Replies

1. 
   dickey | Jun 16, 1999 02:03am | #1

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   I can get the word out for you for a small fee.....let me know.

2. 
   Guest_ | Jun 16, 1999 02:16am | #2

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   Good afternoon Richard,

   May I start off by apologizing for the resident bozo who doesn't know which hand he's going out with tonite.

   With regards to your advertizing problems, business cards are a must.

   I don't know the size of the community you've relocated to but the local lumber yards normally have free bulletin boards as do many stores. I don't know if your new community has a building association, but if it does, it's always good to join.

   Make yourself very familiar with the area. Check out the new sites and start giving out quotes.

   I know many of these ideas are just common sense but they do bear noting.

   Good luck in your new ventures,

   Gabe

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 16, 1999 02:17am | #3

   *Richard Dickey adds a couple of letters to his real name and nature don't listen to him.Scott

3. 
   dickey | Jun 16, 1999 04:23am | #4

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   huh?

4. 
   Guest_ | Jun 16, 1999 04:37am | #5

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   Richard , I've been in the same situation and ended up working by the hour for a couple of other contractors for awhile until I made some contacts . It actually took a couple of trys before I had enough work on my own to make it . The only advertising I had was business cards and a newspaper add for awhile . The ad in the paper was a waste of money and time for me . The only responses I got were tire kickers and one very strange guy whose house was completely full of garage sale junk ,just little trails to get around thru it . This was the late eightys and the town [and state ] I was in was completely dead . It may be easier in todays market . Chuck

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 16, 1999 05:10am | #6

   *Richard......Gabe and Chuck have all the good advice. Business cards are a must. Shows that you can be contacted. Forget the newspaper. Everybody wants an estimate, but they're not buying. You'll spend all your time giving estimates for people who are just curious. Find a good lumber yard in your area and get to know the people there. In the mean time, find out who are the good contractors where you are ( Where are you? ). The lumber yard can steer you away from the riff-raff. Do a great job for your first customer, and your name will spread like fire on the Texas plains. Word of mouth is the best resume.Good Luck......Ed. Williams

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 16, 1999 05:10am | #7

   *Print ads in newspapers never work; at best, they keep your name in front of the public. But, that kind of "saturation" through newspapers, especially the "service directory" is debatable. The same with display ads in the yellow pages, very ineffective. Line ads in the phone book yield more responses for the money. Business cards are good, but some have developed a method of generating more response by NOT handing them out, at least not too freely. Have you thought of an introductory letter mailed to all the area contractors? Why contractors? Because networking will yield big results. I'd say this is the single, best way for you to generate results.If you intend to be active in the residential--retail--market, you'll still need good relationships with the established guys. A direct mailer sent to a specific target group will yield, but it requires alot more money than the other methods. Besides, canvassing an area with unsolicited mailings like these is more of an irritation to the recipient than anything else, even if they are "hot" to buy.Of course, word-of-mouth is the very best form of advertisement, bar none. Just don't bid low to get work, you'll be starting off badly if you do. Be sure to compile a portfolio of your work if you have'nt done so already. Include lots of pictures as well as unsolicited thank you notes.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 16, 1999 06:56am | #8

   *Just to be contrary, I am finding a small ad in the newspaper "directory of services" to work pretty good for me. Yes, I give more estimates than I get jobs, but I am getting a whole lot more jobs than I was getting prior to the ad.Yes, business cards are a must.Rich Beckman

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 16, 1999 07:23am | #9

   *Richard take pictures and then take more pictures. Spend sometime at the 'puter and put together a brief handout showing your work. As the old saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words

5. 
   Elite_Flooring/ken_fisher | Jun 17, 1999 12:53am | #10

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   Pictures Work..especially during remodeling and afterwards. Be sure to get yourself in the pics though. I've seen too many that have beautiful pics of work but not themselves actually doing the work. Some of these guys can sell anything and usually they're gone within a year with a trail of dis satisfied customers.

   The other comments here are great. What's up with Dickey? I'm a newbie.

6. 
   Guest_ | Jun 17, 1999 02:37am | #11

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   Word of mouth advertising is great,but you can't count on it to yeild dependable returns.You will have many,many satisfied customers who won't tell a soul about what a great job you did.(contrast that with the dozens of people one DISATISFIED customer will talk to!)

   I used to pay 9 months out of the year for a newspaper ad.It kept me busy running around giving "free" estimates(free for the prospect,but very costly for me). Most jobs generated were low cost, nickel and dime jobs.

   Then I put some thought into what I wanted to accomplish,the kind of customers I wanted to attract,the kind of work I wanted to do,and of course the money I wanted to make balanced against lifestyle choices such as FREE TIME.

   I began to pay for a Yellow Pages AD,and dropped
   the newspaper AD.The cost of the smallest Yellow Pages Ad was more than twice the monthly cost of the newspaper ad and I had to make that payment 12 months of the year not 9 months.It has been money WELL spent for my business.

   I now give a lot less estimates(maybe 25-35%) of what I used to give but they are estimates on MUCH,MUCH,MUCH better jobs.I sponsor little league teams and this pays off, I put ads in most fundraising programs my kids school and church run.Anything to build name recognition honestly.

   In general I never begrudge money spent on advertising,because for me, the more I spend ,the better I do.I am in the retail end of this all, If I was trying to break in as a sub,I would use a different approach.

   In my trade we are all selling a similar product.We can kid ourselves and the customers into thinking that we "do it " better but in reality in this trade you can only be so good or creative.What I really have to market is ME.

   Good Luck,Stephen

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 17, 1999 02:51am | #12

   *Richard: Get your cell phone number on the business cards. You might as well have the thing surgically attached to your ear, if you're going to be a contractor in the new millenium. Everyone now expects everyone else to be immediately available and dislikes leaving messages with your machine, spouse, or secretary. Try to get easy to remember phone number(s). Like 22-BUILD, etc. 234-3400 numbers usually cost something extra but are easier to remember and make you look more established. Sometimes you can get cell and land lines with the same last 4 digits. Look into call forwarding and telephone company answering machines. $10-20 / month but you can respond faster, get by without an answering service, and save trips back home to check messages. Ken: "Dickey" showed up on this board with a stupid joke on a very thoughtful Memorial Day thread Lisa had started to commerate our relatives who have served. Got people riled up, which seems to be his only objective. Later postings of his don't contain any information either. Gabe's been flaming him. I've been jumping over his postings to the next one that actually has some content.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 17, 1999 07:07pm | #13

   *Richard, sorry this isn't really pertinent to your topic, but I wanted to make some observations.When I first saw this post, I started looking around for the low down on "dickey". I didn't catch the earlier stuff, but looked at the Memorial Day post. I'm young enough to never have seen the effects of war (other than history shows), but have family members that served in both Korea and Vietnam. I am grateful for what I have, and feel that those who have served from WWI through Vietnam deserve the tribute that Lisa started. This guy is a clown. He hides behind a bogus profile and email address in AOL. The guy has no stones. I have gotten some great information from this forum. Even if his posts do begin to show signs of content, I wouldn't even dignify him with a response - EVER! Dickey seems to really get some of you riled up. He may not go away, but he obviously has something to hide. The "no response" method will probably piss him off even more. I think that would be the ultimate revenge.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 18, 1999 02:17am | #14

   *RichardCouple of thoughts/ideas1. Business cards are a must. Keep it simple yet convey exactly what you speciality is (see attached word file to see mine). I put some of these in the local cafes, coffee/donut shops, etc. I've found out that if you get the paper type, they have a tendency to be used as scratch pads and then thrown away so I've gone to the plastic type.2. I went to a local shop that does screen printing and had some shirts made with company name & info on the back and my name on the front. Also have some "dress" shirts done with that you can wear when meeting clients, attending meetings, etc. (Need to decide if you want to have company colors (mine is green & gold. Also, get some ballcaps made up and give them out selectively (normally to others that come in contact with prospective clients (yardmen, etc. at local building supply house, etc. I wear my company shirt and hat almost all the time even when I'm not working and I constantly get people coming up to me and asking more about steel frame homes.3. Find out if the community that you live in or want to concentrate in has a local community type newpaper and put an add in it (sometimes the local high school or community center puts one out)4. Put your business name on your truck.5. Make up a folder/binder and put in it a copy of your business licenses, insurance papers (workers comp, liability, etc., membership (NAHB), references, etc., and have it with you whenever you visit prospective clients, suppliers, etc.One of the best purchases I've made is buying one of Fine Homebuilding books "THE BUILDER'S GUIDE TO RUNNING A SUCCESSFUL CONSTRUCTION COMPANY" by David Gerstel. I highly recommed it to anyone in the construction business.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 22, 1999 08:51am | #15

   *Richard,The local yellow book is pretty cheap and effective. Lots of tire kickers but it keeps your name easy to find. Also a little pro bono work helping out on a local project like building sets for a play, or the high school prom, building a playground or other local beautification project.It gets your name and hopefully a pic of your truck in the local paper and shows you to be a good nieghbor too. Which brings up truck signs and job signs no ones mentioned them yet. I like them to have the company name and phone number in big letters and not much else to clutter them up.Hopefully after a few months recommendations will start to carry you. I haven't actively advertized in years and my closing rate has tripled since I stopped. Word of mouth is your best advertizing.Good luck on the new venture.Richard Max

2. 
   Guest_ | Jun 22, 1999 08:52am | #17

   *Vince,Gerstels book gets my thumbs up too.Does he post here?RM

7. 
   Richard_Peters | Jun 22, 1999 08:52am | #16

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   I am a small-volume building contractor
   and just moved to a new community and have no business contacts yet. Any suggestions on what advertizing works or does not. My work is mostly remodeling and additions along with some woodworking.

   Thank You