# Our Google Plus listing...



## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

OK, so as a small shop owner, we must be either good at or decent at a lot of different tasks. On top of purely being able to build nice cabinets, we also must be able to be good with the computer with our CAD software, working with all of the equipment in our shop from the table saw to the CNC and everything in between.

One thing I am not the greatest at is Social media and utilizing those tools to generate possible future customers. We do pay a firm to run our web site, but while we have a fairly nice looking site I often wonder if they even do anything besides collect a check from me monthly. The amount I pay monthly is not all that high and I do generate a few leads throughout the year with our web site. So today I took some time to look at different options and ended up getting my Google plus account up to date. I figured since most use Google, and many searches where we are found is through Google, it only made common sense to give Google my most recent portfolio.

So if you decide to check our new portfolio on Google Plus, you will not only get to see many of this year's projects, but you will also get to see our CNC in action cutting out flat nested dovetails out of Russian birch.

Let me know what you all think.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/117953717918598352113/+TopQualityCabinetsFloresville/posts

And upcoming in the near future will be a revamped or re worked web site. My old web site is still live at www.topqualitycabinets.net


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

I'm no advertising expert, but it looks good to me. A lot cleaner and less cluttered than the old site.


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## JAAune (Jan 22, 2012)

I've no idea how much your web admin does to your site each month but I only put about an hour of maintenance on my Wordpress site every three or so months. The hard part is adding new content. I get a few calls a year but so far, those are just window shoppers. The real jobs come from contacts gained the old-fashioned way.

Good to see you're getting into social media though. It's never been a huge lead generator for us but that's because of our specialized clientele which doesn't include many homeowners.

The trick with social media is getting several accounts up and running then keeping them all updated (check out Hootsuite). I'm not so great at this but I do have them setup to automatically send feeds to some of the others if I update one. Creating a blog post will update Facebook, Google Plus and LinkedIn. The nice thing about Wordpress websites is that it is one of the few content management systems that is easy to setup for automatic Google Plus updates.

With your line of work, have you considered Houzz? It seems like a perfect fit for your client base. I've gotten website hits from that site and I only have one project posted to it.


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

Now see there JAAune, there you go creating more work for me!!!!! Actually just joking with you. But I looked up Houzz and I think you nailed it right on. Problem is when setting up a profile / portfolio on a site like that it takes a fair amount of time. I spent a decent amount of time today on Google plus. I do appreciate the advice and I will be setting up my Houzz profile rather quickly, like tonight…

I actually get a decent amount of leads from online types of advertising, it might be the area we live in near San Antonio. But whenever a family is building or remodeling, a lot of times the wife, sometimes the husband, immediately will begin there research and hunting online. Next thing you know my phone rings, it works.

THanks for the comments…

Hey JAAune, did you see the CNC cutting those wannabe dovetails. They do make a nice joint but they are not completely a dovetail, there is a small difference. It is more like a finger or box cut joint. The increased glue surface on the joint makes for a durable joint.


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## JAAune (Jan 22, 2012)

Ha!

Setting up profiles does take endless time. It takes me at least 4 hours just to create a new page for my website but if it's going to be done, people need eye candy and something good to read.

By all reports, Texas is booming but I'm in Illinois in an area that's in the economic doldrums. Most projects come from the Chicago area so I market either there or out of state and not locally. In the future I will probably relocate to Indiana before Illinois does something extreme to compensate for a failing tax base.

Up to now, I've never been able to land a good lead without making a personal connection but I still keep the internet stuff going because it gives us a lot of credibility when hand out cards and they run a Google search.

I saw the video snap shot of the CNC on your page but didn't click on it to see if there was anything else. I was actually looking at the kitchen pictures the most because I tried to train myself to think like a homeowner and not a woodworker when viewing websites. Your photography looks pretty good. Onsite photos are hard to do.


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

Just tried to set up my account at Houzz, I already have one done by my SEO firm. I suppose they do some work for us on the internet. But there are a lot of updating I need to do to the profile and at this time I do not have a password or access.


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

One of the many reasons I really enjoy this site is because of excellent advise we can always receive. JAAune gave me the idea to do a profile on Houzz and so that is what I have been doing this evening. I have great hopes for this site. Honestly we have been very blessed with the amount of work we had this past year and could not have taken on any more work than what we had. In fact, I referred 5 large sized jobs this past year to another shop. Those were projects we could have sold had we not have been so busy.

That said, I don't think one could over do it with regards to marketing efforts.

In any case, anyone interested, I have begun my profile on Houzz.com. Here it is: http://www.houzz.com/pro/topqualitycabinets/top-quality-cabinets


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

i put every cent i make

back into me

otherwise

i wouldn't stand a chance into facing a world where cnc took over my watch, and just a perspective for those who think there is an easy answer to life, like spending half a day texting the hair brained partner you thought you loved who told you to text them ?

some one will always try and convince you that the beginning of their sentence will remain eternally more important then the middle of yours : )

these are the people you should avoid : )


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

unless
they speak with a cheque book
at the end of the day, anyone who thinks houzz is gonna pay their bills
is stump stupid


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

dont let untutored portions of your life, become the target of educated bullets


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

Moron, one thing I have discovered to be very true since opening our shop is that knowledge equals power. Without knowledge you have no power. Armed with the correct information we can be in a more powerful business position.


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## CharlieK (Jan 6, 2008)

HI Jerry,

I think you are doing a great job with your web site and with social media! I also think you are asking all the right questions. There is no doubt that maintaining a strong internet presence is a part of doing business in today's world.

Keep up the good work!
Charlie


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## fge (Sep 8, 2008)

Thanks Charlie, I agree with you. The Houzz idea I believe will be a great idea. Just today I have gotten 2 replies on the site, one was from an interior Designer and the other from a builder. Anytime you can capitalize on low cost or no cost marketing efforts, I say go for it.

By the way Charlie, I went to College in Minneapolis in 1991 and 1992. I will never ever forget the winters that I endured there. I have a few stories about those winters I will never forget… Actually I have some real fond memories back then. Not sure how you all make it with those very cold winters, but you must be stronger for it.


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## CharlieK (Jan 6, 2008)

HI Jerry,

The great summers "help" make the winters more bearable. If you lived here then you know that the summers are fabulous! It is a lot easier now that I am a little older. Not for the age, but because I now have an attached garage, a good snowblower, and heated seats in my car!

I am just now trying to figure out the social media for myself. Facebook, blog, Google 1, You Tube and how to effectively tie them to my website without drowning in it. I did build my own website, but I am by no means a techie!

That is an amazing result from Houzz!!


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