Advertising question

[STIHLMAN83]

I am looking for some info on what people seem to have good luck with for advertsing. I am a small company and like most work is slow. I am would like to get a head start on spring and put an ad in the paper. Before, all my advertsing has been word of mouth and I kept busy. There are two free papers that come out every week in the surrounding towns an was thinking about ads in those opposed to the bigger papers that go through the whole state (NH) trying to keep it localized. My other thought was to put it into the bigger papers and if I get overwhelmed with phone calls and work I would be able to pick and choose. Also, my thinking is with the bigger papers it would hit more people possibly towns with people that have money that is more liquid. Any suggestions or opinions or what has worked for you would be appreciated. Thanks!!!

 

[ozzy42]

It has been my experience that if you advertise out of your local area,you need a ph # with that area code ,and pre fix.

Most people won't bother calling if they know you are not local.
But when you do get OOA calls ,most people are understanding if you tell them you cover a wide area on a regular basis.


If it 's a market that you think will be worth your time[1 or 2 towns away],get a cell phone within that area ,and put it in your ad.

 

[Treetom]

Go to Google's Local Business Center for a free ad. You can ad pics and videos of your work, list a coupon, easily update. And link to your web site, another thing you might want to set up if you haven't. Get a bunch of friends on Facebook and MySpace who you can keep abreast of what's going on with your business. Just some suggestions that have worked for me.

 

[STIHLMAN83]

Thanks, I'll try the google thing. If it's free it cant hurt.

 

[Treetom]

Below is a page I set up through Google, free. I'm also in the process of upgrading my website. The guy who manages my site has steered me to WordPress.org to get me more involved in maintaining the site's content. You may want to check it out.


http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&georestrict=input_srcid:3f5fd73fc6da9059

 

[capetrees]

I started with a general location, big add in a local small paper. I ran it every two weeks and the cost was killing me but it did bring in the work. Cost per month was $650. After two years of doing that, I decided to put the same add but smaller and every week in a different section of the paper, in the "Local services" section. The cost per month is 1/4 what it was, about $135 and the work comes just as fast if not faster. The big add "got the word out". The smaller add now allows people to remember I'm still here. Also, each season, the local paper runs a special spring cleaning, homeowners section or fall cleanup section. Be sure to advertise big in those one timers. Working with local realtors has brought in quite a bit of work also, cleaning up for a sale, renovations after a sale, etc.