Where else to advertise?

[G. Lasagne]

With most of my advertsing spend being online, i think i need to spread my wings as it were and look at concentrating equally offline.

Im a local heating engineer BTW, can you think of anything i have missed.

online organic/ppc
local free papers
church mags
local handbooks
flyers/leaflets
email marketing

im finding the google enquiries have slowed right down, so want to put my eggs in as many baskets as poosible, i mainly deal with domestic customers (b2c).

Any thoughts?

 

[benjamin_c]

offer your customers £XX if they refer somone to you? or business card swop with other tradesman?

 

[Hillyer]

Have you got contact details of all of your previous customers?

Maybe get in touch with them - perhaps as a courtesy call to ask if everything is okay with the work your did previously. Presuming everything is fine, then go on to ask if they know of anyone who may need your services? A referral from a happy customer surely is a great place to start?

- Hillyer

 

[Bruceflea]

offer your customers £XX if they refer somone to you? or business card swop with other tradesman?

i agree with offering some sort of referral scheme. referrals are gold dust (in my industry anyway) so contact a few and see what happens.

you say you have tried email marketing, so i am assuming you have some sort of software to send the emails. a simple mailing to some previous clients would be easy to do and not take too long to get sent out. this is something that we try to do as often as possible and offer various incentives to give us referrals.

 

[MASSEY]

Have you got contact details of all of your previous customers?

Maybe get in touch with them - perhaps as a courtesy call to ask if everything is okay with the work your did previously. Presuming everything is fine, then go on to ask if they know of anyone who may need your services? A referral from a happy customer surely is a great place to start?

- Hillyer

That's not the best approach,

i advertise in the express and star and that brings a good amount of work,

but on the add is everything electric plumbin kitchens etc and it's the biggest add 60% of the time,

maybe it's time to expand?

 

[SFD]

How about when you do a job, leaflet dropping the rest of the street saying they can get a testimonial from Jane at No. 7 etc.

Leaving cards to put on work notice boards

Giving them a reward for referring a friend or family member

Staff with t-shirts saying 'Plumber - Telephone number' in a large font on the back. Good for getting leads while out and about

A-boards outside on large jobs/busy streets

 

[Faevilangel]

Local business networking?

I have started using 4networking (http://www.4networking.biz) for meeting local businesses and getting local exposure.

 

[Bruceflea]

Local business networking?

I have started using 4networking (http://www.4networking.biz) for meeting local businesses and getting local exposure.

i have been using this also and would definitely recommend it.

 

[anandp]

To be honest, I'm having similar issues with my minicab company at the moment. We've tried to differentiate ourselves from the local shabby minicab shop by providing:

• Smartly dressed drivers
• Clean, quality cars
• SMS confirmation of bookings
• SMS notification of the reg of the car picking you up
• Card payment
• Online bookings

We only advertise online at the moment, as from what I have seen, carding the areas I operate in normally only attracts very local (i.e. less than 3 miles) work whereas my main target is airport runs and mid-long distance travel (minimum charge is £10-15 depending on area).

 

[Bruceflea]

• SMS confirmation of bookings
• SMS notification of the reg of the car picking you up
• Card payment
• Online bookings

i think these are very good ideas for mini-cab companies. i know one of the main companies here is doing something similar and i also get the impression they are recording the details of callers e.g. address/ mobile number etc as any time i have called they have been able to as if it's home i am going etc.

out of interest, have you noticed much of a difference in terms of generating new business?

 

[SFD]

We only advertise online at the moment, as from what I have seen, carding the areas I operate in normally only attracts very local (i.e. less than 3 miles) work whereas my main target is airport runs and mid-long distance travel (minimum charge is £10-15 depending on area).

I would think carding the local supermarkets and boozers would attract a different customer than targeting local offices and businesses.

I don't think that answer is not to target 'local' just target it differently to how you have been doing.

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

Recommendations are the best form of advertising. And it's women that talk the most, and make a lot of the household decisions.

So, when you've completed a job, send the homeowner a card and a bunch of flowers, with a few of business cards/flyers etc/perhaps even a discount voucher.

When hubby did the house clearances, 1 bunch of flowers/box of chocolates to an office worker meant that you because the first one they phoned when they need your services. You become "that nice man...."

Wine and chocolates are good, but the flowers will sit there for a week or so, and everytime someone asks "who gave you the flowers?" you get a recommendation

 

[anandp]

Yes quite a bit of a difference actually. This is for two reasons:

1) The texts also contain our number and website address so its to hand when you next need to book
2) The text themselves give a great impression of professionalism and personalisation which always helps

Just something to note, all minicabs operators licensed by the Public Carriage Office are required to keep every detail of a booking for at least 2 years (I think 2 years...will have to check) so recording numbers may be part of that in the first instance but clearly also helps for marketing afterwards (opt-in).

 

[Bruceflea]

Yes quite a bit of a difference actually. This is for two reasons:

1) The texts also contain our number and website address so its to hand when you next need to book
2) The text themselves give a great impression of professionalism and personalisation which always helps

Just something to note, all minicabs operators licensed by the Public Carriage Office are required to keep every detail of a booking for at least 2 years (I think 2 years...will have to check) so recording numbers may be part of that in the first instance but clearly also helps for marketing afterwards (opt-in).

having the registration of the car picking you up is also a good idea as it's pretty annoying waiting about then someone takes your taxi (i've done it plenty of times myself tbh so probably karma)

 

[anandp]

Yes the registration is another thing we provide in a second text when a driver has been allocated.

I do take on board the comments about carding local offices and businesses. Will give that a go and follow-up with a meeting and account opening form after a short while too.

We cover quite a wide area of London as we literally operate from where my drivers are based so coverage is good and if its booked more than 24 hours in advance for airport runs then its easily covered. Its the 'now, now, now' we sometimes struggle with!

I've thought about personalised calendars for office secretaries, or even fridge magnets for homes in the area, but yet to be convinced on these.

 

[G. Lasagne]

Good stuff thanks, im more after places to advertise, rather than ideas, like different mewsletters/mags/papers etc

 

[G. Lasagne]

That's not the best approach,

i advertise in the express and star and that brings a good amount of work,

but on the add is everything electric plumbin kitchens etc and it's the biggest add 60% of the time,

maybe it's time to expand?

How much does it cost mate, if you dont mind me asking, is the star and express a regional thing near you or are you talking about the national papers

 

[anandp]

What is your budget for advertising?

 

[MASSEY]

It's called the express and star they also put you in a paper called the chronicle they have what they call the experts section, I'm not sure if there is a version of it in Newcastle , I spend about £50 a week for slightly bigger than 2 credit cards put together (size) , but sometimes put a £100 in to dominate the page. it brings quality work and so in effect it's a small outlay.

 

[Adzooma]

Hello,

You might like to consider advertising on Adzooma. I suggest that you use keywords such as plumbing, heating, gas engineer, boiler. The basic services is free.

Let me know if you need any other help when registering at the site

 

[G. Lasagne]

Hello,

You might like to consider advertising on Adzooma. I suggest that you use keywords such as plumbing, heating, gas engineer, boiler. The basic services is free.

Let me know if you need any other help when registering at the site

I will register cheers.

p.s you have mispelled "promotion" on the home page.

 

[dottelads]

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[ThePublisher]

Good stuff thanks, im more after places to advertise, rather than ideas, like different mewsletters/mags/papers etc

Have you looked at www.findlocalmagazines.co.uk to see if there are any local to you that you don't know about?

 

[jocel]

hi, i have found some site with localized free ads services http://classifiedsbox.com, maybe it will be useful for you

 

[surgery_cards]

We provide a service were we can promote your business to the patients of your local health centre.

If you think this may be of interest please let me know

Good Luck

 

[Steve202]

Have you looked at www.findlocalmagazines.co.uk to see if there are any local to you that you don't know about?

I've been looking for something like this for ages. Cheers

 

[websitedesign]

focus on your local market - hand out business cards at networking events in your area - visit related trade shows, conferences, etc.

Research and implement a direct mail campaign using creative methods.

There is tons of better ways through online channels if your customer base is online...

 

[alison640]

Is anybody a member of the Federation of Small Businesses, they have lots of members countrywide and run regionalised events, they have an excellent networking structure. I am a member and I always try to use an FSB member rather than running blind in the Yellow Pages. Have a look at their website, very good, they have a huge following. Let me know what you think.

On the B2C level, have you tried B2B, try to get some corporate contracts

 

[Sure]

Dave, have you thought about the trade cards they do in homebase, wickes etc, i have no idea if customers use them, i guess it all depends on what your offering.
theyre not cheap i think they cost about £15 a month per store, its probally worth grabbing a few and calling the advertisers and see what they say.

 

[WJP]

OP, I think expansion may be the way forward. It's a big step, but have you considered trying to get on to an insurer's approved list? I know some insurers approve contractors to carry out work on their behalf (my last company could only get anything fixed on insurance if they took a tradesman from the insurer). It's not my industry so I wouldn't know how to go about it, but I've heard that there's reliable money to be made (perhaps less than your usual rates but it's consistent) if you can manage it.

 

[May2]

we have so many way to introduce our company to others ,it is really a good way ,
what a pity ,i am not in EU,