The new way for online construction marketing

We've just wrapped up (at 11:30 p.m. on Friday) an intensive online business session, where I and two of the company's employees, Chase in St. Catharines, ON and Karen Buckley in northern Virginia, engaged in some pretty intensive and resourceful email exchanges.

Of course, I don't expect this company's employees to be available for work near midnight as the weekend starts, but the Internet makes this sort of thing possible and feasible. Individually, we're just catching up on our business; with emails and web reviews; it just happens we're all working collaboratively as midnight approaches.

Why not?

These observations provide important clues for your marketing approach in 2009. The online space operates with astounding geographical and temporal range. Sitting in our family rooms with wireless laptops, we work in spare minutes off hours and get lots done.

You can use these tools -- and respect your clients -- by sending personalized emails, images, even estimates, any time day or night when it is convenient to you and your clients.

Note I am not suggesting you spam or send junk email; and if you wish to use an online newsletter or any other form of mass communication electronically, remember the importance of obtaining permission first.

But personalized one-on-one emails (where appropriate with individualized image or video links/attachments) are powerfully effective for marketing because they can reach your potential and current clients when they otherwise would be unreachable, without intruding in their space or disrupting them when they don't want to be bothered. This is much different than the irritation of having to go to the door to say 'no' to a canvasser or answer your phone from some ill-informed telemarketer.