It’s how contractors surf the Web! ContractorTalk.com has been the fastest growing online contractor community since 2003 and is happy to celebrate their 3-year anniversary this month.

ContractorTalk.com is celebrating its 3rd anniversary with over 8,000 members, over 500 new posts a day, and over 80,000 visitors a month.

“It’s real nice having a place to log in to and chat with peers from my industry,” Tim Bodine, said. “A place to ask trade questions, get advice on business matters, or to just find someone who ‘speaks the same language’ as I do.”

Mostly, ContractorTalk.com is a gathering place for all contractors who are committed to their jobs and love what they do. There are forums broken down by specific industry, as well as how contractors may run their business.

Currently, the online community boasts over 8,000 members from around-the-world. Over 100 topics are discussed everyday and range from the serious to the sublime; 20 new members register daily.

Access to ContractorTalk.com is free. Registered members can share thoughts and ideas while accessing information on marketing, business tactics, and much, much more.

Contractors can participate in over 30 contractor forums and browse from over 130,000 posts. They can communicate privately with other contractors from around the world; and network with contractors in any specialty. It’s a premier contractor destination.

“Contractortalk.com it is a great place to get together and discuss new ideas and ways of doing things,” says member Robert Shaw. “Contracortalk.com has also led to almost $40,000 worth of sales for my company. Also, we have learned new selling techniques that have led to more closed sales than ever before. My company has grown tremendously in the last year from knowledge gained from Contractortalk.com”

About ContractorTalk.com – Contractor Talk™ is owned by Wingate Solutions LLC and its goal is to provide a community for professional contractors to learn business and trade knowledge. They offer free forums, articles, and other resources to their members. For more information visit www.ContractorTalk.com

We are pleased to announce our new launch of the website for Guardian Roofing. Guardian Roofing is a Tacoma roofing contractor that offers roof repairs for the entire Puget Sound area.

We are pleased to announce a new website launch, Quality Window and Door, Inc, a maryland replacement windows dealer who provides replacement windows for homeowners, remodeling companies and new construction companies. They service Maryland, Virgina and the Washington DC area.

If you mention networking to most people, they immediately think of attending an event and swapping business cards. In truth, it’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this powerful business building marketing strategy. Networking is the process of building mutually beneficial relationships — much more than a moment in time.
When networking is done well, it’s a very cost efficient business building strategy. When done poorly, it’s a complete waste of time and money! To maximize effectiveness, entrepreneurs need to strategically plan for networking in five separate areas:

1. With Clients
Your clients are bombarded with choices for quality suppliers. When you are a business buddy with them, your relationship can be the glue that keeps you together. Their loyalty and repeat business is the most profitable business you can find. Your clients can also provide you with valuable feedback. I like to ask my client buddies questions

2. With Suppliers
When your suppliers feel like they are part of your team, you will experience increased service and sometimes even lower costs — who else, but their buddy, would they call first when a good deal comes through hands? Your suppliers can also share valuable information about what your competition is up to.

2. With Competition
When you turn your competitors into industry allies you can create a wonderful source for referrals. The key to this is knowing what your unique niche is. If your competition knows your specialty and trusts you to do a good job, they can feel comfortable referring you overflow business — as well as appropriate business for your expertise that they don’t handle.

3. With Your Business Community
When you have an active network in the general business community, you can create a goldmine for referrals. The trick is to make sure that people know what you do. Too often, business owners, use general statements like “designer” and forget to educate their buddies on their expertise.

4.Within Your Own Company
Having buddies within your company across departments, as well as levels of management, will fuel your effectiveness and lower costs. If you’re a one-person show, you still have an important “company network.” They are the family and friends who continue to believe in you and your dreams. Don’t forget to take time and nurture your relationships with them as well.

Work on setting up these five important networks, and you will see an increase in referrals and your marketing success.

Recognition is powerful. One of the simplest ways to increase your referral business is to recognize your client who referred you. If a client has referred a friend who ended up hiring you, or if a client gave you a wonderful testimonial, show your appreciation by awarding them with “client of the month” honors. You should have your “Client Of The Month” posted on your website, or if you send out a newsletter, have it inserted in their has well. You should also award the client with a plaque or even a small gift. Good gifts could be dinner for two at a local restaurant, movie tickets, gift certificates, etc. This little recognition will encourage others to refer business to you.

Most people go through life feeling totally under appreciated. They get little recognition or appreciation from their boss, their children, or their spouse. By providing recognition and appreciation for referrals you encourage the referring client to refer again. Plus, every other appreciation-starved client reading about the “Client of the Month” will subconsciously crave to be the client-of-the-month too. And, they way you become client of the month is to send your company referrals.

If many people are referring business to you, base your client of the month criteria on the total number of referrals received.

Another variation of this powerful, referral-generating strategy is recognizing a “Project Of The Month” on your website or newsletter. Display photos of the job

Essentially, you award one of your favorite projects with this honor and promote it on your website with photos of the project, as well as the homeowners. This helps to spur further interest in this type of project by people who visit your website, or read your newsletter.

This is especially effective if you have a special offer or promotion going that month that relates to the project. For example, a free vinyl windows this month on any exterior remodeling project. The featured project helps readers to visualize the project.