| Okay, you've passed your test and earned your contractor's
license, obtained your city business license and have set
up shop. Now you need to let everyone know you're in business!
You're going to need some business cards, and I know where
you can get free
business cards, in color no less! You can hand these business
cards to people you meet and you can include them in mailings
you send out. You can also get matching stationery with your
cards.
Next you're going to need signs, whether it be jobsite signs, magnetic signs for your car, banners, flags, vinyl lettering, vinyl decals, license plates, bumper stickers, etc.
Now that you've got your "supplies", you need
to find customers. This can be difficult for new businesses
but there are a few ways to go about it.
A good start can be had by using The Blue Book, a hard-cover
"white pages" with many, many listings of construction
companies, general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers
(etc.). This book is distributed nationally and is free of
charge.
They also have a website at thebluebook.com where you can register your company as well as request the
book. Although I suggest that you use The Blue Book, I recommend
that you do not limit your search to The Blue Book. More and
more construction related sites are coming on-line and the
goodies these various sites are offering are tremendous.
As a contractor you can have a single-line advertisement
(consisting of company name, address and phone number) for
free in The Blue Book and/or you can purchase a more prominent
ad.
There are other sites also where you can be listed as well
as utilize the various construction management solutions that
are posted at those sites (ie: our site!).
At last check, The Blue Book website offered an email section
where you can email contractors that are listed at the site.
The email program can be used to send letters of introduction
to general contractors telling them who you are and requesting
that they add you to their 'Invite-To-Bid' list.
An 'Invite-To-Bid' is exactly that, a letter from a general
contractor inviting you to submit a bid for your portion ofwork
on a project. On the flip side, if you are a general contractor
looking for subcontractors to submit bids, then you can use
The Blue Book website to find subcontractors in the fields
that you need bids for.
Another source is agcsd.com.
This is the Associated General Contractors of San Diego and
they are in the process of creating a massive database of
contractors, generals and subs. Matter of fact, if you have
not provided them with your company information as of yet,
then click here agcsd to go to their website and submit your
info (it's free!).
BuildPoint.com is another good site. Slowly but surely, more and more sites
helpful to construction are coming online.
Another good source is the yellow pages for contractors
in your area.
The most important thing is to always be on the lookout
for potential customers. If you see a project in process,
stop by and drop a card. Even if they have already subbed
out your portion to someone else, you might get a shot at
the next one.
If you see a vehicle with signs (ie: painted, magnets, etc.)
that reflect a construction company, put your business card
under their windshield wipers. When you are out and about,
hand your business cards out to people.
Use every opportunity you get to network with people. Get
your name out there as much as you can.
|
Remember those
free business cards I mentioned above? We signed up
with VistaPrint.com
to bring you an excellent deal. You get
250 free full-color business cards, for a very minimal shipping charge.
Your reorders are free also, and you
can keep the same design or switch to another of their
many choices. This is extremely handy should you decide
that your first choice doesn't exactly fit your image
as much as you thought it would, which is exactly what
happened to me!
When I ordered my own cards from VistaPrint
(for this website), I decided to make them a bit personal
and chose a beautiful bouquet of flowers for the image
on my cards.
I soon realized that handing a business
card about a construction site to a male construction
contractor (usually male) goes over a bit better if
you don't have flowers on your card... :)
Since the cards are so inexpensive,
I went ahead and ordered another set of 250, but on
these cards I chose the image of two hands shaking,
as if sealing a business deal. Goes over much better.
:)
Click
here to order your cards, a separate window will
open. If you're not ready to order your free cards yet,
go ahead and click
here to open a separate window, bookmark it and
then close that window to come back here. Then when
you're ready to order, you can come back to your favorites
list and click on our link! The title of the link in
your favorites list will read "Free Business Cards". |
BuildASign.com - The Leader in Online Custom Signs - You Can Have Your Job Site Signs, Even With Your Logo If You'd Like, in ONE DAY!
We have many more articles pertaining to business available
by clicking here. Have a great
day! Diane
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