# DIY approach



## festerized (May 19, 2007)

I see a lot of professionals in CT that mask themselves as members with the sole motive to gain a sale.
Some are smarter than others not to be too aggressive as some members are scared to challenge their contradicting advice.
You all have good products, I checked. But there is no need to say your word is god and all should follow.
I have quickly learned that there are vultures out there looking for prey. Advertisers are taking advantage of this market to push the idea of their way will make you money. The reality is you can do all this advertising, build a web-site and all in-between yourself. Most of us here have small residential contracting company’s looking for cheap ways to promote their company.
When the market has healed itself and computation is greater then maybe I can see having a professional reevaluate my business advertising. Until then it’s DIY all the way
I look at CT as learning free advice for my new venture. I’m weary though of the members here trying to deter and radical movement: Free advertising, DIY web-sites and optimizing to name a few.
The internet is our future. I see my business growing with it. I remember years ago Yellow Book trying push their sales gimmick on me. I did my research by talking to other contractors, somewhere happy, most were not. They were convinced by the salesman that this is your best return investment for your company. All have wasted thousands on an ad in a book with 30 to 100 other specialist in their field. This is a pure waste of money that could be better spent on other advertising. I look at paid internet advertising the same way as the Yellow book. It’s a scam. There is no quality control on who can do business on the web. Nor is there a code of ethics. I’m not saying a new company shouldn’t try it. Just don’t let someone tell you it’s your best return investment. You should never really one specific source of advertising or spend thousands on advertising. 
I see many companies that prey on the ignorance of contractors not knowing any better on how the internet works Most of these task [web-site, SEO, Adwards, etc.] can be implement yourself with a little self education. Don’t pay someone for a service you can otherwise do yourself. Just be smart about.
I took a chance and it worked for me, lots of reading. If you don’t have the time or the confidence to try the DIY approach, then maybe hiring a professional is best for you.

A message to advertisers [on & off line] looking for your next meal.
*You are salesman trying to sell a salesman*. Do yourself and the company you maybe representing a favor:
Research the client’s company before you waste anyone’s time


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## OGStilts (Aug 30, 2007)

Then "enter" key is your friend. Use him.


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## rselectric1 (Sep 20, 2009)

Dave, alot of people say the exact same thing about our trades.

I choose to pay for those types of services for the same reason I tell prospects they need a professional.

I simply cant keep up with all the new tricks of the trade as far as SEO, and website design. Nor is it an efficient way to spend my time.

The marketing/SEO etc. guys who post here REGULARLY have passed the extreme scrutiny of the mods. Probably because they are not trying to shove their services down our throats. I appreciate these guys and will help them in return.

If you watch the new posts section, advertising types show up several times a night. Those posts are not just closed, they are DELETED.

If there is a poster who you feel is here for the wrong reasons, simply report the post.


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## Heritage (Mar 20, 2007)

With no bias towards the OP, I must interject.

Broad strokes using one brush to paint a forest. 

No disagreements on spamming, but your attitude towards DIY is something I can't agree with...and not just because of the natural contradiction :thumbsup:

Some people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Unfortunately, I DIY a few things that I would much prefer to source out to a professional. As financial circumstances would have it, not all of us can afford to source everything out. Sometimes we have to get from A to B with what we got. 

I appreciate what PRO'S can do/what they know. If some PRO is willing to share some knowledge/wisdom on CT ...FOR FREE of all things, well I for one am indebted.

I wish I could afford to hire them.


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## custrel (Jun 30, 2009)

rselectric1 said:


> Dave, a lot of people say the exact same thing about our trades.
> 
> I choose to pay for those types of services for the same reason I tell prospects they need a professional.


EX-ACT-LY.

Unless you have a particular love for HTML and enjoy building websites in your spare time, your DIY website will probably be the equivalent of some web designer's DIY staircase.

*He* thinks the stairs look pretty good, and he saved a bunch of money but...:no:


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## On The Rock (Feb 5, 2010)

festerized said:


> A message to advertisers [on & off line] looking for your next meal.
> *You are salesman trying to sell a salesman*. Do yourself and the company you maybe representing a favor:
> Research the client’s company before you waste anyone’s time


Yeah, I would appreciate that, but I'm afraid that is asking too much of someone who is otherwise looking for their next easy meal.


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## festerized (May 19, 2007)

Who’s using HTML, not me
It’s comments like yours that over exaggerate how easy it really is.
1-Small companies don’t need to pay a web designer thousands to build a web-site, you can DIY cheaply buy purchasing a predefined web-site thru Yahoo or Google and many others. It’s that simple
2-You don’t need to pay an Adwards company to activate and monitor a campaign.
SEO is a whole other ball game. It’s a no win adventure. The stakes keep changing. You would go poor trying to pay a professional to keep your site up to date. And don’t say I will go poor if I don’t use a SEO professional.LOL You can stay on top of the trends just like they can. I love how these so called professionals have all you guys brain washed into believing they have all the answers.


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## rselectric1 (Sep 20, 2009)

You may be right. But I cant even figure out how to post a you-tube video on this site without problems. If you are savvy with this type of thing, more power to you.

I for one, find my time better spent doing things I know how to do.

I spend (way to much money:laughing on a lawyer who check my larger contracts, an accountant who makes sure I get all the right deductions, an insurance broker who I can pester constantly for the best GL and WC rates, and most importantly sub contractors who can do plumbing, drywall, concrete, painting, HVAC, hardwood flooring, etc. in a more cost effective manner and with better results than I could hope for by trying to do it myself.

If I *had time* to sit around and try to learn how to save $1000 bucks by designing my own website, then it would hopefully become apparent that I was in the wrong business.

No offense intended to you David, just my perspective on hiring pros.


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## festerized (May 19, 2007)

$1000.00 bucks I might have hired a professional. Problem is I was getting pricing $1k to 10k. Where is the edict in that?
I originally spent 1 hour uploading pics to my site.
I have spent an honest 8 hrs into optimizing, not including reading at night
Reading is good for the soul
My cost to build my site $250.00
I’m building a site for a painter who moved to Florida. An experiment to see if I’m talking smack or not. If I’m wrong I’ll shut up, if not I’ll speak louder


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## On The Rock (Feb 5, 2010)

festerized said:


> 1-Small companies don’t need to pay a web designer thousands to build a web-site, you can DIY cheaply buy purchasing a predefined web-site thru Yahoo or Google and many others. It’s that simple
> 2-You don’t need to pay an Adwards company to activate and monitor a campaign.


Well, that's up to the small business owner to decide. After 18 months of being raped by Yodle, I had to decide that A) Their design of my previous website _never_ met my criteria, and B) Their bidding on search words with my money was completely ineffective. Last June, I bit the bullet and took some time off to buy a Mac, buy some website building software, and build the site I'd always wanted.



festerized said:


> SEO is a whole another ball game. It’s a no win adventure. The stacks keep changing. You would go poor trying to pay a professional to keep your site up to date. And don’t say I will go poor if I don’t use a SEO professional.LOL You can stay on top of the trends just like they can. I love how these so called professionals have all you guys brain washed into believing they have all the answers.


You are right: One thing I learned during that time off last summer -- SEO _definitely_ is a-whole-nother ball game. One must decide _before_ one builds one's website if one plans to use SEO. If you do not have time to tweak your website on a semi-daily basis, then do not try to build SEO into your website. Presently, I've designed mine for the sole purpose of directing potential customers to. I am a one-man show, so, in a way, my website is my receptionist, my portfolio displayer, and my expectation manager, not to mention my tire-kicker eliminator while I am on the job.

And I am saving more than $2500 a year by doing this rather than staying with Yodle.


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## rselectric1 (Sep 20, 2009)

rbell427 said:


> Free listing for Contractor Talk members
> 
> SPAM LETTER DELETED
> 
> ...


Hey Rick-Guess what. I reported your spamming @$$. 17 posts with the same message?

Try this trick somewhere else!!!!:ban::ban::ban::ban::ban:


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## lawndart (Dec 3, 2006)

When I started out 4 years ago, I tried the DIY approach and built a website similar to yours. It generated a few leads per month that made it worth my investment. However as my company grew, I had less time to DIY, so I hired a professional with the help of this forum. That said my company is now receiving 8-10 leads per week, and growing even further with the help of my web guy.. All of this cost me $1,300


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

rselectric1 said:


> You may be right. But I cant even figure out how to post a you-tube video on this site without problems. If you are savvy with this type of thing, more power to you.
> 
> I for one, find my time better spent doing things I know how to do.
> 
> ...


My son's wife can design and build web sites, and is launching a new business....I am waiting on her to do mine, since I am as technologically challenged as anyone can be in the computer age. If anyone is interested, shoot me a pm, I think she is really reasonable....i.e., no overhead. :thumbsup:


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## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

rselectric1 said:


> Hey Rick-Guess what. I reported your spamming @$$. 17 posts with the same message?
> 
> Try this trick somewhere else!!!!


And it appears it has been remove. However, until you edit _your_ response with the attendant quote, his spam is still posted!


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## BuenaHomes (Jun 13, 2007)

festerized said:


> Who’s using HTML, not me
> It’s comments like yours that over exaggerate how easy it really is.
> 1-Small companies don’t need to pay a web designer thousands to build a web-site, you can DIY cheaply buy purchasing a predefined web-site thru Yahoo or Google and many others. It’s that simple
> 2-You don’t need to pay an Adwards company to activate and monitor a campaign.
> SEO is a whole other ball game. It’s a no win adventure. The stakes keep changing. You would go poor trying to pay a professional to keep your site up to date. And don’t say I will go poor if I don’t use a SEO professional.LOL You can stay on top of the trends just like they can. I love how these so called professionals have all you guys brain washed into believing they have all the answers.


You are right man, besides HTML it's not that hard as it many think.:shifty:
In Fact building a web site it's so easy that there's a lot of people that would do it without regard tolearn about the contractor's needs. But one have to like how to work with computers and softwares. I have the impression that a lot of contractors are not good in business management, but working with tools at the field.


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## festerized (May 19, 2007)

I don’t know what HTML stands for?


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## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

*H*ow *T*o *M*ake *L*ove.












:laughing: j/k!



*H*yper *T*ext *M*arkup *L*anguage.


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## festerized (May 19, 2007)

LOL even better


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## WestEndReno (Jan 31, 2010)

wow, good info on the costs of sites. My friend set up the framework of my site (nothing fancy) and I do the updates. He told me it would have costed about $1200 for the initial start up (securing the domain/site framework) and $400 per year for server space. I guess I'm lucky that I'm only rebuilding a water damaged closet for him. The site updating is easy but I would rather spend the time actually working. You will get more hits with a professional site and it is only getting bigger so get it done right (if computers is not your hobby).


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## nlgutters (Dec 18, 2007)

WestEndReno said:


> wow, good info on the costs of sites. My friend set up the framework of my site (nothing fancy) and I do the updates. He told me it would have costed about $1200 for the initial start up (securing the domain/site framework) and $400 per year for server space. I guess I'm lucky that I'm only rebuilding a water damaged closet for him. The site updating is easy but I would rather spend the time actually working. You will get more hits with a professional site and it is only getting bigger so get it done right (if computers is not your hobby).



How many leads a week do you get off it?


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