Well, Chris beat me to the punch, but I did want to get on here and just welcome everyone who may be stopping by!
For those who don’t know me, my name is Joe Herrig, and I’m the Marketing Manager for Mingledorff’s Inc. I’ve been with the company since 1998, so there’s a good chance you’ve met me. Not familiar? Here’s a picture:
Anyway, Chris Weaver did a fine job introducing the concept of a “blog”. We essentially want to offer another forum for you to not only get information, but also hopefully pick up some tips to help your business. At the very least, maybe we can entertain you.
And, while the concept of blogging may be new to you, it’s really spread like weeds all over the internet. In fact,
some reports suggest there are 200 million plus out in cyberspace! People are communicating more (and faster) than ever before, and they’re using the power of the internet to do so.
But blogs are just the tip of the iceberg. Surely, you’ve heard of the term “Social Media”, encompassing such popular sites as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, MySpace, Digg…the list goes on and on. Incredibly popular (and not only with younger generations), these sites have “facilitat[ed] communication, information sharing, interoperability, User-centered design and collaboration on the World Wide Web. It has led to the development and evolution of web-based communities,” a technological movement referred to as “Web 2.0″ (source: www.wikipedia.org). Indeed, this collaboration has put retail organizations in even closer proximity to their customer bases, while giving them virtually unlimited access to information.
So, what does this mean for HVAC dealers? First off, we need to be more informed than ever, because our customers and prospects are. But more relevant to this article, there are tools out there at your disposal that can help you inform your audience. And both the tools and the audience are on the web…big time. They are searching for information- already presold on your product- otherwise, they wouldn’t be searching in the first place. And the company that does the best job putting that information in front of the customer is likely going to capture the lead.
So this begs the question: do you have an online marketing strategy? If not, you may be missing out on a piece of the pie. And while I’ll visciously defend the merits of “traditional” media (television, radio, outdoor, and direct mail), the online community has simply become too significant to ignore. The good new is that using the web to market is easier (and cheaper) than ever. I’m essentially marketing to you right now. And the best part is that- other than my time to write and the time for Chris to load the software- this blog post didn’t cost a dime. And I know very little about programming. The trick is using all the free tools properly and professionally.
Facebook allows “corporate” sites, so you can maintain your business persona on a social site, while still drawing in potential leads and referrals from individuals. Twitter can be used simply to drive people to your company website (but you have to be creative to get them there, and do it in 140 characters or less). Even blogs (using software such as
Wordpress or
Blogger) can be used to inform customers on how to save energy, change filters, etc. (but, of course, you run the risk of some goon writing and writing and writng; never knowing when to stop).
Most importantly, though, make sure you’re taking care of your customers and your quality of work is top-notch. Always offer products your can trust. Word-of-mouth is the best advertising you can have, and social networking sites and Web 2.0 can increase the power of referral-business tenfold. Unfortunately, it can go both ways, and it can spread fast online. So, I guess what I’m saying is to take advantage technology, but don’t forget about old-fashioned customer service.
Joe Herrig, Marketing
