To speak or not to speak (about me and the services I provide), that is my question. This post is briefly about a question I posed regarding how people found professional service providers related to home improvements.
Wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who provided input regarding how you found service professionals for home improvements. WORD OF MOUTH & REFERRALS were at the top of the list. Other means of advertising and marketing were not ruled out.
Looking back at my history, I remember my very first job as a small business and it came from a flyer. As a matter of fact, every single project I received at the beginning of my business were first from some form of advertisement or marketing endeavor, then second by a very, very rare word of mouth. Nobody knew me at that time and nobody knew what I did. I had to sell myself somehow. Even to this day, about 70% of my business comes from marketing and advertising and 30% comes from word of mouth, which is the largest portion of incoming new business. I never have, however, had anyone say they found me or hired me from my pen or my t-shirt and only once in 17 years did someone call me from my vehicle advertisement; that was a big job.
You may have heard it referred to as word-of-mouth marketing, but I think word of mouth isn’t really marketing if you think about it. It isn’t something that can be delivered in the mail. It can’t be posted online or in a social forum. It isn’t something that can directly be controlled, but it can be influenced. That all depends on how well a goods or service provider can go about creating a buzz worth getting people to talk about. Seth Godin calls it the Purple Cow. Andy Sernovitz explains in his book Word of Mouth Marketing that “the most powerful word of mouth advocates might be the customers who have done business with you only once so far.” And today, as it has been since the start, online reviews have become just as powerful as word of mouth, especially those written by the actual customer, the only difference, and better I should say, is that once word of mouth is online, it is there to stay.
I added a REVIEWS page on my website with updated reviews that were entered on various forums. Some were handwritten on paper, some from Angie’s List and some from Houzz. One thing is certain when it comes to getting reviews is that you will most likely have to ask for them. Providing a direct link and simply explanation of what you need your customers to do is certain to get these reviews for your future customers to consider when they choose to hire you for their next project.
For all my local friends in the Louisville, KY and Southern Indiana areas, I would appreciate very much if you took some time to read what some of my customers have written about me and my services. Thanks a bunch! I hope you will think of me when someone you know is interested in cabinet refinishing and built-in cabinetry.
My Reviews: Ryan’s Project Reviews
Carpentry Life 