I often find myself explaining to contractors during sales calls what the bare bones minimum they should have when it comes to their website. Sure, many want all the bells and whistles, but they cost, and with so many people having champagne taste and beer money, I thought it would be a good idea to give you a quick and dirty post on what you NEED to have, versus what you want to have. Minimum Setup for Your Site . Home Page - Obviously your site needs a primary landing page where most of your referral traffic and traffic from offline advertising will find themselves. So that’s it. MORE >>

Image via Wikipedia. For this week’s Guest Post Friday here at Construction Law Musings, we welcome back Elaine Hirsch.  Elaine describes herself as a kind of a jack-of-all-interests, from education and history to medicine and videogames. This makes it difficult to choose just one life path, so she is currently working as a writer for various education-related sites and writing about all these things instead. While layoffs and business closings are making the news, there is one sector that is quietly educating and growing a new economy filled with transformation and economic recovery. license. MORE >>

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has become an industry standard on complex construction projects. As more Construction owners reap the benefits of BIM, more projects add a modeling component. While Architects grab Revit, the complexities feel insurmountable, especially for smaller contractors in the electrical and mechanical trades. An investment of 6-18 months and $80-100,000 is not uncommon to hear. So what is a smaller subcontractor to do? Get Educated on BIM. It will keep you in sync with the jargon and help you see the benefits for marketing your firm. MORE >>

I just got back last week from the ISA ( Industrial Supply Association) Show in San Antonio, and I have to tell you, if I were a manufacturer, I’d have to think about what I was getting out of that show. Since we represent manufacturers that go to these types of meetings, I thought I’d bring up the subject for some serious conversation. In theory, it’s a place where manufacturers and their distribution counterparts come together via a format of speed dating where the manufacturer requests meetings with distributors (both existing customers and potentials). MORE >>

Many of us have witnessed a shift recently in customer and commercial spending.  Customers were more price-sensitive, got more quotes, shaved their budgets, delayed their projects and pitted more contractors against each other when quoting their projects. When the competition heats up, you’d better be ready to compete and here are 5 ways we’ve used to win competitive jobs without having to sacrifice our profit margins. Get The Right Equipment For the Job. Despite the stereotype that landscape contractors are ‘equipment junkies’, I’ve met far too many that are under-equipped.  MORE >>