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Paul.M

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Due to the lack of consistent work coming in from normal contacts I'm going to have a push at advertising myself. I'm thinking of handing out my card to family and friends to pass onto anyone that mentions electrical work, leave some with the pub landlord, pin some up in the wholesalers etc. My question is, how much business do you lot get from this type of advertising?

I'm also thinking of getting some leaflets printed up to put in local shop windows advertising the fact that I'm a very local electrician with reasonable prices that I may give examples of? Is it a good idea to post leaflets through peoples doors? I normally throw them in the recycle bin so as I get one.

What about a 4 week small advert in the local newspaper? Apart from getting loads of calls from other advertising companies, what response should I expect?

Do any of our members use Vista print or is it worth spending a bit more and designing cards & leaflets face to face with a local firm?

Any input good or bad is appreciated.
 
I've used Vista print, not the cheapest but I do rate their quality, I particularly like the online design facility (once you've got used to it). Got business cards and rack cards from them - the rack cards I use when doing leafleting, yes they cost, but people round here keep them I get calls months after delivering them. So far the rack cards have paid for themselves many times over.

As for local shop windows, I've found to be a bit of a waste of money, I did about 9 shops locally for 6 months but only got work from one shop display - and today placed an advert again in said shop for 6 months.

Its worth asking your wholesalers -again I've had a few enquiries (and work) so my loyalty to them gets me leads.

Hope this helps.
 
Yes & No

If people who want the work doing yes. If you give them to the wrong audience no!

I'll try not to post leaflets through council houses and home federation letter boxes then ;).

I know what you mean mate. BTW you've just started up, how did you go about it?
 
Not cheap! 500 for a £5 :D id call that cheap.
Iv tryed it all Paul.m Bussiness/cards/flyers/pestering people lol.
Estate agents/Letting agents have all had my card. The butchers/Post office/Chippy, any where i can post a card/flyer i have.
Iv biten the bullet this week and advertised in the local rag. There are plenty of sparks in there and at £37 a week its expensive!
They Know where to charge the most!! If you want to sell something its like £5 :S
I ll keep you posted on how i get on.
 
paul use a local designer / printer... much better quality of cards than vista print and they can give you a unique design rather than template!
 
Hi Paul,

paul use a local designer / printer... much better quality of cards than vista print and they can give you a unique design rather than template!

Second that mate.... thats what I done, makes such a difference. Got my mate on the case to sort out all my marketing - logo, website, ad design etc. Worth every penny.

Tried most of the above methods:

Shop window - nothing (6 months trial with 12 cards in all different locations)

A5 postcard drops - good feedback, done this once last year, paid £125 to get 5000 delivered to more tricky areas: long drives / posh areas and done about 2000 myself. Had biggest job so far from this. And lots of other bits and pieces. Well worth it. Might do one again soon this year.

Pestering people - builders, estate agents, conservatory firms, kitchen firms. Direct emailing, letters by post, card thru door, face to face (hard work this one) but did get in with one kitchen firm who have kept my going since, week in week out and they probably now make up about 25% of my turnover.

A5 Ad in local glossy monthly mag - £150/month : Best by far, this goes out to 45,000 households local to me and I've paid 10% more to be first sparky you come to. Tons of work from this

All the best,

Sy
 
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I have a website but its only been running for a month and google hasnt picked it up yet,got the metatags ok but takes time to list it i think.A5 ad for £150 a month is a bit out of my price range.
 
Dint do vista print
They did some for me look spot on till I looked at mobile number!
Yeah I'd of understood a number typed wrong but a full number so I called it some woman from Ipswich answered

I've now gone to a local company with a design our lass did( she's a art designer so looks bob on)
There's loads local Paul in Leeds I've gone to one in cas might be a bit far for you though
Do you get on your doorstep booklet through your door in your area?
Try that they seem good
 
What about web site? I do some work for a tv installer and he keeps pestering me to get a web site.

What is everyones thoughts on this??

Have had website for about a year now..... only ever 2 enquirers through it !!

Just helps with creating the right business image I think, especially when you can direct your emails through there. Doesn't look to great when you see [email protected] or yahoo.co.uk ..... if you know what I mean (no offence to anyone that does have one of these)
 
Dint do vista print
They did some for me look spot on till I looked at mobile number!
Yeah I'd of understood a number typed wrong but a full number so I called it some woman from Ipswich answered

How much work does she get from your card :):):)

Cas isn't that far away, 20mins. Might be worth me giving you a call? Pm sent.

As for local add mags, none in my area but I was thinking of trying one in Horsforth for a few months to test the water. (its a nice working/middle class area full of home owners and not many council/federation houses and its a big area, 30,000 mags per month so a better chance of a hit).
 
How much work does she get from your card :):):)

Cas isn't that far away, 20mins. Might be worth me giving you a call? Pm sent.

As for local add mags, none in my area but I was thinking of trying one in Horsforth for a few months to test the water. (its a nice working/middle class area full of home owners and not many council/federation houses and its a big area, 30,000 mags per month so a better chance of a hit).


Alright pal I'm away at moment but will call you with number when I'm back
 
I have a website but its only been running for a month and google hasnt picked it up yet,got the metatags ok but takes time to list it i think.A5 ad for £150 a month is a bit out of my price range.

Quickest way to get google to index your site is to put an add on gumtree with the url of your website, I've had sites indexed in a few hours before. Another gresat way to get your site indexed is to hyperlink to your site in your signature from a forum like this one, use text that you think you would like your site to rank for in google though, mine is "Electrician in Southampton" thats the most searched for term for somebody looking for an electrician in Southampton.
If you are going to build your own website, learn basic SEO first and geo target, its not as difficult as you may think.
 
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If you are going to shove fliers through peoples letter boxes, then at least give yourself a chance. If you come to my town and stick 1000 fliers through 1000 doors then probably 998 or 999 will go in the bin.

However if you shove 50 through doors of people who have applied for planning permission, then you have hit your audience, and for me it always reaps rewards.
Planning apps are freely available to look at on your local council website. Give it a go, i have tried it a few times and always got work.

My other trade secrets are just that, SECRETS.

Cheers...........Howard
 
I have never really got on with advertising, I seem to just rely on word of mouth (I know that only works if you already have a customer base) but I always found the jobs from advertising expected you to be a rogue trader and rip them off..... I got in with a couple of other trades (kitchen fitter, bathroom fitter, builder) and made sure I was flexible for them, if they are good you will tend to get a referral from the customer, and they will tell there friends etc... I have business cards, but tend to just give them out when asked at end of jobs,

I tried yellow pages 5 or 6 years back and live on the edge of 4 books, advertised in 2 and got probably 2 jobs from them

when things slowed down couple of years back, I got the van signwritten and that seemed to bring a bit of work in, I would work at a house, the neighbour wanted work done and would ask the customer if they were happy, and then call me..... van blew up and got replaced and I haven't bothered getting the new one signed up though yet. A few mates rely on van signwriting as their source of advertising too, I think it works best with a tidy van and a good design, people aren't drawn in by those generic white magnetics with just a name and number on.

I would say though that if you do get cards, fliers or signwriting... I'd spend another few quid and get some bright colours and a classy design, as that would project a better image of your business (but that's easy to say as my mate is a graphic artist/airbrush artist)


but then I'm a spark, not an advertising executive...... as you were :tounge_smile:
 
Thanks for that John, its good to know what works and what doesn't. Another thing I will do is have a flier made up saying "ive just done some work on your neighbours house at number ....... " and post through ten houses either side. For the cost of 1000 fliers and ten mins posting them I think is worth the effort.
 
i think another good work puller is if you are in a club, football /rugby/cricket/church group etc, go bk to your youth days and run like a hammers around the town, but not smashing windows..exploiting what you do.....
 

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