Getting high paying Clients for Stonework?

To get clients from the Internet, you need to look up to see what keywords
are being searched for in his location, if any.

Twitter, Facebook and Youtube are long term strategies that fit into
overall positioning him as the guru in his area.
It may not be something he wants to do.

Then there are offline methods.

Ask him who are has been his best clients,
male or female, home owners,business owners,
new owners, new buildings, locations, why did they go with him
and not someone else.

Knowing about those things allows you to write the right message
and send it to the right people.

Best,
Ewen

What do the contractors get out of the equation.. what is their benefit? How can that benefit be duplicated?

Positioning....positioning... positioning.

I would start with google places. Does your father's company have a google places listing?

Ewen and Millard both touched on this, and I think the best bang for your buck here may be a joint venture with other local businesses who are out and can spot possible prospects for you every day.

Think of how many walkways, fireplaces and stone sided homes local landscape or painting companies see every week? What if you found 10 local companies who each sent your dad a job a month?

By all means see what people are searching for locally and try to get a website together that ranks for those terms, but don't overlook the offline possibilities that are all around you too.

Steve

Great tips, Steve, what will be their incentive for helping my dads company get the clients?, the landscapers and painter. Also how will they get the clients for my dad? Just give us the number? or give the family a card?

If there are any more tips keep em coming please.

Also where does one go to find contractors to give out this work?

If there was an indication you can get some web traffic, I would have a sniper site built, with an EMD , rank it quickly, and design it just to get a phone call or opt-in.

New thing for me to test out here, but I have done this in 3 large cities in the past couple of weeks, ranked on first page, but not at the top for all keywords, and it has generated some phone call leads, even this early in the stage.

Ryan

I know it doesn't involve facebook/website but I've done direct mail for my remodeling company that advertised stone. We got a lot of jobs in a very short amount of time however I subbed all the work out to people who ended up being crappy stone masons. Ended up being profitable but really had a lot of issues like mortar running down the rocks because they installed them in the opposite order.

I'd like to actually start pushing stone veneer (the cultured stone stuff) again but not until I find some people experienced to work in it that don't charge a fortune.


Anyways here's what brought in a lot of business...

I sent out saturation mailings (at the time, EDDM wasn't available but now you can use EDDM and you won't need a permit), and saturated every home in those big developments where everyone's home looks the same.

I'm sure you have these developments around you, typically in suburb areas. Those neighborhoods where everyone's house is basically a repeat of each others but they are big nice houses. These people tend to want ANYTHING that will separate them from their neighbors homes. They have the money, they have egos, and they like to "be the joneses" or try to keep up with them.

Get a few thousand postcards (at least 6.5"x8") and put a good offer for them to get an estimate on stone veneer accents on it. Then use the post offices EDDM program to send them out to those neighborhoods for 14.5cents each and do at least two mailings.

Having been in the construction industry for 20 years and being the son of an expert interior designer of over 40 years, I'd start with the popular and successful interior designers who do high end jobs.

I'd also recommend trying to network with architects, supply houses, and custom home builders as well. These will be your quickest way to get something going for new work.

I'd be leveraging Facebook for him. For that audience, I'd think females
would be all over Liking his work, and photos. Could be a great source
of leads and Word of Mouth.

Put up a site showing the quality of work he can do, and then get a list of contractors that do a lot of business, and start mailing them. The contractors could start selling his services and marking up the price, that is their incentive.

If you want to go after big clients, you must target high end builders, designers and architects. Most of the big and prestigious project are in their hands. Suppliers are also a great resource.

Also, don't forget to put your hands on lists of new construction permits issued in your area. Master Builders Assoc will have it, but you might get outside of their organization.

You need to create an image of being the "go to guy". To be considered one, you have to knowledgeable (read latest magazines, go to expos and shows), be upbeat, energetic and vibrant. Show them your long term plans.

Majority of other business people want to surround themselves with positive and ambitious people. It lifts them up. They love to talk about new materials, new technologies and developments in their region. If you want to be an insider, you have become one. That's how you get the big and most prestigious jobs. Others are just laborers...

Thomas

PS. If you plan doing commercial projects (big money makers), get to know EVERY estimator for all contractors in your area. Those guys, often change employers, but ALWAYS maintain their contact lists. You want to be in EVERYONE'S rolodex.

Keep in touch with everyone. Start a blog and youtube channel. Share latest news and developments.

Buy into construction data bulletins. They give you access to all goverment, public and commercial projects. You not only get acces to blueprints, but also contact info of estimators, architects and contractors bidding those jobs.

That's it. Easy!