The Building Code Takeover: Social media with Nick Schiffer and Melissa Hryszko

Nick Schiffer:

Hey, everybody. Welcome to The Building Code. This is Nick Schiffer from NS Builders, and I’m here with Melissa Hryszko from Veranda Estate Homes. And we are here this week as part of “The Building Code” Takeover series. Really excited to be the first guest hosts. We’re both Buildertrend users. We’ll be speaking at the Building Better Summit later this month, the first ever summit presented by Buildertrend. We’ll present the latest trends, feature industry insights and set you up for bettering your business. Looking forward to it. How about you, Melissa? You getting excited?

Melissa Hryszko:

Yes. So excited to be speaking at a session and joining other industry experts including yourself, Nick, at the live panel. It’s going to be a great event.

Nick Schiffer:

Absolutely. There’s going to be a lot of great content and learning opportunities for all construction pros. So, switching gears, what are we chatting about in today’s episode?

Melissa Hryszko:

So, a very popular topic, and one that I know has really helped ourselves with our business, social media.

Nick Schiffer:

I would second that it has, I think, catapulted what we’ve done as a construction company, but also as a brand, for us. And even you were probably one of my early follows, and just seeing how you were doing things and branding your business. And like you said, it’s really helped us both grow tremendously.

Melissa Hryszko:

I agree. So hey, let’s dive in and talk all things social media.

Nick Schiffer:

So, we got a couple questions we want to get to, but let’s just go down the list. So, why is social media so important, especially today? What do you think, Melissa?

Melissa Hryszko:

Honestly, for me, it’s getting that outreach. So, we actually do no advertising at all. The only advertising we do is basically my Instagram page, which costs me nothing but my time. So, great ROI. Although I always say time is money, and I spend insanely amount of time on Instagram. However, the benefits are certainly there.

But I just feel it really allows us to reach people that may not drive by one of our job sites and see one of our signs, or somebody that may be thinking about, oh, I wonder who’s doing what in this area? And they search it up. And I mean, it’s allowed us to reach people all over the world to the point where I’m doing some side gigs on amazing properties in Utah and Connecticut and all over the US. So, it’s a lot of fun. And I know for you, Nick, like Instagram has been massive for you as well.

Nick Schiffer:

Huge. And really quickly, I don’t know if your setting is turned on your phone, but on Sunday I get this little notification telling me how much time I spent on my phone. And then you can open it up and it’s like Instagram’s number one. I’m like, that was all work. That’s all work-related. I wasn’t just scrolling, looking at anything. Yeah. I mean, I look at it the same way. I think social media is incredibly important for us. Exactly what you said, the outreach. And for us, we, or … And I say we were because when I started social media, I was starting my company.

It was me. I was a carpenter. I wanted to build into a bigger building company and be a bigger brand. And I really utilized social media to create this brand about who we wanted to be or who we were growing into. And it allowed me to, I think in a lot of ways, skip a lot of steps because I was getting in front of so many people so quickly. And in parallel to that, I wanted to do something for the industry and that was give back as I learned things, or as we learn things. We don’t want to just hold that to ourselves. We realize that growing up with this and people holding everything so close to the chest, it has done this industry a disservice, where it’s in parallel to building a business, it’s also giving back to the industry.

It’s like, hey, this is what I learned. Or this is how I run my business. It may be right, may be wrong, but if someone can take a lesson from it, I think that makes it equally as important. As Johnny always says, rising tides raise all ships. And it really has, at least the way I look at it, I see a lot of people that have leveled up, per se, in this industry, because they realized that there’s so much information out there that they can better themselves, which is nice to see because locally, I feel like you don’t always get to see that.

Melissa Hryszko:

I totally agree with that, especially with the whole local aspect because at the end of the day, locally, everybody’s a competitor at the end of the day. And so, like how you mentioned, holding those cards close to your chest. That is a truth thing. But, I mean, the connection that I’ve made with you, with Brad, with Jason, with Johnny, with all those guys, it’s been great. And especially kind of like last year, when 2020 hit, and the world kind of came crumbling down around us, I was able to reach out and say like, what’s going on? What are you seeing?

The same with like the insanely price increases that we’ve had lately. Just knowing that it’s not just something that’s local to our market, but it is everywhere. And Jamie from Ventura, out in California, he’s always sharing great articles that he’s receiving. So, I mean, really like not just about having our business expand, but having our network of peers expand has been invaluable for sure for me.

Nick Schiffer:

Yeah. I mean, I think at the end of the day, if you want to look at the analytics of it, most of probably the people that follow you are peer-to-peer. It’s not an end-user. And that end-user, yes, at the end of the day, your marketing efforts are to get additional clients and build additional homes. But the majority of people being a peer-to-peer, or a peer of yours, or another builder, like you said, there’s tremendous value in that because you’re able to expedite your learning process, and you’re able to pivot much quicker because you’re getting feedback from essentially all over the world, rather than figuring out what the guy next door is doing and then trying to adapt accordingly.

Melissa Hryszko:

For sure. Now, here I have a question for you. Would your business survive without Instagram?

Nick Schiffer:

It’s funny. I was thinking about this the other day because I was actually thinking of my kids. My kids are young and I was like, I wonder if she’ll be on Instagram one day. And I was like, you know what? Instagram probably won’t even be a thing then. I think about … I don’t even remember when MySpace was the thing, but that’s gone.

Yes. I mean, in short, yes. I think I’ve always been the mindset of I adapt. Before social media, it was word of mouth or however I was advertised. I don’t even know. I was probably handing out flyers or something. But it will always be this adaptation. And I think as things evolve, a lot of people get tripped up on that.

It’s like, I don’t want to … I’m stuck in my way. I’m going to give Johnny some flack. The penalization talk. It’s like he doesn’t want to adapt because he thinks there’s … Or he’s said that he doesn’t want to adapt because of the loss of craftsmanship. But it’s like this is the trend that we’re headed towards is pre-manufacturing and pre-building things.

In some sense that you’re going to get left behind. So, just like with social media, is that the next thing? If it’s TikTok or if it’s something after that, there’s always going to be something to get attention from someone.

Melissa Hryszko:

Which I think the new thing, which I can’t get behind, I will fully admit, is Clubhouse. I’ve tried. I know you’re on it quite a bit.

Nick Schiffer:

I’m actually not. I didn’t mean to cut you off.

Melissa Hryszko:

Every time I log on, you are. So, I think that your phone on Sunday morning would tell me otherwise.

Nick Schiffer:

Well, maybe you’re on it too much.

Melissa Hryszko:

I’m not.

Nick Schiffer:

So, I mean, the thing about Clubhouse, and I don’t know … in our industry, I don’t think this will be an end-user. Actually, I don’t know. I’ve never thought of it as an end-user, but what I do like about it is, going back to the networking side, is we can put a group together and there’s all the builders that we respect are sitting in a room, and we can just chat amongst ourselves and talk openly. And you can do that privately.

Where it’s like, I think about when we went to the Builders’ Show, and we go to dinner, and there’s 25 people at a table. This is the way I relate it, 25 people at the table. You’re only able to talk to about four people because you can’t talk to the guy at the other end of the table. And even if that was a round table, well, that’s still a big round table. And you can’t shout across the room, where it’s essentially creating this digital table that everyone gets to sit around and talk and listen. And you have the opportunity to hear everything that’s going on.

So, I do think that it’s really powerful. I’m not utilizing it to its peak, but I’m kind of letting the hype drop down a little bit so the information is more valuable because I feel like it is a lot of the same thing over and over and over. But everything, all of these channels … look, before social media, it was websites and forums. And I was big on forums. And before that, you could look at magazines and television and newspapers. All of those things are getting attention from people. And that’s all social media is it’s just a new form of getting attention. So, however we shift into it with how we capture someone’s attention, you and I are going to adapt.

Melissa Hryszko:

Yeah, we have to. I mean, we don’t have a choice. And I mean, at the end of the day, I know our business will survive that Instagram because it did for 10-plus years beforehand. And actually, the talk that I’m giving for the summit is about relationships with trades, clients and everything else. And I know we rely heavily on our reputation.

And at the end of the day, our past clients that say, absolutely, a hundred percent, I would build with Veranda again. They were amazing during the process, after the process, they’re friends of ours now. That’s what’s going to get us the new end-user over me posting pretty pictures of great kitchens and bathrooms and a few stories here and there of job sites.

Nick Schiffer:

I think that’s a great point. I think that’s my next question is how should you be using it to promote your business? And before you answer that, I agree with that. Social media isn’t what solidifies you as a builder or as a good option. What it is, is it’s just getting their attention.

Melissa Hryszko:

Sure.

Nick Schiffer:

And if you want to think of this as a sales funnel or a funnel process, that’s just getting them into the funnel. You’re responsible for getting them to a sell, not your social media. It’s like, but why wouldn’t you build with me? Didn’t you see the house I posted yesterday? It’s like, no, no, no, no. That was great. Like, that’s why I’m talking to you, but that doesn’t mean anything. So, how do you use it, or how would you recommend using it to promote your business?

Melissa Hryszko:

I mean, I know for ourselves, I will only post our own work on my Instagram page. So, I’m of the believer in posting your own work. That you’re coming to my page to see what we do, what our craftsmen are capable of doing. So, I’m of the firm believer of only show your own work. I’m very thankful to the accounts that share everybody else’s work and repost my work because it has helped me grow.

However, I know for ourselves, I use it. I love the stories because I can help document homes from the very beginning. Like I always post a story as soon as we start the design process. And one reason I kind of like it is when Rob’s like well, how long did this home take? And I’m like, just one second. Let me go to my story reel that I have saved for each project and look through.

But I also feel it gives people a little bit of an insight into the way that we build and construct our homes because we’re very mentally trying to be very old school. Like we will only use finished on-site hardwood floors. All of our cabinetry is built by hand, in the home, finished onsite, as Tyler says, by little elves. So, it’s very old school and it’s true craftsmanship. So, I want people to be able to see it because that, for us, really sets us apart from the other builders in town.

Because I will say nobody else here really does what you’re doing, Nick, with having a beautiful shop set up, being able to put out luxury, high-end, boutique-style cabinetry, but in a more of like a … I don’t want to say prefab pace, but you know what I mean. Like you come in and you’re not holding down the job.

Like right now, we’ve had finishers in one home for five weeks, and they’re going to be in there for another two weeks. So, you’re not taking over the job site for that amount of time. So anyway, it’s like for us, I just like to promote our philosophy, the way we do it. I like to show off the jobs that we’re doing because I’m very proud of each and every one of them. They may not all be my style, but I also feel like that helps show people that a Veranda home doesn’t have to be like, that’s a Veranda home. Like, oh, who built that? That’s a beautiful home. I want our homes to speak for our clients’ style and taste, not necessarily what Melissa thinks up in her noggin.

Nick Schiffer:

Yeah. I’ll second that, and it’s funny. I always talk about how I want people to walk into a home and know it’s us. And it’s not necessarily meaning I want it to be a specific style. And I think you’re on this with me is that they walk in, and they realize the level of execution, and they’re like it only could be a Veranda home. There’s no way it’s anyone else.

And for us, it’s similar. We want to showcase, through social media, specifically, the humanization of us. We not a corporation. I want to showcase the craftsman, like you said, the people that are involved in building it. But I geek out on details. I’m all about that. And when I’m doing a story, it’s I’m usually talking about how we spent eight weeks thinking about how this plaster was going to terminate against a piece of white oak.

And it’s like at the end of the day, would anyone ever notice? Probably not. But the point of us talking about it is that this is how we approach these projects.

Melissa Hryszko:

It’s showing you have that attention to detail.

Nick Schiffer:

Yeah. We’re approaching these projects with an enormous amount of thought because we want this to be the very best project that we can stand back and say we gave this our all. And that’s really in walking them through the process. And yeah, I mean, I think humanization is really important for what we do as far as promotionally.

Melissa Hryszko:

Agree a hundred percent. So, my next question is besides Instagram and a little dabbling in Clubhouse, are there any other social platforms that you use? Because I know for myself, I’m riding the Instagram wave until it comes crashing down and then I’ll figure it out from there. So, what about for yourself?

Nick Schiffer:

I don’t think it will crash. But it might bring you back on shore.

Melissa Hryszko:

Fizzle out a bit.

Nick Schiffer:

Yeah. Well, so we, from a social media standpoint, Instagram. Facebook I feel like is just kind of a repost from Instagram. It’s good to have a Facebook page. YouTube is probably second for us. And I want to touch on website in a second, but YouTube, it’s been really fun for us because we have more playtime on there where we can put longer format videos.

And what we’ve done is we’ve taken kind of the Instagram story model and then extended that into what we call our site visits series. And Ken does it with the revealed series, which is behind the scenes in the cabinet shop. And it gives it this longer format opportunity for people to see what we’re doing and this archive. And to be honest, we’ve got in the last year, I would say the majority of people have come through our YouTube video.

Melissa Hryszko:

Really?

Nick Schiffer:

Yeah. And maybe they came from Instagram to YouTube, but it was when they watched the video, they were like, alright, these guys know what they’re doing. This is who I want. They’re putting the intention into it. It gives us, I guess, longer room to explain what we’re doing rather than 15 seconds spurts.

Melissa Hryszko:

So, with the YouTube videos, like those are not cost-effective items.

Nick Schiffer:

No.

Melissa Hryszko:

Like it’s not something where you take your phone to the job site and shoot a quick video and upload it on YouTube. I mean, I know that you have back in editing and everything else. So, that is a large investment to make.

Nick Schiffer:

Yeah. I mean, I think you could certainly do it with your phone, and people do. We do not. And it’s funny because I think one of the first things you said was that we don’t spend any money on marketing and neither did I for a long time. And now, we’ve approached this video side where we do spend a lot of money from the video side, but it’s something that we were treating it almost as a separate media, I’m using air quotes, company where it’s I like to showcase this. The clients like to see their project unfold. I really want to capture the story of what this house means from the concept drawing all the way to completion. And that’s going to take some money to do.

And the only way to offset that is to work with really great partners who want to be builder partners, like whether they’re vendors that we work with on every job. We’re building these partnerships to help showcase and help better everyone. Now, I said I wanted to talk about website, and I quickly do. I think that I feel like everyone that was ever on our podcast was like, oh, my website’s still under construction. And that’s like the running joke.

It’s like my house is always under construction. My website’s always under construction. And I’ve spent a lot of time this past year thinking about the website and thinking. And we actually just relaunched a new website, but I do think that beyond social media, I think it’s really important that you bring it back to having a website, a really good website, something that is thought out. Spend the money, invest the time and really put something together that showcases who you are because inevitably that’s where they’re going to end up.

And then when they Google you, that’s what you want to show up first. You don’t want it to be a Yellow Pages listing. You want it to be your website. So, they get on there and they’re immediately … I would say most people are hopping on a website to get your contact. So, a little tip is when you hop on the website, have a little pop-up shows call me now or email me now. But other than that, it’s like, that’s where everything you’re doing on social should be then refined and put on the website.

Melissa Hryszko:

Agree. And I mean, we live in such a visual society that you need to be able to grab people instantly when they get to your website. You need to have great header photos. Even like we rebuilt our website. I think it was in April, it launched, of 2020. And I mean, it’s still a work in process. I mean, I’m constantly adding pages because it’s all about adding in those keywords for search engine, so you can scroll from page eight million.

I mean, I’m of the philosophy I refuse to pay Google because I think once you pay to play, then that’s the way it’s got to be. I mean, maybe other people would disagree with me on that, but I mean, it’s kind of like Instagram sponsored content. If I see sponsored, I just scroll right by. I’m like, if I want to find you I’ll find you type of mentality.

But I do agree. A website is a hundred percent crucial to our business and the construction, whether you are a hardwood flooring supplier, or a tile supplier, having current product up on your page. Because a lot of what I do is late at night. I’m scrolling the internet, sourcing light fixtures, sourcing tile. And if I don’t see it, you’re not getting my business at the end of the day because I don’t have time to be driving all over and sourcing these things. So, good tag on the adding the website there. Good job, Nick.

Nick Schiffer:

Thanks. No, I mean, it’s something that I think a lot of us with social media have put in the backseat. It’s like, oh, I’ll come back to it. All my business comes through Instagram. And you talk about, well, what happens if Instagram goes away? It’s like you need that bookend. This is a question that I feel like you probably get. I get a lot. And it has a relatively simple answer. But when someone asks you how you go about growing your following, what has been your go-to?

Melissa Hryszko:

Honestly? So, at first it was luck of the draw by getting re-posted by the larger accounts where they just repost other people’s work and that’s always …

Nick Schiffer:

And why do you think they’re re-posting your work?

Melissa Hryszko:

Because it’s pretty. Like come on.

Nick Schiffer:

Well, I know the answer. I’m asking for everyone listening.

Melissa Hryszko:

Yeah. So, I feel just because like, I mean, we invest a lot in our photography. And again, I only share our own work. So I mean, obviously the repost is huge. When I do get re-posted, I stay engaged in those posts. Because the thing with Instagram, people don’t read the caption. So, they assume if Sally Sue Homes re-posts my picture, that it’s her work. And I need to let everybody know that’s commenting, no, no, no, that’s me.

So, everybody gets a heart. And this is why I spend so much time on Instagram because everybody gets a heart and everybody gets a comment. Thank you so much. I loved designing and building this home. Thank you so much. Like, yeah, absolutely. I wish I could share the pink color, but with our custom homes we can’t.

And you just stay engaged. I also find that then people are like, oh, wait, you did that. So, using the tools that Instagram puts out there. Reels has been huge for me. Like I was so against doing reels. Since I started doing reels in, I want to say September, I have grown by over 50,000 followers.

Nick Schiffer:

Holy smokes.

Melissa Hryszko:

Just from reels. I’ve had some go over a million views. My average for a reel is about 200,000 views. And I’m just under 150,000 followers right now. So, that’s getting that exposure. And I find good music, a steady hand, by taking videos, and not doing those ones where people’s just sit there silently and point. And then a little bubble pops up. That’s so annoying. But I find like being able to show off our work has been huge.

And from what I’ve read, because I’m always reading up on Instagram, is if you’re using the tools that they’re kind of rolling out, then they’re going to put you at the head of the pack because they want more people to see it. So that for me, I mean, honestly, the reels just took off. It was bananas. Like, yeah. If I post one, I know at least each reel will get me at least a thousand new followers because I refuse and if anybody’s thinking I’ll buy my followers, do not buy your followers, period. It’s obvious. There’s actually a website. This is very interesting. There’s a website. I don’t know what it is.

Nick Schiffer:

Social Blade.

Melissa Hryszko:

Yes. Where you can go in and put in people’s Instagram account and it rates them. And you see these people with hundreds of thousands of followers and you’re like, how did they get there? And then you’re like, oh, because they’re all from some random country, far, far away. And I’m sure that teenage boys in random countries really aren’t interested in some people’s design work.

Nick Schiffer:

Also, it works against you. It actually doesn’t … I mean, it looks good temporarily, but it actually, like you said, you get a bad rating with Instagram, so you’re not going to be promoted and continue that growth. You’re going to always be in this, I have to buy. I have to buy. It’s funny. The reels, I just haven’t had the time, and this is bogus, but to put my effort into it. But you’re absolutely right. Anything that they launch that’s a new feature you should hop on.

And I think they’re launching like this multi-person live, basically to compete with Clubhouse. And it’s like, if that’s going to be their new feature, if you’re in the front of the line, then go for it. I think the overarching thing is being consistent, being consistent and being engaged. So, if it’s once a day that you post, then do that once a day and engage with people that you’re working with. I mean, I’m sorry, that are engaging with you because between those things, that’s where you can really grow your following.

Melissa Hryszko:

For sure. So, you do have this little production company in the back and that can maybe help you out with those reels. So, just an idea.

Nick Schiffer:

Cast me. In our production meeting.

Melissa Hryszko:

In your spare time, just get on it.

Nick Schiffer:

No. The other thing. So, you must be set up as a personal account, like a personal blog or something.

Melissa Hryszko:

No. I’m business. Or no, I’m not business. I went influencer because with business, you don’t get music.

Nick Schiffer:

Yes, that’s what I was going to say.

Melissa Hryszko:

Yeah, so I switched to the influencer, although I am not an influencer. I never do swipe ups to buy my deodorant. Like, please. You don’t need to smell like me. And that’s not my philosophy of why I do it. But anyways, if you switch to an influencer account, it still gives you all the analytics of the business account. However, you get the aspect of music, which was a huge thing.

Nick Schiffer:

Okay. You answered my question because that’s actually why we haven’t done it. We were doing it in the back with music, but then we were worried that we’re not utilizing the reel the way it’s supposed to be used. So, we’re just faking it essentially. So that’s interesting to know. So, now I’ll have to …

Melissa Hryszko:

Yeah, so I switched over to an influencer and it took about a week. And then all of a sudden, one day I logged on and like, you would have thought that like I won the lottery. I was like, oh my God. I have music. The music button’s there. And everything, just because it makes it so much easier.

Nick Schiffer:

Oh yeah.

Melissa Hryszko:

Because at first, when I first had reels, I was like doing the video, going into another app, adding in music, splicing in, then uploading it to Instagram.

Nick Schiffer:

There’s the time I don’t have.

Melissa Hryszko:

Yeah, in so many ways. Change yourself to an influencer, Nick, and you’ll be good.

Nick Schiffer:

Alright.

Melissa Hryszko:

Yeah. You’ll be good.

Nick Schiffer:

So, growing your following, but going back to the business side of it, let’s talk about leads because I know for us, I always ask, hey, how did you find us? Oh, I’ve been following you on Instagram for a while. Or I would say probably five times out of 10, I get an email and it starts out saying, hey, I follow you on Instagram. This might be weird. But, and then it’s like, we want to build a house. So, how are those leads coming through on Instagram for you?

Melissa Hryszko:

Typically, either through DMs, and with DMs, I immediately ask what’s your email address and your phone number, so I can get in touch with you because can’t keep up with leads in direct messages. And then honestly, I pass on all leads to Rob. So, I’ve had to take a step back from the whole I want to say sales aspect of things just because I don’t have time because we have so many homes in design and that’s where my focus needs to be.

But for us, I mean, I would say we’re probably eight out of 10 say they follow us on Instagram, which is very surprising because when I look at my stats, my local following is actually very low. I’m only a 3.2% local following, which I find kind of crazy. And even though I keep doing like the proper city hashtags and everything else in post. For me, hashtags is really important. And I’ve had some people say, oh, you use too many hashtags. But hashtags account for about 40% of the reach of people that do not follow me, finding my images and my page.

So, for me, hashtags are very important. And you can also basically make them work for you locally. So, our code for our city is YYC, so #YYC, or #YYCBuilder, #YYCHomes #YYCluxuryhomes. It is a tool that may be annoying when you’re scrolling through Instagram and you see it all the time, but it is a tool that can help you expand your growth.

Nick Schiffer:

3.2% is 4,800 people in your area. I mean.

Melissa Hryszko:

That’s not a lot though. We’re a 1.3 million people city. I mean, come on. Where are you? Follow me, people. I’m sorry.

Nick Schiffer:

But what I’m saying is … I mean, you haven’t built 4,800 homes.

Melissa Hryszko:

Not yet.

Nick Schiffer:

Right. But that’s what I’m saying. I mean, that’s great that they’re like 40 out of 4,800 people, that many people are reaching out to you.

Melissa Hryszko:

True. Yeah. And that is true. It’s just, I know some of my friends that are in Calgary as well, they have a, on an average, 20% to 40% local following. Most of my followers are in New York. So, I think I just need to move back East, but you know, that’s not happening anytime soon. Yeah, so I would say probably, on average, eight to 10 say, hey, we follow you on Instagram. We love what you do. Rob takes it from there and Bob’s your uncle. So yeah.

Nick Schiffer:

Yeah. I think the DM is hard. And I’m probably not as good as you are at saying, let me get your email. Because I feel like I try to stay in conversation there to feel it out, to see is this a viable lead? And then it’s like, I always forget. With the email, it’s nicer. Even our website forum is linked to our CRM. So, it’s like I can log in and be like who have I gotten back to and who have I not? Because I mean, I think timing is huge. If you’re not getting back to someone in a … for me, it’s two days max. I try to do it same day. And if it’s …

Melissa Hryszko:

24, 48 hours. But not right away because you don’t want to look desperate.

Nick Schiffer:

Oh yeah, yeah. I can build your house next week. Alright. Sounds good. Can you sign this contract?

Melissa Hryszko:

Got to play a little hard to get. Come on.

Nick Schiffer:

But it’s people don’t have that much time to wait. Like they just want to hear. They just want to … Even if you just replied, hey, I got your email. Let me get back to you in a couple of days, you’re golden. It’s when they linger. I’ve definitely done it in previous years where I’ll follow up and be like, hey, thank you so much for your patience. I’m sorry to get back to you so late. It’s been like two months. I’m like, are you still interested? They’re like, we started that project a month ago.

Melissa Hryszko:

We already moved in, but thanks for the email, bud.

Nick Schiffer:

Really nice to hear from you.

Melissa Hryszko:

So, besides obviously amassing a great following, having half of your leads follow you on Instagram, having a wider exposure. How else do you feel that social has impacted your business?

Nick Schiffer:

This is really easy. I can keep this short because it’s really made me a better builder and given me the opportunity to just refine my process. Putting out so much content, absorbing so much content and inspiration, I’m able to move quicker through the lessons that we learn being business owners, being builders, being craftsmen, because it’s all out there for feedback. And I get to talk to people like you and other builders around the entire world of how they have done things. And everyone has been so open to sharing. So, I don’t think I’d be in the position I am today without that ability.

Melissa Hryszko:

I agree. For me, it’s obviously the connection that we touched base on earlier, but also just the sheer inspiration that you find. And I feel it’s made me not only a better designer, but it’s also pushed us to develop our business in a better way. Not just kind of backend business, but also the way that we go about things and the way that we put things together. So, it’s a great system. I love Instagram. It’s been good to us. And like I said, I’m going to keep riding this wave as long as it lasts, till it fizzles.

Nick Schiffer:

Fizzles you said.

Melissa Hryszko:

Till it not dies. Till it fizzles out. So yeah.

Nick Schiffer:

Alright, everybody. I hope you enjoyed our discussion about social media and are leaving with some helpful takeaways. Before we sign off, we want to talk about a cool event that we’re attending at the end of this month.

Melissa Hryszko:

That’s right. The Building Better Summit is on April 27th. You can join Nick and I for an in-depth learning sessions and a live panel discussion with other industry experts. We’ll be sharing insights on a variety of topics that will help you better your construction business. Go to buildertrend.com/summit2021 to learn more and sign up today.

Nick Schiffer:

Hope to see you there. That’s a wrap on this episode of “The Building Code.” Don’t miss next week’s takeover. Subscribe on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts.