Selling Solar
July 1, 2008
Department: Solar Today
Email: info@ases.org
LKF Marketing was mentioned in national magazine Solar Today. The article, called "Selling Solar", was written by one of LKF Marketing's clients', Mark Bauer of Bauer Power.
When I launched Bauer Power in 2002, the goal was to help local businesses to reduce their impact on the environment. In this I enjoyed the full support of my wife Chris, a scientist at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
The company actually grew out of my experience as a residential contractor, but I had some advantages over my peers in the construction business. I'd run a successful computer company, which taught me something about practical engineering. I'd been a traveling salesman for an art supply distributor, so I knew about sales. And I'd been a Marine, so I knew how to get things done.
We specialize in the installation of solar electricity, wind electricity, solar water heating and solar pool heating, In Michigan and across the Midwest. I learned right away that a wind-and-solar company often has to create its own local market. Homeowners and small businesses may have read about distributed power, but sometimes they need help making the connection to their own operations.
For instance, we're working on the largest solar installation in the Midwest, a 200-collector job for Elzinga & Hoeksema Greenhouses in Portage, Mich. In our first visit, I noted that the gas-burning heating units hung under the peak of the glazed roof, with electric fans to force hot air down toward the planting beds.
"That's crazy inefficient," I said.
The owner replied, "Well, this is the way all greenhouses do it."
I knew it would be more efficient to generate heat at ground level, closer to the plants, and let it rise naturally. That was an easy concept to explain. We worked with GMB, an engineering firm out of Holland, Mich., and they designed a system using geothermal and solar thermal systems to generate heat on the floor. With this sustainable system in place, Elzinga & Hoeksema Greenhouses will grow acres of plants and organic vegetables for Meijer grocery stores across the Midwest. I hope we've started a revolution in efficient greenhouse technology.
Growing to this level in six years required persistent promotion. Here's my checklist for getting the word out, the foot in the door and the programs in place.
Develop relationships with -
- Local media: Write letters to the editor and communicate with local media frequently.
- Environmental groups: You share their goals and can help them with tools. Sponsor their functions. Their members are prime potential customers.
- Join groups with sustainable/renewable energy goals: Bauer Power supports a number of organizations. For instance, we recently joined the Southwest Michigan Sustainable Business Forum as a founding member, and I'm a Lifetime Member of ASES.
- Find professional help to get your name out there: We enlisted Kalamazoo-based LKF Marketing to freshen our branding, revamp out trade-show backdrop and materials, handle public relations, create a brand new website and more.
- Communicate with your legislators: Keep up on state nationwide renewable energy initiatives and let your representatives know what you need. I'm working hard to get a renewable energy portfolio standard passed here in Michigan.
- Provide quality service and products: Bauer Power has many referral jobs based on past projects. Word of mouth is very powerful!
- Educate: We do seminars right here in the office, and I teach courses at the Grand Rapids Community College and through the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association, an ASES chapter. We educate folks at any meeting or function that will have us.
I'm convinced that Michigan will be a leader in alternative energy, and that my business will grow as part of that. Michigan has dormant manufacturing plants waiting to get back online, and let's not forget the skilled workers accustomed to production manufacturing jobs. In addition, Michigan is a central location for transportation routes. The Midwest has the largest need for energy in the country, and Michigan, located right smack in the middle, is the 14th windiest state in the nation. With class IV to class VII winds near Lake Michigan, we could produce enough energy for three states just from wind power alone.
Americans will continue to need and want power. The fact is that our very existence relies on energy. Let's work to make sure we can get it from reliable, clean, inexpensive sources, close at hand.
Mark Bauer is president of Bauer Power, regional distributor for Schuco and an authorized dealer for Sharp, SMA, Southwest Windpower and Xantrex.
By Mark Bauer, Owner and President of Bauer Power
LKF Marketing is a full-service marketing communications agency located in downtown Kalamazoo. Since 1989, LKF has helped businesses and organizations achieve their marketing goals through strategic planning, results-driven creative execution, and communication tactics.
