Some worthy resources

Here are a couple of resources to consider in your construction marketing toolkit.

constructionlinks.ca



Joe Roel has built one of the largest Canadian e-lists for construction marketing -- with extensive links information relevant to specifiers and project managers at http://www.constructionlinks.ca/. He saw the opportunity in online media before many of us caught on and built the database from the ground up. Today, he sent me this promotional note:

How can Construction Links help you be found?

Think of our search engines as the librarian’s assistant. At the start of a project, when the designer is looking for products to use on his project. They go to http://www.constructionlinks.ca/

Our index cards are designed so that the designer can quickly and easily conduct product searches and identify the manufacturers/distributors he wants to work with.

Our search engines include Both MasterFormat™ 95 and 2004, keyword in MasterFormat, Keyword in product/service description, company name and searches can be restricted to green products/services (products that have been classified as friendly to the environment or that can help projects achieve their LEED credits).

No matter what the product is that you manufacture or distribute, it belongs in our database and will be found by your target audience when they are looking for it.

Get linked today, start being found by your target audience and specified in their projects.

Although Joe's note has the 'stamp' of marketing hyperbole (first time I've found a use for that big word!) in it, the main thing I find about Joe's service is its depth -- at least within the Canadian context -- and that depth did not occur quickly or without a lot of hard work on his part. So, when Roger Ali, responsible for the Construction Specifications Canada Toronto Chapter trade show asked for some guidance on e-marketing, I connected him with Joe. This of course is the correct implementation of positive networking principals, where you put your own needs aside and think in terms of the people with whom you are working. Since Roger is working on a trade show geared exactly to Joe's market interest; and the same applies for Joe to Roger, why not link them!


Infinite Source Systems

I'm enjoying Steve Sulpher's newsletter, The Source: Construction Industry News. In the latest issue, he writes: Eight Steps to More Effective Bidding Practices. Of course, these steps are most effectively achieved if Infinite Source Systems software is used, but I think you can find value in the observations regardless.

I first met Steve in Ottawa when (as we were launching Ottawa Construction News) he was president of the Ottawa Construction Association. He has since moved to Vancouver (where I was born, have family, and therefore visit at least once a year) and Infinite Source Systems, which has software and services of value to construction businesses truly wishing to streamline their processes. Sulpher, of course, knows the industry and understands its concerns and values -- so, not surprisingly he also sees value in sponsoring and supporting groups such as the Ontario General Contractors' Association.

I like the way both Joe Roel and Steve Sulpher use a variety of creative marketing approaches to build their brand reputation, and develop their market. You might wish to look at their marketing models -- and their actual services -- in developing your own strategies.