Articles Tagged with ''marketing''

Direct mail can be the most lucrative marketing tool you’ll ever use — if you use it correctly. Yet most plumbers waste wads of money on ineffective mailings because they don’t know how to do it right. Direct mail offers the advantage of laser-like targeting, where you can pick your list exactly.

The first cautionary bit of advice I received from my dad was that I learn how to “avoid stepping over dollars to pick up dimes.” I was just a kid getting started in the family business. This seemed confusing to me so I asked him, “What does that mean?”

I’d hear, “This is going to hurt you worse than it hurts me,” just before getting my rearward region spanked into next week. Whenever I used to hear this phrase — which was shockingly regular — I used to think, “Then why do it?” I mean, can’t we spare some pain for both of us by overlooking that little melted-crayon-in-the-Easy-Bake Oven-incident?

As contractors, we love spending money on any new tools we can get our hands on for the trades we do, but not so much when it comes to stepping up and investing in other powerful business technology tools.

 “I’m building my business by word of mouth.” Lots of us have heard that phrase — and even said it.  

 Ever wonder why the most irritated people always call you? Actually, it could have less to do with you than it does with the kind of contracting business you’re in.  

According to recent data from Sageworks, profitability for private companies is at the highest level in a decade. The largest sector of business happens to be construction, which comprises plumbing and heating contractors. The primary reason for this increased profitability? A growing number of plumbing and heating businesses have finally embraced the Internet.