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How To Write A Home Improvement Blog For Your Local Paper & Generate Tons Of Leads While Boosting Your Credibility.

Your Local Newspaper Desperately Needs Fresh Content; Providing It Can Propel Your Business To Another Level.

Your Local Newspaper Desperately Needs Fresh Content; Providing It Can Propel Your Business To Another Level.

This Takes Time, Effort, & Know-How…
But Will Pay Off In Spades If You Diligently Follow This Plan.

Written by Rich Harshaw.

The header of this article pretty much explains what it’s about, so I’ll dispense with the introductory formalities and get right to it.

Here’s the deal: Every town has a local paper that is a goldmine of opportunity for a contractor’s marketing efforts. All you have to do is become a regular contributing columnist (or blogger—it’s essentially the same thing!!) and you’ll reap huge rewards.

When I say local paper, I’m talking about the one that covers EXTREMELY local news… like high school sports, city council meetings, and community-interest stuff like local crime, road construction projects, elections, and so forth. Usually these newspapers are distributed for free either by mail or local carrier, and are supported by advertising of local realtors, retail stores, restaurants, etc. I’m NOT talking about the major metropolitan newspaper (Dallas Morning News, in my case here in the Dallas area); I’m talking about the Suburban papers like Community Impact, MySouthlakeNews.com,or SouthlakeBubbleLife.com. Your town surely has its own.

The good news is that all of these little newspapers struggle to find good, relevant, ORIGINAL editorial content for their readers. They usually have a very small staff of “beat writers” and then rely on a cadre of freelancers for everything else. If you approach the newspaper with an offer to write a bi-monthly blog/article for their newspaper/website… and you’ll do it for… FREE… you’ll have a receptive audience.

I’ll give you the step-by-step for how to pull this off below; but before I do that, let’s talk about the enormous benefits to you:

  1. Credibility Boost: When articles you write are featured in the newspaper (print version) or on the newspaper’s website—or both—you get credit for being the expert on that topic. In this case, remodeling. This is something you can promote from that moment forward; that you are the (insert newspaper name here) expert on remodeling. It doesn’t even matter if people actually see or read the articles; just knowing that you ARE that expert puts you lightyears ahead of your competitors.
  2. Massive SEO Boost: Since local newspapers are… well, local… that’s a very positive thing regarding SEO for contractors like you. Every time one of your articles is posted on the newspaper’s website—and linked to your own home improvement website—Google’s going to consider that a very important link. After a year of weekly or bi-monthly articles, when people in that local market (whatever newspaper you write for) search for home improvement topics, not only will the articles themselves come up, YOUR WEBSITE will come up too. Google will KNOW that you are the local expert. You will get that credit… and your rankings will go UP. Your leads will go up, as will your sales and profits. That’s a fact.

So how do you pull this off? Follow my simple formula:

  1. Create A Thorough List of Headlines: You don’t want to go to the newspaper and tell them that you have a “great idea” for a home improvement blog. You need to show them that you already have content that they can see and feel and touch. The first step is a list of NO LESS THAN FIFTY headlines that are interesting, catchy, relevant, and (reasonably) diverse.How do you create a list of fifty headlines? Glad you asked! My favorite method is to take a tool we call “The Headline Bank” and morph as many of the headlines as possible into headlines relevant to your topics. The Headline Bank is simply a list of 100 great headlines we’ve assembled over time that can be easily transformed into great headlines for any project—including this one!The Secret of Making People Like You… becomes: The Secret of a Stress-Free Remodeling Project.Does Your Child Ever Embarrass You?… becomes: Does Your Kitchen Ever Embarrass You? The #1 Most Common Goof In Buying A House… becomes: The #1 Most Common Goof When Hiring A Contractor.

    See how easy that is? Here’s a complete list of headlines that could be used for blog/article titles. Note that not EVERY headline would be a good fit; the idea is to write enough headlines that you can cherry pick fifty that will be great!

    You can also simply THINK OF THINGS you’d want to talk about and teach people about. What kinds of questions do you get all the time from your customers and prospects? Those would make great blog topics! What are some things that people need to watch for… or watch out for? You can also think in terms of related topics like: energy efficiency, other home improvement services/projects, property maintenance, and anything else home related.

  2. Write The First Three Articles: This is the part where you have to actually know how to write. Poorly written articles… or articles that are clearly self-serving won’t cut it. The best way to write is first person—setting yourself as the expert and speaking from your own point of view. Don’t use industry-insider words. Assume your reader has no background knowledge on the subject you’re writing about. Keep your articles to about 700 to 1,200 words.Three articles will be plenty to show that you have a good grasp of writing appropriate articles. Whoever you show will be impressed that you’re coming prepared and that you have a plan for writing the rest of the articles.
  3. Contact The Paper: Don’t get it backwards—do the work (above) FIRST, then contact the paper. Remember, they don’t know what you have in mind unless you SHOW them exactly what you have in mind. The best way to reach out to them is VIA EMAIL. Research the name of the paper’s editor (this will be easy as pie if you have a brain bigger than a walnut), then send this email:Subject Line: How To Add A Series Of Home Improvement Articles To Your Paper & Website For FREEDear (Name),I’d like to help you out. My name is (your name); I’m one of the founders of XYZ Remodeling here in Southlake, you might have heard of our company.

    We complete over 500 remodeling jobs in the Southlake, Grapevine, and Colleyville area per year. As you can imagine, we get A LOT of questions about home improvement and remodeling, including questions that we get over and over again from hundreds of people. Last year, I started documenting a lot of these questions, and providing the answers in written format. Then it dawned on me: This information might be useful for a wider audience than just my customers.

    So here’s how I can help you: I can provide articles with useful, insightful, expert advice to your readers on the topic of home improvement and remodeling. I’ve attached a list of fifty articles ideas that your readers might find interesting… as well as three of the articles that are completed and ready to run. As you will see, the articles are well-written, unbiased, reader-friendly, and interesting. I think you’ll agree this is EXACTLY the kind of information your readers would like.

    I’d like to offer you the exclusive rights to publish these articles on your site and in your paper. If you’re worried that the articles are a thinly disguised sales pitch for my company, then read the first three articles and see for yourself—they’re not. It’s good information that people genuinely want and need to know. Obviously, I’ll get exposure, and I’ll be able to position myself as an expert in the field. But my only request is that you list the articles as being written by me, a two-line bio, and a link to my home improvement website. You get great articles, I get a bit of exposure.

    Fair enough?

    Let me know what you think. I’ll call you in a day or two to discuss over the phone.

    Sincerely,

    Your Name.

  4. Be a Pest: Don’t be a jerk about it, but don’t be afraid to reach out to the paper several times if necessary. See if you can buy the editor lunch. Even if they say no, try to further the relationship so that they might bite in the future.
  5. Use The Articles No Matter What: If the paper says no, don’t worry! You can still use the articles on your own website and they will still help your SEO rankings. If you do this, make sure the editor is on your email distribution, and send them the articles consistently over time so they can see the diversity of information you have to offer. Be patient. Be persistent.

And there you have it—a sure-fire way to boost your credibility and contractor SEO rankings… and the great news is that it’s a sure thing that NONE of your competitors are doing this. You will win. Trust me on this.

© 2014 – 2016, Rich Harshaw. All rights reserved.

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