Gardening With a Hint of Industrial

You wouldn't think it, but gardening can have an industrial application. From it's services page, a company called Blooming Rails Garden Nanny boasts relationships with Riggers, Machinery Movers, Electricians, Builders, Plumbers, Handyman, and HVAC contractors. What's the connection? Well roof top gardens for one. But those who are passionate about their garden and have the bucks to spend on an elaborate design and installation, may suddenly be in need of a service company that's typically known for industrial work just a little bit more than gardening. So in this case what some might think of as just a residential plant sitting and maintenance company is also B2B & Industrial... nothing like broadening you scope of work and customer base.

On the subject of marketing, it's interesting to note that Blooming Rails Garden Nanny is using multiple blogs rather than just one. This affords the opportunity to zero marketing content in on a niche, while tying it all together at the same time.

View Gardening Topics to see how this is laid out. Nothing fancy here, they're just going down the path of "quality content is king".

US Directory of Machinery Movers, Erectors and Riggers

A website / directory, we've been tracking for a while now, the US Directory of Machinery Movers, Erectors and Riggers is gaining a bit of momentum. By "a while" we mean since 2009.  Development of this site has been painfully slow going, but there has been a flurry of development as of late

with new states being added along with some other features.

While there are several directories on the Internet for this sector already, this one is a bit different. Most prominent is the fact that every company listed is reviewed by a person not an Internet robot. That may seem silly in this day in age, but the process affords viewers a refined list of contractors that actually have the skilled labor required to manipulate machinery and equipment into position and set it up. Other directories mix in companies that provide supporting services, such as heavy haul trucking, crane service, rental services, and material suppliers. Most of these directories are really annoying, using the keywords "machinery moving" while posting garbage content and hoping you'll put some change in their pocket by clicking on Google Adwords. For companies truly looking for a quality machinery mover in their area, this presents a challenge in finding a contractor that can specifically load, unload, move, disassemble, assemble, erect, install, level, align, or anchor machinery and/or equipment.

For the purpose of marketing, what this blog is all about, the US Directory of Machinery Movers, Erectors and Riggers directory provides a clean and targeted source for machinery movers, erectors and riggers to promote their services. Contractors not on the list can easily request to be added via email. However, we've discover one requirement (with a few exceptions) is that every company must have at least a basic website. This is potentially a hard sell for those old timers in the business, but it's only a matter of time for such companies before they just can't compete in the digital age.

One new feature to the directory really seems to be out of left field. They've added staff recruiting services, or more specifically "Video Hiring". This seems to be a strange addition to the site as it's not directly related. However, given the directory targets industries such as aerospace, food & beverage, power & energy, industrial manufacturing & services, printing, medical, and technology, there may be a method to their madness. Companies visiting this directory are likely expanding, which means moving and installing heavy machinery, bridge cranes, tanks, generators, ovens, UPS systems, engines, injections mold machines and so on... so one could make the leap they are hiring too. At any rate, it's an interesting twist.

So it's obvious this directory is a work in progress, with only 23 states posted, and a slow one at that. However, with a bit of digging, we've found out, site enhancements are already planned such as individual profiles for each company listed, select Ad sales to promote related products and services and a few other goodies no one is talking about.

As of this writing, current states posted are:
Alabama
Alaska
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Michigan
Missouri
Montana
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Texas
Virginia
Wisconsin

Effective Social Promotion Resources

A few great social marketing options to get enhanced visibility for your products and services now!

Twitter and Facebook both have fantastic reach to millions of potential clients. Advertising on these two social networks is a great way to get your message out about new products, special offers, or perhaps a more subtle approach, featured projects. If you're ready to tap into social market and promote your business on these well-established networks, then building your fans and followers will help you create a successful outcome. Other very valuable social marketing systems to use are LinkedIn and YouTube. Tie them all together with a blog on blogger.com and you're sure to increase your site's exposure, build credibility, build brand awareness and ultimately new customers for your company.

If you're working on a shoe string budget and doing all this on your own, the expense is very minimal. Paying someone to do the work or outsourcing can get expensive. On the other hand, whatever method you choose, if you're diligent, the success can be staggering.

Raising The Roof On Marketing

Visual marketing is powerful and YouTube provides and excellent method to reach potential clients either directly or indirectly. You can demonstrate business capabilities by posting a corporate video or post it anonymously. Getting the video to go viral can take a bit of work, but can also provide a tremendous amount of visibility for your company.

Below is a good example. Watch as the roof of a building is removed, using a Spider Crane, to allow for additional construction. This video is not your everyday event, it's short and you can find out more about the company in the credits. It's a simple video, nothing elaborate, yet it has the potential to reach thousands.

Ferry RS 430 Installation

Installation of a Ferry RS 430 mold machine by American Industrial Werks.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYwT_Af5hmA

If Content Is King - Featured Projects

You've heard it over and over that content is king to drive traffic to your website. If that's true and you're scratching your head for content ideas, think about "Featured Projects". We've all had our eyes glaze over with the online pitch that is suppose to be interesting content. After all, how many ways can you say my company is great, hire us and we'll do a great job at a great price? On the other hand, people love to hear and interesting story and pictures go a long way toward spicing up a story. Newsletters are great, but how many of us have the time to put together a newsletter and actually keep it going month after month? A featured project page on your website is much easier. Put up a few pictures of a recent project with some good keyword descriptions of what happened and you're in business. Want to get a bit more bang for your buck??? How about writing a quick blog about your newly posted "Featured Project" and send an email to your current clients with a link to the blog. It's a simple way to keep in touch with your clients, drive traffic to your website and possibly turn a light bulb on in your customers mind that could turn into more business for you.

Here's an example of a featured project at Millennium Park in Chicago, IL.


- Murdock

B2B with Twitter

Okay perhaps I'm a bit slow to join in on the Twitter revolution... it took me a while to get it. At any rate, I'm on board now, so if you would like to be a follower my twitter ID is murdockknicks. Rather than having the ID specific to this blog, I've opted for my name as I have several other blogs to talk about on Twitter. So come follow my tweets and I will keep you posted on how well Twitter is working to help with B2B Industrial Marketing.

- Murdock