Painting Contractor Marketing Ideas, Tips, and Advice from Legend Joe Polish

Marketing ideas, tips, and strategies for painting contractors are out there in abundance these days. A word of caution: Always verify the source and his or her track record of success…

I can think of no one with a better pedigree in home services than Joe Polish.

Recently, in Colorado, I got an opportunity to speak with marketing legend Joe Polish –  in the flesh. While he talked about marketing for small business in general, his advice is just as applicable and spot-on for painting contractors.

Joe Polish is co-founder of 10XTalk.com and ILoveMarketing.com, two highly popular free podcasts on iTunes, the creator of Genius Network, and President of Piranha Marketing Inc. His credentials speak for themselves.

Here’s a summary of what matters for painters…

#1 Become a Serious Student – The money in painting isn’t found in painting. It’s found in the marketing of your painting services. You’ll never get rich being good at the technical aspects. Look around at the paint store every morning… Do you see an abundance of wealthy technicians?

At one time in your career, you got serious about learning how to work a brush, roller, and sprayer. You have to apply that same intensity to marketing a painting business.

#2 Educate Your Customers Systematically – You can’t rely on “getting it right” by memory. You need a system that tells the customer everything they need to know, which is usually more than you think they would ever ask. If  a process is important in your painting business and it is not systematized, there’s very little hope in achieving real improvement.

Marketing systems are every bit as important as operational systems for what goes on in the field.

#3 It’s All In Your Head – Unless you get your mindset right and shut down the excuse factory in your head, you’ll become the head of your company’s “sales prevention department.” If you’ve struggled to get where you want to go in life, the first painful question to ask is… “Could it be me?”

Joe relayed how he started his struggling carpet cleaning business and how he was always blaming the economy, his customers, and competitors. Finally, a mentor asked him plainly: “Are there other owners doing well in your business?” Joe, reluctantly, had to answer yes.

“Well then,” his mentor said, “The problem must be with you. It’s time to start working on Joe and stop blaming other things.” That was Joe’s wake-up call and what sent him on a life-long journey to study direct-response marketing.

Great advice Joe! Thanks for inspiring me!

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