But if you want homeowners to talk about you and your company and remember you and send referrals to you, there’s one more story you need to tell: your story.

People Are Fascinated By Home Improvement Contractors

Yes, this is true. Why do you think there are entire networks on home improvement? You are actually living the life that many homeowners want, providing skills and expertise that they only dream of. You are capable of doing things that many, many people are unable to.

Of course we know that the real world of home improvement is not anything like that depicted on TV. You are unable to complete an entire bathroom remodeling project in 3 days for under $5K.

Your clients and potential customers and social media followers believe you lead an interesting life. They would love to know what you are doing on a daily basis and how an actual home improvement contractor lives, works and beautifies homes.

Tell them your story. What drives you? What gets you out of bed in the morning, ready to build castles and create art? Why do you do what you do?

Share your passion for your work and insights into who you are. What fascinated you when you were growing up? Who influenced you? What experiences made you the contractor you are today? Share your feelings and beliefs, desires and dreams, and even your fears. Let people see that you are a real person, just like them. Every day you go to work, there are problems. There is drama. Share this with them. Warn them about the problems, create the ideal customer experience during a home improvement project and this will help them.

Find the dramatic story of your life and tell it. It’s what makes you unique and memorable. It’s what will help you stand out in the crowd. Not sure how to share these great stories, well Blog About It.

This is where we say, “Just Do It!” You do not have to be a professional writer, or novelist looking to win a Pulitzer.  Simply write what you know in your own voice. Be Yourself. You should always write to help your readers and potential customers. You do not need to impress the readers with your writing. Keep it simple and solve a problem, and people will continue to read your work. Each of us has our own personality and can express it through writing, so do not worry about every single word. Many visitors are more interested in the meaning of what is being said then the actual tone.

And once you get started, DO NOT go back and edit. Over editing a blog post will simply deter you from continuing to write.

Quick Tips To Get You Started

• Write a post on what homeowners should look for when hiring a contractor
• Bullet point the misconceptions about a home improvement project or service call
• Showcase projects you are working on and go into detail. Even have feedback from the homeowners.

Allow All Your Employees to Post

Treat your website and blog as an educational magazine in home improvement. Have different authors (your employees) write on a regular basis. This helps you cut down on your own work and shows some authorship and spreads the professionalism of your blog.

Blogging allows you to share with your potential customers and solve problems that they may have. There is also a strong search engine optimization benefit when you are writing your blog posts. So get started today and remember to share your blog posts with us.

With Every Door Direct Mail, you can reach homeowners in the area you want to work that matters most to your business: nearby neighborhoods. You don’t even need to know names or street addresses. You simply identify the neighborhoods you want to target, and your printed piece is delivered with the day’s mail to every address.

Benefits of Using EDDM Cards

• They Go Out When You Want To
• Just like radius mailings, you decide when they go out and to what neighborhood, zip code they are delivered to.
• It is Cost Effective & Simple
• You no longer have to go door to door handing out your doorhangers
• No mailing list needed
• Able to deliver Jumbo Cards at lower cost

Visit the USPS EDDM website, register your business as a retailer, search by radius, and select mapping option.

The advantages of using this new service means you can now afford to reach more new customers at a greatly reduced postal rates.

No More Canvassers Needed

If you are tired of hiring students or part time workers to hand out door hangers, or losing time doing it yourself, then EDDM is a solution that you can use on any project you are working on.  If you were to use EDDM instead, the post office will deliver your mail marketing message for you saving you all the time that you would have invested in delivering those door hangers. You can have them send out cards around projects you are working, areas you want to focus new business, etc.

Footbridge Media Can Help

Now with our new EDDM cards for contractors, we can assist you in the design and implementation of your next project.  Simply view our cards and place your order and one of our graphic designers will work with you in delivering the latest in Neighborhood marketing. Check it out today!

1)      By communicating with your customers on a daily basis you are showing that you care about them

2)      Awareness! Staying in touch with your clients is important

3)      Your company can benefit  from establishing an open forum for customer feedback

4)      Communication! Tell your clients your message, your services, advice them about home improvements, announce changes and display latest projects

5)      You know that your existing clients are more likely to use you again and refer other people

6)      Feature one of your clients or a successful project or testimonial. This shows gratitude for having such wonderful customers and how well your services fulfill their needs

7)      Distinguishing  your business from your competitors is beneficial

8)      It is beneficial to be seen as an expert in your industry

9)      Educated and informed customers make better customers

10)   Periodically advertise a promotion or special on your social media pages

11)   Retention! Through social media, your clients are reminded to purchase your services again in the future

12)   Promote and highlight your referral program

So make sure that throughout this year that your marketing plan consists of something that deals with social media and you will see the benefits for your company.

• Already using social media on a daily basis. You know the person. That person that posts their kids photos, comments on every news article and TV show.
• They should have a positive and optimistic personality
• Have 30 minutes or more a day to dedicate to your social media program
• Have complete understanding of your company missions, services, products and customer service procedures

The person who manages your social media does not have to be the owner of the company, or head of marketing, but they should be someone you can trust.  They should be able to engage with people who post on your social media sites, as well as contribute to local pages and provide responses on their pages in order to generate interaction.

This Does Not Mean That There Is Only One

Besides the social media manager who will spend 30 minutes a day setting up your 3-3-3 plan and engaging and responding to local pages as well, it should be a company policy that you allow all your employees admin and rights to post within social media.

Of course if you are worried about this, you should create a social media policy on what they can post and what not to post, but since you are a home improvement contractor, it is great to get constant interaction and updates from the field. Allowing your technicians and project managers access to your social media pages gives them a plethora of ideas to post on daily basis. This can include:

• Detailed photos of projects they are working on
• Videos of customers directly from their home
• Testimonials that are basically instantaneous tagged directly from the location they are working at
• Photos of service calls with exact problems, i.e. Has anyone seen a worse furnace?
• Photos of local spots or landmarks your technicians are passing or working at

Having your own technicians and project manages associated with your company’s social media is only going to grow your network and definitely increase your lead flow for your company.

So at the end of the day, every employee of your company is responsible of your overall social media strategy with one dedicated person managing the overall navigation.

Please feel free to share your social media strategies or any questions you have about social media management on our facebook page.

One major importance to social media, much like every other online marketing activity is to keep your marketing local. The first thing you do when you create your Facebook and Google+ pages is to simply begin following other local businesses. These can include other home improvement contractors, restaurants, accountants, realtors,  theme parks, etc. This will help, not only with engagement but can increase the number of followers of your page. For your afternoon post try to post something local, and tag the page you are making reference to. This can include:

• Specials/reviews at a local restaurant
• Reviews of a local watering spot
• Photos of a local theme park or local attraction
• A link to an interesting story in the local newspaper or local website

Remember to always TAG the page you are mentioning, and always, always ask a question to people who are going to see the post.

Now sometimes you may not have the time to find this information, and want something quick and dirty to add to your post count. Here are some suggestions when you are in a tight bind to add to your afternoon post:

Quotes

Everyone loves to read quotes, albeit funny, motivational, or poignant. Adding a quick quote is an easy way to continue that “top of mind awareness” and provide some useful thought at the end of the day. Some useful sites to get quotes of all types include:

• http://www.brainyquote.com/
• http://www.famousquotesandauthors.com/
• http://www.motivatingquotes.com/

Riddles

Just like quotes, people will always enjoy a riddle. You can use your afternoon post to post the riddle and then provide the answer the next afternoon when you post the next riddle. Some good sites to get riddles include:

• http://www.braingle.com
• http://www.freetimejokes.com/
• http://www.jokes4us.com/

So those are ideas for your afternoon post. Of course if you do not have the staff or the time, you can always check our own social media management program.

In continuation with the series, tomorrow we will discuss who actually should be managing your social media and ideas on increasing your posts per day.

• Client testimonials
• Employee birthdays
• Completed project photos

But of course, you do not have those every day, and you still need to post those 3 posts per day on your social media pages. Here are some ideas and links to use for your afternoon posts:

Recipes – Its afternoon and many people are already thinking about dinner. Post a recipe in the afternoon. Here are some sites that you can use, or even better post some of your employee’s favorite recipes and meals, or some local and regional dishes:

• http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/
• www.allrecipes.com
• http://www.food.com/

Remember: Always ask a question when posting on your social networks. Some good questions for this topic would be:

• Do you have a better recipe?
• What is your favorite dish, dessert, chili, etc?

A Picture Says a Thousand Words

Some posts can simply be photos. This is simple to do, as uploading a photo is much more easier then having to type or share some information. Some ideas for afternoon photos include:

• Photos of your office
• Photos of your employees
• Photos of what projects you are working on
• Photos of a tech on the latest project service call (How Bad Is It?)
• Photos of a tech with a homeowner’s pet (Social media people love pets)
• Photos of something local, i.e. landmark, restaurant, etc.
• Photos of silly things. Some great sites for this include:
  • http://www.bored.com/photos/
  • http://uberhumor.com/

Simply posting a photo and asking an question to interact will definitely increase your social media presence and engage customers with you.

Provide The Simple Home Tip

This is where your expertise comes into play.  Include topics and short tips that homeowners would find interesting. This would include money saving tips, health, consumer, and even do-it-yourself pointer, like how to repair damaged wallpaper for under two dollars, how to have the greenest grass in the neighborhood, how to get rid of hiccups fast, and how to get your home ready for winter.  Research has shown that these are the exact type of topics that people will find interesting, and probably react to. If you cannot come up with your own “simple home tips”, there are plenty of sites that you can use for inspiration:

• http://www.goodhousekeeping.com
• http://www.quick-home-remedy.com
• http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/

But as a home improvement contractor, you should be able to come up with some Do-It-Yourself tips that you can post. Education to your client base is always a good thing.

That should provide you enough information for ideas and posts for your afternoon posts. Once again, if you have any company information, or local news, then always post that.

Tomorrow we will discuss the late afternoon posts, which should include employee participation, local news and more.

As always, if you believe that managing your social media is too much or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us or check our own social media management program.

Just ask your wife, your teenage son.

They are there, and thus your business should be there as well. So, much like every new technology that comes about, you need to utilize it, need to contribute, and you really, really do not want to….

I understand. I feel your pain.

What I am going to provide you are simple ways to manage your social media company page without having to fret or wonder on what to post and what you believe is important. Though “being personal” is always the best option, this series will give you an automated way to manage your social media presence with minimal effort.

Most home improvement company pages, i.e. Facebook and Google+  are boring and no one engages with them because all they do is ramble about themselves or industry specific news . What you may find interesting, trust me, your clients do not.

Another problem that is being seen is that many home improvement contractors are just simply posting one continuous sales pitch, which will cause people to really avoid your company. Not only is this type of social media perceived as a crass attempt to sell your services, it can actually tarnish your online reputation.

Engaging in your own social media program is much like our clients who use our Rocket Referral Program.  Provide information to your audience that interests them and they will engage with you. Avoid sales tips and industry information, but instead engage your audience with what they want to hear and find out about.

Listed below are enough ideas, information and tips to keep your social media campaign current and up to date and deliver maximum interaction with your audience.

The 3/3/3 Plan

• 3 posts
• 3 times a day
• 3 hour increments

For social media it is suggest that you post on your networks a minimum of 3 posts per day in 3 hour increments. This way you are posting morning, afternoon and evening, when people may be looking at their own social media page.

Through this course, which I will continue later, we have found a list of sites and information that can help you post throughout the day and still not have to reveal any personal information.

Listed below are some ideas that you can use for your first post of the day:

1. Day Of The Year There are many sites out there, but for some reason someone decided that each day of each year is dedicated to something or other. This is a good idea to simply post what that day is, along with a photo, and ask your audience what they are doing for the day. (MAJOR TIP: Whenever you post something, always end the post with a question) A good website for finding out the Day of Year is http://www.daysoftheyear.com/
2. What Happened Today: A brief post on the history of the day.  Provide information of what happened on that actual date. You can use all the major events, some obscure ones, or even ones that pertain to your location or industry Some good sites to get information include:
   1. This Day In History:
   2. http://www.datesinhistory.com/
   3. http://www.historynet.com/today-in-history

These two ideas should be able to cover your morning post that you do. Tomorrow we will discuss your afternoon post and what should be posted, along with some ideas on integrating your employees into your social media campaign.

Of course if you don’t even want to bother with this, you can check out our own social media prorgam

Example Cover Photo And Profile Picture

Back in September of last year, Facebook announced a new look to profiles. They called it “Timeline”. And now, the new Timeline layout is coming to Facebook Pages for businesses and brands on March 30th. Here’s a few things to prepare yourself and your business page for Timeline.

New Profile Picture Size And Cover Photo

In an effort to make a clean design, Facebook has changed the profile size to a square photo and they encourage this to be your logo. Something that is directly connected with your company that is recognizable immediately to your fans.

And now with Timeline, we can add what is called a cover photo. A cover photo is a banner image placed at the top of your Facebook page. This offers a great opportunity to display latest announcements and achievements that will get people’s attention as soon as they visit your page. In preparation, it would be good to have a cover photo ready for the 30th as this will leave a blank spot at the top of your page that could be utilized.

Also, Facebook does have a few rules for what can go into your cover photo. Promotional mentions such as “20% off” and coupons and contact information such as your phone number or address or website are not advised. It’s also not advised to have any call to action to “Like our page” or “Tell your friends” is something that should be avoided.

Private Messages

Here’s a feature that you will need to add to your list of things to monitor for your business, and that is, fans can now send private messages to your company. This is similar to how messages work between profiles, well now Facebook is bringing it to your company page. Allowing someone to send you messages to your company is a great way to stay in communication with your fans in a personal way, but keep it in one place with all your other company notifications.

Highlighted Posts, Milestones, And Pinned Posts

So this is probably where things get confusing, so let’s just go over them one by one.

1. Highlighted Posts – The Facebook Timeline shows posts made by you in two columns. Posts show up on the left and right, but you can highlight a post that you make, which will make it extend the width of both columns. I was really looking more for a color change of sorts when they used the term “highlight” but making a post take up more space is a good way to bring attention.
2. Milestones – This feature is great way to tell the history of your company. With milestones, you can add events and goals that have been hit by your company, at anytime in the past, So you can set the date of when the company was started, or the time when you hired your 10th employee, or moved into a new office building, or anything that you would think your fans and customers would find interesting.
3. Pinned Posts – Posts that you  want to feature for a few days can now be pinned to the top for 7 days, no matter how long ago you posted it. It’s a great way to bring attention to possibly an on-going project or an event that you announced a while ago, but want to make mention of it again.

Focus On Your Posts And Recommendations

A major change that is coming with Timeline that we’ll see if it helps or hinders businesses in the future, is the way that posts by others and recommendations are displayed on your page. People that come to post on your wall are all grouped together in a box on your Timeline no matter if you have updated your page after them or not. So the focus is on the posts that you create. Making comments on your posts all the more valuable.

And I’ve written in the past about getting reviews and recommendations for your company and Facebook is making this easier and more beneficial. When someone likes your page, it will ask them if they want to leave a recommendation about your company. With Timeline, recommendations are right at the top for everyone to see as soon as they visit, so getting recommendations is not only easier with Facebook asking them, but it’s more important now that it’s in a prominent place.

You can activate the new Timeline layout right now, but on March 30th, every Facebook page will be moved over to this new layout.

Any questions? Leave them in the comments below, and I’ll be happy to answer any question that this post may have sparked.

Always send out a “Thank You” note after every service call or completed project.  It can benefit you and your company in so many ways:

• This is a cost effective way to market and generate referrals from your clients. You can purchase a box or custom order thank you cards with your logo.
• It shows, as a business owner that you care about your clients, by taking the time to write a brief note of thanks.
• Contractor marketing is about building relationships, and taking the few minutes out of your day to write a Thank You note to one of your past clients will pay off in the long run.

Here are some tips on when writing Thank You notes to your past clients:

• Handwrite your notes: This is important. Anyone can send out some digital canned response. As the owner of your company, you should personally hand write each note.
• Be descriptive: Mention something about the project, and tell them why you are thankful for working on it.
• Mention more business: Many home improvement contractors offer a variety of services. If you installed windows for a client, then you should make a quick mention that you also offer other services as well.

Sending thank you notes is one of the most powerful ways to get attention, become memorable and to stimulate client referrals and repeat business. Every contractor should take a few minutes out of their day to send thank you notes, and this simple marketing strategy will help you increase referrals and long time clients.