What do Oprah, Ellen, Kim Kardashian, Donald Trump (I just love the order of this list), Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Deepak Choprah and Jillian Michaels have in common? OK – beyond the fact they make more money than you and me (ha! ha!). It’s this. Whether you like them or not (and not to be P.C. about it, but there’s a couple of names on this list I could do without) you know their ‘personal brand.’ If you follow them you also…

Sitting alone with your cup of coffee at 5:30 in the morning the question hit you like a ton of bricks. You asked yourself…

“Why does it have to be so hard today running and making money in my remodeling business? What am I doing wrong? Others are growing. I feel stuck in the mud, behind the times. I’m working longer and harder than ever. And for what? I’m bringing home less every year!”

When you launched your remodeling business 15 years ago…

Do you ever wish you could go back to the ‘good old days’ of lead generation for your remodeling and building business? You’d do a home show and people would actually be eager to sign up for a Free Estimate. You’d run a promotion in your local TV guide (remember those coffee table books?) and your phones would ring off the hook. You’d buy the biggest ad in the Yellow Pages and dominate your market.

Oh, how times have changed.

Your last home show…

I’m going to come clean right up front and tell you I HATE Pay Per Click (PPC). Paying more and more and more (isn’t that redundant?) for PPC ads with declining returns is a place I’d rather not be.

That’s why I was SO happy when I saw my PPC spending last month was a grand total of $59.48. This is because we paused all PPC campaigns for our remodeling, nationwide wholesale and home organization businesses earlier in the month. Our spending…

To start out, I’ll just put it this way.

Digital marketing is a contact sport.

Just like your favorite football team (I’ll confess I’m a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan) you need a plan. You need to know where to start. You need to build up your own team (in this case your digital properties) because in a digital world you’re competing for attention.

Unlike your favorite football team (or players) you’re probably not going viral. You’ll…

I’ll admit it right up front. I have a love/hate relationship with exhibiting at trade shows for my remodeling and wholesale supply businesses. Here’s what I love about trade shows.

The ‘goods’ about trade shows

As a ‘people-person’ I love past customers coming to our booth, sharing how they’re enjoying their shower wall panels, or glass block windows or new master closet we designed, supplied and/or installed for them.

I love meeting new…