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i would like to hear about your advertising ideas. the best ones ,the worst ones . and the ones that you want to try for the new year.please post and share a few lines on this . we use direct mail with a no name local co. im thinking of doing val pac . how about some feed back on val pac. i am involved with bni for the past 4 years its great. i dont like the once a week or our new time ,11:00am ,but it works . we send out reminder cards,i feel that there is not a great “call to action” on them .they need a special or a discount on them . radio is expensive but does it work? my area is about 40 k in population . i would like to hear from some of you in simalar sized areas .looking to see what works . thanx and have a great year!!!
I will start by saying that I have never used Valpak, BUT I spent quite a bit of time looking into it and I know many business owners in my area and the only ones I found happy with Valpak are restaurant owners. Advertising that works on a consistent basis is kinda like the Holly Grail of business. Everyone is looking for it and very few ever find it. Most advertising appears to be a losing proposition. If you are not already going after business online I would suggest you start with that. If you are already getting a bunch of business online I would then go after direct mail.
Networking is a great source, however, I have never joined a BNI group. I feel by doing an outstanding job in every home and presenting the customer with “charm”, they will network for you. I used newspaper ads in my first 3 years in cities of 10,000 pop. or less with great success. Smaller papers are less expensive and seem to reach the retired group, the ones that meet for coffee, involved in church groups, card clubs, ect. The small papers are also happy to write stories about you and your business(free!).
I have used the val pak style and it has worked well in the past. Cost was $350, circulation 10,000, 3 times per year and it usually brought in $4000 to $6000 in sales each ad. Some of the jobs were lower income levels where the jobs were dirtier than I’d like. I’m going to let that rest for at least 6 months and do some coop ads with a local business and use both mine and their customer base and also advertize in a small advertizing paper that has 50,000 circulation for $75 an ad and get more bang for the buck and hit areas that the val pak never hit. I track my ads so I will know how well this does and determine if if it is as profitable as I hope.
I have used the val pak style and it has worked well in the past. Cost was $350, circulation 10,000, 3 times per year and it usually brought in $4000 to $6000 in sales each ad. Some of the jobs were lower income levels where the jobs were dirtier than I’d like. I’m going to let that rest for at least 6 months and do some coop ads with a local business and use both mine and their customer base and also advertize in a small advertizing paper that has 50,000 circulation for $75 an ad and get more bang for the buck and hit areas that the val pak never hit. I track my ads so I will know how well this does and determine if if it is as profitable as I hope.
Do you track the number of competitor ad’s in the same Valpak or the prices they offer.
There are no competitors that have ads in the val pak. Makes tracking easier. However I do a comparison of costs by calling the competitors (blocking the phone number) and get pricing for a job I already completed. I dont give my name even if they ask. I am not the highest nor the lowest. Most have to travel some distance to get to my territory and have a larger trip charge or a higher cleaning cost to cover the expense.
I would not used Val Pak unless you can get exclusivity. In my market Chem Dry always has at least one ad and their advertsise price point is far less then mine.
Has anyone used Facebook advertising? And if so what worked/didn’t? Someone suggested I try it. I have to admit that I never look at the advertisements there.
Thought I’d share the billboard in front of our shop. just under a thousand dollars for signage
like it!
With any form of advertising, make sure to track the leads you get from it.
Patrick,
I would be interested to see how many leads you get from the billboard. I’ve always wondered how well they work.
Is that $1,000 for a year, 6months, . . .? Is your shop on a busy street?
That’s 1000 for the printing I installed on the billboard myself both sides of a lighted sign right on 1 of the three main entrances I put op the sign in sept already scheduld 6 brand new customers and many previous customers made comments.
Sinage should last 6-7 years at awsome quality
Forgot to mention 1 of those new customers has 16 high end rentals 🙂
me like it too 🙂 .
When I inquired to advertise on highway billboard, guy quoted me $3000.00/month 🙁 . Maybe I should start looking for street billboard.
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