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!