help no work

[diegolocks10]

You can look and apply for a job online. In this way you can really choose what job do you want.

[LockSafe]

Couple of tips on getting more business,if it helps. I recently went back into locksmithing after a fifteen year break. I starded of by dropping postcards into every business premises in my town, shops, offices, estate agents - anywhere where I could get through the door. As mentioned elswhere, Vistaprint do a good job on the cards for a fair price. The trick is to talk to the people ypo meet - cards through letterboxes don't work so well. I pretty much got 3-4 jobs a week from the get-go. Next I build myself a website, e-commerce and all. Now that is working, just exported some Astral S's to a major oil company in Equatorial Guinea. Next I bought a key cutting machine and booked space two days a week at my local market. Key cutting earns me a fair income plus lock sales and I'm now doing about 6-8 jobs a week. Installation work mostly though - NLE is fairly flat. All in all its enough for me for now - hoping to get a shop April 2011.
The trick - find your market, go out and work it and be reasonable on price. It's working for me!

[79commando]

I hope the Astral S locks weren't part of a con. WHere they place the order and pay up front with a fake cheque which just happens to be for more than the loks cost. They then get you to return the extra which people do, then the cheque bounces. There's loads of cons out there so beware. Why would they not contact Astral direct if they're a big company? Surely it's better for them as far as VAT goes.

[LockSafe]

I hope the Astral S locks weren't part of a con. WHere they place the order and pay up front with a fake cheque which just happens to be for more than the loks cost. They then get you to return the extra which people do, then the cheque bounces. There's loads of cons out there so beware. Why would they not contact Astral direct if they're a big company? Surely it's better for them as far as VAT goes.

Not a con. The locks were paid for in advance of sending them on my website. Major oil company too, not quite as big as BP, but well known globally. Not sure how they arrived at my website, probably just Googled what they wanted, I do know they wanted the transaction in GBP for some reason, maybe that helped.

[79commando]

I'm glad it went well for you. I've heard too many horror stories over the years that I'm always on guard.

[corey2444]

I'm a solo locksmith. I will get a few jobs here and there and do mostly sub contract work. I was told my yellowpages.com that they were the greatest advertising around. I decided to give it a try and basically got a handful of calls in over a few months time. I was lucky enough to get out of contract, but it cost me.

In my opinion you have 2 choices.. 1) go all out with full page ads and internet and get slammed. 2) sub contract and build your business over time. The guys going all out with 4k per month in advertising usually need subs to pick up the slack.

[globallockytoo]

I'm a solo locksmith. I will get a few jobs here and there and do mostly sub contract work. I was told my yellowpages.com that they were the greatest advertising around. I decided to give it a try and basically got a handful of calls in over a few months time. I was lucky enough to get out of contract, but it cost me.

In my opinion you have 2 choices.. 1) go all out with full page ads and internet and get slammed. 2) sub contract and build your business over time. The guys going all out with 4k per month in advertising usually need subs to pick up the slack.

The scammers here spend in excess of $15K a month on advertising and have to charge ripoff prices to survive. That means they need to be bringing in about $600 per day before they can pay themselves a wage.

If you have a lazy 15 grand laying around monthly, then go for it, but you will need to change your attitude and start ripping people off too.

[79commando]

You will struggle to make a go of it if you continue to sub contract, you are continualy feeding the Nationals so you will never have enough to beat them with advertising. That and if there is enough work in your area they will put a van there themselves and you will be history. I've met loads that have tried to use the Nationals to build up their business, nearly all are still subbing years later as they will never build their business whilst working for others.

[LockSafe]

You will struggle to make a go of it if you continue to sub contract, you are continualy feeding the Nationals so you will never have enough to beat them with advertising. That and if there is enough work in your area they will put a van there themselves and you will be history. I've met loads that have tried to use the Nationals to build up their business, nearly all are still subbing years later as they will never build their business whilst working for others.

Totally agree with this. Do your own thing for yourself, in our own way. Likely you can be more cost effective than the nationals. Remember, even today, people like to do business with real individuals who they can trust. Faceless nationals are the real rip-off merchants IMO.

[allamericanlock]

i just started my company in July 2010 after working in California as a locksmith and its been rough start. ive been able to get in one small yellow pages so far which by the way has basically just payed for itself. The full size yellow pages doesn't come out till December so ive had to get real creative. I have a website, a listing on BING, a facebook, a twitter account, and a myspace account. In the social networking pages i just post security related quotes and tips for customers. The more websites your name is on and your link shows up in the higher rated it will get on a search engine. If you typed my Company name on google i show up first even though there are locksmiths in other states with the same name as me and have been around a lot longer There are far fewer locksmiths working on vehicles than commercial and residential where im at so i try to market myself more in that area and have invested more heavily in those tools. I make flyers and pass them out at grocery stores and high traffic areas. And the biggest thing that has helped me survive until now is sub-contracting for other locksmiths until my own calls start coming in regularly.

[lou1]

Hi I'm new here- but I saw this post and thought I'd give this a try.

I have had a lot of luck advertising on American Apartment Owners Association -AAOA- its a nationwide association for apartment owners and it's FREE!! Its a nice site, not like some of the other free ones i have tried/looked at.

They have a vendor directory where you can sign up for free- if you want a more detailed ad you can pay to add coupons and pictures and stuff. I started with the free one though which got me some business and then added on to it later. I've been having a lot of success with it though- so might be something for you to look at.

this is the link for the site

http://dev.secure.american-apartment-ow ... step_1.php

[globallockytoo]

lou1

it's only in California?

[lou1]

it's nationwide- I'm not in CA

i think on the side where it shows ca you can see the population for different states if you choose from the drop down. but once you sign up you can definitely pick whatever state you are in.

[globallockytoo]

it's nationwide- I'm not in CA

i think on the side where it shows ca you can see the population for different states if you choose from the drop down. but once you sign up you can definitely pick whatever state you are in.

Thanks for that. I just joined up. We'll see what happens. Great suggestion.

[maintenanceguy]

Spend your down time shaking hands. Make up a simple brochure with a list of your services and some logos of the brands you service. Stop and see property managers of apartment complexes, office buildings, schools, etc and introduce yourself, spend no more than 2 minutes and thank them for their time.

Have an "elevator pitch" ready. Something that completely but simply tells what you do and why you're the best choice for your customers in 30 seconds or less.

I can give you the perspective of a customer. I'm a facilities manager for a big organization. I get people stopping by to see me like this a couple of times a week. Most I meet and throw their cards in the trash. But if you happen to stop by when I'm looking to have a building re-keyed, or a door repaired, I'll ask you for a quote when you're there. If your price is good, I'll give you a small job at first. That decides if we work together again. If your pricing is good (doesn't have to be the cheapest, cheapest is often more problems than it's worth) and the work is great, and customer service is great, you might get a lot of work from me.

If all you do is locksmithing, expand. I don't need 100 different contractors. I want a dozen or less. My plumber needs to have the equipment to dig his own trenches or at least sub that out without me getting involved. Look into repairing and replacing doors, alarms, and anything else related to locksmithing. The more you can do, the more work that's available to you.

And when you're trying to sell me something, Don't judge my company by your pocket book. I've got money to spend doing the job right. I get lots of people who assume I'm looking for the cheapest repair. I want the job done right. If it can be fixed and be almost as good as new, fine. But don't be afraid to suggest a replacement. I'm replacing 4 doors next week for a cost of $15,000. One guy suggested some angle brackets and reinforcing pivots to make it last "a little longer". Another bidder was less expensive but I hired the guy who has worked for me before and did a great job, answered his cell phone every time I called, responded with a quote within a few hours, and has been easy to work with.

Hope this helps. Good luck