Michel put on his marketing hat to discuss ways that members of the Indiana chapter of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (Indiana ACCA) could market their businesses in a highly competitive market.

He provided a list of 101 marketing ideas and asked each contractor to pick five that they liked the best - and choose one to implement right away.

The first idea on this list - price for profits - has a direct bearing on a company's survival, according to Michel. "The No. 1 reason contractors fail is that they don't charge enough," he said.

He explained that the costs of buying and keeping a customer should be considered when establishing a pricing structure.

"It costs $200 to $300 on average to get a customer," he said. "And you don't make money on them unless they become a repeat customer."

Some of the other ideas on his list include: