I need a hook for a construction based website

I've had several false starts in building a website. I've come to decide that the reason is I don't have a "hook".

Several of you have expressed an appreciation for construction related input that I have offered on this site, so I figured I'd ask what GRM thinks.

I've got over 35 years of construction experience in an extremely varied range of construction types in several different geographic areas.

I feel like I have a bit to offer (construction advice) through a website, but if your opinion is otherwise, I'm OK with you saying so.

I don't want a "calling card" website- that's just something that costs money and probably doesn't drive any sales.

I also don't want to try to be a HGTV lite, or re-do This Old House, or The New Yankee Workshop.

I've got a son who is a top notch videographer, so video is a possibility.

I can't think of anything more boring than a blog about building stuff.

I considered a clearing house type website where many builders could share tips...sounds like a lot of energy managing it, and advanced web skills that I do not have.

I feel like I'd like to develop an almost Red Green type of persona, but it would probably come out too much like Tim the Tool Man Taylor. I have a young lady who works for me who could work along side me and be a Mr. Fixit, Ms. Fixit kind of pair, but it feels like we will spend all our time cracking jokes.

I don't want to make a full time gig out of this- just catalog a knowledge base, drive a little traffic, and augment my construction/ manufacturing company.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

I kind of like the how to videos idea. Like how to change a light switch or change a door or a faucet. Easy short videos to set up and film. Something like this, but not so frumpy and more down to earth.

While I only have about 3 years of residential construction experience, I think some of the comedy would be a good thing. I also think (for guys like me) that the how-to videos would be VERY helpful. Having said that, a "vlog" kinda like an online show might be a great way to generate interest. My dad and I thought long and hard about doing a fishing show. We felt like all of the fishing shows just showed the catching so that it could highlight just how wonderful the sponsor's bait worked. We thought about a fishing show that was half way between Bill Dance and Everybody Loves Raymond.... enough catching to keep it exciting and highlight techniques for successful fishing, but also enough real-life comedy to make it fun to watch.

Watching a pro use a $2000 nail gun to put a stud wall together is boring. Watching a real grassroots guy with a Stanley hammer hit his thumb every once in a while relates to the average Joe. The market is full of Pro builders talking to a Pro audience. I wouldn't mind seeing a real guy doing real work.

I'm actually in the same exact place. I'm a hot rodder. There are a couple shows that talk about hot rodding, but its a couple bad actors who bolt on a $6000 shiny chrome supercharger kit from the sponsor and never get any grease on their hands. I have a couple ideas to pitch to Create, HGTV, DIY, etc. Real, greasy, honest.

Best of luck. I know I didn't give you any specific ideas, but that's at least what I want to see.

I'm one of those handyman guys who worked in general contracting just long enough to be dangerous, but not so long that I'm not actually dangerous. How-to videos would make me far more confident in doing things myself. I have the logical education, just not the technical experience.

So, I guess my suggestion for your hook is to bridge the gap between the remedial "how to turn a screw" reference you can find anywhere, and the "I'm flawlessly restoring this colonial mansion with a network budget" reference.

How good do you look in shirtless overalls?
Maybe ass-less chaps?

I could've gone the ready of my life without seeing that Rob Halford wannabe thank you....

I do agree with hand tools bit. I give the car shows props when they build stuff with basic hand tools, rather than uber expensive stuff you and I don't have.

Looking forward to it, Rex!

You can use a decent blog system like Wordpress more as a content management system - there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to put up how-to videos and all that jazz on a blog. The main point about blogs is that it's the author that has it in hand re making it boring or not.

The advantage (IMHO) of using something like Wordpress is that you don't have to think much about setting up and running the site as long as you set it up correctly in the first place and keep Wordpress up to date, and it takes care of a lot of the headaches that you'd get with a normal site or CMS.

Admittedly I might have a slightly different perspective on this as I run my own wordpress install for my fairly low traffic work-related blog (so I can't say if it's a good idea to, say, use wordpress.com but I can advise on running your own system) but it's been a pretty much headache-free experience so far.

I might have to clear the chaps thing with my wife. Think it would generate the right kind of traffic?

I like how-to videos, but they are a LOT of work. I'm concerned about me not following through.

I also like the idea of trying to hit the sweet spot between gold plated McMansions and Idiots-are-us.

Just not sure how to get there...

I have considered a site completely geared toward women readers. The web is something like 80%+ women, plus men think they know it all already.

In reply to SVreX:

that's a very interesting notion. videos of you teaching an "everywoman" how to do the stuff. if she's cute, but not too cute, the guys will love it and your target demographic women will subconsciously aspire to her.

anyway, good luck!

Start a blog on tumblr. It's free, takes 30 seconds to get started, and the built-in community (tens of millions of members) and social network features (reblogging/responding to posts) help engage visitors to promote your site for you.

There are a lot of places like ask.com and other websites that deal with basic things like laying floor tile and stuff. There are also a bunch of youtube videos that show the same sort of things.

The main thing you have to offer is local expertise- you build things in your area. Focus on that, because that is what a lot of the youtube videos are missing.

Such as "here is how to wire a socket up to code in Georgia". You might have to disclaimer things, but still.

How about : Here are the permits you need to get to build a fixed foundation shed, here is how much they cost and here is how you pour the foundation once you have the permits. Oh, by the way, the cement place won't let you get less than a couple of yards of concrete at a time, so go in with some buddies or plan several jobs at once.

You've mentioned that you're concerned about keeping up with videos, and that's certainly understandable. That being said, you might check out weldingtipsandtricks.com as an example of an informational site that seems to get referred to by a substantial number of people. (EDIT: I should note that it does have its foibles: it's ugly, and while it's partly kept humming by some amount of "community", the RSS feed ends up being some tidbits but mostly people posting job wanted ads or rambling about topic XYZ. But the site owner's videos are consistently succinct, matter-of-fact, useful, and sometimes humorous)

Do you have a target market for your construction/manufacturing business? Is that your target audience for this site, or are you trying to expand that market?

And yes, thanks for the construction input! My new garage (human) door seems to be sitting quite solidly with construction adhesive taking up the gaps under the threshold...

And here's my pet peeve of the day on existing how-to stuff, so you can avoid it : Be specific about what tools and materials you're using. I spent fifteen minutes in the fastener aisle of HomeDepLowe's yesterday trying to find out from an employee or my smartphone what nails to use with hardi-plank. I ended up leaving with just anchors for the sheathing over cinderblock and a note to myself to look it up on a real computer...

You could always do a vlog about how to get an oversized shed from one side of Atlanta to the other(did that actually happen?) and other real-world experiences that relate to the building trades.

Start with a YouTube channel and basic Wordpress blog with said channel videos embedded and go from there as traffic increases.

Sounds like you're going after the Family Handyman/TOH type DIY-ers. Becoming a Field Editor for Family Handyman might be a good way to get some tips/tricks or a short article published and drive some traffic you're way. I'm a FE for them so let me know if you have any questions about it.

If you want to drive traffic to a legit website, then the feeder site should reflect your passion for the subject material. People are more likely to buy from/hire someone who is an expert and is passionate.

Take for example, two plumber's sites. One is just a calling card. The other you found because you Googled "fix a leaky faucet" and found their personal site where they post videos showing how to do the most basic plumbing repairs. That site provided you with something of real value. If you watch the video and decide you can't do it, then you pick up the phone and call the guy. Much more effective.

SVreX wrote: I considered a clearing house type website where many builders could share tips...sounds like a lot of energy managing it, and advanced web skills that I do not have.

Well, if you don't want to manage or own a site like this but might want to take part in one, this site might work for you: http://diy.stackexchange.com/

Only interest I have in the site above is that I'm a member of several other sites on this particular company's network (mostly the programming site, as that's what I do for a living) and I like what they do.

I'd still look at the vlog idea for your own content that's completely under your control.

Jesus was a carpenter, right? Bam. DIYJesus.com

bluej wrote: ...if she's cute, but not too cute, the guys will love it and your target demographic women will subconsciously aspire to her.

Dean Johnson beat him to the punch on that.

Osterkraut wrote: Jesus was a carpenter, right? Bam. DIYJesus.com

Please.

Like all construction guys... he would disappear all the time to go fishing.

bluej wrote: ...if she's cute, but not too cute, the guys will love it and your target demographic women will subconsciously aspire to her.

That is called a "goldilocks" in advertising.

The more you know!

ransom wrote: Do you have a target market for your construction/manufacturing business? Is that your target audience for this site, or are you trying to expand that market?

There is not really an overlap.

The construction target market was high end remodeling, alternate construction techniques, and historic renovation work- residential and commercial.

The manufacturing target market is providing automated techniques and capacities in varying materials to productive artists, with a secondary emphasis on supplying small industrial parts (laser cutting and etching, 3D copying, light machining, some small scale automated assembly). Yes, 2 very different markets, with 2 very different approaches.

I am recognizing that the current local market (for at least 10 years) will likely dictate that my construction activities will be highly limited. I am transferring the production skills to light manufacturing.

So, the goal of building a website is sort of to capture the construction knowledge base I developed over a lot of time, but I am not necessarily trying to drive construction business. It will be a test platform for a future site driving business for the manufacturing side.

Very good stuff here, guys. Thank you. Keep it coming.

SVreX wrote: I am recognizing that the current local market (for at least 10 years) will likely dictate that my construction activities will be highly limited. I am transferring the production skills to light manufacturing.

FYI, I work with a woman whose husband was a builder before the E36 M3 hit the fan. He's managed to get back on his feet, basically being a one-stop property manager for banks with foreclosed properties. They foreclose, and then call him. He cleans it out, changes the locks, shuts off gas and water, handles and repairs that are needed, keeps the yard looking reasonable, etc. They get an easy button on dealing with something they don't want to deal with, he gets an income stream that doesn't suck utilizing skills that transferred over from his previous world.

That's not a bad idea in ATL, but my market is MUCH smaller.

One of the poorest communities in the country. Now that the E36 M3 has hit the fan, I realize that I used to make my income almost entirely off the upper (small percentage) of the income. Those people have changed their buying patterns. The impact is that this community has been hit much harder than nationwide, and will remain that way much longer. Additionally, as a business person who was not raised locally, my opportunities are worse than some folks who are from here.

That's OK, it's made me think outside the box.

So, my decision has been to develop a business plan which does not tie me to the local economy in the same manner in which construction does- one way or another construction is always tied to real estate, which can't move very easily. I need to sell to customers in other areas.

It's going OK, with some excellent opportunities developing. The websites are a small (but necessary) piece of it.

Make sure your video titles will make sense for a novice diy market. At the very least make sure you use the tag feature to your benefit. Avoid technical jargon in the titles when you can.

A little humor hear or there goes a long way to putting people at ease. You don't have to be Eddie Murphy.

I think you can also probably do a metric ton of topics on how to fix the messes created by common mistakes. Most folks looking for this info, are looking AFTER they've started the project and realize they don't quite know what they are doing.