Advertising dos and donts

[highclassmd]

Just wondering about some advice on advertising dos and donts.. Im gonna list what i am currently doing for advertisment and what im thinking of doing. Im looking for critques on what im doing, what im planning on doing, and what i could do in addition.

Current advertising:

Business cards
Flyers
Local Neighborhood gated community papers
Graphics on vans and trailers
Word of mouth
Parking lot (wal mart/sams club) washs and flyer pass out
Craigslist
Business parks, corporations, door to door business

Upcoming advertising promotions:

Online yellow pages
Tampa Bay Times (Bigger newspapers more expensive)
Email mailing list and corporation mailing list
coupon give outs
Referral cards
Buy 5 basic services receive 6th free
Buy 3 full details get 4th free


Other ideas????

[Holden_C04]

Of those suggested new ways of advertising, referral cards may be the best option. When people find a service that they appreciate, it is normal to pass along that information to their friends and family.

I would also suggest that you offer new, prospective customers the opportunity to see your work in person before they decide. If they are directly in front of you with their vehicle and they are uncertain, take a walk towards their vehicle and offer to perform the full service to a section of their hood for free. The majority of the time you will walk away with a sale.

[brwill2005]

Your current advertising is pretty basic, and is similar to what I have done in the past. You said in your other thread you are pretty busy, so you must be doing something correct. As for future advertising, I would do both the online yellow pages and the actual yellow pages. As for sending out emails, it will be considered SPAM, and a lot is going to get filtered out. I would look into doing direct mail to select areas/neighborhoods. I do coupons in a coupon envelope that is sent out monthly. It can be expensive, but I have received a nice return from it. I personally do not like the work 'free', but if you are willing to do something for free, you should get some to bite.

[Cleaning Fool]

I wouldn't hand out anything at parking lots like Wal Mart, unless you want price shoppers looking for a good deal like they got at Wal mart. If you hand out anything, find the wealthiest neighborhoods you can find and start there. Flyers are good, provided they are worded correctly