top design, build remodelers in the nation in 2005.

Here is a good article for pressure washing contractors:

Having been in the pressure washing business for some time know; a few decades. I have come to the realization that most pressure washing companies are missing many lucrative markets; market segments, which are uncommon but not unprofitable. Here are some ideas, which can help you in your pressure washer business if you wish to increase sales and expand your business.

Lumber Industry & Services

Some pressure washing companies wash heavy equipment for many U.S. and Canadian timber companies, lumber mills, and logging trucking companies. We recommend that you paint your equipment a bright and safe color; our equipment is painted safety yellow and our crews have worked in and around the timber industry, so we realize the importance to stay “heads-up” in work zone, as well as out of the way of the massive equipment we are cleaning while they are in operation. You should take a similar approach and mindset to safety when working pressure washing in the lumber or timber industry.

Many times you will need to work weekends cleaning equipment so that you are undisturbed. This is also good for the timber or lumber company since they you don’t have to worry about another crew in the yard. You may be asked to clean and work on cranes loading rail cars, barges moving timber down the river and steam cleaning mills. There are many lare companies in this industry such as Boise-Cascade, Potlatch and Mead Paper. Logging trucks are also good accounts, some are owned by fleet companies and others by independent operators.

Drainage Ditches As you know, the county flood control, districts, EPA and State’s NPDES permits require that you meet all required code; otherwise you can’t work. Once the authorities know you can clean without polluting you will find they also have lots of work to be done. Debris and dirt in cement ditches must be removed and the organic material flushed out to keep the drainage clean and clear. When inspectors show up and find a dust free excavated field, clear drainage ditches, hay bales in strategic locations and cement cutters installed, they’ll smile, take a cup of coffee and leave you alone. Then they will take your business card and pass it around the public agencies for more work. Government work although it is riddled with paper work and regulation and they are extremely slow to pay their bills can in fact be good for fill in busy work on long-term contracts.

Dairy Industry Cleaning

In your pressure washing business you might find you can help dairies and independent distributors with all their cleaning needs. You can steam clean costly pasteurization equipment using corrosion resistant soaps on a routine preventative wash maintenance schedule. Make sure all of your products meet USDA inspector codes and are FDA approved. The easiest way for the Dairy Industry to keep from being milked by the FDA, USDA, EPA, OSHA, and animal rights groups is to run a tight ship. You will also find lots of work cleaning facility forklifts, delivery trucks, buildings, and equipment. Make this one of your market niche specialties. Here is a link to a reclaim system called a vacu-boom, which we use. You might use something similar in your pressure washing company. With livestock all around it is imperative that your reclaim your water for the health of the animals and our food supply.

http://www.truckwashguy.com/reclamation.shtml.

You may also find the dairy companies asking you to wash down bars, fences, covered awnings, troughs, barns, storage tanks, fittings, concrete pads, etc.. These are important items to take care of as well. Make sure you have convenient monthly billing, workers compensation, SB198 safety plan (if in California), OSHA approved safety ware, EPA approved soaps, NPDES recognized Best Management Practices (BMPs), MSDS for all products and fully comply with all government regulations. There are always lots of visits from government inspectors to such facilities and you need to run things right.

Think on these additional industries when determining your focus in the pressure washing industry, sometimes the most lucrative accounts have little if any competition involved.

Lance Winslow

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

Though I am not really a sales person, I made a common mistake that most sales people make. I didn’t shut my trap once I told a previous client the amount of our marketing program.. I was so nervous that the only thing which quelled my anxiety was the sound of my own voice which kept droning on and on and on like an annoying empty gong. It was almost as if the silence begged to be broken by my voice and I couldn’t help myself. “And you get unlimited updates, and a monthly newsletter,” I said. No answer. Long pause. “And the direct mail pieces. It’s all there. Look at that, sir. See? See? That’s big savings.” No answer. Long pause. “Look at that. And you get free hosting also. That’s even more savings, sir.” Long pause. Long pause. Long pause. More nervousness. “Did I tell you that our company was founded in . . .”

All of a sudden this quiet man finally said something, and it’s something that I’ll never forget. “Boy,” he said in a thick southern drawl, interrupting me right smack in the middle of my enthusiastic babbling. “I done bought from ya ten minutes ‘go. But ya just tawked yersef outta it. You kin go now.”

He bought from me ten minutes ago. I talked myself out of it. I could go now. But . . . it’s not . . . fair, I thought to myself. No, it wasn’t fair, but it was a great lesson on the power of silence. Sometimes silence can be a powerful force, powerful enough to close the deal for you. Powerful enough to even tear it apart after it already closed.

When you are on your next sales call, pay attention to how silence is used in the meeting with the homeowner:

After you present your formal proposal to the homeowner, let them look at it. Let them be the ones to say something first. There is an old rule of thumb in the world of selling and negotiating that says whoever talks first loses. Let them bring up the questions and issues after you present it to them. If they don’t say anything, then just let them mull it over. They’ll ask you questions when they are ready. Don’t appear too anxious to be the first one to speak.

Use silence to convey a point. When you are talking to someone and want to emphasize a key point, pause right before it. Say it like this: “Bob, this is why I think you need to consider our company. (pause, pause, pause). It’s because of…” The longer pause gets their attention.

When you are asked a question, you don’t need give the first answer that pops in your head. Give them the right answer. And if you need more time to answer their question, say, “That’s a good question, Bob. Let me think about that for a second.” More than anything, you will be considered a true professional who is giving serious thought to solving their problems.

Anytime you are in a negotiation, when someone makes an offer to you, pause before you give a response. It makes you seem more cautious and less eager. When it comes to making a concession, remember that the way you offer the concession is just as important as the concession you make. Pause before you concede as if you are reluctant to give something up. This shows the other party that you value your product or service and it increases the likelihood of you negotiating a better deal.

During your next meeting with a homeowner, pay attention to how this tool of silence can be used, and how effective it is in your ability to influence others. And, if anything, at least it’ll keep you from babbling your way out of a closed sale.

Direct mail postcards allow marketers to pinpoint specific neighborhoods with their message. And many landscapers focus heavily on neighborhoods in their marketing efforts. This makes postcard marketing the perfect promotional tool for landscaping companies.

Better still, the number of ways contractors can use postcards is limited only by their imagination. Here are but a few of those ideas:

1. Seasonal Reminders

Many homeowners know very little about the seasonality of home maintenance. So why not tell them. Try sending regular reminders. This works well for hvac contractors who are changing from the cooling season to the heating season, for lawn care companies who need time to mulch or plant.

2. Customer Follow-up

You’re probably familiar with the 80/20 rule — you get 80% of your business from 20% of your customers. You’ve probably also heard how much more expensive it is to acquire a new customer than to retain a current one.

With this in mind, why not send your best customers thank-you cards, holiday greetings or special offers? It’s a great way to stay in touch with the 20% who mean the most to your business.

3. Neighborhood Prospecting
You’ve worked hard on a specific home in a specific neighborhood. And the project look great, regardless if it is a new roof, lawn or cooling system! So don’t be shy — tell the rest of the neighborhood who’s behind the beauty. With postcard marketing, you can target the exact streets and subdivisions you want. This lets you draw attention to projects the recipient has probably already seen!

4. Tip-of-the-Month Series

If you are not going to send a direct mail newsletter, this option of a simple postcard may be a cost effiecient form of marketing. Try a tip-of-the-month series. The concept is simple: take your sales message, and wrap it inside a helpful hint so the homeowner has an extra reason to keep it.

The goal here is not to give away your trade secrets — but to make your audience aware of your services, while also increasing the shelf-life of your postcards. Try to envision the kinds of postcards people might put up on their refrigerators or bulleting boards. That’s your goal! You can check out more about our mini-newsletters in our past newsletters.

5. Special Offers

Postcards with strong offers outperform the more “informational” pieces. So if you’re offering some kind of discount or special, send it straight to your audience’s mailboxes. With a newspaper or magazine ad, you’re limited as to how specific you can make your offer. But with postcards, you can speak more directly to the various segments of your audience.

That’s the winning formula of direct mail — a strong offer with relevant information, sent to a precisely targeted audience.

For instance, maybe you send a postcard to a new subdivision with a headline that reads:

“Furnace Tune-Up Special for the Residents of Huntington Beach” This kind of relevance and specific targeting can dramatically increase response rates.

6. Website Tie-in

Have a website? If so, you have a perfect marketing partner to complement your postcards. The reasons are somewhat psychological:

The goal of any marketing program is to gain new business, but sometimes you have to offer indirect paths as well as the direct ones. Direct paths are for direct people. A direct path on a postcard would be a phone number. Some interested prospects will choose the direct route and call you straightaway.

But those who are less direct would rather learn more about you first. They need to get comfortable before they “raise their hands.”

So why not build an informational resource section of your website and point to it with your postcards? Maybe you’ll offer tips on how to be more energy efficient, or how to plant rose bushes. Maybe you’ll post a photo gallery showing some of your past projects and clients. Or both!

The point is to offer different response channels for the different personality types. A direct phone number for the direct people, and an indirect website path for the more timid souls. Then mention both paths on your postcards, and you’ve increased your chance for response — be it direct or indirect.

Don’t overlook postcard marketing the next time you want to target potential customers. Postcards achieve almost a 100% readership and have an impressive ROI, while being inexpensive and simple to use.

Postcards keep your name in front of customers and have an impressive ROI. Flexible, informative, and creative - postcards generate sales and keep your name in front of potential customers.

Though I am completely against purchasing leads, there are many contractors out there that continue to use this method as a form of their marketing budget. This article is written, for contractors who decide to purchase leads. Be careful and follow some of the advice below:

Make sure you are 100% confident that the lead company you are dealing with has a fair return policy. Most lead companies have software in place, or verify the lead before they sell it to weed out any fake, or bogus leads. But even with these barriers in place, it is not unusual for one to slip through the cracks. If you receive a bogus lead, there is no reason why you shouldn’t get your money back. There should be a rock solid return policy in place. This includes, no contact, bad phone number, etc.
 
If you have no interest in sharing leads with anyone else, you may want to consider buying them exclusively. A majority leads that you purchase will be sold to a minimum of 4 other contractors. Some lead services don’t do any background checks of their clients, so someone can receive leads from a major lead company and then sell that lead again. If you have ever experienced a rude response from a homeowner when calling a lead this may be the case. There have been many cases in the lead generation industry where a single lead has been sold up to 20x times. Think about it? You go online, looking for a kitchen remodeling contractor, and then when you are eating dinner, you receive 20 phone calls? It happens.
 
If you decide to buy your leads exclusively, you can plan on paying a bit more for them. As opposed to buying old or recycled leads in bulk or at two dollars a lead.
 
An exclusive contractor lead should not only be exclusive to you and you only, it should be sold to you in real time.
 
A real time exclusive contractor lead is one that is delivered to you within seconds of the applicant filling out the form on the internet.
 
If a real time contractor lead is any older than a couple of hours, it can hardly be called real time, let alone exclusive.
 
My suggestion to you if you are considering buying exclusive contractor leads would be to take your time and research the lead companies you are thinking about investing your money in.
 
Remember, you work hard for your money, so make sure the lead company you invest in will get you a return on your investment.
 
Be sure to call the lead company and speak with a live person.
 
Ask the customer service representative where they obtain their leads, and how they are delivered. Also, ask what the time frame is between the potential customer filling out the online form and you receiving it.
 
Ask for an actual website where potential clients are submitting their information. You will not believe how many lead companies survive by simply purchasing leads from one company and reselling them.
 
If the answers do not live up to your expectations of what real time exclusive leads should be, than move onto the next lead company.
 
Keep searching until you find the lead company that guarantees they will sell the lead to only you, and that they will deliver it promptly. If they can’t have it at your e-mails door step within seconds of receiving it, than keep searching until you find the company that will. Your time and money will be well spent, trust me.
 
Even better eliminate this form of money-spending and put your marketing dollars into a way to generate your own leads. Online lead generation is not difficult and can be managed with one person. Educate yourself on this, and you won’t have to buy leads from any lead service company.

Lead Purchasing Tip: The larger the lead company, the worse the lead will be. Large corporate lead generation companies need to make a profit. They do that by getting more clients, which means for every lead generated, needs to be sold “X” number of times. If you can find a small lead generation company that fills all the requirements above, you are more likely to get exclusive leads first. Even though they may take those same leads and sell them to the larger lead service company after you receive them.