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Marketing Resources

This page is intended to give you additional resource contacts for assistance in your Internet Marketing. We deliberately do not list any web designers, as you should be using a local web designer for best results. We suggest you review the WebFormat™ proposal for web design and discuss it with your web designer as a starting spot.

How Much Does It Cost to Get a Visitor to Your Site?

You may need assistance in developing technical information for your website. Here are some of the people and companies I have spoken with and worked with. Note that in some cases we have had cross-marking between 4specs and their firm.

Guide Specifications and Product Data Sheets - It is a given that the specifications should be in a CSI (Construction Specification Institute) 3-part format and that they be in an editable form - Word and WordPerfect. Using pdf's means that the user will have to retype the document, and they may look to a competitor for a spec. There are basically 2 ways to approach your online product specifications: Proprietary (where you name only your company) and Neutral. As a former independent product rep, I support neutral specifications, naming your competitors. The specifier is going to list three or four manufacturers. Why not suggest those you want to compete with rather than let the specifier guess?

  • ARCOM - MasterSpec has a program for modifying their standard specifications and adding your proprietary information.
  • Gary Schuman, PE, CCS, CSI - Assisting manufacturers with the successful marketing of their products by developing guide specifications in the industry-standard CSI 3-Part Format since 1993. Clear, correct, complete, and concise language accurately specifies your products. The prepared guide specs include "specifier notes"; useful information to assist the specifier in editing the guide specs.
  • SCIP - This is an organization of 100+ independent specifiers. While their primary focus is on project specifications, a local SCIP member may be willing to develop a specification for your website. Call a local one and talk with them. The SCIP website has a membership directory.

CAD Details

  • I am looking for suggestions. I am not CAD proficient and do not know of any consultants I can recommend. Do have them use the new National Cad Standards as the basis.

Learning Units / Continuing Education Units - These are companies that help manufacturers develop and present their information in a non-proprietary way to achieve CEU's and AIA-approvable LU's.

  • ITX Corporation presents one-day continuing education workshops in cooperation with local CSI and AIA chapters. Focused on one topic such as moisture protection or green building, the attendee receives five one-hour generic non-sales-oriented AIA-approved LU presentations. By combining 5 manufacturers, each manufacturer receives more attendees than they could draw themselves, without the marketing costs.
  • Ron Blank