I’m trying to get involved in the new construction(houses, additions, outbuildings, etc.) realm in my area and am wondering what the best ways to get the word out to potential clients is.
Is there certain local publications I should be advertising in? Should I be sending out a simple brochure to architects and designers.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
I’m a carpenter(framing, siding and trim) by trade and have worked on houses ranging in price from $100,000 to $3 million. I’m ten years in and have been a lead carpenter and superintendent for 6-7 of those years including being previously self-employed for a year. I have my contractors license and have been self-employed this time around for approx. 6 months. Almost all of my experience is in new construction though in order get my business up and running I have been doing small remodels and finish carpentry projects(bookcases,etc.). I’ve got an agreement to build a spec. house for a good friend of my wife’s later in the fall. The housing market in this area is very strong right now and will continue as such for awhile.
How do I get calls coming in from those new construction clients?
Replies
Get in with the sales guys at the real lumberyard, show him your work. These guys get the clients you want , the people who do their homework and what quality and expect to pay for it.
Have a good day
Cliffy
Do good work at a fair price and treat people well.
Oh yeah -
and wait....
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How big is your market Dogfish?
Are you in a small town? Big city?
How are you currently marketing yourself?
blue
I'm in a moderately small town in Western North Carolina that has about 7000 city residents and something like 80,000 permanent residents in the surrounding "rural" areas that constitue the rest of the county. In the summertime these numbers swell to I don't know what due to summer only residents. We're within 30 to 45 minutes drive to Asheville, NC and Greenville, SC. Our city/area is very popular with retirees from Florida and the Northeast. This area is growing exponentially due to the laid back, country lifestyle and beautiful natural surroundings but is still accesible to larger cities that offer culture/nightlife, etc. It's a good place to raise children too because of it's smallish atmosphere. It seems that people of all ages and family makeups are taking note.
Housing is not an especially affordable commodity here with houses in the 150,000 to 250,000 range staying on the market for barely a week most of the time. Anything less than that is usually junk and needs a lot of work. 250,000 and up are selling like hotcakes too and then there are the real high dollar(measured in the 750,000 to several million dollar range) in golf course subdivisions that are popping up all over the place. I have a limited license so I'm restricted to single projects under $350,000 and prefer it that way anyway since I'm more interested in building well designed "affordable" houses than McMansions.
I plan to stay a relatively small custom builder(2-3 houses/large additions a year) with personalized service as a high priority. I am also trying to break into the burgeoning "Green" building realm because I have some experience in it and just plain believe in it.
I haven't done a lot of formal marketing yet with all of my recent jobs coming by word of mouth. I dropped off some information about my business with a couple of interior designers and landed a couple of $2k jobs from them. Could lead to more and larger projects after they see what I can do. I placed an ad in newsletter/circular that will be distributed at a regional environment and energy expo to be held this month. Approx. 8000 are expected to show up. I plan to join the local homebuilders association and the local Green building council. I have some 2 small ads planned to go in some local lifestyle magazines, one that is a monthly publication and one that is weekly. Also planned a small ad in daily newspaper just down the road that is distributed in a couple of smaller rural communities that are also growing very quickly. I've also thought about sponsoring programming or news at a popular local public radio station(check it out -- plays wide variety of non-mainstream music that has a popular following anyway -- can stream it at wncw.org)
Is there anything else I should be trying? Or does what I've listed pretty much cover it? Do I need to have a website(I wouldn't have much to put on it yet)?