How I Got Into This A/E/C Social Media Business
Well, its the end of the year and I’m doing some clean up. Every once in a while someone emails me with some questions about how I got started in the world of social media and my take on the subject of social media in the design and construction industry.
I always keep these responses and thought it would be fun to share some of these with you. This post is more about me than your typical Help Everybody Everyday post, but I think you can learn something from my journey.
So, here for your reading pleasure is a make shift interview with me, Matt Handal.
How and when did you (or your company) get involved with Social Media?
We started a video podcast and subsequent YouTube channel way back in 2006. They were short training videos that taught construction professional how to avoid problems on their projects. These videos have been downloaded over 100,0000 times. We got calls from across the country and even the middle east because of these videos. But overall, it wasn’t as successful as I would have wanted.
In 2007-2008, I wrote a chapter in the Marketing Handbook for the Design and Construction Professional called Web 2.0, where I outlined what people were doing in this space.
In the meantime, I set up my Linkedin account. One day I decided to post a status update on it. The subject was my nike+ shoes. I would go to industry functions and people would ask me about my shoes. So, I saw the power of LinkedIn right away. That power, being the ability to “ping” your contacts on a regular basis.
Later, say in 08 and 09, everybody started talking about “social media”. I saw a presentation at SMPS conducted by a web designer and I was furious at what I heard. Because it was being sold as something it’s not. I think that continues to this day.
But I do have a Twitter account. I’ve generated modest revenue for our firm from that. Plaxo has tried to become a social networking site, I’m on that. I also started an open blog called HelpEverybodyEveryday.com. That’s geared towards marketers in the AEC industry.
I do not have a Facebook account.
A lot of what you’ve done has been technology driven: Help Everybody Everyday; podcasts; the first AEC iPhone app. Where did this interest and technical knowledge come from?
I’m lazy. I’m also into process. So if I can automate it and save some time and money, let’s do that. We do a lot of training. So the podcast thing came out of asking, “How can we reach our audience without charging them for travel and a heap of our time?” I was frustrated with the cost of advertising, so the iphone app came out of that.
The technical knowledge just comes from believing that I need to learn more things so I can do better things. I just bought the new mac iLife software. Came out today. Not because I want to see the code, but because I can make cooler little videos of my son. Carrying 16,000 songs in my pocket speaks to me. Having a customized contact management system built for $700 speaks to me. Having a notebook that records audio and syncs that to what I write speaks to me.
Have these efforts elevated your personal brand — invitations to speak, publish articles, etc.? (Since I know the answer is yes, what are some examples?)
I don’t use BS terms like personal brand. When I was at the SMPS national conference. Someone came up and hugged me out of the blue. That’s different. And nice. But speaking opportunities have come mostly through personal connections. Some through ma bell and some through twitter. Here’s how I became contributing editor for SMPS Marketer. I called Randy up and offered to write stuff. I consistently delivered good articles on time. That’s about approach, not tools.
Have these efforts had any impact on Trauner’s business development opportunities? New prospective clients? New potential teaming partners? Proposal opportunities? Contracts?
We had over 100,000+ downloads of our podcast. We got calls from as far away as Israel. And I know people in our industry really liked them. And 100,000+ downloads sounds like a success story. But I can’t attribute one dime of revenue from that.
But when I’ve used technology to interact with people, that dynamic changed. Two weeks ago I got a call on my cell phone from a contractor who ultimately hired my firm for some work. He got my name and cell number from a potential client that I sought out and connected with through twitter. It can start with twitter, then go to the phone, then continue on LinkedIn. I don’t think posting on Twitter multiple times a day is very productive. I’ve scaled down a bit. Its turning into too much noise. Like shouting across the room to someone at a rock concert. I think these tools are better used to automate pinging your contacts.
If you put a paintbrush in my hand, I can’t do anything with it. But if you put it in a true artist’s hands, she’ll paint something that amazes you. My success is not because of the tools, it because of how I use those tools.
What would you say is the current state of the Industry… when it comes to adopting Social Media in the A/E/C industry?
A bit misguided. Because we are learning from those that #1. Have not had measurable success in this arena and #2. Those who are in different industries. What works for a web designer is not necessarily going to work for a general contractor.
Maybe that’s a topic of debate. I don’t see anyone being very successful (i.e. generating revenue or decreasing operating expenses). I think the one exception would be Tim Klabunde and the DCN Network.
My take is this. There is a new breed of marketer. I think we are in some respects the kids of Ford Harding. Meaning that we believe In his philosophy that marketing is about helping others. It almost seems counterproductive, but it works. Where we’ve pushed it forward is exploiting the science of how it works and using new tools to increase our impact.
How important, in your opinion, is it that AEC professionals start adopting a strategic social media plan?
Strategic? I think it is important to have a clear objective. In fact, critical. You have to define what success is from a business standpoint. Return on investment can only be measured in revenue or reduction of operating costs. Not retweets, visitors, followers, etc.
Social media is dangerous as it can make marketers inefficient or ineffective. For example, if your marketer sets up a Facebook page to help your firm recruit, what the heck is a marketer doing spending time on recruiting? Meanwhile, people are still being laid off. That’s a tragic waste of resources. On the other hand, if I can spend 20 minutes on a train and ping 200+ relevant contacts with valuable information, that’s time well spent. Because it reduces operating expenses.
People lose sight of “what are we trying to achieve? How are we going to measure that and determine whether its working?”
What’s your story? Share it with us in the comments!!
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