I get asked the question, “How often should I blog” frequently. I typically tell contractors once a week is just fine. If you try to do a couple blogs per week, quite frankly, you’ll burn out and end up posting every six months! Don’t believe me? I have seen dozens of painter and contractor blogs with post dates ranging from 2 months to almost a year between post! It means they got too busy, did it too much in the beginning or ran out stuff to write about.
My suggestion is to plan out the blogs you will write, set a date and approximate time on your schedule of when you will write the blog. It is important to turn off your phone and shut down your email so you can concentrate! When I say to “plan out your blogs” what I mean by that is to keep a Project List or Memo of Blog Titles. Great writers probably spend more time on their titles to an article rather than the article itself! So once you have a title in your mind, put it on paper. As you begin building your list, writing a blog once a week will be easy.
Now, I must point out one more thing about the frequency of blogging! While writing often is very important, the quality of your content is just as if not more important than the frequency. If you are a painting contractor writing about how to plant flowers, you will probably notice you will be getting a lot of “green thumb” or garden lovers reading your blog and comment. While that may be good for branding, I’m not sure you’ll get a lot of leads. The purpose of blogging for a contractor is to brand and get good leads!
I have been introduced to a marketing guru named “Seth Godin” and so far…it appears he has some excellent marketing ideas, tips, tricks, advice, etc! Please take a moment to visit his site and sign up for his blog. The best way to become better at marketing and running your business is surrounding yourself with people who know more than you! Seth Godin knows a lot, and I think we can all benefit from his advice!
Paint contractors try so hard sometimes to come up with a unique “leave behind gift” which will hopefully cause their potential clients to remember them. Typically they end of with a widget that has a company logo on it and looks cheap: a pen, a calendar, a mug, and a magnet to name a few of the most common items. I’ve even seen some more creative ideas like an engraved company logo on a very expensive, name-brand knife. While this may not be a complete waste of money and can have some good branding features, it probably will not cause the leave behind products to stick in the minds of your prospects. You want to give them something that will cause them to remember you more than anyone else!
What can you give them to do just that? Some painters are providing free popcorn at community events with their branded logo on the popcorn bags. If they continue to show up to these events and hand out free popcorn on a regular basis, people will remember them as the paint company that hands out free, good-tasting popcorn in their community. It is unique! They don’t charge for it. It is something a prospect can not only use right then and there but will actually enjoy the taste. My guess is there will be a few that will come back for seconds.
While I was working at Chism Brothers Painting, we created our own blend of coffee which we called, “Chism Blend.” It was roasted for us by a local, San Diego-based roaster. They did not care if we ordered 1 lb or 50 lbs. We then created an attactive full-colored label, purchased 1/2 lb bags of coffee and created our unique “leave-behind gift.” When I showed up to a prospects home for an estimate, I’d begin my conversation/sales process, then sometime in the meeting, I’d hand them a bag of Chism Blend. The bag would have the roasted date, typically the same week we hand them out. I then told people, “If you like our special coffee, you’ll love our painting service even more!” I created a coffee blend, for my gift to prospects because I had a creative analogy to share with each one of them about the similarities of fine coffee and exceptional painting. It at least made people to smile! Did the idea work? I once sold a large repainting project (over $50,000) using my coffee gift. I showed up for the first estimate with a 1/2 lb bag. It was a great conversational starter. I then found out who was bidding the job (my main competitor vs. me) and so I showed up again a couple days later with another 1/2 lb. The client was so excited to receive the coffee and thanked me over an over again. He told me, “I was hoping I could have gotten another bag! I loved it.” How much did it cost me? An hour of my time and less than $6 worth of coffee. The client and I built a relationship because I connected with him using coffee. The coffee gift is something they can use, not once but a number of times throughout a two-week period…with my logo on the front of the bag every time they open it!
So pick something fun and completely different and run with it. Be known for that leave behind gift in your area! It will work!
If you need help brainstorming your unique leave-behind gift, I’d love to help!
All of us are excited about the new ways we can market our services via the web and email: writing blogs, email newsletters, Facebook and more. However, sometimes it is good to try the old traditional way of marketing like writing a personal letter to your clients.
Instead of designing your monthly or quarterly newsletter this fall, try out my suggestion. Write an update about your company that is personal and truly down to earth. Your clients hired you in the beginning because they liked you, not your logo, your trucks or branding: though that may have caused them to be interested. They liked the person behind the brand! They felt comfortable that you and your team would do a good job on their home. Therefore, write them an update on how you and your team are doing. Tell them what you’ve been up to lately, any major changes you’ve made in your personal or business life such as “I just ran the Boston Marathon for the first time!” or “My oldest son just graduated from the Naval Academy…” etc. Don’t try to sell your services. Just write like you would to a friend and see what happens!
I spoke to a painting client who tried this “technique” out when he started a new painting business. He had broken up a partnership and started a brand new painting business and still had a small client list of over 100 people. He wrote a very simple letter telling them about his new company without trying to sell himself. Within days, he had 11 leads and closed 8 jobs! Not bad for spending less than $200 on stamps and a couple hours of time! My father’s company, Chism Brothers Painting, just recently did something similar. Instead of sending out their normal fall newsletter, they wrote a regular-old letter that gave their clients an update on their company and family life. 48 hours after people received the letter, Mike Chism (owner) had 4 quality painting leads from very good clients. He then received several emails thanking him for sending the letter and sang his praises for being such a great service company. One customer even told him she had made changes in her business and customer service department because of how he treated his clients! Wow!
So, try sending out a well-written letter, fold it up, stick it in a blank #10 envelope (with no window), type or hand-write your customers address, stick a stamp on it…and send it out! The time and cost is well worth it. Your clients will not be offended and will fill like part of the family!
After many hours of planning and preparation, my Twelve Weeks of Christmas campaign is underway! I introduced the Twelves Weeks of Christmas to a sharp group of painting contractors last week in San Antonio, TX for the semi-annual Summit conference. I recently joined the Summit Services Inc. group to offer marketing services to their members. I am very excited to be working with such an incredible group of paint companies, as they all run a tight ship. They love what they do, and they do a great job serving their clients. I was a painting contractor member of Summit for four years and really enjoyed the time. It is a lot of fun being back with them offering marketing assistance.
The Twelve Weeks of Christmas is an email campaign targeted to existing clients. The idea is that painting contractors will use their existing email programs such as iContact, Constant Contact or Mail Chimp to send out a bi-weekly email newsletter. The email will feature a gift card offer from a major retail chain such as Norstrom, Apple and American Girl. The purpose of the campaign of course is to get painting clients to paint select areas of their client’s home in time for the holidays and “rewarded” them with a gift card to shop early!
So far, I have around 15 painting companies participating in the program. Each email is customized with quality text, photos and their company colors. We are hoping for some great results!
