Preview the new Flooring Installer .com website

I don't know about everyone else but my work is so up and down I am considering having flyers printed out and going house to house.
No, I don't have a website. Most people I talk to say it costs more than its worth. Takes alot of time to keep it going and all that.

I do advertise at www.craigslist.org. I actually get more jobs from that than I do my Dex ad. I have recently changed my Dex ad to a more Green products type ad for next years book. Noting I have excellent knowledge of green products....cork...sisal....wool...wood. I also have gotten a source for sisal, seagrass, wool carpet and cork.

But heres the kicker, my college kid is doing this work program....College Kids paint houses. He is making way more than the dad is right now, How embarassing is that?
The way his program works is this company which is nation wide trains them, gives them all the literature they need to go house to house. He hires his crews and gets the job, runs the crews and gets paid a percentage of each job. Of course the consumers think they are getting a bargin and helping out college kids. But this will pay for his next two years and more of college. Not just any college student can do this, they have to have exceptional grades and the ability to communicate. They each get a zip code to work. He has busted his butt and is doing well. Hell, maybe I'll go to work for him.
But first I think I will try out the door to door thing.

I tell ya, being a totally independant installer contractor is tough these days. I get calls from all over the U.S. from installers looking for work. I know for a fact its hard all over. But my kid has enough work already to go thru September.

I have never had to resort to going door to door before but I may just be doing that soon.

Not sure what your current advertising entails, so listing alternatives might not be alternatives. Even so, advertising, or marketing, is a skill in itself. But like flooring, even the do-it-yourselfer can do a pretty decent job if they have a little untapped talent and pick up a few tips from those who have had some success. If you enjoy forums, you will find some that deal specifically or generally with marketing. You're also surrounded by other pros in your field that have had experiences with marketing - and even the bad experiences have something to teach. The good ones even more.

Advertising is most successful when it targets the market you want to corner. No matter what the market though, you increase your chances of success if you diversify your advertising. Just Craig's List and Dex (don't know what that is) may not be enough. If there is a local publication that caters to the demographic group you are after, like a regional magazine dealing with interiors, home remodeling, gourmet cooking, golf, boating - I'm guessing you would rather have customers with more disposable income than others - these would be good choices. Radio stations, even television ads that feed local markets might also be an option.

Marketing efforts can be expensive. Some of those I mentioned above can be very costly, but the return on your investment could make it all worth it. We're in tough economic times now though and buying advertising in certain media might be out of the budget. But think about what you said concerning having a website.

More people use the Internet to shop locally than ever before. They do the footwork with their fingers on a keyboard. I go to Reno frequently and know my way around pretty good, but it changes so often, sometimes a store I want to go to isn't there anymore. Or a new one, even better than the others, has appeared. Before I go to Reno, I jump on Google and look for stuff I want in Reno. Your would-be customers are doing the same thing. Technically savvy consumers generally have better incomes than those who don't.

Anyone can get started with an Internet presence with remarkably little money. Registering a domain name costs about $10.00 per year. You can get a shared hosting plan for 5 or 6 bucks a month with lots of space, bandwidth and complete support. Most host providers offer some kind of site building features that are free, although I have seen very few that are worth even that. But one of the most popular website creation tools available is completely free, easy to use and takes only a few minutes to set up. WordPress is a blogging application, but many people use it as a complete website with static pages, shopping carts, albums and much more. There's a huge assortment of themes to choose from and God knows how many addons that give you the capabilities and features you need. Not to mention the tools that will help you get indexed better in search engines and manage visitors.

Of course, a WordPress site is pretty basic out of the box, even with a few addons and a nice, ready-built theme. You can find pros who will help you make your site uniquely yours with custom theme and logo, help with the security issues in the backend and to do some optimizing for search engines, traffic generation, etc. And again, there are forums specifically targeted to blog owners to help them just like flooring forums help people who have floor issues.

So, having a website doesn't have to be a huge expense. Yes, it's true that you get what you pay for. But for ease of use and modification, WordPress could be your ticket to better income. And if you set up some Google ads, or sign up with an affiliate or ad network, you could have the site pay for itself in less than a year. Jeez, some people get rich off websites alone. I haven't figgered that out yet, but I know some people do it.

Even a website isn't the whole answer though. Don't give up on Craig's List - link to your website from it. Link to your website from the forums you participate on (almost all decent forums let you link to your own site in the signature area and through your profile). Ask your friends who have websites to link to you - and you link to them. If you sell old tools on eBay, link to your site. Use your website address in all your printed ads, business cards and have it mentioned in radio and TV ads too. Even if people don't visit your site, knowing you have one is an asset in their minds.

It will be interesting to hear other people's take on marketing strategies. For a guy with good skills and a professional attitude the customer appreciates, there's no reason it shouldn't be a lucrative and busy career. Plan for the unexpected though. That's where I went terribly wrong. I put all my eggs in one basket. I lost the basket.

Jim

Admittedly, I live in a mostly rural area, but I ran a newspaper ad daily for 2 years and asked customers where they got my name. Not one job came from the ads. Most of my jobs came from referrals. I got a few from business cards posted on bulletin boards at grocery stores, laundromats, etc.

Thats interesting thanks. Jim, DEX is the original Yellow pages.

I am skeptical about websites. Like I said my old partner had one thru Qwest and he got one sale for a whole year. Then he got nailed per click. I'm thinking Qwest would be able to give a person a resonably visable presence on the web, maybe not. I don't know that much about being seen and there's so many flooring sites on the web I doubt I could afford to get on the first couple pages. If your not on the first couple pages forget it.

I probably get two calls per week from people who want to build me a website or those people who find jobs for you along with a website. Costs are expensive and I don't believe you get all the contacts they say they have.

Like one place that sends you prospective clients, supposedly screened and ready to buy called me that said "We have hundreds of calls for flooring in your area" So I checked their website and called a popular remodeler/builder in my area that uses them and asked him about how many leads he got. He said he was canceling due to lack of leads that they promised. I have actually done work for the guy so I know he was serious.

Now craigslist.org really blows me away because I have found that quite a few people that are wealthy use it. Of course there are many lowballers in there you have to contend with and there are people that only want cheap. But if you word you ad correctly you can get the people who are skeptical of the lowballers.

I do judge my advertising by the way I shop, I do not pay attention the the postcard type mass mailing packets that are sent out. I hardly even go thru them.

I think I might try a few huindred door tags. They seem to stand out and the people actually have to handle them. That means they most likely read them as well.

I often wonder about those newspaper ads and if they work. Used by mostly handymen but used regularly it seems.

Its a crap shoot out there.

Stephen,

A web page requires more than just a good looking site, so if you don't know how to promote the site......... don't bother.

I know you don't believe in joining associations, but there is alot of repair work and individual work as well as Warranty Replacements.

CFI is the first place Manufacturers/fiber companies look to seek professional installation. There is strength in numbers and what is good for one is good for all.

Now may be a good time to actually obtain Inspection Certifications. You would be an excellent Certified Inspector. Please don't judge all inspectors by the reports you may have encountered. There are good and bad in all professions.

Libby has some great online Pre-requisite training that may be of help in obtaining certification without the expense of travel. Heck, some of those courses are only $70.00.

www.CarpetSchool.com

Too many people make fun of Carpet cleaner inspectors; but I learned so much from their courses. No certification body teaches everything and I found that I learned more about the chemistry of dye, ect. from the IICRC certs... and more about carpet construction from the other certifications attended. You can even attend Clemson University for a short course on Carpet Construction that is very valuable.
Carpet is still the major source of income for the inspection community.

One or two days a week, for the last three weeks, I have been getting the names and addresses of local dealers, and visiting them for my inspection work.
I made a nice color brochure with photographs of good looking jobs and ones of bad ones. I "directed" the bad looking photos toward the needs and wants of my target customers.
I dress nice, I go from store to store. If they want to talk, I talk. If they do not want to talk, I don't. If they want to talk but are busy, I mark them down for a return visit that day, and do so.
I make a point of visiting at least four a day, the number I want is 6.
It has been interesting and a learning experience for me. Before my "buddy" jumps on me saying the information is negative about me, wrong.
The education has been in what has been happening in my line of work, and how many inspectors are doing inspections. Of course, now, I take into account the "accounts of events" as told to me by the retailers who are upset. So, I classified the comments into two categories, and dismissed the negatives that are from reports that made them mad, and the ones that they feel did not give them the information they needed to understand what went wrong. From this group, the last, I direct my promotion to be of "help" and "service" to educate and help solve problems, or at least, understand the problems and the How and Why the claims were denied.

Tomorrow, I will go visit at least four, maybe five, maybe six, stores depending upon how they respond to me when I walk in.

One thing I have noticed, when I pull out my brochures, they look disappointed because everyone is SLOW and all want to sell. So, I enter with the brochures in plain site so they know I am not a customer. Believe it or not, that helps. Starting off disappointing someone starts off with a negative.

I am selling POSITIVE. I think all of us need to keep that in mind as we go looking for work, stress the positive or what you can do to make their jobs/stores/distributor/consumers a positive experience.

thanks
slt

quote:

Most people I talk to say it costs more than its worth. Takes alot of time to keep it going and all that.

You know you're crazy, right? I can have you set up with a domain name and space you can write to in an hour. For you the cost would be under $10 for the domain name and free hosting for a year.

As far as time- if you put in 25% of the time creating content that you put in posting on message boards you'd have a heck of a site. If scoobie hubie can do it, you definitely can.

quote:

If scoobie hubie can do it, you definitely can.

You think so...really? Tell me how, tell me. I guess it would be better than nothing.

what qualifications can you list to convince somebody to hire you?

That is always the question when building a web site.

If you do not belong to any associations or have Industry Training or Installation certs., your web page may not be productive.

quote:

Tomorrow, I will go visit at least four, maybe five, maybe six, stores depending upon how they respond to me when I walk in.

I think you're wasting your time. Just because of the small amount of possible clients available at the retail level. I know of an inspector type who advertised to the end-user that he could get their floor fixed, replaced or get them a settlement or they didn't have to pay him.

He became very unpopular with the retail sect but his business was quite lucrative...that is until he was murdered.

Trying to think of a catchy domain name is hard, finding one that is not taken already is harder.

I want something that is not my business name first of all. I think starting with the word "floor" is best. I had a couple domain names but they were inspection oriented. I gave them up.

First one I tried was floormagic....someone has that.
The I tried floordaddy, floorbiz, floorpro floorcow floormonster. Jeez is there an index you can go to look at somehwere that dislpays all the domain names taken?

I also looked up free domain hosting and found this index. The top one looks good.

http://hosting-review.com/?gclid=CKiSkNaVgZQCFRdinAodQxn7Vw