advertising/marketing

[Jtsd02]

ok guys,help me out here.

i been tiling since i left school for about 17 years now.started own company/business 4 years ago.all my work to date has been no advertising,just word of mouth.But since start of year its been a bit quiet.guessing its due to credit crunch.so ill probably have to advertise to keep me ticking over just now.whats the best way of getting noticed with advertising/marketing??. what is the best way to advertise.?

i only did yellow pages for one year and didnt get much from it.tho it wasnt a big ad to be honest.so dont really want to waste that money again

thanks

john

[whitebeam]

You must have made loads of contacts over the years for work, I get some good work off plumbers/heating engineers. Maybe worth calling some old contacts and see what happens

[Jtsd02]

another thing,

whats the best way of doing a portfolio of pics of your work?storing them on small laptop for folk to view? or something professional in a book format or something ?

just reading back some of my last posts,i sound like a beginner never mind someone of 17 years experience!!

still room for learning i s'pose!

[Jtsd02]

yeah i have whitebeam,still on the quiet side tho

[whitebeam]

To be honest I have'nt a portfolio and thru contacts has kept me in work

[MICK the Tiler]

I still think over the long haul, simply doing high quality work is the best type of advertising, but with a slowdown you may find yourself visiting more tile shops in your area. Buisness cards would be the cheapest easiest option to go for. Or you could join the Tile Business Network for Tilers Tiling and Tiles - Tile Business Network for Tiling Training and Tile Related Businesses and show off some of your works here. With 17 experience I'm sure you should be well placed contact wise to see you through the harder times to come.

All the best

[mikethetile]

steer clear of yellow pages

im facing the same as you, i dont advertise as enough work comes in on reccomendation, repeat work etc

begining of the year is always slack but theres always something in the pipeline

this year was a bit of a shock but work is coming in now

so im thinking same as you..........how do i market my business

the answer ive come up with is ..........the internet

if people want a tiler they type in tiler and their location into a search engine, im still researching this but i will be setting up a website showcasing my work and then advertise the website through leaflet drops , sign writing on van , a board outside each job etc

anything that gets my name noticed to get people looking at my work and reading testamonials from my clients

i think advertisng is expensive and ineffectual........the internet is the the future in marketing

mike

[david campbell]

if things are getting a bit slow i tend to drop an advert in the local paper for a few days,usually gets you a bit of work to tide you over till other stuff comes along! also as others have said make a few calls to plumbers/joiners you have worked with over the years!

[Jtsd02]

thanks for that guys.i wasnt sure if the internet would work so well yet.ill maybe look into cost for a website and consider it.i get work from a kitchen fitter who has website and he says he doesnt get much from it even though its quite an impressive site.s'pose it has pros and cons like everything else

[faithhealer]

Have you any post offices with a bit of advertising space, for a quid a week I get regular income from them

[Oli]

Unless your the only tiler or one of a few in your area then the yellow pages is probably not going to bring in much work, theres about 30 tilers listed in my area in the yellow pages and im near the end of the list. I've had about three jobs from the yellow pages over the past 12 months, however, off the three jobs i made about a grand, and it cost nothing to put the number in so its still worth doing, just dont expect the phone to start ringing just becuase your listed. unless your called AAA tiling or something similar that will put you to the front of the section.

[365drills]

Our tiler follows a set format to advertise.

1) Every job he goes to he puts a stand outside the house he is working in (owners permission)


About £120+VAT with lettering - example website

Above is Example of what Andy would leave outside every property he is working on.

2) As a duty of care to all neighbours he Puts leaflets through EVERY door in the road to APPOLOGISE for the work and gives a contact number in case they have any issue with his team.
3) When the job is half done he spends time door knocking with the guise of making sure they are all ok about things. And if they need his services just to call him
4) Van is logo and telephone number.
5) He leaves a fridge magnet with every customer and a mug.
6) He relies on that customer goodwill but most important he doesn't just go and do the job. He is marketing all the time.

Its the same with us at exhibitions. We dont just wait for people to come to our stand. We spend half a day going to see all the other exhibitors to say hi to them.

So the message is to combine your marketing with everything you do.

Website:
Andy also has a website. He always does his quote work on a Saturday. As part of his quoting routine he leaves the customer with a colour brochure with a link to his site so they can login and navigate in their own time and in their own home. The colour brochure is like an Estate Agent property promotional with a few pictures but the bulk of them are online.

What does he call himself.
He doesnt call himself a tiler. He calls his company a PROPERTY SERVICE company. That way he can call in others if there is a job he cant handle. But he can turn his hand to most things so as part of the door knocking he just asks if there are any construction projects required - big or small.

[Dave]

Now that's using his brain...excellent idea..

[beanz]

My mate's Roofing company advertise everywhere, they spend an absolute fortune, and the phone just isn't ringing at the moment!?!
Is your van sign written John? Probably the most economical way of advertising, barring buttering up the local merchants etc.

[mikethetile]

Our tiler follows a set format to advertise.

1) Every job he goes to he puts a stand outside the house he is working in (owners permission)


About £120+VAT with lettering - example website

Above is Example of what Andy would leave outside every property he is working on.

2) As a duty of care to all neighbours he Puts leaflets through EVERY door in the road to APPOLOGISE for the work and gives a contact number in case they have any issue with his team.
3) When the job is half done he spends time door knocking with the guise of making sure they are all ok about things. And if they need his services just to call him
4) Van is logo and telephone number.
5) He leaves a fridge magnet with every customer and a mug.
6) He relies on that customer goodwill but most important he doesn't just go and do the job. He is marketing all the time.

Its the same with us at exhibitions. We dont just wait for people to come to our stand. We spend half a day going to see all the other exhibitors to say hi to them.

So the message is to combine your marketing with everything you do.

Website:
Andy also has a website. He always does his quote work on a Saturday. As part of his quoting routine he leaves the customer with a colour brochure with a link to his site so they can login and navigate in their own time and in their own home. The colour brochure is like an Estate Agent property promotional with a few pictures but the bulk of them are online.

What does he call himself.
He doesnt call himself a tiler. He calls his company a PROPERTY SERVICE company. That way he can call in others if there is a job he cant handle. But he can turn his hand to most things so as part of the door knocking he just asks if there are any construction projects required - big or small.

this is reassuring to read

work dried up at xmas and i had nothing to start the year with

this is the approach to marketing that i have started putting together

id like to think i was clever enough to work it out on my own but i have to own up to spending hours looking at how other business market themselves and borrowing their ideas to adapt to my own business

after much research i came up with a scheme remarkably similar to above

its been a rough start to the year so not much cash to invest at the moment

but ive already put part one of my plan into action and this cost me peanuts

i got my customer list and rang them , a day on the phone got me 4 jobs

i have completed 3 , doing the 4th next week

i have 2 refferals to price up and one follow up job

i shal leave it about 3 months and ring around again

meantime i shall collect e addresses and will keep in constant touch with my customers , sending pics of completed jobs to inspire them to have the same done

i will also post pics on the website when i get one and advertise the website through leaflet drops etc

im not going to advertise i am instead going to invest in marketing myself as i believe its more cost effective

its early days yet and im far from expert with computers

i feel its the only way forward in the difficult times ahead


mike

[Jtsd02]

many thanks to all you guys.i got some ideas now to think about.maybe wont get the phone ringing right away but i suppose marketing is always a long term thing.just didnt need to do it for the last few years