danpauselius
Member
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2006
- Messages
- 1,325
Gary has been so gracious as to allow us to post his report on FREE Advertising on the board. I think you will immediately see the value of what Gary has written here.
Free Advertising, etc.
Well, it just so happens I do have some ideas. Whatta coincidence.
Why be the same as everyone else? Most all coupons and flyers try the
same thing- "I can do it for less". Everyone is scrambling, trying to
be the cheapest, and give the most for the least. This is the kiss of
death. A person goes into any business to make a profit. That is the only
reason to start and continue a business. Otherwise you might as well
work for someone, for a salary, and be an employee.
Some tips. Val Pak is worthless. Advertising in the TV guide worthless.
Neighborhood ads- worthless. Door hangers- worthless. Yellow page ads-
95% worthless. Phone soliciting- worthless. Door knocking- worthless.
Direct mail flyers- 95% worthless. Coupons of any kind- worthless.
Supermarket bulletin board or cash register reciepts- worthless.
TV or radio ads- worthless.
To be different from others, you must think differently, and not copy
everyone else. Why should any potential customer use your service, if
they can get it for less elsewhere? Aren't all carpet cleaners the same?
Aren't all cars the same? Aren't all hamburgers the same? Aren't all
cola drinks the same? Aren't all beers the same? ETC. You get my point.
Why are some people willing to buy a Mercedes, if a Ford is the same?
But is it the same, or a difference in perceived value- whether the
value is real or not, it is perceived as better, so the Mercedes sells for
3 times the price of a Ford.
So... do something different. Become a specialist that others are not.
Advertise something others are not. Carve out a niche for yourself that
others are not doing. I cannot tell you what niche, that's up to you.
But here are some suggestions. Become a dyeing specialist, a repair
specialist, a burn specialist, a urine specialist, an odor specialist, a
mattress cleaning specialist, a stuffed toy cleaning specialist, etc. It
depends on your talents, abilities, willingness to take schools and
learn what you don't know already to become whatever specialist you want
to be.
Do Turbo Steam Cleaning -a system virtually nobody else does that I
developed. (Let me know if you want the details, and I will e-mail them to
you.)
Sell, or give away as a premium something others are not. How many
cleaners give away or sell a bottle of spot remover? Lots of them. Instead,
sell, or give away as a premium something you make, your wife makes,
etc, or buy something like Sliders to sell or give away as a premium to
get new customers. There are lots of items you could buy cheaply, and
sell retail or give away.
All of this is to get you thinking about what could be- it is up to you
to decide what.
Here is some specific examples-
----------
Re free advertising.
Several times, some of us local cleaners have done something special
that got our name in the papers. One was doing free cleaning at Ronald
McDonald House. Another was for a local children's hospital, where we
cleaned about 500 stuffed toys. The 4 to 6 of us have done this for
several years, and there is also usually photos of us in the paper doing our
thing. The biggest newspaper spread was cleaning the stuffed toys.
There are lots of things like this to get your name, etc in the paper,
for a ton of free advertising.
Clean for a church, and get your name in a bulletin.
Clean for most any charity or civic group.
------------------
Re having potential new customers pay you for the priviledge-
Hey- I had a brainstorm. What do you think of this idea?
How to get new customers, and have them pay you for it.
Put an ad in the newspaper, or local shopper, etc-
For Sale- Sliders Easy Furniture Movers (Give a price) for mailing
them,
or we will deliver them for (A higher price) and we will also place
them under your heavy furniture for (A higher price).
Put your phone number in, and that's all.
When someone responds, if they say mail them, you have a new contact,
and send them your cleaning literature, too. You may get a new
customer, maybe not.
If they say deliver them, you can give an estimate, or at least they
can see you, your van, etc, and they will consider it somewhat more. If
they say to place them under the heavy furniture for them, you can show
them how easy it is to move this item, and how dirty, etc it is under
there, and most likely will have a new cleaning customer.
Whaddya think? Think it will work?
==================================================
From the Carpet Cleaner's Network-
This weeks sales tip is:
Close the deal --
Here is a GREAT closing offer that almost no prospect will pass by.
Just before
you hand them your estimate -- say "if you schedule the job now, we
will
clean your car mats at NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE". 9 out of 1O times this is
just
enough to seal the deal! Is ten extra minutes per job worth 9 easy
closes? We
think so...
===================================================
-----------
From Ken Raddon-06-09-99
Use the phone to make the phone ring.
What I mean is to make some calls. Call all of the window cleaners in
the
phone book and ask them if they will refer you to their customers. Then
repeat the same process with the house cleaners, then janitors. Then
you're
warmed up to the big times and it's time to start calling the Carpet
Sales
places.
Good Luck Happy to help.
Ken The Salt Lake City Slicker
Free Advertising, etc.
Well, it just so happens I do have some ideas. Whatta coincidence.
Why be the same as everyone else? Most all coupons and flyers try the
same thing- "I can do it for less". Everyone is scrambling, trying to
be the cheapest, and give the most for the least. This is the kiss of
death. A person goes into any business to make a profit. That is the only
reason to start and continue a business. Otherwise you might as well
work for someone, for a salary, and be an employee.
Some tips. Val Pak is worthless. Advertising in the TV guide worthless.
Neighborhood ads- worthless. Door hangers- worthless. Yellow page ads-
95% worthless. Phone soliciting- worthless. Door knocking- worthless.
Direct mail flyers- 95% worthless. Coupons of any kind- worthless.
Supermarket bulletin board or cash register reciepts- worthless.
TV or radio ads- worthless.
To be different from others, you must think differently, and not copy
everyone else. Why should any potential customer use your service, if
they can get it for less elsewhere? Aren't all carpet cleaners the same?
Aren't all cars the same? Aren't all hamburgers the same? Aren't all
cola drinks the same? Aren't all beers the same? ETC. You get my point.
Why are some people willing to buy a Mercedes, if a Ford is the same?
But is it the same, or a difference in perceived value- whether the
value is real or not, it is perceived as better, so the Mercedes sells for
3 times the price of a Ford.
So... do something different. Become a specialist that others are not.
Advertise something others are not. Carve out a niche for yourself that
others are not doing. I cannot tell you what niche, that's up to you.
But here are some suggestions. Become a dyeing specialist, a repair
specialist, a burn specialist, a urine specialist, an odor specialist, a
mattress cleaning specialist, a stuffed toy cleaning specialist, etc. It
depends on your talents, abilities, willingness to take schools and
learn what you don't know already to become whatever specialist you want
to be.
Do Turbo Steam Cleaning -a system virtually nobody else does that I
developed. (Let me know if you want the details, and I will e-mail them to
you.)
Sell, or give away as a premium something others are not. How many
cleaners give away or sell a bottle of spot remover? Lots of them. Instead,
sell, or give away as a premium something you make, your wife makes,
etc, or buy something like Sliders to sell or give away as a premium to
get new customers. There are lots of items you could buy cheaply, and
sell retail or give away.
All of this is to get you thinking about what could be- it is up to you
to decide what.
Here is some specific examples-
----------
Re free advertising.
Several times, some of us local cleaners have done something special
that got our name in the papers. One was doing free cleaning at Ronald
McDonald House. Another was for a local children's hospital, where we
cleaned about 500 stuffed toys. The 4 to 6 of us have done this for
several years, and there is also usually photos of us in the paper doing our
thing. The biggest newspaper spread was cleaning the stuffed toys.
There are lots of things like this to get your name, etc in the paper,
for a ton of free advertising.
Clean for a church, and get your name in a bulletin.
Clean for most any charity or civic group.
------------------
Re having potential new customers pay you for the priviledge-
Hey- I had a brainstorm. What do you think of this idea?
How to get new customers, and have them pay you for it.
Put an ad in the newspaper, or local shopper, etc-
For Sale- Sliders Easy Furniture Movers (Give a price) for mailing
them,
or we will deliver them for (A higher price) and we will also place
them under your heavy furniture for (A higher price).
Put your phone number in, and that's all.
When someone responds, if they say mail them, you have a new contact,
and send them your cleaning literature, too. You may get a new
customer, maybe not.
If they say deliver them, you can give an estimate, or at least they
can see you, your van, etc, and they will consider it somewhat more. If
they say to place them under the heavy furniture for them, you can show
them how easy it is to move this item, and how dirty, etc it is under
there, and most likely will have a new cleaning customer.
Whaddya think? Think it will work?
==================================================
From the Carpet Cleaner's Network-
This weeks sales tip is:
Close the deal --
Here is a GREAT closing offer that almost no prospect will pass by.
Just before
you hand them your estimate -- say "if you schedule the job now, we
will
clean your car mats at NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE". 9 out of 1O times this is
just
enough to seal the deal! Is ten extra minutes per job worth 9 easy
closes? We
think so...
===================================================
-----------
From Ken Raddon-06-09-99
Use the phone to make the phone ring.
What I mean is to make some calls. Call all of the window cleaners in
the
phone book and ask them if they will refer you to their customers. Then
repeat the same process with the house cleaners, then janitors. Then
you're
warmed up to the big times and it's time to start calling the Carpet
Sales
places.
Good Luck Happy to help.
Ken The Salt Lake City Slicker
