I’M coming to the end of my current box of door hangers. They are pretty awful and didn’t give me much of a return so I’m wondering if anyone has a design that it catchy and compelling. Just trying to get some ideas that have been effective…
I’m still playing around with different designs for door hangers / flyers as you are.
Something different… I just ordered 200 large magnets 4 1/2" x 5 1/2" that look like an oversized business card.
Thought I’d give that a shot, placing them on the front of metal mailboxes or front doors / garage doors.
A bit costly compared to door hangers, .65 cents a piece, but hoping they hang on to them for years on their fridge or filing cabinet.
You need to get with NItz he did mine, double sided… Nice looking I give out as cards i like em so much
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I’ve considered that but the cost holds me back. I’m looking to target a particular neighborhood and but every home with a door hanger in combination with yard signs going in and out of the neighborhood and possible even some cards from Send Jim. Multiple touches seems to be the General consensus.
I was speaking with a contractor last week who said he has much better results concentrating on the same subdivision by placing hangers every month on the same doors for several months, instead of trying to place hangers on as many different homes in all the subdivisions as possible. He is convinced that this will create a “brand” with that neighborhood after several months of hanging before moving on to the next. It sounds reasonable to me.
i hang them on the mail box flags…
@618Pressure this is in your wheelhouse!
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These are the coolest door hangers I’ve seen on the forum. I love AtCost Printing because of the PWRA discount and got my yard signs there, but the door hanger designs make me nuts. Personally, I think they’re awful and cheesy and I’d 3-pointer the thing right in the trash.
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When I first started I was knocking on doors and using door hangers I designed on Vista Print. I was really proud of them and now I look at them like my 6th grade yearbook photo. Awful. They’re bad. Also, I would have to put out 100-200 of them to get a few jobs. It was labor intensive and the return was just above ramen noodle dinners. Then I heard a podcast called the Quick Talk podcast and he mentioned a concept called “5 around”. You hang 5 door hangers to the right of the house you’re at, 5 door hangers to the left, and 5 at the houses in front of the one you just worked on.
The return on 15 to 20 door hangers is the same as it was for 100 except I spent 15 minutes hanging these instead of hours. The neighbors have already seen your truck and seen you working on your neighbors house. Neighbors are going to talk too. You’ve got social proof. And if you come back for a job in the neighborhood the next week, now they’ve seen you twice and they’re getting a second door hanger. You’re staying in front of them a lot easier than if you’re just picking random neighborhoods and hitting 50-60 houses who have no idea who you are and have never seen you there before.
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These are the 6x11 postcards I send out. They work great. Design and quality are second only to placement strategy. I use eddm and hit my routes 5-7 times to get killer results instead of trying to spray them everywhere.
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5 to 7 hits over how long of a time frame?
Thanks, @squidskc for letting me know.
First, and absolutely foremost, don’t use anyone else’s design. Unless, that is, it’s free to use for commercial use. Designers are the biggest sticklers for stuff like this. You can get sued super easy. If you want something awesome that will show your branding off and get you calls for estimates, hire a designer. Your college age, cousin Greg who knows how to use photoshop is not what I’m talking about either. Make sure you get a good designer. Also, the best designers charge $75/hour or less. Don’t spring for those, but don’t take a crap designer either. Make sure they can show you their work.
As a designer, I have always lived by the idea that less is more and a clean cut, concise design will always attract more people’s eyes. Also, lots of text is a huge turn off. Make sure it’s simple, clean, not too vibrant with colors, and isn’t crowded with text. If you can convey that to any designer, you’ll have a top notch design that will convey your branding to your potential clientele and attract their eyes much easier. That is, of course, if you aren’t just using a template design that is free for commercial use. There’s nothing wrong with that either, don’t get me wrong. On a small budget, that’s the smart business decision to make. But if you can spring for a designer, do it. You won’t regret it.
As for a pre-made template to use, a quick Google search will show you lots of things that you can use. Beware of wording tho. “Free to use” doesn’t necessarily mean “Free for commercial use.” That may mean “Free for personal use” in college projects and such. ALWAYS read the licensing agreement. You don’t have to read the whole thing, just make sure you see the words “Free for commercial use” or “Royalty free.” Remember, the PDF or PSD file may be free to download, but that doesn’t mean it’s free to print an d use for your business. Here are a couple links I found from Google searches.
Here is a blank canvas that explains the templates to you.
Here are 43 designs to choose from. Go through the licensing agreement.
Also, one last piece of advice. For branding, continuity is king. Make sure to use the same colors, fonts, phrases, and logo throughout all of your marketing. You want your customers to be familiar with your brand. It’s easier for them to remember and your business will spring to the front of their mind when someone says “My house could use a wash,” even if they haven’t hired and used you themselves. I went a little in-depth, but I hope that helps.
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Jesus Christ, I love the 5 around idea. This bleeds marketing genius. Blind marketing gets no results seen. (See what I did there? Helps you remember.) Familiarity is the best marketing technique you will find.
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Love that design. Did you hire someone for that? They did a great job keeping it concise, but also emphasizing the motif.
Thanks man! I designed it myself
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I listen to the Quick Talk Podcast. Josh is awesome and been real helpful in getting the most from the Send Jim software .
Did you use a hanger that was targeted for neighbors, like “We just worked on your neighbors house, blah blah blah”, or was it just a generalized card?
I’m embarrassed to show you because they’re so bad. This is the original. The only difference with the ones we were hanging when we started “5 around” was in white box with our logo. Above it said: “Ask BLANK about their experience!” The logo was smaller and underneath it said “This offer expires on BLANK”
We just wrote in “The Johnsons 1234 Main” or “Bob 567 S Thundercluck” or whatever. You get the idea. Get permission to do that though.
I always filled in an expiration date of 7 days later. No real idea why. Someone else here can tell you the science of expiration dates and why shorter is better or longer is better. Again, no clue here.
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What would you say was an average return rate using these on a 5 around?
This is slightly more complicated answer than it probably has to be, but out of 15 hangers? 2 estimates, one is always “just pricing” for the sake of having his neighbors see your truck back in the neighborhood and one is ready to do business. So you can virtually guarantee 1 job if it’s a close neighborhood.
Plan on 2 spots each week being filled with 5 around customers if you’re doing it everyday without exception. If it’s a close neighborhood and your first house recommends you on the HOA facebook page, plan on 4 spots because they want the $20 off AND you have double social proof. We did 3 houses in a row last week in the same HOA because we started with one of the board members and she ran the facebook page. We were there until the sun went down and had to make a run for gas, but It was beautiful. LOL
We have 2 spots available daily. Morning and afternoon. Some jobs are all day jobs, but if you’re nailing down 2 spots or one full day each week with 5 arounds then 20% of your business is coming from 5 arounds. That’s a pretty killer return I think.
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