Did Online and Offline Marketing Have a Shotgun Marriage?

If you create a less confusing, consistent marketing message across OFFline and ONline media, you will be miles ahead of the competition. How? Once again, let’s start simply.

5 Things You Can Do NOW for Integration, Simplification and Results:

1. Repurpose your best offline promotions into your online promotions. They should have the same theme, voice, message and offer, if any. No confusion for your CSRs, techs or customers.
2. Incorporate print promotions with online by using QR codes that become coupons or deeper offers. (These are simple to do and make you look instantly more relevant.)
3. Invite your website visitor to receive your offline newsletter, which is an instant lead-capture. And the inverse is also true…
4. Make your newsletter point to your website with continuation articles, more advice and valuable promotions.
5. The Right Balance: Let your Social page be 70% entertaining, 30% promotional. Social sites should have the same theme, messaging, look and voice of your main website.

Use the proven model from billion-dollar marketers. Rethink your marketing path from “ad to phone” to the entire world of integrated messages. This will drive traffic, calls and profits right past the competition straight to you.

You can get no-cost training that shows precise steps to eliminate inconsistency and confusion, and maximize your opportunity by getting on the Advanced Access List for the video training series; it’s packed with juicy dollars and cents case studies, content that actually worked and a neat list of bonuses rarely given away.

Adams Hudson will be conducting “The Ultimate HVAC Lead Generation Formula” video training series (his HOTTEST video training event to date) starting on August, 26^th, 2013. In it, you’ll hear AND see the richest Case Studies, techniques and red-hot marketing strategies ever compiled for ONline and OFFline contractor marketing. PLUS, he’s giving away a pile of bonus training, downloads and samples throughout. Learn more in this short video. Limited to the first 255 contractors who get in.

Weather or Not

Woke up to hurricane warnings! Stuff blowing sideways past your window makes Mondays less thrilling. This weather happens in the Southeast since the Gulf of Mexico is apparently El Niño's favorite place to do a huge belly buster. (Scientific fact. Ask anybody.)

Every area has to deal with their distinctive weather "signature". And we regularly deal with contractors who feel "the weather" is why they're busy, not busy, on fire, or chipping their trucks out of the parking lot instead of selling. (A solution is coming, if you can believe it.)

But first, here's how the rest of the Nation views your region. If you live in these regions and disagree, the rest of us would like to say, "Yeah, right. Whatever you say."

How Others View Weather in Your Area

The North and Northeast is embalmed under 3 feet of ice for like 9 months of the year. All winter, tanker-loads of salt are dumped over what is called "Goiter's Triangle" that stretches from Detroit to Bangor to Cleveland. To help indoors, millions of Amish Heaters are sent (second one shipped FREE!) to thaw inhabitants. Several regain consciousness and revote in Chicago elections.

The Midwest - in organized midwesterly fashion - has a tornado scheduled every 90 minutes. That's why the show, Storm Chasers (previously called "9 Sorta Bored Idiots in a Van Full of Cameras") drives around Nebraska hoping to outrun 270 mph winds. When the Tornado Generator Vortex Thruster machine is being serviced, a flood is called in to relieve boredom.

In the Northwest, it has been raining since the Paleozoic era. In Seattle, a town where Noah wouldn't have made Eagle Scout, it's not unusual to see a giant squid in a coffee shop, just lying there... lost, but caffeinated. Those raised in the Northwest have never seen their shadow outdoors, thus believe "The Sun" is a rumor. Mildew is considered a crop.

In the Southwest, they pretend to have two seasons: 1) hot and 2) dry, but they occur simultaneously. (Then why the appeal of Taco chips and hot sauce?) The west half of Texas - which is larger than all of Europe - also boasts of "Tumbleweed Season," though it was determined these are actually remnants of the border fence.

As non-conformists, California refuses to have weather. They instead have "trends" which include seismic gyrations, mudslides, geysers, and locust swarms. Oddly, locals contend that it's "Surf's Up" all year at 72 degrees with perfect humidity, yet the Television News shows houses sliding down hills onto Interstate 5, where no one really notices, but honks and refuses to let them "cut in line". California behaves like an island, which could be prophetic.

So, the weather never cooperates. The season never "behaves". You can always find a reason that your business doesn't thrive because of conditions "out of your control." But there are conditions within your control...

How to Make Smart Marketing Beat the Stupid Weather (Plus a 7 Sentence Marketing Plan that WORKS)

Tree Dude, Part 2

I had no idea that Part 1 would trigger such response. In fact, there wasn't going to be a Part 2 until my inbox filled with responses, questions, comments from curious readers.

Let me start with this, and if any reporters take this out of context, may sandspurs invade your undergarments. I do not hold any hostility nor consider the arborist trade much different than much of the service world. (And the respondents in that trade were positively, the exception to any characterization, as evidenced by reading SMI!)

My experiences are the "other side of the trucks" to help all trades see through another's eyes. The difference here: I'm on your side too.

I had a pretty humorous (and startlingly similar) story from reader Tom Fore of Roanoke, VA who shared an exact quote from his Tree Dude after excessive tardiness. See 'Theater of the Absurd' in this issue. You can insert "carpet cleaner", "sheetrocker", "roofer" and virtually any trade you want... that phrase is being openly acted out for frustrated homeowners across America. Honesty points go to Johnny who actually said it.

Interestingly, one of the most thoughtful responses came from one Patrick George of Heartwood Tree Service in NC. After reading his email, I wish he'd make a 450 mile house call. Patrick is definitely NOT 'Tree Dude' but a certified arborist, yet admitted...

"Tree dude fits about 85% of the guys in my industry." That is important for any tradesperson to know because a reasonably-held standard rockets you past nearly 90% of the crowd. Good observation, yet Patrick had a question that was echoed by several others:

"Why did you pick this guy?"

People felt I surely was "connected" enough to get good referrals, or that I could choose someone with an IQ higher than that of wilted lettuce. Yet here's the truth of why I picked him, plus a sales number you have NEVER seen before...

The Kid Who Coulda Been a Contenda

The late 20's kid seems sharp enough, but he hangs with some losers. One of whom is himself.

I met him while he was an intern at the local Porsche dealership, in their very rigorous tech-training program. Given the car's country of origin, Germans and technical obsession are like politicians and money-favors: chemically bonded.

He was eager, clean-cut, clearly gifted for the craft of byzantine engine management systems that balance the immense power and pragmatism of the Porsche brand. This is a near-heart-surgical specialty among mere physicians. To a car guy, he "spoke" the language; to a typical customer, he could tone it down for comprehension.

In other words, an ideal Tech. Except for "the sickness."

After twenty six weeks of training, that are mind-numbing enough for a near 60% drop-out rate (some of their own volition, most due to Porsche's unwavering perfectionism) this kid got his head turned in two ways at once.

His inner voice repeated what had oft been said to him, "You're really good at this. You're going to make it." That was his confidence and drive talking. Yet a dysfunctional ego added a comment he'd never heard, "... and you should now be rewarded accordingly."

Not so fast.

He "forgot" the investment and sacrifice made for him. He disregarded the hierarchy of reward that follows proven work, clearly laid out from the beginning. He was blind to other players on the team funneling work his way, and handling myriad details thereafter.

Though his hands were adept and his head ever-increasing in technical knowledge, he began questioning management (a field about which he had zero training). "Why do you charge this?" "How much did that customer pay for this service?" "Why are these parts marked up so much?"

His next step sealed his fate, just as it has for countless thousands before and since...

And You Think Your Trade is a Commodity?

I was, as usual, running late for my airport departure. I'm rarely giddy about cavity searches, peanuts disguised as a meal and sitting next to people who consider deodorant optional.

Yet, I'd made arrangement with the nice girl in the lobby for a cab at 2:20. "He'll be here," she assured. At 2:15, I give her an expectant glance. "He's already out front," she motions towards a black car. Not just any black car either.

It was the shiniest black car in all of DC, where shiny black cars compete at a different level. Next to it was a man in business casual, holding a black and white umbrella with a gold cab company logo on it. Soon as he saw me heading toward him, he popped the trunk.

Before I could say anything he asked, "Are you well rested for your flight, or are you hoping to rest during the flight?" He beamed this friendly question - later becoming important - and I answered, "Depends on who I'm sitting next to." He laughed, and in an instant, had carefully placed my bags into the immaculate trunk, motioning me to the rear seat.

As I turned toward the car, he whisked the door open. His manners were so different, I scanned for the hidden camera in case this was a big joke. Once in the car, my shock factor increased notably.

First, it didn't reek like the Sherwood Forest cocktail most cabbies use to disguise their lack of automotive hygiene. It was just clean. There was no debris, no crumbs, and wait... what is that...

Magazines. There were several magazines in the seat backs, including that day's Washington Post. "Take your pick," said Mr. Woods, whose name was on a professional sign preceded by, "Your Travel Host". This was a far cry from the normal hand-scrawled legal requirement duct taped to the seat back with a mug shot. "Travel Host". Nice touch.

He caught my glance in the rearview mirror, "I must ask you to please refrain from smoking since I'm allergic." I told him I was too, so not a problem. (Yet note his request with justification.) He confirmed the airline and airport, and we merged into traffic.

Just to make this scene even more eerie and hidden camera-ish, he said the unthinkable -

CLICK to see what Mr. Woods actually asked, and how your company can copy this.

The Coming Marketing Meltdown

And there he went. Just like that, my son was in my rearview mirror, standing by the curb next to his 'new' dorm, as we drove back home from planting him at college. Things were quiet in the car. If you listened closely though, you could hear the faint flipping of mental images working backwards.

• The prom pictures where I was taken aback that he looked so much like a man.
• The early driving days when he looked like a child who'd stolen his parents' car.
• The baseball years where the glove was so big his fingers didn't reach past the palm, and the helmet could actually be spun while still on his head.
• The diaper years (which we really need to figure out how to eliminate, no pun intended), the cuteness of baby cheeks, missing teeth, and little fat baby joints that could go in almost any direction.

Then I snap back into the present: a young man at college. A father questions much. This is a quick poem, which doesn't have a blooming thing to do with marketing, but if you're a parent, it may hold a grain of value. Click for 'A Father Questions'.

As a business owner, worker, parent, we all want to have made our presence known somehow. Two things we all wonder:

Are we doing enough to make a difference?

Are we leaving the place better than we found it?

If 'yes' to both, congratulations, for you have done your job well. Yet there's a guilt epidemic floating amongst the "going to's" that never quite get done. We're "going to" start saving more, earning more, vacationing more, stressing out less ... one day. And just like depositing a child at college, that day comes, inevitably and you wonder if you did enough.

In a marketing perspective, there is a meltdown happening now that will separate winners from losers. The prepared vs. the "how did this happen?" The outcome is greatly affected by the convergence of: a) Economic recession, b) Major lead shift from Yellow Pages to online, c) Mass "Distractionism". Your Marketing Meltdown Warning here.