Originally Published as: Psst. Yes, You. Brag a Little: You built something great. Somewhere, a barn is standing straighter, a grain bin is keeping the harvest dry, and a horse is judging you approvingly from a very nice new stall. Let’s tell everyone about it — for free.
Here’s a little secret nobody tells you when you start building things for a living: you spend your whole career making the impossible look easy, and then you go home, and nobody but your spouse and the dog knows you spent all day making a 60-foot clear-span header behave. Rural Builder’s Project of the Month (and our very fancy annual Source Book) exists to fix that. We want to brag about your buildings even if you’re too modest to do it yourself. Especially if you’re too modest to do it yourself.
Why Submit? Let Us Count the Ways
It’s free publicity, and free is a beautiful word. Submitting costs you nothing but a few minutes and a decent phone camera. If selected, your project lands in front of builders, suppliers, and potential clients nationwide — and gets a shot at the annual Source Book, our showcase of the year’s best work. No ad budget required, no awkward sales pitch, just your building doing the talking.
You get to show off without sounding like you’re showing off. There’s a fine line between confidence and bragging, and a magazine feature walks it beautifully. Every project we publish quietly raises the bar for what a well-built rural structure should look like — and reminds everyone in the industry that you’re the one setting it.
Somebody, somewhere, needs to see exactly what you built. Maybe it’s a rancher who didn’t know a machine shed could look that good. Maybe it’s a bride hunting for a barn venue. Rural construction covers a lot of ground these days — grain systems, equestrian centers, light commercial, barndominiums — and every project we feature helps someone else picture what’s possible for theirs.
It’s genuinely, almost suspiciously easy. Fill out a short online form with your company and project details, list the components you used, and upload a handful of clear, well-lit photos (bonus points if nobody’s truck is parked in front of the good angle). If we pick it, you’ll get to review the layout before it goes to print. That’s it. No essay required.
What’s In It for You
Marketing you don’t have to pay for. Being featured in Rural Builder is the kind of exposure you’d otherwise have to buy — except you don’t, because we did the work of finding you interesting.
A little seal of “we know what we’re doing.” Slap “As Seen in Rural Builder” on your website, proposals, and social media, and let it do some quiet, confident bragging on your behalf.
A shot at the big league. Standout submissions get considered for the annual Source Book — the closest thing our industry has to a yearbook of “most likely to impress a client.”
Bragging rights that actually help the industry. Every well-documented project you share helps raise expectations for what rural construction can be. You’re not just showing off — you’re setting the standard, whether you meant to or not.
Why Now Is the Right Time
Rural and agricultural construction is booming, which is a fancy way of saying everybody and their cousin needs a new barn, bin, or barndominium right now. Demand for post-frame and metal buildings in agricultural, light commercial, equestrian, and residential applications has never been stronger. Get in while the spotlight’s on you — because right now, it could be. Whether it’s grain facilities, machine sheds, horse barns, workshops, commercial buildings, or rural homes, every well-built project helps tell the story of what’s possible, and yours deserves a page in it.
Does Your Project Qualify? A Quick Gut-Check
If you can check even one of these, stop reading and send an email or go fill out the form. We’ll wait.
☐ You’re a little too proud of how that roofline turned out.
☐ A client cried, hugged you, or both, at the walkthrough.
☐ You solved a problem nobody thought was solvable (short of dynamite).
☐ It’s a barn, bin, shouse, arena, barndo, or building you’d happily show your mother.
☐ You have photos on your phone you keep showing people at parties.
What We’re Looking For
• Livestock and equestrian buildings, from entry-level barns to elite training facilities
• Grain, feed, and commodity storage structures
• Machine sheds and equipment storage buildings
• Light commercial and specialty retail post-frame buildings
• Rural residences, barndominiums, and workshops
• Basically, anything you built that made you say “oh, that turned out nice”
Ready to Get Featured?
Submitting is easy, and we mean that sincerely, not in the way people say “it’s easy” right before handing you a 40-page form. Email me at [email protected], tell me about your company and the project, list the manufacturer components you used, and share a few good photos. If we pick your project, you’ll get a confirmation and a chance to review the layout before it goes to print — no surprises, no fine print, no catch.
If you prefer using an online form, use this submission form: ruralbuildermagazine.com/rural-builder-source-book-project-submission-form
So go on. Dig through your phone, find the good photos (the ones where the lighting is doing you favors), and send us your next success story. If you’re proud of what you build — and honestly, why wouldn’t you be — there’s no reason to keep it to yourself. Rural Builder readers are waiting, and so are we.
Questions? We don’t bite, promise.
Email your project details and photos to [email protected] or use the online submission form above. Not sure if your project “counts”? Send it anyway and let us decide — we’ve published stranger, and we’ve loved every one of them.
