Contractor Marketing on a Busy Schedule
Marketing efforts are never about one company or one person doing all of the heavy lifting. There is only so much you can do without "boots on the ground" to mine for completely unique, always fresh content. That's why we ask our clients to help us out by providing us with pertinent company news, reviews, and pictures of their work. But when your main concern is running your business, it can be tough to make time to build your contractor marketing on a busy schedule.
Let's review a few things to do so that you can get your work done and market your business at the same time. Maximizing your time with these ideas will help your business to grow without having to spend all day doing it.
Dedicate Your Time
Finding a work-life balance can be difficult enough. Just as you need to take the occasional moment to rest, it's important to carve out at least a few minutes for the sake of marketing your company and growing your business for the future.
It is difficult to dedicate on-the-clock time to growing your business when you are already so busy working your business. But every business has it's slow times – It's worth the extra investment now to make sure you can stay busy later.
Even if It is Only for a Few Moments
When you have a full schedule, you can't spend all day worrying about fresh content for your website or generating locally relevant social media posts. You make time for other important aspects of your maintaining your business, and even when you are in your busiest season. Even if it is multi-tasking over your morning coffee to start – get yourself used to having dedicated "marketing time."
It could be as simple as taking five minutes at the end of a work day to send a quick email to a recent client to thank them for your using your services and to ask for feedback in the form of online reviews.
Turn It Into a Habit
Whether you're a roofer or painter or anyone in between, you didn't get good at your craft without a little practice. Forcing yourself to spend a little bit of time each day wearing your marketing hat will make the process easier over time. When you can establish those few minutes here and there as a habit – a routine that you are committed to each and every day – you'll naturally get more efficient and effective with your time.
Think Big But Work Small
Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will your empire. Getting a single review on Google may not give you a dramatic bump up in the "3 Pack" of Local Listings on Google's search engine results pages. But get one good quality review a week and after a year, with over 50 reviews under your belt, your listing is looking pretty good. Likewise, your first Individual Project Post may not get your phone ringing off the hook – but establishing a pattern of regularly posted, 100% fresh content will help grow your site and improve performance. By taking small steps, contractor marketing on a busy schedule becomes more attainable.
A lot of online marketing is about the cumulative effect – Lots of small planned steps and deliberate actions that will slowly build your success.
But It Still Won't Be Easy
In full disclosure, writing this blog post too way too long for me to complete – Business picks up, things happen, and today's challenges sometimes do have to take precedence over planning for tomorrow – but getting back into the groove of getting the work done is what's important. Having your habits and a system of marketing-on-a-busy-schedule in place will help to ensure you stay on track, even when you're juggling all of your responsibilities in peak busy season.
I always say that "Being busy is a good problem to have", but even in the busiest of times, it is still important to have an eye on the horizon. Remember that while times are good now – the inherent ups and downs, the slow times, and the sometimes unexplainable quiet periods will still pop up. Continually marketing your company will help you to fill in those gaps and carry your business through to the next level.
About Chris Lonergan
Chris Lonergan has over 12 years of contractor marketing experience with Footbridge Media. With a background in web design, print design, content creation, and online marketing, Chris is focused on providing quality marketing and business solutions in the construction and service industries - helping small business owners to more efficiently manage their companies and grow their operations.
Chris Lonergan has previously contributed to and/or been featured in PM Magazine (Plumbing & Mechanical | Contractors x Engineers), theNEWS (ACHR - Air Conditioning | Heating | Refrigeration), Service Roundtable's blog, inPAINT Magazine, the SMB Marketing Agency Show, and the Green Industry Podcast. Chris is also a past SGI/CertainPath breakout session presenter.
