Anyone doing this? I just spent five hours walking today to get my name out there (acutally got a call from one).
Things are slow here and i’m thinking anything that get my name out there is good. I’ve been putting flyers up in areas that I advertise with the phone book.
My hope is that as long as they open the flyer on the way to the trash they’ll see my name then when the time comes for that bathroom, they’ll see my name and call.
I may just dismiss the flyers but my first time around I got a 50k job that has given me more than a few referals.
Anyone else have similar results? Any better ideas for a residential remod guy to get his name out there?
Replies
You aere useing the method with the least cost. I used to have a great success doing this.
Of course I left fliers in every neighborhood that I was working in, busy or not.
Thats something I need to keep up on. Someone else here said that the first paid hour of a job (for his guys) was passing out flyers on the street they were working on.
That is not a bad Idea!
To be honest with you I don't like doing this but if I was starting over I would do this. I always found it to be productive.
I dont like doing this either, but I do like eating and sleeping indoors, so.......
I just cant justify sitting on the couch when I dont have work. That is why I was asking if anyone had a better suggestion.
I can get 1500 flyers for about $70, this will get my name out, help me be not so fat, possibly get me work, and (at least in my mind) mean i'm doing everything I can to keep my company working.
All this talk about flyers is getting me to thinking about the good ol' days of window cleaning. Sure, it's medial. But I made pretty good money at it, and all the jobs were "in, out, done and paid". No worry about expensive tools, building code and permits, sometimes needing to find a helper, doing the tasks of 20 different professions, etc, etc..
Of course, I could also speciallize in one profession - say tile, carpentry, or painting. Whatever the case, I think there's a lot to be said for keeping things simple. Kind of like the lemonade stand when we we kids. Difference is, someone who really focuses their efforts can actually make some decent bucks doing this in the trades.--------------------------------------------------------
Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
for the last coupla years I've been thinking about picking up a used, portable carpet steam cleaner.
carpet cleaning was some of the fastest cash I ever made. Lotsa hard work ... but always made good money.
I've been thinking along the lines of offering the carpeting cleaning as an additional service to remodeling customers. Even when I sub, they're usually talking about cleaning the whole house when all's said and done.
plus ... run an ad and it can be a stand alone business.
I helped run a small carpet cleaning company in Houston so I know the business end of it pretty well ... never have been too sure how it'd translate to this city. There ... it's a huge business.
Might be a good time to start thinking about a feasable sideline business.
could always take then stack the appointments all for one or two days a week to get started.
hummm...
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
"Lotsa hard work..."
Only thing that scares me more than a little hard work is no work.
One good thing about branching out with a little sideline business is that it will provide lots of leads for when things in the home improvement field start picking up again. Expanding the customer base while maintaining the income flow. Not bad for a little foot work and a few flyers. --------------------------------------------------------
Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
An alternative to the door to door is to call all your past clients that you know were very satisfied and ask them for referrals.
Sample Dialogue:
Good afternoon (insert name of client) this is MSA. I know it has been a while since we spoke last. I was calling to see how your (insert project type) is performing. Well I am glad to hear that the (project type) is working out well for you.
As you may recall, I do the majority of my work by referal and was just calling to let you know that if you know of anyone who could use our services, I would be glad to help them out. If you do know of anyone or run across some friends or family just give me a call with their name and number and I will be glad to follow up. It is always great to help real nice folks like yourself.
Thanks again and let me know if there is anything I could do for you as well.
End of dialogue
Follow up with a personal note thanking them for their past business and their time. This was a dialogue I learned at a seminar teaching methods to get active referals. It works well.
Bruce
I tried the "call the previous customer" method. Results have been sketchy at best. I have a few that usually will find work for me and others cant even afford things they wanted me to come back to do when I finished other projects for them.
I've done it in the past and will do it again in the future.
have always had pretty good luck with it.
something I also always try to do ... when on a project ...
hit the closest houses.
neighbor's on each side, the one directly across the street and the two on each side of that.
makes for 5 "gotta hit" houses.
when I put out flyers I knock and leave the flyer if no answer.
for those 5 ... I knock ... then try at a different time the next coupla days.
the goal there is to make person to person contact
when I pass out flyers I usually have a small portfolio on hand ...
when I hit those 5 ... I have the full portfolio and hope to use it.
just like any sales ... some like it some don't.
get no love then just move on.
it's a numbers game.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Makes me feel good to know i'm not just throwing money away on these.
I had hoped I was done with flyers a couple of years ago, but its been slooow in Michigan.
What choice do I have.
When I put out flyers I usually hit about 400-500 houses so knocking on everyone isnt really an option. I do see what you're saying about houses circling a current project though.
Good call.
when I was selling security systems I had a manager who required everyone to do that.
he'd go so far as do random checks.
if enough neighbors didn't know yer name ...
U were fired.
I still do what ever cold calling I can think of.
everytime I stop ... I regret it.
another thing I do is answer newspaper and craigslist ads.
I reply asking if they'd consider a sub for the position advertised.
I make a point on the craigslist ads to immediately give my daily rate.
have made quite a few good contacts over the years thru the paper.
craigslist has been all bottom feeders so far ... but zipping off a quick email reply takes no time at all ... so nothing wasted there.
actually worked one craigslist job. the GC turned out to be a loser ... but I lucked into a great tile sub. Using him on a project at the moment.
one quick email ... 2 weeks paid work and a new sub.
win/win
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
This may go without saying, but I hope you're not putting flyers in the mailboxes. That's a federal offense. Trespassing on private property can be an issue with some folks, too. I don't take kindly to someone knocking on my door, uninvited. Just another perspective to think about.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
"I don't take kindly to someone knocking on my door, uninvited."
how exactly do you invite someone to knock on your door?
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Most of our guests knock before coming in. They are invited although the invite might be welcome anytime. As far as sales people, bible thumpers, politicians and the like, I didn't ask them to come by. They are trespassing on private property. The signs at the gate make that clear. I might let the hounds loose.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
"The signs at the gate make that clear. "
there's the difference ... when I go door knocking I obviously know U can't annoy someone into buying from ya.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Thanks Hammer. I always go for the door knob or the little prongs under the box for the newspaper.
Rubber bands are really great little tools for hanging flyers without going to fed prison.
Many, many years ago, when I was widow/gutter cleaning, I got a lot of business that way. My partner and I would canvas the couple of blocks around every job we did and soon we didn't have time for canvasing any more.
Never tried it with home improvement, but if work was slow I'd be out there for sure. However, I don't do yellow pages or other advertising. If they toss the flier they just tossed the they just tossed what might be their only opportunity to get the best darn carpenter in the neighborhood.
Yeah, if I ever pass out fliers that's gonna be the opening line in big, bold letters.
--------------------------------------------------------
Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.net
See some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
kinda like the craigslist ad I posted a coupla times ...
headlined ...
"Definitely NOT the cheapest carpenter"
didn't get one hit ... but at least I didn't get any tire kickers!
if I can ever figure out how to place that ad w/o retyping the whole thing each time, I'd love to post it daily for a month or so to see what if anything happens.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Regarding the Craigslist ad...type what you want in a Word documents and save it on your desktop.
When you are going to repost it:
1. Open your word document (remember, you have to change the title and reorganize your wording so its not the same ad)
2. press CTRL + A to select all the text
3. press CTRL+C to copy what you selected
4. go to your craigslist window
5. press CTRL+V to paste the text you selected into your ad body
6. Rinse and repeat
thank you very much.
I do have it saved somewhere ... I'll have to print that out and give it a shot.
Thanks again.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I've got an account set up. I log in on craigslist just like I log in here. When I go to my account page, I see every ad I've run and the status on each. If an ad is expired, I click on it and the dialogue box asks me if I want to repost it. I say yes and it's done. If you ran the same ad every day, you might get a spam message. You've got to vary the words a bit...not much..just a bit. I prefer to offer different types of services. I might do a guerilla type ad one day and offer a more professional ad another. I've gotten some good jobs off craigslist and been referred from that point on too and gotten those job. The price is right for the ads (free) and the best thing is that you can elaborate on your services and skills. The reality is that there are a lot of tire kickers and also folks with unrealistic budgets but there are some good jobs and subs on there. It can be a good resource. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
I copy/pasted my website, just had to change the links to the images to the full url. Got a lot of calls but nobody serious. If I ever do it again I'm going to charge $65 for estimates, deductible from the first work I do for them within 90 days. --------------------------------------------------------
Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
You should be able to figure out the tire kickers on the phone interview. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Yeah, I should be able to.--------------------------------------------------------
Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
Just ask them their budget. That will sort them out. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Same here. You cant just copy& paste but little variations will get past.
If they toss the flier they just tossed the they just tossed what might be their only opportunity to get the best darn carpenter in the neighborhood.
Funny you mention that. I always think that to myself about the people with "No Soliciting" signs. "Oh well, too bad for them, they wont know about the best carp in town."
I was in the Yellow pages once (name only) and I would have been better off to just burn the money in my backyard every month (I would've saved postage).
Conversely, "The Little Blue Book" (small regional book) rocks! A 1/3 page ad costs $1200/year and I got about 40k off the ad last year.
Kudos to you for hustling.heres an idea , find the people delivering newspapers , Slip them a 20 and put your flyers in the newspapers.years ago my wife delivered newspapers{just ruined our cars}, They met in the morn and put ads in before they went off. offer to help for a couple of mornings.
Note this post was made for amusement purposes only and in no way constitutes legal advice.
I've tried like Hell to find one of the companies that canvases professionally. I've met them on the street and even they cant tell me who to call.
It's obviously cheaper for me to do it myself but they can cover ten times the area that I can by myself.
When I was running for office I found that it was quite cheap (I'm thinking around $0.25 apiece) to have a flyer inserted into small local newspapers. Mail is a bit more expensive (figure $0.75 or so by the time you have a stamped envelope) but it at least makes it to the kitchen table before getting tossed. Problem with mail is that you need a mailing list.
Thanks Dan, but IMO, .25 / unit when your talking about quantities of 1500 is about 4 times printing costs and waaaaay more expensive than walking a few blocks. If I could afford that, I wouldnt need to advertise. :>)
Well check with local shopper rags, etc, and ask what their insertion charge is.
What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite. --Bertrand Russell
I haven't had to do that for years. Hell, for the last 8 or 9 years, it's been a struggle to keep up with just the jobs that come in by referral or from repeat customers.
But...there must be a trend, because I've spend the last two days writing up a flyer and building a very simple website to back it up with colour photos. And I'm doing it for the same reason as you: things are slow. Even here, dammit. You Yanks are all wailin' so loud about how yer economy is tankin' that it's scaring us into thinking ours is gonna tank, too. And as anyone who has studied economics knows, it's all about perception. Reality in the marketplace is a non-sequitur....
From an advertising point of view, flyers are slightly more effective than direct mail. If you pass out enough of them, you ought to get somewhere between a 1% and 2% response rate. When I think about how I built my original customer base, I realise it was mostly from flyers tucked into screen doors and business cards left in stores. I've never bought any print ads anywhere. Business cards left in those racks that some stores provide are much more cost effective than a yellow pages ad, because they generally don't deliver tire-kickers.
Especially hit the lumberyards: make sure the counter guys at your local yards each have a handful of your business cards and a give-away scratch pad with your name on it (and maybe a six-pack, too!) to keep him thinking about referring you to people who come in looking for a bail-out on a 'DiY' project that got beyond them....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....