The advertising thread has me wondering how many people do advertise or market.
I’d like to keep from discussion the merits of different times, at least for now if possible.
We use the following in varying degrees
Home Show
Yard Signs
Door Knockers (Not as often as we should)
Direct Mail to neighbors and past customers
Tv & Radio
Lettered Trailer (Or soon to be again as it’s currently in primer grey and will be through winter)
Replies
I am desperate for work. I'm frustrated, because I know it's out there, but I don't know how to break into the market.
What are the door knockers you mentioned?
It's like OCD, only the letters are in alphabetical order like they're supposed to be.
http://www.truenorthcarpentry.net
Love the look of that website North.
I say list that website in every little local newspaper. (just the address).
Get flyers and doorknockers out. Keep it simple... even just the address. When they see the site, they will like you already.
LGardenStructure.com~Build for the Art of it! Decks Blog
Thank you for the good advice and kind words about the site.About the doorknockers: I've printed out some nice ones, but it feels so WEIRD to go up to someone's door, like I'm invading their private space.I know that I don't mind if people put stuff on my door at all. How do all of you view it?I have CDO.It's like OCD, only the letters are in alphabetical order like they're supposed to be.http://www.truenorthcarpentry.net
So long as you are friendly if you see them. Smile, hand them the card. You are doing what you are supposed to do.
If we do what everyone else does... we are no better off than they are.
Do uncommon things... gain the uncommon advantage.
LGardenStructure.com~Build for the Art of it! Decks Blog
Little pamhlets that say we're in the neighborhood and have our information on them. I'm sure you've seen something similiar, they just hang on the door knob.
If you look at the graph of the website hits for my company (From the administrator page) you can see huge spikes every time I advertised in the newspaper.
This is a terrible waste of talent for you, but last year I advertised gutter cleaning with my number and website. (And your website is way better than mine)
Ad was a hundred bucks. I cleaned gutters at an average of $75/house, and was able to distribute a portfolio to every customer.
I did a lot of gutter repair that I hated, referred a couple of roofing jobs to my favorite roofer. And also managed to land a couple of small jobs off of that endeavor, as well as a basement finish.
Other times you can do similar thing is in sprinkler startups and blowouts, lawn aeration, etc. Put signs on your truck. or Trailer. Get involved with a charity, build wheel chair ramps on the weekend. Install grab bars for the elderly. Just make sure you have your ads on your ride.
Because there is so much green building activity here, we have a very active greendrinks networking get together every month. I've met builders, architects, realtors, and homeowners at these things, and landed some minor jobs with not so minor players in the area. It will build.
Get yourself invited to an NAHB Meeting. Introduce yourself to builders. Offer your services hourly for punch work.
These may not be your ultimate goal, but they get you known.
http://www.greendrinks.org/index.php?country=USA&city=Colorado%20Springs
Just some ideas, hope it fits this thread.
David
BandBContracting.net
I like your ideas. I'm not too proud to clean gutters! I just need to get out and meet people. I am investigating the local Habitat for Humanity chapter here as well.I've done a little bit of advertising on Craig's List, and it is interesting seeing the site visit count go up. Another thing is how the days of the week affect the count. Mondays seem to be the big day for me, while the weekends are practically dead.Thank you for the suggestions, I will start employing them first thing tomorrow morning.A question: Is it considered bad form to approach a jobsite looking for work? I don't want to blow a big hole in somebody's day. What is the best way to go about it?Thank you again!I have CDO.It's like OCD, only the letters are in alphabetical order like they're supposed to be.http://www.truenorthcarpentry.net
What type of work if any do you get off Craigslist.
My impression may be wrong but I always thought it would be bargain hunters & people looking for the lowest price?
Your impression is absolutely correct. I haven't had one solid lead out of CL.I just keep posting hoping the right person comes along. Hey, you can't win the lottery if you don't play!It's also free, and the search engines pick up on the ads, so I figure it's more keywords out there for my site.I have CDO.
It's like OCD, only the letters are in alphabetical order like they're supposed to be.
http://www.truenorthcarpentry.net
Double post for some reason, sorry.
Edited 11/24/2008 5:50 pm by True North
As far as approaching job sites, you just never know how someone will respond. I used to work under a project super that would run anybody off the project who dared to enter his trailer without first setting an appt with the corporate office.
I've also seen a lot of folks get hired as hourly help. Haven't seen too many subs get work that way though.
If a trade contractor approaches my site, and looks like a trade contractor, talks like a trade contractor, and has all the markings of a real contractor, I definitely take his card, with the intentions of calling him for a price on the next one. Almost always tell them that I already have someone for the current project. Usually because I do.
I wish I had a better answer for you. That sounds like a good topic for a whole nudder thread.
Good Luck
Do you have nicely crafted wood sign boards on your truck? Have you attended all of the various clubs and organizations in your area to see if there might be any interest?
Door knockers cost a lot and take a lot of time and you are lucky to get a 1% response. Highly inefficent form of advertizing..
Can you improve your close ratio? What stands in your way? What sort of work have you done that is worthy of publishing in local newspapers and magazines?
What hobbies do you have and how can you display your skill with those that will attract attention? Model trains? do a nice layout and take pictures as you go local magazines and newspapers eat up stuff like that. Hunting? do you have a unique stand or something else that shows off your skills? Fishing make a wooden tackle box.
If your wife does sewing a nice sewing cabinet or something..
Just remember pictures, pictures, pictures.. Don't worry if you aren't the most gifted writer.
Frenchy, thanks for the post. There is certainly a lot of food for thought in what you wrote.Your comment about the wood sign boards has me thinking... I don't drive a truck; I have a one ton extended Chevy van with racks on top like this: http://www.americanvan.com/images/catalog/146.gifI wonder if some nice sign boards along the sides of the rack would work? What about weather? Not much moisture here, but the sun can be fierce.I have CDO.It's like OCD, only the letters are in alphabetical order like they're supposed to be.http://www.truenorthcarpentry.net
Edited 11/24/2008 8:42 pm by True North
Your vehicle should showcase your abilities. Well designed, well crafted signs will attract a lot of attention at a nominal cost.. Have the sign professionally lettered etc.. but do your own woodwork. Spray the wood with clear laquer so you can drive through car washes etc. but if it starts to show it's age a bit sand it back down and keep it looking good..
On a van I'd turn it into a woodie using stainless steel carriage bolts thru the van sides. Use strips of wood rather than a sheet of plywood.. depending on what color the van is select the wood based on that. For example I'd use either redwood or mahogany on white or blue vans.. I've use maple on red and I'd use black walnut on black or silver..
All Web
Haven't done a home show, (even those offered for free) in 3 years.
About 1.5 million people see our ads every year, and that increases most years. (this one it is stagnant--and most of our competitors have seen traffic decrease by 50%)
No paid advertising, no adwords.
It is quiet this time of year, and this year is certainly no exception.
There are a couple of schools of thought. Shoot while the birds are in the air, and market consistantly. I like the market consistantly theory. Give out 10 business cards every day is the first step.
When things are slow you are a little late to start marketing--realize it and market steadily. Get a part time job if you have to...but don't give up the marketing. Marketing is never instant.
L
GardenStructure.com~Build for the Art of it! Decks Blog
We never did get to use your Pergola plans, we ended up with 8x8 Cedar posts and essentially built the cap using your templates. Wish we could have built your version but it wasn't "in the budget" maybe next time. I am going to build that picknet table next year for a charity event though...
We do market consistantly, I've upped our TV & Radio currently but more to come up out on top and be remembered when things do turn around.
I agree completely with consistant marketing. I understand those that live by word of mouth and referalls, I believe at some point a business comes to a point in size where it needs more then word of mouth to continue to grow and prosper.
Glad they were helpful--
How was the show?
L
GardenStructure.com~Build for the Art of it! Decks Blog
Which show are you talking about?
Sorry-- had you mistaken for another guy, was doing a unit for a home show.
L
GardenStructure.com~Build for the Art of it! Decks Blog
No problem.
Networking
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
That's something I've been working on lately by being on a few directors boards in town and other ways of getting out in the community.
Where do you try to focus your networking or better said, with what groups...
both my business and my community are smaller than yours. here, it is church groups and cocktail parties both. We have no Kiwanis or Rotary nor Chamber of Commerce.but in general, the groups should have a representation of the kind of people who control the kinds of jobs in your target clientèle. You have specified a target, haven't you? That is first rule for any advertising, IMO.for instance, most of the kind of customers I want are in the country club here.
Membership costs are above my paygrade and I don't play golf or tennis. I would embarrass myself. But I maintain friendly enough relationships with enough members there to be invited to several cocktail parties each year. I try to circulate, not talk politics, and lend a sympathetic ear to all the lonely wives there. I also have some fun too. Almost always leave with a "Call me"
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Piffin,
Yeah, I tried lending an ear to the "lonely wives" in our partioes too but the wife put an end to that! ;)
Mike
Yeah, I think CAG's wife is a redhead too, so that advice might not work fo rhim...;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Well Mrs Oak River Mike is a brunette and she wouldn't go for it even if I said it was all in the interest of business! ;)
Does she come to your 'rescue' when they get you pinned in the corner behind the buffet table?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Depends on what they look like....if they are young and attractive, they never even get me that far! If they are ugly, she lets me get pinned and listen to every contractor horror story they know.
Its just not fair! :)
we try to keep our company in the public eye
logo....letterhead.... business card
job signs
truck signs / trailer sign (all on red trucks / red trailer )
weekly ad in the loacal free paper that gets mailed to every home
ad on every scorecard at the local golf course
member of RIBA (NAHB )
local politics years ago... but that is a two-edged sword
Lions Club.... Community Chorus
sometimes we'll work our way down a street.. from one referral to another
our work comes about 50/50
50 referral / 50 calls from our marketing
Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I took us out of the Chamber a few years ago and never noticed a drop in business. They've brought in a new CEO for the chamber that I have had a good impression of so I'm thinking of re-joining.
Odd you mentioned the Country Club. We have two locally, and I recently joined one. A "junior" membership for those under 35 is $100/month. I recently took up golf and it's the reason I joined, but I'm also looking at it as a networking oppurtunity.. Besides once/if I start selling some work out of it I figure it's expensible ;)
I've been given to understand that full membership in the club here runs in the neighborhood of 25K a year, plus an initiation fee. They do have associate memberships that a few contractors here hold, but I don't know what they are.Anything that gets your smiling face in contact with the clientelle you want to serve is what works.I helped sponsor a political fund raiser deal for one of our senators to meet and greet. etc. A lot of Dems there were very impressed with her and donated to the cause. There was also a lot of "Oh, you are the one who designed the..." and I had a call the next week about a job.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
My thoughts with the country club are, it is typically going to have people with disposable income, and they're going to know people with disposable income...
So I'll be happy to go to events and do the meet & greet. Added bonus is I can play golf for "free"
There is usally an initiation fee of I believe $3000 is at this particular place but it was waived.
This isn't a real hoity toity club so the dues and membership are not that high but it is a nice place, has the best course in town (there only 3) and the people are generally down to earth from what I've seen.
Website
Direct mail postcards (5000 cards covers almost the entire local area) approx. 1x per year. I use very good professional photos on cards and website.
Truck lettering
Most important-->being as tenacious about customer service as possible. If I hear even the slighest peep out of someone I did work for (or am doing work for) I do something about it. If I really added it all up, it might take 1 week per year to chase down all the little things that I deal with, for free. How much could I bill in one week and how much effective advertising could I buy with that money?
We have a professionally designed ad in several regional house and boat magazines, following the "market consistently" theory. The ad is designed to drive people to our website, where they can see lots of pictures of work we've done. It's all expensive, but knock on wood we're reasonably busy when a lot of people around here are not.
We do:
Yellow pages
TV (fixed ad on a community advertising cable channel)
Web site
Adwords
Trade web site listings with other vendors where possible
BNI group (2)
High school football televised games (ProModel extra point!)
Drive 5 program (send a post card saying you will be working at their neightbors house to the next door neighbors and 3 across the street)
Truck and trailer lettering
Home shows
Senior fair (similar to a home show but with various products for seniors)
Business cards at home centers
Neworking
Yard signs
Have used or tried:
Television ads
Newspaper
Radio
Direct mail advertising magazine
Soft ball team
DanT
DanT,
Wow, thats alot....pretty good well-rounded approach. Looks like they might be pretty cost-effective too.
Mike
As some of you might recall,
I am primarily a roofing contractor and I primarily target one neighborhood- the neighborhood i live in. Virtually every job I do---is either within 12 blocks of my home----or somehow relates back to a referall from someone within that 12 block radius of my home.1) Ad in the Parish bulletin. It's a natural tie-in for me. I went to the parish school as a kid---------as did my 5 brothers and sisters. My sons attended the parish school. My wife currently TEACHES at the parish school--as my SIL formerly did. I coached baseball and basketball there for years. I shingled the new church building below cost when it was built a few years ago.......and so on.Ad costs me-maybe $400/year--comes out 52 times a year and each year generates many times over it's cost.2)I will buy an ad in any fundraising program the parish has--IF Asked3) I will buy from any fundraising parish kid-if asked. Girlscouts, cub scouts, sports teams, parish school fundraisers. I am a soft touch for the parish kids and their parents. A scout comes with their sales sheet-- I buy 12 boxes of whatever---- then I tell them and the accompanying parent " next year I want to be the FIRST name on this sheet. I am buying 12 boxes today---if some other customer buys more than 12 boxes you come back here and I will top them!"4) Truck signs-NOT magnetic--especially important to have one on your tailgate------essentially at every stop sign and red light you are forcing the car behind you to read YOUR commercial!!!!!. I shun new construction and focus on old house work exclusively--- I stole the font for my signs from the original FHB magazine covers--- it's quite old fashioned--without being "Ye Olde TYME" cheesey. the signs are easily read on a moving truck-legible-- yet has dignity and not remotely garish5) Yard signs---same font as the truck signs---but much more discrete. I have a different tactic with yard signs--- I DO NOT want them read buy moving cars----remember-- I am targeting one specific neighborhood. the yard signs are scaled and placed to be read by FOOT TRAFFIC. I want folks walking their dog to notice how clean my job site is, how there is NO DUMPSTER present-- how the materials are stacked insanely neat--if they are even visible and so on6) Yellow pages----currently I simply run a line listing as a courtesy to people who know me--but might not have my number at hand.
formerly I ran a small display ad----- but in my phone book there are literally hundreds of folks in the roofing business---for me the display ad was expensive and pointless.- It DID increase my level of business-if you count time spent writing proposals that never went anywhere-----but after tracking the sales from yellow pages ads for several years-- I proved to my self that the ad genrated sales greater than the ads cost--the PROFITS from those jobs did not pay the cost of the ad---also-- the telemarketing calls I recieved EXPLODED once I had a yellow pages ad.7) Door Hangers.- I have several boxes of these which I have never got around to hanging. This is entirely my fault. when I first bought the door hangers I intended to hang 10 of them near every project---I just never got around to them--when I arrive at the jobsite the first morning-- I am eager to get started-and I never get around to it-----At the end of the day---I am tired and filthy--and I never get around to it.In the summer of'06 i was kind of pleasantly slow and at that time i was starting to target a specific neighborhood with larger and older homes than my neighborhood. I hung door hangers 3 or 4 mornings-maybe 3 hours a time.-- since '06 I have recieved 3 jobs from those hangers(2 jobs from the same customer spread 2 years apart)
one of the jobs was a 6 day project--which is long for us. Independent of the door hangers-- I got quite busy again---and never resumed hanging them.- Objectively-- i think this was a mistake----- the door hangers are quite in-expensive. I am a guy who enjoys tracking results and having a specific pattern. I think for 2009 what I will do is the first thing each working morning I will hang 10 hangers while I am clean and fresh.--any rain day- I can hit my new target neighborhood an hang several hundred. this year-- after July 2 I had largely worked my way through a bonanza of storm damage work--and i laid off most of the crew I had assembled--finishing out the season with a single clean cut helper. each work day- the helper spent a lot of time with not much to do-simply watching me work what I SHOULD have done---is send the helper out for an hour or so EVERY work day hanging door hangers. the same helper is welcome to work with me in 2009--at a significant raise-- but I think he has other plans. I respect that.
My thinking now-is that if I hire a new helper in spring 2009 I will hire him partially based on his suitability for hanging door hangers--a certain level of "clean cut" is required( that is,after all ,part of what I am selling8)- in the past I have sponsored various baseball teams that my sons played on or that my friends coached--- over time I have better than broke even on those9)- information packets. I try to give every prospect an information packet containig-among other things-----a short letter, a workers comp. Cert., a liability insurance cert., the FOUR magazine articles related to roofing that i have had published and various pieces of material lit. I briefly discuss the 4 magazine articles-----answer any and all questions about those articles-----I explain that i am VERY serious about what I do and that their is a specific reason for every thing I do and a reason my projects cost what they cost.-- Implicit in THAT-- is the idea that anyone else looking at the same project does NOT have 4 published articles and is NOT as serious( or presumably not as qualified) some prospects read the articles word for word--and hand them out to friends,neighbors,co-workers etc.-- I am equally certain other prospects read my price and toss the whole packet in the trash---that's ok also-they weren't really prospects were they?????10)- we work exclusively in well maintained older neighborhoods.- lot's of mature landscaping---but i would NOT describe our typical neighborhoods as "high end". I want to treat our customers homes with respect--and EQUALLY I want to treat the neighbors with respect. ( after all it is MY neighborhood primarily)----so a lot of what we do on each job site is related to marketing. Basically we are putting on something of a show-in effect auditioning for the neighbors--when we start, when we finish, how materials are stored on the project, how debris is handled, how workers are dressed, how workers talk, no radios, where workers vehicles are parked--and so on. everything we do must reflect well on us. One worker this spring happened to mention a trick he has when recycling aluminum cans he weights them with a bit of sand. I told him-on the spot-" I would have preferred not knowing that about you"-- but in my head i thought"your days here are numbered"--another guy this spring-within days of meeting hime was telling the crew about a "blumkin" he had recieved---- one problem is-that that guy had a big,loud,booming voice---everything had to be a joke----and the big booming laugh reverberated through the neighborhood
again" your days are numbered" I definitely give overwhelming preference to workers with no visible tatoos or piercings.In the spring the job market will be brutal.- I intend to be merciless about this . You will be clean cut, prompt and reliable or you will be un-employed.Stephen Edit,
11) wow this post got long---but i almost forgot----
as mentioned i work primarily one neighborhood. for 20 plus years we owned a home in the neighborhood--but slightly off to the side and out of the way. 3 years ago we had the cance to buy the house we are in now. It sits at THE major intersection of one of the 2 primary ways in and out of the neighborhood.-- It had not been well maintained for years---but it's a brick house.-- after moving in-some attention to the landscaping, aome application of fertilizer, re-painting windows and trim--for a few hundred dollars and a lot of personal labor we made a HUGE difference in how the home looked. almost immediately the neighbors began to comment"we are SOOOO glad you bought that house, it looks fantastic!"- the next year we invested in Canvas awnings that matched what had originally been on the house---people in the neighborhood actually called us on the phone to tell us" the house looks spectacular. keep in mind----situated where the house IS---50% of the people coming into or out of the neighborhood HAVE to drive past my house. In combo with my yard signs at my last project,my current project and my next project--the majority of people in my neighborhood see my advertisement several times EACH DAY, 365 days a year! Keep in mind that the people in this neighborhood are enthusiastic about the neighborhood. on the fourth of July--the city has a parade and fireworks display--but in OUR neighborhood the week before the fourth of july we do the same thing.---on the morning of the parade hundreds of people gather in my front yard and my neighbors-------the parade centers on my house-----that evening THOUSANDS of people walk past my house on the way to the fireworks display--and then THOUSANDS walk past on the way home--- all are exposed to my signs weather they realize it or not. Catty corner across the street is one of the cities nicest parks------during warm weather each evening hundreds of people walk past on the way to the park--it's almost impossible to walk past without looking at my house--- i have watched the same people every day-they all keep track of the new paint, the new roof, the new awnings, the rebuilt brick and stone steps, the perrenial garden etc.----It is insanely good marketingAND I get to live in it.Very Best wishes,
stephen
Edited 11/24/2008 8:07 am ET by Hazlett
stephen,
As always, I enjoy reading your replies. I would love to ride shotgun on one of your work days as I bet they are quite enlightening.
I do have a few questions...
I ran ads in our church bulletin which is for a HUGE congregation (5k families) but after a year got only one call. Maybe the ad was too small (1" x 2" is the only available size) I don't know? How big of an ad do you run?
Also I am not sure what #3 on your list gets you? Just the friendly connection with the family selling the fundraising items? Do you hand them a business card at the same time?
Do the door hangers really generate work? Maybe they would for a roofer as EVERYONE has a roof! Just wondering how a building contractor could benefit from them as not everyone is ready to do an addition or remodel? But I guess they ARE free, right?
As always, I enjoy reading what you have to say.
Mike
we do #3 also... it gets us goodwill.. that's about it
our daughter graduated from her high school in '97 i still get calls about 6 times a year for a very small ad ( business card ) ... they know i will only give them $15
but it all helps .....
the service directory ad in our weekly paper is one column x 3 inches..... it's there so when they want to call us, they have a ready source for our phone number
we also take out a full page , 3-color ad in the local phone book that gets mailed to every house on the island... comes out every year
the goal is to let them know that we are STILL in business, we want to be #3 on the list of things they can count on....
Death, Taxes and MF Smith Associates.... so the total package becomes circular and all feeds back to making those 7 blips on our potential customer's radar screen
a great book for marketing on a small budget is "Guerrilla Marketing"... Levinson... my edition is from '93... but everything in there is pretty timelessMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
mike,about 10 years ago or more-when i struggled more, i read something-- i don't know where--maybe a Dale Carnegie book or something./----how do you envision success-if you were successfull what would that look like--what things would you be doing, how would you live, how would you behave, how would you dress and so on. do you do those things now?"and so- i developed a pretty clear picture in my mind of what I wanted to accomplish- i am about 95% there--of course in my mind I am thinner and do more carpentry and less roofing-- but basically I am 95% there the stuff I do---is mostly because I WANT to do them.- for example some years ago my parish needed to replace a church that had some structural damage dating back to when the church was built. Between my household and my business we pledged and eventually donated comfortably into 5 figures for the church and later a gym for the kids of the parishBbesides shingling it below cost). Not because we thought we would get any imediate pay-off business wise--but because it was part of who we wanted to be-----at the time I had 2 kids in private school---so between the private school tuition and the church pledge---- it was a bit of a stretch. We consider those 2 accomplishements 2 of the major accomplishments in our lives goals. does it pay off?-not immediately-and not directly- but i would say it does.2 years ago-- I roofed a house for a guy-who straight out told me he chose me--because I had coached his son in basketball YEARS ago---the son is now studying to be a paramedic later that year-- I roofed a house directly across the street from that person--on his referall- i had no other connection with the second customer
THIS year- I roofed the home of the second customers SISTER---20 minutes away( that's far for me)those 3 projects go back to the fact that I WANTED to coach those kids all those years ago-not to thinking I could get something business wise out of the deal. about 12 years ago I roofed a house on my current block owned by a fireman and his wife-a nurse--after a hailstorm I roofed the same house again this spring---in the meantime I have also rofed the house of the firemans neighbor, the neighbors sister-and a neighbor of the neighbor----and my first project in the spring---will be a project 30 minutes away who is the daughter of the neighbors neighbor( clear as mud?) all of these projects go back to-- I first met the fireman when he was the president of a gradeschool sports booster club I was a member and coach in. so I think it DOES comeback to you eventually--it won't be next week or next spring or next year-it may be next decade----- but I see that it does come back to you--if you do it in the right spirit. Want a smile???- a few years ago CYO contacted me about sponsoring a golf outing. I turned them down saying" I don't golf, nor do I associate with those who DO!"
See-that wasn't a good fit for me-it's not who i am---but I have no doubts that YOU could have made something out of it. We gotta BE what we ARE, I think.
Best wishes,
stephen
Edited 11/24/2008 9:33 am ET by Hazlett
mike-
the bulletin ad is exactly 1 inch by 2-1/2 inches. We might not be able to make a direct apples to apples comparison. My parish is a Roman Catholic Parish-which largely coresponds to the boundaries of the neighborhood. I have from time to time tried running an ad in other parishes--and got ZIP for a response. I understand that protestants----will often attend a church accross town--and aren't as geographically linked to the neighborhood. I am playing with a home field advantage-since i lived my entire life within a few blocks of that church, my parents lived their adult lives with in a few blocks, my wife is a Eucharistic minister there and so on---we are reasonably well known.Item number three-like most of what i do-it all works together.
basically ,I suppose it is a conscious effort to be " a man of the community"-- I want to be associated with a specific community- i do my best to support the community as best I can--- and by and large the community has done the same for me.- my previous "girl scout cookie connection" went on to a successful high school experience at the same catholic high school my wife and I and our sons attended----and she went on to get a VERY nice scholarship to a large Catholic university in state( I roofed her parents house 8-10 years ago,3 doors away from my home )---- my current "girl scout cookie connection" are actually sisters-- I rofed there home one block away,4 years ago--additionally the mother works with my wife and they also serve on various parish organizations together. I am absolutely certain i could move to a small town somewhere------and do largely the same thing---since basically it is just being an active member of a community--and doing business with people who CARE about that specific community----a LOT of people will go out of their way to do business with someone they percieve as rooted in the community----some won't. would this work for me if I was a general Builder?----- no I don't think so--we don't really build new houses in my neighborhoodHowever-I can state conclusively it DOES work--for a local plumber, and a local criveway contractor, and several local insurance agents, several realtors etc. BTW--- although you are very kind----- the reality is you wouldn't really like to spend a day with me. Remember--as a roofer what I mostly do is physically exhausting,dirty, fairly dangerous work. I am much more sociable here on breaktime----but on the job i would be happy to get through the day without speaking 50 words--and most of those would be " bring a bundle up" or load that pile in the dump trailer"seriously,
best wishes,
stephen
In a word, networking. My business is primarily commercial & I avoid residential like the plague but the principals are the same.
A residential contractor would do well to align with a commercial contractor. I have 2 I send work to that I like & trust. It's amazing how much work I am approached with that I don't want.
Join a networking group. Go to it. Work it. Look for chamber events, events featuring a speaker not only on business issues (plus you may learn something) but even traveling lecture series (town hall meetings, etc.) and talk to the people you meet. local business paper hosts breakfast every other month that are networking events. If you look there are probably similar events near you. Talk to every one you can, always have a card handy. Events like this are where the customers are. you'll be amazed how you are the only contractor there. Also linked in. It's free and you never know. I'm having some success with it.
If you aren't comfortable talking to people join toastmasters (another source of leads too). Learn to sell. Search this site for books on the subject. Be proffesional.even if things are tough project a sense of success. People like to buy from successful people.
I have a website but it is a sales tool. My goal on an initial contact is to get a solid contact started with my website information in their hands. I have more information ( and adding ) on the website than can be conveyed in a brochure. I also have give always that I use when my booth (professionally designed) is in a trade show.
trade shows......I look where the competition isn't. If you can get into a florist show, hair dressers, bowling league convention etc., you will be there all by yourself. It only takes one solid job to pay for it making the investment worthwhile. Just be sure to work your booth and not just sit there.
"this dog may be old but he ain't cold. And he still knows how to bury a bone."
Lattimore
http://www.rehmodeling.com