There’s a lot of smart marketers out there who spend vast sums of MONEY trying to explain to you how THEIR system works, why it works, and why you should buy it.

And then there are a lot of smart marketers out there who spend vast sums of time trying to explain how their system works and why you should buy it.

Let me make it cheap and easy for you, marketing consists of satisfying a need or removing pain. After that, it’s all bullshit.

Most contractors I speak to tell me marketing is complicated, it’s hard, it is like the worst thing they have to do in their day. Don’t feel bad, the best marketer in the world said 50% of his marketing worked, he just didn’t know which 50%.

Let me also make it easy for you

I’m going to try and make it easy for you. I’m going to speak in football analogies because, well, I like football and I think most of my clients/readers/visitors/friends like football too.

There are three facets to a complete football team; offense, defense and special teams

• Offense
• Defense
• Special Teams

Your offense is built on a passing game and a running game, and that is what we are going to focus on today because that is what we need to launch the year properly.

Your passing game consists of airing it out, in our case, that’s advertising. The act of spending money on promotion. Right now, there is no better platform to air it out on than Facebook. Facebook marketing is THE place to generate leads for contractors.

So, that’s your air attack. Let’s talk ground game!

Your ground game is the long slog of marketing. It is the unglamorous side of the business that doesn’t get a lot of attention but does a lot of the heavy lifting. Things like a solid logo and a decent website are the foundation to a strong running game but blogging is the Jim Brown of marketing.

Blogging is without a doubt, your best long-term strategy for developing leads online, period.

It’s the foundation of any online campaign and should be constantly cared for and fed. Blogging educates, and people today are self-educating then buying from the very people who taught them.

But like a good running game, it takes time to establish. If you think you are going to post a blog today and get leads tomorrow, you are sadly mistaken. If your time horizon is months and years in the future, then you are on the right path.

The defense is your reputation. Guard it with your professional life. There’s plenty of topics on the subject, so I won’t go into it here, but be prepared.

The special teams of marketing is an opportunity. Finding opportunities to capitalize on means talking to the 200-400 households in your “farm” that should hear from you all the time. Sponsor little league, wrap your vehicles so everyone knows what you do, and be active in your community. That’s where opportunities come from.

The Contractor’s Toolbox

We provide construction marketing for $99/month. We have three campaigns, Apprentice, which is social media management, Journeyman which includes social media and blogging, and Master, which gives you social media, blogging, and a fantastic website. Click here to find out more about The Contractor’s Toolbox.

Running Game