KPC

I have been in business for myself for 8 years now, and have managed to "tread water" for some time. The past year I have taken some new routes with my advertising, including referral incentives to different kinds of contractors, as well as cold call marketing, etc. to try to keep from sinking. So I am asking the question, seeking the golden secret.....Does anyone out there have some new marketing ideas to get the phone ringing?????

Sparky480

Something simple for the holidays coming up is magnetic calenders along with a card

rewire

In times like these new marketing will usually not yield new work. If your market segment is in a downturn nothing you do will turn it around as far as marketing.You can try and open new markets but that will take time and may require you to totally change your approach to the marketplace and rewards can be several years down the road.
If you were 90% new construction then 90% of your business has taken a downturn. Treading water may be your only option at this point Can you ride out the downturn or can you survive the needed time to open to a different market? If you answer no then the decision to close may be your only option.

busymnky

Use the words renewable, green, efficient and savings as often as possible whatever route you go.

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Wood alcohol: Cannot be made non-poisonous.
Of all the lessons dad could have left out...

TheBrushMan007

Says Who??? I think that is bad advice. Ask any expert and they will tell you to market harder and stronger in bad times than in good. To new and old customers.

First market to customers you already have and then market to new customers. There are really good people who do marketing for a living that could help you but you will have to pay for it.

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www.inchargeelectric.com

piette

I agree, that was terrible advice. As you said, down times are the times you want to advertise the hardest. The economy will always turn back, thats a given, and those that kept advertising through it will without doubt reap the largest rewards on the turn about.

For me, my yellow pages ad and some random community money saving coupon mailers are keeping me going. I put a small coupon out in them, and in times like this, people want that savings, even if it amounts to very little, if they can get a savings from you but not the next guy in line, they will call you

jeff

brian john

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE,, PLEASE GIVE ME THE JOB.........

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I void warranty's

rewire

How is a flashy add going to get a customer to build a house?
How is a radio jingle going to get a bank to loan money to a developer
How is a neat flyer going to convince someone to remodel when they just lost thier job?
The true experts will tell you to market hard and strong all the time. Basically, you might look at marketing as the wide range of activities involved in making sure that you're continuing to meet the needs of your customers and are getting appropriate value in return.

nolabama

houses are being built just not as many of them - let customers know you are still working to help build em

remodels are being done because fewer have money to build new - advise customers that you are helping them do these with cost saving options

i hate the go green approach but if you can show how your services saves a customer 10 %to 20 % on there electric bill they may like to here that right now

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the more i learn the less i know

cobra50

My friend put an add in the clipper magazine for his landscaping business.He had 12 estimates the first month and landed 4 good size projects out of those 12.Has anyone tryed it for electrical work? I've never see electrical adds.

nolabama

i called my local one before and called the plumber that was listed in it and asked about his leads from it - he was an established company and said in this market any leads are good leads - i feel the same way
it was about 500 bucks a quarter -

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the more i learn the less i know

Russell1200

Expanding your marketing costs into a declining market is a good way to go broke quicker. I would be very careful.

If it is a little slow, it may be a good time to explore some specialized nitches that may require some additional training.

TheBrushMan007

I have a really good Idea. Lets do no advertising, no networking. Lets just sit at the house and do nothing! Im sure that business model will be more sucessful.

There are better forms of advertising than others. Some will work, some won't. If you want and have the time, there are many great books to read that will help. If you have the capital, then hire a professional.

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www.inchargeelectric.com

rewire

If you are well established with a good reputation and a large client base then you can fall back on that.Most guy rely on word of mouth which will get you more business than anything.

caveman

I think marketing to your existing customers is a great idea.

Send them a monthly or quarterly news letter with a flyer inserted with special discounts on electrical work. Or just send them a flyer.

My accounting software has marketing questions for each customer.
I can pull up customer lists based on these marketing questions.

This allows me to pull up a customer list based on whether or not they have a Federal Pacific panel, old wiring, aluminum wiring, expensive audio and video gear, surge protection, old smoke detectors, etc.

This way I can mail specific flyers out to customers offering a special on something they really need or may want.

No point in mailing flyers out to customers for replacing a Federal Pacific panel if they don't have one.

No point in mailing flyers out to customers that have no interest in a whole house audio/video system or whole house lighting control system.

You should be able to pull up a customer's file and know what brand of panel they have, what size of home they have, what their occupation is, what the condition their wiring is in, are they an audio/video enthusiast, would they benefit from a whole house lighting control system, do they have whole house surge suppression for power, phone, and tv, does the customer have an unfinished basement, did the customer mention he was interested in a home theater in his basement, would the customer benefit from a cctv camera system, maybe a simple door bell camera system, etc.

You should always be marketing to your existing customer base.

If you don't have any or very few customer's then you may have no choice but to market to new customer's.

rewire

I would look at what kind of work is going on in your area and focus on it.If nobody is building office buildings then placing an add in office builders monthly is a bad idea.Here is a simple idea go to home depot or lowes when they first open and meet the guys who are their picking up material.

shocked_sparky

caveman what kind of accounting software do you use?

I like the idea of customer questions, for the purpose of building more than a basic customer profile

caveman

Wintac Pro http://www.intacinternational.com/index.htm

shocked_sparky

Thanks for sharing caveman, that's some impressive software

BuzzKill

he's got his sh*t together for sure.