I’m new to this whole self employment thing, and right now I’m struggling. Summer is right around the corner, and honestly, I expected to be a lot better off than this. I started in March and so far I’ve only landed two jobs (acquaintances). I’ve tried everything (flyers, business cards, yard signs, facebook page, etc.) and still nothing seems to be popping off. Any advice for speeding up this advertising process?
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Got pics of ur flyers ect?
Are you on Google? If not, hire a tech. and get a nice website built with a quickness.
Hi Luke,
I think the biggest challenge, and most important factor for new businesses is being seen… constantly.
Get giant truck magnets from esigns.com. Clear bold lettering, straight and to the point. Take a clue from Tim Field’s designs (sign2day.com), but don’t plagiarize. Hire him if you can.
Give away work if you need to, to be able to put up yard signs in as many yards as possible. Again, make sure they can be read from the International Space Station. If your jurisdiction allows, put the signs up on every corner. Make sure they look 100x better and easier to read than any other signs.
Get some nice logo’d polo shirts or tees if you can afford it. Wear them everywhere, and make sure to smile a lot. Again: simplicity and legibility should rule over fancy, intricate designs.
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I do think I haven’t done the greatest job on advertising yet. I invested in cards and signs on vista print, basically choosing the cheapest deals I could get. Wanted to invest the minimum I could to start off with. I will post pictures of all my advertisement products in a few hours when I get home, and if y’all could judge me with brutal honesty, I would appreciate it.
You’ll get the most brutal, but honest opinion’s from these people. I had a website built and got placed in a good spot on google. It make’s a Hella difference. Most of my calls come from potential customer’s seeing my website on the front page of google. Marketing marketing marketing!!!
I’m not sure what your budget is like or what services you’re offering. Everyone has a mixed experience with advertising. You need to find what works for you and overall, you need reviews. It’s how we shop today. Most people look things up on their phone, look for reviews, look at pictures and then make decisions from there.
Home Advisor $350 annual membership & leads cost $20+ but the leads are solid; just a matter of closing them
Your own website - you can also use your Facebook page as a website
Yelp page doesn’t cost anything to create the page however ads do cost. Will want your actual website name - not Facebook.
Google (you can point Google to your Facebook page)
Facebook ads are effective but you do spend money. Try introductory offers.
HOA (reach out to HOA’s, find out if there is an apartment association to reach out to in your area)
Groupon
Thumbtack - it doesn’t cost anything to join however overall, you spend a lot responding to leads and will only close a few.
Craigslist
Car Club/Dealerships/Facility Managers of Corporations - if you do auto detailing as well.
Business Cards, Networking, Coffee Shops, Yard Signs posted on street corners around town,Realtors…Everyday you don’t spend doing work, you need to be marketing. If you work 8 hours a day doing the actual work, you need to be putting in equal amount of time into marketing. You might have 10 jobs to do on the calendar but if you aren’t marketing, what are you going to do after that. Word of mouth is also the best most cost effective advertising there is.
Oh, also forgot to add:
CraftJack and HomeYou too.
Oh, if you offer auto detailing too…consider National Detailing Pros.
I actually am interested in the auto detailing you mentioned. To save money and gas, I just pressure wash my car every now and then, instead of paying a car wash. Only problem with dealerships, corps, etc. Is I don’t have insurance yet. The annual price just seems ridiculous until I start yielding a decent income. Could no insurance be a huge setback as well?
Operating without insurance is the same risk regardless of industry or task…the potential liability just gets riskier meaning the more money or assets you may have to give up to pay it.
Doing cars…you may work on a $20K car one day or a $100K car the next. You just never know and then what do you do? Walk away because you don’t have insurance? Is that a time when you want to reveal that fact? Today, businesses need an internet presence however, as soon as you do, it becomes very public and now you’ve created a platform for dissatisfied customers to voice their opinions…publicly. Which could potentially harm future business. I wouldn’t recommend working without insurance at all but if you do, you proceed at your own risk.
It’s all about being seen. Being in your customers mind when they need your services. Or being one of the first displayed when they search for your seevice.
Last summer, when we started out, we invested everything into equipment. We didn’t get any loans, we didn’t cut corners and buy 4 or 5 gpm machines, AND we didn’t leave much left over for MARKETING. Therefore, we weren’t seen veey well. We had a good season last year but nothing like this year. This year, we’ve invested HEAVILY into marketing and now we make in a day what we made in a week or more last summer. So the advice I can give for you newbies is to invest as much as possible into marketing. It does pay off in the long run. Yard signs are priceless and so is SEO…We have yard signs everywhere in 4 counties, you can’t go anywhere without our sign in your face.
And be a good at upselling! I swear my wife could sell an igloo to a Hawaiin! she constantly turns $300 jobs into $600 or $1200 jobs. She is OCD about cleanliness and will talk customers into washing their cat… we’ve now ventured into the world of staining and sealing too. Swingsets, driveways, decks, we’ve done them all. And often make wayyy more $$ off of that than washing.
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And finally, do a job that nobody else can do better. THAT IS what sets us apart!
