As voting concluded in the Best Construction Blog competition, the campaigning and voting for the Ontario Construction Report’s 2009-2010 Readers‘ Choice Awards has moved into high gear. Unlike the Best Blog competition, which is international in scope, the Readers’ Choice Awards is a much more regional competition; closely tied to our long-established publications in [...]

The Best Construction Blog and Forum contest has concluded and the voting results are in, but what do they mean?
Obviously, results from what essentially is a “get out the votes” competition provide a different perspective than we would discover from an independent judging panel.  They suggest, for example, that Bobby Darnell (http://www.buildingnewbusiness.com) in Atlanta has [...]

This is the final week for the Best Construction Blog competition.  As this competition nears its conclusion, readers are starting to vote in the 2009-10 Ontario Construction Report Readers’ Choice Awards. If you haven’t already voted, or want to track the results, please feel free to connect. You can click on the relevant logo to [...]

Here are some ideas for which I take absolutely no credit.
Adams Hudson writes in his regular newsletter that he is in Washington, “talking to a group of dedicated HVAC professionals who are looking to get leads during this warm winter.”  Of course he is speaking about Washington State on the West Coast, because those of [...]

In a couple of days, we will receive participants’ reviews  of the content and ideas in Bill Caswell‘s Webinar, Taking Your Construction Business to the Next Level, but I know I must give myself a large “F” for preparation and testing.  I simply did not allow enough rehearsal time to fully understand the Webinar software, [...]

Over the years, some of the strongest ideas have been expressed in concepts where four acronyms can be set down to a single letter.  The SWOT Analysis is one, and Bill Caswell’s PAVF is another. (You can learn more about the latter at the special Webinar on Tuesday afternoon.) Years ago, the late Walt Hailey [...]

Yesterday, while driving home and (mentally) reviewing some email communications relating to the Best Construction Blog competition, I heard a radio ad co-sponsored by Roots and MasterCard.  The announcer communicated an athletic and heritage theme, and reported on support for young Canadian athletes, but didn’t mention a word of the rather major event occurring on [...]

In the last few days, we’ve received an incredible surge in votes supporting Bobby Darnell’s “Building New Business” Blog. Yesterday afternoon, Darnell’s primary competitor (and the former competition leader), Tim Nagle at Remodelbuddy.com, threw in the towel, with this email:
Mark,
I loved your article on “Asking for Referrals.” It resonated with me. Many times I preach [...]

Yesterday, I reported that I would try an email experiment to discover if readers would be able to direct some referrals for advertising feature profiles in the Design and Construction Report. The early results:  Failure.
I sent the email to readers who had asked to receive the bi-weekly Construction Marketing Ideas Newsletter, along with some who [...]

I hesitated a little before deciding to send out a special email this morning to nominees and voters in the Best Construction Blog Competition. The goal:  To see if participants can recommend colleagues, suppliers, clients (or their own business) for a full-scale advertising-supported feature in The Design and Construction Report.
Why the hesitation?  My response is [...]