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I work mostly alone in N.J. I used to get alot of business from leaving cards at H.D. They stopped that. I don’t have a million dollar ad budget. About $300.00 tops. I tried a phone book ad to no avail. There is no licensing in NJ, so anyone w/ a truck and no skill can take my business. I am going to starve. Any suggestions?
P.S. I hand out cards like holloween candy.
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Replies
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david.. repetition & repetition..
find a weekly news in your area and run a display ad (business card size) EVERY week...work out a deal with the ad salesman.. when the homeowner needs a door hung or a roof shingled .. they're going to go get the paper and look you up ...
b BECAUSE they REMEMBER seeing your ad every week.....
follow on with your job signs and truck signs ..
b with your LOGO on them and in the ad..
you've got to make them remember YOUR name..
and it don't take a lot of ad.budget to do it either..
go to the library and get "Guerilla Marketing" by Levinson
*David, To follow up on Mike's recommendation...I had business card magnets made. They look just like a regular card but are fully magnetic. I hand these out like candy especially to relators, banks, etc. I figure they'll put it up on a cabinet or refrig. at home and see my name day in and day out. Then, they'll remember who to call. You might also consider a calendar magnet or similar as it is almost the new year. None are all that expensive.Good luck!Mike
*You might talk with the insurance company's in your area doing claim repairs.I know it doesn't pay much, but it might get you through some lean times.Talk to the lumber yards. Electricians and plumbers. They need carpentry services all the time and having a carpenter to reccomend is good for their business too. Painters.......they always find rotton wood of the oustide of wood houses.Use your imagination.Ed.
*Contact 5 previous customers ea. day. "Hi Mrs. Jones, just wanted to make contact with you and make sure the ______ we did on your home is holding up. Also, I am adding an annual inspection as part of my service to my clients. I will make sure everthing is OK with the work we did and I will look over the rest of your home to make sure there are no outstanding maintenance issues that need to be addressed. May I come by your home either this coming Weds or this coming Friday for your first inspection?"People will love you for it AND you will get some nice business out of it.
*And don't forget repetition.
*Network and take any job no matter how small. About two months ago I was returning a rental trailer after helping somebody move. While I was standing at the counter waiting for the paper work to be processed a lady walks in to inquire about renting a power snake to clean a drain. Shortly she decides the task is too big for her to tackle. As she turns to walk out the door I say to her "mam I can take care of that for you" The end result is I took care of the drain in less than a half hour and took measurements for a bid on some crown molding. Now I'm ready to submit a bid on what will be the third job for her sister.I've even stumbled on jobs just picking up supplies. Even though I don't wear the company logo on my shirt or jacket I guess the tape measure, phone on the belt is a giveaway that I'm a contractor. I've had several homeowners at HD and Lowe's ask me questions about their projects. Some end up asking me if I would be interested in doing the work.Scott R.
*network network network. Its FREE!!! Town Hall meetings, all the area clubs, school and church meetings, NETWORK!
*Excellent ideas....here's one that goes with Mike's suggestion of a small weekly ad.....In the text, put the following:"For all those jobs and home repairs you can't find anyone to do....call:"Run that every week, your phone won't stop ringing......everybody has small, piddly little repairs that, as Scott R. pointed out, leads to bigger and better paying jobs. But don't shortchange yourself. You can charge around $50 an hour and folks will throw money at you, so grateful they are that you showed up and completed the work. You might find it to be a new way to make a living.....and good one at that!
*Andy,You've got that right!!! There is no substitute for just getting out there and doing some hard humping - distribute business cards as if you're shovelling out candy at Halloween time, and remember to smile as you do it. It's mostly a game of numbers. The more contacts that you make, the more business will come your way, and remember most businesses get 85% of their business from 15% of their customers. So when you get a couple of good ones, follow up, follow up, follow up.Ads? Most are a waste of money. I do a display ad. in a small newspaper on a continuing basis. I do it because I know the realtors read the paper, and I like the name recognition that it has helped to develop; however, I'd starve to death if I had to rely on the business that it brings in directly. I "name drop" it as a conversation bit when I'm out there selling my goods and services, sort of to let them know that I'm part of the community and spreading the wealth around. Perhaps it will be more cost effective down the road. It's a 2 column x 2" ad..Cliff. (Clifford) Johnston
*When I was a one-man carpentry show in NJ, the best lead generator I had was an outside salesman for the local lumberyard. I probably got 1/3 of my leads from him. (Thank you Bobby Dumbrill). Cultivate a relationship with your main supplier and do good work. Realtors, as well, can be great contacts. Andy
*David, I've never advertised a single day in 19 years and I've always had too much work. I think reputation is the best ad you could ever run. Aside from that I just wanted to pass on that my son had a career day at his school; guess what ? There was a friend of mine there describing his line of work to the kids (He's a local cabinet maker) . He was also passing out small computor generated brochures to take home to Mommy & Daddy. Pretty neat! But anyhow ,I agree that getting known (for good work at a reasonable cost ) gets the best results. GOOD LUCK!! Bill D. Quality Wood Chips
*as Andy said.. partner up with your lumber yard..jsut got back from Contractor's Appreciation nite... good food, open bar, good friends, lots of contacts with inside sales & outside sales...your relationship with your lumberyard should be synergistic...they sell stuff, you buy it and install it.. they need you, you need them..here's four of a kind listening to the new Andersen window presentation..
*Is jokers wild on that hand, er whut ?
*I hope I'm wrong, but we've been riding high for a good number of years during the building boom......we're in a recession....people are worried.....there are a lot of new guys working the crowd.....many will not be able to survive in this economy, period.Odd jobs are hard to squeeze a living out of...and we may be in for a cold winter.......The best advice I have for anyone is to do everything you can to get out of debt......limit your bills to the necessities...forgo the new truck/five foot TV....check out the Goodwill for work clothes and don't be too proud to hire out to the big guys and take a pay cut. Thirty dollars an hour don't happen in a fifteen dollar economy....like chickens in a barn yard....it's scratching time. Personally, I've gone back to framing when I'd much rather be building pretty high end things in my shop. Had to swallow pride and buy some wrist, elbow, knee....wraps. Relax....hard times build character.:-)
*I am with Mike regaurding mining your supplier for leads.My shingle supplier is a GOLDMINE of high quality referalls---besides being run by one of the most honest families I have ever met.( CC Supply--an amazing family success story---mom,dad,a zillion sons and daughters plus a staggering total of grandchildren----they keep a running tally on the door and it seems to change almost weekly)A good supplier will help build your business in ways you can't even imagine with perfect deliveries,accomodating returns,extremely knowledgable advice,highest quality materials and excellent referalls.They know I will handle everything from simply replacing a 30 ft. piece of gutter to doing a 50 sq. tear-off.The last referrall they sent me to was involved a product warranty claim on a job they had a personal interest in.I spent about 1 1/2hours on site with the prospective customer and he mentioned to me that the supplier had given him 5 names.The supplier had graded 3 of the contractors A and 2 were graded A+. the prospective customer was a retired developer who had dealt with the supplier for years.I was pretty happy to find out a rated A+( I would love to know who else was on that list)Feel free to blow-off referalls from friends and family but treat quality referalls from quality suppliers with your highest preference.when your supplier referrs you to his family friends,business associates and church members you treat them better than best.
*Just as important as a magnetic sign for your truck is a simple, well lettered sign to be placed on the lawn where you are working on any job that lasts more than a few days.
*As a homeowner, I can not stand it when someone I hire to do a job puts one of those signs on my lawn. I am paying him to do a job, not use my lawn as advertising space. If you where doing a job for a newspaper company would you expect your ad to be run it for free? When I go to a clients to do a job that I was hired for I don't stick a sign out on their lawn.
*As another homeowner - return every phone call. I can't tell you how hard it is to even get anyone to return my inquiry phone calls! Wish you were 3000 miles closer, David.
*David:"There is no licensing in NJ, so anyone w/ a truck and no skill can take my business. I am going to starve. Any suggestions?" When you are in a low entry cost job market as your post says you have only two options:A>Move somewhere else where conditions don't breed so much competition at the low end of the market. From you post it looks like that is where you are.B>Change what you do to something specialized either in quality or specific market. Like maybe you target only converting historical buildings to condos. Or, maybe weatherization of low income homes using a government grant or contract. Neither of these may strike your fancy. They are only examples.The key is to get out of the low entry cost business. You have to have something that makes you worth a living wage and then some. That may be your personality, your work quality, maybe your willingness to work nights so night shift workers can get something done when they aren't sleeping. But,if all anyone has to do to compete is buy a sign and go to work you never are going to be able to make a decent living unless you are very, very lucky.
*sean... sorry you feel that way.. you have a different viewpoint...how did you find the person you hired..word of mouth ?..a job sign on a project you admired ?... wouldn't it be nice if the company you hired was still in business in 10 years for your next project...you are comparing newspapers to tradesmen... not a very good comparison...we use job signs.. it helps for deliveries, it helps the subs find the jobs... it looks professional..it tells everyone we are proud to put our name on the project.. and, before we put it there we have a discussion with the homeowner ..but , guess what... the only guy in 26 years who didn't want my sign on his property was not a good guy to work for.. so that would be a danger sign for me...
*Mike,What a load of crap. Reasonable people hate signs, which is why around me signs are prohibited by every village in the area. So don't make it sound like only bad customers refuse signs, or that signs provide some sort of benefit for society. They promote the contractor and detract from the residential quality of a neighborhood.I hate signs. I've said so before, and I'll say it again. I think they are tacky and don't belong in front of people's houses. If somebody let's you advertise on their front lawn, do you really think it thrills the neighbors and makes them say, gee, I want a sign too? Not likely.SHG
*To all who hate/love signs... I think the customer should have the final say in YARD signs. Signs on a truck, dumpster, Scaffold banner... are fine, but I can understand someone not wanting a sign stuck in thier front yard when they are having a bathroom remodeled. I agree with SHG that it is possible for someone to both dislike yard signs and also be reasonable.Jon
*s... obviously you feel differently... my town only prohibits political signs.. you know .. as in free speech and association..but job signs are just fine..me.. i like signs.. they are temporary.. and they come down when i get the final check..so.. who said you were reasonable ?...hah, hah, hah
*I must have 15 or so yard signs that I have collected over the years. I bet I only put one up 2 or 3 times a year.I just can't bring myself to do it for the reasons SHG outlines. I know on some level it would benefit me to put them up,but to me it just doesn't feel right.( of course I am only gonna be there a couple of days any how---so how irritationg could that be?The noise of the nail guns,and dump trucks etc. has gotta be more annoying than a yard sign)It still just doesn't feel right.
*Mike-The signs just look tacky. You all ready have a sign on the side of your truck parked out front, why then put a sign on the lawn. I know I am not alone because I have heard the same comments from lots of neighbors,friends and family when talking about it. Most people don't want to cause any problems so they don't say anything even though they don't like it.If I'm to busy then I usually find my contractors from other contractors that I work with. I was not comparing newspapers to tradesman. I just wanted to know that if you expect to get free advertisment when working for a homeowner, by placing a sign on their front lawn, do you expect to get free advertisment if you where doing a job for a newspaper company in the form of an ad. What about doing a job for your local pro sports stadium, think they should run a banner ad out in left field for you. I am glad you ask for permission, I have only had one contractor ever do that and I said it was OK just because he asked. All the other times they just did it with out asking.When you are done with the job do you take the sign down or leave it for a few days?
*.. i think a lot of signs are tacky.. so don't use tacky ones..get some good design that looks like you care..here.. everyone with any class uses signs.. architects.. GC's ......painters..the fly-by-nights don't use 'em...and the guys with not much attention to detail use the throwaway signs...just like they use magnetic signs on their trucks...my yard signs cost about $250 each... i have three of them...
*MikeAt $250 a pop I guess that you don't leave them around after you are done.What I hate are the ones for siding or roofing that are left until it is time to reroof or side.
*I think we have covered yard signs . David ,a sign on my truck fully visable to the street has been my best written advertisement. Word of mouth has been my best resource of work. I dont know of anyone that has ever grown with out the help of others. This post is telling you that. But dont starve there please .
*>I just wanted to know that if you expect to get free advertisment when working for a homeowner, by placing a sign on their front lawn, do you expect to get free advertismentYeah, I do.... cause I came all the way over to your house to talk to you...for free. I spent at least a half hour and probably gave you advice....for free. I went back home and spent a couple hours (or days) figuring a bid to do your job....for free. All through the project, if you decide to go with my Co. I'm doing little (sometimes big) things....for free...All we ask is to be able to set a sign in your yard in hopes your neighbors may want a bid on a project....for free. Then the greatest freeby of all is the baby sitting fee ........for holding your hand, smiling, teaching, soothing, and answering your endless inane questions. I don't piss and moan about this, but then my costumers welcome my sign. Maybe we should cut a deal up front.....free bid = free sign
*You don't include all of this as overhead in your hourly rate? Man, that is some very expensive advertising. I would have no problem making that deal with someone.
*FYIWhen taking my kid to school everyday I pass this house that just got a new roof put on. They have been finished for over 1 week and they still have their not one but two signs on the front lawn. I wonder how long they will keep them up.
*>You don't include all of this as overhead in your hourly rate?No, I just figure it goes with the territory and I really don't mind. I add a flat 12% for construction O&P and forget the other stuff....I enjoy the act of meeting and discussing construction options, etc. with the folks. .......rarely use a sign anymore, but when I do I ask. One thing for sure, if I don't get a friendly feel for the potential client and some respect, I back out. A bit arrogant of me, but it's not worth the hassle dealing with an ego-inflated social climber in my semi-retired world.
*>One thing for sure, if I don't get a friendly feel for the potential client and some respect, I back out. A bit arrogant of me, but it's not worth the hassle dealing with an ego-inflated social climber in my semi-retired world. Who are you kidding, Jim. With that warm and fuzzy attitude of yours, even those ego-inflated social climbers are probably kissing up to you.One last thing about signs (I know, we've been there but put up with me). Sometimes I see them nailed to a tree. That really pisses me off, because I think about how the person who did that doesn't care that he might kill the tree, only that his damn sign is up. Who wants to make people think he's a tree-killer? Never nail anything into a tree.SHG
*>warm and fuzzy attitude of yoursHa! Ha! Funny how we come across on the computer. I agree about the signs on trees, etc. though. I wouldn't want any hillbilly signs in my yard either. If a guy has a well put together sign and promises to take it away when he leaves, that's OK. IMO
*I think jim just summed up the sign issue pretty well. Bottom line is just be respectful and professional. I have been on both sides of the fence and I would never do some of the things I see contractors do when they are working at someone's home because I know how much it irritates me when I am the home owner.
*As far as signs go the only time I'd put a sign up is if I get permission anddddd..... ONLY if I'm doing an exterior renovation where the sign would go in front of. MAkes little sense to put a sign out front if no one sees your work. Thats kind of obnoxious. If theres serious renovations going on behind your sign whats the difference? Bottom line is if one has a sign up in front of ones work one better move through the project in a timely and orderly fashion otherwise you're just advertising your shortcomings. To me, its like signing a painting.....something you're proud to put you're name in front of. Thats the point of a sign.....not to be obnoxious. Respect and concern is what you represent in a sign...at least thats what it should represent. Maybe it IS good to see a sign nailed to a tree and the work taking a lifetime and the sign remaining there lightyears after the jobs over.........cause its warning to others NOT to call that contractor.
*If I were that homeowner, I would consider myself the proud owner of a couple new garage sale signs. A paint brush, some black paint, some white paint, and viola, good as new.
*uh, luka.. is that viola... or bass... or violin ?just wanted u to no that i'm watchin
*ONLY if I'm doing an exterior renovation where the sign would go in front of. MAkes little sense to put a sign out front if no one sees your workAndy,You're missing the point of advertising, I think. You're saying that customers have to see your work first or they won't want to find you. In my experience, this isn't true. A more powerful motivator is familiatity -- someone that is working in their neighborhood. If you use signs (and other advertising) in the same neighborhood over time, you "own" the mind of the people who live there. I know two very profitable contractors in my area that limit the area they serve and do everything they can to make sure people in that area know them. So, your premise that you should only advertise if you're doing exterior work is shortsighted, IMHO.
*Bob, I understand that concept but my point was that "SIGNS" are obnoxious....Eye pollution. Though,if your doing exterior work a sign doesn't make things look any worse. There are areas around here that even realestate agents (my wife) cant put signs up. What I've donein the past was to put mailers in peoples mailboxes in the area to let them know I was doing work there and I'd be happy to show them my work if they give me a call. Its like that Frank Zappa tune..."Beer Cans On The Moon"...
*ROFLOLVoila' ? Volleywa ? Prest-o change-o ?I would never appropriate signs that were there during the actual job. But if the guy was finished, had cleaned up his mess, (as much as he was gunna), and left, and the signs were still there a week later, I would figger the signs to be a 'gimme'.
*Guys, Andy's around me. Like I've been telling, people around here hate signs. They've outlawed signs. Even realtor "for sale" signs. Because, everybody now, people around here hate signs.So, around here, if you want people to really hate you, and never use you, put up a sign. It's like pressing the button for a nurse in a hospital, it guarantees you won't be disturbed for the foreseeable future.And if you do put up a sign, you can bet that it won't be there at the end of the day because someone will have taken it, burned it, spit on the ashes and flushed it down the toilet. There are lot of people around here who care for the environment.SHG
*shg...that.... that ..that's un-american ...
*In my area it is required by law for the plumber and electrican to post a job site sign. Do you not have to post a permit card. Ever had materail dropped at the wrong site. I think the best way to handle signs is to put up a sign board with our name and logo at the top, and space for permits, subs required signs, and messages to be posted. Our board have a very professional look to them. It looks very organized. I think 3 cheap signs on dinky wire posts scattered in the yard look crappy.David Dansky
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I work mostly alone in N.J. I used to get alot of business from leaving cards at H.D. They stopped that. I don't have a million dollar ad budget. About $300.00 tops. I tried a phone book ad to no avail. There is no licensing in NJ, so anyone w/ a truck and no skill can take my business. I am going to starve. Any suggestions?
P.S. I hand out cards like holloween candy.