Midwest Chimney & Roof Inspection, Joel Jewett
I have been proudly serving the Southwest Michigan community since 1990. Midwest Chimney & Roof Inspection specializes in chimney sweeping, and inspecting chimneys and roofs. As with anyone who starts up a new business, you go into it with extreme optimism that things are going to work out. And they have for me. I’ve now been in business for one year and am just swamped with the number of clients. We know chimneys, we know roofs, we have 30 years of experience in SW Michigan, and we have the certification to back it up.
Reliable Chimney Sweeping *Certified Chimney Sweep Professional Chimney Inspections Professional Roof Inspections *HAAG Certified Residential Roof Inspector We are one of the region's only Certified Chimney Sweeps, and HAAG Certified Residential Roofing Inspectors.
A desire to use my skills as a chimney sweep in a market where there was a desirable demographic and a solid target audience for new and repeat clients. And I like working for myself.
As a *Certified Chimney Sweep *HAAG Certified Residential Roof Inspector, being the only Certified Chimney person in this area helps a great deal. That was my "secret sauce" that gave me a leg up over other chimney inspectors. Also, being a HAAG Certified Residential Roof Inspector provides more credentials over my competitors. At Midwest Chimney, our sweeps are the best trained and most knowledgeable in the industry today.
Seeking counsel to find out what I needed to know and didn't know was my driving force. I know my product and industry well, which includes knowing my competition. My success is easier when my competition level is low. SCORE helped me identify my competition and my competitive advantage. Over the past year, I’ve learned what doesn’t work, i.e. Facebook, print ads (the local area magazine), and Angi Ads, with guidance from my SCORE mentor and local agencies. SCORE helped guide me to what does work, Google and Angi Leads (NOT Angi Ads). I discovered how to become #1, on a Google search for the Kalamazoo area, we are currently #2 in Battle Creek/Marshall. I’ve got a good person working part-time, and next year he’ll be full-time; I’m grooming him to become Certified and develop the skills to run the business for the next owner.
I learned long ago, that being successful and profitable do not necessarily go hand in hand; however, in this case, it has. This business is labor intensive, therefore the high ratio between cost and sales price, results in good profitability. I always remember a salesmanship class where the emphasis was to make it easy for the customer to say “yes”. This is what I did:
- Freshened my website
- Made my web address prominent on my business card, separated from the other information on the card
- Added a button on each of my web pages that says: Click here for Google Review. (There's also one for Contact Me thanks to a quick site refresh from a SCORE website vendor.)
- Built and verified a Google business profile
- Posted to Facebook.
SCORE laid the groundwork for me to be able to take on these tasks myself, or oversee someone else to achieve my needed goals.
Cheri is very knowledgeable about marketing strategy, Google in particular. She worked with me through various strategies (some worked, some didn't) and connected me with industry professionals who could assist me with implementation. We learned a lot along the way and Cheri was never afraid to tell me if she thought the product or service I was getting from agencies was insufficient. Her guidance and teaching allowed me to quickly learn to decide what worked and what didn't. Google is a major source of my referrals. When I ask customers, “Where did you find me?” The answer is almost always, "Google, and you’ve got a lot of good reviews". Cheri's influence to use and maximize Google's tools has been a great help. This has pushed me up in the Google ranking, and Google loves to see activity coming to the website. The affirmation customers provide in the Google reviews gives potential customers added confidence that Midwest Chimney will be a safe choice. We now have 60, 5 Star reviews.
Know your audience. Know your competitors. Know what makes you different. Know what problem the audience has that you can solve for them. Don't try to learn and do everything without guidance. Ask for help in specialty areas like funding and marketing. Your mentor likely has already been where you are right now. Don't be afraid to make mistakes or take reasonable chances.
Ask them anything. Mentors in your local community have a lot of excellent and valuable resources to share with you. Your mentor will be your biggest cheerleader or your accountability partner. Whatever you need.
I am a 30-year veteran of the marketing and communications community.
My contribution to SCORE...
