Thursday, November 15, 2012

When Social Media Helps Find a Good Plumber | Social Media Today

Looking back it wasn?t long ago that there were dependable handymen many of us could rely on to come over and fix things around the home. They were known throughout the neighborhood and when called upon would solve problems with a combination of quality materials, expert workmanship, and hopefully a decent price. Even if the price wasn?t great at least we knew they were reliable.

As the years have passed and many of us picked up and left for other cities, towns, and regions one of the things lost in the shuffle are those familiar personalities who our parents knew and we were comfortable with. ?

Today professionals come and go with their estimates and advice but when it comes down to making practical decisions our biggest concern revolves around one simple question: can they be trusted?

That?s where social media can make a difference.

As the home improvement industry slowly inches towards better online services basic sites we use all the time for information and connecting with friends and family are perfect for narrowing the search for Mr. Fix-It.

In essences social media is raising the bar for contractors and handymen by becoming one of the most useful tools which vanquishes many of our hiring fears.?

Recommendations?

How many times have you not been sure of something and updated your online status hoping to get an answer from several people in a just a few minutes? Social media sites where we?ve built a solid friend base allow us to consult with our peers even before starting a search for the right expert.

After all, if we can post to our friends questions about childcare, food, and where the best deals for clothing are inquiring about a reliable carpenter, roofer or?plumbing contractor shouldn?t be that odd.

Going this route saves time calling around and getting distracted with other things and allows for the message to be posted and seen by people in our circles, people that have some level of soundness. No system is foolproof but the recommendations we receive from people we know are worth a lot because they give us peace of mind.

Investigations

When we don?t want to necessarily discuss in the public domain what repairs or renovations we seek we can still probe names of pros to see what their reputations may be.

Seeing how many people may ?like? them on Facebook, how many followers they may have on Twitter, and if they are recommended by others on LinkedIn can help with narrowing in on a choice.

Also, social media sites let us see if a friend is connected to a particular contractor allowing us to inquire and do our own investigation behind the scenes.

DIY

Finally, when we?re feeling a bout of confidence and not interested in hiring someone else social media sites are good guides for leading us to trusted websites with do-it-yourself information and instructions.

All we have to do is connect with respectable handymen and businesses which can vouch for the content on their sites. At the very least it will show us if the job in question is truly something we should attempt on our own.

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Source: http://socialmediatoday.com/jakob-barry/921981/when-social-media-helps-find-good-plumber

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