Advertiseing

[Nhbuilder]

What works for you guys , I have never really had to advertise. But now I want to get my name out there more. So what really works?

[Nhbuilder]

Re: Advertiseing

Thanks For the Help, I would post here before get help this site has really gone down hill. 95 views and nobody can say, hey I letter my truck, I make signs, I send out flyers. Thanks again for all the help.

[Dancing Dan]

Re: Advertiseing

Jeez, crabby aren't we?

It's an almost hopelessly vague question. Have you identified who exactly you want to reach? Are you high-volume, low cost (like window replacement, gutters, etc) and need a lot of leads, or are you low-volume, high cost (big remodels, additions, new homes) and need a few high-quality leads? Do you want cold calls from people who saw your truck, or do you want referrals from existing clients? There's no magic bullet - tell us more about the problem you're trying to solve.

Search the forum - there have been many discussions about the pros and cons of various methods. Though I've never done it, there was a recent thread where several people said they'd had great success with door hangers at houses surrounding a current job, and even more success knocking on doors in the neighborhood, "apologizing" for any inconvenience their high-quality work might cause.

[Bluewoodrock]

Re: Advertiseing

I've got to agree with Dan on this one. And a lot of us where having a great time at the JLC live show this weekend. Not to mention our resident how to run your business guru is under the weather,to put it mildly.( we're all pulling for ya Sonny)

[magna111]

Re: Advertiseing

95 views, there are over 13500 registered users of this site which means less then 1% of the registered users to this site might have even seen your post. i bet the majority of the people who viewed your post are in the same boat as you are in and saw the subject and thought "oh maybe this will be something useful and helpful for me" then read your post and realized they cant help you their looking for the same answers. be patient and maybe youll get answers, continue to be snappy and im sure you will be ignored.

btw, i was at jlc providence this weekend and attended 2 seminars sorta about this, one was about sales, and the other was what to do when the phone stops ringing, i got a few good ideas, but i spent $200 to goto these seminars, how much is this info worth to you...

[matt in golden]

Re: Advertiseing

Nh,

I've found that the more you give the more you get back when it comes to this or any forum. Give the guys a story about yourself and what you hope to achieve and then they will help you out.

It's like the jobsite, you need to show initiative before people are going to help you out because nobody owes you anything.

Matt

[Jason Nigro]

Re: Advertiseing

We send out monthly newsletters to all our clients. You might try a networking group like BNI.

[m beezo]

Re: Advertiseing

How about some of the starting parts like..you got a company name, logo, letterhead, uniformed workers, work vehicles all the same color....

There are lots of things that can be considered advertising. Everything from the ones I mentioned to radio and TV, newspapers, e mail, newsletters, door hangers. Most of which require something more than a printer at home if you want to attract folks attention.

How much you want to spend?

What kind of return you want on your investment?

You want to buy zip code advertising for only certain areas of town or blanket the entire place?

Guess I am saying give us some more info, who you are, what you do, what you want to try to accomplish.

Let me give you a hint, the more specific and more information you are the better the answers will be.

[Mike from NH]

Re: Advertiseing

I have done a good deal of advertizing myself with pretty crappy luck. I'm a full service drywall contractor targeting smaller remodels, additions, basements. Average sale is around $3000. So 2 years ago I decided to go the phone books. I was in 14 total, covering nearly 75 mile radius, and dominating about 5 books. $10,000 later it got me no where. I got on avarage 5-10 calls a month from other drywallers looking for work!

[Nickymg]

Re: Advertiseing

Read JLC University - Marketing/Advertising System. I bumped it to the top for you.
Nicole

[David Meiland]

Re: Advertiseing

Thanks For the Help, I would post here before get help this site has really gone down hill. 95 views and nobody can say, hey I letter my truck, I make signs, I send out flyers. Thanks again for all the help.

This topic has been discussed very thoroughly. You should look back thru old threads in the Business Strategies folder. There is plenty there already posted.

[JMS BUILDERS]

Re: Advertiseing

Nh,

I've found that the more you give the more you get back when it comes to this or any forum. Give the guys a story about yourself and what you hope to achieve and then they will help you out.

It's like the jobsite, you need to show initiative before people are going to help you out because nobody owes you anything.

Matt

The kid hit it on the head and should be a sticky in my opinion btw how ya been matt?

Yes I know thread drift at it's finest do I get points for honesty?

[BathRenewal]

Re: Advertiseing

Google Adwords! I'm getting a 10-15% click-through with about a 5% conversion. The clicks I'm paying for are high-quality clicks because I really target my keywords to the ad, and I'm not bidding on # 1-2. Bidding 1-2 is crazy. I'm paying half of what others are paying because my ad is more relevant (very targeted) and I write good copy on my ad to get the attention of the people I'm trying to reach.

I'm paying about 5 percent on every dollar I make for marketing with media. That's not too bad considering 3 percent of every dollar made spent on marketing is a respectable figure for a "mature" company.

And I would be willing to bet I'm getting the same people clicking who are also going to ServiceMagic's website, but I'm paying pennies on the dollar for each lead instead of the astronomical fee ServiceMagic charges.

NOTE: This is only part of an overall marketing strategy to use. Don't think Google Adwords will replace your other marketing efforts (especially if you don't know what the heck you're doing with Adwords). You can quickly lose your shirt if you don't set things correctly.

[jocobe]

Re: Advertiseing

I'll second Google Adwords and Google Analytics. I mostly do small jobs and have gotten a lot of leads/orders from my website. One $7K job I got last fall was for a $1.37 click on my Google ad; pretty cost effective.

I advertised years ago in the yellow pages, what a waste of money. Now when the phone book is delivered I throw it right in the recycling container.

[BathRenewal]

Re: Advertiseing

One thing I forgot to mention. I've read that nearly 25% of Google searches are looking for local products and services. Now that figure is a year old from when I read it, so I would be willing to bet that the number is perhaps higher at this point.

So 1 out of every 4 people who punch in something on Google are looking how to get that product or service in their area. Now the reality is that number is far greater for searches related to our industry. I would guess that 1 out of 4 are looking for "how-to" information so they can DIY. But I'd bet 3 out of 4 people who search for "window replacements" are likely looking for someone who can do it for them.

As time passes, the phone book will go away. Everyone will just "Google" it.