How to Market your Business

“Our plumbing company was started by my Dad and I’ve been maintaining the business but would like to grow it to be able to pay off the loan my Dad gave me plus start thinking about bringing my daughter into the business. Do you have any suggestions for marketing our business? We don’t have a website and have always survived on word of mouth.”

A typical plumber or any small company has a hard time coming up with marketing. WHO HAS TIME FOR MARKETING?? Most plumbers are too busy servicing their customers and running their business to think about marketing. Marketing is one of those things you don’t realize you need until you need customers.  

When is the best time to think about marketing?? WHEN YOU DON’T REQUIRE IT!! 

Below are a few items to start with to ramp up your marketing efforts. You don’t need to do everything at once but start with a goal and get it done. Marketing is vital to your business. 

  1. BUILD A WEBSITE: Having a website for your business is like having a 24/7 sales person on staff. It is always out there and ready for business. Having a website builds credibility and makes you more reliable. It will be cataloged on search engines and will enhance your visibility. Make sure it is responsive (looks good on different devices) or google will penalize you. Do NOT try to build this yourself unless you have expertise in this area. A poor website is almost worse than NO web site.  
    1. Consider a BLOG – a blog will increase readership and a connection to your viewers but most importantly increase your placement with search engines (SEO)! But if you cannot contribute to it at least ONCE a quarter, do not even start! 
    2. ADD Relevant Content – Add important things like your services, your hours, where you are located and your qualifications. This makes a prospective client decide if they should hire YOU. 
  2. FOCUS ON Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Once you have launched your web site hire a SEO expert to look at your web site. There are many things to consider such as, keywords, title tags and descriptions for each page. This is an important step, if you have a great web site but no one can find it on the web, having a web site is worthless.  
  3. CREATE a CALL to ACTION: So now you have someone that has landed on your site. Now what?? Make sure you have a call to action. Make it very easy for them to contact you. Phone number, email, contact form, google maps and directions to your place of business. And once you get a contact you need to FOLLOW up! I recommend you should follow up within 24 hours.  
  4. SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE: Now that you have the items listed above now you can move to social media. Many people think you can do without the top three items and just go to social media. A website is the foundation of your business. Now you can set up a Facebook Business page, Twitter, YouTube and/or Instagram. Only set up what you can KEEP up! Posting articles and common questions about plumbing will entice people to follow your Facebook page. Of course, make sure your social media links to your web site and vise versa! 

One thing I always say to my clients, is that your website is like your front door of your home, if it is inviting, they will come in. If it looks like a disaster, you will not see them again!! Make your business presence and content be inviting and professional to attract customers! You want them not only come in but stay a while.  

Above I have listed the basics of getting your marketing presence up to speed. I have many more suggestions after you have completed these steps. Keep in mind that all of this will not just HAPPEN in one day. You need to be consistent and smart and you WILL see results.  

**Let me know if you benefited from this topic and I can expand with a PART TWO of this topic. Email: info@pipeliningsupply.com 

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