[Neil Jones]

How many leaflets would you expect someone to deliver per hour? I'm considering hiring someone specifically to do this, what are the advantages and disadvantages of this over using a company?

Currently I can get 1000 delivered for £26.50 off a company but they obviously hit areas that i'm not interested in and they aren't solus.

Help welcomed, especially Mike Halliday who I know has experience in this.

[Mike Halliday]

I have a guy working for me who i'm just about to sack, he does 3hrs a day and i pay him £100 a week he get out about 400 a day.

pros of employing your own guy;
total control of the area leafleted
certainty that the leaflets are being delivered
you find your self doing some delivery your self..... so get even more leaflets out

cons;
time consuming, I pick up my guy every morning at 8am even if we don't have a job booked in. Then he needs picking up and taking home.
time consuming (No2) when i use a company the only involvement i have is ordering the leaflets and writing a cheque

[Paul Moss]

Mike why you sacking him i thought he does a good job for you ?

I have just started 2 guys now, i pay them 30 quid a thousand delivered. I give them a photo copy map of the red book, i highlight the roads on the map i want delivering to and give them a thousand leaflets a time. They ring me when they have delivered the leaflets, i do a check on 5 different areas by knoocking on a door and asking ifvthey have had a leaflet delivered. If im happy they have put the  leaflets  then they get paid and another  1000 leaflets and another map with highlighted areas.

[Neil Jones]

Cheers Mike, it is a lot more expensive, but like you said I can pick areas and just hit them over and over again. I might give your tactic a go sounds like a goer. This recent delivery company has just hit crap areas that I have no interest in working in. Just had some good pressure washing flyers designed of someone, only cost me £24.99 for design, well impressed.

[Neil Jones]

£30 per thousand, won't that take them like 7 hours? Isn't that like £3.20 per hour?

[Mike Halliday]

Paul going back to the delivery company  i used before. we  just can't get enough leaflets out, it was good when all 3 of us put out leaflets..... and we may try it again when it gets warmer but we have been doing it this month in -9 degrees,  I'm getting old I don't want to be walking the streets its bad for my arthritis

plus the cons I listed on my first post have started to pee me off, the logistics of employing him are too much hassle.

 

[derek west]

my mates doing mine, he starts up strava and off he goes. gets a 1000 out in around 6 hours and we keep track of every street he's delivered to with the strava app.

[Paul Moss]

Is it just me or are there lots and lots of price shoppers calling lately

[Mike Halliday]

I think the success of leaflets now is a shared leaflet 2 companies splitting the cost, if my leaflet was just carpet cleaning them it wouldn't be financially viable i have pressure washing on the back which helps the profitability

I'm aiming to produce a 'home service' discount leaflet with 4 companies sharing it.  carpet cleaning, car valeting, oven cleaning and drive cleaning just need to find the others.

A4 folded to A5 40k a month

[Carpet Dawg]

mike, cant they not make their own way to work? even if you pay thier bus fair

[Mike Halliday]

they can't be trusted,  even tried with my son and still they don't do as you tell them... they always have a great excuse of why they didn't do what i said

plus drop them off in some middle of nowhere village and they don;t have a choice.... they can't get home

[Neil Jones]

Derek do you pay them by the hour? If so and you paid them around £6.20 per hour that would be £37.20 whereas I can get 1000 delivered for £31.80 of a company on a shared plan. I know it's only £5.40 difference but over 20000 it's £108.
I can't decide whether the difference is worth it??

[Craigp]

Is it just me or are there lots and lots of price shoppers calling lately

yep!

[Craigp]

These days I find delevering leaflets myself just aint worth it, cant get out enough as the return is so low.

Mind you if you aint got a job on it at least makes you feel productive, a lot to be said for that.

I pay a guy 30 per k but results arent what they was a few years ago.

[derek west]

Neil, i believe these companies don't deliver all the leaflets you pay them too. i could be wrong though, but for me the maths doesn't add up.
my worst result was from leaflets delivered by a pro company, never again.

[wynne jones]

If I relied on leaflets for work I'd be sh!tting myself. Every year you need to pump more and more out to get anything. Good job we have half a million Romanians in the pipeline now the polskis are getting tired of working for peanuts.

Hire your own, don't use a company. If you break even its still worth doing, but for gods sake don't rely on it.

[dan paton]

wynne if u dont mind me asking . where do u come from in hampshire . im in eastleigh . it's only curiosity mate as you give good advice on here and i'd like some advice about websites
                           cheers
                                    dan

[wynne jones]

wynne if u dont mind me asking . where do u come from in hampshire . im in eastleigh . it's only curiosity mate as you give good advice on here and i'd like some advice about websites
                           cheers
                                    dan

I'm no where near you mate, in fact I'm quite some distance away. 

[dan paton]

ok no prob

[wynne jones]

You can always get in touch dan, happy to help.

[dan paton]

i wouldn't know how to wynne . my e mail is  thecleaningbloke@live.co.uk

[Neil Jones]

I know what you mean about professional delivery companies Derek, I had 10,000 go out before xmas and 10,000 at the end of January. I won't tell you the response, it was pitiful! Fortunately I got one regular commercial cleaning contract off it, that if kept long enough will get me my money back.

I don't rely on leaflets for work either, I know it's not the same as it was 6 - 7- 8 -9 years ago, I remember when I first started the leaflets I sent out where done on word with clip art images (cringe just thinking about it), but thats where all my work came from, if i delivered 500 in an afternoon i'd get quite a few customers.

I'm going to hire someone, it's just for another avenue, plus I want to hit the pressure washing for a lad I have working for me. Two people have mentioned £30 per 1000 now. Isn't that over six hours work? Do people work for that? I'm also getting a GPS tracker.

Any one ever tried commision based?

[Paul Moss]

Neil, you will go through quite a few people as its boring to do and some try it and then dont like doing it, you will also get time wasters which you will end up sacking. Just put a few ads in news agents windows, its cheap and you will get local people responding, advertise 30 quid a thousand and go from there. if you find a good distributor that wants more and makes the phone ring then you can add incentives like commission etc.

[cannon]

Does anyone know the legalities of having your own leaflet distributors?

Can they be classed as self employed?

[Paul Moss]

Does anyone know the legalities of having your own leaflet distributors?

Can they be classed as self employed?

You decide

[jim mca]

How can you pay less than the NMW even if a employee agrees to work for £30 per thousand they could still report you and claim compensation

[Max Campbell]

We use Dor2Dor around Cambridge, and like dealing with a brand. We've used 1 man bands and had bad experiences. We used Royal Mail and had leaflets dumped.

Nothing gets the response of putting them out singly, though - we did about 50k ourselves, but just can't afford the time now.

[Ian Gourlay]

Regarding the £30 a thousand , in my opinion that is way below minmum wage. But often it is those who ignore the law who suceed, or maybe they employ youngsters .

When I enqired you also needs employees liability insurance , especially if you are using school kids etc

[Carpet Dawg]

youngsters or johnny forigners!  I presume if you put someone on a trial period of say 3 months, then sack then after 3 months then they cant complain?? (as its a "trial period") ?

[Allan Simmons]

Does anyone know the legalities of having your own leaflet distributors?

Can they be classed as self employed?

It can be a nightmare Karl.  The rules are quite complex and we do know someone who was pulled up for it.  We use both direct employed and self employed, the self employed is the tricky area and what qualifies them as self employed.

In a nutshell, if they ONLY work for you then THEY COULD claim that they are employed.  It is up to you to make sure that if they are classed as self employed that you can show you have checked they have a unique tax reference number and ideally you need to be receiving invoices from them, and they will take into account if the invoicing appears to be all to just your company.  If they claim they work for others as a job and for you as a distributor they again they could be classed as employed.  The rules are here... http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/employment-status/index.htm  As I said, we know of a firm who were investigated and potentially are facing having to pay the tax and NI that HMRC feel should have been collected/deducted.  Have a read to make sure you're comfortable.

In terms of rate, we've never found reliable people for less than £48/1000.

[Craigp]

My 30k leaflets go out with one or two other leaflets, I don't think my guy would do it otherwise as its too little money.

[Mike Halliday]

the minimum wage for some one over 21 is £6.19 so theoretically the cheapest you can get 1000 leaflets delivered is £43.21p on that if you knew another company who wanted leaflets delivered then you could share the cost and both of you pay £22/1000, thinking about it this would be a good idea as £22 to be one leaflet of two is a good price.

i bet you could find someone who would be willing to pay £30/1000 if you explained to them you pick up & drop off the deliverer and guarantee delivery as your own leaflet is delivered as well.... so its in your own interest to make sure they go out.

[Paul Clapham]

The problem is, if you pay for Solo delivery , is it really worth the extra money ?

I was out and about delivering my own flyers this week, pushing my flyers through the door I could see someone else had been delivering before me , so when the homeowner gets home all they have is a pile of flyers on their door mat.

 So I ask again is it worth paying for "solo" delivery ? when you cannot control who else is delivering in that area on that day. 
 

[Allan Simmons]

Usually we put one other out with ours, we pay £70 per 1000 for the two, so split it costs us £35 for ours but we're in control of where and when.  At £70 per 1000 you'll get much more reliable people.

[Ian Gourlay]

Big Al what size do you put out, A3, A4 or A5

[Allan Simmons]

A4, and sometime A3 folder to A4.

[Ian Gourlay]

I was wondering if you were doing A3 so the people you picky back with their leaflets get lost.

I have found it is best to try and give partners as much opportnity as yours then you are not constantly looking for new partners

[Allan Simmons]

Ha Ha, nesting, now there's an idea!  Where have I seen that before?

If we do the A3 to A4 we tend to do them on their own as I run those short run in house at short notice.

We're lucky we have three people that go out with ours at various times.  Max 3 but usually just two. One is most of the time, one is regularly, the other is as and when.  Been doing the joint venture with them for years now, everyone wins.

[Max Campbell]

Ha Ha, nesting, now there's an idea!  Where have I seen that before?

If we do the A3 to A4 we tend to do them on their own as I run those short run in house at short notice.

We're lucky we have three people that go out with ours at various times.  Max 3 but usually just two. One is most of the time, one is regularly, the other is as and when.  Been doing the joint venture with them for years now, everyone wins.

Want to team up w 1 other company to constantly leaflet a big area.

What businesses do you work with? Thought about garden centres - maybe too seasonal. Takeaways - too small an area. Furniture seller?

[Allan Simmons]

Hi Max, hope you're well.

Molly Miads general cleaners (who we recommend and they recommend us, works well.
A window repair guy who fixes steamed up glass panels or replaces just the glass in UPVC frames and does repairs etc
A local 'shabby sheik' Furniture shop Melody Maison.

Al.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Got our post yesterday and guess what? 5 leafets nested nuff said.

Shaun

[Mike Halliday]

I don't want to sound like I'm preaching but all it takes is a bit of thinking and you can get your leaflets delivered

http://www.gumtree.com/p/jobs/school-leaver-young-person-to-help-us-deliver-leaflets/1010152133

My son took 4 people out on a trial yesturday for 3 hrs,  I'm picking up 3 this morning and 3 tomorrow

We will pick the best 2 or 3 but we have had 39hrs of leaflet delivery in this trial.

We still have not contacted all the applicants, these are young people desperate for money, I bet it's the same everywhere.

And it works out at about £25/1000 solo delivery

[james roffey]

You can get leaflets delivered, but in my experience it has been the riskiest investment that i have made, and i am running at a loss so far.
I have used six different companies or people the best return was when i delivered them myself and when a very good friend of mine did his own leaflets alongside my own.
All the others bar none have given a poor return and i can only conclude this practice is endemic in that industry, you may find a young person who wants to earn some money, or a guy who's out of work and wants to earn a bit of cash, but my theory is they start off with good intentions, then the penny drops.
Call me cynical if you like but throwing money away does that to you, if you have someone and you can show a reasonable return then great, my advice would be don't invest too much at any one time and monitor closely.

[Max Campbell]

Cheers, Allan - we're both well, thanks - see you at TACCA?

OK, thanks, food for thought.

[Allan Simmons]

Yep, at TACCA, Friday and Saturday nights.

[Billy Russell]

Yep, at TACCA, Friday and Saturday nights.

For christ sake, just don't ask him who pays his wages!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[[[[[[[[[[[ INSERT ROCKY THEME HERE ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]


 

[davep]

I don't believe there is such a thing as souls delivery as odds are it will land on another couple anyways

[Paul Moss]

I don't want to sound like I'm preaching but all it takes is a bit of thinking and you can get your leaflets delivered

http://www.gumtree.com/p/jobs/school-leaver-young-person-to-help-us-deliver-leaflets/1010152133

My son took 4 people out on a trial yesturday for 3 hrs,  I'm picking up 3 this morning and 3 tomorrow

We will pick the best 2 or 3 but we have had 39hrs of leaflet delivery in this trial.

We still have not contacted all the applicants, these are young people desperate for money, I bet it's the same everywhere.

And it works out at about £25/1000 solo delivery

  and i got slated paying £30 a thou

[cannon]

im a big fan of using child labour, i used to use my kids and step kids. Just dont fall into the trap of giving them an advance on there wages, ends up them always owing you time and there motivation dwindles when they've allready been payed.

Leaflet delivery companies really need to address the miss trust businesses have toward them. A couple of local companies have done this making a big point of gps tracking, i believe one company you can even view delivery in real time.

[Billy Russell]

im a big fan of using child labour, i used to use my kids and step kids. Just dont fall into the trap of giving them an advance on there wages, ends up them always owing you time and there motivation dwindles when they've allready been payed.

Leaflet delivery companies really need to address the miss trust businesses have toward them. A couple of local companies have done this making a big point of gps tracking, i believe one company you can even view delivery in real time.

I agree with Karl, Child Labour is the way forward, Here's a pic of my daugther earning her tea, No work, No Tea!! Simples!

[Paul Moss]

Billy i would have a word with Tanya, she is far too good looking to be yours mate.

[Billy Russell]

Tanya more than makes up for my looks!!!

 

[Allan Simmons]

Yep, at TACCA, Friday and Saturday nights.

For christ sake, just don't ask him who pays his wages!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[[[[[[[[[[[ INSERT ROCKY THEME HERE ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]


 

 

[andrew66]

We stopped leaflet drops for the mo, too expensive last drop we did was 10,000 leaflets , and we got  one job didnt cover the outlay

[Ian Gourlay]

I don't want to sound like I'm preaching but all it takes is a bit of thinking and you can get your leaflets delivered

http://www.gumtree.com/p/jobs/school-leaver-young-person-to-help-us-deliver-leaflets/1010152133

My son took 4 people out on a trial yesturday for 3 hrs,  I'm picking up 3 this morning and 3 tomorrow

We will pick the best 2 or 3 but we have had 39hrs of leaflet delivery in this trial.

We still have not contacted all the applicants, these are young people desperate for money, I bet it's the same everywhere.

And it works out at about £25/1000 solo delivery

When you say you had them on trial , do you mean you did not pay them

Now there are two working in your business I can see how Michael Jnr 
can go and clean carpets  while you  motivate leaflet delivers
On Dragons Den they had to be able to jog  also
If you are still having pain trouble this  could develop
into profitable spin off