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Show Off That Job Well Done to Get New Customers

The completed house renovation feels like a winner. Deep in your gut, you know it’s one of the most satisfying projects you've ever finished. Everyone who sees it praises your work. Where do you go from here?

Rather than just walk away from your special project, promote it and let more people know about it. Showing off your work will help build your business. Here are a few marketing ideas to try:

• • Enter the renovation project in local, state, regional and national remodeling competitions.
  • Promote your special job by sending press releases to your local
  newspapers.
  • Send before and after pictures of your project to your local building or remodeling chapter newsletter editor and to national remodeling magazines.
• Put your photos and project story on your Web site.
• Create a special flyer of the project using step-by-step progress photos to inspire potential customers considering a similar renovation.
• Contact manufacturers of major products used in the renovation and ask them to promote your project on their Web sites, in national publications or possibly by creating a case study brochure.

This entire marketing process can be easy, but if you haven’t done something like this before, you may want to do a little groundwork first. Consider these tips to help get you started:

• Invest in before and after photography. Find a professional photographer who will work with you to catalog your work from start to finish on projects you believe have winning potential. Can’t find a photographer? Contact Commercial Photographers of America (COMPOA) at 412-831-6900. They can link you up with a photographer in any part of the country.
  
  
• Read trade magazines and see what types of projects they cover. Subscribe to Professional Remodeler, Remodeling, Qualified Remodeler, Replacement Contractor and Remodeling News to gain a good understanding of what editors look for in special projects.
  
  
• Contact your local, state and regional associations and request award entry packets. Review them now to see exactly what will be needed when you find the perfect project to enter.
  
  
• Talk to your customers. Before investing in photography or promoting the project, make certain you have your customers' permission. While many folks are eager to share the transformation of their home with the public, some people are more private and prefer not to promote their home.
  
  
• Don’t limit yourself. While the entire project in a home you worked on may not warrant the publicity, a specific room may be outstanding. If so, photograph and enter just the single room in a competition or promote it to potential customers.

Your work is your livelihood. The best way to bring in new customers is to show off all that you have done and did well. It is okay to toot your own horn.

Bill Lazor, CGRA, is a senior brand manager with Simonton Windows, of Parkersburg, WV, and has worked in various marketing capacities during the past eight years. Lazor serves on the NAHB Remodelors™ Council Public Affairs Committee and is chairman of the newly formed Business Associates Committee. Lazor has more than 20 years experience in building products. For more information, e-mail Lazor.

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