ChrisShanklin
Banned
I feel like everyday a new mechanic is born in my area. I feel I need to expand, so my question to everyone is what different advertising means do you pursue, and what seems to turn out the best for you?
Advertising
- Thread starter ChrisShanklin
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OTLB
Banned
yellow pages #1, lots of other ways but this brings in the largest %.
Website generated leads through keyword searches is also important since you have a website. There should be someone in your area you can go to so that when a person does a search on the net you come up on the first page. This will generate business. Be sure to review the plan in detail and what it offers.
Try a short range plan(4 months) and see if it works for you. Monitor the contacts to verify the plan is working. If it works then you should expand it to perhaps include additional keywords to bring more people to your site and thus more work.
You should do this right now as we are heading into the big sales part of the year.
Website generated leads through keyword searches is also important since you have a website. There should be someone in your area you can go to so that when a person does a search on the net you come up on the first page. This will generate business. Be sure to review the plan in detail and what it offers.
Try a short range plan(4 months) and see if it works for you. Monitor the contacts to verify the plan is working. If it works then you should expand it to perhaps include additional keywords to bring more people to your site and thus more work.
You should do this right now as we are heading into the big sales part of the year.
Last edited:
ChrisShanklin said:
Word of mouth (and word of AZB) is great because it's free.
The yellow pages display ads are expensive and you'll need to commit to a yearly contract.
It's a good marketing medium if you can afford it.
Keep in mind that the YP is only printed once per year and the ad can't be changed once printed.
You may already have a generic listing in the YP.
For an immediate gig check if your local newspaper has a GO or Weekend section.
These usually are inserts on Friday and typically get good readership.
The newspaper should be able to work up some ad designs for you - make sure your contact info / location is part of the ad.
You might try a quarter or eighth page display ad (framed like a table) and offer some sort of special or discount on table service.
Fall Special? 20% Off Recovering Coupon? Don't forget an expiration date for any deals you offer.
When passing by pool rooms stop in and leave a service price list with the manager.
Set this up with specific prices based on table quantity and cloth style.
i.e. 1 table recover with 860 - $x, 2-5 tables with 3030 - $x, and so on.
Do this for all brands of cloth and it becomes a menu.
Make sure to staple your biz card to it and also have full contact information on the price list.
Post a flyer at your barber shop and any other place that will let you like bars/rooms that have leagues.
The GO ads we did always seemed to work best and you should get a better rate
if you commit to running "x" inches of ads.
Word of Mouth, reputation, referrals- all add up to the same thing.
I also leave business pens at any place that has pool tables, and occasionally some that don't.
When people call most of the pool halls around Sacramento asking for who to get, they either are told Me or Craig depending upon which side of town it is.
Either way, either I show up or both of us show up.
Even the other billiards companies and their table guys around here refer me if they can't handle the job for whatever reason. Especially with antique tables. (Although Craig should be the Brunswick historian with his knowledge of pre 1900....)
Other than that, can't go wrong with yellowbook.
Craigslist also generates leads, and lasts longer if you put it into the skilled trades section.
Mostly, though, word of mouth is what works.
I also leave business pens at any place that has pool tables, and occasionally some that don't.
When people call most of the pool halls around Sacramento asking for who to get, they either are told Me or Craig depending upon which side of town it is.
Either way, either I show up or both of us show up.
Even the other billiards companies and their table guys around here refer me if they can't handle the job for whatever reason. Especially with antique tables. (Although Craig should be the Brunswick historian with his knowledge of pre 1900....)
Other than that, can't go wrong with yellowbook.
Craigslist also generates leads, and lasts longer if you put it into the skilled trades section.
Mostly, though, word of mouth is what works.
I find the yellowpages in starting to lose out to the .com yellowpages in my area anyways. For a while I was spending $1300 on yellowpages ads and $225 on .com yellowpages and I'm pretty sure I was getting equal business from both. I have reduced my yellowpages ads down to about $500
I just read an email from yellowbook.com trying to get my advertisements up in San Francisco, and they are ALOT cheaper than I remember them.
You still have the monthly charges, but $22-87 an ad per month?
I can't run an ad in the paper for that much a week, much less a month.
You still have the monthly charges, but $22-87 an ad per month?
I can't run an ad in the paper for that much a week, much less a month.
I am not renewing my yellow page ad this year, at $110 a month its not worth it compared to my website hosting charge of $175 a yr. I get alot of referals from the dealer I work for and from my customers.
For me, word of mouth is second only to my paid Google search. I have a website to which people are directed to from this search. I have it set to about 41 cents a hit (it's a pay per hit basis campaign) and average one job per 12-15 hits. It's worth it's weight in gold and no print advertising compares for me. Do your own math by what you charge per job.
Get people when they are actively shopping!!! How many still use the hardcopy yellow pages? I don't.....but may occasionally go to yellowpages.com however, most of my inquiring and shopping is done online now. Also, get the free listings on local.com, superpages.com, etc. Get your listing out there everywhere you can think of. Someone mentioned craigslist which is also a freebee. Good choice!
Good luck!
Robin (longtime no post!)
Get people when they are actively shopping!!! How many still use the hardcopy yellow pages? I don't.....but may occasionally go to yellowpages.com however, most of my inquiring and shopping is done online now. Also, get the free listings on local.com, superpages.com, etc. Get your listing out there everywhere you can think of. Someone mentioned craigslist which is also a freebee. Good choice!
Good luck!
Robin (longtime no post!)
I used to advertise in the "Buyer's Guide" . The local newspaper company published a total of 9 different weekly papers that were distributed free to everybody with a mailbox. The ads were very cheap. The key was to put the ad in and LEAVE it in. One person would tell another that they saw an ad for pool table covering and they could always find my number. The ad ran for probably 10 years in 2 or 3 of the papers and I always felt like it was well worth the money. Maybe there was an element of thought that I was not a huge company but rather a guy looking to make some extra dough and that it would be a little more reasonably priced than the guy with the billboard or huge yellow pages ad. I can remember seeing my ad clipped from the paper on a ladie's refrigerator all curled up and yellow. She said "I've been meaning to call you for a long time.....
Mr Penguin
visit us on the web at www.penguinamusement.com
Mr Penguin
visit us on the web at www.penguinamusement.com