What form of advertising gives you the most leads? For us, Val-pak and the local shopper newspaper worked wonders. It produced leads every time.

I have also found yard signs on the side of the road work well but can get you in trouble in some towns.

Face to Face its hard to tell somebody no face to face when all we ask is to do one job for them at a penny less per Sq. Ft. after that they always come back.

I think this would fall more under the category of sales as opposed to marketing. When you say a penny less per s/f, do you mean a penny less than your competitors?

Hi everyone I have to do an estimate
today.
this is a stylist salon is 1.200 sq. ft.
She wants sweeping,moping,tables dusting
two shelves, one bath room, one small office.
chairs dusting. etc. do you have and idea how much sould I charge her
she ask for two estimate, ones a week or every other week.
this is an Santa Rosa CA.
Help please

How long will it take you?
What is the going rate for commercial work in your work area?
One should probably have a general idea of technique, skill level, efficiency and their market place before they start going out to give estimates.

I found my local valuePak to be a complete waste of money and time. all it sent me was coupon minded people...

Every area is different but I don't view coupon minded people as all bad. I clip coupons and look through Valpak myself but I still believe in paying for quality.

I think it depends on how you sell yourself in the coupon. Are you presenting yourself as the cheapest guy in town or as a high quality high end service with a special offer?

Currently, in ValPak...neither. I had so little response and the ones that did respond were bad. I made a study of findong out how to qualify "good" customers...the ones that responded were not.

Trying to save a buck or two is never a bad idea...trying to beat up potential servie providers because you are under-funded to get decent work done is a waste of time for both parties.

How full is your pack?

Mine was enough to look through but wasn't packed. Also, I was the only one in there doing what I did. I think this helped.

I also got my guy to put me up front or within the first 5 coupons most of the time. The Lake county version was fairly new so I had a bit more pull than I guess you do in some areas.

Worked great for me. It was my #1 leads source by far.

It had just started...matter of fact, i was in the first mailing...but it caught on fast. I know other who loved and lived by it....my results sucked hard.

Plus, the franchise owners were...at best...strange. They got all mad at my opinion and flared up so...eventually I dropped it. I am so opposed to that coupon book I make it a point to warn others of MY experience...complete waste of time and money. I would have been way better served doing what i knwo works...my own post cards.

wow, sounds bad. I guess with any franchise it can depend on the owner and who runs it. Also how full the pack is.

How much do you end up paying per card when doing your own?

THAT has varied greatly. I spend the biggest part on postage. I use stamps first class. I could go cheaper, use a mialing house etc...but I do 200 to 500 hundred at the time and circulate around the neighborhoods that produce. People see my truck, know the folks where i am working, get my card...call.

I have used high doallr cards and cheap ones...both work the same. It is the message that needed tweaking.

Hmmmm.... so are you labeling them and putting a stamp on them by hand?
Also, where are you getting the lists?

I used a mail house in Altamonte Springs off of 236 and I got them printed, labled, stamped, and mailed all for less then I could buy a stamp. Full color 2 sides.

I was using a revers phone book. get his; I'd find an area i wanted to sell...then go to the library and borrow the Hill Donnely..then write out 5 or 6 hundred addesses and then fill in ...by hand...the post cards...stick on stamps and mail.

I am always looking for decent mailhouses...would love the infor for the guys in altemonte.

I'll have to look for the info but I think it's in one of the many boxes that my house is turning into. I'm getting ready to move to Austin in about a month.

At least know the option is out there and can save you a bunch of time.

As far as advertising, my yellow page listing is the best source of leads for me currently. Some of that is also due to having a toll free number, which is also a very valuable marketing weapon.

We get 32% of our leads from referrals, but at least 95% of those come right after our newsletter goes out.
We get 60% of our leads from our fliers and postcards.
The remaining 8% come from Van signage, YP, etc.
I don't know if that helps or not.
So Nathan, you're moving to Austin?
We're just down the road, maybe we can get together sometime.
Give me a shout when ya get here.
Danny Morris
www.prestigefloorcare.com

I'd like that. We are actually moving to Cedar Park in NW Austin.

Wow, I have not heard that from many people. Do you have an ad in the yellow pages or just a listing? If so, what size and color?

Just the free listing that came with my phone number, I'm the only one under Pressure Washing.