Last weekend a couple of friends we haven’t seen in a while joined us for brunch at our house. I knew Dan and Lisa from Nashville (though through different circles), but we became much better friends while I lived in DC (where they still live). Sabrina and I used to go over the their house for dinner and they would come over to our house for dinner. It was good to reconnect and I think it made both Sabrina and I miss living in DC a little more.
While my personal friendships are rewarding and great, they are not the kind of thing I post about regularly. Really this post is no different. This is a post about small business ownership, marketing, blogging, and customer relations. This is a post about using technology to help you make money, though it is a little theoretical. It is right up my alley.
A couple of years ago Dan started his own company. Sundance Contracting is a a home improvement / renovations / general contracting company in Washington, DC. Like many small businesses, Sundance Contracting is defined by the talent, passion, and dedication of it’s founder. Here is how Dan describes it:
Remarkable craftsmanship, accurate estimates, constant and effective communication, timely completion, and exceeding customer expectations, is Sundance Contracting’s philosophy on client interactions.
Naturally, the topic of websites came up during the course of our brunch. Dan is currently using Wordpress for his companies website. His companies presence on the internet is a blog. That is going to change soon. He is moving towards a more traditional brochure site with a blog as an addition. People who are looking for someone to work on their home want to see pretty pictures. Or do they?
When I look at how Dan sells his companies services I don’t see anything about it being pretty. The contracting world is plagued with people who make deliver a beautiful facade that masks he shortcuts and hack jobs underneath. Contractors (in any industry) are notorious for being behind schedule and presenting final bills that are considerably higher than their initial estimates. Clear and timely communication is also a problem. Those are all aspects of a company that are very hard to describe with pictures. It is true that people want to see pictures, but what they really want is to no that they will be satisfied when the work is done, and appearance is only a small part of that satisfaction.
This is why a blog can be such a powerful sales tool for small business owners. Dan’s blog is still pretty young and he is finding his voice. Yet, it has the potential to let his potential customers know that at the end of a project with Sundance Contracting they will be satisfied with not only the product, but also the process.
It all seems so obvious to me as I look at it from the outsider perspective. However, it is not so easy when I am in the middle of it. On the blog for our retail store I have a hell of a time knowing the what/how/who of the posts. I guess the answer is to post current information like we do (sales, etc) as well as posts that demonstrate what is unique about our business. It is a little harder with our franchise since we are only the representatives for our area and the internet knows no boundaries.
I am hoping to have an easier time with the statzen blog. I know what makes statzen unique. I know how I want to present it. The only reason I am not posting there all the time is that I need to know that a launch is coming soon before I start posting the kind of detailed information I expect to share. I have every intention of showing what common problems are within the services currently offered for blog statistics and talk frankly about how I am approaching those shortcomings with statzen. I think that Dan did a great job of identifying the difficulties of working with General Contractors and used that as a way to differentiate his company. That sort of shared-understanding with a customer is what builds a loyal customer base. I can’t think of a better way to demonstrate a shared understanding than with a blog.
