Home Improvement Marketing Partnership: A Different Kind of Relationship

You're probably asking yourself, “what do I have to do as a home improvement contractor in order to make this partnership succeed?” 

Really what you have to do is focus on delivering excellent work. 

I know that’s your core strength. 

You need to show up, and you need to fulfill. 

You’ve gotta have the follow through - and you have to have a high standard of excellence. 

When it comes to doing the tasks that we assign you, you have to be willing and eager to do them. 

We're not going to overburden you. 

Once the initial onboarding is completed, all it's going to come down to is spending five minutes a day documenting your day to day. 

Not just your expertise, but what you go through on a daily basis in your business. 

Again, it's just five minutes a day. 

We'll get into the details about that later. 

But if you're not ready to make a five minutes a day commitment, then you're not ready for this. 

When we do the onboarding, we're going to go through a discovery process. 

You have to be prepared to be authentic - sometimes even painfully so. 

You have to be real with your audience, or else you're going to build a superficial connection with them. 

But - if you can be authentic with your answers, you're very much on the path to success. 

Now, another key to success here is going to be handling leads promptly. 

Having someone (or a team) in place to handle the leads as they come in - to give them the time and energy they deserve. 

I'm not talking about answering the phone - because I have a team of VAs that can handle that. 

I'm talking about being available, being accessible, having someone there ready to answer questions or get people on the schedule if and when the prospect is ready. 

We're almost to the end of the list of your responsibilities. 

BUT these next two things are extremely important. 

You need to stay engaged and on track with the vision that we develop. 

When you say, “I'm committed to doing this, I'm committed to bringing this to life. I know what I want out of my business” - you have to stay committed. 

If you don't stay engaged, and committed, and use that excitement, and that empowerment, that energy that you get from creating those goals - to ride it through the hills and valleys of the business development journey, there's no hope in sight for you. 

BUT - if you can hold on to that excitement, and stay engaged in bringing the vision to life, then there's almost nothing that can stop you. 

The final thing that you need to do, which is of pivotal importance, is to trust the process. 

You have to stay consistent. 

You have to take the time to understand how we're getting where we're going, and you have to believe that it's going to work out if you just keep working the system. 

I'm here to help you with and through all of this stuff, but you have to accept that you have a responsibility, just as much as we do, in this partnership, to bring these dreams to life.

So where does that leave us? 

What do my team and I have to do? 

Well, at this point, you don't have to worry about anything else - because we're gonna handle all of the technical details. 

If we NEED to have YOU do something technical, we’re gonna walk you through it. 

We're gonna make you video recordings, and we're going to make sure that it's as little of a burden on you as possible. 

Our team handles all of the technical implementation. 

When it comes to content creation and distribution - aside from the interview questions and the five minutes a day, you don't have to worry about anything - because we're gonna take care of all of it. 

We turn those interview questions and the five minutes a day into:

Robust website content and 

Site structure and 

prolific social media content 

that gets distributed among all the different channels that we wanna be on. 

Now, beyond that, we take that content and we turn it into powerful ads. 

We're gonna test that content against the audience and see what works best. 

When we know what is most effective with your audience, we're going to pour more energy and more money into that content - so that we generate the best results from the ads. 

We're gonna optimize, and do conversion rate tweaks - everything that's necessary to bring great results with the minimum effective dose. 

We're gonna generate leads from all that effort and - what else are we gonna do with those leads? 

We're going to monitor and nurture them. 

We are going to handle them as they come in, and we're gonna make sure that they get the attention that they deserve. 

As you know, we're just counting on you to help us with the relay process. 

We need to make sure that there's someone on your end that's gonna take care of them as soon as they're ready. 

We’re going to set up this whole system from the content and the ads - all the way through to the CRM - and even help you with operations management. 

What else are we gonna do? 

We're going to tailor fit our winning strategy to you, and do the work that it takes to execute it. 

Out of that strategy - your identity, your brand will be born and polished. 

Beyond the brand being born - that digital presence that comes from that brand will be managed by us. 

The reputation management, the issue handling, getting of referrals - we're gonna do everything that we can to manage your presence online. 

And on top of all of this, we're going to keep a finger on the pulse of the performance. 

We’re going to track the key performance indicators (KPIs) and we are going to optimize everything we're doing to improve & increase the results that we get.

So, what's the value of getting into such an intimate partnership? 

Why is that division of responsibility so important for us to reach the success that we're striving for? 

It's because it lets you focus on what you do best as a home improvement contractor. 

It takes away that overwhelm that you get from having to engage with all of these technical systems (which are not your forte). 

It makes sure that someone is there on your team to execute the strategies and the tactics based on principles that we develop - in a professional way, in a successful way. 

It creates a system of sustainable growth that is trackable and is predictable and is in alignment with where you're actually trying to go. 

It allows us to maintain a consistent presence online that doesn't change with every agency that comes and goes, but instead stays in alignment, and stays in balance with everything you're doing, and everything you're trying to become. 

The whole point of this partnership is that it leverages each of our strengths. 

You, as a winning home improvement contractor, and me, as a visionary digital marketer. 

What we're doing with this partnership is building authority that's going to last in your service area. 

There's going to be no question that you're the go-to guy and the wins are going to come consistently - instead of a bunch of front end success and a bunch of pain and strain in the back end. 

The real value here, the real thing that ties it all together is that this partnership will keep everything we do aligned with the long-term goals that we establish right from the jump. 

It's that we'll know that everything we're doing is getting us closer and closer to this ideal place that you're trying to reach.

How do we start uncovering a contractor's true differentiators? 

It's pretty straightforward. 

We’re looking for the answer to the million dollar question. 

What is your most profitable job? 

What one job do you wish you could fill your schedule with? 

What do you want to be known as the go-to guy for in your service area? 

When we get an answer to that question (as it ought to be the same answer to all three questions) - then we can build your identity around generating those leads, around attracting those customers, around attracting those types of jobs. 

Now that we've got that information, we want to move on to our 12 questions that are going to teach your audience why they would want to work with you. 

What's your story about why you do what you do, and what’s it like to work with you? 

This is how we build that relationship of know, like, and trust with your audience. 

We have the 12 questions that are sculpted around letting people get to know you, showing them why they can trust you, and breaking down the walls and getting that emotional connection with them so that they like you. 

In uncovering all of this, the answers help us as your marketing partner to understand your drive and your passion and what moves you. 

These questions also uncover who your ideal customers are - because knowing the job is going to expose who would end up buying that job. 

From simply asking these questions, it becomes very easy to identify what your USP (unique sales proposition) is. 

Why should people want to work with you instead of your competition? 

When we have that - we really have struck gold. 

From all of these questions, it becomes very easy to figure out what your overall vision is - where you want to be, and what's keeping you from getting there. 

What actions we need to take to get you there. 

Further still, asking these questions is going to uncover your why. 

A lot of contractors don't really know the answer to that in their conscious mind. 

When we ask them our 12 questions, it becomes uncovered, unveiled - and they find that they have a deeper relationship with and understanding of their own business just for having answered the questions.

So we've done all this work to uncover your unique value. 

What do we do with it? 

Well, we turn it into your brand identity. 

It's given us many insights that empower us to create authentic messaging about your company. 

What do I mean by authentic messaging? 

I mean communicating what you do in a way that resonates with you and your audience. 

All of this builds a no-brainer content framework that shows us what we need to lean on, and lean into, when it comes to talking about your work. 

We don't have to just say anymore: “We do good work. Look at our testimonials.” 

We can say exactly why people would want to do business with you or why they shouldn't even bother calling you for an estimate. 

Getting all this insight empowers us to change the way that people see your brand into the go-to authority for whatever it is that's your specialty. 

All of your content, everything we create, is going to lean into these themes and reinforce these themes. 

Just like everything I do reinforces my theme of: 

you need to think long-term and 

you need to do what's effective and 

you need to be building an authentic relationship with your audience. 

Everything I'm going to tell you is going to be in alignment with that because those are the cornerstones that my success is built on. 

In the same way that my content is consistent with my message, because my message is consistent, your content will be too. 

We'll be able to get that consistent message across all the different channels that your ideal customers are on, whether it's YouTube or Instagram or Facebook or on your website. 

All of these efforts together are going to align to help us reach your goals.

How do we fulfill this promise where we tell you that we can turn five minutes of time of your day into a comprehensive content strategy? 

I'm going to show you how to talk to your audience as though they're interested in your life and what it is that you do. 

We use what we call the Little Timmy method to teach you how to spend 60 seconds in front of the camera. 

All you do is record your videos as if you're talking to your nephew, who is: 

your biggest fan and 

is interested you - 

not just in the work that you do, 

but in your life as an entrepreneur, 

in your faith, 

in your beliefs, 

in your politics, 

in your diet, 

in your exercise, 

in everything that's going on in your life. 

You're going to be able to connect with your audience in an authentic way, and they're going to be able to see that you're not just a business owner, but you're a real member of the community that has a real personality. 

You're going to attract your tribe. 

You're going to create customer evangelists that are so crazy about you and the work that you do and who you are - that you're going to have a fan base. 

All this just from taking five minutes a day, and passing the baton to us, to let us turn that one selfie video into:

a blog post, 

into a static image post, 

into a Google Maps listing post, 

into tweets, 

and sharing the reels on 

YouTube, 

on Facebook, 

on Instagram

so that people build a relationship with your brand. 

We have strategies and tactics that retarget the people who are interested in your page. 

This constantly exposes your daily content to them, so that you're always top of mind as a local business. 

We do this so your content gets in front of the people that are most interested in what you do. 

Not just content trying to sell them stuff, but building a relationship with them consistently, reinforcing your authority, and subtly, subconsciously being present. 

All of this, over time, is going to make it so consistent, highly qualified leads come in. 

We want to give those leads as much earnest attention as they deserve. 

That's why we set up this lead handling process - to take great advantage of all of this interest that we're creating. 

We've got a team of VAs that answer the phone to make sure that if someone's calling in, they're either getting their call answered right away, or they're getting a call back within five minutes. 

Now, we get all those leads into a CRM so that we have clear tracking on how each lead is handled - and our team of lead handling VAs is nurturing those leads through the sales pipeline (that we put in place together). 

Now, in that sales pipeline, we set up automations to make sure that these people are automatically getting followed up with as part of that nurturing process. 

As we handle them through the process, even through to fulfillment, we've got quality control in place to make sure that our team is checking in with them, they're happy with the service, they don't have any questions, nothing's going wrong. 

When the job is done, we're getting referrals and we're getting reviews from these happy customers.

What are the key pillars of a contractor's digital presence? 

A very valid question and something that is often neglected. 

This is part of why partnership is so important - because all these pillars need to be in place. 

The website is the cornerstone of the online presence, and here's why. 

It's the only thing that you actually own. 

Every other asset that you have online is on some other company's platform, whether it's YouTube or Facebook or Instagram. 

Even your Google Maps listing - Google owns it. 

Facebook owns your Facebook page. 

You need to keep this in mind. 

You could lose access and you could lose the value that you've poured into those at any time. 

So the website really needs to be the cornerstone of the digital presence of a home improvement contractor's business. 

Now everything else that we've mentioned is an absolutely important part of the ecosystem that exists online for a contractor's presence. 

Some of your prospects are using YouTube. 

Some of them are on Facebook. Some are on Instagram. 

We need to reach people where they are. 

We need to be in front of them where they hang out. 

That's part of why we have these strategic implementations of social media where we match our message and our delivery to the medium, to the platform that the content is delivered on. 

Now - all of this is fueled by, supercharged by, paid ad campaigns that make sure the content we're producing gets in front of the right people. 

Pair all this with effective reputation management and you've got a well-oiled machine that is going to constantly bring in highly qualified leads. 

Would you dream of managing and maintaining all of this stuff on your own? 

Could you trust a monthly agency to build and maintain all of these systems without spending an absolute fortune - and not getting guaranteed any real measurable results? 

Obviously not.

How do these different elements and facets and pillars all work together to bring in the results that we're looking for? 

Well, it's a seamless passing of the baton, just like the partnership concept here. 

Each one plays to its own strengths and they work together to produce powerful results. 

The important thing here is that you have a unified brand message throughout all of these channels. 

So everywhere that your prospects turn, they're learning the same things about your business. 

There’s a consistent message across all these platforms, even though it's delivered in its own unique and special way based on the platform itself. 

This is amplifying your message. 

It's like how you see Coca-Cola everywhere you turn and everybody knows that Coca-Cola is the number one soda brand. 

Even if you like Pepsi or something else, you know that Coca-Cola dominates the worldwide market. 

And that's what we wanna do for you on a local scale, in your niche, in front of the right audience. 

This is building your reputation in your prospect's mind - in a subtle but consistent way - because your name becomes synonymous with your service in your service area. 

Your brand becomes the clear and obvious choice for your ideal client. 

Even your bad fit customers know not to call you because they know enough about your brand to know that you're not gonna be a good fit.

That conclusion explains why having all these pieces in place is so crucial. 

The goal here is to generate leads consistently for your ideal jobs from your ideal clients - and to repel anybody who's going to be a bad fit for your company. 

That's exactly what this unified message across multiple platforms that's constantly in front of your ideal customers is going to produce. 

Your market is entirely covered online by your presence. 

You show up as professional and consistent everywhere they see you. 

You are so visible that no one can deny your presence online, whether they hang out on YouTube, they hang out on Facebook, or they're simply just looking for your services on Google. 

This is going to make it so much easier to provide your ideal services - because everybody and their mother knows in your service area that you're the go-to guy. 

Because of this consistency, your growth becomes much more sustainable. 

You don't have to worry about how much ads cost, or more new players coming in on the market, or someone spending a bunch more money on ads this month to try to outperform you. 

They are not putting in the consistent work that we are putting in together to take over your marketplace. 

This gives you an unquestionable competitive advantage over your local competition because they're simply not putting in the sweat equity that we are going to put in for you. 

And all we're asking of you is five minutes a day to get in front of your camera and send us that reel. 

That is the secret weapon that you're going to use to empower us to take over your market for you and with you.

And so you're probably wondering, what does this five minute commitment every day look like? 

Well, it literally is just you taking out your phone, shooting a selfie video for like a minimum of 60 seconds. 

That's really all it takes. 

I don't care if you're talking about 

the work you've done, 

the work you're about to do, 

an estimate, 

problems that you run into on the job site, 

or 

you're talking about current events, 

the weather, 

your neighborhood, 

one of your favorite neighborhoods to do work in, 

problem customers, 

happy customers, 

it doesn't matter. 

Talk about anything for at least 60 seconds in a selfie video, and you're going to have success. 

Why? 

Because we're just building a relationship with your audience. 

All you have to do is talk to them as if you're talking to somebody who cares about what you're talking about. 

Literally just treat it like you're sitting around the campfire and you're chatting with somebody about whatever topic comes up. 

You can choose what you want to talk about and you're going to get known for what you talk about. 

So don't overthink it. 

You don't have to overthink it, but just get comfortable talking to the audience as if you're talking to one of your friends. 

Why does this work? 

Because no one else is doing it. 

No other contractor is taking the time to connect with their audience. 

This is going to set you apart immediately as the go-to accessible, friendly, knowledgeable, contractor for your ideal service in your service area.

How do we make the whole lead handling situation more efficient for you as a contractor? 

Well, one of the ways is by putting in virtual assistants in place so that you don't have to be doing $10 an hour work. 

That can be delegated to people who get paid $10 an hour. 

Because these people are here full time waiting for the phone to ring, every client that calls is getting the attention that they deserve. 

Most contractors are not answering their phone within the first five minutes or responding to leads within the first five minutes, nevermind the first couple hours. 

Again, the attention that we give to the prospects sets us apart. 

Just like we're giving attention to the audience with our content, we're giving attention and the treatment, the respect that these prospects deserve by simply getting back to their calls, reaching out to them when they fill out a form, answering their phone calls when they call in during business hours, and serving their needs, answering their questions, getting them on the schedule. 

We're just taking care of your community. 

That is what we're here to do, is to help you do the things you don't have the time to do yourself. 

The things we all know your audience deserves, your ideal clients deserve. 

We go above and beyond all that by following up and keeping track of where these prospects are in the pipeline. 

We recognize, we honor, we respect, and we value the fact that every one of these prospects is worth a significant amount of money and value - in the short and long term - to your home improvement business. 

Not only can they turn into a profitable sale, but they could turn into a repeat customer. 

They can turn into a testimonial. 

They can turn into a bunch of referrals. 

And the opposite could happen. 

They could do the same thing for your competition. 

If we don't go out of our way to win them and to woo them, to please them, someone else is gonna do it. 

And they're gonna reap all those benefits. 

Why should that be?

When it comes to day-to-day support for anything related to sales and marketing and technology in your business, we're here to help. 

We’re a bunch of nerds that have been working in this industry for over 20 years. 

There's nothing we really haven't seen. 

All of my partners end up being my friends. 

So, I go out of my way to treat them as such - and to do unto them as I would want done to me. 

You can count on that when it comes to solving problems and caring about your issues. 

Not just a strategy, not just a performance, and not just proactively growing your business, but somebody who cares. 

Somebody who's interested and invested and is truly a partner. 

Not just for profit, but for the journey. 

You've got someone who is joining you on the hike. 

They're joining you on the mission. 

We are out in the fields together doing this work together in a friendly, loving, brotherly way. 

So, you can lean on us. 

Not just to grow your business, but to help you make it through the trials and tribulations of life.

How do we track and show results? 

This is a really important question to be asking yourself, because we get paid on performance. 

We need to keep our finger on the pulse of all of the results that we are generating. 

It all comes down to handling those leads, keeping track of those leads through receipt to conversion and all the way through quality control and review generation. 

It goes beyond just measuring the metrics that matter. 

It goes all the way to being intimately intertwined with the success of your business from a job to job basis. 

We're not just reporting on the leads that come in and conversions, but we are taking note of how every relationship develops, how every job progresses, how each lead is handled. 

We are analyzing this deeply and sincerely to see every opportunity that we can find to help improve the business. 

We do all of this through the lens of minimum effective dose. 

It's not like we're micromanaging and nitpicking every little thing, but instead, we’re paying attention to what we can do to help improve that which matters in your business. 

Not only are we tracking it, not only are we gonna report it to you, but we are going to earnestly work hard to improve every opportunity.

If you've been reading along, it should be pretty clear to you how you become known as the go-to specialist in your area for your number one job. 

It's by consistently showing up in an authentic way in front of your entire audience. 

By sharing your real expertise in a way that can't be duplicated or faked.

By connecting with your community, 

By shooting those videos in front of landmarks, 

in the field when you're doing the work, 

at your favorite restaurants, 

in your favorite places, 

By building authority day after day, 

By consistently making that extra effort and going the extra mile ,

Just by showing up five minutes a day, 

All this is differentiating you from your competition - because they're doing nothing of the sort. 

You’re using social media in the way that it's meant to be used, socially, and attracting your natural audience. 

You’re building trust day after day with your ideal customers and repelling your bad fits. 

There’s no way that you won't become known as THE specialist. 

You're essentially becoming a local celebrity for the work that you do.

You have to ask yourself, what is it going to mean for my business when I am consistently present in front of my audience? 

You’re always going to be top of mind. 

You're going to be the first person that anybody thinks about in your niche. 

You are going to build relationships with your ideal customers on autopilot. 

They're going to get to know you before you ever show up on site to give the estimate. 

They're going to feel like it's their friend, or a local celebrity, showing up at their house to do what they're needing done. 

Your whole community is going to recognize you. 

They're going to know you as that guy - not just that guy online, but that guy who knows everything about his business, and has a sincere opinion about it, and is using his knowledge to help his community. 

You're going to be known as the market leader. 

Everyone else is going to look like your competition. 

You're going to be known as the most trusted, most popular option for your ideal jobs - because you’ve been making a long-term impact on your audience by showing up consistently. 

By regularly engaging in a social way - and all this is taking is five minutes a day.

Just imagine how your lead quality is going to change by taking this approach. 

When people see you, they're not seeing you for the first time. 

They're seeing you for the hundredth time. 

They’re already pre-qualified because they've listened to your content. 

They've watched your content and they've just been waiting for a need for your service. 

Now, because they've been pre-qualified, they're a better fit. 

They already know that you're the guy they want to go with. 

They just need to see you in the flesh to finalize the deal. 

You're going to get higher value, higher margin jobs because you're attracting your ideal customer that already wants to pay you. 

You're not having to give them a discount. 

You're only needing to fulfill the promises that they know that you fulfill. 

Your sales process is going to be so much easier because these people have already hyped themselves up to decide to work with you. 

You're going to get more referrals and you're going to get better reviews because you’re working with the people that already know that the work that you do is the work that they want.

Just imagine the peace of mind that this brings you in your business - when you know you have a winning strategy, and you’re implementing it with someone who has proven to use this strategy for the success of other contractors. 

Someone you can turn to for professional support, who's going to prevent and foresee problems, and solve them before they happen. 

Someone who has your back when things go wrong. 

Someone using years of experience in solving these problems that are common to contractors. 

You've got a clear direction towards the goals that are important to you - not just based on money, but based on lifestyle and vision and purpose. 

You have progress being measured at every turn, following the most important indicators that will tell you whether you're performing or not. 

You've got reliable technology and systems to back up all of your efforts. 

You have a true partner in your corner that cares about not just your success, but your happiness and your fulfillment. 

Just imagine how you're going to feel a year from now when you've taken this consistent action - and everybody knows in your area that you're the go-to guy for your most profitable service.