Advertising

[Cainy]

Hi lads,


I thought I wouldstart this thread to see how people advertise or intend to advertise.  I will make a list below for people to add their own information,  this way we all have the benefit of maybe learning something from someone else.

I have recently started my own business, and have began to advertise.

I have done the following:

1)  Advertised with Yell.com  Around £650 for the year.   Due to be in the Yellow Pages in October.
2)  Set up a Website with BT   www.Ski-m.co.uk Costs around £120.00 a Year.
3)  Bought 1000 Business cards, some Note pads and 5 T Shirts with my comany Logo and phone numbers Printed. £110
4)  Advertised with local trade webites.
5)  Advertised with Google,  I am on Google now,  but I don't seem to have the correct Meta Tags. (Any Ideas?)
6)  Posted over 600 Business cards since Monday.
7)  Looking at getting some Fliers printed,  but the prices are reduculous.

Any advice from you guys for good advertising techniques would be appreciated.

I have recently been around to quote for my first job, some guy found me on Yell.com and wants 3 sides of his house Rendering. Its an insurance job, with a view to the inside of the house being plastered.

Come on Guys, list your experiences.

 

[Danny]

Cainy you plank,

As far as hosting should have asked me, I have a web hosting business, site looks good though.

As far as getting into google I can help you a lot but not on this forum I have many sites that rank well and all earn from search engines.

I wouldnt rely soley on the website, it should be used as a way for people to see examples of your work rather than a way to generate work.

I use the flier technique get some leads but i prefer to advertise via local magazines and through word of mouth.

Congratulations with the first quote, without being rude what did you quote?? How much rendering have you done? I absolutely deteste it its a horrible back breaking job. Worked on site for 9 months doing it. one of the walls was 53meters long by 20 meters high.

Remember the customer is not paying for insurance work so go in nice and high, in fact over price it then sub it out to someone else...lol

Danny

 

[Cainy]

Bah!!!

I have just changed the look and layout of the websit,  but don't have the skills to make it look professional.

I have a mate who has done 8 year Rendering,  I have quoted £3000 for the work.  Thought it was a fair price tbh as it is all three sides of an End Terraced house.

I would be interested in you being able to direct some traffic to my website,  how does that work then Danny?

 

[Jimtheskim]

Danny, and all,

I started my business a couple of years ago in Bristol, took a bit of time to get rolling but by advertising on yell.com and posting flyers to start with got a few jobs, after that most of my work was word of mouth..soon i had enough cash to get my van signed up, looks sweet though not sure how much work it actually brings in.. :-?

So I've recently moved up to Central London and am trying hard to promote the business..
at the moment I:

-have had a website built by a mate so at a really low cost
-still use yell.com but have cut down a lot on the enhanced listings to save money, turns out I was wasting a lot.. so now just have one ad for about £200 per year..can't really afford the web link at the moment as they want another 400 sheets per year..
-am promoting my site as best I can with help from my housemate who's a bit of a computer wizzkid..my aim is for the 1st page of google search with London Plasterer..could be tricky..but not impossible
(cainy, I don't have the foggiest what a meta tag is but I'll ask matey & if i understand the answer I'll get in touch )

-still do flyer runs whenever I have the time

I would be interested to know what form of advertising you all think is the most efficient, local rags etc

needless to say by far the best advert is word of mouth, but getting to the point where enough people are talking about you is the struggle.

keep on keepin on,

Jim

 

[Danny]

Hello,

lol leave your website with me I will have a look as that is what I do in my spare time. I am pretty good at getting goood rankings..... takes time but works

Danny

 

[Jimtheskim]

Nice 1 any help would be great, i'm gonna rewrite a lot of it soon to include more content & keywords so that should help..

 

[Batfloke]

Hi all,

I have advertised in Yellow Pages (1st book out, second coming out 1st Sept and 3rd book out Feb) and the first book has generated some work. Took about 5 weeks after publication to start getting calls   :-/
118118. Have taken a package of 9 postcodes and paid loads - had one call in 3 weeks and it was from a guy wanting oak flooring done.... Quality lead  
Have done a card drop in local B&Q but nothing yet which is not so bad as it's a bit hectic atm. Never a bad thing  
Lastly - word of mouth  

Other than that, I'm fairly lazy when it comes to advertising so...  :-[

Just wondering how many smiley's I can justify in one post  


;D