18 replies
ive nearly finished my plumbing course, i was wondering if i made a website and promoted it around my new plumbing company when its set up, do you think it would bring custom to my business? ive studied hard for this and its alot better than the crappy job im in at the moment. thanks
  • Profile picture of the author chrisnegro
    Originally Posted by wannabeaim View Post

    ive nearly finished my plumbing course, i was wondering if i made a website and promoted it around my new plumbing company when its set up, do you think it would bring custom to my business? ive studied hard for this and its alot better than the crappy job im in at the moment. thanks
    Be more specific.... did you finish a marketing "course" on plumbing for your new business? Or do you mean...you finished your marketing plan (for your new pluming business) and now you want to see if your marketing plan will generate new customers?

    Please clarify and be more specific.

    Success to you,

    Chris Negro
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2925601].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author ethanjhnsn605
    It always feels good to present your business in a professional fashion too - and that confidence can bring its own results. The pride you have in your business can be infectious - potential customers can sense that if you take that kind of care about your own business, then you will be more likely to take care of them. Plumbing business is a profitable business enterprise which brings in cash flow and gives good returns.

    Every client wants the person they’ve hired to do a good job on whatever they’re working on. A great designer will carefully craft every last detail of a website, leaving no section left out. Pay close attention to the details and your client will be over the moon about their design.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2926680].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Joshyybaxx
    He has just completed his plumbing course.

    First of all congratulations on completing your trade!

    Secondly if you are comfortable with web design and know your way around SEO you can have a crack at it for sure, if you aern't too comfortable with it, yet know the basic fundamentals you can outsource it to another person saving you time and effort but costing you a little more money.

    There are numerous benefits with having your business online, typically for tradesmen such as plumbers it'd be a good idea to have a few domains pointing to your website, for example 1 domain with your brand (biz name) and a few others targeting your local location, doing this will allow people in your targeted area to find you by searching "Plumber <area>".

    Look around the WSO area of the forums to find things that can help, or check out the warrior for hire forum, these are all great starting points for research and finding out information, which will lead you to the correct decision.

    Always remember to plan and strategise before jumping in, analyze what works and doesn't work and cut the things out that do not perform, build your online presence the way you want to, and don't fall for tricky sales pitches offering things you do not need.

    Good luck mate

    - JB
    Signature

    =)

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2926788].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author rhinocl
      I see many new businesses who make this mistake on their websites:They worry about design and neglect everything else. Number one you need traffic. Do keyword research before choosing your domain name. Go to the dojo at Market Samurai and watch the first few videos. Once you have a great domain name make sure you have good on page SEO. Google it if you don't know at least the four most important factors. Build a few backlinks.Now submit your site for local search to Google, Bing and Yahoo.
      You should get some traffic.
      Next make sure your site encourages people to call you. Read about selling-Dan Kennedy's earlier books. Browse these forums for others.
      Only now should you worry about making your site look really good. It only needs to look OK at the beginning.
      Want more traffic -start promoting with social media, but keep it low key. It will take time to get customers from the web so you will also need a real world marketing strategy.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2927345].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author akazo
      Originally Posted by Joshyybaxx View Post

      He has just completed his plumbing course.

      First of all congratulations on completing your trade!

      Secondly if you are comfortable with web design and know your way around SEO you can have a crack at it for sure, if you aern't too comfortable with it, yet know the basic fundementals you can outsource it to another person saving you time and effort but costing you a little more money.

      There are numerous benefits with having your business online, typically for tradesmen such as plumbers it'd be a good idea to have a few domains pointing to your website, for example 1 domain with your brand (biz name) and a few others targeting your local location, doing this will allow people in your targeted area to find you by searching "Plumber <area>".

      Look around the WSO area of the forums to find things that can help, or check out the warrior for hire forum, these are all great starting points for research and finding out information, which will lead you to the correct decision.

      Always remember to plan and strategise before jumping in, analyze what works and doesn't work and cut the things out that do not perform, build your online presence the way you want to, and don't fall for tricky sales pitches offering things you do not need.

      Good luck mate

      - JB
      Take this advice... and then whatever you do, do not take out a Yellow Pages/Book ad. It is the same as taking your money and flushing it down the toilet.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2934595].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mnlewis
    Yes congrats on your plumbing course.

    If you are comfortable with SEO and a little web design (wordpress I suggest). It can be fairly simple to rank well in your area and get some customers. Especially if you use Google Places.

    Look around here and you can find just about anything you need. Good Luck!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2928050].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    Offer a free report on,

    How To Fix Your Drain Without Calling Your Plumber,
    and...
    If That Does Not Work?
    Call Your Plumber


    This is just an off the cuff example, but what you need to try and get visitors to do is give you their names and email addresses to you can continue to build a relationship with them.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2928220].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author brazielr
    Good Job, I hope all works out well for you!Everyone as great ideas in here. I would say make that Report asap. Offer true value that someone else would normally charge for. Doing this helps the customer to see that you really know what your doing, and your actually trying to help. (Credibility)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2928340].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Noman Sarwar
    Congratulations for your course,
    SEO is really helpful for you, you can introduce your business through it very well.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2934113].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author cassie_camay
    it will be possible if you exert effort and work with it smart enough to lead you to success. But in your case since you are just starting its better to take things slowly as you continue to learn and grow.

    Seek help from friends that can help you and other professionals who are successful in the fields the same as you have.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2936022].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author barbara.brown07
    Yes why not every thing is possible.Website design is the main thing you have to work on and secondly if you are planning for a plumbing business then you have to very responsible for every promotions in relevant to clients.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2962388].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author LarryS
    Of course a website is a great idea! But remember, it's only one piece of the marketing puzzle.

    Don't forget about:
    • getting a Google Places listing
    • submitting press releases about your new business
    • getting your business in the local business directories
    • get a listing in the national business directories (Yelp, ShopCity, Merchant Circle,etc)
    • setting up a Facebook page and a Twitter account to promote your business
    • put a few ads on Craigslist
    • take out a newspaper ad in your local paper
    • hang up a flyer at the laundromaat
    • and don't forget to pass out those business cards to everyone you know!

    Good luck in your new business!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2969874].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Diane S
      Put your geographical location in your domain name. If you are James Wilson and starting a plumbing company, don't buy jameswilsonplumbing dot com. Buy rochesterplumber dot com, for example. Or bestrochesterplumber dot com

      Google will hand walk you through the google places process. you don't even need a website to get your listing up. you can add the website later. your domain name does not have to match your business name. But your business name should be the one you use for google places and all local directories.

      James Wilson Plumbing, LLC is the business name.
      James Wilson Plumbing, LLC is the business name at Google places, and yahoo places and bing places.
      rochesterplumbing dot com is your website domain. but the top of the website, in the header, can say "James Wilson Plumbing"

      Hope I didn't confuse the matter...
      Signature
      KimW still needs our help DONATE DIRECTLY
      My First Kindle Book: Ten Days in the Land of Smile
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2970149].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author earwyn.thomas
    Set up an analytics program on your site so you can monitor the success of your marketing efforts. Pro Internet Marketers would never do without a decent stats system on their websites, so don’t sabotage your efforts with a beginners mistake. There are terrific analytics programs available absolutely free – and they’re easy to deploy and set-up – so there’s no excuse.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2976893].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author vndnbrgj
    Also consider Joint Ventures with other businesses in your area.
    Figure out your target customer, and find businesses with customers that meet those demographics. Then offer something of value to those businesses.
    For example, offer 25% off a service call. Then ask businesses like a barber shop, to hand those out, when someone tells them they are having plumbing problems.
    Do this with several businesses in your area, and you will receive even more business.

    Sorry, I didn't mean to get off topic. But if you are looking for more business, then you should look at every angle and not just online methods.
    But, I believe you should have a website before you do SEM.
    You should have SEO incorporated into your website, and your website should look good. It doesn't have to look immaculate, but like stated above, it is a reflection on you and your company.
    Signature
    Life Begins At The End Of Your Comfort Zone
    - Neale Donald Wilson -
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2978056].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Ashley Skuse
    Plumbing is the kind of thing that most people need from time to time.

    Typically, someone will only seek out a plumber when they really need one of course. Therefore, you need to make yourself easy to find, because it's a matter of customers finding you rather than you finding them.

    An exception to that would be if you were selling your services to businesses that regularly need plumbing work, or if you were competing for work on new buildings for example. I'm only assuming that you're serving to home customers, which means you need to make it easy to find you.

    Nowadays, when someone needs a plumber, what do they do? There's a good chance they'll open up Google and type "plumbers in [area name]". Ranking for that kind of thing on the search engines will very likely get you customers, particularly if you have a nice website with good copy and testimonials.

    Most searchers will probably be comparing prices, but in most cases, only with plumbing businesses on the first one or two pages of the search results. Sure, some searchers shuffle through lots and lots of pages, but most will be clicking on results on the first page, so get yourself ranked highly for relevant search terms!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2978211].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author aduttonater
      Plumbers make tons of money. I am in a similar trade where I go to peoples homes and work. I do landscaping. You want to make a website and promote yourself as professional as possible. Obtain business cards, and be sure that ever person that calls you to their home gets one. Marketing your phone number along with the services you offer is the best way to generate new business.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2979204].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Amir Luis
    I used to do High End Residential Window Cleaning... I grew my business 50% annually based on my internet marketing tactics....

    This is why I ventured into offline marketing for others in the first place.

    That and I can't seem to "play well with others" unless I am the boss.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2979961].message }}

Trending Topics