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Quick Tips for Contractors #4 – 5 Reasons to Read the Paper

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Here is a short one today to make up for yesterday’s long post…

Read – read the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post. Read as much as you can to stay on top of the news, and then read some more. Specifically, I want you to read your local yocal paper from front to back every time it is published. This will keep you up to speed on everything going on locally that you sometimes miss while running your business.

The benefits are:

1. You stay informed on a personal and professional level about what is going on in your backyard.
2. There are plenty of business opportunities in those pages, you just have to pay attention.
3. You may discover a marketing opportunity that others miss, therefore gaining 1st mover advantage.
4. It makes sense to know as much as possible in the market you do most of your business in.
5. You get to know who the local movers and shakers are in business, politics and civic activities associations.

So get reading today…

Quick Tips for Contractors #68 – Use Classifed Ads

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I knew a guy that lived in a castle (literally) here in Philly from the money he made advertising his business in the classified section. He has since lost the castle because he failed to pay his income tax, but that’s a different blog. The point I want to get across here is that classified ads are still a great way to advertise on the cheap, but there are some tricks to it. But do it right and the upside is huge. So here are the 5 things you want to make sure you do when marketing for your construction company in the classified section:

1. A phone number that is indigenous to the local market-Not only the area code, but the prefix too. Your brand new cell phone number with a new area code isn’t going to cut it!
2. An interest-creating remark-What’s in it for the reader? Classified ads are all about them, and nothing about you!
3. A Offer-People are looking in the classifieds for a deal. If you don’t have one in your ad, why did you place it in the first place?
4. A Call to action-As I always say, people are sheep, they need to be told what to do. As a matter of fact, they WANT to be told what to do.
5. Answer the phone when it rings – If I have to teach this one, then we are not communicating!

Now, do this in as many papers in your market as you can afford. And make sure you do it repeatedly since booking business with classifieds is based on people who have a specific need at a particular moment in time and are looking in the classifieds to hire, not tire kick. So make sure you are there when they are ready to buy!

 

 

 

Ad Creation for Contractors in 6 Easy Steps

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Remember Who – What – Where – When – Why and How? Well, I am going to show you how to create your own ads in 5 minutes or less using the 5 W’s.

Here we go:

Who: Your business name, company slogan, logos & USP

What: Information on your range of products and services. Customers need to know what you sell.

Where: Address, phone number (local to the market served), web site, e-mail and areas served.

When: Days and hours if applicable along with emergency numbers.

Why: Reliability, years in business, endorsements, brand names, payment methods, licensed, insured, memberships and affiliations.

WWW: Do you have a website that prospects can visit to learn even more about your business? If not, you better get one!

Once your ad answers the 5 W’s, the ad is well on its way to delivering effective results. Then, you just need to present the information in a way that is logical and pleasing to the consumer’s eyes while running it enough (frequency) to be effective.

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