The most effective option for reaching business decision-makers

In a previous posting, I outlined some of the challenges of marketing in the business-to-business space, where decision-makers are few and far between, shielded by gatekeepers, and subject to influencers often outside your visibility or control.

In that posting, I offered some suggestions including speaking, writing, and community service, but left out perhaps the single most valuable resource available to you -- membership and participation in relevant associations.

First, you should consider and engage with the association that parallels this blog's focus, The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS). The association name more accurately should read: "Society for Marketing Architectural, Engineering and Construction Services" because this multi-chapter organization is focused within the AEC industry, with training resources, conventions, chapter meetings, professional staff and consultants, and a powerful network both online and off.

Second, and a fundamental of business-to-business marketing, you should engage with associations relevant to your clients' own interests. The power of the relationships and connections you can achieve this way cannot be underestimated. Consider this email I received yesterday from Chase, who is on the board of directors of the Barrie Construction Association, within the service area of The GTA Construction Report and Ontario Construction Report.

He spent the day at the association's golf tournament, as a volunteer. (I have removed the names of specific clients for obvious privacy reasons)

Met two advertisers today for two current features . . . and will follow up next week to confirm ad size.

Also meet with two perspective clients for features. (One) client called me last night when he got my message I would be in town for the tournament if he wanted to meet. We did today while he was playing golf, (and are) meeting next Wednesday while I am back in town for BCA Directors meeting.

Also met a new member. . . who wants to do a feature for our August issue . . . Projected revenue from this trip is roughly $4000 ($700 for July and $3300 for August).

Since our business is publishing and selling advertising for the construction industry, not surprisingly, we engage with associations serving the industry. And you can find marketing value within your own relevant trade associations, especially if you are working in other communities and connect through the association's referral network. Your own trade association may also be able to reference you to consultants and other service providers who are familiar with your industry (like us!)

But the really powerful association-based marketing occurs when you reach to your client associations. Can you connect with property managers, builders, developers, school district superintendents, hospitals, and the like? Yes, if you find the right association(s) and get involved.

Note this is not a quick fix. It takes time to build trust and relationships, and you will have an uphill battle if your competitors are already in the space (for their relationships will be well-developed and truly hard to dislodge).

Clay Posey, principal at www.mychiefmarketingofficer.net took the time to answer the questions I posed about my challenges in making this blog an effective marketing resource. Here is his email (reprinted with permission):

Mark,

Thanks first of all for your work. I always enjoy the read. You asked some questions at the end of your last email. Here is my two cents worth:
Does "Construction Marketing" require hands-on locally based consultations, or advertising in relevant media that we don't provide?

“Often I think this may be the case as to hands on, face to face consultation. MY primary target market is the construction and related industry (Architects, engineers, etc.) This is where I’ve spent my career, and as you know, we are hands on folks. Bricks and Mortar.” However, leveraging web 2.0 tools is changing that. Reaching the millinials that now are taking their place in this marketplace helps too. They are digital natives; we (40++ in my case) are digital immigrants. As for advertising… well, it’s dead.”

Do we have the credibility and proof that we can deliver more expensive services, for a fee, because of this blog?

“You should, by now. The trick of course is to get buy in from your audience. What “freemium” material (other than the blog) do you offer that people can sign up for? White papers, webinars, reports, tools, etc. To get these, people have to go through a “squeeze page” where you collect (squeeze) info from them on an opt in form.

Permission to follow up is an explicit part of the form. Lead Nurturing follows and ultimately, the sales process.” Here is a link to a vendor/partner of mine that just published a great post on getting business from your blog. Mike does a fantastic job of showing how you can have thought leadership (which you have) and business (which is sounds like you may not) too. http://blog.hubspot.com/”

Whenever I've overtly tried to sell anything through this blog or the newsletter, I usually achieve nothing but negative backlash.

“Not a question outright, but implied. Look at Mike post above. He gives meaningful content and then a couple of offers at the bottom of the post, for a webinar and a white paper. He’s not selling there, but I promise, once you grab the “freemium material”, he or one of his reps will be in touch. It’s a permission based process – no negative backlash when they ASK YOU to sell them.”

Do you have ideas or suggestions of your own to solve this challenge?

“Nuff said, except for, check out Inbound University (http://www.inboundmarketing.com/university). It’s a great place for old school marketers to get retrained to web 2.0.”

Maybe you can help me solve this marketing puzzle.

“I’d love too. Drop me a line back, give me a call, or catch me at Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.”

Best,

Clay Posey, principal
www.mychiefmarketingofficer.net
404-419-7691
404-345-5235 cell or text

These are useful resources and I will follow up with Clay in the near future.

A commercial message

I don't often recommend specific products or services, but free stuff has its advantages.

I'm satisfied with the quality and value of the services of Vista Print, so encourage you to give their services a try (and yes, they pay me a modest commission for the referral, even if you are "just looking".)

Free Everything

The boundaries of extreme behavior

Have you ever experienced the soaring, then crashing, feeling, of reaching new heights, amazing insights, and then, wham, all seems to fail?

For most of us, this kind of experience happens rarely, but I sense some push the limits more often than others.

In polite company these individuals are called eccentrics. In less-than-polite environments, they are called "nuts".

In a business or social environment, intelligent eccentrics challenge you to think differently, to stretch your limits, to try new things, and then, you want to be away from them (unless you are, yourself, a truly exceptional person).

If you can tolerate their presence, eccentric geniuses can truly challenge your assumptions and cause wonderful change. They can also blow away your clients and drive your employees and colleagues crazy. You then need to know when to ask them to leave.

I can now safely relate two examples of this dynamic at work.

In the first, in my final days in Africa, I had discovered (drum roll here please), the secret to life. I was soaring -- on top of the world -- and daring all sorts of assumptions. After one particularly wild escapade which goes down in personal memory as the night I discovered my self identity, my supervisor called me into his office and asked me, point blank, "Are you well?" He then invited me to resign, immediately.

My boss, then, of course, made the right decision. He would himself soon leave, of course, as the political and historical changes I had witnessed took real effect on the newspaper as the country morphed from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe.

My second example is more complex. The leader of a major business organization battled as co-defendants with my business in a lawsuit initiated by a competing publisher. Things ran their course and the judge ultimately cleared my business but not the business organization or its leader. Still, as the organization ended up having to pay a large part of my legal bills, this leader said: "Don't worry, I have another project for you in the New Year."

Then he headed down to one of the seediest parts of town, and picked up a police woman. When news about him needing to attend "John School" reached the media, the association's board of directors asked him to leave.

Certainly, in business we don't want a bunch of "yes men" who do what they are told to do and never question authority or challenge our thinking. And sometimes it is good to have eccentrics in the picture -- they really can shake up our thought processes and assumptions.

But do we need to "fire" them when they disrupt harmony or exceed social norms to such a degree that they threaten your business integrity, brand or reputation?

Probably.

Sometimes this is sad, because in moderate amounts, their eccentricity helps you to be creative, to keep your balance, and to risk change.

Marketing, sales and decision-making power

You can talk about democracy and independence, but when it comes down to the real world, the decision-making funnel narrows to a truly small group when the choices are (a) large and (b) important.

The cliche "the buck stops here" has real elements of truth especially when you are seeking business in the non-residential space. (And it has validity in the residential consumer market as well, but you have many more potential decision-makers for smaller individual amounts.)

These elements are truly important for construction industry marketers, especially in the sub-trades. Some successful construction business owners say they have decided to stay completely out of the non-residential market because they find they cannot make a profit as their prices are beaten down to the point that they are working for a rather risky "job" rather than to run a successful business.

They seek out middle and lower-end consumers with some money to spend. Their marketing power and effusiveness is intense because they have a large demographic pool, and they know they can sell through effective and systematic marketing. (See Mike Feazel at Feazel Roofing in Columbus, Ohio and Leonard Megliola from Bestline Plumbing in the Los Angeles area for example.)

Nevertheless many readers here serve the non-residential market, and here you have the challenge of somehow making a very small pool of very important decision-makers think your service is of such value that they will pay a premium price for it.

Here the challenge is to think, feel, and have the responsibility of a real decision-maker. Without this background (or perspective) you are not likely to be effective in your marketing or sales strategies. You can read the textbooks and talk with mentors, but if you can't feel the emotional and mental challenges of the individuals who must say "Yes" or "No" and take full responsibility for their choices, then how can you relate to their circumstances?

On one scale, consider Donald Trump. After reading his books, and speaking with people who have first hand connections with him, I wonder why any sub trade or contractor would want to even think of doing business with him. He constantly impugns the integrity and competence of trades and suppliers, browbeating their prices and making clear that he is 100 per cent the boss.

Nothing wrong with that -- he knows his stuff, and he certainly deserves his success (or failures). The challenge is, how do you conduct business profitably with someone like that?

On the other, consider the small to medium-sized business owner or (even more challenging) the non-profit or government agency, or (if you really want to have fun reaching and dealing with decision-makers), the medium to large-size publicly traded corporation.

In Trump's case, it is superficially easy to know who the decision-maker is, but it is rather hard to reach him, and even harder to convince him you are the right organization for the project (at least at a profitable level). In the other situations, you have the challenge of knowing that the decision-maker is real and has the authority, and weaving through various barriers in convincing the authority person to commit to a "yes" answer.

Complicating matters, the most successful decision-makers rarely say "yes" without a buy-in or support of key influencers, who are sometimes obvious, but more often not.

Yesterday, for example, I made a major decision with truly significant economic impact on the advice of at least three key influencers, none of whom would be obvious to a marketer or sales representative seeking my attention. These influencers satisfied me that I have the money available to take the decision and that it is in the best interests of the business. I listened carefully to their opinions and cross-checked their feelings with each other, and satisfied myself that the advice matched my own understandings and perceptions. I didn't act rashly, taking time to ensure that I had all the facts. Today, I must implement my choice, which has real consequences. But no marketer could even guess who these influencers are, let alone reach them through conventional methods.

Here are some ideas that may help you solve the decision-making access challenge. They aren't perfect but at least will help you to find the right direction.

Become a decision-maker yourself through voluntary community service.

Working with non-profit and community groups, providing your expertise and support, you can often land a position on a board or committee which can say "yes" to an action (even if it is to mount a painfully challenging fund-raising campaign where you try to reach other decision-makers). Community service also allows you to connect in a non-contentious manner with other decision-makers, and allows you to show your stuff.

Become a leader in communicating with your market community through conventional and new media.

Speaking opportunities at conferences, published articles in trade journals, blogs read by current and potential clients, all have real power in establishing your credibility. You will connect and build your reputation.

Truly respect and interact constructively with "gatekeepers".

For many projects and initiatives, the person you really want to know is the executive assistant to the person on the front-line. (For someone like Donald Trump, the person may be the assistant to the executive assistant!) They are accessible, intelligent, and really know their organization and its priorities.

I have recovered many stalled projects by working with EAs, never actually speaking directly with the boss. You will often be shunted to the person either given authority, or the key influencer, for a task. (Or you may be shunted to an "egress" person whose job is simply to nod his or her head, fake out that there is some interest, and get you off the property. This happens if you aren't compelling or effective in your communications.)

Avoid dumb scripted communications.

Stupid telemarketing and spam emails drain time, energy, and don't produce results.

Yesterday, my assistant forwarded a rambling voice message from someone selling an employment listing service that I perceive costs hundreds of dollars for marginal results -- when we have free or highly inexpensive alternatives. If that service really is worth using, why would I even respond to the stupid telemarketer who reads the same script to hundreds of people, it seems?)

You can break through the clutter if you have something great to offer, and know it.

Decision-makers are always open to new and innovative ideas. We are ready to experiment, to take risks, to try something different. But you have to be realistic. We aren't going to spend large amounts of money without the confidence and comfort that you are going to deliver the goods.

Listening

Successful businesspeople surround themselves with trusted advisers and key employees who are never afraid to speak their minds. The last thing we want or need are "yes men" who try to mirror what they think we want, and then do exactly what they are told to do.

Of course, if you have great advisers who disagree with each other, with distinctive personalities and attitudes, sometimes tensions arise, and sometimes you miss the real point in the noise. As one of my consultants, Bill Caswell, reminded me yesterday, you need to separate out the emotions before you make your decisions.

Of course, you also need to listen to your emotions and your first gut reactions. If something doesn't "seem" right, it often isn't. The challenge is to determine if the superficial cause of your emotional reaction reflects the underlying issue, or is actually masking the real problem.

I sense a business is healthiest when your advisers represent a cross-section of values, outlooks and approaches, but they are not so far apart from each other (and the spirit and mood of your key employees, who also are often advisers), that they cause conflict so great that the business strains to the cracking point.

(Of course, it can be a challenge when an adviser, concerned you are heading to a train wreck, goes out of his or her way to shout out the message: Do you take the reaction as a way-off-base emotion, or is the warning real. The best answer: Don't act rashly, but don't ignore the message).

Our best clients and key suppliers also, of course, can be in the advisory group. We need to filter their observations and advice through their perspectives (and ours, of the nature of the relationship), but if we fail to listen to the marketplace, we can end up very much like the U.S. auto industry -- out of touch with what clients really want, and unable to change course when required.

I sense the recessionary clouds are starting to lift, but you won't go wrong ever by listening, carefully.

Dream Big (thanks to Tim Klabunde)

Tim Klabunde's most recent CofeBuz blog posting is brief, and I don't think he will mind my stretch of copyright rules to republish it in full.

I like being comfortable. It is so easy to enjoy the normal flow of life, the moment by moment interactions of daily living. Yet every once in a while my life is shaken from the inside out by a force that boils up from within me, a force that demands that I do something incredible, achieving something that is greater than myself.

It is in these moments that I truly understand what I am capable of, the realization that I am able to do so much more. I struggle to find dreams that are big enough; I look in vain for obstacles that can’t be conquered.

I find it strange that throughout my life I have worked to suppress this force through logic and rhetoric. ”I can’t do that because…” and “if that were possible someone else would be doing it.” Yet today, I can see that success isn’t found in a single accomplishment, it is one’s approach to life that makes greatness. It is something that I can do and live today. A choice to rejoice in the past, plan and dream for the future, and live life to the fullest in the present.

Your turn

Monday morning has its own way of reminding us that life happens not in individual moments of greatness, but during everyday actions. It is the culmination of your actions today and tomorrow that will turn into your greatest successes. So today what are you going to pursue that is greater than yourself?

I certainly share and believe in these thoughts. Through our lives, opportunities arise to change course, to take risks, to adventure beyond our safety zone, but we need to be ready spiritually, financially and physically. Then, at crucial points -- we generally know in our heart when they are -- we can take the risk and seemingly dive off the deep end, though we often know the risks we are taking are more in the perceived fears of others than in the practical dangers we are about to experience.

(So, at 25, I went off to observe a war in Africa, for a while riding a motorcycle around Bulawayo as Rhodesia turned to Zimbabwe. Sounds daring, and the experience certainly opened doors for my life, but I used common sense and local knowledge to stay out of trouble. And, at 34, I flew to Washington, D.C. with non-preference U.S. immigration visa applications for about 300 people, but I knew I was complying with all the rules and laws, and having some fun while helping others to achieve their dreams. Yes, the scheme delivered the goods and helped me to find my current passion and connection with the Washington-area community.)

If you are in business for yourself, or if you have discovered your passion is marketing and business development and you are reading this blog in part to grow in your own abilities, you may have found part or all of the answers related in Tim's posting.

But there are other aspects you can only find in your own heart and soul. When you let go of your fears, when you accept responsibility for your mistakes, and when you take risks and reach beyond the ordinary by combining your strengths and your solid moral codes, you'll achieve greatness, too.

Go for it.

Price haggling: Is it a cultural thing?

This posting from BobsLandscaping in Genesee, ID on the Contractortalk.com thread: Let the Game Begin . . ." raises some interesting points about cultural sensitivity, as it relates to business practices including the points raised by the thread's original poster about potential clients playing games to try to negotiate a better price.

The issue is whether you should stand firm on your quote, or build in a haggle-factor in your pricing and be ready to deal. Some posters to the thread suggested that yes, in some cultures haggling is part of the culture, so if you want to do business with people in these ethnic groups, you should behave accordingly. Others say the haggling goes with the territory and occurs because contractors allow it to happen.

The writer of this thread sees cultural sensitivity in a deeper and more meaningful way than most. With true respect for different cultures and values, including religious traditions, you can open business doors that would be unavailable to you otherwise.

I like to look at the business of contracting as a people business. I meet people from all over the world and try to make a good first impression in order to win their business.

Knowing a little bit about foreign cultures helps me make sales. Especially in landscaping, since I'm creating personal spaces for people to relax and enjoy themselves in.

On Wednesday I'm installing a garden for a family from Nepal. It's going to be filled with peppers, vegetables, herbs, and spices from their native country. I'm also using flowers and plants that have special significance to the Hindu religion. They're also having me come by weekly to maintain it and I'll be making a nice profit from this job.

I suppose on principle I could have told them this is what we grow in America, this is the price, take it or get on the next plane home. I would have never heard from them again and wouldn't have the job.

Perhaps I'm wrong (I often am) but it seems good business sense to cater to the customers needs/desires and sell the job.

On the Japanese gardens I maintain there are very strict rules on what can be planted and where and how the garden flows. There are special religious guidelines that have to be observed in all aspects of maintaining the garden. Again I suppose I could tell my Japanese customers that they're in America now and I won't maintain a Japanese garden.

But why though? Can you give me a good reason why? I enjoy it, my clients love their spaces, and I make good money at it.

I also maintain and install Buddhist meditation paths. They are special gardens for walking meditations. There are extremely strict guidelines for how the garden is laid out and how I can work on it. For instance all maintenance must be done with hand tools. No machinery allowed. Not even a gas lawn mower. It disrupts the spirituality of the garden. I charge extra for that and do OK.

Yeah I realize we're in America, but this is a land of immigrants. Always has been, always will be. Yeah it's a pain to deal with the special requirements at times, but it's also rewarding. Not just financially.

Perhaps I'm too open minded, what do you suggest I do? Leave money on the table out of principle? Walk away from jobs because they're not American enough?

But what about the principals and choices involved in price haggling and negotiation, overall?

I'm not so sure what the correct response should be, except that you should never allow yourself to settle for a final price below your reasonable margin. And I tend to believe that with rare cultural exceptions, you should put yourself in the position where your price is your price, and your client(s) are ready to pay because they truly trust you and respect your business and brand.

This of course is easier to say than do when you have many competitors, especially when potential clients are playing off one bid against another or inviting as many contractors as they can find to quote the jobs in some sort of "cattle call". You can to a degree escape these problems through effective marketing (which includes treating your current clients so well that they refer friends and call back for more), but there is no escaping that, with certain specialized exceptions, most people will at least at the outset invite more than one contractor to quote a job.

Regardless, you will increase your marketing success by respecting and relating to culturally diverse groups. If you really know that culture's values requires price haggling, then, play the game.

Associations: Contributing to larger goals

Brian Blackmere, a senior planner with Stantec Consulting's Kitchener, Ontario office, and president of the Waterloo Region Home Builders' Association, in Ottawa for the Canadian Home Builders' Association Urban Council.

Yesterday, Brian Blackmere, the new president of the Waterloo Region Home Builders' Association, met me at a downtown Ottawa hotel. Blackmere is in Ottawa for his final meeting as a member of the Canadian Home Builders' Association Urban Council, which represents CHBA members in larger communities. (The CHBA is similar to the U.S. National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), built on state and grass roots local/regional home builders' associations.

The conversation started with Blackmere citing the current association PR mantra: Members in Ontario, especially are concerned about the impending implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax, where the federal Goods and Service Tax is to be melded with the former provincial sales tax. The issue of exemptions, and the fact that Renovations are not exempt, is causing anxiety among many builders and renovators, who fear that the underground economy will get a boost.

I pushed back on this and other standard points. Sure, of course, the new tax will cause some challenges, but doesn't it also include built in savings through input tax credits. (Non-Canadian readers reading this blog may be utterly confused by this stuff -- this is always a challenge when reporting on specialized or regional topics.)

We discussed environmental issues, the Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) issues relating to development, the challenges of defining "affordable" housing, and the huge cost in battling local development charges when they are imposed unfairly. (Blackmere said his association's 230 members tackled a local issue where municipal authorities were trying to use residential development charges to fund the infrastructure costs of an industrial subdivision. This cost the association's 230 membership hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses -- and required significant fee levies distributed in a manner where the biggest builders/developers paid the highest costs.)

Blackmere, a senior planner with Stantec Consulting, said the Edmonton-based multinational recruited him last year from a major local builder to set up the planning division within Stantec's multi-disciplined Kitchener office.

He loves his work, and the challenges involved in juggling his association and business responsibilities. Within the association at the provincial and national levels, he gains insights and ideas about best practices and marketplace solutions he can apply in his home environment.
Relationships count, too.

So, you may be wondering, what does this reporting have to do with Construction Marketing?

Outside of the sales and marketing committees/activities at his and other associations, undoubtedly you can gain knowledge, connections, and relationships through effective association involvement and support, both within your own industry/specialty and (this is most important) that of your clients.

Consider who are the leading influencers, decision-makers, and the most connected people within your market area, and inevitably, you will find they ascend to the helm of their relevant associations, selected by their peers, and with the energy and eagerness to contribute seemingly countless voluntary hours to their causes.

You won't of course hit the jackpot immediately through association involvement. Friendship and trust never build immediately -- and you need to give, share, and contribute before you can even begin to reap the rewards.

But I sense (and my experience tells me) that you will get further by engaging and supporting relevant associations than by trying to learn how to get rich quick on the Internet.

Online marketing: Asking the trust questions

Perhaps with the previous blog posting in mind, I mucked into the debate on contractortalk.com when an Ohio-based vendor started the thread
"Internet Marketing And Advertising For Offline Business".

The original poster, Matt Shields, and I have communicated by email. He says (despite my assertions in the thread) that he hasn't used Frank Kern's materials, but cites some other gurus who live in the space of long email promo pages with various devices to get you to sign onto their online info programs. (Shields first appears in my life when he comments on the thread I started reporting on my visit last fall to Columbus, Ohio, to see canvassing first hand. But we've not met yet in person.)

Out of his page, I discerned a lead selling program, which he denies is his actual service -- I just can't quite figure out what it is just yet. This raises the fundamental issue of transparency and trust.

Ironically, as the thread progressed, someone else offering a similar-style Internet marketing scheme popped up, offering a service for HVAC contractors.

Here, I'm scratching my head a little. Maybe these approaches really work and my failure here is in not following up and getting the online marketing religion.

If so, I should have a really solid e-book, lengthy 'squeeze pages' (or whatever), and videos showing me, dressed casually, to set up a sequence of communications via auto responder emails using one of the services the gurus recommend.

Then, I could sell that online marketing course that got me into the "idiot" trouble.

I dunno. Is my alternative approach, listening and understanding the values, issues, and needs of contractors, especially the leaders of relevant contracting associations, and maybe seeing them in person when possible, a better model? (See next posting.)

I can't be sure right now. This blog and my e-letter have generated some profitable business when people call and ask, and our new online publication will soon appear built from relationships developed in both the online and off-line spaces.

My guess is the best approach is to learn something from the online experts but apply it in a much more natural manner, reflecting your own business style and model. But maybe the canned stuff really works.

Buying, marketing and selling -- an explanation of why the best contractors are often the least successful at marketing

Readers here may recall this rather fascinating piece of literature I received in the in-box a few weeks ago.

You are an idiot. Remove me from your sophmoric (spelling as sent by Arthur House/ed) trash!

You should attend my seminars - and maybe you should have attended my construction marketing classes at FIU (Florida International University/ed)

But you probably are not MBA material. What a bunch of crap you spew!

Respectfully;

Arthur T. House
207-338-5285

www.arthurhouse.com

What provoked this rather amazing observation?

I had tried to turn my e-letter and blog into a selling tool for a truly ill-conceived Construction Marketing Course, something you would actually pay me to receive. House, with some legitimate teaching credentials, thought this laughable, and wrote his response. (Incidentally, no one took me up on the original offer -- perhaps two people tried the email address in my marketing piece, on a list of about 10,000 names, but they certainly didn't say 'yes' to my proposal.)

Yesterday, Susan Simion provided a clue to what provoked House's negative outburst and the lack of positive response when I actually tried to sell something here.

What makes people almost buy? What makes them get most of the way there, then drop out of your shopping cart at the last second? What makes them stare at your landing page, wanting what you have to offer, and yet, ultimately, close the page and move on to something else?

It turns out there’s a hideous troll hiding under the bridge. Every time you get close to making a sale, the troll springs out and scares your prospect away. Get rid of the troll and your copy will start converting better than it ever has before.

The ugly, smelly, dirty, bad-mannered troll is prospect fear. And it’s sitting there right now, stinking up your landing page and scaring good customers away.

She goes on to describe a variety of marketing tools and techniques designed to entice you to part with your money, only to find the entire experience disappointing. It seems the online (and real) world is full of scams.

One of the classics around is the variants of the "Google ATM" offer, in which people sign up for a "Work at Home" opportunity to make big money passively by running Google Adsense on their websites. (Like all good scams there is a grain of truth underlying the rip-off. Google Adsense provides great passive income for really well established and successful websites, but you certainly aren't going to get rich quick with a new home-made endeavour, and Google doesn't charge a cent -- certainly not $70 or so a month -- to set you you up in the business.)

Once burned, twice shy; twice or more burned, you are totally turned off by most marketing and sales conventions. You don't want to do that sort of stuff, do you?

So you don't. You build your reputation for quality, to the point that clients call you, refer friends, and you feel great about your work. Periodically, telemarketers break through your resistance, offering seemingly irresistible leads services or advertising opportunities. You "bite" only, always, to end up disappointed. You vow, to yourself, that you will never stoop that low; you will never waste money on marketing and sales, and you will continue to rely on word-of-mouth.

Then your business dries up. You are desperate. And perhaps you listen a little more closely to those marketing guys who call you (and who you listen to, because no one else, certainly not clients) are phoning you these days. Maybe, just maybe, it will be different this time. But it isn't. And you are worse off than before.

Maybe you think you are an "idiot".

You aren't. But you will have to get around some fundamental resistance whenever you go out to seek business, rather than passively wait for it to come to you. Susan Simion certainly has part of the answer in her blog posting, and this resistance explains why, whenever I try to "sell" using this blog, I end up disappointed. Similarly, you can see the consequences whenever you go out against competition in the marketplace, trying to entice people to respond quickly to your advertising or marketing messages. Fear, and bad experiences, build resistance and make it harder, much harder, to break through.

There are answers, however and here are some worthy of consideration.

You can use word-of-mouth in making your marketing choices, much like you like word of mouth referrals for your own business.

This is where forums such as contractortalk.com and your local industry associations are really helpful. Members share their best experiences, and biggest problems, and (with this information) your risk of disaster is much lower than if you go out cold.

You can certainly work with your current clients,and learn from them, about what they read, like, and care about. This gives you ammunition in deciding your best course of action.

You can set up a plan, budget, and disciplined approach to marketing expenses. And within this budget, you can try different approaches, gradually gathering a group of tried-and-true methods that are effective in most conditions. Then when someone calls you with a brilliant construction marketing idea, you can elect whether or not to reallocate some of your budget or (more likely) decline the unsolicited offer, unless you only need to pay in arrears, if the great idea is truly successful.

These ideas work, I'm sure. But what about this blog? I can't get you to buy anything from me here, right? No, but I've told my wife that in 10 years I will be a highly paid Construction Marketing Ideas consultant. (If you click on the Construction Marketing Ideas consultant link, your email browser will open, and you will be free to write your own "idiot" email -- or ask for my insights into your biggest current marketing challenge, free.)

Years of accumulated experience, insights, and knowledge, coupled with practical understanding of what works and what doesn't, will achieve the results no get-rich-quick scheme can achieve.

She remarks: "But you are giving everything away for free."

Yes, with good reason.

Great needs and great deeds: The spirit of effective Construction Marketing

Can you do great deeds to achieve great needs?

If so, you'll change the world.

"Sure," you might say, as you struggle to find enough business to feed your family (or yourself, for that matter), and you go through the daily routines and habits, good or bad, that define your current life.

Maybe, however, greatness isn't that far away. Little things can sometimes mean a lot, and small changes in your life and your perception of how to market and promote your business could result in big changes in your results.

Here are some thoughts to consider. Maybe your answers to these questions will provide you with clues about an effective marketing strategy.

What charitable, community service, or social services can you provide in your community that cost you little in time and effort, but capture the spirit and needs of the people around you?

What cause or issue matters to you the most -- that reaches to your heart and personal passion? Maybe it is health related, maybe poverty, maybe environmental or ecological.

If you could spend an hour a day for a year on a project or activity that would do good for others more than yourself, what would it be?

Think about your passions, your interests, your values -- and, yes, your time -- in answering this one.

In asking these questions, you may be tempted to think about existing community projects and services. For construction-related businesses, especially in the residential sector, you might gravitate to Habitat for Humanity. This is good, but in completing this exercise, I would like you to think more about what you think you have to give/share, and what you perceive is your community's greatest needs, regardless of whether it is directly relevant to your business.

Then, find a way to take a first step to implement the vision.

Share the story with your clients, your colleagues, and your suppliers. If it is a good idea, they will immediately offer to help. (If it is a great idea, and they don't immediately support you, you will have to persevere for a while on your own until they catch on. Don't give up.)

Email or call me as well. I'll help you with some free publicity, or advice on how you can achieve positive media publicity in your local market/media. This (for me) is one of my great deeds.

You'll make a difference. And, yes, when it comes time to finding clients for your service, you may just find a few more yeses for the same amount of marketing effort as you would get by pounding the pavement or spending thousands of dollars on advertising.

P.S. You can apply these principals on a business, rather than community, level as well. Just think about the needs of everyone you meet or connect with at networking and business events -- focusing on what they really require, and where you can help, without concern about "What's in it for me."

Traffic, conversions and meaningful business

When someone asks me: "How can I get more traffic to my architectural, engineering or construction blog or website?", I'm tempted to throw out an answer: "Does it really matter?

Isn't what you really want are real clients who will purchase or use your products or services?"

This is especially the case if you are following the Marketing 101 principal and focusing on a specific niche. Since niches are either generally geographically or specialty focused and the Internet covers the whole world, you probably don't want "everyone" visiting your site and responding to you.

But the word "niche" also suggests quality is much more important than quantity -- you want to be top place within your community/space but ideally (from a marketing perspective) want to be nearly invisible to everyone else.

How important is this specialization?

Say you are a "management consultant". You might be great, and capable of working in all industries and sectors, for businesses of many different sizes. And theoretically, your world is the universe, since you can provide consulting services over the phone and by video link anywhere, any time.

But how are you (a) going to get any attention out of the clutter and crowd and (b) have enough credibility to truly be successful in presenting your generalist services to people who don't already know you.

Now, when you say you are a "management consultant to general contractors which are family owned businesses in North America", you have a better chance of success -- but even better might be "Safety consultant to contractors in Toronto, Ontario."

Next, once you have your niche, you need to go the next step, and build your reputation.

Here is where content really works wonders. I share several others' belief that you lose very little by being totally open about your ideas and insights, without worrying about giving away your "secrets". (Obviously I'm not talking about processes or technologies you are about to patent!) Seth Holdren makes the reasoning clear in his blog.

By posting articles, insights, and information on your website, starting a blog and updating it with content, and generally sharing your soul, you'll attain some authority and reputation, and begin "owning" your niche. (And yes, your search engine rankings will rise, and this will increase qualified traffic further.)

There is a final element to this problem, however, and frankly I haven't solved it yet. Say you have a niche, obtain lots of traffic, and can build a list of great names of potential clients. How do you convert these initial contacts, inquiries and interest into real business?

Sure, this blog has generated some business for my companies, but the revenue from it and the related newsletter tracks to less than 10 oer cent of our total annual earnings. (This is helpful, but can we improve the results?)

More challenging, of 1,000 people who put their names down on the list for more information or the free Construction Marketing Ideas newsletter, only one or two ultimately buy anything from us.

Of course, part of the reason is that I may have found a niche, but don't have the product or service its members require (except if you are at present in Ontario or North Carolina).

Does "Construction Marketing" require hands-on locally based consultations, or advertising in relevant media that we don't provide?

Do we have the credibility and proof that we can deliver more expensive services, for a fee, because of this blog?

Whenever I've overtly tried to sell anything through this blog or the newsletter, I usually achieve nothing but negative backlash.

Do you have ideas or suggestions of your own to solve this challenge?

Maybe you can help me solve this marketing puzzle.

Does the emperor have any clothes?

Whose advice should you follow when we are in a time of economic distress? Can a guru whose sales are declining and laying off employees dare to tell you the secrets of marketing success?

The answer is: Do you know what drives your own business forward, and do you really know what is going on around you?

Yesterday, for example, I had a conversation with a well-placed person who I respect as a true genius about sales, marketing and business development for the professions. We discussed online marketing issues, pricing (we both agree that if your business is not a commodity, the last thing to do in a recession is to lower your prices), and the need to make hard business decisions in hard times.

I've earned this relationship -- and some others of similar nature -- by not worrying about the short term, the "take", the quid-pro-quo, and immediate reciprocity, In essence, these relationships have been built through generosity of spirit and (last year), an overly open budgetary spigot for travel, business development and business expansion.

Today, on one level, some of the expenses I incurred in 2008 seem like a waste. Perhaps not spending the money would have bought some more time before I needed to make hard cuts and changes in the business.

However, on a second level, the expenses in relationship and business development have proven to be wise. They are providing the seeds for new, inexpensive, and low risk publishing projects with exceptionally high potential, one which I expect to announce in greater detail within the next couple of weeks.

Clearly, when the wolf is at your door, the long-range stuff needs to take a back seat. You need business, now, and you may need to do some things you don't really enjoy. But if you spent time, money and effort during the good times in planting the seeds for healthy relationships, these will do you much good when things are less rosy.

Just recognize the importance of these longer-range connections and values if you are tempted to take rash, short term actions. Sometimes the immediate potential reward may not be worth the potential long-term cost.

Not-so-painful pain

Yesterday's painful changes turned out not to be so hard, after all.

The affected employees accepted their situation and even reflected relief. They should be eligible for Canadian Employment Insurance benefits and I hope they can be recalled; one by the end of the summer and the other when the personal stress issues affecting work performance have been resolved.

The budgets, cash flow and general health of the business are much healthier, so a personal salary reduction won't be required (though I must carefully monitor and restrict non-essential expenses).

So I will get back to the keyboard and a lot of writing this summer. It is my best way to handle personal marketing. Every time I engage with potential advertisers in the editorial role, I have a natural advantage and am able to sell our services quite effectively.

Here are some key business sustainability and recession survival principals outlined in previous posts:

Business owners who understand their enterprise have more job security than any employee.

We can keep our jobs because we control our work. This is why people who are suited to self-employment generally have much less personal stress, even in recessions.

You always do best by focusing on your strengths, talents and natural abilities.

I have always been a writer and journalist. It is in my bones (and I'm pretty good at the craft.) So blogging makes 100 per cent sense for me. Even as my workload increases this summer, I'll still find time for the blog. Should you blog if you are a contractor who prefers to work building stuff (physically)? Maybe. But perhaps you should correlate your marketing with the opportunity to build stuff, maybe in a community-service initiative.

We do no live in isolation.

In making my decisions, I listened to several advisers, often providing conflicting suggestions. I also took into account the employees' needs and how to minimize hardship.

Business owners must be prepared to take tough decisions, often quickly.

I could have buried my head in the sand, and been buried as a business person. But that isn't the way to stay in business for more than two decades. When the business required me to respond with blunt choices, I did. Fortunately (as is usually the case) the pain is more in the perception of what might happen, than the actual experience.

Painful (but necessary) choices

Today, I'll take some hard and painful business decisions.

It is never easy to reach the point where you know you must hunker down and reduce costs drastically in line with much reduced sales projections, but every business knows there are red lines which must not be crossed, without dire results.

These circumstances of course have affected many of you over the past year. Architects and engineers, early in the construction cycle, were the first to feel the pinch (after many residential contractors and sub trades). Now, as backlogs disappear within the non-residential environment, general contractors are feeling the pinch. Surety brokers tell me that bonding companies generally run into problems about 18 months after a recession begins -- as some contractors default, pushing them into losses.

Well-managed companies either have reserves and/or contingency plans for hard times.

What about the marketing budget?

Our major marketing expenses is association membership and dues, and we'll review the "value for money" in these. We are also curtailing our travel costs for events and conferences. However, we won't overall reduce marketing resources and, when we are satisfied there will be a return on investment, will increase our marketing commitments.

Successful contractors with solid marketing strategies increase their marketing budgets in hard times. Unfortunately, few businesses and professional practices within the AEC sector have really good marketing systems, closely tied to lead development and sales.

If you have trackable and measurable systems, you can simply increase your advertising budget to maintain your lead flow. But you can't do this by the seat of your pants.

Blogging and Construction Marketing: Should you do it?

I've been blogging daily since late 2006. The entries have varied in quality, some great, some lesser. Much has changed since this blog started -- notably, several others have joined the Construction Marketing space.

Observing one of the most fundamental marketing principals, where "first in the niche is best" this blog has maintained the highest keyword rankings in Google.

The questions are: Is Blogging effective for your marketing, and should you blog yourself. And if you do, are there some best practices you should observe?

Here are some answers.

Direct business results (and time cost)

We can trace some real business to the blog and the related Construction Marketing Ideas newsletter, perhaps about $25,000 in sales. This is useful, of course, but he incremental sales are less exciting if you consider the time spent on the blog.

At close to 1,000 days, with an average time (rounded) of 30 minutes a day writing, (weekends and holidays included), the project has consumed at least 500 hours. That works out to about $50 an hour in compensating, since the blog doesn't require capital to maintain. (Small fees for stock photos and the like are easily covered by the modest amount of advertising revenue the blog generates itself.) This isn't bad, but hardly is a marketing jackpot.

Indirect branding advantages

These are harder to measure, but I sense the blog has helped out in building relationships, trust, and communication.

Recruiting and employee relationships

Again, this is an indirect benefit, but it seems the blog is useful in helping prospective employees know this business and decide if it is a right match for them.

Areas for improvement

I'm not sure if we are really obtaining the fullest power of "conversion" from blog reader to client. Certainly, various efforts to encourage or motivate direct business have been less-than-successful. It seems that no one buys when the blog is used to try to sell anything. The purchases related above result mostly from inbound inquiries and calls initiated entirely by the blog reader.

Surely we can do better here in attracting/encouraging more responses within the marketing funnel. The conversion rate from people requesting the "Seven Tips for Construction Marketing Success" and and the free bi-weekly newsletter is not high enough in my opinion (We receive 10 to 30 newsletter requests each week; how many readers, however, actually buy anything!)

The blog and your business

Blogging is time consuming, but I like to write, and so if the business traces some profitable results, even if $50 an hour seems low, then it is still worth doing. But if you are not a writer and this work is a pain, you have to consider the real cost/benefit of forcing yourself to do something you don't want.

You need to maintain reliable frequency

On the few days I know I will be away from the computer, I 'pre-set' a blog entry to appear on a time.). Most likely, you will find it hard to blog daily, but I wouldn't do it less than weekly, and ideally more often.

You need patience for results

If you are hoping the blog will enhance your search engine rankings and inbound inquiries, be prepared to be patient -- perhaps you will need to spend at least six months to a year before (if you use Google's blogger) you receive the warning email saying they will be inspecting the blog for "Splog" (or deliberately creating computer-generated back links to enhance search rankings.

You need meaningful content

I see some blogs where the writer simply lifts stuff from elsewhere with modest comments. This is okay, to a degree, but really good blogs have material that you won't see elsewhere.

You must be part of the story (or the story itself)

The blog is a highly personal form of journalism. Your personality should be readily apparent and you should avoid "corporate speak" and carefully manicured wording (unless that is who you are). If you make a mistake on a blog entry, you can always go back and edit it. However, you should still sleep on and be very careful if you wish to post anything negative about any individual or organization.

Relationships and Marketing: Untold stories

Many of our business's greatest sales and marketing successes never reach this blog, at least as they are developing. Generally, as things progress from initial possibility to final transaction, several things happen and putting the process into the public eye rarely helps.

I should say, putting the WHOLE process into the public eye rarely helps. Sometimes the story includes a "public" element and since our business is publishing and publicity, we'll use these resources and capacities when they make sense.

But what about all of the stuff you never see? Sure, much of what we do is the standard stuff -- building the brand, communicating, sharing and winning trust, and then (finally) achieving commitment for clients to spend money. Fair enough. But that is only a fraction of the story.

For example, yesterday, a good client paid for my lunch, then I went to a retail business owned by a non-client. My assignment: To gather notes and write an impressively positive editorial profile about this non-client business for one of our publications.

We volunteered to do the story, without charge or expectation of anything in return, when we heard our client had decided to do business with one of our competitors, expecting similar results to the experience with us. (We earn most of our money through supplier-supported advertising features.)

The competitor had produced a poor-quality feature, while using some high pressure sales techniques. And the company which I visited yesterday had purchased a grossly overpriced ad to support the feature for our client.

In case you are wondering why we should voluntarily offer to help a client out by solving the problems caused by a competitor, you have failed Marketing 101. If your cash cost is low by helping out a client in repairing the damage caused by your competitor, you are almost certain to come out ahead in the long-run; if only by really encouraging referrals and more repeat business.

As it is, our client, besides buying me lunch, purchased an ad in this 'non revenue' feature (because he has such respect for his supplier), that we ended up making a little bit of money because of our generosity.

Great marketing is often a series of simple and small decisions. Little extras and respectful responses for your clients rarely cost very much, but pay heavy dividends. Never saying bad things about your competitors, but listening to your clients complain bitterly about the competitors' failings -- and then offering to solve the problems the competitors caused -- is great stuff for your brand and referrals.

"Listen, if you have anyone who is approached by that (unnamed here) competitor, have them give me a call, and I'll set them straight," our client told me yesterday. (It doesn't harm that he is a leader of some of the major trade associations around here.)

Sure, marketing is about branding, and can include advertising, company policies, pricing decisions and the like. But in the end your real success will come down to how you and your employees connect the dots and relate to your clients and your community. If you can capture the opportunity to go beyond their expectations as your competitors do things the "same old (bad) way", you will come out ahead of the game, always.

Remembering the basics: Owner or employee (or both)

This blog's readers fall into two groups, I think.

One group are architectural, engineering and construction practitioners and business owners looking at marketing as part of the overall business picture. They may be in charge of large businesses, or small one-person start-ups.

The second group are marketing employees or consultants seeking to come up with ideas to help their businesses. They have important responsibilities, but ultimately don't have final decision-making authority (or responsibility).

In most organizations, owners and employees see things through different eyes. Owners, of course, set the leadership style for their business. If they are selfish, arrogant, and cynically opportunistic (lining their personal pockets at the expense of their employees and the long-term health of the business) they may survive in business as long as they have a market, enough power, and the ability to either exploit or coerce their employees. Maybe if they are dumb they deplete capital and carry on until they fail.

Employees see the world from their paycheck, "job security" and (in the ideal circumstances) their pride and ownership and satisfaction in doing their work well. Hopefully you are in the latter category -- probably you wouldn't be reading this blog if you weren't.

Many successful businesses meld the vision and needs of owners with the respect of employees through variations of employee ownership models. This is the stuff of "open book management" and various employee share ownership and profit sharing schemes.

Note that implementing these processes in a half-hearted manner is worse than doing nothing. I've heard laughable stories of employees given senior responsibilities and then deciding this entitles them immediately to private club memberships, leased BMWs, and the right/ability to hire their friends for whatever jobs they want filled (and without a need to ensure clients pay their bills).

I admit my limitations. It has taken me many years in business to see things from different angles and perspectives, and to realize you need to observe these rules:

• Owners need to be sensitive and responsible about their discretionary expenses, perks, and "extras". They need to behave as much as under the same rules as their employees for what they take out of the business. If they are successful, they can collect their dividend cheques from profits and live well (and capital gains on selling the successful business.)

• Employees need to think like owners in having a big picture perspective of how their work relates to the overall enterprise. Sure short-term requirements and issues must be resolved -- especially cash flow -- but great employees think like great owners (and follow the basics of the principals above).

Most importantly, both owners and employees need to understand how marketing principals relate to the overall business and its success. You need to know the details of the marketing discipline, but you also need to see how it fits in the big picture.

It is wise to think like a (successful) owner and employee at the same time.

The General Contractor's Question: "What criteria do you use in determining which sub trade to use?" (2)

At the Ontario General Contractors' Association President's Panel last month, someone asked an important question: "What criteria do you use in determining which sub trade to use?"

Only Frank DeCaria, president of Eastern Construction Ltd. of Windsor and Toronto, had the opportunity to answer at the Symposium, but I think the question is important enough for me to see if the other general contractor panelists could provide their own direct answers.

Yesterday, Doug Burnside, president of Dolyn Developments in Ottawa, contributed this answer, which is worthy of careful review if you are a sub trade hoping to find work in the non-residential environment.

Here's my answer for the panel question you re-raised:

When tendering on a project in the traditional way, we General Contractors can certainly become real risk takers. We often receive our quotations very close to the closing time leaving us little or no time to properly evaluate them, read the fine print, or contact the trade firm to discuss it.

In a relatively small town like Ottawa we often know most of the trade firms that are sending us quotes and usually have a good sense of their competence.

The Sub-trades that we value most are those with whom we share mutual trust. They will provide their quote early enough that we can analyze it and discuss it with them, in turn, they can fully expect that their price will not be shopped to other trade firms. Without that trust, the bids come too late to analyze properly and a problem can ensue after closing, when there is a misunderstanding, hidden exclusion, scheduling
problem or a pure "walkaway" from a price.

When a price seems erroneous to us we endeavor to contact that bidder to discuss it, but if it comes 2 minutes before closing there is not much chance of remedy. Now we have to decide if we carry an excessively low quote or not, knowing that in all likelihood one or more of our competition will. If we don't, we will have wasted the time preparing the bid as we will likely now lose, if we do, we may well have a conflict. We truly do often face a "Catch 22" on many occasions.

When we have the luxury of inviting tenders under a Cost Plus or Design - Build methods of procurement, we can clearly spell out what is to be included; offer the opportunity to a bidder to withdraw a bid if it seems flawed; and invite those we know to be well suited to the project and proven and competent. Without conflicts, and better trade firms, we can better serve our clients.

Many of us have had a bad experiences carrying a trade that we do not know at a questionable value, resulting in one of the many possible perils. Alternatively, it is just this way that we sometimes meet those trades who become among our preferred.

....not for the faint of heart.

Subs looking for non-residential work should read this response carefully -- your chance of success is highest if you can put yourself in the mind-space of the general contractors with which you wish to work. Intelligent trust and allowing them some time to review your bid will save aggravation and give you the fairest chance of winning the work.