advertising

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ace

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Hi guys, thinking of putting out a bit of advertising to increase my work load,i generally do work by word of mouth and have regular work from builders i know.But would like to try and expand and maybe take on a few guys if i can get enough work coming in.Just wondered your thoughts on the best forms of advertising,i used to use my local rags and that brough me plenty of jobs,but the last time i put an advert in a paper i only had one call from it,can you give me any advice on what is working for you?ive done mybuilder and rated people but you tend to get alot of messers on them sites and people use them for getting prices rather then wanting the work done.any new ideas would be welcomed.

thanks in advance

rick
 
It might sound daft but try putting yourself on gumtree.had a bit of a slow patch about 3 months ago so put a couple of adverts on gumtree and got quite a few calls, a few of which have led to repeat custom and been recommended to their friends/family.Its free and only took about half hour to do.Might be worth trying?
 
Have you got a website? If I was looking for a plasterer and didn't have one recommended I'd search online. There are plenty of template style websites out there - or ask @Danny.

Get a listing on Freeindex and ask your customers to write reviews. Gumtree is a good idea too.

Paid advertising is always a tricky one. It can be expensive and ineffectual. I would still have thought your local paper is a good bet... or the postcode mags?
 
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i ve been using checkatrade for the last 3 or 4 months im doing alright with them about 4 calls a week and thats keeping me busy
 
Hiya

Welcome to the forum :-)

There are lots of avenues you can go down... most of them are not things that are instant but still non the less worth doing :-)

The first thing I would look at and that is getting a website :-) (I can organise this if needs be)

The next thing is to make sure you are registered on google places :-) This is free to do and means that your listing will appear on the google maps :-)

Checkatrade is a good place to look as well I know a lot of members who are using it successfully and although its quite expensive it is working very well for them you also get £50 off by mentioning the forum)

I know a few people who use free index as well :-)

If you already have a website then you can look at using google adwords and pay for the traffic but that really can get expensive....

having a twitter account and a facebook page is a great way to get leads :-)

All of the above takes time :-) but when rolled out they make money :-)

Danny
 
Hi Ace, Advertising can be tricky. personally I have never had a good response from local papers but I know others that have. I think the key to it is to stay ahead of things, when your busy dont let up on your efforts keep networking. Good networking can bring in more work than any advert. As well as all the online stuff (which will be effective) website, free index, gumtree etc, why not try your own mailshoot. Old school and direct; draft a letter attached with some testimonials pictures of your work and send it out to every Q.S, architect, planning officer etc ( you can do this via email but I thought its easier for someone to click delete or spam)

Google every relevant source of trade and canvas them direct, their contact details are out there. also planning applications are made public in most councils, try contacting the public direct. Keep some nice glossy postcard adverts in every shop window in your area, get them printed professionally (vista/good print) will cost you pennies. Good luck with it all Ace
 
Ace, have you thought about being a Pet Detective............................:RpS_unsure:
 
Thanks for all the responses ,a few ideas brough to lite that i never thought of. artisan ive just come back from chichiwowa and the toxic darts really hurt,so im gonna stick to the plastering pal,I aint got the power captain.
 
Local papers used to work, but you had to be in them all the time, people get used to seeing the useuall adverts, also you need to stand out from the rest, have a bigger advert on a page in the main part of the paper and on the right hand side page.
 
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