[markpowell]

Hi,
Markpowell2411@yahoo.co.uk

[Mr Dvae]

 :oI have to be honest, have advertised in y/pages for many years now and this is the quietest start of year i've ever come accross (Fresh calls from y/pages) if this were my first year i wouldn't find it encouraging at all!!!
However if last year was anything to go by, the phone was dead for the first six months and from 1st july onwards the phone started ringing off the hook and didn't stop until january i was booked for weeks and weeks ahead! I think the seasons are changing workwise.
return wise spending £2500 in yellow pages has returned me between 10 to 20'000 pounds in the past few years but you have to work at it to get this.

regards

Dave

[PILEUP]

Just remember when pricing work not to go to low as you cant compare the money you take from a customer to the money you got paid by your old boss.

Say you got £50 at the end of the day before, that was yours to go down the pub or buy some shopping, pay your bills or do with what you choose.

If you was to do two rooms now and earn £50 in a hour it seems great, but in effect you will have probably earnt little to nothing dont forget all this advertising be it parish mags, y/p or leaflets all has to come out of this as well as fuel costs, insurance, phone bill, chemicals and a whole load of other stuff.

You will also find that keeping a van and cc machine on the road is a expensive buisness as they will break down and you have no choice but to repair them else you aint getting to work the following day. And then to top it off i rekon this industry must get more last minute cancellations than any other leaving you gaps in your diary even when you think you are fully booked.

All this is not to put you off, just be realistic when setting your prices as you will come across a lot of obsticals day to day. Its no good setting them on par with a daily wage else when something goes wrong in the week it will swallow all your profit and you will have done a weeks work for nothing

For example this week i had a decent weeks work booked in not loads but something every day some jobs paying as much as £100 a hour. Then yesterday the brakes went on the van costing me £200 and i had a job cancell to the tune of £245 thats all my profit for the week gone now, had i have been charging lower prices i would have made a loss this week, and if my prices were to low and i had no reserve money in the bank i may have not even been able to fix the van meaning i would have been out of buisness

Also if you can get 2 leads out of 500 leaflets, why not pay somebody to deliver 1000 a day you would be getting 4 leads a day much more than you would ever get from y/p

hi thanks for the advice all taken on board.
didnt think of it like that just thought about getting a few extra quid in the pocket.
regards chris

[PILEUP]

:oI have to be honest, have advertised in y/pages for many years now and this is the quietest start of year i've ever come accross (Fresh calls from y/pages) if this were my first year i wouldn't find it encouraging at all!!!
However if last year was anything to go by, the phone was dead for the first six months and from 1st july onwards the phone started ringing off the hook and didn't stop until january i was booked for weeks and weeks ahead! I think the seasons are changing workwise.
return wise spending £2500 in yellow pages has returned me between 10 to 20'000 pounds in the past few years but you have to work at it to get this.

regards

Dave

hi dave thanks for the reply.

my y/p add will be on there til next year i have paid for it so i will just have to wait and see what comes of it. but i still think i will cancel my extra add for september.
i,am now looking for a source that i can get some leaflets printed at a fair price.

regards chris

[PILEUP]

thanks to all that took the time to reply to my topic
and thanks for all the help.

if anyone can give me a good source to get leaflets printed that would be a great help.
many many thanks
kind regards chris