Driving 8,000 miles all over America, giving a ride to a veteran hitchhiker and connecting with fellow contractors is exhausting. I set out to help teach marketing, but instead ended up being a student of the dynamics of the contracting industry.
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Driving 8,000 miles all over America, giving a ride to a veteran hitchhiker and connecting with fellow contractors is exhausting. I set out to help teach marketing, but instead ended up being a student of the dynamics of the contracting industry.
What my trip taught me was that so very few contractors are interested in leaving their house to engage in learning anything new that the opportunity to dominate in any area of the country will always be possible-independent of the economy-for those with a passion to learn and to embrace technology.
Odds are that if you are reading this post, then you could be one of the best contractors in your area. I don't know, do care, but cannot find out about you unless you send me an email or call me. Does it even matter? Maybe, so if you are interested in advancing, let's talk about a project I did many years ago that kicked off my entry into the "big leagues" of jobs, how it happened and what I did to get there. Step by step, here is my story:
1) I sought technical education. I started in early 2002 with my first flooring school back in Las Vegas. I always loved working with my hands and building but had no formal education in the trades. Going to the school, I met a lot of people who are still my good friends. While at the school, I worked on a panel taught by Jack Campbell, and we installed spotted gum from Australia. That wood is amazing, and after the school I always dreamed of projects using Australian wood flooring. I would crawl the website for Boral timber, study the look of the flooring and read the technical specs. In the following years I did a few jobs with Sydney blue and Australian cypress. I learned about the nailing characteristics of the species and how they sand and finish. 2) I shared my passion with the right people. When I moved to Portland, people at the distributor knew how much I loved the Australian woods. I met with the manufacturer's rep and the distributor rep for breakfast when they came into town and asked lots of questions. I worked to sell a few small jobs that were Australian flooring, and people saw my genuine passion, which landed me a BIG referral. I ended up getting a huge project that was jarrah and spotted gum that you can check out on my website. Here is a pic:
3) I spent money to illustrate a great job. When I got my first big break I kind of lucked out in that there was a great photographer in my networking group. Knowing that I was completing a job that was over $50K, a $700 photography bill was negligible compared with the need to show off a great project. My single biggest tip for EVERYONE in the industry (manufacturers or contractors): Pay the money for PROFESSIONAL photographs. I don't care how many megapixels your cell phone camera has, a good photographer is ALWAYS better at capturing the look. Just try to build a great website with bad photos, and you will quickly see the value of pictures. It becomes especially important to have high-resolution pictures when you are doing a responsive design site, because some computer monitors are the size of a small TV.
4) I learned new skills on the job. When I first provided an on-site estimate for the job, there was a radius stair nosing to be installed, which I had never done. I called up Steve Seabaugh (former NWFA technical education director) read an article Howard Brickman wrote for Hardwood Floors. It looked simple enough, and I ended up making the nosing without any major issues. After learning that skill, I was able to use that in several other big jobs, which broadened my professional portfolio.
Differentiation as a contractor simply requires a positive and eager attitude. Most contractors within the industry who actually do comment on forums, blog posts, or articles (especially those about Lumber Liquidators) tend to have only negative things to say. Let me be frank, for those negative people and tired souls who claim to have been doing floors since sanders and finish were invented, the new generation is coming to take your slice of the pie. I met a lot of them while I traveled the U.S. and can see why: because they embrace new technology as well as learning fundamentals properly.
Stay in touch and email me sometime, people. I promise, I don't bite!