Recently, myindependentcontractor.com has been releasing articles about how to succeed as an independent contractor over the past months. Now, that we provided some extra marketing tips and information needed for independent contractors, we want know if your business has been successful. Myindependentcontractor.com has been giving contractors the edge over competition, which the Free website allows you to display your work and information about your business that other contractors don’t have. Myindependentcontractor.com is a tool that any contractor should have in their toolbox. It has the ability to increase your business exposure to new clients as well as give new clients…

JOB'S JOB'S JOB'S... The Government is promising them but www.MyIC.com is providing them.   We have heard from a large number of Contractors on www.MyIC.com that they are getting Job's from either having a website with us or from using our other FREE services such as posting their website and or website address on Craigslist and other sites.   If you are a Contractor that has received a Job or Job's from using the services from My Independent Contractor, we would like to hear from you via an email...Please let us know.   As you should all know, www.MyIC.com…

www.MyIC.com has provided FREE HTML code so that Contractors can post their unique Websites on other FREE Directories that allow HTML...Although some may not allow HTML.   FREE Directories: www.Craigslist.org www.Backpage.com www.Oodle.com www.Ebayclassifieds.com   After a Contractor has created an account and a Website with www.MyIC.com they get FREE HTML code under the "Contractor Services" tab when they log in.  The HTML is entitled "Craigslist HTML" but it can also be used on www.Backpage.com and others.  MyIC.com has also provided a simple video entitled "Craigslist Export" which shows you how to copy and paste the HTML code.   Other FREE…

www.MyIC.com is now 100% FREE for Contractors.   Contractors can now:   1.  Create and Edit their own Website for FREE! 2.  Receive FREE website address & create a unique web address...FREE! 3.  Have Website automatically enrolled in our Contractor Search Directory...FREE! 4.  Use our craigslist HTML code to post their website on Craigslist...FREE! 5.  Create their own unique business cards...FREE!   Let Homeowners and others "SEE" what you can do...FOR FREE...   R. Scott Hatfield Founder & CEO

www.MyIC.com is now 100% FREE.  Contractors can now:   1.  Create and Edit their own Website for FREE! 2.  Receive FREE website address & create a unique web address...FREE! 3.  Have Website automatically enrolled in our Contractor Search Directory...FREE! 4.  Use our craigslist HTML code to post their website on Craigslist...FREE! 5.  Create their own unique business cards...FREE!   Let Homeowners and others "SEE" what you can do...FOR FREE...   R. Scott Hatfield Founder & CEO

By definition, a directory is an approach to organizing information, the most familiar example being a telephone directory. And while there is no getting around the fact that online advertising is essential to your contracting business, if you want the full scope of advertising to work in your favor, you need to go offline as well. Some people even call this “old fashioned” advertising. People may spend a lot of time online looking for contracting services, but not all their time. The print media is still very large and still a good resource to use for advertising your contracting business…

"Free" is a word that grabs peoples‘attention. In marketing, sometimes "free" is too good to be true, but in some instances, free is good. A lot of contractors want to know how to market their Contracting business on a limited budget. Well, it can be done, and here are 10 things you can do to get started with it today. Write a press release on a new product or service and send it to a couple of free press release distribution sites. Follow their guidelines for submission so you don't waste your time editing and re-doing work. A few good…

 Articles and advice on how to market your contracting business are very important. But just as important is advice on what not to do. You can follow the tips that people give you on how to market, but they won’t do you much good if you go about it in the wrong way. Here are 3 good examples of the most common marketing mistakes that contractors make. 1. Not focusing on your specific market - To be successful in today’s competitive marketplace, you must focus your marketing solely in the Contracting Business field. And this is especially true if you’re…

 The economic outlook for the Contractor industry in 2011 is not that bad, but it’s not as good as we’d like it either. Economists tend to keep an eye on construction equipment sales as an indicator of the business sector as a whole. Exports play a minor role in this analysis as they will not represent growth in this country, but rather abroad.. Construction equipment bought “in-house” if you will is a much better gauge to work with. In this article, we’ll take a look at what the experts are seeing and, as a result, predicting. According to Reed Construction…

First of all, it is much easier to land more work from a current client than it is trying to drum up a new client, almost everyone is aware of this. Recognizing this is one thing - taking advantage of it is completely another. This article is going to show you a couple of easy ways to increase sales from your current clients.  Several contractors have used one or more of these methods to dramatically increase their sales, so there is no reason why one or more of these methods can’t work for you. Offering additional services is a proven…

Contractors, like everyone, have felt the pinch of the recent recession(s) in the past ten years. Seasoned contractors know how to ride the valleys and dips that occur inside of a recessing economy. They also know how to recognize a recovering economy. It's been no secret that the housing market has seen several downturns, and that this has hurt contractors. The recovering housing market offers opportunities to contractors who know where to look to rebound and recover. In any housing recovery, business and residential property owners decide to build, remodel or deal with repairs that have been put off for…

 Internet marketing for contractors is not difficult, but it does require a willingness to meet the internet halfway.   An important thing for contractors to remember is that they need a mix of general advertising on general sites, and targeted advertising on targeted sites. A website is a critical internet marketing tool. Because of this, successful contractors must always have one. Customers will click through your advertising or value added content (a type of marketing that customers do not perceive as advertising) to find more information about your services, location and contact information. Without a website to provide this information…

When you're used to working with your hands you probably don't want to be inside working on the computer. Rest assured, a proper use of the keyboard will bring you closer to the tools of your trade by bringing you more customers. One of the best ways for a contractor to reach potential clients is through social media. Used poorly, social media can drive customers away. Used correctly, it can increase your customer base, and enhance your professional reputation. Do you, as a contractor rather than web guru, know what social media is? Social media is the word for online…

Every good Independent Building Contractor needs to be marketed. Word needs to spread like wildfire about the services you provide and every aspect of your business that affects the customer. Just as the customer needs tools to find you, you need different avenues of approach to find your potential customers. If you’re new to the business, there’s a little more involved than meets the eye. If you’ve been in the business for years and are looking to expand, media outlets for marketing purposes change from year to year, and you may need to be updated on the changes. Building contractors…

You’ve got your business up and running, you’ve got your website on-line and now you think that you are finally ready to go. Now you have to figure out how to get the local population to your website so you can have maximum traffic to increase your business. Consider this your pre-advertising campaign. Advertising your advertisement if you will. Logic will dictate that to advertise something that is online, you need to go online. But there is more than just 1 form of social media out there that you can utilize. There are the offline methods of course that are…

Taking a business online allows business owners to market to customers outside their geographical locale. Growing a contracting business online can bring clientele to a contracting business it may not have been able to reach via conventional marketing methods. However, recognize that the World Wide Web levels the playing ground when it comes to competition. The smallest contracting business can look like a big company with a great web site. While a successful offline company can come across poorly online. There are a few steps every contracting business should take to grow their business online to ensure their expertise presents the…

 Anyone who has every attempted to remodel part of their home on their own fully understands the reason why all the smart ones hire a contractor instead of giving themselves the headache that can come along with a home project, big or small. There are just some jobs that you cannot do on your own and the more drama a change, the harder it is on your stress levels and your budget. When you want a way to keep your startup costs down if you are new to the housing market, just starting up your own company and want to…

Have you noticed that each and every month that passes you by your might be wondering where all the work is going to? In this day and age almost everyone has a website, why are you the last one to get on the band wagon and setup one yourself? Professionals of all types have websites dedicated to the business they are in, why are you any different? If you like not having a larger audience to reach out to for the skills you specialize in that is fine, stop reading now. However if you want to make sure you are…

Imagine you are in the contracting industry; it’s not live on the World Wide Web yet but now what? How do you get to where you need to be in order to make sure your name is out there on the WWW and others can find you? How are you going to promote your website in order to make sure you get the leads you need? More importantly, is your website with MyIC.com? Did you know there is a company directly structured to help independent contractors be found quickly and easily online without the need of hard work from your end? How…

 Have you ever wondered how to get the best contractors in the business? What about getting the leads that your client wants for their job? Do you only need an amazing contractor for one project? It could be a household project or even for your business and either way you need to know that you are in good hands and able to hire the right professional for the job. Pre-screening before hiring someone is a must in the search for a contractor who can do the work you need, when you need it and how you need it completed.  …

 You do the job right and take pride in your work, so where are the new customers? Well, this isn’t the best economy. Maybe they’re hard to find.   Or maybe you need them to find you.   You’ve heard the buzzwords: Web 2.0, social networking, social media, e-tail. But most independent contractors are exactly what computer guys mean when they talk about “brick-and-mortar” businesses. You’re not selling books on the Internet – you’re pouring foundations, or installing home security systems, or tacking down carpet. What does internet marketing have to do with you?   Answer: These days, “word-of-mouth” includes…

I was grabbing a beer with an old friend from high school - we'll call him Tom. Tom's a general contractor now, so I started explaining MYIC. Hey, it's hard for me not to. It's what I do. He looked around the bar, casually nodded to a well-dressed customer, and asked me one question: "Can you reach that guy?"   He had pointed out a "suit": A well-dressed guy, more than likely with a thing or two he's "meaning to get to" around the house: replacing the cabinets, putting in new flooring, building a deck. Projects.    I told him…

You do What You do Well - We do the HTML.   If you're a contractor, that's all you need to know about MyIndependentContractor.com. MYIC is the one-stop shop for free, easy-to-set-up web pages for contractors.   Bottom line: If you are reading this blog, you are a few clicks away from having an online presence with MYIC, and it won't cost you a penny.   If you've struggled with building a web page - getting the text to wrap right, or getting the photos to upload, or getting all the HTML code characters to work - you know how…

Backhoe operators and interior decorators, maids and movers, glaziers and general contractors all have one thing in common: people do these jobs as independent contractors. And all independent contractors are constantly in search of one thing - customers.   But it doesn't take long to realize that all your new customers won't come looking for you. You have to go out and find them. Word of mouth is still the best advertising, but a network of friends talking to friends only goes so far. When people look for services these days, they look on the web.   Getting a Site is…

Maybe you already know how to build a house. Or wire the electric system, or fix the HVAC, or custom-landscape the grounds. You already know how to make every customer you work for happy. But how are you at building your business?   Or maybe you don't know how to do all that, but you're looking for someone that can do it. You want to know how other customers feel about their services. You want pictures of their work. You want to be able to contact them to get a quote.   At MyIndependentContractor.com., we figure that whether you're…

Have you ever wondered what separates a good contractor from a GREAT contractor? I mean, besides the obvious: skill, technique, and overall outcome of the project? Think of the last time you (not as a contractor, but as a consumer) had a project to do. As an example, we'll say it was staining your deck. Well, you didn't know anyone personally who could complete the project. You went to the internet or the yellow pages. And, if you didn't know who you were looking for, what separated the guy you found from the rest? In a short word, it was…

Everybody needs a specialty. It seems like such a simple concept, right? But, in today's world, we are all too busy. We look for double duty products that boast claims of doing the job faster and cheaper. We hire one guy to do five things, just to get it done. We sacrifice quality for quantity, and it hardly ever works to our advantage. We hire one company to do six things, and wonder why the finished product is "missing something". Everyone has something that they're good at. Independent contractors know this, and that is why we choose to work autonomously…

HTML code is very interesting to me.  It is basically a way a person via computer code can post photo's, descriptions and other images on on the internet by simply using codes like "mk-*e/=qhk>zx>-rt:/" etc.  Although you wouldn't know it unless you understood HTML coding language, those characters in there correct spot actually mean something to a computer.  Most people don't have the time to learn this type of code, but it is very important to understand what it can do. MyIndependentContractor.com is a new Website built specifically for all types of contracting services who really don't have time to…

             Steve Brown/Brown's Construction              Comments: MyIndepenentContractor has been a tremendous assest to my company in these uncertain times. I really enjoy the freedom to update and customize my website at any time. I use the craigslist Html code on a regular basis and have recieved numerous jobs because of it. My clients really appriciate being able to see my work and being able to see who's coming to their home before hand. I'm very happy with the results of being in the contractor search directory, I've bid on numerous projects from out of area clients who found me…

Getting the word out about your business can seem like a larger and more expensive task than actually performing the quality work you are trained for. Don't be daunted; embrace it as you would any other tools on your contractor's truck. The most effective online advertising can cost nothing to your bottom line. It does require a commitment to providing value for the information seeker. It is known as value added content marketing. Show and share your knowledge to consumers. Do this by: Frequenting an online DYI and contracting community, answering questions while having a business related signature. Writing blogs…

www.MyIC.com is now 100% FREE.  Contractors can now:   1.  Create and Edit their own Website for FREE! 2.  Receive FREE website address & or create unique web address...FREE 3.  Have Website automatically enrolled in our Contractor Search Directory...FREE 4.  Use our craigslist HTML code to post their website on Craigslist...FREE 5.  Create their own unique business cards...FREE   Homeowners and Others simply want to "SEE" what contractors can do before they hire them...   R. Scott Hatfield Founder & CEO