Contractor Websites

Motivational Monday Courtesy of Gary Vaynerchuk

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I don’t normally just drop someone else’s video into my blog and count it as content, but if you need a bit of a life today getting motivated in your business, this should do it. If you don’t know who this cat is, he wrote a book a while back called “Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion(aff link)” and his latest is called “The Thank You Economy(aff link)”. Both great reads from a kid from North Jersey who took a little wine store and turned it into a $60 million dollar business from one thing…hustle! So as Jay-Z says, you can’t knock the hustle, enjoy the video and leave a comment. WARNING: The language is a bit raw!

Extend Your Offline Marketing to Your Website

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A lot of my posts these days come from ideas I get by looking at what the general public is consuming in the form of websites and advertising, and how I can better merge those two together to help you. Today’s contractor website design tip starts off the page and inside your offline advertising.

Here’s the story

My local Clipper hit the mailbox yesterday and as I flipped through it I noticed that most if not all sites had website addresses.

But that was the problem

I know what you are saying, ‘what do you mean having your website on your print marketing is a problem Darren’? [click to continue…]

Newsletters and Email Are in Fact Not Dead…

Think email marketing is dead? Think there is no reason to worry about building a mailing list of prospects in a stand in front of the microwave and say hurry up world? Here is a very simple and easy reason to rationalize having a newsletter, an opt-in form on your website for your newsletter and an aggressive email/newsletter marketing campaign for your contracting company. Ready, let’s try this little exercise…How many social networks can you name in 10 seconds…GO! Twitter Facebook Google+ MySpace LinkedIn There are more, but you get the point Now, ask yourself this question, how many email [...]

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Google + For Contractors

I have been playing around with Google+ For a couple of months now and I really think there is an opportunity for contractors to improve their marketing and website presence both online and off. You see, unlike Facebook, which is a destination, Google is everywhere, especially when it comes to running your business.   Gmail Calender Checkout Picasa Images search YouTube News Docs The list goes on and on and Facebook is…just Facebook Google said they have 90 million users on the Google+ network, a far cry from the 800 million on Facebook. But the difference here is that Google [...]

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Like My Ad?

Even the marketing guy has to advertise. I am launching a PPC campaign on the Google Display Network in order to drive more traffic to my contractor website design page. The funny thing about the process was seeing all the DIY sites that I could have put my ad…where yours should be. Sites like DIYForums and DIY or Not accept Display Ads from Google and other contractors like you, that you can buy for dirt cheap. Think about it… A guy like me who has no idea how to hang a nail goes onto a DIY site to find out [...]

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The Way We Read – Or Use Video Instead

A lot of times I will consult with contractors not so much on the content of their site, but on the layout. You see, if you lined up four people to read this post, they could read it four different ways. Some people prefer: Bolded Text Some prefer: Italicized Text Some Prefer to read: Headlines and Sub-Headlines While others like to read: 1. Bulleted 2. or 3. Numbered 4. Lists But there is also a 5th category

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The Science Behind The New Look

I have always tried to put an emphasis on simple, easy to read design, and I have tried to make sure there is a never-ending process and development roadmap for the site. So, it only seems logical that we do a full-blown teardown here at Darren’s House of Useless Knowledge. But my redesign is particularly noteworthy because of the way we are starting to use the web. The new design relies on easy-to-view layout and a high degree of use of bold fonts and types. I think the new look a look that readers can use to navigate through the [...]

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What’s Your Font Type?

What Type Are You? To some of you, this is going to be the most boring post you have ever read. To those of you who understand that incremental changes mean big results, this is going to be a pretty big deal. Your website typeface matters! I have been doing a lot of reviews lately, and I have come across some very beautiful sites that need little if any changes and I have come across sites that need a lot of love. But one of the problems I see across the board is the font type and size. Most readers [...]

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Contractor Website Basics for 2012

I often find myself explaining to contractors during sales calls what the bare bones minimum they should have when it comes to their website. Sure, many want all the bells and whistles, but they cost, and with so many people having champagne taste and beer money, I thought it would be a good idea to give you a quick and dirty post on what you NEED to have, versus what you want to have. Minimum Setup for Your Site  Home Page – Obviously your site needs a primary landing page where most of your referral traffic and traffic from offline [...]

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Pretty Cool Feature From WordPress

So, in my stats yesterday, I see a note that says “see the fireworks you created during 2011.” Which is basically a statistical analysis of my blog traffic, user engagement, etc. here at Darren’s. So, I thought I would share some of the info and say thank you for stopping by, I hope the information has helped. One note, the number of posts for the year and total posts do not count videos for some reason, which add about 100 more posts to the yearly and cumulative totals. Why do I mention that? Because I did the work, and I want you to know [...]

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