I get asked often what types of things to post on social media sites, how often to post and so on. I think many business owners and employees don’t really know how to use Social Media the “right way” so they either go crazy and post too much or don’t post at all.

A client of mine recently forwarded me a “visual” article called, “The 6 Simplest Ways To Say “Thank You” On Social Media” by David Larson. This prompted me to write this short post and share it with my followers. The six ways use different social sites: Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook etc. You don’t have to use all 6 sites. Instead look at the things you can do, pick 1 or 2 social sites and start doing them. It really is quite simple.

To add to the steps mentioned in the article above is connecting with your customers on a face to face level and write handwritten notes too. The little things matter. Customers will love you for staying in touch in a way that is not irritating.

My brother forwarded me a company email he received from the VP of his company. He works for a large commercial developer on the west coast. I’ll paraphrase and summarize the conclusion of the email from the vice president which I felt was a great reminder for any business in today’s economy:

Let’s keep our eyes and ears open for new opportunities from clients and through your connections/networks. Do not let a phone call or conversation end without asking “So, what else is going on out there that we should be looking at?”

…And when you do hear about something, try to collect some basic information: What, where, when, why, how, who…

You might think this is common sense, but I sure do not hear it much these days (and I don’t practice it much myself: but I should). It is a great reminder for me, and I’m passing it on to you. I have done this before and had others do it to me…and it works. It is a way to ask for referrals, in a nice way!

Example, a remodeler, when finishing up a job to a happy client can end the call with, “Appreciate you working with my company Mrs. Jones. By the way, have you heard any of your friends discuss when they might be doing a remodel?”

Have you had success using a similar “close” to a conversation? Love to hear about it.

Have you ever been discouraged to find a competitor you did not know you had above you on the first page of Google? You’ve worked hard to stay on or near the top right? You look at their web page and it looks terrible and you think, “How on earth did this one make the top rank?”

This blog post is just a quick reminder to stay the course on good web marketing practices. Don’t worry about your competitors. Just keep doing what you know is best.

So what is “best” you might ask? Be more genuine and real on your website. Google is aware that there tend to be some pretty bad websites on their search engines who are using “black hat’ techniques to get ranked. They have actively begun to crack down on these websites. Over the next year, I think you’ll notice many of those sites will get removed or moved down in the ranks. This includes video marketing too (just fyi). Those who are genuine with content and post regularly on a blog should very well be rewarded by Google.

So now you are wondering what can you write about that would be interesting to read? I’ll leave you with two ideas, 1) Continue to answer questions that your customers have about your industry or your particular company. And 2) begin writing about the projects you are doing: tell the story! Don’t be concerned if people don’t subscribe or follow you in 2013. Just stay real and consistent. Be the place that people think about when they think of your service. When they land on your website, tell your story; and tell it well!

The prompting for this particular post is because I’ve seen proof of some of the sites I’ve worked hard on practicing what I’ve preached, and they are ranking a lot better today than they did even a year ago. We didn’t change anything. We just stayed consistent and continued to write and post good information. Those spammy sites are now ranking below!

Running a successful business takes consistent planning, marketing, sales and ongoing management. I’ve spoken to a few small business owners (new in business) who told me they were just too busy right now to work on their marketing or business growth: “the phone just keeps ringing!” is a familiar phrase I hear. Great news, right? The phone is ringing off the hook, why continue marketing and planning? Well, for these guys who have told me this, they work in a seasonal business. In another month or two, they will wonder if the cell towers or phone lines are frozen when their phone stops ringing.

Below are two, hopefully obvious things, to do now to keep your business moving forward.

Two Things To Do Now

1. If you have not started the process yet, begin creating your 2013 budgets and plans now. Don’t wait til you have the time. It might be too late. You also don’t have to do it all in one sitting. Just cut out an hour this week and another couple next week and get it done. Need extra help? Hire a mentor or business friend(s) to help strategize with you for a few hours as well. After the budget is in place, create a marketing calendar of events of when and who will get the task at hand completed.

2. Book work now. If you are busy at the moment, start securing work for December, January and even February if you run a service business. I’ve seen salespeople do this a couple ways. Some of them will call up their existing client base and ask if they would like any work completed during the month of January and if so, they’d discount the service. One customer took this approached for his painting business and booked $80,000 of residential work just from calling up existing customers. Others would go out and estimate a job and put the current price tag of the job: $5,400 if booked now. $4,300 if booked between Jan 2 and January 31st. Giving the prospect options works very well!

However you decide to book work, get it going now. Maybe you create a calendar with the dates available. When you go out to do a bid, show the calendar to a prospect and tell them the weeks that they can save money. You also don’t need to always discount. Just use your good instincts. If you think you can get a customer/prospect to wait for a slow season, go for it.

The bottom line is this, running a business is hard work. You cannot take a break. You’ve got to have all cylinders running year round. So get things into gear and keep moving your business forward into the new year.

I’m curious, how do you guys currently prepare for winter work? Let me know in the comments below.

Side Note: If you need help with putting together a business plan, my friends at Summit Services are offering a special during the month of October. It is worth every penny. These guys are great. Check out their business planning offer here.

Do you get emails weekly or even daily from people who are guaranteeing they can get you onto the top of Google search engine? I receive them now and then and my clients get them all the time. I have a good laugh when I read over some of these. Here is one I found very humorous. I cut out a portion of the email and deleted my client’s URL for the sake of privacy issues, but here are the highlights:

The person then leaves his full name and phone number, no company email or web address about his company. The email my client received above is first of all not accurate. There are far more than “two Google back links” and his website does show up very well in search results. He has hired a reputable SEO company in the past that ended up being very beneficial for him. So this company definitely did not do their research. The thing I found amusing was the ending paragraph which reads, “I found your site in the Google search…” That pretty much narrows it down right there. Whomever wrote this email found my client’s site using Google search and then tells him the site in not ranked well at all. Folks, when you get emails telling you your site sucks on search engines and gives you a bunch of data as to why everything you are doing is wrong, consider this as SPAM. Don’t trust these emails.

When to Trust
Now, if your website really doesn’t show up well on the search engines, don’t get tempted to call up a person of one of those bogus emails. Make sure any email or phone call you get is a legitimate company. Make sure they have a quality website and that IT RANKS WELL. That is right. Do a few search terms yourself and see if that SEO company shows up high for their own search terms.

This will be a short post, because the title says it all, Business email address is a Must. I still see so many business owners and even employees using personal email accounts to email and engage with customers. [email protected] was acceptable back in the 1990s when many of us didn’t know you could have a business email. Today, all business owners should consider getting company emails: [email protected] It is mind boggling just how easy this is to do today. You can sign up for Google Apps, which is free and get up to 50 company emails. Otherwise, talk to your IT company and tell them to hook you up! It is either free or inexpensive, and chances are, your email or website provider (i.e. GoDaddy or Web Hosting Company) already offers you that option. It is more professional to engage with consumers with a company email and keep personal things personal. Also it is a great way to brand your business. I use my business email for a lot of personal contact as well, because if someone is tech-savvy enough, they’ll look up my email domain: adavidcreation.com and find my website and what I do for a living.

This summer, make the switch. Using a business email address today!

Here is an actual quote from a painting customer of one of my clients after a recently completed project.

“Whenever you call them you always get a person, not a machine.”

This is not the first time I’ve read this statement while reviewing customer report cards. This is actually a pretty common quote. Have you ever heard a consumer say, “I love being placed on hold!” or “I always look forward to the music on hold at XYZ company and remembering all the numbers and extensions to schedule an estimate!” I know why the big companies have this feature: to save their operators time. Just think, if Verizon had a live person answering every single call the moment the phone rang, our Verizon bills would be a lot higher. Their overhead would skyrocket. Therefore, the call screening features are a must for a large company to stay competitive. I also know why the small companies have these features: to save time! Am I right? Think about it: you are working on an estimate and do not want to be interrupted, yet your phone doesn’t stop ringing. How can you get anything done?

Live Person Still Is Best for a Small Business

Your customers will always want to talk to a live person. It is just the way we are all wired. If that is what your customers want, you need to see how you can deliver this request. It might seem like a little thing, but the little things always matter. I’d recommend either having someone answer your calls in house or use a call center. I mentioned a call center as opposed to an answering service. There is a difference! An answering service just takes messages and sends you emails and text messages. A professional call center can actually transfer calls to you, take messages or even schedule appointments.

Whatever you decide, make sure you are readily available for your customers. They are the lifeblood of your business. One final thing – make sure whoever is answering your phone is also positive. I recently listened to a voicemail recording that made me sick. A brand new lead came through, a live person answered the phone but had no positive emotion. She answered the prospect’s questions but did not seem happy to get a phone call. Guess what happened? The prospect I think sensed the cold voice and ended up not scheduling an estimate.

So two things to take away from this blog post: 1. Do what you can to answer your phones and 2. Make sure whoever answers is well-trained.

I received this email from one of my painting clients in Rhode Island today and could not wait to share it. I got his permission to share with the world. I could not resist after reading what his daughter wrote. Take the time to read this amazing marketing letter written by an eight year old. I’m sure this would convince anyone to use Dennis Moffitt Painting! Mike, thanks for sharing. A great way to welcome the weekend and put a smile on hopefully many faces!

My oldest, Ava, sits down with me and says she needs to get some work done too, and what can she help with? I decided to give her an assignment that might keep her busy for a little while, so that I could get what I needed, done. I told her to write a story about why customers should hire us instead of other painters. It turned into a full blown interview from her part and ended up with something that will be framed in my office. I know that when you read this it might look like a cheap advertising gimmick, but this is really meant to be a blog from a proud Daddy about funny stories that happens when you work from home. Enjoy… – Mike Moffitt, President of Dennis Moffitt Painting

Click to Enlarge

Do your employees use company vehicles? Do those vehicles have your company brand properly displayed? Most reading this will answer, “Yes!” Here is the big question. As the owner, is your truck or company vehicle “dressed” for success? I am surprised at how many owners drive around in non-labeled vehicles. You are not alone. I have to get after my dad about this one. When I worked for him…I made sure all trucks and vans were properly labeled with our company brand, but my dad did not want anything on his truck. He had his reasons, and I still disagree with him. Every time I come home for a visit I make a comment that his truck still does not have his logo, website or anything on it! Someday I hope to win this battle.

If you are doing a fair amount of traveling to and from job sites or estimating, your vehicle should carry your brand. A temporary fix is to use magnetic signs, but to be honest, I don’t like the magnetic look. My suggestion is to really plan out a nice and simple layout using vinyl. No need to do a full vehicle wrap for your truck or car. You should at least have your logo, website, licensing, and/or phone number on it.

The community in which you work should see your brand everywhere!

Photo Courtesy: GMT400.com

My own theory is that 99% of small business websites I come across lack real people and great photos on their website. I have not run any statistics to make my theory a fact, but I can almost bet I’m not far off from those numbers. The reason most websites do not have pictures of their own people and real projects is typically the same reason most contractors do not have a consistent blog: they do not make it a priority or are too busy.

If you are a contractor that works in people’s homes or businesses, then you should strongly consider updating your site to make it look as personal as possible. Make your website looks like a showroom and think about what your customer would want to see when he or she enters. My guess would be that your customer would want to see samples or products, before and after photos, demonstrations of applications, samples and learn more about the people doing the work.

Make your website come alive in 2012. Be one of the only contractors in America who shows and tells your potential customers an incredible story.

Side Note. This is not something I can do for you. You have to be the one who makes this a priority. Hire a photographer / videographer and get some great photos and videos up! I guarantee you’ll begin to get better quality leads.

Samples of Contractor Websites Who Are On The Right Track 

Hard to find…but here are a couple:

• Shearer Painting
• Chism Brothers Painting
• Manor Works Painting