So to date I have put my add in 3 local newspapers and coupon books. Val-pak, Best coupons magazine, and the green sheet. I have a facebook page, part of 2 local facebook groups, have a website up, running google adds, facebook adds, hanging door hangers like CRAZY, and passing out business cards like candy. I have a business page on my local city website, and a few other directories. and this week I have gotten 0 calls. Last week only had 2 calls, and only 1 converted to a sale… ughh…
Possibly the season? I just started this business 4 months ago, and honestly it was doing pretty good for a new start-up. and now it’s looking terrible… I hope this is just a slow season and by march it picks up or I might be putting my applications in to the local hardware store…
The say “Rome wasnt built in a day” for a reason. Word of mouth will always be a huge part in this industry. Get your name out there and do good work, rest will fall into place.
Not sure where you are, but this time of year is slow for most where the weather isnt favorable.
If you where doing ok before, then it’s the season… Apart from the weather being ugly, people just spent money over the Holidays and it takes a couple months for most ppl to get back up. You should start seeing some action by the end of feb or mid march… Save up for the rainy days! Best of luck
i agree it’s the season. You also may want one of your customers to put your name out there on the nextdoor neighbor app. “I just want to give a shout out to blah blah business. My house was covered with grime and other stuff, they power washed it and it looks like new. They had great prices and were friendly to talk to. Tell them Mary referred you, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!”
Im in Houston too, and this time of year is just slow for residential. Not that you cant get customers, just takes more effort.
While I have never done print ads like the newspaper, i do know that it can easily be a waste of money in the wrong paper. How many really still look at news papers (quite a few still i know, but not nearly as much as it used to be). I do know that like with everything people need to see you and your ad a few times to build trust. I know me personally when i need something, i dont check the newspaper, i get on my phone or computer and look up some companies.
Val pak, and money saver coupon - Ive heard mixed reviews on that.
For your print ads, what is your call to action? What deal/discount, or offer are you giving them? Why should people call you?
How much have you spent on google and facebook? I dont run those as much anymore, but you have to be willing to put some money behind them. Putting $10 or $20 dollars on a ad will not do you any good.
How many door hangers have you put out? Anything less than a thousand will not yield great result in general if “shotgunning”. Than take the season into account and your call percentage will be a lot less. Also people do hang on to them, and may call months later.
Im not saying put all your eggs in one basket, but to really put forth a lot of effort on one or two types of ads. (online or print). Really take the time to learn it, and come up with a plan, and put some money behind it. If you have a small budget and try to use it on every type of ad, none of them will really have a chance to work. You spread the budget too thin.
Thanks for the reply. We’ll its somewhat comforting to hear someone else is slow as well, so its not just my terrible marketing lol. Honestly the greensheet and best coupons got me some calls before the new year, Will use them again the ROI was decent.
I know I need to put the time and effort into online marketing. I’m slowly working on it, a little every day. I was hoping that the print ads would bring in some “fast” money while I build up my web presence.
My call to action are limited time cash discounts ranging from $25-75 depending on service. Total I think I have dropped close to 4000 door hangers, in a shot-gun fashion for the most part. I have been targeting neighborhoods iv done work in/around, but also trying to test the market, see which neighborhood i get the most calls from and target them more later. It was working great, calls every week from them… utill now. the last thousand I put out, no calls.
I do agree I have spread my self to thin, trying too many marketing avenues at once. Lesson learned! I’ll have to bite the bullet on that one.
This business stuff gets pretty intense! But I like the challenge.
Yes, 0 calls this week for the sites I manage. I had to ask my PW client if this is normal and he said yes. Said it should pick up March/April. We’re in Texas.
This is the time of year new guys start selling their equipment. I think it took me close to 5 years for me to really feel comfortable during the winter. Some people can get by with less than what I need but I have a family and a somewhat expensive lifestyle. It might be April-May before it really picks up. It all depends on the weather. If it’s warm the residential calls roll in. If it’s cold they don’t.
I’ve gotten about 10 referral calls recently for jobs to be done in the spring which is cool. Last year I got no calls in January. Hang in here. It takes time to build a business. You’ll be surprised how many calls you get from referrals and yard signs in clients yard…but it takes some time to get your name out there
I stop advertising mid november- mid feb. I do still get a few calls from people seeing the truck and referrals, but not too many. We live in the south so we could advertise year round, but the acquisition cost to gain a customer goes up. Plus a lot of homeowners put up Christmas lights, and i wont touch a house with lights nor do i like working in the cold.
“fast” money usually isn’t in print ads, unless you give a great offer. I would say more targeted ads are better for fast money, so things like google adwords, and facebook ads. BUT, you have to know how to do them right, and not waste money. I my self dont do too much online marketing, because how complicated it can get. In theory its simple, but setting up all of the re targeting stuff is hard for me.
4k cards isnt bad, but the time of year is really going to hurt the roi on them. Do you know your roi on hangers yet?
