The message
from "Steve Walker" contains these words:

Give it away then - leaflet the 100 poshest houses in your target area (eg
people who can recommend you to their prosperous friends &
neighbours).......

I saw an effective ad a few years ago - the plumber had some fridge
magnets made - just a picture of a drip with his phone number on 'em in
small writing. Looked nice - didn't cost too much and I suspect he
probably only left 'em at well off houses where everything had gone
smoothly, but very clever.

I've a friend in the Rhonnda-ish area who has a plumber who's
ex-directory. He's so busy he asks people not to tell others 'cos he
doesn't have the time to get to them all. She had a major flap a while
ago when she lost the bit of paper with his number on. Sounds like the
plumber out of Brazil.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

raden wrote:

Or, save a bit of legwork - The university of Greenwich at Chatham
has, I think, a list of landlords, which you might be able to get
hold of

Aha!! My SWIMBO works for the council in the building next door!
Brilliant!!!


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

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:37:49 GMT, Guy King
wrote:

The message
from "Steve Walker" contains these words:

Oh, now that *is* a good idea! You could use the house prices and
locations to target the prosperous market segment you're aiming for.

Or have different tarrifs for different areas of prosperity. Sort of 1st
and 2nd class.

Talking of different tarrifs for different customers. Someone mentioned
MHS Boilers. I went to have a look - don't you just hate it when sites
won't give you prices but tell you to ring them up instead. It always
makes me assume that they're going to make the figure up off the top of
their heads just to see how good you are at haggling.
Generally I won't buy from places that hide their prices.


You mean you don't haggle on prices when they are published?


In reality it doesn't make any difference. If a seller of a product
expects to be beaten down on price, he will publish a high list price
to begin with.


--

..andy

Lobster wrote:

Just thought some more about this - you might want to try these?:

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/dir/handyman-services.htm
http://www.rla.org.uk/rla.exe/html/s...ppliersNew.htm

Thank you very much - I've registered with both.

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

Steve Walker wrote:
Give it away then - leaflet the 100 poshest houses in your target
area (eg people who can recommend you to their prosperous friends &
neighbours).......

Bold! But Bold often works! I'm inspired!

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

The message
from Andy Hall contains these words:

You mean you don't haggle on prices when they are published?

Yes, but I'd like to know /roughly/ where I'm starting to see whether
it's even worth bothering to start.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Dave Fawthrop wrote:
A 5 ft by 1 ft sign may be left permanently on the top of the vehicle.

Aha! I might well permanently mount one to my vehicle. Does it mention
this in the regs somewhere?

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

Guy King wrote:

I saw an effective ad a few years ago - the plumber had some fridge
magnets made - just a picture of a drip with his phone number on 'em
in small writing. Looked nice - didn't cost too much and I suspect he
probably only left 'em at well off houses where everything had gone
smoothly, but very clever.

I already have them. Just need enough jobs to leave them at........

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

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:22:51 GMT, Guy King
wrote:

The message
from Andy Hall contains these words:

You mean you don't haggle on prices when they are published?

Yes, but I'd like to know /roughly/ where I'm starting to see whether
it's even worth bothering to start.


Doesn't help.

Unless you know the street price of something, (i.e. the typical
selling price after haggling or the standard one for suppliers wanting
to trade on a high volume, low margin basis) then there is nothing to
compare against.

For example, one type of supplier may have a high level of service and
need high margin to cover it. Another may simply be selling at lowest
price. A third may set a high list price, deliver nothing special
and rely on most customers paying the asking price or something close
to it.




--

..andy

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Hi All

Still struggling with the horrendous cost of advertising. You would not
credit how much the buggers want. I came up with the following cunning
plan;
snip

Hi

In agreement with many of the points others have raised:

a) Good signage on the van and keep it polished! If I need a local bloke and
word of mouth turns up nothing, my next port of call will be looking for
local blokes by virtue of spotting the van in the driveway in the evening -
with meaningful signage and if the van is clean then he's probably got
attention to detail IMO.

You're in Rochester? Do they have a community parish/town website that
people actually read - ask to be listed in the local business listings page
if they have one. May be free.

Some professional cards in the supermarkets' local traders board and local
news agents? Can cost, but newsagents at least used to be cheap. People do
actually read those sometimes.

I like the fridge magnets idea!

Your website is excellent BTW - clear, works in firefox perfectly and has
actual information and prices! How rare...

Good luck!

Tim (also in Kent)

Tim S wrote:

Tim (also in Kent)

AAMOI where?


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

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Tim S wrote:

Tim (also in Kent)

AAMOI where?



Pembury. 4 miles after Tonbridge from your direction IIRC. Probably
a bit out of your area - and I rent, so I don't have much work
unfortunately, though occasionally I find someone for the landlord
if he's short of ideas when something major breaks.

Mind you, many people round here don't DIY - quite a lot of trade for
people such as yourself. You have quite a lot of larger villages in the
Cuxton direction don't you? Do they have a good target audience, eg well
off, husband/wife works in London and too busy to DIY and are they in your
catchment area?

The well off but too busy is a common theme down here. I work in London and
am too busy. Unfortunately the well off bit eludes me. Something to do with
the sodding property prices.



Cheers

Tim

The message
from Andy Hall contains these words:

You mean you don't haggle on prices when they are published?

Yes, but I'd like to know /roughly/ where I'm starting to see whether
it's even worth bothering to start.


Doesn't help.

Yes it does. If one boiler's got a list price of £300 and another of
£1200 then I've a good idea of where to start.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 09:45:14 GMT, Guy King
wrote:

The message
from Andy Hall contains these words:

You mean you don't haggle on prices when they are published?

Yes, but I'd like to know /roughly/ where I'm starting to see whether
it's even worth bothering to start.


Doesn't help.

Yes it does. If one boiler's got a list price of £300 and another of
£1200 then I've a good idea of where to start.

So you ask them for the list price when you contact them followed by
their selling price.

Then you compare the product and price with others and decide whether
it's way out of line.

The starting price gives you no indication of eventual discount -
other factors provide the clues there.


--

..andy

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman"
saying something like:

Perfectly legal, not flyposting, doesn't annoy people like windscreen
flyers, can't be banned for doing anything.

Result is that a HUGE number of people see my advert. Minimal cost, huge
bang for the buck.

Anyone see any snags? Any thoughts?

Here's on that worked well for me.

Years ago, I ran a small window blind company. Driving around I was more
attuned to the state of people's window blinds than the ordinary punter.

I had a portable tape recorder on the passenger seat on which I verbally
noted the address. I had made up some flyers which I then posted to the
householder, or put through the letterbox if I was able to stop at the
time.

It amazed me just how much business that generated. I suppose people
suddenly realised how claggy and broken their blinds looked from the
outside.

As you drive around you could do similar for external work that looks in
need of doing.
--

Dave

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Andy Hall
saying something like:

Yesterday I sat on a train in Germany next to a quite attractive young
lady with a quite fashionable looking set of what appeared to be smart
casual clothes.

Presently, when she got up, I inevitably ended up looking at the back
pocket of the trousers upon which was a machine embroidered emblem of
a bird in the same colour as the fabric and some text underneath.

Aye. Checking out her arse, you mean.

When she came back, it was possible to read it as well.... Polizei.

Consider yourself busted.
--

Dave

On 11 Mar 2006 20:37:14 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:


You have submitted your info to google-maps?
How I found my last tyre fitter.

Avoid Yell. I registered and I had about 100 calls from people selling
advertising!

sponix

Steve Walker wrote:
sponix wrote:


How about dropping a letter through every door you see with a "For
sale" sign?

The letter could point out the benefits of marketing a well
presented house with all the "niggles" sorted out.

You could also put letters through the letter boxes of houses
with a "Sold" sign outside, detailing your services and maybe
offering a "new homeowner" discount.

Oh, now that *is* a good idea! You could use the house prices and
locations to target the prosperous market segment you're aiming for.

Trouble is, the "Sold" sign goes up the minute that an offer has been
accepted on a property, as it's advertising how wonderful the agent is.
It stays up until the buyer moves in, ie after survey, further
negotiations, exchanging contracts, completion etc, then it comes down
within a day or two of the new occupant moving in. In other words, for
the vast majority of the time the Sold sign is being displayed, the
property still has the vendors in resident, and the chances of a flyer
reaching the buyers must be pretty negligible.

David

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:20:48 GMT, raden wrote:

You could also put letters through the letter boxes of houses with a
"Sold" sign outside, detailing your services and maybe offering a "new
homeowner" discount.

I don't want to be the one casting al the downers here, but

I have the distinct feeling that it would most likely be treated as junk
mail by the new occupants along with all the other crap shoved through
the letterbox

I think it'd depend on what the junk mail was like. A nicely presented
letter and maybe a free fridge magnet would most likely be kept, a
tatty looking flyer would most likely go in the bin.

Another thought: How about producing a calendar or map of the local
area with "medwayhandyman" along the top? If it included local
information it would probably be kept by the new homeowner instead of
being binned.

Perhaps even a "medwayhandyman" booklet containing useful phone
numbers? Anything that the homeowner is likely to keep.

sponix

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Steve Walker wrote:

Give it away then - leaflet the 100 poshest houses in your target
area (eg people who can recommend you to their prosperous friends &
neighbours).......

Bold! But Bold often works! I'm inspired!

But maybe you don't want to handout 100 possible freebies all at once
though!

David

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 18:45:09 +0000, Mike Dodd
wrote:

(psst, you're not in the NW, are you?)

The clue is in the name, presumably...if not, that'd explain the lack
of work!

sponix

The message
from Andy Hall contains these words:

So you ask them for the list price when you contact them followed by
their selling price.

Mostly I just find it annoying that they don't show prices. Almost
anything you want to buy you can find the price for - but once in a
while you find a firm who thinks it's clever to hide them so their
salesmen can get their hooks into you - and it ****es me off.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 16:25:04 UTC, sponix wrote:

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 18:45:09 +0000, Mike Dodd
wrote:

(psst, you're not in the NW, are you?)

The clue is in the name, presumably...if not, that'd explain the lack
of work!

I used to deal with a science fiction bookseller who traded under
"Fantast (Medway) Ltd" - for some strange reason, he was in Wisbech,
Cambs...

You never can tell!

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 16:33:41 GMT, Guy King
wrote:

The message
from Andy Hall contains these words:

So you ask them for the list price when you contact them followed by
their selling price.

Mostly I just find it annoying that they don't show prices. Almost
anything you want to buy you can find the price for - but once in a
while you find a firm who thinks it's clever to hide them so their
salesmen can get their hooks into you - and it ****es me off.


So don't let them get their hooks into you. If you are sensitive to
that, then you will have difficulty negotiating a lower price...



--

..andy

In message , Grimly
Curmudgeon writes
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Andy Hall
saying something like:

Yesterday I sat on a train in Germany next to a quite attractive young
lady with a quite fashionable looking set of what appeared to be smart
casual clothes.

Presently, when she got up, I inevitably ended up looking at the back
pocket of the trousers upon which was a machine embroidered emblem of
a bird in the same colour as the fabric and some text underneath.

Aye. Checking out her arse, you mean.

When she came back, it was possible to read it as well.... Polizei.

Consider yourself busted.


ITYF that's brosted

--
geoff - ohne umlaut

In message , The Medway
Handyman writes

So, I park in B&Q car park in prominence position, attach sign to roof, buy
packet of screws (therefore becoming a customer) and leave car there for 1
hour 55 mins. Remove sign, drive to Homebase & do the same. Then Morrisons
etc.

Perfectly legal, not flyposting, doesn't annoy people like windscreen
flyers, can't be banned for doing anything.

Result is that a HUGE number of people see my advert. Minimal cost, huge
bang for the buck.

Anyone see any snags? Any thoughts?

There is a big difference between those seeing and those actually
noticing it

--
geoff

In article
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Steve Walker wrote:
Give it away then - leaflet the 100 poshest houses in your target
area (eg people who can recommend you to their prosperous friends &
neighbours).......

Bold! But Bold often works! I'm inspired!


Sounds more like desperate to me.

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 17:08:16 GMT, raden wrote:

In message , Grimly
Curmudgeon writes
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Andy Hall
saying something like:

Yesterday I sat on a train in Germany next to a quite attractive young
lady with a quite fashionable looking set of what appeared to be smart
casual clothes.

Presently, when she got up, I inevitably ended up looking at the back
pocket of the trousers upon which was a machine embroidered emblem of
a bird in the same colour as the fabric and some text underneath.

Aye. Checking out her arse, you mean.

When she came back, it was possible to read it as well.... Polizei.

Consider yourself busted.


ITYF that's brosted

Don't you mean brusted?

They were quite good as well.


--

..andy

In article
Lobster wrote:
Steve Walker wrote:
sponix wrote:


How about dropping a letter through every door you see with a "For
sale" sign?

The letter could point out the benefits of marketing a well
presented house with all the "niggles" sorted out.

You could also put letters through the letter boxes of houses
with a "Sold" sign outside, detailing your services and maybe
offering a "new homeowner" discount.

Oh, now that *is* a good idea! You could use the house prices and
locations to target the prosperous market segment you're aiming for.

Trouble is, the "Sold" sign goes up the minute that an offer has been
accepted on a property, as it's advertising how wonderful the agent is.
It stays up until the buyer moves in, ie after survey, further
negotiations, exchanging contracts, completion etc, then it comes down
within a day or two of the new occupant moving in. In other words, for
the vast majority of the time the Sold sign is being displayed, the
property still has the vendors in resident, and the chances of a flyer
reaching the buyers must be pretty negligible.

So what he needs to do is note where the SOLD signs are, and leaflet
when they disappear.

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:58:13 +0000, Tim S wrote:

a) Good signage on the van and keep it polished! If I need a local bloke and
word of mouth turns up nothing, my next port of call will be looking for
local blokes by virtue of spotting the van in the driveway in the evening -
with meaningful signage and if the van is clean then he's probably got
attention to detail IMO.

Also, how about a foam board that you can leave outside a property
whilst you are working?

Maybe people would be happy for you to leave a foamboard outside for a
week after doing a job?

sponix

In message , Andy Hall
writes
On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 17:08:16 GMT, raden wrote:

In message , Grimly
Curmudgeon writes
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Andy Hall
saying something like:

Yesterday I sat on a train in Germany next to a quite attractive young
lady with a quite fashionable looking set of what appeared to be smart
casual clothes.

Presently, when she got up, I inevitably ended up looking at the back
pocket of the trousers upon which was a machine embroidered emblem of
a bird in the same colour as the fabric and some text underneath.

Aye. Checking out her arse, you mean.

When she came back, it was possible to read it as well.... Polizei.

Consider yourself busted.


ITYF that's brosted

Don't you mean brusted?

They were quite good as well.


Err .... yes - I was more concerned about the missing umlaut and bugger
the spelling


--
geoff

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 20:19:54 GMT, raden wrote:

In message , Andy Hall
writes
On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 17:08:16 GMT, raden wrote:

In message , Grimly
Curmudgeon writes
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Andy Hall
saying something like:

Yesterday I sat on a train in Germany next to a quite attractive young
lady with a quite fashionable looking set of what appeared to be smart
casual clothes.

Presently, when she got up, I inevitably ended up looking at the back
pocket of the trousers upon which was a machine embroidered emblem of
a bird in the same colour as the fabric and some text underneath.

Aye. Checking out her arse, you mean.

When she came back, it was possible to read it as well.... Polizei.

Consider yourself busted.


ITYF that's brosted

Don't you mean brusted?

They were quite good as well.


Err .... yes - I was more concerned about the missing umlaut and bugger
the spelling


Ah... as in geöffnet und geschlossen....

An open and shut case.....


--

..andy

In message , Andy Hall
writes

When she came back, it was possible to read it as well.... Polizei.

Consider yourself busted.


ITYF that's brosted

Don't you mean brusted?

They were quite good as well.


Err .... yes - I was more concerned about the missing umlaut and bugger
the spelling


Ah... as in geöffnet und geschlossen....

An open and shut case.....

Doch

talking of which, Germans always pronounce my name incorrectly under the
Pleikies[1] law

[1] - my line manager in Germany - remembering it was pliikees was a
good help initially with pronunciation
--
geoff

Still struggling with the horrendous cost of advertising. You would not
credit how much the buggers want. I came up with the following cunning
plan;

I believe John Stumbles leafleted a couple of roads round my area a few
years back. You still see his van on the street most weeks!

Very cheap and effective advertising. Cost is a few hours to design, a few
hours to leaflet and a few quid for paper and toner if you've already got a
laser printer. Make sure you've got charge on your mobile.

Christian.

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. uk...
Hi All
Still struggling with the horrendous cost of advertising. snip
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257
Just a thought ...
how about schools ?
I know that most of them have caretakers who do most little jobs,
and some have favourite contractors, but it might be worth calling in and
leaving something like a pen or fridge magnet with the phone number on with
the secretary. There might be jobs from other staff (teachers, LSAs) some
of the parents. Teachers might be interested in work at weekend, since it
can be difficult for a teacher to get a day off to supervise.
The idea of a free day's work would be bound to appeal to financially hard
pressed (i.e. all) schools, and if your van is in the school at home-time
lots of parents will see it - and might ask the secretary about you later.
I work at BAE which I think is in your catchment area ... if you'd like to
drop a couple of business cards in to me (Neil Chatfield, care of Hilary or
Kay in Reception) I could pin them to some of the notice boards around the
site. There are already some similar cards, but you never know...
hth
Neil

On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 20:16:25 GMT, "neil" wrote:

Just a thought ...
how about schools ?
I know that most of them have caretakers who do most little jobs,
and some have favourite contractors, but it might be worth calling in and
leaving something like a pen or fridge magnet with the phone number on with
the secretary.

Another thought..how about booking a stall at the local school/church
fete or car boot sale?

You could display a placard and hand out leaflets/business cards to
passing punters.

sponix

Sponix wrote:

On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 20:16:25 GMT, "neil" wrote:

Just a thought ...
how about schools ?
I know that most of them have caretakers who do most little jobs,
and some have favourite contractors, but it might be worth calling in and
leaving something like a pen or fridge magnet with the phone number on with
the secretary.

Another thought..how about booking a stall at the local school/church
fete or car boot sale?

You could display a placard and hand out leaflets/business cards to
passing punters.

You could also display before and after photographs (with text), and
customer thank-you notes - with customer permission, of course.

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Owain wrote:
You've mentioned work clothes before,

but does every member of your
family have nice colourful sweatshirts with MedwayHandyman.co.uk
screenprinted front and back, which they wear all the time?

You mean the wife who could teach Trinny & Susannah a thing or two? Or the
two blond blue eyed daughters aged 20 & 23 who live in Bluewater most of the time?

Well, as long as the tops aren't hooded, they should be ok.

HTH

Paul.

On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:44:14 -0500, S Viemeister
wrote:

You could also display before and after photographs

That may or may not be a good idea, depending on the standard of
work..



sponix