Showcase Your Building Company With Social Marketing

Many businesses struggle to identify ways that they can make good quality content to post online to promote their industry and company specialties.

These videos are a fantastic way to showcase a building company or general construction company. They are good ways to promote the skills of the photographer or video producer too. And while they show what those in the industry may be accustomed to seeing, these can be a real mystery to customers and those not associated with the ins and outs of that industry and how work is done.

This video showing construction of a retirement village is a splendid example of the work that goes into developing a site from an idea to a new home and community for the residents and those who will work there.  That's a fantastic memento of the project and the diligence that goes into a large development - a good thing for those contemplating a development in the future to be able to see. 

This video showcases the build for a substantial family home. My guess is this would be a great memento for anyone who builds a new home. You can bet the house on the fact that the owners would be showing this video off to everyone in their social circle, and that's promotion for the company you just can't buy - but you can use to promote your business. By sharing with the new owners, and with you own social networks. This kind of content is evergreen and can be reposted from time to time.

Content To Showcase Your Business

Every business needs to develop ways to make their products interesting to potential customers. This is one example of how technology can help to showcase your business. This could be used in many different ways to promote your business over a long period, but there are many others. 

It's no longer enough to just do good work, you need to be able to demonstrate your good work - to customers and for new business opportunities.  

Related posts:
Many hands make lighter work of social media for local businesses
Here's how to save time and get good content for your business online
Inbound marketing the new old fashioned way to do business
Financial planners: Social Marketing the key to keeping business on the books
Business writing not just on the social media wall
What every business should know about social media


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The Story Your Business Has To Tell

Yes even the most 'boring' company has a story to tell, and online is the place to tell it.

Business owners often confuse what they sell with the limit of what there is to say about their  business. That's not true but it is widely held as a belief.

The issue is not one of a business that has no story it is an issue of a lack of a creative approach to seeing the business as a customer might, and taking for granted those things that the business owner knows so well, but customers don't know.

You can't get much more boring than flour. Right?

Here's what one flour producer managed to make of their story.


What's your story?

Understanding your story is great for developing interesting marketing to capture the essence of what you do and what customer love about your business. But the secondary benefit is sometimes the main benefit. Understanding the story you have to tell, lets you understand who you want to know your story and who will care about it. This is a marker for a great customer. And getting great customers and keeping them happy is what business is all about. Whether that is online or in the street.

How can you develop your story and integrate this with your operations and marketing?

Now this is simple, but that doesn't mean it is easy. You might need some help and that's okay too.

What will you do today to make a start?

 
 Related
Develop A Strategy For Social Marketing
Check Your Website For Roadworthiness
Think Social Media Is No Use For Your Business? Think Again.
How To Get Your Local Business Noticed Online
Purpose Then Strategy - Case Study Starting Your Website
  Quick And Dirty Business Review


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A Business Valentine

 
February and all thoughts turn to Valentine's Day. Perhaps this is a way to avoid thinking about Christmas credit card bills that are arriving now. Either way and whether you subscribe to the whole notion of giving gifts and sweet words on this day it is as good an excuse as any to look to your customers and spread a little love.

Over on this blog there are a bunch of ideas for you to show you care and they make a good case with 10 Ways to Show Customers You Care: Valentine’s Day Marketing Ideas for Small Business. That's a  good start but maybe a better way to make use of this is to set this as your marker for making this a priority for your business to remember to love the customers every day.  Instead of doing something just on this one day, think about using this as a way to step up and send somethng unexpected to customers every week. 


Imagine if you were to pick 30 customers every week and send them a card to wish them well. To tell them how much you appreciate their business and imagine if you did that 52 weeks of the year, that's just 1560 customers you have delighted in the year.  Now I have to tell you, you can't send that many cards out and not get a response. Some will come visit you again, some may call, you may see them or not but you can be guaranteed, that they are talking about you - in a good way.  They are telling friends. They are mentioning it to family.  They are thinking about you when they need to buy that thing again. No question about it. 


Test it out. Go to my card shop and sign up for under ten bucks a month + card and mailing and see what happens. Mail out a bunch every week for one month and test it for yourself.  If you need some ideas on how to word the cards or how to make them personal message me and I'll be happy to talk with you on some ideas for your business. No charge. This is not hard stuff this is the easy, easy way to start to show customers you are thinking about them and you appreciate them.  You know, the statistics show that most business is lost, not through bad service but by a perception by the customer that they are not valued by the business. This is basic stuff to do when marketing your business. Start with showing gratitude to the people who have already supported you and your family, and your business. 

Consider this my Valentine to you. 


And let me know what happens! 



 Related
Develop A Strategy For Social Marketing
Check Your Website For Roadworthiness
Think Social Media Is No Use For Your Business? Think Again.
How To Get Your Local Business Noticed Online
Purpose Then Strategy - Case Study Starting Your Website
  Quick And Dirty Business Review

 
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Like to discuss your business? Lindy Asimus Design Business Engineering Get Help For Your Business Download your free 24 Page Action Plan Marketing Workbook! Subscribe to Actionbites Blog

Feel It - Say It.

Have you ever had that thought - you really like doing business with someone and you would like to tell them... but you stifle that thought and push it away and forget about it. It remains unsaid and they never know you feel that way.

We do that with employees too. We even do it with family members.

We even do it with our children.

 To me, this is a no-brainer solution for capturing that impulse as and when it happens and doing something useful with it.

Here are some examples...

You just sold this country property to a couple from the city. Or maybe you arranged the mortgage or facilitated the conveyancing or maybe you did a pest inspection. You may have not even done anything with them yet but would like to do business with them in the future since they have just moved to this area.

Send a card. Make it personal. Something you can't buy in a shop.

 

Your client or a service provider - or a friend - just treated you to a special event and you want to say thanks. Or maybe you took them somewhere and they participated and introduced you to someone you wanted to meet.

Send a card. Make it personal. Something you can't buy in a shop.

 

Your client just bought their new home. Maybe you sold it to them, or sold their old home or maybe you just supplied them with new curtains or a kitchen.  Or maybe they are a relative or your child and you want to send them a memento of this special date. 

 Send a card. Make it personal. Something you can't buy in a shop.

 

When people make a change in their life. They move, they downsize, they switch to a bigger home for their family to grow ... whatever it is, it feels nice when someone notices. If feels even better if they make an effort to mark the event. 

 Send a card. Make it personal. Something you can't buy in a shop.

You shop somewhere and like the service. Let them know! We know the numbers for people complaining are 10x what they are for customers passing on a compliment. Be one of the people who notice others Doing Good Things.  Stand out because you are thoughtful. Appreciation is high value currency. 

Send a card. Make it personal. Something you can't buy in a shop. 

 Like I said, this is a no-brainer but it takes some thought. Don't send ugly cards and don't send cards that say "I am just going through the motions and making no real effort." If you feel the urge - do it. Send a card that has some meaning. If you don't care, don't fake it.

If you do mean it ...

Send a card. Make it personal. Something you can't buy in a shop.

 This is a link to my card shop with Send Out Cards. Go play and see what you can come up with. If you need some ideas, email me and we can work out a strategy.

A real one of course. Nothing fake, make it personal, please!

Oh and by the way ... this is a step to incorporate into your marketing plan. You have one, right?


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The Secret Asset In Any Business

Business owners often work hard and try to think of everything in their business. Yet this element which can eventually become the biggest asset in the business... is overlooked completely.

What is it? It's your client or customer base.

Your secret business asset

View more presentations from Lindy Asimus Business Coach.

Corporations are getting amazingly good at collating information on customers now using bar codes on coupons and the like. Some might consider this "too much" information. For the small business owner though, while this level of data collection is less available, there is a lot more information available - and known to merchants - than ever get collected, stored and analyzed.

This information, on both a Prospect database, as well as a Customer Database that is set up for marketing purposes (and no, your customer list for invoicing won't do!), can be the key to retaining business, gaining new customers and growing referrals from customers and your networking partners. In fact, your networking partners can have their own database! This attention to detail can form part of what makes your business stand out as different.
This is crucial to take in hand and get right, since it will have a direct effect on the profit potential of the business and the price the business may sell for at some time in the future. It will also have a big impact on making the next buyer WANT to buy the business.

And don't forget, there is nothing more stress-relieving than happy long term customers, buying more and bringing their friends with them!


What can you do to get started?

Here are four things to get you started.

Create a system to capture information you have on prospects.
Improve your data collection process for customers.
Implement a customer 'touch' program.
Start!


Have more ideas? Let's see them!



PS Yes, love to work with clients on issues like these!- Lindy


Related:
Remember to build your mailing list
What to do next when you feel like giving up
Send cards for marketing and friends automatically using this Cloud app
Step up in your business - Here's how to improve performance
How to get your business found online

Thinking Of Getting A Business Coach?
Lindy Asimus
Design Business Engineering
Get Help For Your Business


Download your free 24 Page Action Plan Marketing Workbook!

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What You Do - And How You Do It. Product-ification!

I've been considering the different ways that busineses operate, some selling tangible, hold-them-in-your-hand products that are a size to compare, quality to compare and price range that you can compare with another at another store or website. Then I'm thinking about services, how do we make that as seemingly easy to buy, as easy to compare and importantly, how to package it up to make it easy to buy?

Australia Post must have been thinking along these lines with their recent poster campaign...



Well services aren't products, and while there may be some comparison in some industries, it is essential in order to qualify that value, to know that one is comparing like to like. For example, in many coaching, business development services, the coach/consultant will work with you to determine what is your next action to take... and leave you with it! In my experience, that is often where the wheels fall off, because the business owner doesn't already have a strategy to use, in order to DO that! That's precisely why they have stalled and not taken care of addressing that very issue!

Speak to anyone from the insurance industry and they will tell you "it's harder to sell intangibles..." Well, I'm not so sure that is true. Some people buy a drill just to have drill. For others like me, they buy a drill so they can stick a screw in the wall to hang something on. Now I don't much care about drills, or screws, or masonry, but if I want to fix something to that wall, then you can bet that I'm going to buy a drill to do it. The drill is a means to my end, not an end in itself. Products and services are not so different. We buy insurance, not because we love insurance, but because we love our family and we know that we have enough to contend with, just making ends meet at the best of times. We also know that we may not have enough in the case of an emergency of crisis proportions - or if we do, we might prefer to spend Someone Else's money at that time - not our savings!

Business coaching is like that. Marketing is like that. Business resources are like that. We don't necessarily want to spend the money, but if we know what spending that money can give us as an outcome... a good result... then we understand what is a priority and what is not. To us. As it must always be, a value according to what is important to us.

It really is up to us, we brave souls out there pushing our imaginery barrow full of intangible benefits, to communicate that value, to those who would seek it.





Thinking Of Getting A Business Coach?
Lindy Asimus
http://www.designbusinessengineering.com