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;

A large (huge) sign to mounted on the roof bars of my vehicle. Something
like 6' x 3' full colour, professionally done.

Checking out the car parks of local B&Q, Homebase, Morrisons, Asda, Tesco
stores etc they all have the following restrictions;

Maximum stay 2 hours, customers only.

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?

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

In message , The Medway
Handyman writes
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;

A large (huge) sign to mounted on the roof bars of my vehicle. Something
like 6' x 3' full colour, professionally done.

Checking out the car parks of local B&Q, Homebase, Morrisons, Asda, Tesco
stores etc they all have the following restrictions;

Maximum stay 2 hours, customers only.

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?

They're going to B&Q because they're doing it themselves, not getting a
man in to do it for them

--
geoff

raden wrote:


They're going to B&Q because they're doing it themselves, not getting
a man in to do it for them

Basic error - they are going to B&Q because, in some cases they are
'thinking' of doing it themselves. Many are looking for ideas, products
etc. Your comment probably holds true for Wickes, Jewsons, Travis Perkins
etc. I'll not bother with those.

I should also have said 'the car park of the retail park where B&Q are'.

My local retail park has B&Q, Matalan, Argos, Next, & Brantano. Another has
Homebase, Toys R Us, PC World, Carpet Right & Pet World. All visitors are
potential customers.

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

The Medway Handyman wrote:

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

Anyone see any snags? Any thoughts?

You are spending large amounts of time that could be spent earning sat
about in car parks? (probably not an issue when starting out though)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 00:11:30 GMT, "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;

A large (huge) sign to mounted on the roof bars of my vehicle. Something
like 6' x 3' full colour, professionally done.

Checking out the car parks of local B&Q, Homebase, Morrisons, Asda, Tesco
stores etc they all have the following restrictions;

Maximum stay 2 hours, customers only.

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?

How about a sandwich board? Then you wouldn't be confined to the car
park and you'd be getting some healthy exercise walking around town.
--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

Drop the EGG to email me.

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 00:11:30 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

|Hi All
|
|Still struggling with the horrendous cost of advertising. You would not
|credit how much the buggers want.

I gave up advertising in the media, long ago because of this cost.

|I came up with the following cunning
|plan;

The *best* form of advertising is Word of Mouth. Do a few jobs well and
the work will appear.

|A large (huge) sign to mounted on the roof bars of my vehicle. Something
|like 6' x 3' full colour, professionally done.

Proper high quality signage on the side and back of the vehicle would be
good.

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

|Checking out the car parks of local B&Q, Homebase, Morrisons, Asda, Tesco
|stores etc they all have the following restrictions;
|
|Maximum stay 2 hours, customers only.
|
|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.

I wouldn't bet on it. Car parks are private ground and the owners can
require you to leave for *any* reason.


--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
Freedom of Speech, Expression, Religion, and Democracy are
the keys to Civilization, together with legal acceptance of
Fundamental Human rights.

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;

A large (huge) sign to mounted on the roof bars of my vehicle.
Something like 6' x 3' full colour, professionally done.

Checking out the car parks of local B&Q, Homebase, Morrisons, Asda,
Tesco stores etc they all have the following restrictions;

Maximum stay 2 hours, customers only.

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?

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

Erm! a couple of flysheets and 2or3 buisness cards dropped into estate
agents,property shops, soon gathers buisness, the more of these you visit
the greater chance of success with an insight to permanent work should you
be able to keep up with the demand rather than sitting on you're arse in
DIY car parks.

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. uk...
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;

A large (huge) sign to mounted on the roof bars of my vehicle. Something
like 6' x 3' full colour, professionally done.

Checking out the car parks of local B&Q, Homebase, Morrisons, Asda, Tesco
stores etc they all have the following restrictions;

Maximum stay 2 hours, customers only.

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.

snip

It is probably legal, but annoying to the places concerned.

BUT, I do wonder at any attempt to advertise at all, I have found that word
of mouth is the only real way to go forward. If you advertise you have no
idea of the quality of people you are going to get, and it only takes a few
non payers to wreck your business.
Also, if you are any good you will get more work than you can do in any
case.

My advice (as a self employed person for thirty years) is DO NOT advertise
at all (not even on the van) DO a very good quality of work. DO NOT
attempt to price match or be badgered down on money (walk away when they
start making you silly, low offers or ask if you can do it cheaper) Always
stay on your estimate price, and tell them first of any changes. ONLY work
on recommendation. Also, know your limits, don't take on a job that is too
big for you, for instance. I usually find there is more profit in a small
job, like plumbing in a washing machine, rather than painting a house. So
do several small jobs, these are also easier to assess accurately for costs.

mrcheerful

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 00:30:25 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

raden wrote:


They're going to B&Q because they're doing it themselves, not getting
a man in to do it for them

Basic error - they are going to B&Q because, in some cases they are
'thinking' of doing it themselves. Many are looking for ideas, products
etc. Your comment probably holds true for Wickes, Jewsons, Travis Perkins
etc. I'll not bother with those.

I should also have said 'the car park of the retail park where B&Q are'.

My local retail park has B&Q, Matalan, Argos, Next, & Brantano. Another has
Homebase, Toys R Us, PC World, Carpet Right & Pet World. All visitors are
potential customers.


Mmm..

Notwithstanding Geoff's comment - and the "thinking about" comment is
a reasonable response - I wonder about context.

For example, if I am going to the food supermarket I am thinking about
buying food, not looking for someone to do some handyman work.

When I see your van, does the sign just say Medway Handyman, Phone
12345 and a couple of things that you do?

If so, it's simply saying to me that you are there, not inviting me to
take an action.

I would then need to stop and write the number down. Am I going to
do that when it's raining and I'm in a rush to get the shopping done?
Equally, I suppose you could argue that someone just sauntering around
looking for ideas would not be in such a rush.

Thinking along those lines, garden centres are places where people
go to for ideas and a wander around, not typically for purposeful
purchasing. Not in context though. Equally, DIY stores often have
places in the lobby where there are people selling double glazing etc.

Another idea.

I know that being a handyman means all things to all men. However, I
wonder if there are some specific jobs that you could package in some
way.

I'll give you a recent example. A couple of weeks ago I needed to
get a chimney cowl supplied and fitted. Actually this entailed a pot
as well because cowls do not fit well on square chimnies and that was
what was there with the result that the original cowl had blown down.
I'm not enthusiastic about ladder work and roofs are definitely out.
Plus this was a nag situation and the job needed to be done. I know a
builder who could certainly have done the work but is booked out for a
while and would fit in small jobs as and when, so that was no good.
I wasn't enthusiastic about the idea of a typical chimney sweep being
able to do this job properly and without damaging something.

So I did a Google for chimney, cowl and the name of the town. Nothing
there so replaced it with county and found a small firm specialising
in supply and fit of chimney cowls and pots - in other words exactly
what I was looking for. They were able to come quite quickly and the
job was very well done (I watched very closely).

The way of working was interesting. They don't visit beforehand to
make quotes because it wouldn't be economic in comparison with the
cost of the work - typically around £70 to supply and fit a simple
cowl. On the phone, the customer is asked about the work and type
of house and a budgetary quote is given to set expectations. There
are clueless people who think it should be no more than £20. Then a
firm price is given when they arrive - usually doesn't change unless
it's an old property needing some stack work, although again the
customer is advised of that beforehand.

Economically it works for them because they manage 4-5 jobs a day
depending on travel etc. In fact, they will do all kinds of roof work
in between the peak season for chimney cowl fitting which is October,
but the chimney cowl business has a separate site.

There were two things that struck me as clever about this approach.
It matched a specific task and an area together and came up easily
in Google. Secondly, it was efficient in terms of there not being too
much time overhead in comparison with paid work time.

Perhaps there are some specific things that you will end up doing
frequently that will lend themselves to a simple productising like
this.




--

..andy

The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:

Erm! a couple of flysheets and 2or3 buisness cards dropped into estate
agents,property shops, soon gathers buisness, the more of these you
visit the greater chance of success with an insight to permanent work
should you be able to keep up with the demand rather than sitting on
you're arse in DIY car parks.

I wish it were that easy, I've mailed every estate agent in the Medway
Towns with an individual letter, enclosing a few business cards and one of
fridge magnet business cards. I'm visisting them as & when I am in the
area. Getting a little work from one or two of them.

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

Mike Halmarack wrote:

How about a sandwich board? Then you wouldn't be confined to the car
park and you'd be getting some healthy exercise walking around town.

Now I wonder why I didn't think of that ...........................

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

Dave Fawthrop wrote:

I gave up advertising in the media, long ago because of this cost.

The *best* form of advertising is Word of Mouth. Do a few jobs well
and the work will appear.

Entirely my philosophy, but I have to get those 'few jobs' in the first
place. I need to kick start things.

Proper high quality signage on the side and back of the vehicle would
be good.

Already done & very smart it is too.

I wouldn't bet on it. Car parks are private ground and the owners
can require you to leave for *any* reason.

True enough, but I can't see I'm annoying anyone.

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

John Rumm wrote:

You are spending large amounts of time that could be spent earning sat
about in car parks? (probably not an issue when starting out though)

But if I haven't got the jobs to earn the money I have to spend time getting
them. I was only thinking about Sat mornings anyway.


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

mrcheerful . wrote:

My advice (as a self employed person for thirty years) is DO NOT
advertise at all (not even on the van)

So how did you get those first few jobs, that led to those next few jobs,
that led to....... etc, etc. I've started a 'pipeline'. Customers are
talking about future jobs now, but I want to avoid starving to death
(metaphorically) in the meantime.

DO a very good quality of work.

Good Advice

DO NOT attempt to price match or be badgered down on money
(walk away when they start making you silly, low offers or ask if you
can do it cheaper)

More good advice.

Also, know your
limits, don't take on a job that is too big for you, for instance. I
usually find there is more profit in a small job, like plumbing in a
washing machine, rather than painting a house. So do several small
jobs, these are also easier to assess accurately for costs.

Even more good advice - thank you, I appreciate it.

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

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
...
Dave Fawthrop wrote:

I gave up advertising in the media, long ago because of this cost.

The *best* form of advertising is Word of Mouth. Do a few jobs well
and the work will appear.

Entirely my philosophy, but I have to get those 'few jobs' in the first
place. I need to kick start things.

Proper high quality signage on the side and back of the vehicle would
be good.

Already done & very smart it is too.

I wouldn't bet on it. Car parks are private ground and the owners
can require you to leave for *any* reason.

True enough, but I can't see I'm annoying anyone.

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

====================
Somebody will soon notice you and take exception to what you're doing if you
make a regular practice of doing this. A pub near me was 'advised' that they
needed planning permission when one of their regular customers frequently
parked his very large van / advertising hoarding on their car park. The van
disappeared.

Despite what other posters have said I think that many people (myself
included) do take notice of signed vans when they visit DIY stores and I
would suggest that this is a good way of attracting business. Many people
visiting DIY stores are doing so because they've failed to find someone to
do a job through normal channels. Perhaps you could limit your car park
visits to weekends when you would be more likely to attract the attention of
browsers rather than fellow professionals who are more likely to visit on
normal work days.

Cic.

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
news
mrcheerful . wrote:

My advice (as a self employed person for thirty years) is DO NOT
advertise at all (not even on the van)

So how did you get those first few jobs, that led to those next few jobs,
that led to....... etc, etc. I've started a 'pipeline'. Customers are
talking about future jobs now, but I want to avoid starving to death
(metaphorically) in the meantime.


I was lucky, I had a part time job with an employer, on the other days I was
available for my self employment, if there was none the part time job was
enough for subsistence, after a year or so I reduced the time with my
employer, etc. After about 5 years I was totally independent. The rest is
history.

Another bit of advice, don't borrow money to 'progress' your business.
Don't pay bank charges either, shop around or use a private account.

mrcheerful

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 09:22:08 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Mike Halmarack wrote:

How about a sandwich board? Then you wouldn't be confined to the car
park and you'd be getting some healthy exercise walking around town.

Now I wonder why I didn't think of that ...........................

Because you saw "Apocalypse Now" and was influenced by the statement:
"Never get off the boat"?
--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

Drop the EGG to email me.

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. uk...
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;

A large (huge) sign to mounted on the roof bars of my vehicle. Something
like 6' x 3' full colour, professionally done.

Checking out the car parks of local B&Q, Homebase, Morrisons, Asda, Tesco
stores etc they all have the following restrictions;

Maximum stay 2 hours, customers only.

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?

I would expect that to get you banned from the car park, to prevent the
proliferation of such advertising. You may well also get a planning
enforcement notice - around here even simple A board advertising gets an
almost immediate enforcement notice. OTOH, really eye catching sign writing
on a van (preferably a large van) will probably be as effective, works
everywhere you drive it, and does not count as a static advert.

Colin Bignell

nightjar nightjar@ wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. uk...

A large (huge) sign to mounted on the roof bars of my vehicle. Something
like 6' x 3' full colour, professionally done.

I would expect that to get you banned from the car park, to prevent the
proliferation of such advertising. You may well also get a planning
enforcement notice - around here even simple A board advertising gets an
almost immediate enforcement notice. OTOH, really eye catching sign writing
on a van (preferably a large van) will probably be as effective, works
everywhere you drive it, and does not count as a static advert.

I think Colin's probably right. I suspect your proposed stragegy is
most dodgy in that you're going to attach something to the vehicle once
it's in the carpark. That will attract adverse attention and get you
banned far sooner than a van with professional sign on the side - that's
a much better plan, less blatant advertising, and is likely to last much
longer before you get 'found out' - maybe long enough for you to build
up to a critical level of customers?

David

The Medway Handyman wrote:
The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:

Erm! a couple of flysheets and 2or3 buisness cards dropped into estate
agents,property shops, soon gathers buisness, the more of these you
visit the greater chance of success with an insight to permanent work
should you be able to keep up with the demand rather than sitting on
you're arse in DIY car parks.

I wish it were that easy, I've mailed every estate agent in the Medway
Towns with an individual letter, enclosing a few business cards and one of
fridge magnet business cards. I'm visisting them as & when I am in the
area. Getting a little work from one or two of them.

Have you thought of specifically targeting residential property
landlords and/or letting agents, as opposed to estate agents in general?
Landlords who self-manage their properties are one group of people
who are always in need of handymen, especially if they don't diy
themselves, or have a lot of properties to manage, or have a day-job and
need someone fixing during the working day. Certainly if you could get
'preferred-supplier' status with letting agents I would have thought
you'd be quids in.

How to target landlords who don't use agents? For a start, one way
would be to leaflet any house you see with a "To Let" sign outside, even
if the sign belongs to an agent you may have already targeted - many
rentals are let by agents but the tenancies are actually managed by the
landlords.

David

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 09:20:32 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:

Erm! a couple of flysheets and 2or3 buisness cards dropped into estate
agents,property shops, soon gathers buisness, the more of these you
visit the greater chance of success with an insight to permanent work
should you be able to keep up with the demand rather than sitting on
you're arse in DIY car parks.

I wish it were that easy, I've mailed every estate agent in the Medway
Towns with an individual letter, enclosing a few business cards and one of
fridge magnet business cards. I'm visisting them as & when I am in the
area. Getting a little work from one or two of them.

Have you tried what I suggested? Post a letter introducing yourself, and a
copy of your card, through the letterboxes of a few hundred houses. Prolly
a day's work altogether. I chose areas where it looked as if people could
afford to employ me (but not out of my class altogether) and I'd be happy
parking the van (and would _have_ somewhere to park - I hate having to
park 50 yards away from the job!). First drop I did 30 houses and got 3
responses resulting in 2 jobs, one with repeat work. I've had similar
response rates since. If you have a lot of customers in a small area you
can sometimes do 2 or 3 jobs without even moving the van!

The other thing you mentioned in an earlier post was parish magazines. did
you try that? I've had about half my clients through advertising in
something similar (University newletter).

Andy Hall wrote:

When I see your van, does the sign just say Medway Handyman, Phone
12345 and a couple of things that you do?

Its a car, dark blue Escort Estate it has the same logotype as the website
and the contact details. Only limited space.

If so, it's simply saying to me that you are there, not inviting me to
take an action.

True, as would an advert in the paper though.

I would then need to stop and write the number down. Am I going to
do that when it's raining and I'm in a rush to get the shopping done?
Equally, I suppose you could argue that someone just sauntering around
looking for ideas would not be in such a rush.

Again true, but the web address is especially easy to remember, given the
area connection - medway & handyman.


Thinking along those lines, garden centres are places where people
go to for ideas and a wander around, not typically for purposeful
purchasing. Not in context though.

Hmmm. I think garden centres would be in context.

Another idea.

I know that being a handyman means all things to all men. However, I
wonder if there are some specific jobs that you could package in some
way.

That's certainly worth a thought. I've tried to make my site easy to find.

The way of working was interesting. SNIP
Economically it works for them because they manage 4-5 jobs a day
depending on travel etc.

Exactly my intention.

There were two things that struck me as clever about this approach.
It matched a specific task and an area together and came up easily
in Google. Secondly, it was efficient in terms of there not being too
much time overhead in comparison with paid work time.

Yes, both worth thinking about.

Perhaps there are some specific things that you will end up doing
frequently that will lend themselves to a simple productising like
this.

I'll keep that in mind. If for example plumbing in washing machines becomes
a regular job, I could either make my site more findable or have a separate
one that links to it.


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

In article
"nightjar" nightjar@insert my surname here.uk.com wrote:
OTOH, really eye catching sign writing
on a van (preferably a large van)

Classic commercial vehicles are good for getting noticed.

John Stumbles wrote:

Have you tried what I suggested? Post a letter introducing yourself,
and a copy of your card, through the letterboxes of a few hundred
houses. Prolly a day's work altogether.

Not yet, but I probably will soon, if the roof sign doesn't work out.

The other thing you mentioned in an earlier post was parish
magazines. did you try that? I've had about half my clients through
advertising in something similar (University newletter).

Still need to check that out, but it sounds good & cheap. Thanks John.


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

Owain wrote:
You've mentioned work clothes before,

I've had two enquiries already from wearing the work clothes. One in a
queue in Argos, the other at a burger van.

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?


Owain
(currently advertising a scaffolding firm because the sweatshirt was
cheap in Cancer Research)

You can buy perfectly serviceable sweatshirts in Matalan for £4. What would
you go to a charity shop?


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

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 09:59:30 GMT, "mrcheerful ."
wrote:

Another bit of advice, don't borrow money to 'progress' your business.
Don't pay bank charges either, shop around or use a private account.

Another bit of advice is to make sure you register with the IR within
three months..also ask about NI contributions exemption.

sponix

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 14:55:10 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Owain wrote:


Owain
(currently advertising a scaffolding firm because the sweatshirt was
cheap in Cancer Research)

You can buy perfectly serviceable sweatshirts in Matalan for £4. What would
you go to a charity shop?


I thought it was.... :-)

On a related note, designer clothing gets everywhere.

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.

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

She had a complementary anorak as well.

I've always liked uniforms. :-)




--

..andy

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 13:30:27 +0000, Owain
wrote:

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Perfectly legal, not flyposting, doesn't annoy people like windscreen
flyers, can't be banned for doing anything.
Anyone see any snags? Any thoughts?

Lacks subtlety and might appear a bit desperate.

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?

Not only does this possibly quadruple your exposure (and get it *inside*
B&Q, Sainsbury, etc) but it means your family's leisure clothes become a
tax-deductable business advertising expense.

Owain
(currently advertising a scaffolding firm because the sweatshirt was
cheap in Cancer Research)

Owain

Or just take it a little further. Nice set of brightly coloured
sandwich boards. A large hat made from papier mache in the shape of a
claw hammer head, home made shoes in the shape of bricky's trowels,
with the handles sticking out the back like spurs. Walk around the
town centre on a Saturday afternoon, handing out leaflets. You'll end
up with so much work, you'll have to take me on as an apprentice. You
lucky individual you. :-)
--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

Drop the EGG to email me.

Lobster wrote:
How to target landlords who don't use agents? For a start, one way

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

I think both are free?

David

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Andy Hall wrote:


When I see your van, does the sign just say Medway Handyman, Phone
12345 and a couple of things that you do?


Its a car, dark blue Escort Estate it has the same logotype as the website
and the contact details. Only limited space.

If so, it's simply saying to me that you are there, not inviting me to
take an action.


True, as would an advert in the paper though.



Actual case:

My sister, having moved into a large old house that needs a good amount
of renovation has (out of desparation) noted down the website of a
couple of home maintenance companies taken from their vans, and had me
chase details down (no land line = no internet, for her) - ultimately to
no avail, since these companies were not interested in the major works
that she needs.

It does work, but you need to give a flavour of the work you'd be
interested in taking on, and give easy to remember contact details (in
her case, she could remember the web address but not the telephone
number) (who has pen and paper on them when they need them?!)

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

In message , Dave Fawthrop
writes
On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 00:11:30 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

|Hi All
|
|Still struggling with the horrendous cost of advertising. You would not
|credit how much the buggers want.

I gave up advertising in the media, long ago because of this cost.

|I came up with the following cunning
|plan;

The *best* form of advertising is Word of Mouth. Do a few jobs well and
the work will appear.

I get quite a lot of orders that way, but it takes a significant time
for it to reach critical mass

--
geoff

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;

A large (huge) sign to mounted on the roof bars of my vehicle. Something
like 6' x 3' full colour, professionally done.
snip

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

In message , Lobster
writes
The Medway Handyman wrote:
The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:

Erm! a couple of flysheets and 2or3 buisness cards dropped into
estate

How to target landlords who don't use agents? For a start, one way
would be to leaflet any house you see with a "To Let" sign outside,
even if the sign belongs to an agent you may have already targeted

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


--
geoff

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:00:22 UTC, raden wrote:

In message , Lobster
writes
The Medway Handyman wrote:
The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:

Erm! a couple of flysheets and 2or3 buisness cards dropped into
estate

How to target landlords who don't use agents? For a start, one way
would be to leaflet any house you see with a "To Let" sign outside,
even if the sign belongs to an agent you may have already targeted

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

Slight enhancement...there are THREE universities on that site, and you
might like to contact all of them. The other two are Canterbury Christ
Church University, and the University of Kent. All have their own
buildings (they *might* share accommodation lists, not sure tho').

Of course, it's easy to get that list...slip a student some beer money!

--
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

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.

In message , The Medway
Handyman writes
mrcheerful . wrote:

My advice (as a self employed person for thirty years) is DO NOT
advertise at all (not even on the van)

So how did you get those first few jobs, that led to those next few jobs,
that led to....... etc, etc. I've started a 'pipeline'.

It can be a bit of a catch22 situation, which if you solve it, you could
write the book and retire

Starting from scratch can be a bit of a bugger - I've been there

--
geoff

In message , sponix
writes
On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 09:22:08 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Mike Halmarack wrote:

How about a sandwich board? Then you wouldn't be confined to the car
park and you'd be getting some healthy exercise walking around town.

Now I wonder why I didn't think of that ...........................

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.

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


--
geoff

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Dave Fawthrop wrote:

I gave up advertising in the media, long ago because of this
cost.

The *best* form of advertising is Word of Mouth. Do a few jobs
well and the work will appear.

Entirely my philosophy, but I have to get those 'few jobs' in the
first place. I need to kick start things.

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

**Free Home Repairs & Improvements**

I'm an experienced, trained and capable handyman, and I'm trying to
establish a new business in this area. Everyone knows that the best
tradesmen are obtained by personal recommendation, and also that it's the
best form of advertising.

So I'm offering to work for you for a full day, doing any repairs or
improvements you wish, without any charge for my time (you can provide the
materials, or I'll supply them at cost). All I want is the opportunity to
demonstrate the quality of my work, with no strings attached.

blah blah....

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.

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

Mike Dodd wrote:

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

SE actually! Shame!

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