Hey Everyone! I know there are questions out there. I want to know what they are!
If ghosts can walk through walls and glide downstairs, why don’t they fall through the floor?
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@Innocentbystander Ghosts float! They choose to fly through walls and doors and gravity has no effect on them. Falling would mean they adhered to the laws of gravity and inertia, going against everything else they seem to be able to do.
That was a good one, though =)
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So we did a roof job today, a tiki hut, like to do more…whats the best way to target this niche?
Move to Hawaii. Not really a niche down there.
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@garry.cooper Well, from what I can see it looks like hotels, bars and restaurants are the type of establishments to have a tiki hut. Please let me know if I am mistaken, we do not have many here in New Jersey =)
If this is true, you have a few options.
Your first step should be to design a postcard ( we can help with that if you need us) that targets this type of roof job in particular. Figure out your pricing, what it entails, if there are any limitations or size restrictions and if you can offer some kind of discount or promotion.
Now, what to do with that postcard?
Do a bulk mailing: compile a list of addresses. There are data services that allow you to purchase lists of addresses, however this type of niche might be very small, I am not really sure if extensive lists will be available. You can google businesses in your area or the areas you want to target and find out who has a tiki hut and collect addresses from there as well. It will take some time but all the info you need is there.
If you come across a decent amount, you can do a direct mailing to the entire list. We offer a service where we ink jet the addresses, sort and mail the postcards using our mailing permit. It is a lower postage rate than a standard forever stamp.
You can also address and stamp them yourself, old school style. This is more time consuming and the postage rate is higher than a mailing permit ( as you have to buy stamps and do it by hand) but you can mail out small batches at your leisure as you come across new businesses.
If you only have a very small amount of addresses in the end and do not feel confident mailing them, you can always come up with some kind of postcard or flyer that you can hand out. Take a day, do the leg work and drive around to different places and solicit your company. Hand them a flyer with a promotion and you got your foot in the door.
I hope that helps!!
In your experience what is the tipping point for recognition of brand through mailers? It used to be 7-8 impressions was the number but now it seems like 10-20 in conjunction with online and other print ads.
How many mailing rounds would you recommended to break into a new area with mailers/postcards? Also, after getting regularly seen (7-20 postcards) what is the frequency you recommend for maintaining presence through mailers/postcards in an area?
Thanks for taking questions!
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I’m going to have fact check this.
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@UnitedPro GREAT Question!
It is true that other print, online, and social media has come into play more. However; not everyone is online, especially the home owning generation who wants to pay for the services you offer. They still check the mail.
EDDM also has the lowest postage cost for any type of mailing, so it is the most popular. Other mailings, like bulk mailing tends to go out to lists of existing customers. EDDM is still the best way to get new customers as you can target specific areas ( based on age/income) and make sure everyone gets a card. No need to have any other personal information.
For someone starting out, we recommend you send out a new batch about every 3 weeks. If you can keep this momentum up for a year that will bring you 12 solid hits, which falls right in the middle of your estimate. New areas especially. This keeps your brand fresh and separates you from the competition. It does not have to be a huge batch. We actually recommend small batches of 500 or 1000, which is 1 or 2 routes in most areas, sometimes 3 if the routes are small.
You will not break the bank paying postage and it is a great way to test out areas and see what kind of feedback you get. You can always increase your drops, there are always more routes to add.
Once you have set yourself up in an area or are getting a solid return, you can slow it down a bit to a more seasonal approach. I have customers that instead of smaller, frequent mailings, graduate to much larger, multiple thousand piece mailings 4 or 5 times a year. They change the card and coupon accordingly.
That is something else worth mentioning- the coupon, or call to action is important. That is what gets the attention and keeps the card on the fridge to be used.
I hope that helps!!
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Thank you for the response!
I’m about 6 rounds in to an area and we have covered mailer costs with a few jobs and have used specific demographic lists with the help of my local print shop. The area homes are relatively close in size and build so my call to action was a fixed cost price based on size to see if I could rope a few in.
I find I get better ROI on door hangers with a mention that I just completed work in their neighborhood. We hang doors 5 doors down in each direction and one street over. Next to that we put a sign in the yard after service that we pick up in a week or so. I’ve played with the idea of using before and after pictures from a house in the neighborhood I am mailing into to see if it had a better effect, I just need another 20 hours in a week…
Thanks again for the response.
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My pleasure!
Yes, the " 5-around" concept is one I am very familiar with and is no doubt very effective.
Once they see the hanger, they will look at their neighbors house and see what kind of work you did. Then your info ( and possibly estimate, we add space to the backers of our door hangers for pricing) is right there in front of them.
The " Pardon the Glare, We Just Cleaned Your Neighbors Windows" door hanger template is BY FAR one of the most popular, the name says it all.
And they are less expensive than a mailing so that is always a plus!
That could be an idea to try, adding before an after images to your card. Like I mentioned earlier with the door hangers, the neighbors get to SEE the work you did. People are generally very “visual” and seeing what they are to expect can push them in the right direction if they are on the fence. After all, you are trying to get them to pick you over the other competition in the area. Show them what they are missing. You will almost definitely get a call with " My guy now does nothing like that!!" pretty quickly now that they have something to compare it to.
Please let me know if there is anything we at the WCR ( print department or otherwise ) can do to help, and I wish you the best of luck!!
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I have a question.
How does a positrac rear end in a Plymouth work?
There is only one answer. Don’t mess it up.
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@DisplacedTexan From one of the greatest movies of ALL TIME, I give you the beautiful Miss Mona Lisa Vito:
Mona Lisa Vito: The car that made these two, equal-length tire marks had positraction. You can’t make those marks without positraction, which was not available on the '64 Buick Skylark!
Vinny Gambini: And why not? What is positraction?
Mona Lisa Vito: It’s a limited slip differential which distributes power equally to both the right and left tires. The '64 Skylark had a regular differential, which, anyone who’s been stuck in the mud in Alabama knows, you step on the gas, one tire spins, the other tire does nothing.
[the jury members nod, with murmurs of “yes,” “that’s right,” etc]
Vinny Gambini: Is that it?
Mona Lisa Vito: No, there’s more! You see? When the left tire mark goes up on the curb and the right tire mark stays flat and even? Well, the '64 Skylark had a solid rear axle, so when the left tire would go up on the curb, the right tire would tilt out and ride along its edge. But that didn’t happen here. The tire mark stayed flat and even. This car had an independent rear suspension. Now, in the '60’s, there were only two other cars made in America that had positraction, and independent rear suspension, and enough power to make these marks. One was the Corvette, which could never be confused with the Buick Skylark. The other had the same body length, height, width, weight, wheel base, and wheel track as the '64 Skylark, and that was the 1963 Pontiac Tempest.
Vinny Gambini: And because both cars were made by GM, were both cars available in metallic mint green paint?
Mona Lisa Vito: They were!
Vinny Gambini: Thank you, Ms. Vito. No more questions. Thank you very, very much.
[kissing her hands]
Vinny Gambini: You’ve been a lovely, lovely witness
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love her testimony scene!
“You got mud in your tires.”
“I got mud in my tires?”
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Even though that is technically the wrong answer and the wrong movie…
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@DisplacedTexan in my eyes it is the ONLY movie 
but thank you, at least I get an A for effort.
What is the correct answer?
“It just does.”
-Joe Dirt’s Dad
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@DisplacedTexan When you’re right, you’re right!
When you’re feeling down, stare at a clown!
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dont know about staring at a clown…but youve been talking to one
hahahahhaa
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Takes one to know one Coop!
