Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: jonah on February 07, 2008, 09:36:59 pm
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so far this year I have had an add in paper and it cost me £100 . To date I have priced , cleaned and have £130 per month worth of business . What is your best return of investment ? Reason Im asking I have ordered 10,000 leaflets and I know its gonna take me ages to post em but time is money and all that , so how do you get youres ?
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Van signs, pick up work every week ;D ;D ;D
Blessings
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you are blessed
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van signs 8)
brett
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a website is one of the best investments, as it is online 24/7 365 py and any other advertising you do you add the web address to make it work to the fullest potential.
why have half page when a website address gives you loads of pages at a lower cost. not rocket science but many still dont have a website.
same for vans signage, why just have a tel number that no one will ever remember, when a web address is easier to remember ::)
Ian
p.s that was not a sales pitch by the way, just a fact ;)
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so as to cost what are the figures ? Ie money spent to return ?
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so as to cost what are the figures ? Ie money spent to return ?
1 customer in a year pays for it, now that cant be back ;)
Ian
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£4.50 a month in the local Parish Mag, 50p a week in the local shop:
Return? £250.00 a month.
Matt
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Do you ask when somone rings where they got your number ?
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Do you ask when somone rings where they got your number ?
every time I ask them where they got my number and 9/10 it is from website.
Ian
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What kind of money are you looking at for the website ?
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if you've an eye catching and nicely sign written van, park in a prominent part of your home town each morning and go for a coffee, or aim for a shop or business on the high street and clean as people are on their way to work. its free advertising innit?
over time , people notice
"why just have a tel number that no one will ever remember"
not a dig ww , glad it works for you, but most people have mobile phones these days, its easy to punch in a number and save it!
I dont have a website so can't comment on that, but when i've needed a trades person I've usually gone to someone i see around a lot. Imo I don't think potential customers trawl the internet looking for a window cleaner (its low on their priorities) but when the opportunity arises and they see your van or you working they then ask for a card or take the number down.
I made a lot of mistakes when starting up and spent money in various ad papers and local directories to very little success.
Being seen has been by far the best advertising for me, recommendation incentives to your existing customers by way of a discount has worked as well.
Simon
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i dunno the exact figures but i must have picked up about £800 of work through a parish magazine that has cost me a tenner per year for the last 4 years.
I have gone for months without a call at times but maybe twice a year i will get a run of new work from this advert. In the last year it has been the last 4 weeks and continuing and last september/october time was quite good as well. I put around 100 leaflets out in a couple of roads in town with big houses a couple of weeks ago. Was asked twice to quote and both times were not interested in my price.
Put 20 - 30 leaflets out at a few houses in the villages i work and picked up 5 for £80 total.
Towns suck big time. I quit town work after i'd been going for 4 months. Had around 15 jobs here but never went back. What blew it for me was quoting a house with 12 windows for £7. She laughed at me and said she'd never paid more than £2.
I thought i'd test the larger property market here now i was more confident. I might try again in another 4 years. But i doubt it.
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websites are great and in time i think people will lokk for window cleaners even more on there but i dont think they are the best marketing, iv had one for 3 years(nearly and its only the last 8 months its started to produce work and alough it gets tons of hits and im very high up on google it still does not generate a great deal.
All though more than enough to justify its price.
yell.com and yellow pages are good but there inconsistant you have to bear with the bad years cause you wll have some good years but it also depends on the volume on competitores.
never tried parish mag so cant comment but sign written van, uniform and just being seen cleaning i think is the best way!! so thats my very long winded answer :D
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This is what works best for me.
Word of mouth.
Parish mag
Van signs
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ive created my website with microsoft office live.
Does anyone know how i can get my website ssem by the right people?
Its really only for other exterior cleaning, not window cleaning.
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van signage
good cards
website
yellow pages
printed uniforms
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Good comments , I am getting around 5 or 6 calls a week from local paper advert only put it in once a week but it is getting me some good work .
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Good comments , I am getting around 5 or 6 calls a week from local paper advert only put it in once a week but it is getting me some good work .
i was thinking of putting a box in the paper, but i keep getting put off by people, has a local paper ad worked for anyone else?
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I have a half page ad going in the paper up till mothers day ;D
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£400 Yell.com ad = 2 calls in 2 months
£1000 yellow pages ad = 1 call in 2 months
Local rag £100 a year== 2 calls in 12 months
£500 in other newspapers = 5 jobs but mostly 2 far out of the way or one offs
seen working free = roughly one new job a day
reccomends = 1-2 new jobs per day
van signage = one new job a month
leaflets = roughly 1 new job per 300 leaflets dropped , produced 10 jobs in 6 months
verbal enquirys ie cold calling , 1 new job per month
Internet enquiries, 1 job every 2 months
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£400 Yell.com ad = 2 calls in 2 months
£1000 yellow pages ad = 1 call in 2 months
Local rag £100 a year== 2 calls in 12 months
£500 in other newspapers = 5 jobs but mostly 2 far out of the way or one offs
seen working free = roughly one new job a day
reccomends = 1-2 new jobs per day
van signage = one new job a month
leaflets = roughly 1 new job per 300 leaflets dropped , produced 10 jobs in 6 months
verbal enquirys ie cold calling , 1 new job per month
Internet enquiries, 1 job every 2 months
think I should really watch where I am getting most work and do a tally, Web site gets the most work then leaflets then recommendations then van to count how many jobs would be good to know I guess.
Ian
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On Wednesday I forked out £2.50 for an advert in the window of a village shop for 4 weeks.
I have loads of work here but thought, what the hell you never know!
On Thusday got a quote £37.00 on a regular clean. Today a regular £10.00 clean and a 10 week clean at £45.00.
Thats a good return already and what a great way to finish the week ;D
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On Wednesday I forked out £2.50 for an advert in the window of a village shop for 4 weeks.
I have loads of work here but thought, what the hell you never know!
On Thusday got a quote £37.00 on a regular clean. Today a regular £10.00 clean and a 10 week clean at £45.00.
Thats a good return already and what a great way to finish the week ;D
I have done this and got nothing, but for the cost I will still do it every now and again
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a local newsagent has quoted me £10 to put 1000 leaflets in newspapers , seems better than walking the streets !
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a local newsagent has quoted me £10 to put 1000 leaflets in newspapers , seems better than walking the streets !
only thing with that is will people read it, this is what I do.
I get a newspaper anything falls out if goes straight in the bin
if posting a leaflet in someones door they have to pick it up, most will have a quick scan then either bin it keep it or call you, I know what I would go for. but for £10 I would do both ;)
Ian
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Just a point dave morris , did you have a budget in mind for the advertising , and did you have an expectation of the business you would create ?
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Jonah
I had a £4k budget for advertising.
I just wanted to test the water to see what works and what doesnt, my only expectations are to gain more work than i lose.
If i gain £20k worth of work from my advertising budget i will be more than happy.
Saying that I picked up £30k of extra work last year without spending a penny.
Dave
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Leaflets that come with a daily paper or local paper are generally for electric items, or loans, or takeaway menus......... double glazing and similar.
I think even new facia leaflets, garage doors, and perhaps even gardening and odd job leaflets,
do not compare with a window cleaning leaflet, i really believe when one is posted they either use it or save it, as there are so many fly by nights out there ,that ours are the ones to keep,
its a fickle business in many respects, but that can only be a good thing for the rest of us.
You may say that any service ..that may be required in the near future, the leaflet will be saved.
but you can ring the yellow pages for any odd job,
But a regular, reliable window cleaner is not something a lot of people are used to...
mainly because of the dole brigade,
So in a way they are doing us a favour, how many times has a customer said its nice to get a regular reliable guy like ?... how pleasing is that.
our leaflets are very important, .
More Than The Rest.
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The best advise is do a good job , know your customers then you will see they will recomend you. The downside is you then become too busy and turn work away
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The best advise is do a good job , know your customers then you will see they will recomend you. The downside is you then become too busy and turn work away
i wish lol
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The best advise is do a good job ,
yep don't i know it. Did an in/out 1st clean today. Was minging. And that was after i'd done. ;D
Gonna be calling them up later and going over the offending areas with a damp cloth, now the worst is off.
Oh well!!