Nominations for the 2014 Best Construction Blog competition close at 5 pm EST tomorrow (January 31, 2014). The surge in last-minute nominations (one person suggested almost a dozen qualified blogs) means that I must give priority to completing the promised individual reviews. These will continue as voting commences but should not give anyone unfair advantage as the voting process continues for two months (to March 31) so there’ll be plenty of catch-up time for blogs reviewed later than others. I’m reviewing qualified blogs in sequence from when they were nominated.
Design-builder Haskell shows how a professional design-builder can produce a truly professional blog. Perhaps the best validation of this success is the way the company brands its blog. You’ll find the blog entries under its site home page under the category “Moving Ahead/InMotion Blog”.
Here, you’ll discover entries that meet Best Construction Blog requirements, including relevant, useful information (not blatant sales pitches or recycled clichés), thoughtfully presented, with consistent graphic design and grammar. You won’t find “seat of your pants” human emotion here — but do you want that if you are looking for environmentally responsible, safe and cost-effective design and construction services? Haskell’s current and prospective clients wouldn’t be interested in that sort of thing, I think.
As an example, consider this posting: 5 Questions with Haskell Food Safety Expert John Schook. Look at how the blog presents one of the key questions, and his answer:
What’s the greatest obstacle you face when you help manufacturers with their food safety facility issues? How do you resolve it?
Unfortunately, the greatest obstacle I have is proving the value of some sanitary materials enough for manufacturers to spend extra resources. There are plenty of material options offered by vendors that can be used throughout the plant, but sometimes, those that work best can be most expensive.For example, flooring is a hot topic right now. Concrete floors can work, but over time, the wear on the floor can produce a bacteria-friendly environment and create unsanitary conditions throughout the facility. Buying a cheaper alternative, concrete, saved on upfront cost, but after recalling contaminated products due to the flooring, shutting down the facility during an investigation and spending more resources to install new flooring – your money would have been best spent purchasing the best flooring in the first place.So did you see how I told that story? That’s exactly how I prove the value to my clients. I create examples like the concrete flooring to show my clients how focusing on savings alone can put you in a position to implement short-term solutions to manage long-term issues.
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