Blog Archives




 

  • I'm getting work through social media
    By Todd Vendituoli - Thursday February 23, 2012
    There was a time that I didn’t have the need to assess my business. I was busy and working seven days a week making sure that everything was getting done as it needed to be. What was there to assess?   Yet now is a different story, a different time and in the last year I have had to take a long hard and objective look at business. There’s no pretending that all is well or that it will get better next month or next season. The reality is that it may take some time before things turn around in the construction industry. Reality isn’t always a fun mirror to look into but it is a necessary part of being in business. You have to see what is there and adapt to it. This tends to be easier for smaller businesses because there isn’t the...

  • Make it American, Make it Home, Make it Yours
    By Stevie Mistele-Wildt - Thursday February 16, 2012
    I continually encourage and attempt to engage the consumer about “bringing it back home” by buying American when remodeling or building the American dream. There are only a few – and I mean few – contractors/contributors out there that are looking at American products and manufacturing like I am. Is this because it is too difficult and time consuming to research for the components that are required to construct homes?   In all my previous blogs, you have read that it’s us, the general contractor or subcontractor, that has to educate the homeowner. With all the information on the internet, we all know that the consumer is getting educated pretty quickly and many times they’re not learning the correct information or facts...

  • Newsletters are an open door to new sales
    By Bonnie Pickartz - Monday February 13, 2012
    Communication. It’s easy with clients. You ask questions and they answer. They ask questions and you answer. That’s the easy part. Keeping the lines of communication open with potential clients is a little more complicated, but is just as important. Your list of potential clients grows daily. You bid projects, meet people at networking events and in your community, your truck may have a sign on it and your website spreads the word. You get the idea. You end up with names and contact information for many of these people. But, do you use this information or does it stay in your computer or notebook? Reach out. Stay on their radar. You never know when a friend or relative of your son’s coach will look for someone to remodel...

  • It’s great that collaboration is taken for granted
    By Rob Heselbarth - Thursday February 2, 2012
    There’s a discussion in our LinkedIn group about lighting control, which begins with the question of why more contractors don’t insist that lighting control is part of the plan. The discussion takes a turn toward the question of whose responsibility it is to suggest lighting control in the first place. Should the architect bring it up? The interior designer? The builder? Who should do it? I think it’s your responsibility, whoever you are, to suggest products that will make the home and its inhabitants’ lives better. Take ownership of informing and educating the homeowners, whether you’re a GC or a sub. Does it really matter who makes the suggestion, as long as it’s made and the client gets the benefit? Think about it from...

  • Remembering the value of face-to-face meetings
    By Todd Vendituoli - Thursday January 26, 2012
    We have done all our promotions. We have used our social media outlets to promote our business and placed our advertising for its best use. Yet sometimes with all of our promotions and placing our business out for the world to see, we may have missed a vital step.   That critical step is meeting people and potential clients face-to-face.   You can have great ads and a beautiful website that highlights all the wonderful accomplishments your company does and you should keep that up. Your virtual presence is wonderful. But you need to ramp up your real-life presence, too. Remember that it’s actual people who hire you to build their homes and you need to make that experience personal. Their home is one of the most personal and...

  • The Green Thing; Is it new or just renewed?
    By Stevie Mistele-Wildt - Thursday January 19, 2012
    You’ve heard people tell you to use your own bags at the grocery store because plastic isn’t good for the environment. I have used my own cloth bags over and over for the past 15 years before I knew anything about “going green.” I like not having so many paper or plastic bags around.   Let me tell you that green has been around a lot longer than you think. The younger generation today tells us we did not care enough to save our environment, well here are a few facts about green that will make you aware of what you can do without thinking about going green.   Remember returning milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store? The stores sent the bottles back to the plants to be washed, sterilized and refilled so we...

  • Are you missing opportunities to build your business?
    By Bonnie Pickartz - Thursday January 12, 2012
    Over the years I’ve noticed that the builders have for the most part shunned advertising as a whole and the Internet specifically. It was okay to take that path when there was plenty of work and most of your projects came from referrals. But in recent years we’ve all had to step up our game to keep new business coming in the door. Today cash flow is more carefully managed. We need to get the most from each dollar and use our resources to have the most impact on our bottom line. Looking for opportunities to showcase our products or services may not be at the top of our list, but it is important that we continue to do just that. Designating someone in the office to keep your website updated, create blog posts, and manage...

  • Will there ever be any new ideas?
    By Rob Heselbarth - Friday January 6, 2012
    On my desk is a book titled “100 Ideas that Changed Architecture” written by Richard Weston. I’m not done with it yet, but the pages I’ve flipped through so far certainly are interesting and insightful. The book begins with the fireplace and addresses the architectural challenge of providing paths for the smoke to take out of a home. These paths evolved into the form of a chimney, to the point when the chimney was a central element of a home’s support structure, with a home literally being built around it. The book lists 99 other ideas and concepts that changed architecture throughout the course of humanity. I won’t list them all, but I will ask this question: What’s the next idea to change architecture? Could it be...

  • Thankful for a great year
    By Maureen Alley - Wednesday December 21, 2011
    I love this time of year. I grew up in a big Irish family so holidays always make me feel swarmed by lots of noise, laughter, hugs and food. This time of year also makes me nostalgic and thankful for the things that have happened in my life in the past year. And this year is no different. Within the last few months, I've transitioned roles from editor to community editor . While I'm not usually good with change (I admit it), this has been a good change. I love the new role as community editor because I get to report on the industry on a daily basis ... and I get to interact with you on daily basis on the social media accounts. With all of this, I've developed great relationships within the design, build, remodel world. So this post...

  • Has the American Dream Home Gone Away?
    By Stevie Mistele-Wildt - Thursday December 15, 2011
    Everywhere you turn, there are so many negative topics about the economy, politics, recalls, education and the housing industry. I, too can get caught up in everything I read and shake my head. But I didn’t get into the family business of building homes just to have it go away. I was taught to do well in school, get a stable job, earn a living, make something of yourself and work your way to having the American Dream – a home. Yes, the all-American Dream – having your own home with a white picket fence and the responsibility of a mortgage. Homeownership is an accomplishment. What has happened to that dream and so quickly? Before the recession hit, it seemed everyone could afford that dream home no matter the cost. A mortgage...

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