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Contractor Marketing Tip: Shop for Buyers with Google Adwords
One of the biggest mistakes contractors make when using Google Adwords is buying traffic using keywords that don’t convert into sales. Honestly, tell me the first time you tried Google Adwords you didn’t whip out your credit card and bid on terms like “painter” or “plumber” “home improvement”? Then you realized (after spending $500 in one night) that you needed to focus on your keyword list.
Contractor’s trouble with keywords
Many contractors just getting started using Adwords spend countless hours trying to find thousands of search terms they can use in their campaigns. The flawed logic here is that if you throw enough shit (keywords) against the wall than somethings gotta stick right? Well if you have ever packed an ad campaign with a couple of thousand keywords then I don’t have to tell you what the results where. But for the uninitiated, $10 per click keywords that cost everyone else $1.00 is the “stupidity penalty” Google slaps down on rookies and the uneducated when it comes to Adwords campaigns that don’t use keywords properly. [Read more…] about Contractor Marketing Tip: Shop for Buyers with Google Adwords
Contractors, What Are Your Biggest Frustrations?
Tonight I want to turn the tables and hear from you. If you are reading my blog, then I am assuming you are a contractor who is looking to grow your business through marketing and advertising.
Not only that, but you are trying to accomplish certain goals and objectives that you set for yourself and your business at some point in the past. Perhaps it’s more phone calls, more customers, or more revenue. Most likely it’s all of the above right?
And maybe you have been frustrated for some time trying to figure out how to grow your business. Let’s face it; there are certain things we all find frustrating about running our businesses. Certain areas where you constantly feel like a hamster on a wheel as you make little or no headway.
So my question is what are your biggest frustrations when it comes to running your contracting business? It doesn’t have to just be marketing or advertising, it could be things like sourcing better suppliers or hiring better helpers.
Whatever it is, post a comment below and let start a discussion!
Contractor Marketing Tip: Pick up The Phone and Just Do It!
Contractor Marketing is about Just Doing It – Words made famous by Nike, but how many of us just get out there and do it every day? Running a contracting business isn’t easy; payroll and employee issues, supplier or vendor troubles, and don’t even get me started on the banks. The point is, with so much going on how do you find the time to pick up the phone and reach out to all of those leads that your advertising dollars brought in the door?
Admit it, if your prospect doesn’t say yes right away or return your call after one or two messages you stop calling don’t you? Don’t feel bad, you’re not alone. [Read more…] about Contractor Marketing Tip: Pick up The Phone and Just Do It!
Five More Ways to Build a Mailing List for Contractors
Customer lists are a gold mine to any contracting business. Play your cards right by serving your customers well and in a few years you will be making a solid living off of your referrals. But why wait years when you can start building a solid list of people to market to right now! Here are 5 ways plus a bonus to start creating a mailing list starting tomorrow.
- Whenever you or your salespeople speak to someone who has called your business, make it a point to capture their contact information. Name, address, phone number and e-mail address are all common data points of information that people frequently provide without too much hesitation.
- Run continuous contests or sweepstakes. Many states have laws regarding sweepstakes and “enter to win” drawings but this is a valuable tool to capture prospective clients while building a massive mailing list.
- Use a suggestion box to collect customer information. This helps you two-fold; you capture information from someone who has taken their time to leave a comment about your business, and secondly, they left you valuable insight into what the general public thinks of your business. Use this information (good and bad) to make subtle yet long-term changes to your business and watch your profits grow!
- Create a newsletter. Offering a newsletter is a great way to keep people up to date on new products and services that you may roll out.
- If you offer a warranty on your workmanship then make sure you get all the pertinent information you need to service that customer in the future and let them know they may receive periodic updates or offers from you.
Bonus tip!
The fishbowl! That’s right, the good old-fashioned fishbowl. Put one on your counter and invite your customers to drop in their business cards to win something of value from your company. It may seem hokey or out-dated, but 50 or 100 potential customers that cost you nothing sure go a long way to filling the piggy bank!
Expanding Your Contracting Business Through Social Media
Online communities offer formal and informal networking opportunities to help you expand your contacting business now more than ever. More formal methods involve webinars and online training as well as online networking events.
Informal networking and brand building can be and is done just about everywhere online. Forums, twitter, Facebook, and so on. Sometimes the opportunity to network happens quite coincidentally, but you should always remember to have your game face on when participating online.
If you’re just starting your contracting business or you are a large home improvement contractor with 200 employees who is just dipping the company toe in the water of online marketing, plan on spending some quality time online answering questions for people who have general home improvement issues, this helps build your overall brand but it might just make you your next client as well. [Read more…] about Expanding Your Contracting Business Through Social Media
Contractor Marketing Tip: Make Your Company Newsworthy
You don’t get many opportunities to send out a press release, but when you do you need to know the right way to make sure it gets picked up. You have to keep in mind that an editor of any publication big or small receives dozens if not hundreds of press releases and publicity kits every day.
How to get them to read yours
That being said, start off your press release by identifying what it is about you or what you’re doing that will grab the editor’s attention because it speaks to his or her readers, then write your release about that. For example, let’s say you are a janitorial company who just moved to “green cleaning”, and you want to let your local market know they have a new choice to keep their buildings clean and green. Your press release would be geared towards that part of the story, because “green” technology in any industry is a hot button issue and will appeal to many of the editor’s readers. [Read more…] about Contractor Marketing Tip: Make Your Company Newsworthy
Contractor Marketing Tip: Make Your Website Content Worth Coming Back For
So your advertising online is starting to work. Prospects are coming to your site and they’re signing up for your e-mail list and everything is going great right? Wrong! After I’ve been to your site a few times and read all of your material what’s going to make me keep coming back for more?
Fresh content is a key to repeat visitors
Depending on who you talk to, it takes between 7 and 15 impressions before someone recognizes your company from your advertising, and even more impressions before they buy. This means prospects are going to come back to your site many times so make sure you freshen up your content in order to constantly engage previous visitors. [Read more…] about Contractor Marketing Tip: Make Your Website Content Worth Coming Back For