*Hector*

  • Posts: 9265
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #20 on: January 26, 2020, 05:57:05 am »

Yeah I  googled God’s country and it came up with Yorkshire

Quite right too  ;D ;D
Everyday this forum slips further from God.  :'(

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #21 on: January 26, 2020, 07:33:39 am »
Rich if you need a website the kireth.com  can design and host one for £15 a month, he did both mine and they look good, both rank on the first page of google.

The idea that people will get your leaflet and throw it away as you don’t have a website is in opinion wrong, not having a website is no reason not to get your leaflets out as soon As possible., (although it’s a good excuse not to put them out) I have lots of elderly customers who are not internet savvy and never look at my website
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

RPCCS

  • Posts: 944
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #22 on: January 26, 2020, 11:13:18 am »
Rich if you need a website the kireth.com  can design and host one for £15 a month, he did both mine and they look good, both rank on the first page of google.

The idea that people will get your leaflet and throw it away as you don’t have a website is in opinion wrong, not having a website is no reason not to get your leaflets out as soon As possible., (although it’s a good excuse not to put them out) I have lots of elderly customers who are not internet savvy and never look at my website
A very valid point Mike, never thought of that, tbh I targeted a couple of estates in the next village, and got about 5 jobs from there and most of them were elderly.   As mentioned in a previous post, my daughter can design me a basic website to get started, I just need to decide what to put on it, do you mind if I send you a pic by email of my flyer? I presume your website has contact details?
Cheers Rich

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #23 on: January 26, 2020, 11:26:02 am »
Info     @         henry         halliday      co  uk

Put all this together
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

RPCCS

  • Posts: 944
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #24 on: January 26, 2020, 11:28:25 am »
Photo on the way.  Now sent.
Cheers Rich

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #25 on: January 26, 2020, 11:39:54 am »
This is one of mine,  front and back, it’s a DL size in a quality thick paper

Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #26 on: January 26, 2020, 11:41:42 am »
As a A5 leaflets
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

RPCCS

  • Posts: 944
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #27 on: January 26, 2020, 11:51:17 am »
I l like the  promotional offers saying more work done and receive a discount.
Cheers Rich

Ned Kelly

  • Posts: 68
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #28 on: January 26, 2020, 01:07:27 pm »
If you do it the way I suggested Rich you will optimise your leaflet drop and you may get 10 jobs instead of five. For Mike to suggest that prospective customers after receiving your flyer won't google your company name looking for reviews etc and after finding none are still going to call you is nonsense, and I would absolutely take anything Mike says now regarding starting a new business with a pinch of salt . Yes you are going to get the little old lady calling you but the middle class professionals are going to toss it right in the bin! It's no skin off my nose who you believe Rich, but have you ever wondered why round about this time of year, Mike, after  decades in business is still sitting in McDonalds sipping coffee at six in the morning before he delivers 1000 flyers to little old ladies? btw credit where credit is due Mike your flyers are top notch

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #29 on: January 26, 2020, 02:05:01 pm »
got To agree with Ned, I would ignore me and listen to him :)

Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #30 on: January 26, 2020, 02:25:40 pm »
If you are going to market using flyers then you should target them to specific areas  or events and order them in small batches, eg; if you are going to target a specific town then mention that town in your special offers or if you are targeting a specific time like Xmas then mention that.

The best way to do this is have a blank template of your leaflet, then you can use a free app to put text onto the leaflet, I use this (photo attached) as you can see it has 3 boxes that can be filled with specific text, so I can target specific places, times or events

You can see in my above posts an example of how I have filled in the boxes

Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

Robin Ray

Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #31 on: January 26, 2020, 03:24:08 pm »
Best piece of marketing info I ever heard is simply to target your ideal customer (who ever that is) What does that type of customer want? (provide it for them) Where does that type of customer live? (market to those neighborhoods) What message will motivate that customer? (write it) What type of media will that type of customer look at? leaflets, facebook, google, local magazines, etc? (use that type of media). Ignore everyone else and everything else, it is a waste of time, money and effort.

For me that is a elderly lady, living in a bungalow who is willing to pay for the job to be done right, she is established in the local community and values using  tradesmen who have been recommended by their friends. She is more likely to look at a flyer than search on google or ask on facebook.

For someone else it may be a middle age person who lives in a rental property they need to get the carpet cleaned because they are moving out and it is in their contract to get them cleaned. They are not interested in how good the result is they just want an invoice so they can get their deposit back. The lowest bidder will get the job. They will ask on local facebook groups for recommendations.

There are other types of customer and you tend to find yourself working for a particular type more often than not.

Your service needs to match the customer too. If you provide a top quality service to customer A, she will be happy and recommend you. To make any real money servicing customer B, you need to be working extremely quickly because the profits tend to be alot lower.

Ned Kelly

  • Posts: 68
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #32 on: January 26, 2020, 05:27:27 pm »
Your flyers look great Mike but I take it you just use them on a certain demographic e. g. estates that would appreciate a discount? Do you have one which serves higher end housing estates where the customer is only interested in quality work and not looking for a discount so much?

RPCCS

  • Posts: 944
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #33 on: January 26, 2020, 09:01:33 pm »
I get a few enquiries from my fb page, but most never come to anything, as they just want a price and that’s it I have had 3  or 4 jobs from enquiries but most never bother replying.  However I have had  quite a bit of business from flyers.  Will have to start thinking about  what content to put on a website.
Cheers Rich

Ned Kelly

  • Posts: 68
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #34 on: January 26, 2020, 10:55:35 pm »
Rich, have you contacted an organisation like this yet  (if not ,why not?) https://www.northeastgrowthhub.co.uk/ ? I think it's your area. It will give you proper advice on how to start a new business. It will give you real info on how to grow a new business properly instead of trying to rely on Mikes flyers which resemble a traveling zoo coming to town lol. Please pay special attention to the Finance and Funding bit.

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #35 on: January 27, 2020, 07:22:30 am »
Ned have I said something to upset you? I know I contradicted your advice about when Rich should put out his leaflets but like I said in that post it was just my opinion.

Now you are have little digs at my business which isn’t very nice ;) My intention was never to offend you,  we all have something to offer advice wise and we all work and market in different ways.

Leaflet marketing I think does have a bad image I think it’s the thought of walking the street on a wet day putting out leaflets it’s horrible and hard to do... ‘surely there are better ways to market’ is what people think.

But I normally work as a 3 man team  ( me, my son and another man) we work 5 days a week this time of year, 6 days March-Nov our leaflet marketing produces all the work to fill these days, this is high end customers paying top prices. We deliver to the same area every 4-6 weeks so all our existing customer receive our leaflet regularly so it also act as a reminder card to them .

To give full disclosure carpet a upholstery cleaning is only part of what we do, (about a grand a week) the bulk is the exterior cleaning.

‘In my opinion’ leaflet marketing when done right is the most effective and quickest way to build a business, you might not agree but  there is room for everyone’s advice in this subject
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

RPCCS

  • Posts: 944
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #36 on: January 27, 2020, 02:58:39 pm »
[Quote ]:Mike Halliday   
‘In my opinion’ leaflet marketing when done right is the most effective and quickest way to build a business, you might not agree but there is room for everyone’s advice in this subject.   I agree and will take on board what you both have said .
Cheers Rich

Ned Kelly

  • Posts: 68
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #37 on: January 27, 2020, 03:46:03 pm »
Not very nice when someone is rude, condescending and dismissive of your post is it Mike?  You seem to be a well read sort of guy so if you get a wee chance there is a terrific book by Jordon Peterson called "12 Rules for Life".  Rule number 9 is "Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don't".
 Normally I find your posts informative, interesting and educational but at times, unfortunately, you do come across as rude ,condescending and dismissive (I have personal experience of this and not a way a moderator should behave) and I do get the impression that if someone said black you would say white, just to contradict them, and it does put me off from posting sometimes. A type of guy as they say in Scotland who " would start a fight in a empty house".
Most forums now a days, unfortunately, have moderators who tend to be mostly alpha- male type , middle-aged, articulate but far to opinionated and egotistical.  A times Mike,  sadly,  you occasionally turn into this type . 

Darek M

  • Posts: 7
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #38 on: January 27, 2020, 04:27:44 pm »
Knock the door and instead sell your service, leave a leaflet if no one is in.
Shiny Windows offer professional window cleaning!  and gutter clearing in Nottingham.

RPCCS

  • Posts: 944
Re: Advice on getting work
« Reply #39 on: January 27, 2020, 08:36:38 pm »
Not very nice when someone is rude, condescending and dismissive of your post is it Mike?  You seem to be a well read sort of guy so if you get a wee chance there is a terrific book by Jordon Peterson called "12 Rules for Life".  Rule number 9 is "Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don't".
 Normally I find your posts informative, interesting and educational but at times, unfortunately, you do come across as rude ,condescending and dismissive (I have personal experience of this and not a way a moderator should behave) and I do get the impression that if someone said black you would say white, just to contradict them, and it does put me off from posting sometimes. A type of guy as they say in Scotland who " would start a fight in a empty house".
Most forums now a days, unfortunately, have moderators who tend to be mostly alpha- male type , middle-aged, articulate but far to opinionated and egotistical.  A times Mike,  sadly,  you occasionally turn into this type .
Ned/Mike please don't have a falling out on my part. Respect to you both, you have both given me sound advice, which I intend to act on. There is no need for any unpleasantness, you both have your own way of doing things, what works for one doesn't for another, so how about agreeing to differ?😀😀 That's what gentlemen are supposed to do, not pistols at dawn 😂😂😂
Cheers Rich