Being all things to all people

John and I went out to dinner last night. On our way to the restaurant, we happened to be on the interstate. Both of us chuckled about the same time as we passed a construction vehicle. It was a large white panel truck nicely labeled with the company’s name and contact information, followed by what the company did. It was a good thing that it was a large truck, otherwise, the entire listing of this company’s services would not have fit!

Immediately under the company name was a line “Heating and Air Conditioning Contractor.” Another line under that spelled out Plumbing Contractor. And then came a paragraph about the other services this company offered – Custom Home Building, Remodeling, Siding, Replacement Windows, Handyman, etc., etc., etc. The list was pretty lengthy.

Trying to be all things to all people doesn’t work in this age of specialization. Just attempting to devise a marketing strategy for all of these services would make anyone’s head spin! And I can’t imagine the cost of trying to reach an audience in every market either.

Instead, focused specialization will help you to keep your marketing costs down while you reach buyers who are truly interested in your services.

Problem Solving Leads to Success

I love Brian Tracy. I have read many of his books and continue to listen to his tapes. He is an inspiring and encouraging speaker.

I found this video, Four Steps to Getting Past Obstacles, and thought it is quite appropriate for these times. Enjoy!

Some Good News? Maybe . . .

Hanley Wood’s Key Indicator Alert came out yesterday with some interesting information. According to the report, “. . . building permits, housing starts, existing home sales and new home sales all post[ed] increases in February.” Wow, that is good news.

I’m sure you’ve been hearing about the rebound on Wall Street, too.

Unemployment is still up but that is to be expected. Even at the beginning of the end of a recession, employers continue to shed jobs. That’s how they dig themselves out. And they won’t add new jobs for awhile either.

It will be interesting to see if this is sustainable for another month.

In the meantime, keep up your marketing, watch your expenses and trim them wherever possible. Keep in touch with your past customers, they are your lifeline. And don’t let the media get you down.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes:

“If you’re going through hell, keep going!”
Winston Churchill

How to create marketing content for your remodeling business without writing one word!

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Media bullies remodelers

(Warning: This post is a rant. Read on at your own risk!)

There’s a newswire story making the rounds.

The title? “With business off, remodeling gets cheaper.”

Cheaper?? Cheaper for whom?

The story originated in California but has been picked up all over the country, even by our own Housing Zone . You can read the story here on the original wire service.

The newspaper in my area that picked it up added their own special twist to the title:
“With business off and the economy in a downturn, remodeling gets cheaper.”

Jeesh. Can we catch a break? Now the media is telling consumers that our prices should be lower!

I beg to differ! I have not had one single call or letter from one single vendor that any of our remodeling company’s overhead costs are being lowered! Sure there are some material costs that are lower – take lumber and sheetrock (hopefully not the Chinese-made variety). But even the price hikes on materials over the past couple of years that were due to the increased cost of petroleum have not been reduced.

For the most part, our operating expenses are higher! Insurance has increased, rent has gone up, the postage rate is rising soon, employees expect raises, advertising costs are growing to bring in the same number of leads. I’m sure you have the same issues.

Where would the decrease come from? The only place left – your company’s margin. But don’t do it! That is a sure way to a quick death.

Don’t let the media scare you into cutting your margins. Instead, work even harder on setting your company apart from the competition. Make it almost impossible for someone to choose any company other than your own.

March Madness and Marketing

I have been a college basketball fan ever since my alma mater, George Mason University, made an inexplicable run to the Final Four in 2006.

Before that? Couldn’t care less.

Why the change? Because I got caught up in the Cinderella story of GMU, a sleepy, commuter school in the Virginia suburbs thrust into the national spotlight after beating teams like Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut. Now, not only do I follow GMU hoops, I also follow some of the other local college teams. I enjoy sitting down and watching a game. And I’m looking forward to March Madness.

That might be a little odd for a middle age woman who never played basketball. (For the record, I could play a mean game of horse with my brother and his friends!) But the point is we never really know what is going to capture our attention. And the same holds true with our prospects.

Our prospects move along through their busy lives until, one day, they begin to think about a remodeling project. We don’t know what starts the thought—a television show, a friend’s project, a lifestyle change. It truly could be a thousand different reasons. It may be the beginning of a plan to remodel, one that gets tossed around for quite some time. Or the idea may take hold and become uppermost in our prospect’s mind immediately. We really don’t know when and why the idea comes to mind. Just that it does.

And once it does, we must capitalize on that attention. And build on it. And that’s where our marketing comes in. We need to be “out there” so that when the prospect begins to explore the idea of remodeling, our company pops up. It might be in the form of an ad in a newspaper or magazine, or maybe a postcard, possibly our website comes up during a search. And it’s not going to be just once. The prospect will need to see us over and over again. That’s where our marketing plan helps us to be seen by as many prospects as possible and in a variety of venues.

Make sure that your marketing plan gives you the most bang for your buck. And be ready for the madness to begin.