What type of deal is best to offer in a marketing campaign? Is it best to offer free or discounted products? A prize offer? Or is it best just to explain the features or benefits of the equipment you sell or services you offer?

I’ve been virtually meeting more and more contractors who are pushing to the forefront of social media, so it’s time to hand out a few more paper plate awards.

Today’s mobile office — the tools and software needed to conduct business in the field — has evolved into a myriad of wireless hand-held devices and programs.

While there are many wireless devices that field personnel use to stay in touch with other people and access information, it seems that the most popular device remains the cell phone.

What was, isn’t anymore. Why do I begin this article with a completely undiagrammable sentence? Because most things in business now aren’t following diagrams either.

Not long ago, according to Jack Beers of Metcalfe Heating & AC (Manassas, Va.), contractors all followed the old adage: “If you do a great job, your customer will tell nine people. Do a poor job, and they’ll tell 22 people.” But today, as more and more customers post online reviews, Beers explained, “The difference now is that if you do a poor job, they’ll tell 22 million people.”

Imagine one of your employees bashes your company or their coworkers on Facebook. You might think that you could fire that employee. But you would probably be wrong. Or consider whether you should Google job applicants. It may seem like a no-brainer, but if you don’t do it correctly, you could end up in the midst of a lawsuit.

The NEWS’ eighth annual Dealer Design Awards’ Contractor Services and Software category brought ease, accessibility, and free to the table with its winning lineup of an online training course and two brand new apps.

Social media presents two primary choices: get involved or be left behind. Contractors have heatedly debated that statement, along with many other social media topics, for some time. More often than not, however, the argument circles back to social media relevance. With social media being so new, industry relevance is more a matter of opinion that could be argued from both sides.

This article should really be titled “Miracle Closing Technique for the Estimate-Getting Researcher.” As you will read, it’s really not a miracle at all. It’s more common sense. There are many kinds of customers, but the most classic might be the we’re-getting-estimates customer.