Forget Google...
We shared a link to a HubSpot article on our Facebook account recently( you can find our Facebook page here) about the proven fact that Twitter does impact SEO. And do you know why? Because there are thousands of people on there sharing links and conversing with one another, and it is now a valuable resource for a search engine to get important data. So all of this data that is being poured into these social networks, why not take advantage of it?
Take Twitter Search for an Example...
Most social networks have a way to search their site, and that is becoming of a greater importance more and more as more and more people are using these sites. Try this: go to Twitter's explore page right now, and type in "I need a plumber". Right there you will see people that need a plumber right now. Obviously this is a tremendous help to you that are wanting more business. Change your search term a bit to reflect your industry, and maybe your location(can't really help the lady needing electrical work that lives across the country now can we?) and see what results you get.
...and Use Facebook Search Too
Go to facebook.com, login and do a search there, you will see many people talking about their needs whether it be in a status update or on someone's wall. You may have to play around with facebook search a bit to make sure you are searching just people's comments and status updates, but that is fairly simple to figure out once you search for something.
Don't Be Overaggressive, Be Polite. But get the job done.
Now, you could be on one of two sides of the fence right now. On one side you have "Oh boy! Let me just spend the day away messaging everyone that needs a general contractor" and on the other side "I don't want them to think I'm spamming them with a self promotional link to a list of my services" and both those sides need to be taken into account, but don't let that scare you from making an effort. You have to keep in mind to only contact people and then move on. Don't follow up to see if they got your message. They did, it's in their email inbox, it was sent to their phone, or whatever, just rest on the fact, that they got your message. And don't be pushy – "Hey there! After lurking through your profile, I see that you are in my area and you need me to fix your plumbing problem" how about we change that to "Visit my website to see if there is a service I can provide for you. My site is www.bobsplumbing.net Thanks" or something to that effect. I think you get the idea.
The bottom line is there are people asking for your service, and in your area, that they just need to know that you are there for them. After all, you do great service don't you? There's no reason why they shouldn't call you.
About Aaron O'Hanlon
Aaron O'Hanlon is the CEO and Co-Founder of Footbridge Media, a digital marketing agency, specializing in the contracting industry. It is his mission to create awareness of marketing online to the home improvement industry and to educate, inform, and assist contractors in taking over their own online presence.
