by tradesmeninsights | Jun 19, 2014 | Uncategorized
By Sandy Bucher, Media Engineer
If you’re interested in learning about a particular topic related to your profession, many publications, groups and associations offer webinars, or webcasts, for free or for a minimal charge, or they are included in association membership fees. Some may also be eligible for CEU credits.
Webinars are usually one hour or less in length and can be accessed with a computer or mobile device. Most webinars are presented live on a particular date. If you are unable to attend the webinar on the date it is scheduled, most webinars are housed for a period of time after the event and are available on demand, where you can watch it at your leisure. All webinars require the attendee to register with name and contact information, and a few questions related to the topic of the webinar may be asked as well.
The topics vary greatly, and depending on your interest, there are numerous sources for webinars and webcasts. You can easily do an internet search for a topic, or if there is a particular publication that you read every month, check out their website for any webinars that you would be interested in attending. You may even be able to get on a list to be notified of upcoming webinars. Or, if you belong to an association, watch for announcements of future webinars in any newsletters.
Following are some links to webinars that may be of interest to you for the plumbing, HVAC, electrical, industrial MRO and construction markets:
PLUMBING
Plumbing & Mechanical
HVAC
Contracting Business
ELECTRICAL
EC&M
INDUSTRIAL MRO
Plant Engineering
Plant Services
CONSTRUCTION
Associated Builders & Contractors
So if you have some downtime and want to increase your knowledge in the area of your profession, try attending a webinar presentation.
And if you are interested in presenting your own webinar, here are some posts you may be interested in:
Why Webinars Are a Good Marketing Tool To Reach Tradesmen
Tips for Putting on a Successful B-to-B Webinar
Webinars: Tips on How to Promote Using Email
10 Tips to Ensure a Successful Webinar Targeted at the Professional Tradesmen
by tradesmeninsights | May 29, 2014 | Uncategorized
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Engineer
National Safety Month kicks off next week with the start of June.
The National Safety Council identifies topics for each week of National Safety Month, giving companies like yours a framework for refocusing on safety practices and helping equip employees for safe behavior both on and off of the job.
Here are the weekly safety topics for June:
- Week 1: Prevent prescription drug abuse
- Week 2: Stop slips, trips and falls
- Week 3: Be aware of your surroundings
- Week 4: Put an end to distracted driving
- Bonus Week 5: Summer safety
Safety is a top priority for everyone serving the construction, industrial and MRO industries, whether you’re a manufacturer, contractor, distributor or marketing communications agency. You’re probably already aware that safety is important and should be practiced all year long, but take June to refocus and improve your safety initiatives.
To follow or join the conversation on social media, use the hashtag #NSM14.
Check out nsc.org to learn more or request materials.
Have a safe June (and beyond)!
by tradesmeninsights | May 27, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing, Uncategorized
We all are working hard to create content in various forms, but what can we do to create the demand for it? If we build it, it will come philosophy won’t work.
In the b-to-b space where selling cycles can be long with numerous folks involved, you need to address several different issues along the way down the sales funnel, but do you know what they are?
I’ve long been a proponent of sales and marketing working closely together. After all, the objective of both is to sell more stuff.
I’m amazed that folks in the marketing department spend little or no time in the field talking with customers. I always recommend marketing folks spend time with the salesmen in the field, and I don’t mean a day or two. Spend a week or so and you’ll see customers in various stages of the buying process.
More importantly, you as a marketer have the unique opportunity, while in front of a prospect, to ask some really relevant questions that the salesman might not ask.
Questions like:
- What other types of info would be helpful in your decision-making process?
- What triggers a buyer to start the process?
- What kinds of concerns do your colleagues have that we might address?
- Focus on customers needs and concerns.
Why do I keep harping on getting in front of the customer? Let’s be honest. Most companies don’t know their customers well enough. They don’t know or understand the buying process well enough. They don’t have content framework to communicate with the potential buyer.
I read an interesting article recently by Jay Hidalgo in the Chief Content Officer magazine that outlines 3 steps to create a process to create demand for your content.
His User’s Guide consists of 3 things:
- Developing a buyer’s persona (know your customer)
- Define their buying process
- Developing a content framework for communicating with a buyer
He takes you through a process that engaged the combined efforts of sales and marketing resulting in a well-thought-out strategy, and content that will be on target that users will want to pass it on. You can read his entire article here.
by tradesmeninsights | May 1, 2014 | Uncategorized
By Robin Heike, Production Foreman, Sonnhalter
No two projects that we work on at Sonnhalter are the same. Scheduling multiple projects for one client can be a juggling act. Scheduling multiple projects for all of our clients can be a whole circus!
Clients and agencies work together as one team and have the same goals in mind. 
Here are some points to keep in mind when it comes to project schedules and deadlines when you’re working with an agency or any external resource:
- Preplanning on both sides when possible makes things run more smoothly. There will always be last-minute, rush projects that can’t be planned out in advance, but advanced planning not only makes projects run more smoothly, it makes it easier to handle the rush ones as well.
- Understand the main components of each project: client info, agency copywriting and agency art creation. These may sound pretty simple, but they require everyone following the schedule to complete.
- Interruptions to project schedules will happen and schedules will change hourly, daily, weekly, etc. Being able to adjust to the changes is imperative.
by tradesmeninsights | Apr 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
By Scott Bessell, Idea Builder, Sonnhalter
One of my more astute colleagues here at the agency suggested that I might share with you my thoughts on new communiqués of today versus yesterday. She, being a millennial, didn’t consider that I was chosen moreover because I, given my age, probably also created those “old” ads. Apologies accepted.
via Abdullah AlBargan
Driving into the creative cave today I was behind a Cadillac CTS 4. Jet black, LED lights, looking…bad (as in good, you know). Anyway, I was thinking about my former favorite caddy, from those bygone days; The 1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. I would look ridiculous in either. Dissecting them both is how I offer up my opinion on today’s ads versus yesterday’s—to groans within (another Scott metaphor), here goes. The cars. Both, the new one and my ‘59, appear to us purely as style statements. Underneath, they both have a drivetrain, steering mechanism, wheels. Internally, both have seats, a steering wheel, pedals to make it stop and go and if we’re lucky, a subwoofer! So, they both did/do their jobs. In its day, the ‘59 was kick-ass no doubt. Radical and (insert 50’s adjectives here). Today the CTS is held in high esteem also. Both are powerful and comfortable modes of transportation for their times.
Ads. Stripping away the “art” and “design” of most of today’s communication vehicles, yes, even those obnoxious banner ads, like the cars mentioned previously, “underneath” they too must have something in common, and usually always do—the message.
What do you want to say to me? What would you like me to do or know? Whether it was an old ad or a new one, at their core is the message. They might date themselves by the language they use—dated colloquialisms and such. And like that last sentence, how much unnecessary BS they contain. Let’s retry that: They might show their age by their use of words and phrases popular with the people of the day. So, common to both is the message. Then, like those cars, we stylize a body for our “vehicle” so people will notice it. Ads from “back in the day” looked like it. Ads of today, at least the professional ones, look like it. Understand too that most all the ads from yesteryear were done by professionals. Back then, they didn’t have desktop publishing. Amateurs or wannabes weren’t charged with constructing the latest ad with the latest anyone-can-use software.
So, my comment about communications of yesterday versus today is they both did/do their jobs effectively in that they communicate to the viewer a message. The good ones, then and now, do it cleanly and thus clearly. The best ones get your attention and are memorable. The ones that ad managers claim were totally their own creations are the ones that get you to act and follow through. Or better yet, place an order—immediately.
By Sandy Bucher, Media Engineer
