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a way to really differentiate ourselves. We'd go on talk radio and the home shows, giving presentations about how to fix something. Pretty soon, we were the experts in town. When you do take the time to differentiate yourself, and when you see a change in the marketplace, you can avoid it hitting your pocketbook hard. Michael Williams: How do you do that? Are you doing that just at the home shows and on the radio or are you doing this through the Web or just one-on-one when you engage with the client? Annette Mercado: We do it every time, one-on-one, when we engage with clients. But we go on the radio about once a quarter between two local stations. You have to establish a relationship with them. You become the go-to person for questions, whatever your field is. And it makes a really big difference. Mike Sloggatt: I did the same thing years ago. I used to write an ask-the-contractor column for a couple of local papers. It was very time-consuming, but I did get a lot of recognition as an expert. So, I agree with Annette's method; it can be a very effective way to differentiate your business. People know your name. They know who you are. They trust and respect you, even if they've never met you. Dan Rush: When I first got started, the local library had a program where experts would come in and give a seminar, and, just like Annette and Mike, I found that by doing a presentation three or four times during the summer, I got a lot of calls. That turned into a cable access program that I did for a couple of years, and it legitimized us. There's value in setting yourself apart from the competition and not competing on your competitors' terms, but competing on your own terms — whatever they may be. Michael Williams: Have any of you had any negative experience with any sort of advertisement or promotion or outreach? Mike Sloggatt: I advertised in the '70s in the penny-saver publications, and they were more trouble than they were worth. The type of client you got from them was just looking for price. Maybe in the early '70s, when I was really hungry, I'd do a roof that I really didn't want to do for a good price. But I got out of that quickly. Annette Mercado: One thing we realized early on is that you have to know where your clientele is coming from — what they're reading, watching and listening to — in order to advertise to them. If I'm trying to sell a $50,000-plus kitchen, I can't go into the penny saver. Now, if I was trying to repair a door or something like that, it's a different story. All the mass marketing that comes in the mail — those things are targeted to people who are looking to save money, not necessarily get the best quality product or service. But what we're trying to sell is quality — quality craftsmanship and products — at a great price. If you advertise in Annette Mercado Annette, along with her husband Chris, owns Blue River Cabinetry Kitchen & Bath, a kitchen and bath remodeling company in Bakersfield, Calif. Their broad expertise allows them to do the majority of the work on their own, including design, demolition, plumbing, electrical, cabinetry construction, installation and carpentry. Annette is an NKBA Certified Kitchen Designer (CKD), licensed general contractor and finish carpenter. the correct places for the customers you're looking for, you'll see it. We actually put out an ad campaign this year, and we're up 75 percent as of now. Michael Williams: And where did you place the new ads, Annette? Annette Mercado: It's about advertising to the right people through the right channels. I write down everywhere calls come from so I can go back and look at the source. If I do advertisements that don't generate a response, I stop it. It's not worth the money. Now, that's not saying I won't try it again. But when we actually figured out which stations our clients are listening to, which magazines they're looking at, and just targeted those areas, I mean ... our business ... we're doing great right now. Over the past four years, we've grown our business because of a targeted advertising campaign. Michael Williams: Are there niche approaches you've taken that have seen the biggest impact? Is it by doing the radio shows or ...? Annette Mercado: We try and make our commercials funny so that listeners remember them. Before, we would have commercials where they used the radio station people reading the copy. Then we switched to 60-second commercials that told a stor y. We produced and prerecorded these ourselves. And it's very targeted. We keep track of what station they hear us on. Joshua Weir: I have a question regarding that: What's the demographic, the size of the community that you're advertising in? Annette Mercado: Well, we're in Bakersfield, which is basically in the middle of California. We also reach out to outlying areas, so our market includes about a million people. Michael Williams: Dan or Josh, do you have anything to add regarding advertising and how you guys go about it, if you do it at all? ForResidentialPros.com QR January 2013 17