Friday, March 28, 2008

Progress...

Good week. Made some headway on the production side. Organized some tasks, got everyone up on MS Project 07 and am looking forward to getting it up to speed. Saw some great stuff by Airoom, a 50MM remodeling co in IL. They have 5 people on their IT staff and internet based project management. Some day.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Internet Marketing for stix and brix

So you'll have to forgive me...I'm new to blogging and even newer to internet marketing (IM). Although, my Design + Build Remodeling company is probably one of the more saavy companies in our industry when it comes to technology and the internet. But, I must admit, this IM has got me hyped. I guess the IMers who sell their "systems" to unsuspecting novices like me are doing a good job. But I can't resist the notion that the new internet (2.0) is still a virgin. I've been following a very interesting group of IM's these past few months and I find myself unable to look away - kind of like the car crash on the side of the road. I mean these people are GOOD. They hook you in with the tease, they use all the latest gaderty embedded in their e-mails (audio players, streaming video, etc.) and then they hit you over the head with the hard close. I know you've seen these things. The 30 page sales letters, the endless testimonials, on and on and on. So I'm wondering...Do IM practices work for stix and brix? Does anyone have any success stories to report? Ones that can be verified? (Please, no photos of your first check!). So far, I've seen IM used A LOT in the niche industries and especially in the most self-serving one "How to make money on the internet." The products they always seem to be pushing are e-books, how-to guides, etc. I'm trying to determine if the IM platform is right for my Design + Build business. We do our share internet marketing (Constant Contact) now and we have a pretty cool web page. But IM is a lot more than that, and I'm wondering if investing the time and money is the right move. We don't have a product or service with a national appeal so the product launches, affiliates and list building (outside of our market) may not apply. Or maybe they do. Anway, I have become a student of the industry and if nothing else, I pick up a few ideas that I pass on to my VP of sales - and then he tells me to stop getting in his way. Well, not to my face anyway. Thoughts?