Marketing Archives - Page 3 of 4 - PowerTips Unscripted

Ep.69: How to Protect and Grow your Business with Performance Testing with Corbett Lunsford

June 26, 2019 00:30:06

Physics and chemistry affect the interior of every home, every day. Performance testing can enable remodelers to predict and prevent health, safety, and comfort issues, earn more for your work, and predict and prevent callbacks, claims, and lawsuits.

As a remodeler, you have two choices. You can test for and design performance controls into your projects to predict and prevent side effects. Or you make assumptions and hope for the best.

You might make problems worse, and take the heat for it.

In this episode, Corbett Lunsford talks about home systems, performance, and testing with Victoria and Mark. Home performance is the invisible “stuff” that happens inside a home — how it feels, smells, and sounds.

Corbett loves investigating invisible dynamics using high-tech techniques and tools. He’s the co-host of the PBS series Home Diagnosis, the Building Performance Podcast, and the author of Home Performance Diagnostics: the Guide to Advanced Testing.

Every remodeling project will affect how a home works — for better or worse. Building inspections are about the static state — what’s there all the time. Performance dynamics have to do with all the actions of the house while it’s working. You need testing to be able to predict that. Remodelers deal with and interfere with these dynamics as part of their work — there will be changes. Corbett says the first tests to do are a blower-door test, using infrared cameras to pinpoint roof leaks and moisture detection, and other reasons why home testing can improve your projects, business and client satisfaction, including:

Tuning a home like an instrument
Taking the guesswork out of the home performance
How pressure issues can cause mold and mildew
Why home interiors affect health
Atmospheric draft, water heaters, and range hoods
Charging more for optimizing home system performance
Testing for the invisible dynamics
Load calculations and energy models for HVAC choices
Why testing also makes homes more energy efficient
The marketing opportunities for you
The power of statistics
And more …

Corbett warns that your clients may know about the importance of performance testing because they’re watching home-improvement shows like his — and you have to stay ahead of what the general public knows or lose credibility. As a first step, you can download his ebook, Proof Is Possible: How to Keep an Eye on Your New Home Construction or Home Improvement.

You can also see his tiny house and more on his YouTube channel: https://YouTube.com/c/HomePerformance.

Ep.65: How to Turn Your Travel into an Epic Marketing Opportunity

May 22, 2019 00:14:55

There’s an overlooked opportunity for you to shine in your marketing. For some of you, this opportunity only comes once a year. For others (like many of our Roundtables members) it comes nine or 10 times a year. Regardless of how often the opportunity presents itself, odds are you’re squandering it.

It’s your “out of office” email message.

In this episode, Mark’s flying solo. Victoria’s taking a well-earned vacation and it prompted him to think about this often under-used touchpoint with clients, trade partners, and prospects.

Take some time to make your message memorable in your rush to get out the door. Be human. Be creative. Be thorough so that if it’s a time-critical email, the person who contacted you has a means of getting through to someone else. Think of all the boring and canned out-of-office messages you accumulate in your in-box — and don’t do that. Mark’s tips for an awesome outgoing message include:

How to write a great subject line
Why you should pad your return date
Setting up a custom email for urgent matters
Giving a gift in the reply
And more …

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to make a connection — a human one — while you’re kicking back and out of the daily grind.

Ep.63: How To Fire Up Your Referral Engine with Tanya Bamford

May 8, 2019 00:26:39

Research proves referred clients cost less to acquire, are easier to close, and are more valuable to your business over time.

So why don’t more companies ask for them?

In this episode, Tanya Bamford joins Victoria and Mark to share ways to help you fire up your referral engine, and get more business without spinning your wheels. And it’s backed by hard, verifiable research.

Tanya Bamford is the managing director of R/A Marketing, a sister company to Remodelers Advantage. Prior to joining R/A Marketing, Tanya owned an award-winning marketing firm serving small and mid-size businesses. A sought-after speaker, Tanya has presented more than 20 seminars on marketing-related topics ranging from strategic planning to social-media marketing.

You can’t take referrals for granted — you have to maintain regular communication with your past clients. You can take charge of it by nurturing your relationship with your clients over time. Tanya says you have to remind them, and give them the tools to spur those referrals, including:

The power of endorsements from clients on others
Starting with delivering a great customer experience
Identifying who your promoters are
Tracking you promotor segment
How and where to ask for referrals
Plotting out your communications strategy
Why direct mail lives
The channels that work
Why awards should be announced
Enabling your team to help you get those referrals
Why referral rewards programs may not really work for remodelers
And so much more …

To take a deeper dive into referral marketing, here are two resources Tanya referenced:

Ep.60: How to Manage Your Online Reputation Using Google Reviews with Russell Fuller

April 17, 2019 00:30:38

Your reputation is your most valuable business asset — but don’t think for a minute that doing high-quality work and providing top-notch service is enough to make and keep it spotless. The Internet has made it all too easy for people to publicly tarnish your good name — quickly.

Take the initiative, and manage your reputation proactively. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do it.

In this episode, Victoria and Mark talk online reviews with Russell Fuller. Russell concentrates on the power of Google reviews, discusses how to get great ones, and what it all means to his business.

Russell owns Fuller Living Construction in Seattle, WA. He’s passionate about small business and marketing. Fuller Living Construction is Google’s highest-rated construction company in Seattle.

Russell starts laying the foundation for reviews during the Sales process, sends a mid-project survey to head off problems that may have cropped up, and systematically follows up after the job is finished to get consistent five-star Google reviews. He explains how he settled on Google, what it means to his business, and how he does it, including:

Getting your message out
How Yelp chooses to show reviews
Strategies to make it automatic and easy for clients to leave reviews
How to handle bad reviews online
The ripple effect of good and bad reviews
The power of a good lawyer
Speaking honestly with clients — and listening
Following up with past clients
Being specific in your review requests
The “review insurance account”
Soliciting reviews from Trade Partners and team members
Where reviews are going next
And more …

Building and managing your online reputation is more important than ever. Planting the seeds early for great reviews and making the most of them will lay the foundation for a successful business for years to come.

Ep.57: How to Capture Cost-Effective, Exclusive Leads by Blogging with Mike Foti

March 27, 2019 0:35:24

We’re big believers in the power of blogging to generate interest and business. Today we’re talking to someone in the trenches who’s also a believer, because it’s helped him in growing his business, gaining credibility, elevating customer loyalty, and — most importantly — generating cost-effective, exclusive leads.

In this episode, Mike Foti discusses his business case for blogging with Victoria and Mark, and tells you how you can do the same.

Mike is president of Innovate Building Solutions of Cleveland, OH, a regional remodeling and nationwide wholesaler of grout-free shower and tub wall panels, wet room systems and glass floors, and also of Innovate Home Org, a designer and installer of custom home organization systems. In the eight years he’s been blogging on his News from the Block blog, it’s grown to 85,000 visitors per month and 19,000 email subscribers — and he has two other blogs. Mike is a self-described DMG (Digital Marketing Geek) and loves learning how to increase traffic and leads without forking over big bucks to “Mr. Google.” He’s also a crazy one-hour-a-day runner – even after suffering two heart attacks over the last two years. Finally, Mike is a reinvigorated Cleveland Browns fan and says (just like Baker Mayfield) he’s feeling a little dangerous today.

Mike started blogging after a digital marketing consultant told him how it would help his business, and he admits his first attempts weren’t so good. Mike shares his five reasons to blog, tips for finding the time to do it, and the benefits, including:

Avoiding pay-per-click costs
Why he doesn’t do Facebook ads
Becoming known as an expert and building a following
Why it works for project-based businesses
The importance of being consistent
Attracting tire-kickers and turning them into leads
The power of information, influence, and education
If you can’t write, finding someone who can
Giving yourself permission to not be very good at first
How to generate ideas — taking questions from your sales calls and answering them
Why the weirdest jobs make the best stories
Writing awesome headlines
Sharing who you are for a personal connection
How to entertain while educating
And more …

Including Mike and Mark talking the Odell Beckham trade, while Victoria stares at the ceiling. Also, for all those wondering, capers are flower buds that are pickled in brine. It’s a wide-ranging and high-energy conversation that will convince you to start blogging if you’re not doing it already — or make you better at it if you are.

Ep.55: Why and How to Start Your Own Podcast

March 13, 2019 0:23:55

In an extremely meta podcast today, we talk about podcasting — and the top reasons you should start your own. We were prompted by an email from a Roundtables member asking why and how to do it.

Podcasting is growing by leaps and bounds — 51% of the population has listened to a podcast. Of those listening, 45% are likely to have an income of $250,000 or more — the kind of affluent demographic you want.

In this episode, Victoria and Mark kick around the reasons you should start your own podcast, with some tips on how to get started.

First thing, don’t get swayed by the idea that a podcast is too global to target your own local area. You don’t even have to cover remodeling in your podcast, as long as it’s sponsored by your company. Other things to consider include:

Making the time commitment
Being consistent
Deciding on a format
Writing a script
Equipment, set-up, and the costs
Content creation and what to cover
How to target the right market for you
The value of an internal podcast for your employees
The launch and initial push
How prepare your guests and make them comfortable
And much more …

Including Mark springing the lightning round on Victoria (completely ignoring what he just said about preparing guests, but whatever). If you start a podcast, or are already doing one, let us know in the comments below!

Ep.47: How Social Proof Can Ignite Massive Growth with Josh Kelly

January 16, 2019 0:26:15

Reviews are the lifeblood of any remodeling company. But are you getting the best social proof of your company’s performance from your clients?

Social proof is simply getting credit for what you’re already doing, says Josh Kelly. But it can spur your company to massive growth when done right.

In this episode, Josh talks to Victoria and Mark about social proof, how to use it in your business, and how it can help you weather some big changes coming to the remodeling industry.

Josh is a principal of RevuKangaroo.com, a review collection and distribution company. Before starting RevuKangaroo, Josh used the power of social proof, reviews, and referrals to grow his residential services business, Parker & Sons Inc., Phoenix, AZ, from $6.5 million to over $100 million in just 13 years.

The best way to grow your business is to keep and make more money with the customers you have — and have them tell others about their great experiences. But big changes are coming — Amazon and Google continue to make inroads into the remodeling space. If you’re not prepared to play with them, and not against them, you could lose out. And one of the ways to work with them is to show your social proof. Josh breaks down the three components of social proof, and has great tips on:

Making it easy for the customer to give you a review
Why you want an employee reviewed, not your company
How to ask for referrals in a personal way
Why “referral” is a dirty word, and what to use instead
How to screen reviews
Why identical reviews on multiple sites are bad
Why he spells Revu that way
And more…

If you’d like to learn more about RevuKangaroo or pick Josh’s brain, you can drop him an email at josh@revukangaroo.com.

Improve Your Remodeling Business in 2019 & Beyond

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Ep.43: The Power of Public Relations with Jim Zack

December 5, 2018 00:29:20

As remodelers, public relations is often an overlooked part of your marketing mix. We spend so much time and money on online marketing, PR is an afterthought. But with the web’s insatiable need for content, placing projects to get publicity should be a part of your strategy.

In this episode, Roundtables member Jim Zack tells Victoria and Mark how and why his firm gets up to 30 articles about projects published per year, creating an overall brand awareness in his market and beyond. His projects have appeared in such print and digital outlets as the Wall Street Journal, Dwell, and archdaily.com.

Jim’s president of Zack | de Vito Architecture + Construction, an Architect-led design/build company in San Francisco. His goal is to be the No. 1 design-focused design/build company in the Bay Area. The company’s work focuses on high-value residences, renovations, and new construction with a consciously modern focus.

The push to get published comes from his Architectural background, where getting published is always a primary goal. It translates well into driving the PR side of his design/build business, with PR as part of the overall marketing strategy. Jim shares his proven method for getting great PR coverage, including:

Capitalizing on awards
How to submit work to print and digital outlets
Finding your project niche and the outlets to use
Industry vs. consumer outlets
Why to pay for professional photography
Making your projects newsworthy
Choosing the right project to promote
Getting your clients on-board
Putting the right to publicize in your contract
And more…

To get an idea of just how much Jim’s work has been published —and publicized — check out this list, which only shows a part of his PR footprint.

Ep.40: Website Best Practices with Mark Harari

November 14, 2018 0:33:05

Your website could be the first time a prospective client encounters your remodeling business. What they find there may get you the job or send them off into the ether, never to be seen again.

In this episode, Victoria grills our own Mark Harari on how to make a remodeler’s website into a lead-generating machine. Mark’s fresh off his engagement at CoCon‘18 in San Diego, where he presented his popular seminar “Website Punchlist: A Live Blue-Tape Experience.”

Mark’s the chief marketing officer and vice-president of Remodelers Advantage, and the president of our sister company R/A Marketing. He’s an award-winning marketer with 20 years’ experience (18 years in construction), and specializes in translating strategic vision to tactical execution. He’s also the facilitator of the R/A Marketing Roundtables groups, which bring together top marketing pros from across the US and Canada.

To design an effective website, you have to determine its purpose. Some remodelers only want their sites to act as an online brochures — they send prospects to it. Mark makes the case that all remodelers, though, should have a lead-generating website — one that searchers find themselves. Then, you have to get actionable information out of them. Mark explains what works in marketing, especially digital marketing, including:

Why an email address is the most important information to get, and the easiest to get
How to integrate offline marketing and advertising with your online efforts
What a call to action is
Why growing your email list adds value to your company
How capturing leads future-proofs your business
The top technical mistakes in website design
Why you should make your photos searchable
Where not to put your social media icons
And a whole lot more…

Including just what a lead magnet is, and how to use it. Want to learn more about lead magnets? Get The Remodeler’s Guide to Lead Generation, which is not only a fantastic resource for getting more business, it’s a great example of a lead magnet, its landing page and the kind of information-gathering form that will convert. It’s all so incredibly meta, as the kids say.

Want Mark to look at your website?

If you’d like to submit your own website for a live blue-tape walkthrough, Mark will be presenting his popular seminar at KBIS on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 in Las Vegas!

Ep.38: Learning from the Trucking Industry To Solve Your Labor Shortage with Natalie Putnam

October 31, 2018 00:30:11

So many remodelers can’t reach their production potential because of the labor shortage. With the unemployment rate at a 20-year low, the struggle to find and retain good people is curbing business growth for small-business owners, across industries.

In this episode, Natalie Putnam tells Victoria and Mark about the hiring and retention strategies that have worked for her company in the trucking space, another industry struggling to find great people.

Natalie’s the chief commercial officer at Verst Logistics in Walton, KY. She’s a an industry expert, with 35 years of experience in supply chain, logistics, and trucking. Verst is growing at 24% a year, so Natalie regularly recruits employees and drivers for warehousing, fulfillment, and truck driving — in an area dominated by Amazon, FedEx, and DHL.

While wages play a significant role in recruiting and retention, it’s not the only lever you have, Natalie says. Your company culture can be a bigger factor in making employees accept your job offer. She shares other tactics that have worked for her in hiring and retaining good employees in a highly competitive market, including:

Expanding your target market — especially toward women
Using marketing for recruiting
The power of listening
Relaxing your requirements — how and why
Creating a Mentorship program
Why respect goes farther than cash
Job-site recruiting
The rise of robots
And much more…

Finding good people to work for you is a struggle. But taking some tips from another industry can help you prosper.

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