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gaz1984mcc

  • Posts: 194
tried and tested marketing?
« on: October 15, 2011, 03:20:33 pm »
Hi everyone as you probably know the hardest thing when your starting out is getting customers. Ive tried pretty much all the free methods ie google places, qype, yell, thomson, facebook, ive got a website online. Ive posted a few hundred leaflets so far. I keep meaning to go canvassing but i just dont know if ive got the balls for it anymore lol. So id like to know what other avenues i should go down into marketing my services. Are facebook ads any good? Google adwords. Are they worth it? Local paper ads do they work?

If anyone has got any tips id really appreciate it

Thanks

Colin Day

Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2011, 03:36:00 pm »
Is your van sign written? If not, why not? It's a brilliant advertising tool.... :)

I must say most of my customers I am getting are repeat and referrals and facebook. But I get a lot of people asking for my business cards when I get out of my van in car parks and at customer's houses.... Unless I've taken my magnetic signs off... ;D


gaz1984mcc

  • Posts: 194
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #2 on: October 15, 2011, 03:45:41 pm »
I dont have a van ive got a renault scenic like a people carrier but i do have some large magnets on the sides ive also got a roof box magnet which i put on to wind my misses up cause she hates it says she feels embarrassed about it lol

Colin Day

Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #3 on: October 15, 2011, 03:56:23 pm »
I dont have a van ive got a renault scenic like a people carrier but i do have some large magnets on the sides ive also got a roof box magnet which i put on to wind my misses up cause she hates it says she feels embarrassed about it lol

Mine too... She doesn't like the idea of me getting my Primastar fully sign written. The magnets are fine, as long as people know what you are all about, that's all that matters... :)

Richard Basey-Fisher

  • Posts: 260
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #4 on: October 15, 2011, 04:04:15 pm »
i am afraid the blunt answer to your question is yes there are tried and tested ways of marketing your business getting the basic s right to start with signwritten van  , personal appearance , business cards are the most important IMO .

After that you need to have a budget for your advertising try as many diff ways to gain work within that budget monitor responses adjust or drop advertising avenues until you find your own route.  

basically one rule that works most of the time if you are approached to buy advertising in something or somewhere it generally does not work .

Mr Dvae

  • Posts: 445
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2011, 04:30:52 pm »
1. decide how much £ you want to turn over in the next 12 months
2. divide by 5 and multiply by 2

This will give you your intended advertising budget.

3. decide how you want to split it up?  y/pages, yell.com, newspaper, leaflets, door-knocking etc
You could value yourself at £100/ day door-knocking.

4 Spend all your budget, and you should have plenty of work.


This is only my opinion and should be adapted to fit your own needs. No responsibility is taken for any losses caused by using this system.

Shaun_Ashmore

  • Posts: 11382
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #6 on: October 15, 2011, 05:18:35 pm »
Few hundred leaflets will do-nothing you need thousands and thousands ask mike Halliday he is the 'knowledge' when it comes to them.

I'm afraid that patience and hard work is the only way.

Shaun

wynne jones

  • Posts: 2918
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #7 on: October 15, 2011, 05:48:32 pm »
My tip is to not give up on something the first time you try it hoping there is a magic bullet elsewhere. If there is such a thing it's incrementally improving on something over and over rather than flitting around.
It's not expensive, you just can't afford it.

Jamie Lindsay

  • Posts: 478
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #8 on: October 15, 2011, 06:06:36 pm »
im in the same position

my solution is keep overheads down.... and dont expect your business to go through the roof straight away it doesn't happen overnight especially in this climate

again everyone is in diff financial positions so one theory might work for one person but not for the other

when you ask the question do I like what i am doing and you cant answer yes then its time to go back to 9-5

thats the reason why I keep going because I like what I do and I know its no easy ride

just my opinion

Kingsley Wright

  • Posts: 11
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #9 on: October 15, 2011, 07:44:11 pm »
As regards advertising, it's better to have several small adverts in different places than a big advert in just one or two places.

Having said that, an oven cleaner near to me paid for the local paper to do a 'news feature' on his company - apparently it cost him a few hundred pounds but he claims to have got a shed load of work from it. (Though he'd have had to clean a lot of ovens to get the marketing costs back).

Also it's important to monitor how people got your phone number when they call you so that you can target your advertising budget efficiently.

As for canvassing - a lot of people find it hard to canvas, but it DOES get results.

When I first started it provided enough work to keep me going until the work from advertising, repeat business and referrals started to kick in.

Good luck  :)

Kingsley










AshWhite

  • Posts: 3427
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #10 on: October 15, 2011, 09:19:52 pm »
Being self-employed, I don't find canvassing nerve wracking or hard - if you're employed and you have targets to hit then it's a different story.

As far as getting business goes, I find that the more work you do, the more business you get. I targeted Facebook quite aggressively with before & after images, posted in loads of groups 3 times a week offering living room cleans for £25 (and managed to upsell a lot of them to having hallways, bedrooms etc done as well).

The best advert for any industry of this type is word of mouth, so make sure you're delivering a good service consistently, and remember that the scrote who your charging £30 might be the daughter of a landlord with 40 houses!
Carpet Cleaning http://www.floors2show.co.uk
Google Adwords Management http://www.pagecrest.co.uk

shine services

  • Posts: 111
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #11 on: October 15, 2011, 09:37:28 pm »
I think every1 who has posted has given good advice, adjust these to suite yoy and your business.
I started 2 years ago this month and only now consider myself as newly established with steady work. I asked a similiar question then, on a business forum.
Moniter what works and stick with it, drop what doesnt,  do the job to the best of your ability each and every time as most of your work in the future will be born from word of mouth and referals. Keep on at the facebook/ twitter campaigns as it by far is the best way to reach the public in your area and is completly free!!!! Make a profile add all your friends, family etc and your friend list will grow rapidly. Post exclusive offers and re-post them 2x a day, each time delete the last 1 as your profie page will fill with the same thing over and over, upload pics of your work and ask custies to post a recomendation.

shine services

  • Posts: 111
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #12 on: October 15, 2011, 09:46:56 pm »
Oh and if you dont like canvassing (same as me :) ) then get others to do it for you. Friends and family etc. This is what i did with my window cleaning rounds. Give them xy %  of value of job  bookings. It gives them incentive and gives you more time to concentrate on your other forms of advertising.

John Milnes

Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #13 on: October 15, 2011, 10:01:45 pm »
Gaz has a good question.

Some ten years ago, I bought an Ashbys Ninja. Well so what?
Well, with the machine came a free marketinfg course. So not much to write home about there!

On that course, there was some (aging but very nice) bloke.

He asked what everybody expected to make in their first year....one by one. Of course their, and mine expectations were pretty high.

He said you won't make what you expect to earn, to every individual....he was right ;D

However, he did tell everone on the course how indeed to earn a good living eventually.

I completely ignored him ;D as you do. Untill, I was sat at home one day thinking , how will I pay the mortgage.

That was a good day........I remebered what he said

Sometimes people tell you stuff and you don't take it seriously

AshWhite

  • Posts: 3427
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #14 on: October 15, 2011, 10:05:02 pm »
Gaz has a good question.

Some ten years ago, I bought an Ashbys Ninja. Well so what?
Well, with the machine came a free marketinfg course. So not much to write home about there!

On that course, there was some (aging but very nice) bloke.

He asked what everybody expected to make in their first year....one by one. Of course their, and mine expectations were pretty high.

He said you won't make what you expect to earn, to every individual....he was right ;D

However, he did tell everone on the course how indeed to earn a good living eventually.

I completely ignored him ;D as you do. Untill, I was sat at home one day thinking , how will I pay the mortgage.

That was a good day........I remebered what he said

Sometimes people tell you stuff and you don't take it seriously

Well??
Carpet Cleaning http://www.floors2show.co.uk
Google Adwords Management http://www.pagecrest.co.uk

L.Doubtfire - The Blade Runner

  • Posts: 822
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #15 on: October 16, 2011, 07:21:26 am »
Come on then Carpet Guy, what did he tell ya
You forgot to tell us ???


Lewis  Doubtfire
L. Doubtfire
Window Cleaner

Simon Gerrard

  • Posts: 4405
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #16 on: October 16, 2011, 09:14:39 am »
One of the most important aspects of marketing your services is the quality of your work. Getting customers is one thing, keeping them is another. This industry is notorious for soak and run merchants and people who simply do not know what they are doing. The trick is to put your customer in a position where they can't get what you do anywhere else and you achieve that, not simply by offering a cheap price, but by delivering superb quality carpet cleaning. A customer may have chosen you because of your price but they keep you because of the quality of your work. You have to be in a position to not only keep your customer but have them recommend you to friends, family and work colleagues. If you can't do that you will always be spending money to find new customers and success will always elude you. Apart from the obvious advertising mediums, you have to work equally hard on your cleaning skills because every job is an advert.

Simon

wynne jones

  • Posts: 2918
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #17 on: October 16, 2011, 09:36:30 am »
Gaz has a good question.

Some ten years ago, I bought an Ashbys Ninja. Well so what?
Well, with the machine came a free marketinfg course. So not much to write home about there!

On that course, there was some (aging but very nice) bloke.

He asked what everybody expected to make in their first year....one by one. Of course their, and mine expectations were pretty high.

He said you won't make what you expect to earn, to every individual....he was right ;D

However, he did tell everone on the course how indeed to earn a good living eventually.

I completely ignored him ;D as you do. Untill, I was sat at home one day thinking , how will I pay the mortgage.

That was a good day........I remebered what he said

Sometimes people tell you stuff and you don't take it seriously

Well??

Maybe what he means is we are told what to do but then don't do it because we think it won't work or are half hearted about it.
It's not expensive, you just can't afford it.

Doug Holloway

  • Posts: 3917
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #18 on: October 16, 2011, 10:46:41 am »
Hi Guys

I have used the Internet to great effect and would strongly recommend you build as good a web presence as possible,

Cheers

Doug

Barry Livingstone

  • Posts: 646
Re: tried and tested marketing?
« Reply #19 on: October 17, 2011, 05:35:42 pm »
wish it was the case in Scotland Doug am looking at the starts for my sites in the past 30days visits down 43%, 23% and 4% one site up 23%

the funny bit is the site down 4% still gives me the best return of all the sites.

Barry
Carpet, Upholstery cleaning & hard floor cleaning.
                     Fife, perth and tayside.