Wondering what the best way to generate leads for your contracting business is? Let me introduce what I call the “Bermuda Triangle of Lead Generation”:

I think I originally saw the concept in a car mechanic’s office when I was getting the oil changed on my old red Mercury Mountaineer. The guy had a big sign on the wall of his waiting room that said “Fast, cheap, good. Pick two.”

That always kinda stuck with me. No BS, very to the point… and obviously true. I have never forgotten that sign.

But anyway, back to how this applies to your construction business.

The way that the triangle works for lead generation is that you have to pick a side. There’s no single way to do lead generation in this business that hits all three corners: fast, cheap, AND easy. It doesn’t exist – you’ve got to pick a side that has at best two of those elements. That’s why I call it the “Bermuda Triangle”… because this is what you’re stuck with in this industry. Just like the real Bermuda Triangle, you can’t escape it. It’s just the way things are.

Now which side you pick to go after at any one time is based on your individual needs. All three sides work. If you’re in a hurry and you’ve got no time, you’ll have to choose between fast & cheap, or fast & easy. But if you’ve got no cash then you’re gonna have to with one of the cheap routes.

So here are some of the ways to use each side:

Side 1: Fast + Cheap

Pick up the phone, call your past clients and try to drum up some work. That’s fast, and completely free. Then talk to some of the local businesses you go to and have been a paying customer at for a while. Think dentists, doctors, hair salons, mechanics, etc. (anyone with a waiting room) and see if they’ll be willing to do a small partnership with you.

Here’s how it works: you’ll print out some nice-looking flyers with a promo code and put them in your partner’s waiting room. Then any time you close a contract with someone who originally heard about you from one of these flyers, you pay that partner a small commission. It’s a win-win: you don’t pay a dime until you close a deal, and your affiliate gets free cash for no work.

Side 2: Fast + Easy

Your best bet is to get some ads rolling. The cost is variable here, but it won’t be cheap. Consider running an ad in a local paper or magazine advertising your services. If you’ve never run one of these before you can increase your chances of success by grabbing some back-issues from recent months and looking at what your competitors are doing in these media. Model ads you see being run multiple months in a row because that means they’re profitable. You can also look up and use something called EDDM which works like a charm in most places. Also if you haven’t already, get some door hangers printed up, along with some yard signs. Use those on every job you go to.

Side 3: Cheap + Easy

Really turn up the heat and start cranking out content on your social media and on your website’s blog. Focus on content that is either educational and informative… or entertaining. Bonus points for content that is all three. This strategy costs you nothing but time. It works well, but the downside is that it certainly ain’t quick. It takes months to gain any traction because you have to reach a critical mass of content before it takes off.

Now you should try to work all three sides eventually because every one of these tactics work and help your business to grow over time. But if you’re under a time, money, or effort constraint, you’ll have to pick just one side to focus on for now. Then after you get some leads coming in you can start working on the others.

That’s all I got for ya today.