Fourth Blog Post: From Bare Bones to Warm Hearted Dreams: A Couple's Journey Through Self-Employment and the Insulation Industry
Hello, friends! It’s time for another trip down memory lane. Today, we’re talking about
how we began advertising each of our businesses in their early days. If you recall, I met
Luyk when he was a young, sheet-rocking entrepreneur running his company, Rock
Road Drywall. (You might be noticing a trend here—Rock Road Drywall, Rock Road
Coatings & Foam, RRCTools!) The building world was hot, hot, hot in the late ’90s and
early 2000s! But we faced hurdles nonetheless, including misaligned working
relationships that forced us to reinvent and re-advertise to attract new, hopefully more
moralistic, clients. At that time, our target audience was home builders.
Reinvention during the drywall/building days was fairly straightforward because it was
also the early days of the internet. Websites weren’t the main source of traffic
yet—advertising relied heavily on the Yellow Pages, newspaper print ads, and television
spots. Being young and fresh, we opted for more affordable, personalized methods that
took some guts and grit. We made cold calls to potential clients by phone and showed
up at job sites with cards and custom made brochures. We created flyer mailers, built
our own mailing lists, and, yes, we managed to afford a coveted Yellow Pages listing.
Things have certainly changed since then—and so have we! Over the years, we’ve
embraced and left behind countless forms of advertising. We’ve recreated our websites
multiple times and are now delving deeper into the power of Google listings, which so
far have been supported by kind customer reviews. But the most powerful form of
advertising we know of is still good old-fashioned word of mouth.
There’s a saying that bad word of mouth travels through 100 ears, while good word of
mouth only reaches 10. We’ve found this to be true. Nothing beats the power of being
recommended by a trusted friend, coworker, or family member. But here’s the
catch—it’s clearly not a fast process! So, how do you get that trend started quickly
enough for your business to flourish?
Throughout our journey, the looming question of “How can we speed this up?” has often
hung in the air. We’ve stayed determined to focus on quality—quality of service and
quality of products. (Yes, even down to the tiniest details! We’ve tested countless types
of caulk and can confidently say that cheap caulk is not worth it!) These qualities are
what get those 10 referrals passing along the message: “Call Rock Road!” when
someone asks, “Does anyone know a spray foamer?” Now, with the rise of the internet,
those 10 can multiply more quickly through Google reviews. This has been amazingly
helpful for our small business! When a happy customer leaves a five-star review, it
reaches so many more people, people hearing, “Call Rock Road!” loud and clear. I’ve
been recently encouraged by several customers and friends to begin requesting google
reviews; something I have rarely brought up or asked a client for in the past.
In the next blog, I’ll dive into learned perils of the internet, including some challenges
you might never have considered!
What is your self-employment or small business story? Have you faced similar
challenges or considered taking the plunge? What have you found to be the most
effective—and/or least costly—form of advertising? Share your thoughts in the
comments below!
An example of our google listing.