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Rules and Restrictions
Contest entries limited to deer taken legally with firearms in the state of Michigan for the 2011 firearms hunting season, beginning November 15th through November 30th.  Hunters must be of legal age and an employee of an active CAM member organization.  Kill tag must be legally attached to the deer and clearly visible in the photo.

Saginaw or Bloomfield Hills? Which CAM Division will produce the big winner?
Each CAM Division – Saginaw and Bloomfield Hills – will award one Big Buck winner with a $50 Speedway gas card.   Between these two winners, one Grand Prize winner will be selected to receive an additional $100 Speedway gas card for having the Best Big Buck of 2011.  The overall winner of this contest will take home $150 in Speedway gas cards.

Entry Submission and Deadline
E-mail your Big Buck photo and information to cam@cam-online.com for CAM entries or desonia@cam-online.com for CAM Tri-Cities entries. Deadline for submission is December 9th, 2011. Contest winners and buck pole gallery to be presented at cam-online.com and blog.cam-online.com.

Good Luck to our Members!

This fun-filled day began with a special Five-Man Flurry, designed to test the skills of a five-man team to hit a non-stop flurry of 50 clays with an unlimited amount of shells released from five locations.  The regular shoot followed, and the day concluded with socializing and networking over a wonderful perch dinner, door prizes and awards.

Sporting Clays are among CAM’s most popular social events. The spring shoot is scheduled for Tuesday, May 22, 2012 at Detroit Gun Club in Walled Lake. Save the date! Watch the CAM website for upcoming information on this, and other scheduled shoots. Further questions? Contact Gregg Montowski at CAM (248) 972-1000. Hope to see you there!

CAM Magazine Online Viewer

1. The Online Magazine Viewer
The CAM Magazine online viewer offers readers the ability to read CAM magazine exactly as one sees it in the printed format. Using the side navigation bars, along with the control icons at the bottom-center of the screen, readers can move page-by-page throughout the magazine or view a table of contents to jump to deeper sections throughout the magazine. To read pages close-up, simply click anywhere to zoom, and the page will automatically load an enlarged page to read. To un-zoom, click again, and the view will return to a normal magazine spread for easy browsing.

2. Sharing the Story 
Each month CAM Magazine features many companies and projects within its pages along with subcontractor lists, people, products and analysis on Michigan’s construction industry, and there is no easier way to share a particular story than with the SHARE button  located in the lower left hand corner of the screen. Use this tool to send your prospective client your latest project that was featured in CAM Magazine. By clicking the SHARE button users can select pages within the open publication to send directly to friends, clients, vendors, prospects or fellow employees via email.  Sharing the publication can also be done by simply copying the website address (http://www….),   from the top of the browser window and into an email.

3. Website Links & SEO
Website owners can easily add CAM Magazine article links onto their own websites by following the simple instructions listed above to copy and paste the website address into their own pages as a link. This direct linking of CAM Magazine articles can also greatly improve a companys SEO ranking by making it easier for internet search engines to validate content and establish related connections.

4. Printing Magazine Stories 
The CAM Magazine online viewer allows users to print any story found inside CAM Magazine onto their local in-office printer. This print tool  can be helpful for sharing important articles with employees, vendors and customers, or creating a presentation of a featured project or company to display at industry trade shows, events, or in a company lobby or office.

5. Download the PDF File 
Share a PDF file of a CAM Magazine article quickly and easily by clicking the PDF button in the lower right corner of the viewer.   Users can download the entire magazine onto their own computer, or select individual pages through the download interface.

6. Search CAM Magazine  
Using the built in search function,  located in the upper right hand corner of the CAM Magazine viewer, users can search for keywords, products, company names, or people that have appeared in CAM Magazine. Search results will appear for the publication that you currently have open, and will give you the option of searching the entire CAM Magazine archive of back issues that are available online.

7. CAM Magazine Back Issues
Most times extra issues of CAM Magazine are left over from a monthly print production run and can be used as hand-out promotional materials at your company’s office. Use them in your lobby, or to hand out to your customers or prospects. Extra copies of CAM Magazine are extremely limited so please contact the CAM Magazine office for availability.

8. CAM Magazine Custom Reprints
CAM offers high quality custom reprints of articles that appear in CAM Magazine which can be used to feature select projects or articles and offers the highest level of presentation available. Most reprints are 2 to 4-page, full color marketing pieces, that can be customized by removing advertising from within the articles, and adding additional company information on the covers. Options also include heavier paper stock, additional photos and custom cover options to promote your company or project as effectively as possible.

Popular uses include direct mailers and hand outs to customers, prospects, employees, vendors, or for use as promotional materials at industry trade shows.  Large posters can also be made of most CAM Magazine articles and are perfect for hanging in an office or lobby. Contact the CAM Magazine office for pricing and more information on custom made reprints of CAM Magazine articles.

CAM Magazine makes promoting your company, project, product or service, easy and effective. For more information on any of the above tips or services, please contact CAM Magazine via email, or by calling 248-972-1000.

1. Align Your Solutions with Their Business Goals
Stop. Look. Listen. These elementary school lessons can serve you well when talking with prospects. If you’re pitching your solutions without a deep knowledge of your buyers’ goals and objectives, you’re whistling in the wind. You will lose the interest of the buyer and your credibility will take a major hit. Listen to their needs, then help solve their problems.

2. Use Multiple Channels
Your buyers have more channels to choose from than Comcast. How do you know the right one to use? Answer: You probably don’t. So rather than focusing resources on just one channel of communications, diversify. E-mail is increasingly a clogged (and oftentimes ignored) channel.  A smart Targeted Direct Mail (TDM) campaign can be like a regular sales call to your buyer, and with variable data printing, you can personalize each piece to the interests of your buyer.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) allows you to be where your buyers are looking on the Internet and can be highly effective. Social Media is in its infancy and may not play a role in B2B today, but nobody knows what role it will play in the future. Ignore it at your peril.

3. Identify all Decision Makers and Get them Involved
Remember the equation: involvement = commitment. Get your decision makers involved early and have them assist in the creation of the desired outcome.   The days of a single decision maker are over. More people are involved in the decision making process, and each role has a different need, interest, and buyer persona.  Multiple decision makers are the norm, so get as many of them involved early in the sales process to win them over and get additional buy-in.

4. Uncover Objections or Critical Issues
When you have good rapport with a buyer, an objective dialogue about problems or critical issues will involve them in finding the solution. Many times, the buyer will suggest solutions or ideas you might have missed. Use your creativity to think of new and different ways problems can be solved – even ones unrelated to what you sell. Be the expert who helps solve problems for your buyer and you will be a step closer to “yes.”

5. Keep it Simple and Easy to Say Yes
This should be common sense, but many salespeople get carried away trying to prove their knowledge and are unnecessarily complex.  Solve their problem … then stop. Keeping it simple and easy to do business with you will win more business in the long run.

Develop a Marketing Strategy
Our clients know that the Capital Letters’ approach is strategy, strategy, strategy. When developing a marketing strategy, think like your client: how do they benefit from your products or services? What is the value proposition of your company to them?  Business relationships and the quality of your work will always be the foundations of your business. But promoting your brand and generating leads are the building blocks.  Know your customers. Know how to add value to their business, and develop a strategy to engage them. Engaging your buyer is the key to getting to “yes.”

The CAM group gathered on the Deck #3 patio to enjoy great food before the game. Situated over right field, the patio offered a beautiful view of the park as Members networked and socialized. Later, the CAM group occupied Mezzanine seats along the first base line to enjoy the game.

The following CAM Member companies were represented at this CAM Connect: ARC/Dunn Blue; Beechtree Risk Services, Inc.; Broadcast Design & Construction; Capital Letters; Construction Bonding Specialists, LLC; Cavanaugh & Quesada, PLC; Concrete Cutting & Breaking Co.; D.J. Maltese; Energy Shield, Inc.; Great Lakes Fire Protection, Inc.; GRS Stohler Company; Guy Hurley Blaser & Heuer, LLC; Homrich, Inc.; John Lacy Photography; Marble & Granite Works; Marble Mechanical Services; Marshall Sales, Inc.; MICCO Construction, LLC; NTH Consultants, Ltd.; Oakland Metal Sales, Inc.; PAETEC; REB Construction Services, Inc.; Roll Form Group; The Interface Financial Group; Townsend Neon, Inc.; Trufab, Inc.; William Jeffrey & Associates.

Please join us for future CAM Connect events! Watch our bi-monthly E-Newsletter to find out about upcoming events; you can also check the CAM website’s Calendar of Events at www.cam-online.com.

New this year, CAM streamed live over the Internet via the CAM website so that those who couldn’t attend could also experience the party. Each person also received a free “Cruisin’ Into CAM” T-shirt, custom-designed by Matt Austermann, to commemorate the day.

CAM hosted a BBQ of burgers, dogs and brats. Displaying their expertise on the grill were Doug and Charlie from the BAC Trowel Trades Local #1, Matt Austermann and Karen Hill from CAM, and Bill Jeffrey from William Jeffrey and Associates and Phyllis Clevenger from Marshall Sales.

CAM would like to thank all of our sponsors who made this event possible. GOLD Level – Aluminum Supply Company; Detroit Elevator Company. SILVER Level – BAC Trowel Trades; CAM Administrative Services; CAM Workers’ Comp; Construction Federal Credit Union; Masonry Quality Assurance; William Jeffrey & Associates. BRONZE Level – The Blue Book; Broadcast Design & Construction; Rockworks, LLC; Ronald B. Rich & Associates. We’d also like to thank Barlen Sanitation Solutions, Inc. for the donation of porta-potties. Additional thanks to the CAM staff who planned and worked at the event: Gregg Montowski; Matt Austermann; Vera Ashford; Mary Carabott; Marci Christian; Karen Hill; Cathy Jones; Amanda Tackett.

Plan on joining us next year for our third annual “Cruisin’ Into CAM.” We promise a great time for our Members!

I remember once finding workers using a loader as a man-lift.  I asked them to stop what they were doing, telling them that using the loader that way was not an option.  They promptly retorted that there was no other way to complete the task and that they would be careful.  I held my ground (you know a mighty oak is nothing more than a nut that held its ground) and removed the loader from service making it no longer available to them.  It took the foreman less than five minutes to come up with a viable – and safe – change to the way they were doing the task.  WOW, who knew!  When it comes to safety, change can be a very good thing. If you want to improve your company’s safety performance, it’s mandatory.

Joseph M. Forgue. Director of Education & Safety Services

If you want to change your safety program, let me know; I’ll come help you for free.  Contact me, Joe Forgue, at 248-972-1141 or at forgue@cam-online.com.

Two VIP speakers were featured: Mr. Paul Traub, business economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Mr. John Rakolta, Jr., chairman and CEO of Walbridge, Detroit.  Both presented their views and statistics on the current state of Michigan’s business climate, especially pertaining to the construction industry.  Their comments were well received, insightful and interesting.

“This was by far one of the most informative economic forecasts and industry meetings that I have ever attended.  The presentation of Paul Traub of the Federal Reserve-Bank of Chicago was fast paced and easily understood.  The second speaker, John Rakolta, Jr. of Walbridge, was refreshingly honest and candid about our industry.  John did not pull any punches; he let each and every one attending the meeting know what needs to happen to get Michigan’s economy rolling once again,” said Bruce M. Pregler, partner, Facca, Richter & Pregler, P.C.

According to James Capo, VP of Design/Build at DeMattia Group, Plymouth, and CAM’s 2011 Chairman of the Board, “The event was insightful and filled with useful data.  I’m extremely pleased with the attendance we received, and the two guest speakers couldn’t have been better.”

Added CAM member Chris Hippler, of Capital Letters Marketing, “Your team did a great job putting this morning’s breakfast together. The speakers were a nice combination of numbers, graphs and no-nonsense straight talk, both sobering and insightful in their own right.”

“As treasurer of CAM’s 2011 Board of Directors, and also as a construction business owner, the graphs and projections for the future provided by Paul Traub were extremely useful to me,” said Frank Nehr, Jr., of Davis Iron Works, Inc., Commerce Township.  “I really appreciated John Rakolta’s straight-forward approach when talking about the economic outlook in Michigan.”

The meeting included a large cross section of the commercial and residential construction industry, including the Boards of Directors of both CAM and the BIA. More joint ventures are planned for the future.

Morning VIP reception prior to event opening.

Excerpt from John Rakolta’s speech on Michigan Economy.

Jam packed exhibitor space and a sold-out crowd.

Digital marketing gets all the attention, but Direct Mail is a rock solid strategy that allows you to segment your audience and target them with relevant offers. That is the essence of smart marketing. Thanks to technology, Direct Mail has emerged as a powerful marketing tool in the 21st Century. How else do you explain Google using Direct Mail to target their AdWord clients?

The Key Is Timing
Kevin Naughton, the director of sales and marketing at Printcomm, has seen a boom in Direct Mail with his clients. “The key to effective marketing is timing,” says Naughton, “and using Variable Data Printing (VDP) with Direct Mail allows you to deliver the right offer to the right person at the right time.” (Find more of Kevin’s tips on developing relevant content at http://www.capitallettersmarketing.com/blog) Smart, well-targeted Direct Mail can cut through the clutter, but it can also potentially cut through your budget, so here are key steps to ensure success.

• Know Your Audience
Your database is your goldmine. A Direct Mail campaign doesn’t stand a chance without qualified, healthy data. Preparation of your data will lay the foundation for your campaign. The process begins by reviewing your house list and identifying your best customers and their common traits. Once established, you can develop an offer that solves a problem for them. Purchasing mailing lists should also be considered, especially when expanding into new geographical area.

• Make Your Message Relevant
Think like your customer. What are their pain points? What do you offer that will solve a problem for them? Make your offer relevant to their needs. In Direct Mail, there is a proven correlation between the relevance of the message and the response rate. VDP gives you the option of tailoring the message and the content to your audience. The additional cost for VDP can often be justified by the greater return.

• Track Your Return On Investment (ROI)
The beauty of a Direct Mail campaign is that it is measurable, a critical component when determining ROI. Studies show that effective Direct Mail campaigns feature multiple mailings with response- tracking tools. Options include: phone call tracking, Personal URLs, and bar code coupons or integrated cards. Your Direct Mail provider can help you decide which is best for your DM campaign. The right offer to the right person at the right time is the mantra of Direct Mail. Thoughtful preparation and smart execution can make an Old School marketing tactic help you find new business opportunities.

Free Stuff
Deliver magazine – published monthly by the United States Postal Service (USPS) – is a great resource for the latest mail marketing research, news, and commentary. Best of all, it’s free. To get your free subscription, visit www.delivermagazine.com.

“Marketing on the Level” is a new monthly feature for CAM Magazine written specifically for the construction industry by CAM Member Chris Hippler. For more marketing strategies, visit Capital Letters at website: www.capitallettersmarketing.com. Got an idea for a column or a question about marketing? Contact Chris by e-mail: chris@capitallettersmarketing.com or phone 734-353-9918.