Contractors Thinking of Advertising or Helping Others on Brownstoner Read This:
this was found in my email in box a few minutes ago. i get comments like this all the time, though usually not as well thought out. i have taken this one verbatim, though i chopped a good bit off:
Hi Steve,
First of all I just want to say THANK YOU for constantly sharing such EXCELLENT information and expertise on the forum. I am a long time lurker, first time writer super fan of yours! I have no idea who you are but I love that you and “Bob Marvin” and others (tho less “famous” to me like “Urbandad”) always banter and share amazing content. I literally read every forum question just to keep up with the community (AND HAVE A NOTEBOOK with tips I’ve read from you guys!) Yes, I am a nerd but I’m finally so happy to be able to write this email …”
andriywww1990
in General Discussion 4 years and 3 months ago
1
Please log in, in order to post replies!
1 replies
andriywww1990 | 4 years and 3 months ago
and for the benefit of contractors who feel that giving away information is a bad thing, i have learned one thing when working in this market(and it has to be this market, professionals, not people like where i grew up who have a garage full of tools). and i have had to explain it to my wife and son who have both heard me on the phone telling potential customers that “they can do this themselves” or have listened to me detail every thing i would need to do to complete a job or project. they felt i was giving people so much information that they would literally do it themselves – my then 12 year old once shouted “your telling them too much” as if i was shooting myself in the foot. but as i continued to talk (and you have to learn when to shut up; if someone from the upper east side or the heights calls, you shut up and go do the work), i realized, this is what happens when you tell potential customers exactly “how” to do something: they realize it is more involved than they thought but they also realize you know what you are doing (and have been through it a milli on times; problem solvers can explain minute and otherwise mundane details and professional managers know this and know who they are talking to when they encounter this) and they WANT only you to do it. and so what if someone takes what i say on here or something i tell them in a phone call and does it themselves? i am happy for them. because i have learned that for every 5 people i say something to, one of them MIGHT try it themselves and two or three of them will call back and ask me to do it. and all of them will spread my name around. most of these people are not using what is written on here to do anything themselves; they are using it to wade through the BS.
i was talking to a businessman or trades person much older than me, someone who could retire but has not because his work is his life and identity and i summarized what i just said above to him. he listened and said “you have learned a valuable lesson that some people never learn”. i only learned it though because this site afforded me the opportunity.
back to work-