I don’t need to do a little introduction paragraph on doom and gloom or business is down and we’re all going to die. Who wants to read about stuff we already know? So, I’ll just dive in with this…

In case you missed the news because you were out pounding nails, the housing market has started to recover. Sales rose in all four regions for the 3rd time in a row in June, which hasn’t happened since the boom in 2004. Once people start building confidence in the market, they’ll be calling you for the job they’d been putting off. What does this mean for you? You need to stay visible.

Website Awareness

Website presence is a big plus. It will give your company added exposure. Consumers like to see your work. This is the perfect medium to show before and after pictures of past projects. If you don’t want to mess with domains and piecing it together from scratch, try a turnkey website offered through companies like Homestead. It’s an easy way to get your site up and running fast. Get a magnetic sign for your truck’s door and include your website.

Google Search

Getting around Google’s search rankings is another way to reach potential customers when they enter keywords to search for local businesses.

Log into Google and see if you’re listed by typing your business name and town or keywords and your location, e.g. electrical contractors in Sarasota, Fl. The results will show a map and the local businesses will always come first. Are you listed?

If you’re not in the local database, you’re missing out on some free business.

Here are the easy steps to get you in that local directory:

• Go here and submit your company’s information.
• In two weeks, you’ll receive a letter from Google with your pin number. Enter the pin number in the URL they give you.
• Log into your new Google account, where you can enter your company’s contact information, services, special niches, coupons, specials and hours of operation.

Realtor Referral

Right now, I have 5 contractors working on my new (old) home. I’ve got an electrical contractor, painting contractor, a general contractor that’s helping me with a thousand small jobs, and two bathroom contractors who are partners.

Why am I telling you this? Because three of those contractors were highly recommended to me by my realtor – and I didn’t shop around. Stay visible by networking with realtors. Attend their weekly meetings. If you don’t know where and when the meetings are, then call a realtor and ask.

Take a Walk

Canvas neighborhoods. I’m not talking about door-to-door sales because that’s annoying.  But if you have a niche, like roofing, painting, siding, windows, fencing, etc, and you can see from the street that a house desperately needs work in any of those areas, approach the homeowner and say, “I noticed your roof is missing some tiles, which might indicate the roof is nearing its lifespan… lucky for you, I work in this area a lot and specialize in roofing.” Treat the homeowner with concern about their problem and it won’t seem like a sales call. You never know, a harmless conversation about a certain flaw like missing tiles could turn into a big job for you.

Thank You

Don’t forget to write thank you letters!

Tags: advertising, awareness, google, local search, marketing, optimization, referrals, sales, search engine

This entry was posted on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 12:06 pm and is filed under Marketing Tools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.