Balancing My Business and Growing Online Presence While Managing Projects

The most hands-on thing I have ever done was packing and
shipping products, and I don't do that any longer as it was too
much work for not enough money.

If I were you, I would look for ways to automate my business
with A.I. systems for office management and customer service
tasks, like adding chatbots to my websites to answer people's
questions, as well as A.I. voice agents to return phone calls,
and schedule appointments, among other things.

You can also read through this forum for similar situations and
use A.I. to help you strategize and develop your business.

Balance is,the key word .You might want to outsource or hire prople online so that you can have more free time .

Have you thought about partnering up with your brick and mortar business or do you have business partners already?

Jacob, I am making some assumptions, please correct any that are wrong, fair enough?

The INTENT of your online presence is MORE customers, eh? In addition to the excellent advice you've already gotten, I just want to get a clear understanding...and help you keep focused on the important part, MORE business.

I start this way because it can be a time eating, money wasting rabbit hole trying to get the best online strategies maximized. KEEP FOCUSED on your INTENT.

Since you seem to be good at managing, maybe consider Jamell's idea of a lead gen partner, other home improvement types?

As for using the Internet, prioritize what you want to spend time on...getting CUSTOMERS. So we start with them...HOW does someone who is thinking of adding a patio go about getting one? Put yourself in their shoes.

They start with an idea, or they go LOOKING for an idea, and they use a search engine and maybe say start with Google and search for patio ideas in IMAGES. So I did that too.

Saw some beautiful ideas. This is what you will be competing against. So part of your plan will be to have a site hosting some of your work, a SHOWCASE. How is this done? Well, don't forget there is TIME. This is where both Jamell's and Monitize's ideas help.

Can you get AI to organize all your pictures, can you hire someone to put them on your site, did you get a site which is easy to work on, pic friendly, easy to navigate?

So my first step suggestion is to Google, Bing and Youtube for an hour or two; as many concrete projects as you can that are currently being shown on these search engines. Focus on what you know to be the most PROFITABLE for you to do, the ones you want to do.

How are others across the land showing THEIR work off? This is preliminary research into the marketplace in general, an hour of your time looking and noting what others are doing ONLINE so you have a very wide view of what may be needed. OK?

The many scores of HANDS ON folks I have worked with over the decades have learned this very valuable lesson...

Your best marketing is in the form of a happy, RECENTLY satisfied customer. So I suggest when a project is finished, you get a pic and PERMISSION to use it on your site with the job and the CUSTOMER in the pic.

In the dozens of pictures I saw at both google and bing were of the FINISHED projects (patios), I saw NONE with a happy customer.

Near me, one of the biggest Patio guys is PATIO ENCLOSURES. Take a look at their web site, and you will see a lot of pics. Now this is not your competition, so I searched for concrete installers, concrete workers, concrete installers near me. And the search engines, all, gave up their sponsored ones first, which I looked at and then the REVIEW SITES, which I think is standard operating procedure for your POTENTIAL client, right?

I looked at several sites. I did this because I want to offer you USEFUL, actionable advice.

Here is my bottom line advice to you (as a retired marketing consultant).

FOCUS your online sales pitch, your online presence, YOUR ONLINE marketing to be all about the result for your customer, NOT on the result of your work.

So I would encourage you to keep your online lead gen about making PEOPLE happy with the end of what you do, not with the WHAT you do.

I saw literally HUNDREDS of pics of concrete, and how beautiful patios can be made around it, on top of it...but I would expect quality work from any/all concrete specialists (may not get it, but I'd expect it).

So if you understand what you are really selling..and if you GET the emotional value of what you are offering, then you will also get what is going to be your UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION and help you quickly fulfill your INTENT of getting more clients...

By NOT seeking customers, consumers or clients, but by finding the people seeking your services, the people you can make happy, proud, enriched by what you can do for them.


Get that, and it will help focus your ONLINE work, much of what can be outsourced and managed with little cost and time, IF you use the greatest leverage you have...a happy customer.

GordonJ

A bird in the hand is worth 4 in the bush. And an hour of J. PETERMAN might be worth tens of thousands of dollars in your bank account too.

I owned a retail store for 25 years, and several online businesses at the same time.

It isn't a matter of balance. You need to hire someone locally that has a video camera and knows how to upload images and videos. Any 20 year old that wants part time work will do.

Create lots (maybe 50) of short, a few minutes, videos that answer questions your
prospects ask you...and answers to questions prospects ask when they are considering buying your services.

Upload these to Youtube. Make sure you put the city and state in the description and better yet...in the title of each video.

Google loves videos on Youtube. Any local online search by a prospective buyer will pop up these videos on page one of a Google search.

Years ago, I started posting videos about the products I sold, all on my Youtube channel. It didn't take long before my business doubled. And it was because of the videos. I know because I asked every new customer how they found me.

Google listings help, although you don't need to pay for preferred listings. A website helps, but I'm sure you've already got one.

But videos on Youtube? Biggest bang for your buck. And the only cost will be a little time, and hiring a part time kid to tape the vides and upload them.

You can also just pay for leads on sites like Home Advisor. That works, but videos will get you the same result for free. And the videos can stay on Youtube forever at no cost.

Just don't hire a company for $5,000 a month to do this for you. It's better if YOU are in the videos. And professional production quality isn't needed. "Slick" doesn't sell. Answers to questions sells (assuming the answer involves a free estimate).

Well if you are very busy with your business then i think you need to search for cheap workers who will do the advertising for you if you dont have the time

Like finding people to do the ads for you on youtube ads ,google ads etc or post on social media ,write blog articles etc
You need to master discipline and to train your brain to do the boring tasks as after hard work the brain wants to just relax and scroll social media ,watch films etc

Succesful people train their mind to do the hard work all the time ,leave their confort zone etc

Many people envy them for their succes but they dont know they made a lot of sacrifices

The same advice I've given to one of the warriors in the group with a similar topic/concern to yours. I mentioned that having a plan keeps you in control, time management plays a role here.

But when life gets hectic, you may want to try to outsource some help, especially on time-consuming tasks, and focus more on the high-priority/ high-focus ones.

Many talented professionals can handle the work while you scale your business affordably. Hiring outsourced help can be a way to go.

Hi Jacob,

As a business owner, you can choose to do it all, or to delegate. You can burn out, but yes you have always the first dibs to your business. However, if you outsource some of the work that takes up of your time, then you can focus on what matters most for your business, scale it up, and grow.

I hope this helps!

Consider outsourcing tasks like SEO or content creation so you can focus on your projects. Google My Business and customer reviews can work wonders for local visibility, too.

You start out with balance.

Which is the real deal in any Caaahsmaas gone frickin' cray.

Seems evenin' out calm & lookaroundsy sterfs braves any kinda storm.

Bcs now you can feel GROUND an' see SKY without bein' dloozynl or hapless.

Like ballereeneur Anna Pavlova said, "balance is a moment in time where all is still, all is level, all is perfect" -- only she prolly nevah said it like that bcs she nevah spoke Hingerlish an' mebbe sum translator INTERVENED for saka hoomanity.

Thing is tho ..

What rest point may there be in the maelstrom?

As you scan & plan?

Balance is tightrope, from step to step.

Where you startid, where you gowin', where you are.

(You figure loominous undahwear hullong the way, kudos to yr ass.)

Balance figures this deal always, from free mooshy chocklit cakes massaged durrectly 'pon yr breasts to actschwl Satan 'soomin' control of yr equally actschwl brayinns.

Balance levels zest an' doom flat out into whatevah.

Meantimes, janno what I jus' did?

Nibbled 'pon sum weirdsy rye bread with like hunny, plus also a glassa wine, an' I am beyond all cayurre 'bout anythin' else!



Grabbin' balance pole now. Also mascara for the haul. Mebbe Pavlova feet for the leap-from-tiptoes parts ...

Hey there,

Balance is a Holy Grail... A Unicorn, it simply does not exist. However applying the principles of "Balance" you will obviously understand when things are out of balance.

Its the degree of unbalance that determines a lot of things - like say... hiring employees. Doing 2 patios a day, would you hire additional crew? do you squeeze through and make it work? 3 a day do you hire? is the limit 4 a day? At some point there is the "Tipping Point" and you hire more people or simply do less work.

The exact same thing will apply to your social media efforts... at what point do you bring in someone just to do the editing and posting? At what point do you bring in someone that does all of it for you?

Yor social efforts at this point is a portion of what you do in any given day. YOU understand that your efforts to bring in more business is equal to ( and I would argue, greater ) than the actual service you provide. No social media, no work ( or far less work )

THAT ( Social media ) effort has VALUE... with that comes the ability to exchange the time in your day to make that happen, vs the expense to hire a part or the whole thing out. There are 2 variables in life... TIME and MONEY. You can exchange them... Dont have the money? you exchange YOUR time. YOU dont have the TIME, you can exchange Money to make that happen.

Again the deciding factor is not about BALANCE, but rather the lack of BALANCE

JacobPorter-I would suggest learning to set up automation to help with your customer follow-ups.

Also, for content keep it simple.

Snap some pictures on the job sites and post them.

Keep it simple. Let your work speak for itself.