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Make the Most Out of Pictures

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Use Pictures to Tell Your Story

Pictures are worth a thousand words, so the story goes. In marketing, pictures can do a great job of selling a product or service when used correctly.  With the right strategy and a little technical knowledge, a one-man contractor shop, or even a place with 40 employees, can significantly increase their workload with the use of pictures. Let’s use a remodeling contractor working on a kitchen as an example.  And we will also discuss an Internet photo hosting service called Flickr.

The contractor makes an appointment to visit the home and prepare an estimate.  During the process of measuring cabinets and asking the home owner different questions, the contractor takes pictures of the kitchen.  After getting a firm idea of what the homeowner has in mind, the deal is set and the work begins. A few weeks later the contractor is finished with the job and asks the home owner if he can take a few more pictures to add to his portfolio.  The home owner agrees and the contractor snaps a few more pics.  These pictures are later added to the Flickr site.  At the bottom of the picture is a description explaining the company name and website address responsible for this “before and after” collage.

This slideshow of pictures can then be emailed to friends and clients as well as being linked on Facebook, the contractor’s website and on Twitter. Try it for yourself.  Go to www.flickr.com and type “Kitchen remodel” in the Search function at the top of the page.  You will find some pictures that have anywhere from 200 to 1,700 views.  If 250 new prospects saw pictures of your handiwork, how many of them would be enticed to contact you?  How many new jobs could you land if you could SHOW your work to clients rather than TELL them about it? And best part is, it’s free!

Hope Shouldn’t Be Your Marketing Strategy!

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Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan

Many business leaders and successful people have adopted a common phrase, “Hope is not a strategy”, well no shit! However, many construction contractors are still relying on nothing but hope, prayer and a little luck with their construction marketing strategy.  They are hoping that their latest radio ad or television spot will pull in some new leads.  Or they hope that the 1,000 postcards mailed out last week will produce a response.  Don’t fall victim to this type of mentality.

Instead of relying on hope, develop your strategy

Think of a marketing plan as a new building.  You have to first test and prepare the site.  Then you build a strong, stable foundation.  Next comes the framework and roof of the building.  Finally, the interior is completed.

In marketing for contractors, the testing and preparing phase is finding out which services people are looking for.  Then you need to build a foundation of communicating with customers across multiple platforms.  A website, blog posts, Facebook account, YouTube videos, Flickr photos and Twitter messages are some examples of different ways to reaching prospective clients.

After making the initial contact the work doesn’t stop. You have to continually stay in touch with people.  Sending out alerts about new promotions, or helpful tips, or even a quick question about how to improve service are different ways to keep in touch with people and stay in their mind until the day comes that they either need your services directly, or can recommend you to someone else.

In the end, just as it takes time to build a new office or home, it takes time for your marketing efforts to pay off.  Consistent and prompt communication, focused on a particular segment, will yield better results than simple “hope.”

Photo Credit:  Anil Jadhav

Contractor Marketing Tip: Using Photo Sharing Websites to Boost Business

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photo sharing for contractorsContractors are constantly being asked for references and proof of their work.  New clients want to make sure that the contractor can do what they say they can do in all of their marketing materials before agreeing to a binding contract.  Thanks to the different photo sites that are available, showing prospects before and after images has gotten a little easier.

Increasingly, contractors have realized that having a website is not enough to bring in new business.  People have access to multiple sources of information such as friends, television, radio, printed material and the web.  In order to catch your prospect’s attention and convert them into buyers, contractors need to continuously provide fresh information.  This can come in the way of a blog or website, videos on YouTube and the classic “before and after” pictures from a photo sharing site.More