A Great Opportunity for Remodelers with Team Spirit

Happy Labor Day!

I hope your summer has been as much fun as mine. After taking off most of August for travel and R&R, I look forward to resuming daily5REMODEL's regular publishing schedule on Tuesday.

To that end, it's high time I announce the September contest in d5R:

Team Spirit!

 

The prize:

 

A seat at an upcoming "Master Your Remodeling Business" workshop, hosted by Remodelers Advantage. (Choose either San Francisco, November 17-18, or Baltimore, January 24-25.) This hands-on workshop brings together remodeling business owners and key managers for two intensive days focused on building and sustaining a strong, consistently profitable business. Learn more here.

 

The value:

 

Priceless, of course, but the regular price is $520. This includes meals, welcome reception, presentations by top industry strategists, unlimited networking with remodeling peers from the U.S. and Canada, and terrific take-home gifts. Does not include airfare or hotel.

 

Eligibility:

 

Any remodeling business of any size whose team works together exceptionally well, gets lots of kudos from clients, and has processes and systems that run extra smoothly. You do not have to be a member of Remodelers Advantage to enter. No purchase necessary.

 

How to enter:

 

Email a photo or two of your team, along with a list of who is shown and a brief explanation of what makes your team one of the best in the remodeling industry. Send this package as soon as possible to leah@daily5REMODEL.com. In the subject line, write "team spirit!"

 

Selection process:

 

Space permitting, all eligible entries will be featured in the d5R Snapshots section throughout September. At the end of the month, we'll hold a popular vote for the best team. We will help you promote your entry through a special "featured on d5R" button that links directly to your entry. 

 

Please submit your entry as soon as possible. 

 

I've been fortunate enough to be a guest at several Remodelers Advantage events, and I'm always dazzled by the energy, intelligence and incredible sense of community. The Master Your Remodeling Business workshop will change your business and your life for the better. 

 

Best wishes for a healthy and successful fall.

Leah Thayer
leah@daily5REMODEL
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Contest Announcement: d5R Snapshots

Remodelers' seemingly bottomless capacity for creativity and generosity is the thinking behind Snapshots, one of the daily features in d5R and the only feature that consistently revolves around a user-generated video, image or other graphic, along with a short caption in the user's own words.

What's the goal of Snapshots? To let remodeling pros peek inside the windows of their peers -- and thus see some of the unique and wonderful things their peers are doing (other than performing high-quality remodeling work). It's one thing when a third party writes about such an event or activity; it's another when the remodeler shares the thinking behind a community service program, a marketing campaign, a team-building practice or an affirming PR coup.

Now it's your turn. In celebration of the holidays, we invite you to share a Snapshot from your company. If yours is chosen as the readers' favorite, you'll win the following gift pack of terrific remodeling resources:


From Remodelers Advantage (value: $110.95):

From Bill Robinson and Train2Rebuild, this 60-minute DVD training program for teaching crews to comply with lead-safe renovation rules (value: $79):

From Construction Programs & Results, Michael Stone's widely heralded book on selling remodeling work profitably (value: $39.95):

How to become eligible? Take a look at previously published Snapshots, then email images or a video of something your company is proud of, along with a brief caption in your words and your contact information, to snapshots@daily5Remodel. We'll invite readers to select their favorite Snapshot before we break for the Christmas holidays.

Thanks to Remodelers Advantage, Train2Rebuild and Construction Programs & Results for donating these terrific prizes.

Right Here, Right Now

This week finds me in Kohler, Wisconsin, where I am a grateful invitee of a fantastic consulting organization called Remodelers Advantage to its annual "Summit" of dozens of the best remodeling companies in the U.S. and Canada.

As with every RAI event I have attended, the camaraderie and kinship among attendees -- many of whom have seen each other through difficult times, in previous recessions and this one -- reminds me that although broad economic conditions impact the health of this industry overall, it's the people who own and operate these small businesses who determine whether they'll thrive or fail.

In the last two days, many business owners have told me that their revenues and profits are on the upswing. Some say they're having their best year ever. All are here because they want to continue to improve and adapt for whatever challenges lie around the corner, not only for their sake, as company owners, but also for their employees and their communities.

In that spirit, Victoria Downing, RAI's CEO, asked me to speak briefly about social media. I gave a 10-minute overview of Twitter, and many people later told me they're charging forward in building a strong social media presence; they recognize it as another critical piece of their adaptation strategy.

What really wowed the crowd, however, was this video that preceded my presentation. It's more than a year old, meaning that its statistics are ancient history in Internet time, but it's worth your two minutes if you're still questioning whether social media is relevant to your business. I think it is.



Leah Thayer
leah@daily5Remodel.com