ConstructionPro Network takes a look at interesting blog posts from the past week.
Social media in construction - useful tools and data
From the U.K., construction marketing company Pauley Creative has a blog focusing mostly on social media and online marketing. Recent topics covered include email marketing, social media and thank you pages. Pauley advises that "thank you pages" should confirm the offer, whether it is signing up for a newsletter or a request for a white paper, for example, but can be further put to good use as a secondary call for action. This creates an opportunity for further engagement, such as links to other white papers, customer testimonials, company awards or project highlights.
While it is uncertain to what extent the U.S. construction industry relies on social media for marketing, the trend is definitely on the rise. Pauley recaps highlights from last week’s Brighton SEO (search engine optimization) conference which we recommend as well worth reading for those charged with marketing and sales of construction products or services. One of the speakers highlighted at the conference – Stacey MacNaught, recommends the use of analytical tools such as Facebook Insights and Google Display Planner to see what sites your target audience is interested in. Read the full post.
This past week, The Washington Post announced this past Tuesday it will publish 100% of the stories that go on its website to Facebook’s Instant Articles platform. The New York Times, NBC News and The Atlantic are experimenting with the platform as well. Our take on this is that this will increase the trend to social media even further.
Constructorator library; four tips to advance your career
We reported on Dan Hernie’s post about advancing promising workers to foreman or superintendent. Dan followed up last week with four tips to advance in your career:
- Know the key players
- Think one step ahead to plan your next move
- Keep emotions in check
- Build relationships
Read this post.
Also, be sure to check out the Constructorator library. Currently with 9 quick-read ebooks, this is a valuable resource for field personnel to learn more technical data and further their careers. Topics include:
- Layout
- Find workflow and create a simple schedule
- Self-consolidating concrete
- Safe and productive footing pours
- Understanding budget and cost coding
Immigration downturn and construction-worker shortage
According to The Wall Street Journal Real Time Economics blog, referencing a report by home-building analyst John Burns Real Estate Consulting Inc., there are 570,000 fewer Mexican-born construction workers than in 2007. A confluence of factors, including a large number of workers who returned to Mexico during the downturn are not returning due to tighter immigration controls, as well as comparable job opportunities in Mexico and South America. Read complete post and subsequent comments here.
This’s week’s CivilBlog covers a lot of ground, plus two articles on brick and masonry:
- What causes defects in brick masonry and its remedies?
- What are the advantages of hollow concrete block masonry?
- Safe bearing capacity values of different soils and rocks
- How to decide depth and spacing of trial pits and borings
- Difference between scaffolding, shoring and underpinning
Read all these posts and more here.
