Posted by Rich Harshaw on May 6, 2014.
Be Careful. You Might Accidentally Make Your Entire Town Hate You.
And The Phones That Just Kept On Ringing.
Do Not Try This At Home.
Written by Rich Harshaw.
I’m serious. Sometimes the stuff that works is so specific to a situation that it’s not really replicable anywhere else. If you try to do or use what I’m about to show you, you very well might fail. You’ve been warned.
So… I recently gave you some examples of some radio ads used by a company in a small town. I got a lot of positive feedback from professional, small-town remodelers who said they could identify with that kind of company. I love writing and running those kinds of ads because they do such a wonderful job of capturing the company’s identity and communicating it with power, precision, and passion.
But sometimes—for reasons known only to myself—I stray from the middle of the road into some pretty strange paths.
Nordine Remodeling is one of those cases. I met George Nordine and his wife Sandy 4 or 5 years ago at a seminar. George is one of those big, burly teddy bear contractors; he’s a super nice, super honest, “never harm a fly” kind of guys. He ran (and still runs!) a nice little roofing and remodeling company in Normal, Illinois. I had a lot of fun using Aim ‘N Flame negotiation tactics with his Yellow Pages rep.
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Posted by Rich Harshaw on April 28, 2014.
Forget About ‘Writer’s Block.” Here’s How To Write Great Ads…
Keep It Simple, Conversational, And Authentic… And You’ll Be Surprised At How Well Listeners Respond.
Written by Rich Harshaw.
Note: This article is part of Monopolize Your Marketplace’s ongoing “Client Success” series. All of the information is real and current; please respect the privacy of the companies mentioned; they don’t want to be overwhelmed with questions and comments.
Okay, so you’ve decided part of your contractor marketing to advertising on the radio. You’ve picked and negotiated your stations, and you’ve committed to at least 6 or 12 months to give your ads some time to speak to your target market and nurture them along. Now comes the hard part—writing great ads that will move the needle.
But how do you write an effective advertisement? What elements need to be present—and what should you avoid? Glad you asked! Here are my top pieces of advice for writing great radio ads:
POINT 1: Start With Identity: A common mistake is to make your radio ad a “menu board” style ad. Think about a menu—it shows what’s for sale and how much it costs. This leads to ads that say things like “We’re a locally owned company that can help you with whatever remodeling projects you have… from energy-saving windows to durable siding to award winning roofing.”
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Posted by Rich Harshaw on April 15, 2014.
Radio Is An Inexpensive Way To Make You A Big Fish In A Small Pond.
Small-Town Stations Allow You To Get More Bang For Your Buck… It’s All About Identity & Execution.
“I’d Move To A Small Town And Absolutely OWN IT.”
That’s the answer I give contractors who ask me the hypothetical “what would you do if you were just starting out in your own remodeling company?”
Written by Rich Harshaw
Note: This article is part of Monopolize Your Marketplace’s ongoing contractor marketing “Client Success” series. All of the information is real and current; please respect the privacy of the companies mentioned; they don’t want to be overwhelmed with questions and comments.
The downside to owning a small-town remodeling company is the limited number of prospects compared to a big city. But with those smaller numbers also comes fewer competitors… and more importantly: CHEAP MEDIA BUYS.
Think about it—you can make just as much money PER JOB in a little town as you can in a big city. If you sell windows, for example, and your average job is $6,000 with $3,000 of gross profit, you’ll clear $60,000 a month in gross profit if you sell 20 jobs. And let’s assume you allocate 10% of sales (20% of gross profit) to marketing and advertising—that gives you a monthly budget of $12,000.
If you are sitting in the middle of Dallas (where I live), that $12,000 will buy you a very small schedule on a very small station—and those listeners will be scattered for literally hundreds of miles around the area. And oh by the way, that would burn your ENTIRE budget. In a small town, on the other hand, you can OWN a top-ranked radio station for a couple thousand bucks a month. You could allocate a reasonable ONE-THIRD of your budget to radio… and make really nice buys on two good stations.
That’s a major advantage.
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Posted by Rich Harshaw on March 5, 2014.
Post Category: Client Success.
Believe It Or Not, Sometimes Using Contractor Marketing To Tell People How Much You Suck Will Actually Make Them Call.
NOBODY CARES.
How We Rewrote An Advertorial So People Were Interested
Enough To Read It, Believe It, And Take Action On It.
Written by Rich Harshaw
Note: This article is part of Monopolize Your Marketplace’s ongoing “Client Success” series. All of the information is real and current; please respect the privacy of the companies mentioned; they don’t want to be overwhelmed with questions and comments.
Sometimes I feel like one of those doctors who has to deliver bad news to nervous families in waiting rooms.
In this case, the bad news was delivered to client Steve Rennenkamp, who had just been awarded the BBB’s coveted “Torch Award” for the second time. As you’re probably aware, this is a pretty big deal—they don’t just hand out these awards to anyone. They are earned, which is why Steve wanted to use it in his contractor marketing efforts. So to capitalize on his second award in four years, Steve wrote an advertorial (newspaper ad that looks like an article) talking about his achievement.
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