This video from Fortune provides some intriguing and useful insights into the adaptation and trends of social media for advertising.  The focus here in the discussion with Executives from top social media websites explain how they will make money from new types of innovative advertising is in the business-to-consumer side of the marketplace, but it tells us where things are heading and some of the challenges in adapting Social Media to brand and business development.

QR (Quick Response) Code marketing involves the application of a bar code to print media (it can be fliers, magazine ads, or signage) which can be scanned by your mobile device and link the reader directly to your website for more advanced interaction.  Bluetooth Proximity Marketing sends an advertising message to your mobile device when you are near the relevant location; say you are at a particular transit station or maybe new homes site.

The article reports on some builders trying these media out.

“Mason Homes successfully employed QR technology in Barrie (Ontario) in its JUST 4U marketing campaign,” the magazine story reports.  “We integrated QR code on Mason’s print ads and on a sign mounted by the sales office.  People were able to have all the information on JUST 4U even when the sales office was closed.  By simply scanning a smartphone over the sign outside, the information is automatically saved,” the article quoted Vanessa Desloor, Social Marketing Co-ordinator for BAM Advertising and Marketing as saying.

Meanwhile the article reported that Gerry Ryan of Ryan Design used the Bluetooth Proximity Marketing by setting up a transmitter in the parking lot of a GO (transit train) station in Brampton ON that broadcasted a message about a nearby condominium development.  “Commuters were the prime audience and they got a message on their Blootooth-enabled cellphones as soon as they arrived and when they left at the end of the day,” the article reported.

“As they were leaving, we might invite them to drop in on the condo on their way home for an open house that includes refreshments and hors d’oeuvres,” the magazine quoted Ryan as saying.  “Mobile communications is the future,” Ryan told the magazine.  “Since Blackberry and the iPhone, everything is done on the phone today.  Small screen marketing is where it’s at.  If you’re not thinking small, you’re missing opportunities.”

Of course being first to market with these innovations in your area/community gives you some “wow” factor and some opportunities for additional media publicity (which certainly cannot hurt).  Will these resources, however, change the way we do things and provide measurable results and benefits for your business?  If you want to be a pioneer, go for it.

The successful architect for the University of British Columbia Student Union Building, HBBH+BH, posted this video on their  special website, http://www.whatsyoursub.com, Cynthia J. Hilliers, vice-president and director of communications at Cannon Design said her practice failed to win the competition because its failure to take the lead in using Twitter to get out the vote.  Does this tell us anything about the future of social media in AEC marketing?

Undoubtedly, Social Media and its implications for AEC marketing proved to be the single most important topic at the recent Society for Marketing Professional Services Build Business conference in Boston.  More plenary and break-out sessions (I counted 10 in total) specifically focused on the topic than on any other theme and I’m sure that the issue of how media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogging are affecting the industry took up much time in the other sessions.

When you dig a little deeper, however, you will find an intriguing dichotomy.  Several of the true early adaptors in this space (myself included) are certainly reporting on some tantalizing and encouraging business results, but nowhere near the hype, and many are suggesting that the Social Media phenomena is severely overplayed, at least in the business-to-business space.  (I sense the story is different in business-to-consumer markets, especially if you are serving younger clients.)

These observations, reflected in recent blogs by Matt Handal and Mel Lester, should not underrate the social media significance.  I remember a few years ago how some leaders in the newspaper, radio and television industry expressed concern about how media convergence — the interconnection of the different media, through a web base — would radically alter their businesses.  Some engaged in expensive and painfully debt-laden “roll ups” as they tried to purchase businesses in then-competing media.  They fell flat on their faces (and lost a pile of money) when the convergence simply didn’t happen the way they predicted.

Convergence, I think, is now truly occurring but the grand plans of the established media players are faltering under the economic pressures of the new paradigm.  Advertisers in the new media space seem to be willing to pay a lot less for the “same” value; and few people are currently rushing to pay for subscriptions.  Old-style print and electronic media advertising still commands much higher rates — and in fact this is one reason why traditional publishers face wrenching decisions about how to transform their businesses to the new (and as yet incompletely defined) model.  (There are exceptions, but these are hard to find.)

These points and challenges were most apparent at the SMPS Conference at the session: “How Social and Digital Media Are Reinventing the A/E/C Editorial World.”

The conference originally invited representatives from McGraw-Hill, Hanley Wood and Reed Business Information but had to make a last minute change when Reed decided to shutter most of its print media specialized AEC publications.  (Several of the titles are re-emerging, often under the ownership of former Reed employees). SMPS conference organizers drafted Marc Kushner of Architizer.com, a web site established less than a year ago,  to fill in for the absent Reed representative.  In describing his new media success, however, he acknowledged revenue isn’t flowing in yet — and the most promising projects involve connecting the new site with one-on-one connections and events (face-to-face).  New meets old.

After the media representatives’ presentations, Cynthia J. Hilliers, vice president and Director of Communications for Cannon Design, described how her practice came in second because another architect HBBH+BH more effectively used Twitter to get out the vote in the final selection process for the new University of British Columbia Student Union Building. (I need to check this further, as various web postings show Cannon Design as in fact setting up the original design competition structure. As well, the UBC Alma Mater Society website says Cannon Design didn’t make it from the initial seven names on the short list to the three finalists.)

Of course, this success in Twittering might be rational in a student voting process and certainly most observers would agree that social media will be most relevant for AEC businesses connecting with the student and young-adult market.  But does it matter much right now for most of us in the non-residential space (we aren’t trying to sell 20-something families on new home projects) or should we just regard the Social Media as another flavor of the day.

In response, I enjoyed Matt Handal‘s observations.

I’m going to the SMPS national conference this week and my initial observation is way too much emphasis has been put on social media. There are at least seven sessions on this topic. And they will be heavily attended. But my gut tells me that will be a big waste of time for many marketers attending those sessions.

Mel (Lester) also says alludes to the idea that “doing social media right” means a big commitment of time and resources. I don’t believe that to be true. I’m writing this post while sitting on my 22-minute train ride home. While I might not be doing social media “right,” I think I’m doing it “righter” than most people/firms in our industry. And I have to tell you; I spend a very small percentage of my time on social media. And the costs…much lower than every other marketing endeavor employed by my firm or me.

Gotta go, here’s my stop!

Certainly, I think time and energy spent on in the Social Media space should be allocated rationally.  If you are not serving students/young people, you don’t need to rush, but equally you cannot ignore the potential.  Facebook and assorted spin-offs are changing the rules of the game and the rate of sign-ups for older people in the formerly “young” social media is truly astounding.  At present, the most encouraging signs of effective use of the new media involve connecting the electronic media to live events;  live social gatherings or one-on-one or small group relationships.  You can, certainly, make initial connections and enjoy soft-touch follow up relationships (and competitive monitoring) with these new tools but you won’t reach the critical next step in marketing and relationship development until you can touch base and relate offline.  That is why I don’t think the days of the live conference are nearing their end.

Meanwhile, of course, publishers like me who earn 90 or more per cent of our revenue from advertising in print media might have reason for concern.  Will the social media decimate the traditional advertising models?  And, if so, how do we replace the lost revenue.  The publishers attending the SMPS event didn’t have simple answers but suggested that event and personal touch marketing, connecting their print media to a wider picture of relationships and multi-media options, probably is the way of the future.  As it is, at present, in our own business, 90 per cent of the advertising we sell is relationship-focused and initiatives like this blog and other projects are designed to provide value to our advertisers beyond conventional response or “branding” metrics.  (Our advertisers will, on request, receive one-on-one consulting which is anything but self-serving.)

In other words, we are undoubtedly in a new era in marketing, but I don’t think the new really replaces the old principles.  Lets use social and other media to make the initial connections (and support existing relationships) but remember that the quality of our client experience and our ability to truly earn repeat and referral business will always remain the key metric of success in this business.  We can then regard social media as part of the 20 per cent “other” that we need to do to be fresh and attract new business.  And, yes, we can do this work on the train or in the quiet hours  when time would otherwise be wasted or direct connections and relationships are simply impossible.  Lets keep things in perspective.

Ironically, I learned the journalistic craft in the old UBC student union building, in Room 241K, the former home of The Ubyssey student newspaper. It is a small world.

Liz Kupcha

But who said a business start-up is easy, especially in a recession environment.  So, she reports in her blog, she picked up the phone and sought some business.  I’m not sure if the calls she made were truly cold or were reconnections with existing clients, but the excuses for “not interested” still tell us a lot about the state of marketing in the AEC community.

• “We only work for the State.” Heellloooo…have you read a paper lately? The State doesn’t have any money.
• “We don’t do any marketing.” How do you get work?
• “We’re a small firm.” Yeah and…how do you pay your employees?
• “The economy is bad so we’re not doing much marketing.” Maybe I’m the victim of misinformation but I was taught that when things are slow, that’s the time to step up the marketing efforts.
• “The phone just rings for us.” What happens when it stops? What will you do then?

Kupcha writes:

I learned that companies have their respective thoughts (as misguided as I might find them) about the “necessity” for marketing or what constitutes “marketing.” I was trained that marketing consists of various activities that are conducive to a firm securing work. Some firms will openly embrace an assortment of items within a “marketing mix” while others will focus on one or two activities and be dismissive of the rest.

I’m not going to call folks out and say they’re wrong and I’m right but quite frankly, I fear for the futures of firms that keep all of their eggs in one basket.

I agree with Liz.  The paradox I’ve observed (and I’m sure she will also see) is that the people who need our marketing/consulting services the least are the ones most likely to be willing to pay for them.  In other words, they already “get it” and are looking for incremental rather than fundamental change in their approaches, and see our advice as worthwhile.

I also hope that Liz, in developing her business, is focusing her own marketing efforts close to home with respect for existing relationships and connections.  Going out in the wild cold world is tough especially in the AEC community’s relationship-focused world.

I’ve added her worthy blog to the Construction Blogs listings.  If you are in New York, you may also find value in attending her upcoming seminars/programs, referenced here.

A few days later, the representative emailed me again.

Mark,

I enjoyed reading the post from Wed. (6/16) on your Construction Marketing Ideas blog. I think it’s a fair assessment of (Ed: name of website removed), and one shared by many first time visitors. I genuinely appreciate the feedback. It can be difficult to get an honest read when the initial audience is largely comprised of contacts with personal connections.

So, I get the impression we over-sold it a little, especially on the community pitch. It is indeed a fine line between who we know we can be and what we are at the moment. We have been successful building the brand aesthetics and have an excellent start on the content and media, but that third component of audience is only now becoming the focus of our efforts. We feel the social media functions offer a unique opportunity for firms and businesses in the AEC industry. And we are dedicated to pushing the technology and functionality to optimize the usefulness for the industry. We just need to get the industry to try it out.

While I completely understand the necessity for a full evaluation prior to making any kind of recommendation, I invite you to at least join the community and take the opportunity to test out the functionality. We could use an extra voice in our community to let us know how we can improve the tools. We even have a group focused on the development of the site – from the home page, to the KnowledgeBase, to the new community – which is open to any community member.

I’d also be happy to answer any questions you have about the team, our mission and our affiliations. If you’d like to set up a time to talk via phone, let me know.

Thanks for your time and attention.

My posting “Can you fake it until you make it” discussed the art of finessing the truth a bit to make a selling point.

Interestingly, when I read this email, I mistakenly associated it with a bad case of an “overselling” error by one of our company’s own representatives, which happened to occur the same day as the relevant posting.  Somehow, in my mind, I connected the difficult internal business  incident with his email and the “memory” of a posting on this blog, and so I responded to the person who wrote me by saying: “No, the overselling problem doesn’t apply to you, it does to me.”

Well, of course, there still is a problem here because I fell for one of the commonest marketing problems and challenges — the faulty perception where we mistakenly link one cause to another effect.  The social networking site publicity seeker’s assertion:  “So I get the impression we oversold a little” didn’t have anything to do with our own “overselling” mistake, but his use of the words resulted in me connecting the dots falsely to assume he had responded to a posting I (never actually) made discussing he dangers of overselling!  And here is the real surprise.  I only realized my erroneous conclusion when I set out to research and find the purported original posting to write this blog entry — and discovered the person writing to me was writing about the challenges of finessing the truth, not “overselling” — at least the type of overselling I experienced.

Frankly, misunderstandings like this are both good and bad from a marketing perspective.   Sometimes you want people to make a faulty association (with something good, reputable, or popular) and clearly you don’t want to be associated with anything bad (crime, scamminess, spamming) and often these mistaken associations occur even though you don’t seek out to deliberately or even subtly mislead anyone.  As an example, in some of our communities, our independent publications are mistakenly associated with “official” construction association publications.  We never represent ourselves falsely.  We put a small association logo within our publication as we are allowed to (and encouraged) by the associations to show our memberships, but nothing inside the publication suggests anything more.  But some people think we are THE association publication, and I suspect, in some cases, they choose to do business with us because of this faulty assumption.  (In other cases, we actually publish official association publications or special supplements in co-operation with the relevant associations and, in these cases, of course, we let everyone know the link.)

Now, what about the assertions and hopes for some attention from the person representing the new website seeking to create a social networking environment within the AEC community.  I looked at his site again last night, and it seemed quite well designed, but I didn’t rush to log in or “join the community” This is simply because it requires more effort and identity-sharing than I’m prepared to do right now as our deadline approaches.  In any case, at the time I was reviewing his site, I thought  though the “overselling” he referred to related to something that happened which had nothing to do with his email!

Are there ways he could have received more or faster attention to achieve his media publicity goals?  (I suppose he has my attention now, but equally, now I’m committed NOT to publicize the site right away to cover my own embarrassment.  In any case, I rarely name any other organization publicly unless I can share clearly positive news.)  Possibly.  But I’m not sure any of these options really made any more sense than the direct approach.

• He could have connected through someone I trust and already respect.  This would involve reading my book and previous weblog postings and then dropping a line to that person/organization seeking an introduction.  Best of all, (and most effective) would be making that request through one of our paying clients.

• He could have arranged to advertise here in some way or another.  Sponsored weblinks here are only $12.00 a month, for example, and you can cancel anytime.  The time and effort for me to set up the weblink would “force” me to look at the site in question.  Then, if it has intrinsic merit, I probably would be happy to plug it.  (I realize there is a supposed Chinese wall between editorial integrity and paid advertising — but in the business-to-business and blogging world, the lines are much more blurred, and sometimes a little “dash” goes a long way.

• He could have created some buzz by connecting and participating in some of the existing communities and forums I belong to or even lead (such as the LinkedIn Construction Marketing Ideas group.)  Of course, he needs to be careful not to be cheesy or violate the forum guideline rules for advertising and self-promotion, especially since his organization hopes to sell advertising in its social networking group.

All of these ideas of course don’t overcome the fact that he represents a commercial business which is hoping to make money from advertising and sponsorship — and in some ways, that makes him a potential competitor to me.  I don’t really worry too much about that in deciding who or what to write about here:  after all this is a Construction Marketing Ideas blog but equally I tend to be more cautious in promoting/publicizing organizations seeking attention to sell their own wares than to truly serve the community without expectation of return.

I’ll get to the site/community the person wrote about eventually (maybe sooner than later) but leave with one parting observation.  I looked for a real physical address on the website and an explanation of the organization’s corporate organization/ownership, and couldn’t find it.  This is a yellow flag to me.  Is someone putting on airs where the smoke is greater than the substance? Maybe, indeed, there is some overselling here and I should just wait a while until the site really proves itself some other way.  But then we have the chicken-and-egg story that plagues marketers and start-ups all the time.  How do you successfully launch something new?  This is a topic for the next posting.

LOOKING AT YOUR BUSINESS

This week, I have the great pleasure of sharing a terrific attitude with you.

Scott Avery of Modern Tech Floors came to us late in 2007 looking for help. His world was not what he wanted. He was willing to make changes, and since then he has been busy rearranging his life and his approach to business.

Read carefully what Scott has to say. As you’ll read in the last paragraph, his business has almost doubled in gross revenue this year. He knows what he is doing.

= =

Early one Sunday morning on vacation I was carrying my five year-old son to the car and I asked him if he was my best friend. He said yes. I didn’t expect him to say no, but during the previous two weeks there were a few days where I could see disappointment in his body language when I had to run out the door too many days in a row. On that day I knew we were on great terms again while I carried him in my arms.

Operating a contracting business can be hell on your emotions when you have to serve a family AND clients. Recently, a few weeks of my hardwood flooring company were some of the most demanding I’d had in a while. We try to keep very satisfied clients and I was emotionally and physically exhausted in making the choice of where to spend my time. One floor in particular had been so challenged with bad luck that I was prepared to let the job (and final payment) go just so I could keep the bad client energy from affecting my life at home. It was Thursday and I had one more chance to fix things and I was nervous that things would go badly from self-doubt. At a pivotal moment that evening, I looked at my two year-old son playing on the carpet and realized that I needed to succeed not for my ego, but for the better future $1,100 could mean to my children. The next day was the best Friday I had in a long time because I started the day with a sense of purpose, knowing why I had to succeed. The floor was fixed perfectly and I managed to wrap up a two-week marathon perfectly at 5pm.

Saying no to a job can be extremely difficult, especially if you could use the money. When I look back over the years I wish I had learned when to say no to bad clients and projects. I guarantee you that anyone who has been in contracting for any length of time has more than one story about a crazy client. I’ve had my share of difficult clients over the years that cost me money and time. In the end I recovered the money, but I will never get back that time. I will never gain back the moments with my family and children, so I consider what I’ve learned about choosing clients to be priceless. If you don’t put a value on your time, then the world will drain you because free is the best price of all and cheap isn’t bad either.

Why is it that ego and macho can often accompany owning a contracting business? Think about the slogans for any contracting company in America and the majority of slogans are about how great their work is or how many years they have been in business. These are poor benchmarks from a marketing perspective because they don’t appeal to a specific market of customers that are in need of a contractor who solves specific problems. The result of “ego marketing” is that you dilute your own effectiveness by trying to stay busy and serve too many markets. Just remember that for everything you agree to do, you pass by another opportunity to make greater profit in less time. The “best” contractors simply have lots of time for their family and are at financial peace. The goal for any business owner should actually be to provide maximum time, freedom and profit as a reward for intelligent use of time and knowledge to make effective business decisions.

In order to make your time more effective and win in business you simply have to care about planning for your success and reorganizing priorities. Reprioritization of time and habits important requires more than one good article or happiness speech. The real roadmap lies in staying inspired regularly enough to figure out a blueprint for how you WILL succeed. You have to awaken the “what if” portion of your brain with the consistent positive changes in your daily habits. This means honestly evaluating the people you are around, the things you eat, drink, read, listen to, and watch. If it doesn’t make you feel better, more capable, or creative then throw the trash to the curb and don’t look back.

My life changed dramatically when I looked at how much of my day was spent wearing earplugs while sanding floors. I realized that this was a “dead” space in my time and that instead of wearing earplugs I bought soundproof audio headphones and I was able to borrow inspirational audio CD’s from my local library. I was able to repeatedly listen to the most successful entrepreneurs in business such as Brian Tracy and John Maxwell on my iPod. To go see these guys in person and buy their material will run you hundreds to thousands of dollars, and I found it free at the library. If you are a contractor, then chances are you spend 1 hour or more a day in your truck or van driving to and from jobsites. Ask yourself and answer this question honestly: Who has more knowledge about improving your attitude and business, your local sports broadcaster or Jim Rohn? Let the jocks take a backseat because they could care less about your success and the future of your family.

Knowledge and happiness are fine and dandy but will not complete an equation. Your business success will be leveraged when you also grow your network of experts. You don’t have enough time to be an expert on everything to make your business successful, but you must make the time to learn from the experts outside of your specialty to leverage your time. Many business owners sadly believe that networking is simply about meeting a lot of people and talking about what you have to offer hoping that someone will buy. The hidden secret of networking lies within placing you and your “pitch” on the back burner and learning to identify experts in computers, marketing, finance, etc… People love to feel smart and will share very specific tips and clues about their industry when you show a genuine interest in what they are saying. I’m not suggesting you become a predator of other people’s knowledge and time for your own interest. I am suggesting your job is to run a better contracting business through any means necessary such as associating people who are smarter in different industries and adding value to their life or business in any genuine way you find.

Talk and ideas are absolutely a waste of time unless accompanied by action and tangible takeaways. As a contractor and entrepreneur I’ve become a much better evaluator of bs and fluff since leaving my corporate job, so here’s a real blueprint I used to improve my business:

1) Stop putting yourself number two behind the customer because you DESERVE to retire before your time is up. You have to find the real reason to shift yourself from what you should do to what you MUST do to grow your profits. For me it is my family and control over my time. They’re more important than any customer’s floor.

2) Develop a true reason for your purpose in this business besides money. The longer you put ambition on retirement because you love sports, beer, and stuff the more you delay your happiness. There is a science to success and the first part of that equation is admitting you can always improve your game in some way from your marketing to your health.

3) Don’t fish at the same pond everyday because you know the path to get there. Get out and meet new people every single week and learn something new. The tools in your truck are useless without leads and contracts that make you profit. Find some new friends in different industries by stepping up your networking efforts.

Our business has almost doubled in gross revenue this year and I am certain that it is because I became a better businessman through humility and a burning desire to quit being worn out financially and physically. It took me meeting the right people and learning new perspectives for succeeding because I was sick and tired of sitting on the side of the road while my life was passing me by.

COMMENTS FROM MICHAEL

As you can read in his letter, Scott refocused himself, set his priorities and made them happen. Each of you can do the same. Do you want to?

Thinking about it and talking about it doesn’t make it happen. You must decide what you want and then put a written plan in place to make it happen. Let us know if we can help.

While you are reviewing this material, see how Avery has positioned his business in the social media especially on Facebook and Twitter, and look at these comments on Yelp.  Of course, you don’t get this type of endorsement unless you really deliver the services clients are seeking — this is the foundation of all successful marketing.

But how do you get started and what are “best practices?”  Here, things are still somewhat murky, but I’ll advocate you look in the direction of peer rather than so-called expert guidance unless (a) you are ready to pay for really top-notch talent or (b) you have a particularly astute and connected family member who can guide you along.

(While I can claim leadership and even expert status in the blogging sphere, I simply haven’t been able to focus enough energy and time on other social media including Facebook and Twitter to be an expert in these spaces, at least yet.)

For peer guidance, consider your relevant trade associations or this contractortalk.com thread started by Peck Drywall and Painting in Florida.

If you’re not on Facebook, you should be. I just hit 500 Fans (Likes) on my Facebook business page today. I’ve completed several jobs for people that have become fans on my page. I also have become the go to guy for Drywall and Painting for all of my fans and they will also recommend me to their friends and families. It’s a great word of mouth tool for any business. You can also post photos and vidoes of your work, which is like a portfolio for fans to see. and mark your favorite business pages in your area (hopefully they will mark your page as favorite which shows you as an expert to all of their fans). And it’s All for FREE! But wait, there’s more. As an added bonus, Facebook ranks highly on Google and all of the top search engines. You can mark your business page as Public, and the search engines will pick up on your content which the search engines see as keywords. Then every once in awhile throw a link to your website up and Facebook will submit all of the content from your web page to the search engines and that post will also give you a back link to you website which the search engines score highly on their website ranking list.

You can of course also research books on the topic, but I’m afraid they may become dated quickly.

Publishers Que Biztech (quepublishers.com) for example sent me a review copy of Justin Levy’s book: Facebook Marketing: Leverage Social Media to Grow Your Business.  It is a useful book, in a basic sort of way, but I’m afraid won’t provide you the industry-specific examples you most likely would like to review to develop your own approaches and practices.

Consider instead reviewing sites such as Peck Painting and Drywall or Patrick Nagle’s RemodelBuddy.com.  And if any reader here wishes to help me informally in “redeveloping” my Facebook page to a more state-of-the-art example, I’ll be happy to publicize your rework guidance advice in future blog postings and grant you credit as the Facebook expert for Construction Marketing.

Yesterday, the strange story of the attempt to have my Google AdSense account disabled took another, strange turn.  It seems my problems can be traced to an address in the San Diego area where a maid service referral agency operates.  And, for some reason (as yet hard to fathom), that maid service has an association with cashontree.com and the Swedish heavy metal rock band Tristitia.

The amateur sleuths helping me in the discovery process include individuals in Canada, the U.S., Britain and Pakistan.  None of them have anything to do with Construction Marketing and everyone involved knows me only through the AdSense association. (The maid service offers a construction clean up service.  I cannot recommend it.  For consumers the service has some terrible reviews on Yelp and a Ebay fraud complaint associated with maidcalifornia.com.)

The online world allows the creation of communities and relationships for evil and good where geography is a secondary issue.

As we put the pieces together, it appears the person behind cashontree.com (we have the individual’s name and can trace the domain ownership to a condo in Spring Valley, CA which sold for $130,000 in December 2008 but I won’t publish the specific information here) entered the business of purchasing recently expired domains including openhosting.org, which records show he obtained in late April, 2010.

We’re not sure exactly how the Swedish “doom” rock band fits into the story but forums within cashontree.com show links to all kinds of odd stuff. It appears the person behind this activity had hoped to set up multiple domains and then click on the ads from various locations to generate fraudulent AdSense revenue.  Fortunately, Google caught him in the act and disabled his account.  When I dared to post a questioning assertion on the AdSense Help forums, he tracked me down through my (then-public) profile on the forums and began the click-bombing campaign against this site.

The good news from this experience is that, at least from my perspective, there are more honorable than evil people on the Web and the Internet allows you to create relationships and friendships which transcend any conventional geographical or social boundaries.

While I doubt I will become a fan of Tristista’s music, the Swedish rockers and I now have common ground with a bunch of homeowners who called for a maid service in California only to discover things didn’t quite go right when the maids arrived, and an Internet scammer who decided to cause problems for me from the public lounge at the Hacienda Hotel near Los Angeles Airport.

He has failed, miserably.  Rock on.

The limited response (so far) however also causes me to take pause and listen.  Sometimes client (or potential client) silence to your marketing message is a loud signal that you aren’t connecting with their interests — or you are taking them for granted.  In some cases, of course, silence could mean just the opposite:  Everything is going well so no need to rock the boat (or people might simply legitimately be taking some time off — it is the weekend, after all.)

However, listening often yields powerful insights and, not surprisingly, helps us to connect and build rapport and respect with current and potential clients.  So if you could combine the ability to listen AND measure, you have found a powerful marketing resource, indeed.

This is perhaps the biggest strength and advantage of social media:  Blogging, Twitter, Emails, Webinars, Facebook, LinkedIn and more.  You can hear a pin drop with social media because readers’ response is immediate and intimate.  You can pull together statistics and data for the total number of participants in real time while connecting one-on-one with individuals who wish to tell you more, directly.

For example, with this blog, I can track in fine detail the number of readers, where they originate geographically, what they are viewing on the page and where they are leaving to if they click on a link from within the blog elsewhere.  Tools like Google Anayltics, Statcounter.com and Webmaster Tools allow me to see what is happening and, largely, why.

However, the really interesting stuff occurs when individual readers comment, complete a poll, request some more information or somehow engage or connect with me directly.  These are crucial moments.  Sometimes they mark the first step in turning into profitable business; sometimes they represent a heads-up or the opportunity to correct a mistake.  (I’m thankful blogs are so easy to correct.  As an  example, I received a call on Friday saying that I had misspelled some-one’s name in a blog posting and could correct the error within minutes while letting the person who provided the incorrect information know as well, averting possible embarrassment at an upcoming public event.)

Obviously, I’m not advocating that you put a stop -watch besides you when you get down to one-on-one listening but maybe some variation of that idea would be helpful.  The more you listen, the more you understand your market.  The more you measure, the more you understand if what you are hearing matters.

Consider these responses:

Chris Malcolm wrote in a comment to Wednesday’s “11,000 to one” posting:

Have enjoyed your blog and look forward to reading your magazine this weekend. In regards to online magazines in general, I think part of the problem is that unless you are constantly on the computer, online publications have still not gained acceptance. Most people I know still get their news from newspapers, their take-out from fliers and their articles from magazines. They will read a story on line if it is offered up in front of them(MSN,Yahoo) and looks interesting. To sit down and read a magazine on their computer, to most of us, is still a bit of a foreign concept.
If one of the articles came into my e-mail from you and I felt it was pertinent, there is no doubt I would spend the 3-4 minutes reading it.
Many online publications probably claim 10,20,50,000 subscribers but probably never publish their “click-through” rate. This is a very brave admission on your part showing:
a) You truly are interested in finding better and more effective ways of marketing your publication, and
b) You understand that by appealling our sense of obligation for recieving this magazine and being “personally” asked to open it you click through rate will go up.
I would be interested to find out the numbers after this weekend.
I guess it is like all great marketing that has worked…changing the buying(nee reading) habits of the public.
That`s it for now…keep up the good work!!

Also, I had an enjoyable email exchange with Cynthia Kemper, principal of Marketekture in Denver, CO, who initially observed:

I just happened across your blog as I was reading other construction-related information and read your candid observations regarding the responses to your blog helpful, to say the least. I am a long-time strategic marketing/management consultant to the AEC industry [with an emphasis on architectural firms] and have been questioning the value of the new media in this sector for some time. When people push it as the latest and greatest new tool, I continue to ask where they have seen results. To date, no one has been able to offer an example of how Linked-in, Facebook, Tweeting, or even blogs have become of interest to principal-level architects, or even the executives within GCs. Thus, your posting was fascinating to me. I’m not convinced that you’ve done anything wrong. Perhaps it’s that this particular sector is so far behind in terms of strategy and marketing that the latest technological approaches may not yet fit current habits or mentalities.

A little on my background – I was schooled as a designer [interiors w/psychology], but after six years into it wanted to be engaged in a broader world so switched into tech. Fell into a marketing position for a small start-up firm that helped launch my career in that sector, then launched my own consulting practice in 1990. After fourteen years focused on tech start-ups and emerging companies, I had a burning desire to get back into the arena I have always loved – architecture and design. So, in 2004, I began focusing exclusively on that sector. It was then that I discovered how far behind these industries are when it comes to business development, marketing and media. And architectural firms in general, don’t really understanding a lot about practice management, human resources, communications, etc. either. Contractors tend to be a bit more savvy, perhaps because they are run like more traditional corporations.

In any event, I just wanted to share that with you. In my experience, the AEC industry is a good decade [or more] behind the average business in terms of knowledge, techniques, methodologies and understanding in these areas. Some more, some less—and the size of the firm makes a huge difference as well—but, techniques that work in consumer goods, or real estate, or financial services, or technology just don’t seem to click with most leaders in the construction and design industries.

I hope that it will change, and soon, but first people have to want to change .

I responded:

Thanks for your thoughtful observations.

I agree with you that the AEC industry lags behind others in virtually every aspect of marketing.  The focus among practitioners is to either “rely” on repeat or referral business or chase (like lemmings) public bid work, competing in bake-off competitions where the winner is often decided long before things go public (because of those relationships the companies “rely” on.)  I put “rely” in quotes because the repeat/referral clients are maintained through a passive rather than creative marketing-focused approach to building value from current and existing business relationships.

The good news is that you don’t really need to be that good at marketing to enjoy top billing within this business.  The bad news, as you point out, is that we need to be prepared for quite a lag before anyone seems to notice.d

I can be patient.

Can I have permission to republish your email (with hyperlink to your site)?

Kemper responded with two additional emails.  In the first she wrote:

Your thoughts are spot on, in my opinion. When I’ve worked with clients who are willing to get out of the box and try ‘new’ approaches [new to them], they thrive. Other firms attribute theses firms’ resultant success with the press, or market development as ‘luck’, but just can’t allow themselves to believe that there is more to it—or that strategic marketing practices do indeed work.

In any case, I find that having a higher level of experience and expertise can be problematic as it can be intimidating to those who are looking for an easy, inexpensive solution. Why hire someone with a solid, seasoned track record when you can hire a marketing major right out of school?, is how it goes. Fortunately, there are a handful of clients out there who do truly ‘get’ it and are benefiting as a result. But, there is a reason why the architectural profession is starting to lose its status and place in the world and I believe it’s related to our discussion here.

So much opportunity….

In regards to your request, I’m more than happy to have you publish my email to you, but you will have some difficulty linking it to my site as I don’t have a website yet! This may sound a bit unusual in this day, but because I work strictly by referral I have not yet seen a huge need for that level of advertisement. I will get to it eventually, but…. perhaps I’m shy!

I do publish a newsletter for my clients, of sorts [well, it’s more of a commentary actually], but unfortunately you can’t refer anyone to it due to the fact that I don’t have a way for you to link to it! People can ‘subscribe’, however, by just sending me a request via email. I will merely add them to the broadcast list. There is currently no charge.

It would be interesting to discuss my reservations about ‘putting my life and philosophies out there’ with you sometime. I actually prefer more of a stealth approach, but that has its downsides too.

In any event, I did attach a couple of issues for your review.

(She provided samples of some excellently written and presented newsletters.)

In a second email, Kemper observed:

By the way, Mark, if you feel that the second graf in my message to you is necessary to include [it may not be], I would love the opportunity to rewrite it for public consumption. I had intended that only for you, so you could understand a bit about my background, but I underplayed my experience to a great degree – i.e.: my first coast-to-coast press tour was with Microsoft, so I was trained in PR/media relations with the best; I was the international business columnist for The Denver Post, have published more than 50 feature stories in a variety of local, regional, national and international publications, etc.

Didn’t want to sound like I was promoting myself to you, because I wasn’t, but if my background is going to be posted for all to read I’d like to have the chance to add a few sentences .

Thanks for understanding!
Cynthia

Several comments in the LinkedIn Construction Marketing Ideas group are also worth reading but I will let you discover these yourself by either checking into or joining the group because, after all, I’m hoping that more readers here participate.  You can find some additional information about the group here. If you haven’t already requested a connection with me on LinkedIn I welcome your inquiry so I can join the group members with more than “500+”first degree  connections within the system.

When we read these comments, what can we learn?

Cynthia Kemper, for example, (on the surface) is succeeding despite breaking the rules that I advocate in my Construction Marketing Ideas book. She says she doesn’t advertise publicly at all — she doesn’t even have a website (her email domain links to an advertising-based website outside her control from her domain name registrar, I think).  Her decision not to givie priority to Internet-related marketing probably makes sense, based on her perceptions about the decision-making values of her current and potential clients.

Chris Malcolm, meanwhile, reminds us that when we humanize ourselves and explore the story beneath the story, we often achieve the marketing results we are seeking.  I think it is important that people want to do business with other people, not impersonal and canned bureaucratic organizations which hide behind walls labeled “systems”, “rules” and “procedures”.  (Of course you absolutely need systems, rules and procedures to be successful in business — you just need to design these so they don’t appear to be force-fed on your current and potential clients.)

As an example of successful marketing in practice, Daniel Smith who initially joined this company in response to a LinkedIn posting long before the service became common (we were both early adaptors), wondered if he should attend a press event for a community housing project when the builder had declined previously to do business with us.  I suggested he should attend if only to connect and build relationships.

He succeeded.  I would like to publish the internal email here but it reports on work-in-progress and I think it is rarely wise to announce specific things prematurely.

The key to all marketing, in my opinion is to set the stage for the relationships built on trust and mutual respect:  Then current and potential clients (because of your branding success) are more likely to want to do business with you, resist switching to the competition and — most importantly — you can command a reasonable price for your services.  Whether you use online resources or stealth approaches, however, in the end, the quality of your work and the value you deliver to your clients will be more important than any marketing priority, gimmick, or technique.

P.S. If you wish to have a sneak preview of sections of my Construction Marketing Ideas book, you can visit Google Books and browse through the pages here.