Dec issue of the Ontario Construction Report

Are you the right candidate?

No your computer monitor is not upside down, you are just viewing Canada in a different way! Which is what I have done with our recruiting process.

In early October Mark Buckshon the owner of the Construction News and Report Group asked me if I wanted to take on the recruiting role to locate new Publishers for our papers. The model is simple, we find a sustainable region with a qualified rep. Actually we find the rep first and see if the region will support them. This is different then usual hiring and expansion process where you say I want to open a paper in Regina now find someone. Ironically in our model the qualified people determine our markets.

One thing from our planning session last year and this which was emphasized was we will expand where we find the right people. For the past year that meant posting job ads in Ontario in places like Ottawa, Kingston, Niagara, Toronto and Northern Ontario. When Mark asked me to take on the role I said I would but I wanted to use the same exact process for posting the jobs and the screening process as we had in place for 30 days to understand how we can make changes. Well through working with what was in place I found a few areas to change right away.

1) Do not just limit the job postings in Ontario near our existing markets. The great thing about the Canadian Job Bank you can post anywhere in Canada and it is free. So I targeted areas like New Brunswick, British Columbia, Manitoba, Alberta and again supporting areas in Ontario for our existing publications.

2) I modified our working test a bit which involved the candidates working on a feature to generate sales from suppliers/trades and then producing a list of potential features they could work if hired.

The change was simple, Have them complete the feature list first at no cost to us and then modify the working paid test. If the person bomb the list of potential features we stopped the recruiting process. The paid portion of the test is where I clearly defined that we would pay then for 3 days consecutive work (defined how many hours 21, we had one candidate in the past invoice us for over 30 hours once, long story) and defined three ways they could be successful.

a) Generate sales from the list of suppliers and trades we provide you.

b) Land a new contract advertiser.

c) Set up two features with lists in that would meet the requirements of a valid feature.

3) Another change I have made is giving some people a second chance at completing the initial questionnaire we send out to gage peoples understanding of effective ways of marketing and also if they understand our process of having trade and supplier supported features. How I determined if I would give people a second chance was easy, I reviewed their resumes and looked for work experiences similar to mine and our other existing publishers. I simply sent back a online response to them saying here is what we were actually looking for. In two cases they the candidates did not redo it and one other person kept asking more questions.

Now one candidate responded with what I was exactly looking for and in the online sales test he scored 8.5 and 10 out of 10 two key areas around sales and closing. In the past I think because his first attempt at answering the questionnaire failed we could have never known his true talents.

4) The last change I will make is reviewing as many resumes of people who did not complete the first screening process assignment which is answering the questionnaire. In recruiting sometimes the best people for the job have decent jobs already and maybe are just going through the motions of finding a new job. Our process is different where we do not do a real sit down interview until the end of the process just before we do a reference check. This difference may scare away some candidates who are very well qualified to work for us that may simply need a little push to get going. I will be doing this review over the holidays season.

Now all the changes I have made are not earth shattering, but they are a different view of the current process we had in place. I recommend that if you are stuck in a rut with recruiting and finding new talent that you let another successful employee take a peek at what your are doing and see if they can find new ways to make it work. You may just find a new recruiter.

How do you locate and hire new staff? Share you stories with me at chasemarketing@sympatico.ca

Women In Construction February 2009 Special Theme

If you are a woman, and work within the architectural, engineering and construction community,
you have special challenges and opportunities. The industry, especially the trades and general contracting sectors, are traditionally seen as male bastions; but women, increasingly, are playing an important role in broadening the scope of the industry and improving its character and values.

Besides, women who make their careers in construction generally do quite well in life. This special report on Women in Construction will look at the evolution of the women's role in the industry from a multi-faceted perspective. You will read about about the Canadian Association of Women In Construction (CAWIC), and Women in Science and Engineering, and the special report will describe the contributions of successful women who have contributed to the industry's progress.

If you are a woman in construction, you'll find this article insightful and useful in developing your career. If not, you will learn about the challenges women face and the opportunities for the industry in improving opportunities for women. We welcome your news stories, opinions, and observations, and you'll find your advertising message reaches a receptive audience, with 10,000 copies distributed across the province.

For more information, call Chase at 888-432-3555 ext 211
Email: chase@cnrgp.com

Also note tht you can purchase the Spot Colour Pink for $75 with all proceeds going to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. If you purchase Full Process Colour for $475, $75 will be donated on your behalf as well.

Advertising Deadline: January 30, 2009.
Editorial features deadline: December 31, 2008.

New Company Vehicle - Part 2

My nomination for the Ontario Construction Reports Readers Choice Awards for next year is....

Skyway Digital.

Earlier I had posted about a project I had done where a local company had did some design work on a Tonka Dump Truck I wanted to use for trade shows. The finished product was not exactly what I had envisioned but it was still usable. I was looking for the vehicle to be wrapped in red with decals applied but due to the shape the wrap did not work, so paint was used instead. The process took twice as long to complete and I had felt that I had been overcharged due to the issues of making such a small project work out.

I had sent a quick email to them on Saturday evening and had my first response early Monday. Today I got my follow up and I was impressed with the solution offered by Nancy the General Manager and her professionalism. What I was even more so impressed with was the fact that Nancy showed great empathy and understanding.

So for her efforts you will see a free ad in the next issue of the GTA Construction Report. The most important thing to point out here is the following:

1) My customer concern was responded to as quickly as possible(within minutes of the normal business hours beginning on Monday.

2) The client told me they would follow up in a timely fashion and they did follow up when she said she would.

3) Her resolution was more then what I expected. She impressed me.

For doing all of this I will make sure that ongoing jobs will go to them as much as possible and I will gladly recommend them to any of my customers.

Tell me about your best and worst customer services experiences. Send me a note at chasemarkting@sympatico.ca (I will only use your name if you say I can).

Check out the 2008-09 Readers Choice Nominees

After you review the list of nominees you may also vote for them by downloading a copy of the forms or completing your votes online here VOTE ONLINE NOW

Advertising Manager/Associate Publisher

Advertising Manager/Associate Publisher

Company:
Construction News and Report Group of Companies

Type:
Full-time
Experience:
Mid-Senior level
Functions:
Marketing, Consulting, Advertising, Customer Service, Business Development
Industries:
Marketing and Advertising, Construction, Newspapers
Location:
Canada (Ontario, Canada)
Pay Range:
40,000 CAD - 60,000 CAD Per Year

Job Description:
Are you ready to work hard and resourcefully (and handle some some grunt jobs), as you achieve higher levels of accomplishment? Do you want fair compensation, with a reasonable starting salary, and much personal freedom and autonomy? Then you may want to work with us as a regional publisher.

We publish regional construction newspapers in Ottawa, Toronto, and North Carolina -- and will soon expand the business to other communities, perhaps yours! You will help build and develop the existing products and (when the time is right), participate in the business expansion. This opportunity will appeal to you if you are interested -- and capable! -- in sales and marketing.

You need to be a great salesperson, but also appreciate the background of relationships and the business environment because most people who do business with us respond less to selling than effective marketing communication. If you review our websites and blogs, you'll gain an understanding of the business.

Feel free to email your resume and cover letter; virtually no one is 'screened out' at the early stages. For additional insights, you can review http://www.constructionmarketingideas.blogspot.com/ (for the highest understanding, you should check the earliest archived entries).

Skills:
Most work is daytime business hours, but you should plan on a few evening events/meetings a month. There is little weekend work. You should have access to your own transportation. Experience in sales work is useful, but not essential -- we can show you the ropes if you have the right attributes.

Company Description:
We publish regional construction trade newspapers and websites in several Canadian and U.S. cities. Our goal is primarily about effective selling -- though the selling process in our business is unconventional in that the biggest sales often require the 'purchaser' to spend no money -- while achieving substantial value/results. You will spend much of your time 'connecting' in the community -- and much on the phone -- tracking down leads, arranging appointments, and selling advertising.


My Role: Company Employee
Send applications to: chase@cnrgp.com

Sharing or Selling : What should your priority be?

Check out this posting on Construction Marketing Ideas Blog that Mark Buckshon expands on a post I had originally done.

Chase, in his latest blog posting,
Does giving away more then you expect to get back actually help you grow your business?makes a vitally important point.

New Company Vehicle?

I recently contacted a local design company that prepares vehicle wraps to see if they could do one for my company dump truck. Imagine their surprise when it was a Tonka dump truck.

The idea came from another company display at the Green Building Summit earlier this year in Toronto, but I liked the novelty. What was the pricing for the project, well initially it was vague they charged usually by the foot, but in this case it would be for the materials and a per hour charge.

On Tuesday I got a call that the project was ready for pick up then when I called it was not done. The original plan of doing a wrap in red with the decals added did not work out. So plan B was to powder coat the dump truck and apply the vehicle. The paint did not take well since the original coat was yellow so they had to do several coats.

Now I got my bill for the final product and lets say I paid more then I expected. It seems that I ended up paying for the companies trial and error of completing the project. Imagine a someone installing tile then ripping it up half way because the way they thought it would work didn't, then they charge you twice the time to complete the project. This is where my frustration lay. Now this was a first of its kind project for them and they and I felt confident they could do it. They learned from it and now I bet they could easily complete a similar project in half the time and half of the materials.

The problems with the finished product and process are as follows:

Wrap they used at the front on the cab was pieced together.

The paint job was not powder coated, it was spray painted.

No primer was used to cover the yellow.

The red paint dried pooled in some areas, has run marks and is not even.

Now my wife had picked this up and paid the full bill. If I had been smart I would have went and picked it up personally to have the conversation I ended up penning in an email. The summary of my email was basically would they be proud to use this as a marketing tool at the rate they charged me. I am waiting to see how they respond to my email and see how well they handle it from a customer service side. Do I owe them for the project yes, the only thing I question is, did I get what I paid for.

I have not named this company, but if they handle it well I will happily promote them and recommend them for working to make the customer satisfied.

Stay tuned.

Does giving away more then you expect to get back actually help you grow your business?

Does giving away more then you expect to get back actually help you grow your business?

It is a great question and sometimes not very easy to answer. This past year my focus has been on marketing our company and increasing our "brand" awareness. This has meant sponsoring events, offering free editorial space and even free advertising to help promote the events we are sponsoring or associations we are part of. By doing this I getting the perception of me always trying to find a new contract advertiser or project to feature a little further away from someones first thoughts and them focusing on me as a person. This allows barriers to come down and people to open up with me and build relationships first and discuss business second.

What is the upside to all this giving? Well by helping to promote the events or associations we are apart of we are aligning our "brand" with the image and reputation of the companies and organizations we are involved with. The key though is not to look for a huge payoff immediately but rather gaining value over the long run.

Is this always the case? Oddly enough there have been times this year where by fate someone saw we were associated with an event and called to place a full page ad. Other times people have approached me to see if there was a fit to work with them to promote their event. In some cases just the fact that we I had offered a lot of free promotion to an association they have come to me looking to offer work.

The most important thing I have learned is that you still have to keep giving and offering your help. You still need to keep looking for new events to sponsor and committees to get involved with. The worst thing you can do is stop giving and get back to just taking.

Something to remember with all of this is that the current economic environment forces people to look closer and decide where to spend there dollars or where to put their focus, they tend to look at existing relationships a lot more and want to help existing relationships first. Being involved with events and associations will and have given me a competitive edge when people had to decide on which publication to use for a feature article.

Now what does 2009 hold for me? I have aligned ourselves with Skills Ontario, I am looking at getting more involved with the Toronto Chapter of the Canada Green Building Council and returning to be a sponsor and larger provider of coverage to Wood WORKS! and the Awards Gala.

I will also be looking for new events and associations to partner with, let me know if their is a fit. Contact me at chase@cnrgp.com

Are you wondering what do you buy your friend in the construction industry this holiday season?

Stuck on what to buy for your friend in the construction industry this holiday season?

The answer is simple, get them a subscription to one of our regional newspapers for only $37.50 a year plus GST.

You can choose from the following:

GTA Construction Report

Ottawa Construction News

Northern Ontario Construction News

Also note included at no additional cost is the Ontario Construction Report with any of the above regional papers.

How do you order this in time for the holidays? Simply following this LINK

Enermodal Engineering Current Opening on Construction Jobs and Careers Blog

Checkout the latest Construction Career Opening on the Construction Jobs and Careers Blog Site

Employment Opportunities Want to make a difference in the world? Put your values to work with Enermodal!

- create greener buildings and communities

- commit to work that you are passionate about

- leave a smaller ecological footprint

- enjoy co-workers who support your values

- learn from peers who are industry leaders

To post your current job openings contact me at chase@cnrgp.com

My social Calendar the next two months

Here is a quick recap of the association events I will be attending between now and the end of the year. I also have listed a few member events that I have been invited to. Why do I track these?

Well besides the obvious chance to network and get and meet people it ensures that I am making the most of my opportunities to get involved with construction community and not just report on it.

Recently at our yearly planning session one rep could not get past the perception of just providing a prize for an event and volunteering or being part of the committee. Now participation on association committees and volunteering started out as an optional thing to do, but based on the shared experience of myself and our rep from North Carolina and culture change has started. Participation is the key to the long term success of not only or our company but for any business who used associations as a away to market and network for business.

In the past as an account manger or advertising rep for our publications the only time people would see or hear from us was when we were doing a feature or asking for something. Now we are truly getting involved and the asking has become less frequent, the reason people are more willing to give before you ask because of your involvement.

Check out my calendar below, and if you have an event you want some coverage on or would like to invite me, simply give me a call.

Nov 11 NHBA Dinner Meeting and Table Top Trade Show- St.Catharines

Nov 12 Wood WORKS Awards Gala- Toronto Congress Centre

Nov 13 Wood Solutions Fair- Toronto Congress Centre

Nov 14 – Gateway Homes Open House NHBA Member - Fonthill

Nov 20 – Artwood Flooring NHBA Member Design Centre Open House – St.Catharines

Nov 28 BCA and GBHBA Christmas Dinner and Dance – Barrie

December 2 NHBA Christmas Dinner – St.Catharines

December 3-5 Construct Canada – Metro Toronto Convention Centre

Dec 11 – NCA Christmas Food Drive – St.Catharines

Dec 20 - Pre-Con Christmas Dinner - Brampton

What dollar amount do you set for your time?

Over the past several months I have been approached by individuals to discuss things such as ways they can attract new customers, should they be advertising to questions about setting up blogs to market their own companies. I have been happy to meet with these people and share ideas and stories and brainstorm with them to find solutions. What has been the cost? While in most cases a drink, lunch or quick stop at Tim Hortons. In a few cases a barter relationship was set up, exchanging of service such as a landscaping project I needed completed or some free products. Hmmm, beer.

Last week I was asked to work with a client to develop a blog and help with a lunch of a new service they are looking to do. At the end of the meeting the simple yet hard to answer question was asked, "Before we meet again, can come up with a number you want to work with me on this on an hourly basis?"

How do I assign a monetary amount to what my thoughts are worth? Well you could always look at what your employer is paying you on an hourly basis as a starting point, but that does not reflect properly. An employer paying you a set wage has invested in you based on full time employment where as a consulting job is short term. Do you double, triple that number to come up with your consulting rate?

A few factors I have decided to work into the equation are:

Potential Revenue Generated by client
Size of clients current business
Level of stress/heavy lifting
Potential for repeat work

Does A + B = $, or do you take C x D = $, is their a secret formula I am missing? I will be thinking about this over the weekend, but welcome your ideas and thoughts.

Blog Networks

YesterdayI got an interesting request from Mark Buckshon about Blog Networks and an application that allows you to promote your blog on Facebook and attract new readers and also become a reader of others.

Te program requires you to have 10 confirmations from readers that you are the author of the blog and so far I have two. I will be reviewing the application more over the nextfew days, bu I suggest you check it out and some of the reviews it has recieved.

Blog Networks Facebook Application

November 2008 Issue of the GTA Construction Report

November 2008 NHBA Structures

November 2008 Ontario Construction Report

12 Days until the Nominations are closed

Only 12 more days to nominate your company, a clients or an industry peer for our second annual Ontario Construction Report Readers Choice Awards. Best of all you don't need to spend a cent of money -- investing a few minutes of your time -- to create positive publicity for your business, your clients, and/or your suppliers.

The Ontario Construction Report Readers' Choice Awards provides recognition for construction businesses which attract the greatest number of votes from readers of Ottawa Construction News, The GTA Construction Report, and Northern Ontario Construction News. The recognition begins with the nomination process -- you can put your own company's name forward, or (in a relationship-building initiative) nominate your favorite suppliers and/or clients.

The companies you nominate can be big or small, widely recognized or not, as long as they are in Ontario. There is no fee to be nominated, and no cost to enter or vote for finalists.To participate, just click HERE and enter your favorite businesses in one or more of these categories (you can select how many categories you wish to enter).

Outstanding Customer Service Award
Outstanding Construction Supplier Award
Best Equipment Rental Provider
Outstanding Architect
Best All-Around General Contractor
Best Residential Contractor
Most Effective Construction Labour Agency
Outstanding Sub trade
Green Project of the Year
Outstanding Commitment to Sustainable Development
Best All Around Construction Project of the Year
Best Landscape Architect or Landscape Designer
Outstanding Provider of Professional Services to the Construction Industry
Most Innovative Green Product of the Year
Owner or Developer of the Year

You can submit nominations to as many or as few categories as you wish. If you wish, you can also add your own comments. We will publicize the list of nominees in the January and February issues of Ontario Construction Report (including Ottawa Construction News, The GTA Construction Report or Northern Ontario Construction News) and invite readers to select their favourites. Winners will be recognized in the March 2008 edition.

November Publishers Viewpoint

This November I will be attending the Wood WORKS! Awards Gala at the Toronto Congress Centre on Wednesday November 12th followed by the Wood Solutions Fair Thursday November 13th. This is our first year as a sponsor of the event and with the importance the Wood Industry plays in Green Building and LEED certification it makes sense for us to be there and meet the leaders of these companies and find out about there innovative products.

Sponsorship of events like this allow me to showcase our paper and ensure our coverage reaches new readers while at the same time ensuring we are covering a wide range of interesting topics. My goal is to be able to meet new people and lean about their business and see if there is a fit to eventually to work together through advertising or feature articles. Come check out our booth #401 at the Toronto Congress Centre and enter our draw to win a free feature article on your company.

Towards the end of the month I will be attending the Barrie Construction Association Annual General meeting which is also being held as part of their Christmas Dance at the Tangle Creek Golf and Country Club. I am always impressed when I visit Barrie based on the members and the energy of the association, there exists a true sense of community there. Barrie in 2009 is where I will continue to look to expand our news coverage and highlighting some of the great projects they have under construction.

Last up for me in November will be a few committee meetings with the Niagara Construction Association for Public Relations and Membership. I enjoy volunteering with the association on this level sharing ideas on how to make it stronger and getting to know other members. Some of the things we will be tackling are the Christmas Food Drive, Annual General Meeting for 2009 and the launch of the Awards program recognizing the contributions of it members. I am hoping to expand my involvement with all associations I work with currently and not only report the news from the associations but also be part of it.

The Wood Solutions Fairs focuses on wood products and their use in construction. Suppliers and technical experts are on hand to answer your questions about wood. You will be able to apply "on the job" what you've learned from the seminars and the information you will take with you. For more information or to sign up visit http://www.wood-works.org/ for more details.

Chase is the Director of Client Services for the Construction News and Report Group as well as the Associate Publisher for the GTA Construction Report and Structures, the Niagara Home Builders Association Newspaper. If you have any recommendations or suggestions on changes you would like to suggest for the papers please contact him toll free at 1-888-432-3555 ext 211 or email him chasemarketing@sympatico.ca