Matt Michel
New Marketing and New Products for a New Year
It’s a new year. What are you going to do different in 2012 to get better results than 2011? After all, if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. ...
Fifty Three Contractor Resolutions for 2012
It's 2012. The Mayans say it will be the end of the world. I say it will be the start of your best year yet, but don't take my word for it. Take action. Make a list of resolutions for the coming year to ensure it's better than the last, if not better than the one that will follow. Here are some key resolutions to consider: ...
EPA Rules Will Create Opportunities For HVAC Contractors
The EPA will release new standards today that govern power plant emissions. The merit, necessity, or timing of the standards is moot. They will be issued and they will curtail significant amounts of coal based electricity generation. ...
December Marketing Tactics
With every retailer in the country screaming non-stop at the buying public, this month is one of the most challenging for marketers. This just means you have to be more creative. There are three rules for successful marketing this month....
The ‘Best-of’ Matt Michel
The following is a collection of articles that the legendary Matt Michel has written for the Hotmail newsletter over the past few years. Matt gives a different perspective on how to deal with everyday customer or business issues and delivers helpful information in an entertaining format. ...
She's Baaaack… The Return of Big Yellow
For years, Contractor was a business partner with Big Yellow. At first, it was a good relationship. Contractor paid Big Yellow a little cash and she brought Contractor business. Everyone was happy, but it would not last. ...
Embarrassed by the Brand
Recently, Albert Mohler, the president of a Baptist seminary declared yoga to be inconsistent with Christianity. According to an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram the guy wrote that Christian yoga practitioners "must either deny the reality of what yoga represents or fail to see the contradictions between their Christian commitments and their embrace of yoga."...
Preparing a Marketing Calendar
A one-size-fits-all marketing calendar can work for some industries. HVAC’s not one of them. Because ours is a seasonal industry and seasonal start times vary around the country, each contractor should prepare his or her own marketing calendar. Here’s how to do it....
Six Ways to Tap Into the Positive Power of Groups
If you have school age children, you probably worry about peer pressure. You know it can be a constructive or destructive force, so you try to involve your children in activities and groups that reinforce positive traits and bring out the best in your kids. What about you? ...
10 Steps To Get the Economy Booming
L ately, every day seems to bring new depressing economic report. What gives? The recession officially ended in June 2009. We’re two years into an expansion. Why doesn’t it feel like one? Why won’t the economy get rolling? In a word, it’s Washington. Fortunately, what Washington screws up, Washington can fix. Here are 10 steps to get the economy booming. ...
She’s Baaaack… The Return of Big Yellow
For years, Contractor was a business partner with Big Yellow. At first, it was a good relationship. Contractor paid Big Yellow a little cash and she brought Contractor business. Everyone was happy, but it would not last....
Should You Attend HVAC Comfortech 2011?
With most of the country locked in a glorious, continual heat wave, air conditioning contractors are enjoying record sales. It’s easy to make money in triple digit temperatures. A bigger question is, how do you make money in the off-season and during mild weather? ...
Are We Headed for a Double Dip?
The news has been pretty grim lately. Unemployment’s back up. Housing is heading down. The Federal Reserve is out of arrows. The debt rating services appear poised to downgrade the government’s credit rating. ...
Are Odors Hurting Your Repeat Business?
No doubt about it, the pest control technician reeked. I could smell the cigarette smoke half way across the room, and I have a weak sense of smell. I'm reasonably sure he chain smoked whenever he was behind the wheel, with the A/C on and the windows closed. The smell made it hard to be in the same room. I can't imagine it was good for repeat business....
Do You Own a Business, Job, or Is This Just a Hobby?
If your business can't function without you, it's not a business. It's a job. ...
Summer Season Marketing
Summer is the time most contractors back off from marketing for new customers. The reason is the phone rings on its own when the mercury spikes north. ...
The Heat is On
At long last, the summer is here. Each heat wave is accompanied by a wave of service calls. Step outside in any residential neighborhood and you are greeted by the hum of compressors. As the mercury heads north, it’s almost possible to hear those same compressors coughing, sputtering, and dying. It’s a sound that warms a contractor’s heart. Ka-ching, ka-ching....
How to Create or Update a Service Agreement
Service agreements are the backbone of future profitability for a residential service and replacement company. Service agreement customers are more loyal, less price sensitive, and cost less to serve than customers-at-large. Every contracting company should have a service agreement program. Sadly, many do not. Of those with a program, most are ‘me-too, out-of-date knock-offs’ or 30 year-old service agreements....
The Buzz About QR Codes
Haven’t heard about QR codes? You will. QR (quick read) codes are similar to bar codes, but easily readable by mobile phones. They also contain significantly more information than bar codes....
Scratching the ISH Itch
For the first time, I attended ISH with a group from the Service Nation Alliance as part of an International Leadership Workshop led by Contracting Business.com magazine Hall of Fame inductee, Ron Smith. For three days, we participated in the workshop in the mornings and visited the trade show in the afternoons. We only covered a fraction of the show....
Free Stuff from the Contracting Business Website—Part IV
This is the fourth part of a continuing series that highlights the free Service Roundtable downloads available from Contracting Business Magazine. Each month Contracting Business Magazine presents a free business tool prepared by the Service Roundtable that anyone can download from the magazine’s website. Below you will find another half a dozen you might have missed from past issues. Read the description and click the links to any you want to download....
Free Stuff from the Contracting Business Website (Part III)
This is the third part of a continuing series that highlights the free Service Roundtable downloads available from Contracting Business Magazine. ...
Free Stuff from the Contracting Business Website (Part II)
This is the second part of a continuing series that highlights the free Service Roundtable downloads available from Contracting Business Magazine. ...
Free Stuff from the Contracting Business Website (Part I)
Each month Contracting Business Magazine presents a free business tool you can download from the magazine’s website......
Profiting from Chaos
It started when a 26-year-old college graduate couldn't find a job and started selling fruits and vegetables without a license. When the authorities confiscated Mohamed Bouazizi's inventory, he despaired and set himself on fire, lighting a flame of chaos that's still reverberating around the world....
