tbselectric

Does anyone have marketing ideas that are working in this economy?
I have tried flyers, fax blasts, email marketing to name a few, with limited response.

RKafel

Try a local BNI chapter..go to bni.com .They're a business referral group that's totally legit..I ,as well as my partner ,are members. it's a slow go but it has been sucessful..For the money we put in ,say $1000.00 so far, That includes the membership fee and the breakfastover a year or so and we pulled out $25k in gross sales..In this economy ya have to think outside the box. Word of mouth is the best advertising. this kicks it up a few notches..see for yourself ,If I can help you please feel free to respond to this post and we can chat it up ..Fraternally R. Kafel

480sparky

Just some ideas:

First and foremost, you need to create, and then spend the money on, an advertising budget.

Join your local builders associations. Attend the meetings and other events.

Visit home shows and expos, with a wad of business cards in your pocket. Don't be shy about introducing yourself. And don't give out cards one at a time.... give each person 3 or 4: they're cheap, and you don't know who those people know!

Get on your local Craigslist site. Look for builders and handymen there who advertise "It's OK to contact them with other services or commercial interests." (This will be at the bottom of their listing) Drop them a short, simple email to introduce yourself. I've gotten one builder, two remodelers and two house-flippers this way!

And my favorite method: whenever you go to the Big Orange, Big Blue, or even the local hardware store (Ace, True Value, whatever) look for the trucks and vans that have "Fred's Home Improvement", "Handy Dave, Dan's Older Brother" or "Quality Construction" on them. And not just 'builders', .... landscapers, painters, roofers, drywallers, plumbers.....ANY construction trade lead can pan out. Stick a business card in the drivers window. The worst that can happen is they throw it away.

Real estate agents are another 'forgotten' source. Many people who buy an existing home immediately want to change it, so if you buddy up with realtors you can be 'first in line' when it comes to the new homeowners' upgrades.

If (or should I be more positive and say when) you do find a builder, remodeller or flipper, be sure not to forget the person or people who are paying them.... the owners. Make contact with them, introduce yourself, and by all means, give them a card.

Want to start doing commercial? Drive around town and find all those little strip malls and see if there are any empty bays. Contact the name & number on the sign (after all, it is for rent, isn't it?), and find out who owns the property. Contact that person, introduce yourself, and simply ask if it would be possible for you to submit a bid when a new tenant is found.

Many local stores have bulliten boards you can put a small print ad (easy to do today with computers and printers) or a busniess card. It's free, and you never know.

Be persistent. Be sociable. Be friendly. You will not get every lead, you will not get every bid. And you will need to learn to deal with rejection.

But most important: create an advertising budget. And stick to your advertising plan. If one method doesn't seem to work, drop it and spend your money on other ideas. Business cards are the cheapest form of advertising, and the easiest to use. They fit in your pocket, so there is no excuse for never having a card to hand someone.

It WILL take some time, but if you do quality work at a reasonable price, you'll keep busy. And by reasonable, I mean fair and profitable. DO NOT try to comptete on price alone. DO NOT promote yourself as Wal-Mart Electric. If you do, you WILL fail.

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user5941

Your advertising today will not bring you work tommorow.We did radio for two months before we saw a response but now it is our primary media.

tbselectric

I bought an email list of local businesses.
I only send out about 100 at a time so they don't
get filtered. I am focused on commercial lighting
upgrades and have gotten a couple quotes this way.
I will also call up businesses and just ask them for an
email address for who's responsible for there lighting.
99% will give you the address. But this is very slow.

I just do it for the "IDEAL" prospects.

tbselectric

"I can show you how this can be done, and how to minimize any costs."

Ok Show away

piette

I think he forgot to place the smiley with his hand out that says "now pay up" behind that.

Jeff

cdnelectrician

ooops posted in the wrong thread! Sorry!

mg42

How about a website?

Sponsoring a sport team and ask them to put your logo on a team banner or shirt?

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kodiak347

We have been meeting with the radio ad people now for a few weeks and are now getting the the final stages. Just had a few questions for you about your experience.
1. What frequency do you use and on how many stations? I understand this may be a little more complex buts assume we have already targeted our customer and are running the ads on stations that fits our demo.
2. What type of ads do you run - call to action type or branding?
3. Also how large is your market? We are in a 500k population market

Any response will be be appreciated, this is a large long term investment and we are treading carefully!

Thanks

Thomps

Over the years, we've found that networking was the best form of marketing.
Make yourself available to the general public through all kinds of community events or organisations. Chamber of commerce, local industry presentations. Even fund raisers or charity events. Networking provides an opportunity for face to face and personal selling and that will always do more than a flyer on a windshield or an ad in a newspaper.

I met a future customer on charilift at a ski hill once if you can beleive it. I am always selling myself, our company, our staff etc, to any poor bugger who will listen.

480sparky

Whenever I get contacted by someone for work, if I don't know how they found me I generally try to find out. I explain that I like to keep my advertising budget down, so if I know where I get my best response, I can concentrate my ad dollars there.

Towards that end, I keep tally of where my customers come from. To date, I have found two things: 1. I have only one customer I don't know how he found me. 2. My best advertising venue is word-of-mouth.

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masse1205

We have begun doing a quarterly newsletter that we send out to our customers as well as targeted communities & businesses. The response has been overwhelming and we have picked up a bit of business from them. In the newsletter we discuss electrical safety and some of the programs we offer and we also add some fun facts to make the newsletter appealing to everyone. We are also a member of a BNI have been for about 1 1/2 years and have picked up quite a bit of business from that as well. If you are considering a quarterly mailing go to the post office and buy a permit for less expensive postage.

jobtriopres

I have been fortunate enough to be able to do a bunch of A/B testing on different marketing tactics over the last 3 months. The top two things that we have gotten the best results with are:

1) Authentic PR with local print publications. Just spin a news-worthy story about your company. It's free (except for your time).

2) TV commercials on 2nd-tier networks (HGTV, TLC, etc.). It's a lot cheaper than you'd think, and you can get them to produce it for free, normally.

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Profiles and Reviews of California Contractors

sparkyboys

i have large magnets that pull off my truck. both doors and the tailgate. cost 150 bucks

MF Dagger

I think it would be a decent idea to get some plastic toy tools made up with the company name on them to give out to kids at the jobs. Usually a small child is incredibly interested in what I'm doing and usually the only thing I have that they won't get hurt on is my flashlight. It would be nice to just carry a couple sets under the seat and give them out when the chance comes up.

muttnik

All good advise. Add this. TITH. Malachi 3:10,11. King James.

muttnik

Hey fellas, visit www.landrelectricians.com & click on customer reviews. This is how you build a business that will sustain you through retirement. call natalie at 702-524-9558. She is good people. Sincerely, Larry,alias---Muttnik.