Montgomery, AL -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/22/2009 -- Seems every other sentence out of a contractor's mouth is about the economy — and most of it dreary. By comparison, the swine flu was almost a relief.

“Such a shame,” says Adams Hudson, president of contractor marketing firm Hudson, Ink. “So many contractors have been caught up in Recessionomics that they’re missing out on the huge opportunities right under their noses.”

No matter how the economy performs, homeowners aren’t going to stop using their air conditioning and electricity or revert to outhouses, he says. When there’s a problem with home comfort, the owner's going to fix it – period.

“However, this consistency in service need plus cheaper media rates and many contractors going ‘quiet’ in their marketing have helped pro-active contractors set sales records. In time, many ‘quiet’ contractors will create their own recessions and fade away.”

Enough was enough, decided Hudson, often referred to as the best contractor marketer in America. He joined with five other contractor consultants to launch the first-ever Contractor Sales and Marketing Super Summit, slated for Oct. 14 – 16 in Atlanta. They contend it is very different from other trade events, which are often tepid in approach and predictable in content.

"When I tell people 'this is the era of opportunity,' I mean it," says Hudson, who admits that some friends thought he was crazy for launching a first-ever contractor event in a staggering economy. But there’s a twist.

He made each speaker sign a contract that they’d deliver a methodology that had generated a verifiable minimum of $100,000 to a client. “This way, our attendees could just copy the steps, which we also required would be given to attendees,” he added. "This also meant that the material speakers would share was fresh, not a rehash of the usual porridge contractors are often fed. And obviously no beginners, no pretenders."

What does $100,000 worth of knowledge look like?

One consultant, a PR expert and author, had to offer his “client’s only” step-by-step plan for gaining more than $100,000 worth of media coverage for a contractor. And he did it in the fifth-largest media market in the United States, making the contractor a virtual household name, without paying for media.

Another consultant, a former contractor, opens his playbook to the exact formula that took his business from one truck and $208,000 per year to 11 trucks and $7.24 million a year — in the space of five years.

Another will share the laser-like ways he hires “racehorses instead of plow horses” to do the selling for contractors. “It’s all in who you hire and how you train them,” said Drew Cameron of HVAC Sellutions. “I’ll be taking people step by step through both processes and giving them the playbook.”

Hudson will be sharing “things I can’t say in public,” he laughs, but reveals to the private clients in his 5 “Marketing Makeovers” that generated millions of dollars for each contractor using savvy and shrewd marketing. “The whole story never made it to the press. Now it will.”

Little theory, lots of real life facts, Hudson stresses.

"It's decision time for contractors this October," says Steve Coscia, president of Coscia Communications and an expert on customer service. You can't keep saying next time or this isn't the right time. "I can't think of a better time to learn the inside story from top experts that will help increase your profit margin immediately. When everyone else is ducking, this is the time to take the initiative and separate you from average contractors."

Whether you attend the Contractor Sales and Marketing Super Summit or not, Hudson is offering his free, 16-page report, Contractors' 7 Steps to Thrive in a Recession, to help any contractor who wants to stem the tide of dismal sales.

To get your free copy of the report or for more information about topics and speakers, contact Hudson Ink at 1-800-489-9099, or put "7 Steps" in the subject heading of your e-mail to freestuff@hudsonink.com or visit http://www.hudsonink.com.