Construction and Contracting Business. Entrepreneur magazine

Small businesses should schedule a monthly “physical exam” to ensure that spending is in line with expectations.

CHAPTER 8

       Promoting Your Services

Company logos come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. A few, like the Nike swoosh and McDonald’s golden arches, are so recognizable that the companies don’t need to include their name with the logo. Many professional sports team simply have the swoosh sewn onto their uniforms; viewers instantly identify the logo with Nike. Children riding in the back seat of their parent’s car do not need to be told that a McDonald’s is just past the next intersection; the golden arches (although less prominent in recent years) announce the fact well in advance. These companies have spent millions of dollars establishing worldwide images that are directly linked to their logos.

       “If you don’t do it excellently, don’t do it at all. Because if it’s not excellent, it won’t be profitable or fun, and if you’re not in business for fun or profit, what the hell are you doing there?”

      —ROBERT TOWNSEND

      Unfortunately, small contracting companies do not have the resources to develop and promote such a recognizable logo. However, this fact should not prevent them from presenting a positive image to the public.

      The term “marketing” has quite a few definitions, which vary widely depending upon the type of product or service being sold. The marketing strategy for a company selling toothpaste to consumers is much different than that of a company selling steel to automobile companies. However, simply put, “marketing” is any activity that connects producers with consumers. Marketers use knowledge of economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and strategy to project a positive image that increases demand for their products. Most contracting companies concentrate their marketing activities on customer needs, rather than product innovation, which is typical of a service business. They ask, “What do our customers need and how can we efficiently and profitably meet these needs?”

      While many aspects of marketing may sound complicated and expensive, there are things that a new contracting company can do to promote itself to prospective customers without employing an expensive public relations company.

       fun fact

      Nike developed its swoosh logo in the early 1970s. Company founder Phil Knight was facing a deadline and needed a logo. He paid the handsome sum of $35 for the swoosh design, commenting that he didn’t love it. He eventually gave the designer stock in the company. I bet he really loves the logo today.

Get Your Website Up Immediately

      The first place most people go to look for products and services providers is the internet. Everyone will want to know where to find you online, which means, like most new businesses today, you will want to have your website posted before even opening for business. Worst case scenario, you don’t go into business and simply take the site down.

Designing a simple site is not difficult, and as your business grows, so can your website. Before designing a site, or asking someone to design one for you, a new business owner should look at the sites of service businesses to get an idea of the look that he or she wants for the website. While you cannot take someone else’s content, you can certainly get the general idea of the layout and perhaps even colors that you want.

      Sites should be fairly simple in the early stages since you are new and the lack of familiarity will send customers elsewhere if the site is slow to load or overly cluttered.

      Typically your website will contain the following:

       tip

      Don’t forget, your website is up there day after day. Update it often. Keep it current. Provide fresh content such as recent jobs you’ve completed and any new services or special deals you are offering. Also, be informative and entertaining. For example, provide some handy home maintenance tips that your customers can do for themselves, not to replace your services, of course. If you can do so in an entertaining manner, people will keep coming back to your website often.

      

Homepage. Photos of your work, a listing of what you offer, areas you serve, and a paragraph on why people want to work with you. Easy links to the other pages on your site (such as your About Us pages), and any relevant company current news is typically found on the homepage. Like the rest of the site, the homepage should take on the colors and concept used elsewhere for your business (such as on business cards, brochures, or anything else you use to promote yourself). You should also include a link to your Facebook page (which is also advised these days) and anywhere else you can be located. For an excellent example from a general contractor’s website, visit the Sherri Builders’ homepage at http://sherribuilders.com.

      

About Us. Tell your story in a brief and clever way. Read other About Us pages to get an idea of what to say and then in your own words tell the story of how you got started and why. People don’t need your life story, so edit, edit, edit. Keep it to a couple of paragraphs and a photo of yourself and perhaps your team. Don’t be scared to open up a little bit by personalizing the page. We’re living in an age in which people like knowing a little about the people with whom they are doing business.

      

Gallery. Some pictures of jobs you have completed (with the consent of your clients). Update if you have recent jobs to add.

Press. If anyone has written about you or your business, post, or link to, the story or blog. Hint: save the story on your computer in case the newspaper or magazine goes belly up and the link is no longer viable.

      

Contact Page. Make sure people can reach you easily. Have your phone number and email available on every page.

       tip

      Linking to other sites and having those sites link back to yours is a great way of drumming up business. Look to connect with businesses that compliment yours with similar yet not competitive services or products your customers would benefit from buying.

      You can also