This is the old Locksmith business info area and will be broken down to fill in the new sections below.
by Engineer » 20 Jul 2010 11:47
The only point I can add is a snotty comment made to me once. It was along the lines of when a locksmith charges less than a pane of glass costs, he would pay the locksmith. That really bothered me for some time, how can you possibly do a job for less than the cost of a pane of glass? Obviously you can't, so you have to compete on some other level than cost. The biggest problem with broken glass is the mess and then they have to go out and buy a new pane of glass and fit it themselves. So I hit on the idea of marketing as quicker, no mess and more convenient (after all, they have to go out to buy glass, leaving their home insecure meanwhile. That got me to the next problem, how can people find your business when they need it? No-one pays any attention to adverts for lockies until they actually need one. More and more phones are offerning internet access, so how about having a website called something like: www.(your district)-locksmiths.com Something that might be high on the search results if someone searches for "locksmiths" and their district. If you get in quick, you might get all the districts you cover registered. Don't forget though, you would have to offer a "mobile" version of your ordinary website. You can do something similar with the phone number having it spelled out. That is more expensive though and requires someone to risk typing out the number and seeing if they actually get a locksmith at the other end of the number.

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Engineer
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by globallockytoo » 21 Jul 2010 13:59
Evan wrote:globallockytoo wrote:I think it might be high time for the government to start imposing import duties on these asian manufacturers. That might enable manufacturing to return to the USA creating new jobs, more tax revenue for the government, greater contributions to social security etc, etc.
So we would have to try and buy back all the factory equipment that has been sent to China to produce all of the fine cheaply made goods found for sale at the big box discount stores... Except those machines are being USED and aren't for sale... Import duties and taxes make no difference, for years car manufacturers got around those by sending the vehicles "sub-assembled" and having the assembly plants in the US install the fluffiest things like windshield wipers, hub cabs, floor mats and spare tires... How do you think that various small product manufacturers would get around any sort of taxes you propose ? ~~ Evan
I purchase from China infrequently for some wholesale products and their accounting department sends an invoice/packing slip that shows half my cost. When I inquired as to why, I was told so they could minimize import duties and taxes to the barest possible. So even though I paid more, I only got a receipt for half. They're a crafty lot, arent they! Manufacturing will not return to the US unless the government and the people vote for substantial change in policy. I think small manufacturers will source raw material abroad and produce products locally using foreign made heavy machinery. That will likely avoid the taxes you speak of.
One One was a race horse, one one won one race, one two was a racehorse, one two won one too.
Disclaimer: Do not pull tag off mattress. Not responsible for legal advice while laughing. Bilock - The Original True Bump Proof Pin Tumbler System!
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globallockytoo
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by Engineer » 21 Jul 2010 18:06
As for winning manufacturing back from places like China, I personally don't believe it can be done on price alone.
It's not just about our manufacturing machines having gone out there - How many of us own at least one locksmithing item made out there? Make no mistake, they can make their own machinery now. Here in the UK it seemed to start in the 80s with our industries being closed down. The machinery to make production plants was sold off as our industry closed down. Now I fear they can make pretty much anything they want. OK, maybe I have a particular viewpoint, coming from a background in electronics and mechanical engineering then.
It's not just the kit, wages are very low over there, as the cost of living is much lower. Overheads are minimal as there are so few health and safety rules and taxation is minimal, as the Governments provide so few services. You know how people live in some of these countries, who in the West would like our countries to be like that as well?
Raw materials are much cheaper also than I can buy them over here for example. Electricity, gas, water and transportation - Office space and metal stock as well. Being an engineer, I cannot tell you how often I've picked up a cheap imported lock and wondered what exactly is the composition of that "brass"? Brass covers a range of alloys, but some of these are not like any I've seen before. I have wondered if they were tested, what "nasties" might turn up, or are they clean?
It's not all doom and gloom though. One thing they seem (at least for the moment) to be unable or unwilling to compete on, is the top-end of things. I'm sure a good mechanical lock made in America or Europe will always best anything that might be imported. This oddly is one of the reasons I fear electronic locks are the final chapter for lock manufacturing in the West. The far East can already make electronics pretty well and cheaper than us, so while electronic locks have their niche of course, I personally do not want them to become "the norm".
So where is the future then if even mechanical locks look like they might become less and less popular over time as electronic take over? Well, I think Governments are already moving in the right direction as perhaps they too might be fearing the worst? More countries need to respect "IP" (Intellectual Property) - In other words, to respect patents and copyrights. I believe that while there are some excelent inventors out there, free-thinking is not exactly encouraged, so there will never be enough top-class inventors. We will invent and design... and then end up getting the cheaper countries to make them, as we cannot compete on price.
I apologise if this seems rather depressing, but I've seen it happen so much in electronics (not completely gone thankfully), that I do think the same might well happen in more and more industries, especially if we do not point out our own brands as being better quality (where they are of course).

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Engineer
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by Rickthepick » 22 Jul 2010 8:42
The hard part is resisting the urge to spend more on advertising, its an automatic response when work slows down but I know deep down it wont do any good and probably wont even pull the money back. All directories and the internet are completely saturated with competitors that have all spread to the boarding/glazing battlefield. Iv just lost a job opening/replacing 3 mortice locks as someones going cheaper at £75.... Its barely worth doing £75- materials, travel costs, advertising costs, etc, etc... you will be lucky to have £30 after tax Do you stick to your guns on prices or keep undercutting..?
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by globallockytoo » 4 Aug 2010 10:06
Never reduce your labor rates. If necessary, drop your parts prices to cost. Stick to your guns. Encourage customers to write you testimonials that can be published on your site. New customers often decide to use a company based on the strength of testimonials from past customers, often irrespective of whether you are dearer or not.
I am not the cheapest around, but the strength of my testimonials has done wonders for increasing my business and return customers.
I offer returning customers 5-15% discount (parts) depending for their loyalty. Contracted labor rates based on minimum quantity of monthly works, might include discounted labor rates.
One One was a race horse, one one won one race, one two was a racehorse, one two won one too.
Disclaimer: Do not pull tag off mattress. Not responsible for legal advice while laughing. Bilock - The Original True Bump Proof Pin Tumbler System!
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globallockytoo
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by globallockytoo » 4 Aug 2010 10:16
My first year I spent huge $$$ on advertising including online adwords. I was developing my site and only had a few articles. In the 3 years since, my site now has in excess of 400+ articles and is found very highly in all search engines for many searched for keywords.
As a result, I enjoy between 15 and 40 hits per day just from keyword searches. This includes searches from such far away places as UK.
My site is simply a blog that is free to operate, offers the suitable information for me and my services and I try to write at least 10 articles a month and include video and pictures. It has worked very well and costs a very small fraction of the budget that my competitors are spending on advertising.
Join local business associations and attend to local networking events. Be seen in the community and they will remember you eventually. Word of mouth advertising will naturally develop and you will find the reduced need to spend on advertising mediums.
I spent $3500 the first year on Yellow Pages online. I got 8 calls total that year through YP. Needless to say I cancelled advertising there.
Join forums that allow you to post your website address in your signature. This auto-generically will help you to rise in search engine ranks, because it shows multiple sites that link to your homepage (or article), and dont forget to participate in discussions at those forums.
These are just a few tips for how to build your online presence that are very cost effective (minimal to zero).
One One was a race horse, one one won one race, one two was a racehorse, one two won one too.
Disclaimer: Do not pull tag off mattress. Not responsible for legal advice while laughing. Bilock - The Original True Bump Proof Pin Tumbler System!
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globallockytoo
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by Wizer » 4 Aug 2010 10:26
globallockytoo wrote:My site is simply a blog that is free to operate, offers the suitable information for me and my services and I try to write at least 10 articles a month and include video and pictures. It has worked very well and costs a very small fraction of the budget that my competitors are spending on advertising
So whats your websites address? Not that I´ll be using your services, but its allways nice to read lock-related articles.
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Wizer
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by globallockytoo » 4 Aug 2010 19:41
Wizer wrote:globallockytoo wrote:My site is simply a blog that is free to operate, offers the suitable information for me and my services and I try to write at least 10 articles a month and include video and pictures. It has worked very well and costs a very small fraction of the budget that my competitors are spending on advertising
So whats your websites address? Not that I´ll be using your services, but its allways nice to read lock-related articles.
The mods here frown upon blatant advertising, if they approve, I'll post it, but only because it might be of interest and I wouldnt be attempting to advertise. I have posted links to various articles before in here, if you search my posts, you will find the link on occasion. Or I can just PM you the url.
One One was a race horse, one one won one race, one two was a racehorse, one two won one too.
Disclaimer: Do not pull tag off mattress. Not responsible for legal advice while laughing. Bilock - The Original True Bump Proof Pin Tumbler System!
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globallockytoo
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by Wizer » 5 Aug 2010 2:55
I´m sure you can add it to your profile, if not, please PM it to me.
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Wizer
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by Rickthepick » 5 Sep 2010 14:09
yeah its a shame lp101 dont do backlinks. Selling backlinks is big business and i for one would pay to backlink from here
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