What works best

[FORTIFIED LOCKSMITH]

Hi All

I need some advice from peers... I doubt anyone reading this will be a competitor of mine or mine of them. But whats the best form of advertising you find works, internet or papers?

[FORTIFIED LOCKSMITH]

Just to update, I was reffering to small local business in the UK!

[FORTIFIED LOCKSMITH]

Lol, lastly.. is this aite for locksmiths all over the world or just in the US?

[yono]

for me, If one is just starting a business, Internet is of a little help for a starter since there are lots of already recognized lock business online. and mostly, about to be customer will go for the one they already knew. Unless of course if you have an eye catching and pocket saving promo.. they might take a try. and wihtin your community perimeter..i think papers in the form of notices.. posted in places that people frequently visiting..like mall, supermarket..is a good start. followed by work quality and prompt services. as in my experience...customers in locksmithing (business)always run to the people they already knew. unless of course they are the "new people in town". I might be wrong in my approach, since most of us has differrent point of views and the location we are working are not the same. so i stand to be corrected from other more experienced in this business. regards.

[globallockytoo]

Yono makes some valid points, however online advertising is significantly easier and less expensive to accomplish in the short term.

I'm not sure if there are third party contract companies in the UK like in the USA similar to Service Magic.

Service Magic is worthwile because you only pay by the lead as opposed to Yellow Pages which is a "pay and pray" model.

I have been with them 3 years here and continue to get significant project requests. The best thing though (and the best advertising) is the testimonials that completed project customers leave on your website. Because it is a third party company, testimonials are hard to fake/falsify. Only the customer can leave feedback/testimonials. The feedback/testimonials provide 5 star valuations and testimonials from your clients. It is like word of mouth advertising. If you are a good operator and honest, this will reflect in your testimonials and naturally increase your penetration online.

It does not happen overnight, but Service Magic testimonials and ratings make it to search engines, like Google Maps/Google/Yahoo/Bing etc, where customers see your ratings and testimonials online.

I'm not saying it's the best option for your money, but it is worthwile considering as a valuable growing source of prospects for your business.

My profile shows an example of the page a potential client might see.

[Varjeal]

Phone book is your staple food for advertising, especially your local one. From there, advertising in your area's "daily news" is a good step as well. The internet, of course, is primarily or at least close to free, and many are choosing to search for companies that way so it cannot be ignored either.

Unless you have cash to burn, I would not suggest your town/cities paper as they are generally so jammed full of ads that most get ignored anyways. Also, beware of telemarketers selling ad space in "school books" for safety programs and such. Some are legit, others are not.

Recently, I had a company from Ontario (I'm in Alberta) trying to get me to lease space on shopping carts in my town. When I asked them what stores they were connected with the reply was "those popular ones that every place has". Yeah, right.