Hi All

I'm now at the stage where I need to start heavily advertising my new
handyman business.

So far it's been mainly pay out; vehicle, vehicle insurance & tax, corporate
clothing, business cards. PL Insurance etc. On a positive note I've also
earned a few quid, so not too bad.

The choices I see so far are;

Thompson & Yellow Pages - want loads of dosh & you always appear alongside
your competitors. Only catches people who already realise that handymen
exist and are looking for one. Thompson don't have a 'Handyman' category
anyway, only 'Property Maintenance'. I'm not sure the public would think of
looking there.

Leaflet drops. Expensive to arrange for individual leaflets. Much cheaper
as an insert with the local free paper, but less effective.

Local paper advertising. Not yet finalised the costs.

Leaflets under windscreen wipers in shed carparks.

Foamboard posters on traffic light posts.

Parish magazines.

So, where would you look for a handyman if you needed one? What would
influence you?


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Hi All

I'm now at the stage where I need to start heavily advertising my new
handyman business.

So far it's been mainly pay out; vehicle, vehicle insurance & tax,
corporate clothing, business cards. PL Insurance etc. On a positive
note I've also earned a few quid, so not too bad.

The choices I see so far are;

Thompson & Yellow Pages - want loads of dosh & you always appear
alongside your competitors. Only catches people who already realise
that handymen exist and are looking for one. Thompson don't have a
'Handyman' category anyway, only 'Property Maintenance'. I'm not
sure the public would think of looking there.

Leaflet drops. Expensive to arrange for individual leaflets. Much
cheaper as an insert with the local free paper, but less effective.

Local paper advertising. Not yet finalised the costs.

Leaflets under windscreen wipers in shed carparks.

Foamboard posters on traffic light posts.

Parish magazines.

So, where would you look for a handyman if you needed one? What would
influence you?

You forgot two others...

News agents windows, as you pass each one here and there.
and the large supermarkets internal billboards they have

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

I don't think I would trust any of those methods. Do a good job for
someone. Ask them to spread the word. Every job you do, treat it as if
it was your own house. Never get greedy. Never lie. Never take a client
for a mug.

On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 00:26:19 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Thompson & Yellow Pages -

I wouldn't bother with either of these myself. They may have been the
advertising medium of choice up-until the mid-1990s for the sort of
service you provide, but I would personally use Google ahead of either
of these methods. As you have a website, maybe you should try buying
some clicks from Google?

Leaflet drops. Expensive to arrange for individual leaflets. Much cheaper
as an insert with the local free paper, but less effective.

Not a bad idea, I reckon. A local plasterer put a card through my letter
box the other day just as I was thinking "I really don't fancy trying to
get a decent finish on that wall...". I haven't called him yet, but I
probably will (the thought of plastering a whole wall myself fills me
with dread - it is a skill I have never been able to get to grips with).

Leaflets under windscreen wipers in shed carparks.

Don't do this. It is a real annoyance. Any oik that demands my attention
by wedging something under my property is not going to get my business.
Ever.

Just my opinion, mind!

--
Chris Cowley

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. uk...
Hi All

I'm now at the stage where I need to start heavily advertising my new
handyman business.

So far it's been mainly pay out; vehicle, vehicle insurance & tax,
corporate clothing, business cards. PL Insurance etc. On a positive note
I've also earned a few quid, so not too bad.

The choices I see so far are;

Thompson & Yellow Pages - want loads of dosh & you always appear alongside
your competitors. Only catches people who already realise that handymen
exist and are looking for one. Thompson don't have a 'Handyman' category
anyway, only 'Property Maintenance'. I'm not sure the public would think
of looking there.

Leaflet drops. Expensive to arrange for individual leaflets. Much
cheaper as an insert with the local free paper, but less effective.

Local paper advertising. Not yet finalised the costs.

Leaflets under windscreen wipers in shed carparks.

Foamboard posters on traffic light posts.

Parish magazines.

So, where would you look for a handyman if you needed one? What would
influence you?


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257


The one and only time I have ever used anyone who leafleted my house was
when the leaflet said "we are working today at No xx in your road". That
allowed me to call on the relevant neighbour, who gave the contractor a very
good reference, and I went on to use them successfully myself. But that was
for a roofer to do a job I just had not been able to find anyone to do.
Normally I associate leaflets with desperation. It has to be word of mouth.
To get over the catch 22 element of this, I would suggest that your
advertising (by whatever method) offers to put people in touch with
satisfied customers. Obviously requires some of the latter first - not to
mention their agreement to take phone calls - but sounds like you have some
already, just not enough.

As for newspapers etc: I agree with others - web only.

In article , owain47125
@stirlingcity.coo.uk says...

Thompson & Yellow Pages - want loads of dosh & you always appear #
alongside your competitors. Only catches people who already
realise that handymen exist and are looking for one. Thompson
don't have a 'Handyman' category anyway, only 'Property
Maintenance'. I'm not sure the public would think of
looking there.

Paying adverts in YP etc are vastly overpriced but a one line advert is
free* - you can insert the ad online - One line is name address and
telephone number so make your name 'Medway handyman' or suchlike. I have
now removed my ad, having never got any work from the yellow pages, only
people saying "can you skim my bathroom walls" but ymmv

* relatively free. They pester you to upgrade to a paying ad every six
months or so

Anna

--
~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England
|""""| ~ Lime plaster repair and conservation
/ ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc
|____| www.kettlenet.co.uk 01359 230642

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. uk...
Hi All

I'm now at the stage where I need to start heavily advertising my new
handyman business.

So far it's been mainly pay out; vehicle, vehicle insurance & tax,
corporate clothing, business cards. PL Insurance etc. On a positive note
I've also earned a few quid, so not too bad.

The choices I see so far are;

Thompson & Yellow Pages - want loads of dosh & you always appear alongside
your competitors. ...

Many people also start at the beginning and stop at the first local supplier
they find, so having a name beginning with one of the early letters of the
alphabet is an advantage. I usually go the other popular route; choose from
the display adverts, looking for someone whose advert specifically lists the
service I am looking for.

Leaflet drops. Expensive to arrange for individual leaflets.

However, it is probably the most effective way. If you do a bit of
preliminary work, analysing the demographics of your existing and potential
customers, you can be quite precise in your targetting, which considerably
improves the cost effectiveness of the method.

Much cheaper as an insert with the local free paper, but less effective.

Local paper advertising. Not yet finalised the costs.

With both those, you would need to be fairly sure that the paper reaches the
people you want to sell your services to. I don't accept free papers and I
don't get a local paper.

Leaflets under windscreen wipers in shed carparks.

They are incredibly annoying and anyone putting one on my car is guaranteed
that I will never use them. I have usually loaded stuff through the rear
door, walked to driver's door, got in *then* seen the notice, so I have to
get out again, go around to the passenger side (the wiper parks to that
side, so that is usually where they are put), remove the leaflet, then get
back into the car, as often as not when it is raining.

Foamboard posters on traffic light posts.

Flyposting is a breach of the Town and Country Planning Acts or the Highways
Act, depending where the posters are put up. You could be fined up to £1,000
per offence and / or be the subject of an ASBO as a result of flyposting.

Parish magazines.

Usually cheap, so probably cost effective even with a low rate of return.
Supermarket notice boards and newsagents' windows fall into the same
category.

So, where would you look for a handyman if you needed one?

Whenever I want something I haven't bought before, I always start with a web
search. You need a web site and the site needs to be clear and informative.
The DTI Business Link pages have a lot of useful information on how to
design a web site - follow the IT & e-commerce link he

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg...esslink.gov.uk

The whole site is probably worth a trawl through for information. It is
designed to help small businesses.

Colin Bignell

On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 00:26:19 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Thompson & Yellow Pages -

Expensive and ineffective for the cost..

Leaflet drops. Expensive to arrange for individual leaflets. Much cheaper
as an insert with the local free paper, but less effective.

Fairly cheap but to be effective you need to repeat the drops evey
month or so.

Local paper advertising. Not yet finalised the costs.

OK results.

Leaflets under windscreen wipers in shed carparks.

Get permission from the manager FIRST.

Foamboard posters on traffic light posts

Probably illegal.

Parish magazines.

Cheap but poor coverage.

sponix

On 16 Feb 2006 16:45:19 -0800, "Stu" wrote:

I don't think I would trust any of those methods. Do a good job for
someone. Ask them to spread the word. Every job you do, treat it as if
it was your own house. Never get greedy. Never lie. Never take a client
for a mug.

Give a client a few cards with 10% off next job (Or free bottle of
wine with job over £50 or whatever) to encourange them to get handed
out.

sponix

On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 01:21:21 +0000, Chris Cowley
wrote:

Not a bad idea, I reckon. A local plasterer put a card through my letter
box the other day just as I was thinking "I really don't fancy trying to
get a decent finish on that wall...". I haven't called him yet, but I
probably will (the thought of plastering a whole wall myself fills me
with dread - it is a skill I have never been able to get to grips with).

We had a window cleaner come round t'other day door-to-door
canvassing. He'd signed up lots of people, mainly because it's
difficult to find a window cleaner in this area.

sponix

On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:40:49 -0000, "nightjar" nightjar@insert my
surname here.uk.com wrote:


Many people also start at the beginning and stop at the first local supplier
they find, so having a name beginning with one of the early letters of the
alphabet is an advantage.

"AAAAAAAA1111111 Medway handyman" then?



sponix

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Hi All

I'm now at the stage where I need to start heavily advertising my
new handyman business.

I'm looking at a thing called "The Pink Card".

It's about A4 size, with the top quarter occupied
by essential telephone numbers.... police, hospitals,
gas, electricity, trains, buses, crimestoppers, etc.

The rest of the card is sponsored advertisers for
various home services, for this area. The rear of
the card is for us to add our own useful numbers.

We do keep it by the phone (for the top numbers),
but have used one of the tradesmen's numbers.

Pink Card is at 08700 602 138 and there should be
many more who produce such things, maybe even a
local company.

BTW: I would have thought that OAP's could be the
best source of handyman business these days. OAP's
don't generally have a computer and are not usually
out and about a lot. So best access to OAP's is
probably leaflets through the letterbox.

--
Tony Williams.

In article .com,
Stu wrote:
I don't think I would trust any of those methods. Do a good job for
someone. Ask them to spread the word. Every job you do, treat it as if
it was your own house. Never get greedy. Never lie. Never take a client
for a mug.

Tell them you're just starting; give them a few copies of your flyer and ask
them to pass them on to friends (locally) if they're satisfied with your work.

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

John Cartmell wrote:
In article .com,
Stu wrote:
I don't think I would trust any of those methods. Do a good job for
someone. Ask them to spread the word. Every job you do, treat it as
if
it was your own house. Never get greedy. Never lie. Never take a
client for a mug.

Spot on!

Tell them you're just starting; give them a few copies of your flyer
and ask them to pass them on to friends (locally) if they're
satisfied with your work.

Good advice too. We started a building business 4 years ago. We got our
first few clients, and still get some recommendations, from the estate
agent we bought through. But other than that ALL our clients come from
word of mouth, personal recommendations, we have never advertised at
all. Currenly have work planned until about this time next year and have
had to turn down some good projects recently. Do a good job and once you
get started I think you'll find yourself very much in demand. Good luck,

--
Holly, in France
Gite to let in Dordogne, now with pool.
http://la-plaine.chez-alice.fr

The Medway Handyman wrote:

The choices I see so far are;


Leaflets under windscreen wipers in shed carparks.

Surely people who park in shed carparks are the least likely to be
looking for a handyman. ;-) Agree with the others though - intently
annoying.

Interestingly the only place I have ever found anyone - a plumber in
this case - was the parish magazine, and more likely to be read by the
older population which as others have said is a good target market.

Andrew

Owain wrote:
Chris Cowley wrote:
Thompson & Yellow Pages -
I wouldn't bother with either of these myself. They may have been the
advertising medium of choice up-until the mid-1990s for the sort of
service you provide, but I would personally use Google ahead of either
of these methods. As you have a website, maybe you should try buying
some clicks from Google?

I agree, and AIUI you only get charged on click-throughs


This is dangerous territory unless you really know what you're doing.
I'm not saying you can't learn - you can, but it takes time.

Adwords can work very well, but generally you need a reasonable budget,
and you need to target your search terms very carefully. I'll illustrate
this with an example.

Let's take "handyman" as a search term, and limit our audience to the UK
only. You're looking to pay roughly 60p per click, and you'll get an
estimated 10 clicks/day. That's a £6/day payout. However - these are
clicks from *all over* the UK, most of which is outside your coverage
area. This means a significant proportion of your payout would be paying
for clicks from people who you can't sell to in the first place.

There are very few situations where highly localised services can make
good use of adwords. The main exception is big cities (especially
London), where you have a huge population in a small area.


--
Grunff

"Grunff" wrote in message
...



There are very few situations where highly localised services can make
good use of adwords. The main exception is big cities (especially London),
where you have a huge population in a small area.

Which is why you need ad words by location.
It should be possible to buy ad words at Google and then resell them as
local services.

--
Opps there goes another patent.

dennis@home wrote:

Which is why you need ad words by location.
It should be possible to buy ad words at Google and then resell them as
local services.

I think you're missing the point - you can target specific locations
with your adwords, for instance instead of "handyman" you can target
"handyman maidstone" - but the estimated clickthrough for that is less
than 0.1/day, because hardly anyone is searching for it.


--
Grunff

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. uk...
Hi All

I'm now at the stage where I need to start heavily advertising my new
handyman business.

Personally I'd look in my local village paper. I'd rather employ someone who
was local and known rather than a fly by night you will never see again.
The council round our way offer a service where businesses / workers have
been vetted for their suitability to work with the elderly / disadvantaged.
I don't know much about it but it may be something to look in to as it
implies your trustworthy.

On that note, I see your home page says you have 30years building
experience. Could you not get testimonies from your previous customers? Plus
never lie to your punters. They will spot this a mile a way.

If you are doing garden work etc get a board made up with your name / number
and ask permission from the owner if you can display the board while you are
doing the work or leave it with them for up until a week after that.

I recently built a front garden wall and the number of folk that stopped and
asked me for a quote while I was in the area was unbelievable. That was
without a board. Made me almost want to pack in my nursing job and do
bricklaying full time. Not ;o)

On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 00:26:19 GMT, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Thompson & Yellow Pages

Not for a handyman, maybe for a supplier of obscure widgets.

Leaflet drops. Expensive to arrange for individual leaflets. Much
cheaper as an insert with the local free paper, but less effective.

If you can target your area maybe. Quality of leaflet would be very
influential. B&W A5 inkjet on 80gsm paper with poor english, layout,
graphics, etc would go in the bin. Smaller A6? (to pin on notice board or
stick in edge of mirror) on 100gsm paper or light card, still B&W but
laser or litho printed, nice graphics and correct english stands a much
better chance of being kept.

You could help the targeting by doing the drop yourself, this is still
"working" all be it unpaid. Provided your are presentable (corporate
clothing indicates that you probably are) knocking on doors just to show
your presentable friendly face ask if they have any little jobs and leave
a leaflet but be quick on the door step.

Local paper advertising. Not yet finalised the costs.

Check circulation area, might be to large.

Leaflets under windscreen wipers in shed carparks.

NO! Nothing annoys me quite as much as something under my wipers. Oh er
Mrs...

Parish magazines.

Or local newsletters not just those associated with a particular belief
system. I do look at the ads in our local newsletter but don't take the
Parish News, that isn't available in the PO/Newsagents/shops etc.

So, where would you look for a handyman if you needed one? What would
influence you?

Newsagent and local PO notice boards, word of mouth (perhaps asking
around after seeing name on a notice board). Newsagents card needs to be
percentable but not "expensive" see leaflet drops. If there are large
employers with notice boards getting on their might be useful, may help
with the word of mouth "Oh yes, I used Fred, his cards on the notice
board".

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:58:51 GMT, Sponix wrote:

Give a client a few cards with 10% off next job (Or free bottle of
wine with job over £50 or whatever) to encourange them to get handed
out.

A few cards, leaflets maybe but as a punter I don't like being given an
incentive to dole 'em out. The standard of work and character of the chap
should do that on it's own.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

The Medway Handyman wrote:

On a positive note I've also
earned a few quid, so not too bad.

Good!


The choices I see so far are;

Thompson & Yellow Pages

I doubt the box ads are any more useful than one-liners. I'd *always*
include one-liner people when asking for quotes.

Leaflet drops. Expensive to arrange for individual leaflets. Much
cheaper
as an insert with the local free paper, but less effective.

In our area the majority of leaflet drops are from very dubious sources
(mostly "charities" collecting unwanted clothes, to sell on at a profit,
grrrr) and the local NHW recomendation is to bine them all. I always
shake the local paper out over the recycling bin (very shortly before
the paper itself joins them).

Leaflets under windscreen wipers in shed carparks.

Nononono!


Parish magazines.

Yes. But make the ad both informative and eyecatching.

So, where would you look for a handyman if you needed one? What would
influence you?

Our local police and trading standards keep a register of tradesmen who
have been checked out by them, and encourage the vulnerable only to use
them. (The checks are more on probity than on competence.) I can find
details if you mail me. Perhaps Medway might do something similar?

Personally if I needed a handyman I'd google for handman cambridge.
Don't bother with google clicks: just ensure that you have enough
relevant data on your home page for it to appear on the first results page!

Best wishes,
Douglas de Lacey

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Thompson & Yellow Pages - want loads of dosh & you always appear
alongside your competitors. Only catches people who already realise
that handymen exist and are looking for one. Thompson don't have a
'Handyman' category anyway, only 'Property Maintenance'. I'm not sure
the public would think of looking there.

Leaflet drops. Expensive to arrange for individual leaflets.

I get so many they go straight in the bin unread.

Much cheaper as an insert with the local free paper, but less effective.

Dunno.

Local paper advertising. Not yet finalised the costs.

That would be one avenue. The sort of person who buys a local paper might
be just the sort of customer you want and will pass you on, as it were.

Leaflets under windscreen wipers in shed carparks.

Again I tend to bin these unread - and get annoyed by them.

Foamboard posters on traffic light posts.

Does anyone read these?

Parish magazines.

I'd try that too.

So, where would you look for a handyman if you needed one? What would
influence you?

I'd ask neighbours, or look around at who's having small works done and
ask them if the tradesmen have been ok.

--
*Okay, who stopped the payment on my reality check? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
dennis@home wrote:

Which is why you need ad words by location.
It should be possible to buy ad words at Google and then resell them as
local services.

I think you're missing the point - you can target specific locations with
your adwords, for instance instead of "handyman" you can target "handyman
maidstone" - but the estimated clickthrough for that is less than 0.1/day,
because hardly anyone is searching for it.

No.
You need to search for handyman and then automatically put the results
through a "location" database so the results are more specific.
The location database needs to be based on something like the IP address or
a cookie or anything else that gives a clue as to the searchers location.

Its the same thing that makes IPTV so attractive to advertisers.. you can
tailor ads to areas or even specific addresses so they become more valuable.

dennis@home wrote:

No.
You need to search for handyman and then automatically put the results
through a "location" database so the results are more specific.
The location database needs to be based on something like the IP address or
a cookie or anything else that gives a clue as to the searchers location.

This is simply not currently feasible. The vast majority of ADSL and
dialup IP addresses are not assigned accurate locations - most of them
simply have the location of the ISP. As such, the data is unusable for
this purpose.

As for using a cookie, all you can do with a cookie is store data you
already have - you still need to get the data in the first place.


--
Grunff

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Hi All

I'm now at the stage where I need to start heavily advertising my new
handyman business.

So far it's been mainly pay out; vehicle, vehicle insurance & tax, corporate
clothing, business cards. PL Insurance etc. On a positive note I've also
earned a few quid, so not too bad.

The choices I see so far are;

Thompson & Yellow Pages - want loads of dosh & you always appear alongside
your competitors. Only catches people who already realise that handymen
exist and are looking for one. Thompson don't have a 'Handyman' category
anyway, only 'Property Maintenance'. I'm not sure the public would thinkof
looking there.

YP is however the main port of call for the non-netted, and 50% of
people still dont use the net to any significant extent. People know
the 1 line YP ads there are going to be cheaper, and that costs nada.


Leaflet drops. Expensive to arrange for individual leaflets.

very inefficient

Much cheaper
as an insert with the local free paper, but less effective.

yes, it'd have to stand right out to even be noticed. Nevertheless its
used so much because it does work. 0.5% response rate at 2p each = £4
a job.


Local paper advertising. Not yet finalised the costs.

yes

Leaflets under windscreen wipers in shed carparks.

illegal, antisocial, liable to attract problem customers, and likely to
get you banned from diy outlets.


Foamboard posters on traffic light posts.

illegal and mildly antisocial, not a good start. Also these ads are
typically placed by people just out of jail with no advertising money.
If thats the image you want, using unregistered phones to try and
escape prosecution... upto you I guess. But I figure youre going for
not that market.


Parish magazines.

tiny circulation, but then very cheap. However local papers offer a
much better reader/cost ratio.


There are free to advertise local magazines and papers, cant beat those
for cost/benefit ratio.


So, where would you look for a handyman if you needed one? What would
influence you?

in a hurry: yellow pages.
in no hurry: local papers, on rare occasions even noticeboards or shop
windows, and ask around.

I wouldnt bother with google since 99% of results wont be in the area,
and 2/3 of them will be in America or Aus where they have towns with
the same names. And of course 3/4 wont be for handymen anyway. Just not
worth the bother.

Keep handing out business cards, it takes some brass but can generate
leads. Especially good for your biz as most people need a handyman.


Influence: I think its really just a case of not mucking up too much.
The main problems a
- someone that talks crap
- people asking silly money for small jobs,
- people suggesting completely inappropriate solutions, maybe costing
6x sensible, or resulting in a dodgy job
- people that never understand whats asked and are obviously a few
cells short of a whole brain, not very common but theres always one,
- people that bounce around while you talk to them, constantly looking
at their escape route, fists often clenching
- people that show up overpresented, eg with a new van sign written all
over, perfectly clean plastic toolbox, corporate dress, and all the
other trappings of marketing over substance
- people that want money upfront before they'll do anything - I've no
problem with paying for a quote, but not for an empty promise of work
- people that dont do what they say
- people that do a job that looks like sht

And with most retail customers, a cardinal sin is not cleaning up
perfectly afterwards. You've just finished the job, it was a btch,
youre wiped out, the last thing you care about is the slight film of
dust on the dresser on the other side of the room... but this is what a
lot of customers care about, and its capitalism.

I would also say for many jobs there are different priced choices, and
tradesmen tend to get it wrong by offering one option only, trying to
guess what the customer wants. They routinely guess wrong, thus are
eliminated. You stand much more chance of getting the job if you offer
2 options. Dont offer all the choices, or you'll be there all day
answering qs for someone that doesnt know what theyre doing!

Advertising is sensible to get going, and hopefully will become less
necessary once you've got a number of satisfied customers. Dont shy
away from doing it just because those with a well established customer
base dont need to.

And lastly, I'd use different looking ads so you can easily track where
your responses are coming from. Not promotion codes, customers dont
remember them and dont care, use less apparent ways to tell which ad it
was. Eg the green one, the one with the hammer on, etc. And track your
ad responses so you can optimise your return rate. It only takes a
minute, and its a sit down job.


NT

Dave Liquorice wrote:
If you can target your area maybe. Quality of leaflet would be very
influential. B&W A5 inkjet on 80gsm paper with poor english, layout,
graphics, etc would go in the bin. Smaller A6? (to pin on notice board or
stick in edge of mirror) on 100gsm paper or light card, still B&W but
laser or litho printed, nice graphics and correct english stands a much
better chance of being kept.

I doubt if most people can tell the difference between inkjet and laser
nowadays, unless you get it wet maybe.

You could help the targeting by doing the drop yourself, this is still
"working" all be it unpaid. Provided your are presentable (corporate
clothing indicates that you probably are) knocking on doors just to show
your presentable friendly face ask if they have any little jobs and leave
a leaflet but be quick on the door step.

The "corporate clothing" would put me off, it would indicate to me a
business like double glazing with lots of salesmen.



Check circulation area, might be to large.

.... to large or not to large, that is the question.

--
Chris Green

wrote in message
oups.com...
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Foamboard posters on traffic light posts.

illegal and mildly antisocial, not a good start. Also these ads are
typically placed by people just out of jail with no advertising money.
If thats the image you want, using unregistered phones to try and
escape prosecution... upto you I guess. But I figure youre going for
not that market.

"These ads are typically placed by people just out of jail" have you a
reference for this or is it just your opinion?

Andrew wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:

The choices I see so far are;


Leaflets under windscreen wipers in shed carparks.

Surely people who park in shed carparks are the least likely to be
looking for a handyman. ;-) Agree with the others though - intently
annoying.

Interestingly the only place I have ever found anyone - a plumber in
this case - was the parish magazine, and more likely to be read by the
older population which as others have said is a good target market.

Andrew

Also more likely to pay up on time and offer cups of tea etc!

Steven Campbell wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Foamboard posters on traffic light posts.

illegal and mildly antisocial, not a good start. Also these ads are
typically placed by people just out of jail with no advertising money.
If thats the image you want, using unregistered phones to try and
escape prosecution... upto you I guess. But I figure youre going for
not that market.

"These ads are typically placed by people just out of jail" have you a
reference for this or is it just your opinion?

I think it was the man with arrows on his suit hanging them up that gave
it away

On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 13:09:27 -0000, "Steven Campbell"
wrote:

illegal and mildly antisocial, not a good start. Also these ads are
typically placed by people just out of jail with no advertising money.
If thats the image you want, using unregistered phones to try and
escape prosecution... upto you I guess. But I figure youre going for
not that market.

"These ads are typically placed by people just out of jail" have you a
reference for this or is it just your opinion?

Apparently they teach prisoners to make foamboards these days..



sponix

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Hi All

I'm now at the stage where I need to start heavily advertising my new
handyman business.

So far it's been mainly pay out; vehicle, vehicle insurance & tax, corporate
clothing, business cards. PL Insurance etc. On a positive note I've also
earned a few quid, so not too bad.

The choices I see so far are;

Thompson & Yellow Pages - want loads of dosh & you always appear alongside
your competitors. Only catches people who already realise that handymen
exist and are looking for one. Thompson don't have a 'Handyman' category
anyway, only 'Property Maintenance'. I'm not sure the public would think of
looking there.

Leaflet drops. Expensive to arrange for individual leaflets. Much cheaper
as an insert with the local free paper, but less effective.

Print them yourself and do some legwork - almost free.


Local paper advertising. Not yet finalised the costs.

Leaflets under windscreen wipers in shed carparks.

If I saw you doing that to my car you would get an earful.


Foamboard posters on traffic light posts.

A rieal turn off!


Parish magazines.

So, where would you look for a handyman if you needed one? What would
influence you?

I'd ask the neighbours for a personal recommendation. They've lived in
the area longer than us and have never let us down yet.

MBQ

"Steven Campbell" wrote in message
...

I recently built a front garden wall and the number of folk that stopped
and asked me for a quote while I was in the area was unbelievable. That
was without a board. Made me almost want to pack in my nursing job and do
bricklaying full time. Not ;o)

I believe this is the best way. We got our garden wall rebuilt by someone
recommended by our next door neighbour. During the 3 days it took we must
have been asked for his details about a dozen times.

And with most retail customers, a cardinal sin is not cleaning up
perfectly afterwards. You've just finished the job, it was a btch,
youre wiped out, the last thing you care about is the slight film of
dust on the dresser on the other side of the room... but this is what a
lot of customers care about,

Had a local plumber in a few years ago to do a job in the loft. Someone
had recommended him, but he also turned out to have been a trade
association's Plumber of the Year.

You could immediately see why. Not only had he quoted a reasonable
hourly rate beforehand, but he arrived at the front door with a bundle
of cloths under his arm. Carefully wiped his feet, went upstairs, laid a
cloth down on the landing and then unrolled a protective runner back
down the stairs to the doormat. Then he started to bring his stuff in.

It took him all of a minute to do that, and another minute to roll it
all up afterwards, but it absolutely shouted "The Customer Comes First".
He made a good job of the plumbing too, but that was only to be
expected. It's the things the customer *doesn't* expect that leave the
lasting impression.


--
Ian White

When you do a job always leaflet drop the five houses either side and,the
ten houses opposite include on the leaflet that you have been working at the
number ?.

If you have a trade board always try to display this for a week.

When I was jobbing this always paid dividends in extra work.

Much better than blanket leaflet drops which with no focus for neighbours
tend to go in the bin.

In article ,
Mark Hewitt wrote:
I recently built a front garden wall and the number of folk that
stopped and asked me for a quote while I was in the area was
unbelievable. That was without a board. Made me almost want to pack
in my nursing job and do bricklaying full time. Not ;o)

I believe this is the best way. We got our garden wall rebuilt by
someone recommended by our next door neighbour. During the 3 days it
took we must have been asked for his details about a dozen times.

Yes - I had front garden walls re-built with railings added and re-claimed
York stone used for the capping. So it didn't look too pristine on this
old house. I employed them - a firm of landscape gardeners - after
watching them at work on a nearby garden and noting how well they did the
footings for the structural stuff. Think I've 'passed them on' to probably
upwards of a dozen others.

--
*Why does the sun lighten our hair, but darken our skin?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

dennis@home wrote:

"Grunff" wrote in message
...



There are very few situations where highly localised services can make
good use of adwords. The main exception is big cities (especially London),
where you have a huge population in a small area.

Which is why you need ad words by location.
It should be possible to buy ad words at Google and then resell them as
local services.

http://maps.google.co.uk/
Type in your postcode.
Click 'find buisnesses'.
enter 'handyman'
For me, it results in 2 hits within 3 miles.

Plus, it's free!

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Hi All

I'm now at the stage where I need to start heavily advertising my new
handyman business.

So far it's been mainly pay out; vehicle, vehicle insurance & tax, corporate
clothing, business cards. PL Insurance etc. On a positive note I've also
earned a few quid, so not too bad.

The choices I see so far are;

Thompson & Yellow Pages - want loads of dosh & you always appear alongside
your competitors. Only catches people who already realise that handymen
exist and are looking for one. Thompson don't have a 'Handyman' category
anyway, only 'Property Maintenance'. I'm not sure the public would think of
looking there.

Leaflet drops. Expensive to arrange for individual leaflets. Much cheaper
as an insert with the local free paper, but less effective.

Local paper advertising. Not yet finalised the costs.

Leaflets under windscreen wipers in shed carparks.

Foamboard posters on traffic light posts.

Parish magazines.

So, where would you look for a handyman if you needed one? What would
influence you?


Contact your local Volunteer Bureau (they do give out the names of
people expexting payment) Age Concern etc. - a way into the 'Grey'
market. When I did some handyman work I know of some jobs from this
source, but suspecy more from the jungle telegraph. Also contact the
Wardens at local sheltered housing complexes - jobs can be for residents
(often small but the jungle telegraph works) or for the Management Co. -
but you will have to show them Insurance and wait for payment.
Best of luck
Malcolm

On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 13:03:46 +0000 (UTC), wrote:

I doubt if most people can tell the difference between inkjet and laser
nowadays, unless you get it wet maybe.

I've yet to see a B&W inkjet print out that isn't fuzzy round the edges.
The "corporate clothing" would put me off, it would indicate to me a
business like double glazing with lots of salesmen.

Hum, depends on what "corporate clothing" actually is. IIRC The Medway
Handyman is ex sales/marketing, it could mean a full set of matching suit
(jacket/shirt/tie/trousers) a monogramed and logo'd boiler suit, with
logo'd T shirt under to gether with logo'd fleece and logo'd water proof
coat/leggings, or it could just be a T shirt with logo and maybe a
fleece. Presentable (ie not covered in paint and muck), smart T shirt
with a logo would be fine in my book, some evidence of work OK but not
much.

.... to large or not to large, that is the question.

OK I woz tinking of de content not de grammer. B-)

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

Dave Liquorice wrote:

Hum, depends on what "corporate clothing" actually is. IIRC The Medway
Handyman is ex sales/marketing, it could mean a full set of matching
suit (jacket/shirt/tie/trousers) a monogramed and logo'd boiler suit,
with logo'd T shirt under to gether with logo'd fleece and logo'd
water proof coat/leggings, or it could just be a T shirt with logo
and maybe a fleece.

Hmmm! Actually its a dark blue combi suit
http://www.bellworkwear.com/industrialclothing/suits/ with an embroidered
logo on left chest, with a pale blue polo under, embroidered logo on right
sleeve.

Presentable (ie not covered in paint and muck),
smart T shirt with a logo would be fine in my book, some evidence of
work OK but not much.

Presentable, professional looking, good pockets, knee pad holders and most
important - not builders bottom.

I plan to grubby them up slightly to remove that brand new look!


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257