Hi, thinking of doing leaflet distribution

[Overdrive]

Hi, I'm new.

I'm thinking of starting a leaflet distribution service in my area, I'm in NW London. I am leaving my desk job at the end of the month, a crazy move maybe in this climate, but I have a litle savings and I do a bit of web design which brings in a little bit. I don't really want to do websites full time because it'll be defeating the object, I want to get out.

I've been having a read around in the forums about people's experience using leaflet distribution companies and the general issues seem to be over payment agreements & the issues of trust.
I am a trustworthy fella, but my potential customers won't know that & I'm new. I will do the deliveries myself with a little help from my prettier half to start with.

A couple of things I'd like to ask if anyone could offer some advice or opinions..

How can I provide checkbacks? I don't know someone who lives on every street who can vouch for me. I guess I could provide pics of the street, but that proves nothing & would slow me down. What would you want to see?

Being new, its hard to come up with the blurb to sell yourself other than the usual stuff about how well this type of msrketing works, but I can't say I've been in the industry since god worked in the dark blah blah blah. So if anyone has some tips on that, I'd be grateful.
I'll get some flyers of my own done & start dropping them to local businesses.
I guess I have the advantage that I can do my own site and design my own marketing material, so all it should cost me to get this venture started is my time. Its just up to me to make sure its not wasted.

 

[BusinessIdeas]

Hiya from Gina

 

[oldeagleeye]

Have you really thought this out OP like

1) How many leaflets you can deliver in a day. I'll tell you. A typical postman's round for exampleis around 400-500 homes and that is a full days work. Leaflets are a bit quicker because it is house after house. We are not talking much more however than a 1,000 when you take account of sorting & travel.

So if your charging £15 quid @ 1000 your be working for £15 a day. You will need to deliver 4 different leaflets from 4 different customers to each property to make minimum wage

2)The average response on non-targeted leaflet drops is a tiny 1-2%. Most companies will therefore want at least 10,000 & probably 25,000 leaflets then to get a reasonable response.

3) That is 4 X 25,000 = 100,000 leaflets. Have you any idea of much that lot would weigh. Nip into a stationers and pick up a box of A4. If the leaflets are that size your talking 200 boxes. That is a stack from floor to ceiling. Even if A5 that is damned heavy. Now you know what I mean't about sorting earlier.

4) Getting the basic logistics in that business right then ain't easy and your biggest problem is TIME where a one-man band is concerned. Delivering to 25,000 homes is going to take you 25 days. 20 at best. I can't see customers signing up to that. They usually want the promotion out there within 2 -3 days.

All in all OP. I would respectfully suggest that you look at your business plan again. As well as logistics - timeing also plays an important part in the success of a small business and you couldn't have picked a worse time.

Not because of the economy but the weather. We are talking freezing cold mornings soon and early dark nights. Ice & rain slowing you down and yes - rows with your girlfriend when at the end of a day your both tired - cold & wet and probably skint and she says. "Whose bloody idea was this'.
Risky. Far too risky for me especially when there is a far better alternative. Well 2 of them.

Keep the day job until at least after Christmas and use the time wisely to plan the business properly like creating a database of possible customers. Then start the business in early spring or if you really want to get out there now- I would get a temp job as a postman. At least your be guaranteed an income over the winter and be out and about gaining a useful insight into the logistics of letterbox deliveries.

Hope the info helps. Robert

 

[melward]

Excellent response Oldeagle

Mel

 

[Overdrive]

We are talking freezing cold mornings soon and early dark nights. Ice & rain slowing you down and yes - rows with your girlfriend when at the end of a day your both tired - cold & wet and probably skint and she says. "Whose bloody idea was this'.
Risky. Far too risky for me especially when there is a far better alternative. Well 2 of them.

Thanks Oldeagle, if ever I need encouragement, I know who not to ask!

I was a postman for years, I had one of the heaviest rounds in London. I can tell you that the delivery side of it was nothing like a whole days work, I spent more time in the sorting office. When post was quiet, usually on a Tuesday, I could sometimes have my walk done by 9am (5am start) and that included sorting & bundling.
I'm not going into this completely blind, I know very well what it is like to be out early in the morning in all weathers, I did it for years and I loved my job.

Your estimates about response is about right, but your ideas about prices & timescales are way off I'm afraid, where are you getting this info?

Like I said, I have other income, I have time to make this work and make it work I will.
I am starting locally, my name & reputation is in my own hands so I can be sure that the leaflets I get will be delivered. That gives me assurance and it will give my customers better assurance. I can see more people signing up to a local company they can trust to deliver than some of the other alternatives that have been talked about here.

As with anything, starting out isn't easy, only a fool would expect that, but there is a market out there for this and business to be had. Now quit with the ice & rain stories & wish me luck!

 

[Jawsdare]

Nice information there, anyway just like to say welcome to the forum!!

 

[oldeagleeye]

First of all. I find it amazing that you took offence at my post. We get lots of people on here enquiring about strting up a leaflet distribution service and that post was mean't to be generally informative. It was not mean't to be negative. I think only you saw it that way. As far as your other comments. You say :-

I was a postman for years, I had one of the heaviest rounds in London. I can tell you that the delivery side of it was nothing like a whole days work, I spent more time in the sorting office. When post was quiet, usually on a Tuesday, I could sometimes have my walk done by 9am (5am start) and that included sorting & bundling.

Those days have gone buddy and anyway that round took 4 hrs to deliver to what 400 homes - not a 1,000.

Your estimates about response is about right, but your ideas about prices & timescales are way off I'm afraid, where are you getting this info?

A bit cheeky that first bit. I know damned well my numbers are right about response rates I have ben in sales & marketing for almost 40 years.

Where do I get my prices and timescales from ?. As far as prices. the local nespaper charge about £15 quid @ 1,000. I know other companies that charge £25 quid @ 1000 including printing.

As far as timescales. It just so happens that my ex wife - with whom I still get on well with was a director of the biggest brochure delivery company in the UK until recently and every week literally 1000,s of agents go out on the round every week. The average time to deliver 250 small brochures about 2 hours.

I do know what I am talking about then.

Like I said, I have other income, I have time to make this work and make it work I will.

With respect you said yourself in your first post that it was a crazy time to startup now and went on to mention that you had 'little savings'. I was not then being discouraging simply offering more practical alternatives especially with Christmas coming up. Then again you have yet to find out that most companies wind down promotions of this kind in early december to late january. I doubt even that your get the local Chinese Takaway. They have taken to delivering their leaflets themselves.

I can see more people signing up to a local company they can trust to deliver than some of the other alternatives that have been talked about here.

This is complete nonsense. Price - A professional distribution team able to carry out any promotion of any size are all part of the decision making process. You however are a one man band - and I don't mean that in a derogatory way. How do they know that the can trust you to deliver. In any event. Any distributors reputation lasts as long as the last audit.

Now quit with the ice & rain stories & wish me luck!

It was patently obvious this was a joke yet your overall response was to come back and bite my head off and in a somewhat arrogant manner.

I don't appreciate that but hey. This forum is about choice. You can chose to accept or ignore my advice or that of other members and we can chose whether or not it is worth bothering with you anymore. I don't think you are but I will wish you luck.

 

[doggie]

hi
I,ve had 5000 leaflets that i was going to do a business letterbox drop in Sheffield myself...400 later feet aching and what a pain BAD IDEA...but good luck to anyone who wants to have a go...
I,m still looking for a firm that will deliver in the Sheffield area

 

[oldeagleeye]

Most local newspapers will offer a slip in service for an A5/4 leaflet and they can target specific postcodes such as business parks - industrial centres etc but not indivual businesses of course.

 

[doggie]

thanks oldeagleeye for the iinfo

 

[Overdrive]

I was a postman for years, I had one of the heaviest rounds in London. I can tell you that the delivery side of it was nothing like a whole days work, I spent more time in the sorting office. When post was quiet, usually on a Tuesday, I could sometimes have my walk done by 9am (5am start) and that included sorting & bundling.

Those days have gone buddy and anyway that round took 4 hrs to deliver to what 400 homes - not a 1,000.

Around 31/2 hours yes, but that was 8-10 sacks of mail including magazines, small packets & recorded/special delivery which required me to wait for signatures.
The post system has changed, there is only 1 single delivery now and the walks are a little bit bigger, however, on a tuesday (except of course at Xmas time) many postmen/postwomen will still be finished before you & I eat our lunch.

Your estimates about response is about right, but your ideas about prices & timescales are way off I'm afraid, where are you getting this info?

A bit cheeky that first bit. I know damned well my numbers are right about response rates I have ben in sales & marketing for almost 40 years.

Where do I get my prices and timescales from ?. As far as prices. the local nespaper charge about £15 quid 1,000. I know other companies that charge £25 quid 1000 including printing.

Sorry, your original post didn't suggest inside a local paper. Thats not comparing apples with apples to be fair. Most leaflet distribution companies charge £40-£60/100 solus & around £25/1000 on a share plan. Show me a company that will offer £15/1000 leaflets and I'll show you a pile of leaflets that will end up in someone's bin.

Now quit with the ice & rain stories & wish me luck!

It was patently obvious this was a joke yet your overall response was to come back and bite my head off and in a somewhat arrogant manner.

I don't appreciate that but hey. This forum is about choice. You can chose to accept or ignore my advice or that of other members and we can chose whether or not it is worth bothering with you anymore. I don't think you are but I will wish you luck.

Yes indeed, just a joke. I didn't come here to get into a slanging match, I came for some advice and hopefully to do some networking. Your reply did nothing but shoot me down. I honestly didn't take any offence to anything you said, my response was simply to state that I know what I'm getting into and I've had plenty of experience. I appreciate that you have experience in marketing, I don't appreciate you suggesting I am arrogant simply because I stated my own experience of actually making the deliveries. Anyone who knows me in real life will tell you arrogance is absolutely not in my personality.

I am going to do this and I am going to give it my level best as I always do. If that's good enough, then I'll succeed, if not, then I'll have to try something else. If you have something constructive that might help me go forward rather than encourage me to give up before I've even started, I'd appreciate it.

 

[melward]

Gentlemen I think that sometimes what is written in text is sometimes viewed as more hostile than the actual intention. Oldeagle your advice was good and I think maybe a little misconstrued. Overdrive very good luck with you business.

I have being delivering a lot of leaflets over the summer and enjoyed it immensely. True there are limits to what one or two people can do andthe weather hot or cold has to be taken in its stride. Overdrive I see you have this and it augurs well for the future for you and your partner.

As I say all the very best to you.

Mel

 

[melward]

Seems to me that it should not always be about how much per thousand but how long it will take that applies to leafletting. 1000 delivered in a close knit community with short driveways is a very different proposition to 1000 delivered in a rural area or select area with mansion size houses set in half an acre.

Pricing should maybe be based on calculating the time a job will take (as far as you can) then apply an hourly charge. However many people you use in the task, it will still take on average (according to Oldeagleyes calculations) around 40 working hours to deliver 5000.

At the cheapest humanly possible, this would mean that at approx minimum wage level (say £6 per hour), you would be talking £240 wages for the persons (employees) doing the job for a total of 5 working days in the field. This of course will equate to £48 per thousand (with no profit to the contracting business). If the business takes the same amount as the employee for closing the deal, the job would therefore cost £ 480 overall = £96 per thousand leaflets. It seems to me that this is viable for a firm local to Sheffield but not to a more remote firm who would have travel and other overheads.

 

[Overdrive]

Gentlemen I think that sometimes what is written in text is sometimes viewed as more hostile than the actual intention.

Perfectly put, thank you.
I took no offence and meant no offence. I used to own a busy forum like this, although on a totally different subject. That was always the #1 thing to bare in mind.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[spiritofsheffield]

Hello everyone, Ive joined this network today as I happened upon it by chance and oldeagleeyes' response to the guys question (overdrive?) about 'is it a good idea leaflet disbribution?' as his own business has had me in tears of laughter and admiration for you both. Loved your straightforward informative response with bags of common sense thrown in. Its unfortunate that the guy took offense at your response but I think he really really wanted to do this and wanted confirmation and his fire to be stoked rather than dampened!! Anyhow if thats the kind of good advice we get on this forum then Im in! Im actually researching some leaflet distribution in sheffield for my own very small business that I launched last year, but i only want a few postcode sectors and local to my own area so wouldnt be needing more than 5000 flyers max. (well i think anyway) After reading some of this stuff from the 'feet on the street' angle I guess i may be better finding someone local, like older school kids or college kids to distribute it? I would only advertise every 2/3 months anyway and only want homes within a 2/3 mile radius of my home as thats where I work from. Finding a company in Sheffield to do that is near on impossible so far as they wont take you on unless you distribute more than 5000 flyers. The other stumbling block is they will only distribute by postcode area and not by street. If anyone has any ideas or advice i will be very happy to hear it and dont worry about offending me, I have a good sense of humour!!




Live to learn/learn to Live

 

[doggie]

Hey spirit if you find anyone to deliver your leaflets let me know i,m wanting some done in the Sheffield area...I,l do the same 4u
What post code do u want covering?

 

[oldeagleeye]

Hi Sheffied. You and your partner or a friend could get those out out in a weekend and soak your feek in vodka martinis on the £100 quid your save.
Seriously. It's the best way to get a genuine response rate. Robert

 

[Richard Gilbert]

We provide leaflet/flyer distribution in Sheffield and Doncaster. It's hard work and long days, but well worth it when you start delivering 2 -3 leaflets at a time.

Best regards
Leaflet Media Sheffield

 

[Scalloway]

Only 8 years too late for the OP.

 

[Jason Mageehan]

Hello all - interesting post for me, as you'll see from my email address in my signature, I own a company that deals in flyers - now I souly deal on the design and print side. I have a background in advertising and about 8 years ago, I thought I'd marry design and print together in a better way than I had found already.

(side issue, I have since expanded and am re-structuring everything so that my site no longer offers everything under the sun - please just ignore my site)

So several years ago I started to offer leaflet distribution in built up areas, I found a guy that really wanted to do it, he was a good friend and I trusted him implicitly. In a terraced area, he was able to do 2,000 in a day - I was charging £45 per 1,000 for a solus delivery. I also set up GPS tracking with a live window so the clients could see their delivery being made.

In the end, it all came to tears as my key client didn't think their leaflets were hitting the doormats, they set up a sting and my guy failed me. According to him, he was picking and choosing the houses that he delivered too.....I don't know what happened, all I know is it cost me a fortune and it cost me a client.

There is one company that does leaflet delivery well (in london) and that's JogPost who mainly employ ex-army, they supervise every delivery and offer free ride-alongs for clients to see the deliveries being made.

All I can really say about leaflet delivery is that for certain services and products, it works really well. Newspaper inserts are notoriously poor which is why it's so cheap. Share plan delivery is again pretty bad except for large pizza menus, because they just put everything into the menu - it makes it easier to get through the letterbox.

My encouragement would be to approach estate and letting agencies...try and focus on them first, I've had great success with them, and be open to creative ideas - perhaps even offer them a couple of sample packages like putting 1,000 leaflets in the area around a house that's for sale with a price guide for that area "We have a house for sale in XX avenue - here's the average prices for homes in your area.. 2 bed xx 3 bed xx 4 bed xx - would you like a full valuation on your home?" kind of thing.... you could for example (I could help you with this) offer a package of design, print and delivery of that package for say £179 whereby you make enough to make it worth while, and they get a good service at a good price with zero hassle.

I wouldn't bother with flyers to businesses - flyers are a B2C marketing outlet, you're best of doing B2B at networking meetings and the like. If you'd like to get in touch, I'd be happy to talk to you about how you can offer design and print as part of your product offering to add to your earnings.

Once you're known as being trustworthy, you'll have a full rosta - so my advice, get a simple website up with some simple SEO and google places - an easy to remember name, and a couple of thousand business cards and make it your goal to get in front of as many people and businesses as you can.

I really wish you well in this - it can be a nice business when it's done well.