Archive for the ‘Internet Marketing’ Category

HVAC Marketing 101: Use Your Head, Not Your Knee – Contracting Business

By Elaina Burdick

Are you a reactive marketer? Let me ask you a few questions to find out

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you, my friend, are doing reactive, knee-jerk marketing.

Typically, the result of reactive marketing is a lot of dollars spent, with little to no ROI. HVAC marketing works best when it's proactive, strategic and repetitive.

Creating an annual marketing plan for your business is the best way to avoid knee-jerk marketing. Easy enough to do, even for the least marketing-savvy among us. You may not have the resources to facilitate every aspect of your plan, but you can save yourself a lot of trial and error not to mention money by investing one day putting a plan together. Your marketing plan should include the following:

Heres how you begin: by writing down some goals. Start with four or five of them. Think big picture. What do you want for your company, and for yourself? You can say things like, I want more service contracts or I want to double my ductless sales or I want to hire a bookkeeper so my mother-in-law doesnt have to come in to the office anymore. All of these goals are perfectly valid. (Although some may be more popular at home than others!) Whatever yours are, write them down. Because if you havent defined your goals, then how can you possibly hope to achieve them

Give yourself a time frame for each of your goals

Next, lets apply marketing strategy to your goals. Follow a process I call the 7 Steps to HVAC Marketing to build a marketing plan, budget and schedule for your company

Here are the steps, listed in the order they should be tackled

Step 1: Branding. Your brand is your logo, but its so much more than your logo. Its the look, the feel, the colors, the fonts, the theme and the marketing message. All of this together makes up your brand. Your brand separates you from the pack. Its what your customers recognize. Its how they learn to trust you and ultimately why theyll spend money with you. Make sure you develop a solid brand for your company before you do anything else! Its the most important, foundational element of your company marketing.

Step 2: Website. Your website is the backbone of all your marketing efforts. Use it to help achieve your goals. Want to sell more ductless? Then put a ductless tile ad on the home page. Want more service contracts? More plumbing leads? Then for heavens sake, promote it on your website!

As I travel the country teaching HVAC marketing, I get the sense that were all very consumed with getting people to our websites, these days. I see contractors spending an alarming amount of money on SEO and Pay-Per-Click to get as many people as possible to visit their websites. And dont get me wrong, a high amount of traffic is desirable. But lets not lose sight of why we want people to visit our websites. We want them to call us, right? So its equally important to make sure youre giving people what theyre looking for when they arrive at your site. If your website is heavy on text, short on visuals, and doesnt function well, consumers will quickly click over to a competitors site. Because heres the sad truth, folks: people dont read anymore. Its the result of being bombarded by constant visual stimulation everywhere we go. (Even grocery store carts have advertising on them now.) Take a look at your website. Does it very clearly say WHO you are (your branding should run throughout your site), WHAT you do (in the form of equipment photos), HOW to contact you (big, bold phone number) and WHAT your offers are (lets see an equipment offer and a service offer on the home page)? If not, make some modifications, like, yesterday.

Step 3: Existing Customers. These are the low hanging fruit. Easiest people to market to, cheapest people to market to, best ROIneed I say more? Dont assume that the lady you installed ductless for last year knows that you also do plumbing. She doesnt. Dont assume that the nice young couple you did a gas conversion for knows that you also do insulation. They dont. Cross market your services via a newsletter (printed or emailed) to these folks. And hit them pre-season with a postcard reminder to get their clean and check done before you get swamped. Remember, you get 80 percent of your sales, directly or indirectly, from your existing customers. (Youll spend most of your marketing dollars going after that other 20 percent!)

Step 4: Define Your Target Market. Pick a few towns that make sense for you to target (i.e. convenient to travel to, opportunity to gain market share, etc.). Then think about who your ideal customer is. How much money do they make? How old are they? How much is their home worth? How old is their home? Decide who you have the best shot of earning business from. Because you only want to target those people not everyone in that zip code.

Step 5: Target New Customers in a Strategic Way. Theres no cookie cutter approach to targeting new customers, so Step 5 is a good time to ask a professional HVAC marketer for some help. But heres a few things to keep in mind: prospective customers need to see/hear your name eight times before they even remember it! Sending one postcard to 10,000 homes wont produce as many leads as sending postcards to the same 2,000 homes, five times. Repetition matters in marketing. A lot.

Stack the deck by combining marketing vehicles. For example: use online marketing in the same towns where youre launching a direct mail campaign. The goal here is for consumers to go to the internet already looking for you! Market to these folks in season. I know, I know youre already busy. But let me ask you this? Why do you wake up at 4am to go fishing? Because thats when they are biting! If you want to build your customer base, you need to market to consumers when they are most interested in your services.

And it goes without saying, but Im going to say it anyway: track everything you do with call tracking phone numbers on all your marketing pieces and with Google Analytics on your website.

Step 6: TOMA. Billboards, TV, Radio and other top of mind advertising should be approached after all other direct marketing efforts (Steps 1 5) have been addressed, because theyre expensive, not easy to track and should primarily be used as branding vehicles. We cant expect the kind of direct leads from most TOMA initiatives that we get from targeted marketing. And keep in mind, just because someone stops you in the grocery store to say they saw you on TV doesnt necessarily mean theyre going to buy a furnace from you. However, if you have the budget to incorporate TOMA into your marketing plan, by all means, do. But make sure you do your homework by comparing media options dont just buy a package because it sounds like a good deal. Ask your media rep to find ways to tie your advertising to local community and relevant media events.

Step 7: Make a Plan. Create a written document including these steps. Include a listing of your goals, a calendar with your target dates, the business activities you need to take, your plan for tracking your leads, a budget for each initiative and an overall budget. The goal here is to spend your marketing money wisely not spend more of it.

Now just follow your plan. As the year progresses, refer to your plan and your goals to determine if youre on track. Look over your analytics and check your call tracking reports. You dont have to be an expert to begin to notice trends. At the end of the year, calculate your cost per lead to determine what worked well, what needs some adjustment and let the tracking data youve collected dictate how youre going to make better marketing decisions next year.

Then, because goals and budgets evolve, start the process all over again.

Youll find that a marketing plan helps you stop reacting to all the advertising offers, gimmicks and media reps that find their way into your office throughout the year. Having a solid marketing plan also means you wont need to worry about what your competitors are doing. Youll simply follow your plan and let them react to you.

While there are certainly more aspects to HVAC marketing than I can possibly cover in this article, the 7 Steps is a great place to start. Follow them and youre on your way to achieving your goals by marketing your business with strategic thinking and planning and by keeping your knee under the table, where it belongs.

Elaina Burdick is one of theEGIA Contractor University faculty members. EGIA Contractor University has assembled the most experienced and dynamic faculty ever put together. Faculty members have personally built some of the most successful contracting companies in America. Learn more about EGIA Contractor University and EGIA membership, offering contractors all the tools they need to run and grow a successful contracting business, while freeing up time and money.

Burdick is the President of EB&L Marketing, a full-service HVAC marketing firm. Burdick grew up around HVAC and recognized that residential contractors with their limited time and marketing training needed help promoting their companies. This led her to open a marketing company that is 100 percent focused on HVAC. For more than 25 years, she has worked with manufacturers, distributors and local contractors to effectively market their businesses and grow their bottom line, by building their brand and avoiding common marketing missteps. EB&L provides marketing solutions for 1-man start-ups as well as large, multi-vehicle dealerships. But by far, educating contractors on appropriate ways to promote their companies is the part of her job she enjoys the most. You can contact her at [emailprotected]

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HVAC Marketing 101: Use Your Head, Not Your Knee - Contracting Business

Bowl-A-Con offers unique experience for comic fans, bowlers alike – Dearborn Press and Guide

Bowling and comic cons typically dont go together.

Fans of one are typically not fans of the other; but for one weekend the two worlds will collide in Livonia, thanks to some people who had a vision and founded the first Bowl-A-Con.

Show owners Paul Heilman and his wife, Susan Maynard, of Dearborn Heights came up with the idea for the mash-up show, and Downriver resident Mark Maxwell signed on to promote and help run it.

Between them they have spent nearly seven months bringing people on board with the idea.

Its going to be a blast, Maxwell said. Its a combination that hasnt been tried around here before.

The show will come to Woodland Lanes, 33775 Plymouth Road, in Livonia, on July 14, 16 and 16. The show is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. all three days.

Admission is $10 for ages 13 and older and $4 for ages 12 and younger. Admission includes free open bowling, and access to the comic con. Shoe rental is included in the door price.

Heilman also is known as Paul Steven Sin in the entertainment industry. He is well known for his Freddy Krueger cosplay and for performing at area haunted attractions.

I get these ideas that just pop into my brain, he said.

Heilman said being able to work with Gary and Tom Winkle, co-owners of the bowling center, was key to planning the first Bowl-A-Con.

Ive known Tom since I was 7 years old, he said. I had to sell him on the idea, but once he was on board we hit the ground running.

Maxwell said Heilman is a marketing machine when it comes to being on the street, as he goes out in costume nearly every weekend and talks to people, passes out fliers and generally just dazzles people.

He does what many people cant do, Maxwell said. He goes around and meets people. He is the dream street team from the 80s.

Maxwell, on the other hand, deals with the online marketing.

My side is the new school, he said. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat. Thats how we work well together.

Crowds are hard to estimate for a first show, but Heilman said that online over 7,000 people have indicated they may come out, plus others who hear about it from events and advertising.

Were hoping to get 300 people or more each day, he said, but we can handle a lot more. Were hoping to get a couple thousand.

Vendors for the show include comic book and toy dealers, custom crafters, jewelry makers and much more.

The Podbros Podcasting Network will have at least one live show as Media Litter Sandwich records the convention. They also might record other live shows over the weekend.

There also will be a cosplay contest with prizes for children and adults, bowling with bigfoot as Maxwell dons his Billy Bigfoot costume and more.

This will be the first comic con run by Heilman and Maynard, but Maxwell has been helping to run shows for years.

All three have time in the entertainment industry, though. Maxwell is the creator and star of Crazy Mark TV, an internet and local access show that focuses on a little bit of everything from cosplay to the truly macabre, while Heilman and his wife have spent years making movies, music and more.

Heilman has seven gold albums to his credit, multiple movie roles and is in the process of publishing his first comic book.

He started in the entertainment business when he was 12. Heilman also has been a model in several print campaigns and in fashion shows.

Woodland Lanes has been owned by the Winkles since 1974 when their father bought the business. Al Winkle, 90, still works at the alley two days a week.

For more information on the show, visit Bowlacon.com.

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Bowl-A-Con offers unique experience for comic fans, bowlers alike - Dearborn Press and Guide

How This Immigrant Created a Successful Marketing Agency – Entrepreneur

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Darko Dodig fled Sarajevo with his family to escape the chaos of the Bosnian War. When they arrived in Canada in 1996, he was in fifth grade.

Fast forward to 2017. Dodig is the proud owner of Wisevu, a thriving web-design, developmentand internet-consulting agency based in Mississauga, Ontario. The company'songoing dedication to gaining exposure for the Canadian business landscape has been monumental for many small companies.

The entrepreneurial spirit already was strong in Dodig's family before they set foot in North America. His father owned a restaurant in Medugorje, and his grandparents operated a vineyard.

I think if parents want their kids to become entrepreneurs, they must show them that entrepreneurial spirit by leading by example, Dodig says. When we arrived in Canada, the government provided us with financial aid until my parents found work. Originally, my father found a job in a factory but later went to school to become a certified financial planner. My mother worked part-time while she studied English, then opened her own business called Prestige Dcor.

Related: The Immigrant Entrepreneurs Behind Major American Companies

"In Bosnia, word of mouth was the main form of advertising. In Canada, online marketing has become the standard of business growth."

"My mothers business wasnt doing very well at first. She was primarily advertising with fliers, newspaper adsand magazines. After a few years, her friend built a basic website using Microsoft FrontPage and showed me and my brother how to manage it. This project is what made us fall in love with online marketing. We went on to study computer engineering and business marketing at Humber College. Upon completing our program at Humber, we went on to York University to study business marketing for another three years. Throughout our studies, we were heavily involved in web development and SEO."

"Shortly after we finished school. We were taking a few online classes and reading countless articles on digital marketing to learn everything we could. Within a year of implementing our mothers website, her business was booming. This is when we realized that we would start Wisevu.com, offering the same services that helped our mother's business succeed, to other local businesses who were in trouble."

"Our favorite project has been our mothers business: Prestige Dcor.

"We were able to take her struggling company and give it exposure it deserves. Now, its become one of the most successful window treatment stores in the greater Toronto areas. We did all this while we were in York University Business Marketing program. We used Prestige Dcor on every school project we could in order to come up with strategies to make our mothers business a success. This allowed us to get input from our experienced professors and develop a system that would allow us to not only help our motherbut launch our own business, WisevuInc."

Related: 3 Tips for Choosing the Right SEO Agency

"We have noticed the local online market in Canada --which Wisevu.com specializes in -- is much more competitive than comparable U.S.markets. Additionally, Canadian websites are much more up-to-date than our American counterparts. It seems that Canadians have embraced the online market and have started investing heavily into online marketing due to the fact that Canadas per capita internet usage is fourth in the world, while the U.S.A. is 13th. Although this provides us with an incentive to sell to the U.S., Wisevus specialization is on the local Canadian market. This has given us a competitive advantage over other web agencies.

"Due to the drastic decline of the Canadian dollar, Wisevus costs have increased in 2016 and 2017 by about 25 percent when compared to 2015. Since around 80 percentof Canadian exports are to the U.S.A., we are very dependent on the U.S. dollar. We have been forced to cut down on outsourcing work to the United States as well as other countries. Also, we try to keep the dollar within Canada as much as possible, even if it means paying higher wages to Canadian workers. At Wisevu, we use PayPal to pay for many transactions. Just recently, the Canadian dollar was $0.70 compared to the U.S. dollar on PayPal. To put this more into perspective, for a $7,000 USD transaction we would pay $10,000 CAD. This makes a big difference to our bottom line!

"Despite these market uncertainties, Wisevu is happy to say our clients have remained satisfied and loyal. Our company is steadily growing each year. This is thanks to our focus on the Canadian market and working with local business owners to implement the most effective, local online-marketing strategies available."

Related: 10 Ways for Small Businesses to Dominate Local Markets

Sheila Eugenio is the founder and CEO of Media Mentions, a leading PR and digital marketing agency.Before founding Media Mentions, Eugenio has consulted with several mediums to large businesses onhow to position their brand and...

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How This Immigrant Created a Successful Marketing Agency - Entrepreneur

Naper Settlement welcomes new director of marketing – Positively Naperville

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Above / On June 8, 2017, during the first Naperville Municipal Band Summer Concert of the season in Central Park, Naper Settlement Director of Marketing Ben Nau took the stage on behalf of the citys outdoor history museum, the raffle sponsor of the evening.Nau is pictured with theyoung team of raffle moderators and NMB member RichardPugliese.

Benjamin Nau

Naper Settlement, an outdoor history museum, is pleased to announce that Benjamin Nau, an experienced professional in marketing and graphic design, has been named the museums new Director of Marketing. With more than 15 years of experience, Nau has worked with numerous clients to create and implement traditional and digital marketing strategies, and most recently served as Director of Ecommerce for Killerspin, a luxury table tennis brand.

In his new role, Nau will be responsible for developing and executing a marketing and communications strategy. He will help build, manage and integrate the organizations brand in all aspects of marketing communications, including digital, print, social media and will raise the overall awareness of the organization.

Benjamin encompasses the skills and expertise that we feel are important in moving our capital campaign forward and improving the museums digital presence, said Naper Settlements President and CEO, Macarena Tamayo-Calabrese. Were excited to have him join the team, and look forward to his contributions in advancing our institution.

Nau began working for Killerspin in 2015 where he developed and executed all aspects of the sales process. Nau previously worked for project44, a Chicago-based startup that provides all-encompassing software packages that help track shipments for the transportation industry. Nau assisted the company in creating its branding, messaging and marketing strategy. Nau received his MBA in marketing and internet marketing from Benedictine University, and has a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design and a minor in marketing from Illinois Wesleyan University.

I am excited to help increase the digital footprint of Naper Settlement and take advantage of technology to help create new experiences, said Nau. My aim is to support the museum in its goal to serve the community by creating excellent marketing that increases awareness.

Nau has two sons, ages 6 and 9, with his wife, Jennifer. In his free-time, Nau enjoys gardening, coaching his sons baseball teams and competing in triathlons, where hes an Ironman finisher.

Story submitted byEmma Vodick for Naper Settlement.

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Naper Settlement welcomes new director of marketing - Positively Naperville

Morristown Women in Business & Artist Baker Host July 11 Networking Luncheon – Morristown Green

Join Morristown Women in Business on July 11 for lunch at the Artist Baker, located at 16 Cattano in Morristown. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door. The event runs from noon-2pm.

Thespeaker this will be Pam Ann Aungst, M.B.A., President of Pam Ann Marketing, LLC, who is widely recognized as an expert in search engine optimization (SEO) and digital advertising analytics. A self-proclaimed geek, Pam began studying computer programming at 6 years old, started creating websites in 1997 and has been working professionally in the field of e-commerce since 2005. Referred to by Sprout Social as a Twitter Success Story, she harnessed the power of social media to launch her own agency in 2011. Pam has been interviewed by publications such as Internet Retailer magazine and CBS Small Business Pulse. She has published articles in top internet marketing news sources, and guest lectures at prestigious universities such as NYU. Pam was recently honored with several awards for her small business leadership and non-profit advocacy work, including being named one of Jerseys Best Marcom Professionals Under 40.

Pam holds an M.B.A. in Marketing from Regis University, where she learned the cornerstones of traditional marketing strategy. She now combines that with her more than 10 years of experience in search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, and digital advertising analytics to help brands bridge the gap between big-picture marketing strategy and solid data-driven technical execution.

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Morristown Women in Business & Artist Baker Host July 11 Networking Luncheon - Morristown Green