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Contractor Marketing-Lead Generation & List Building, Part 3, Low-Cost Strategies

Building a contracting business can be expensive. An essential component of your business success will be advertising. After your initial start-up, effective marketing of your contracting services will be critical to your success. You must be able to attract steady, reliable customers who are in need of your product or service.

This is why many contractors find themselves spending more than they can afford on advertising and promotion. Profit margins then become severely compromised, leading to a failed business. This is especially true for contractors just starting out.

The good news is that there are several strategies for generating traffic and building your business that doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. With some creativity and modest financial investment, you can begin to develop promotional strategies with proven results.

Cost-Effective Contractor Marketing

Consider some of the following methods for getting your opportunity in front of a large audience with minimal financial outlay:

1. Free Classified Ads – Free classified ads can be posted in numerous directories that reach huge numbers of readers. To find suitable directories, you can simply do a Google search for “free classified submission”. This will give you a long list of options to evaluate. Then get to posting your ads. Many of these sources also have a paid service that you can utilize as your budget allows.

2. Forums – Participate in forums related to your contracting service. If you are a flooring specialist, find forums where consumers are asking about floor repair and replacement, if you are a window company, same thing. The point is to get out and start posting some thoughtful content on the forum sites. Use a link to you site in your signature line and join several forums to maximize your exposure. You can find dozens of suitable forum sites with a Google search for your specific industry and the word forums all in parenthesis, like this “flooring forums”.

3. Press Releases – Write a press release which describes your product or service. You can then find either free or paid sites to publish your release. There are several good press release sites that not only publish your release, but also offer great instruction on writing a good press release. One I often use is Press Release Distribution(aff. link).

4. Blogs – Start blogging! This is an excellent way to start establishing a web presence and provides you with a vehicle for promotion of both yourself and your business. Start with a hosted blog platform such as blogger or WordPress.com. It is easy to set up and maintain.

There are a number of other valuable benefits that come with a blog including great standings with the search engines. Many people also see blogs as more credible than a standard sales page, ad or brochure. This stems from a blogs inherent quality of dynamic interaction with potential customers. The point is that blogging can be a very powerful, effective and a low-cost strategy for driving big traffic to your contracting website.

5. Video – Video marketing for contractors is becoming the hottest thing going. You can start with a free YouTube channel to highlight some of your best work or more difficult jobs. It is quick and easy to set up. For less than $200 you can buy The Flip (aff link)handheld camera to use on the job site. The Flip cam provides good quality videos that can be directly uploaded to YouTube. Now you have the ability to make countless videos to promote your business by providing a “how-to” solution as well as “before and after” shots. Then post them for free in front of a potential audience of millions. If you are not comfortable in front of the camera then find a friend who is willing to help.

In the end, there are many low-cost ways contractors use to market their businesses. Do you have any tips or tricks that have helped you grow your business?