How do you advertise?

[shutterstuff]

I already have a website, facebook, Yelp and ads in 2 phone books. What kinds of creative places do you advertise?

I am thinking about a flyer for real estate agents or a rack card.

And I give out business cards by the handfull!

[billdeserthills]

I have an agency advertise online for me. When they started, my business had been so slow for a month, I couldn't believe
it. I was doing a job or two each week and slowly going broke, when this agency called me. They promised the sky and I was
getting desperate, as I already had ads in the local paper and the local phone books and still almost no work. So I told them,
"I will try you guys out for a month and if your fee isn't paid for by all this extra work you are promising me I am gonna dispute
your charges with my visa card!" They didn't mind and since then my company is found on the first page online, not the fifth.
Made a Huge difference for me. Yelp has also promised me lots of extra work, but I think they are liars--I think their advertising
is deceptive at best & I won't give them my money.

[2octops]

There are several very good ways to advertise but it depends on who you want your customer to be as to how you need to advertise.

Make sure your web site is optimized for SEO and updated on a regular basis. This will push you towards the top of organic searches. There is no reason to pay anyone for SEO. Just read up a little on it and write a little on a blog each day on your site. Don't forget about Instagram and Twitter. Learn the art of hashtags. It's not that hard and since you're looking for ways to advertise, that usually means you're not busy all day so you have some free time to learn something new.

Spend your next $2,000 and get quality graphics on your service vehicle. The key is to make sure that if someone see's your vehicle across Wal Mart parking lot or driving past you at 45 mph, they should easily be able to read your name, number and figure out what you do for a living. Then drive the snot out of that vehicle all day and night, every day and night. Get people used to seeing that name and the graphics. Soon you will hear that they see your vehicles all over the place, but don't realize you only have 1. Also make sure that same logo is on your web site and Facebook page.

Spend another few hundred getting Tshirts printed with the same logo as above and give them out at random. Focus on places where you see a lot employee's wearing tshirts such as restaurants, bars, gas stations, etc. This gets everyone else to advertise for you.

Since you're spending money, go ahead and boost a FB post each week for a few bucks. You can tailor your target audience with a boosted post so that only the people you want to attract will see it.

The main thing you want to do is create name recognition. You want people in your area to automatically think of your name when they think about keys, locks, safes or whatever you are focusing your work on.

If you want to get into a specific market, there are may different ways to do so and if you let us know who you are trying to target, I'm sure someone will let you know how.

Stay away from the services that offer to send you tons of calls each month for a small fee. They are a complete scam since there is no way to close the sale on every call yet you still have to pay them for all of the price checkers and people calling to see what your business hours are.

[ratlock]

After having a good website,the best way after that to promote your business, ( here in the UK anyway) is google addwords pay per click. Paper directorys are on the way out, and used mainly by older people, buy ive been surprised by the 80 somthing year old lady with an ipad when Ive shown up to do a job.
Radio is very expensive, and didnt work for me. Flyers are fine if youve got spare time, and target a specific area, or demographic.
Local press was kinda expensive and didnt work for me.

Here is a picture of a van I used to place in areas of town for free advertising in my main business.
" This time next year my son, we will be millionares"

[billdeserthills]

Advertising is costing me many times more now than I ever paid 25 years ago and the returns it brings are also less
I still advertise online, in the local newspaper in their 'bulletin board' section and in a couple of local phone books
The only folks using Google Adwords in my area are scammers

[cledry]

Look into Google Places. Forget about Yelp and YP.

[Pahaseta]

Local radio stations have been strong way for us. Were in a position here in Oulu that towing means our company and me personally on automotive lockouts and google has replaced almost all other online and paper advertising. Also phone book has died.

[Jacob Morgan]

What is the best strategy for getting commercial accounts?

[ltdbjd]

Be active in your local Chamber of Commerce. Go to their networking events and ribbon cuttings. Be active in your city events; be a sponsor if you can. Try to sit on one of the commissions (there are usually a few that don't take much time; the Planning Commission usually takes time, and a lot of City Council wanna-be's typically try to get on that one).

The idea (like mentioned elsewhere) is name recognition. The Chamber of Commerce and city/county is a great way of going about it on the commercial side.

[ratlock]

What is the best strategy for getting commercial accounts?

Knock on every letting agent in the city or town where you live

[billdeserthills]

Be active in your local Chamber of Commerce. Go to their networking events and ribbon cuttings. Be active in your city events; be a sponsor if you can. Try to sit on one of the commissions (there are usually a few that don't take much time; the Planning Commission usually takes time, and a lot of City Council wanna-be's typically try to get on that one).

The idea (like mentioned elsewhere) is name recognition. The Chamber of Commerce and city/county is a great way of going about it on the commercial side.

I tried the local Chamber of Commerce, they were less helpful than the Chamber of Farts on SouthPark, at least the Chamber of Farts made me laugh--The other Chamber charged me almost $350 for a one year membership and in that time I got one job for my trouble.

[cledry]

What is the best strategy for getting commercial accounts?

Best strategy is to work for NSPs. We get 7-15 jobs a day from NSPs. Commercial accounts don't shop price as much as the residential and auto customers, they look for COIs etc. how long you have been around and if you have a shop. You need a minimum of $1,000,000 and preferably $2,000,000 in coverage and be willing to supply COIs.

You must be willing to jump though a few hoops. Example, before and after photos preferably with annotations. IVR check in, increasingly using apps to check in and out. Lots of paperwork. Waiting for your money. Endless e-mails... Offer 24/7 service.

[Tyler J. Thomas]

What is the best strategy for getting commercial accounts?

Best strategy is to work for NSPs. We get 7-15 jobs a day from NSPs. Commercial accounts don't shop price as much as the residential and auto customers, they look for COIs etc. how long you have been around and if you have a shop. You need a minimum of $1,000,000 and preferably $2,000,000 in coverage and be willing to supply COIs.

You must be willing to jump though a few hoops. Example, before and after photos preferably with annotations. IVR check in, increasingly using apps to check in and out. Lots of paperwork. Waiting for your money. Endless e-mails... Offer 24/7 service.

Don't forget about calling for NTE increases!

[cledry]

What is the best strategy for getting commercial accounts?

Best strategy is to work for NSPs. We get 7-15 jobs a day from NSPs. Commercial accounts don't shop price as much as the residential and auto customers, they look for COIs etc. how long you have been around and if you have a shop. You need a minimum of $1,000,000 and preferably $2,000,000 in coverage and be willing to supply COIs.

You must be willing to jump though a few hoops. Example, before and after photos preferably with annotations. IVR check in, increasingly using apps to check in and out. Lots of paperwork. Waiting for your money. Endless e-mails... Offer 24/7 service.

Don't forget about calling for NTE increases!

Can't forget that. 3 times today alone.

[jeffmoss26]

Only 3 times?