Here I am, a marketing guru, eh, but I haven’t been able to solve a rather big problem: Why won’t you pay (okay, lets use the proper marketing word, “invest”) a little for a lot, when that little could give you so much more than all the stress and stuff you pay every day for so much less?
I know of many stories in this business where architects, engineers and contractors pay $300 or $500 or even $1,000 in publications because of a sales representative’s call. We sell thousands of dollars of advertising that way each month. Obviously, I’m happy for this business and we do everything we can to deliver value. Simply put, we guarantee the effectiveness of our service: If the ads don’t “work” the advertiser can connect with us for free resources and support to achieve the desired results — that is why I started this blog in the first place close to four years ago.
Few of our advertisers, of course, take advantage of this service which I suppose is good for my sanity and time management.
Last night, just before bed, Vivian gave me a look and said: “Why are you giving all this stuff away for free? Your services are worth far more than that?”
In a rare moment of marital stress and discord, I raised my voice and said: “Just tell me how I’m going to get anyone to pay.” Here I am, effectively offering a Webinar with one-on-one support for the price of two books (or one, if you are already one of the approximately several dozen people who have so far purchased Construction Marketing Ideas: Practical strategies and resources to attract and retain clients for your architectural, engineering or construction business.)
So far, I admit, I have no orders. Not even a hint of interest. In other words, I have what seems to be a marketing flop. (It’s okay. While this is stressful at home and to my ego, I haven’t exactly spent $100,000 promoting the event.)
However, maybe you can help me with your thoughts, comments and suggestions. If you could spend (okay, again, invest) $80 or less and learn how you can get positive stories about your business in local media which could charge you far more than that for a single ineffective ad, why won’t you?
Of course, I may have committed a form of marketing suicide by writing this post. We all know the human nature story that few of us like to be the first or only ones — we wait for validation from others before saying “yes” and I’ve just given you the perfect reason to say “no”. Here, I’m experiencing the problem that many of you experience when business seems to dry up and the cone of silence descends.
Nevertheless, I welcome your feedback. You can use the blog’s comment functions (and be anonymous if you wish) or email me a note to buckshon@cnrgp.com.
Here is a link to the Webinar/book offer.
P.S. If you comment below or email me and you can really help me solve this problem, the Webinar and book will be free. (Just don’t tell my wife.)
Mark,
I know that it’s a stressful thing, putting yourself out there in cyberspace, wondering if anyone is listening, or even cares. However, perhaps a bit of patience would be good for your sanity.
I received your email 2 days ago, and it piqued my interest. I am planning on bringing up your webinar at our Friday sales meeting. Perhaps other people are interested, but they need to consider it, or need to talk to someone else to get the approval to spend the $. Or, it’s on their to-do list for “sometime before June 1.”
Personally, I like to ruminate over things for a bit, considering whether it’s worth my time and money, rather than immediately pounce on anything that is remotely interesting. And, I need to discuss any expenses with other people in my office – it’s not my exclusive call. I suspect others may operate the same way.
I wanted to share my pick of a few good sites that provide construction leads: BidTool.net, Datafax.net, and Cdcnews.com. Some companies will clip leads from sites like these but few offer direct access to their editors and few do much more than offer a basic lead.
Cassandra and Bart:
Thanks for your comments.
Cassandra, I appreciate your observations. Thankfully, one of my healthier personality traits is a substantial amount of respectful and hopefully thoughtful persistence when something is important. The Webinar will happen and I’m confident will succeed.
Bart, frankly, I briefly considered deleting or modifying your comment because you intend it as self-promotional initiative and it doesn’t really correlate with the original posting’s theme. However, I allowed it to be published (but “delnked” so search engine optimization value is limited if not completely removed) because leads services are rather significant in this business. I have my own thoughts about their usefulness but will leave them to another occasion.