Change your approach to promotional strategies

April 1, 2010  |  Features, Marketing

Promotional ideas that actually work. By Ron Rosenberg These are difficult times in the specialty fabrics industry, as in most industries. Customers are becoming more demanding; revenues are down; and promotional strategies that worked in the past aren’t as effective as they used to be. The go…
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Estimating for sales and profits

March 9, 2010  |  Marine, Marketing

The quality of your estimates has an impact on your bottom line. By Shelby Gonzalez Estimating job costs is one of the cornerstone skills of running a successful marine fabrication business. The more accurately you can estimate the amount of labor and materials a given job will require, the better t…
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Meet the press

March 1, 2010  |  Features, Marketing

Grab—and keep—media attention by following a few simple guidelines. By Janice Kleinschmidt When flu season hit and H1N1 vaccines grabbed top-of-the-news, above-the-fold status, Mahaffey Fabric Structures stepped up to help and gained valuable name recognition. The Memphis, Tenn.-based co…
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Using new media tools wisely

March 1, 2010  |  Marketing

Plan your strategy to make social media marketing your interactive advantage. By Linda Kaun You might be tempted to jump right into social media marketing, sign up for Facebook and Twitter, start a blog, and add a few videos to your website. However, you’ll quickly realize it’s not the s…
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Landing and managing big events

February 23, 2010  |  Marketing, Tents

Knowing how to take on the ‘big jobs’ helps smaller companies stay in the game. By Maura Keller For many companies, handling large projects is the classic sticky wicket. If you handle the projects right, you will thrive. If not, they can make you fail—at least in earning “big…
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Good media relations can grow your business

November 23, 2009  |  Marketing

Free publicity is available when you develop relationships with the press. by Pam Lontos As a business owner, you’ve probably heard media exposure can greatly help your company, especially during tough economic times when marketing budgets are low and competition is high. Learning to leverage …
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Adding value to your business

October 19, 2009  |  Marine, Marketing

Shop owners share their secrets for selling, upselling, expanding, and finding and retaining customers. By Shelby Gonzalez Collapsing financial system got you worried? Now is the time to focus on making your marine fabrication business strong. Thriving shop owners from around the country share insig…
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Marketing 101

September 25, 2009  |  Marketing

By Pat Hayes, CPP Reviewing our company’s development and how we originally created a marketing plan started me thinking of the company’s humble beginnings. We started it from scratch; two employees and one customer. The plan seemed to develop as we progressed. As a one man show, you wea…
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Interactive tools to enhance your website

September 1, 2009  |  Features, Marketing

Reach out to your website visitors with interactivity. By Joe Dysart Increasing numbers of users view the web as a second home where they spend hours each day interacting with friends, colleagues, clients and customers. It just makes sense to tap into the many tools available to make your business&r…
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Shop layouts that produce big payouts

August 19, 2009  |  Marine, Marketing

Efficient and proficient shop layout and workflow optimize production, inventory, safety and the customer experience. By Maura Keller Marine fabricators have a desire to maximize their shop layouts to optimize production, inventory, safety and customer experiences. But that is easier said than done,…
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