advertising/marketing

[Jtsd02]

ok guys,help me out here.

i been tiling since i left school for about 17 years now.started own company/business 4 years ago.all my work to date has been no advertising,just word of mouth.But since start of year its been a bit quiet.guessing its due to credit crunch.so ill probably have to advertise to keep me ticking over just now.whats the best way of getting noticed with advertising/marketing??. what is the best way to advertise.?

i only did yellow pages for one year and didnt get much from it.tho it wasnt a big ad to be honest.so dont really want to waste that money again

thanks

john

 

[White Room]

You must have made loads of contacts over the years for work, I get some good work off plumbers/heating engineers. Maybe worth calling some old contacts and see what happens

 

[Jtsd02]

another thing,

whats the best way of doing a portfolio of pics of your work?storing them on small laptop for folk to view? or something professional in a book format or something ?

just reading back some of my last posts,i sound like a beginner never mind someone of 17 years experience!!

still room for learning i s'pose!

 

[Jtsd02]

yeah i have whitebeam,still on the quiet side tho

 

[White Room]

To be honest I have'nt a portfolio and thru contacts has kept me in work

 

[MICK the Tiler]

I still think over the long haul, simply doing high quality work is the best type of advertising, but with a slowdown you may find yourself visiting more tile shops in your area. Buisness cards would be the cheapest easiest option to go for. Or you could join the Tile Business Network for Tilers Tiling and Tiles - Tile Business Network for Tiling Training and Tile Related Businesses and show off some of your works here. With 17 experience I'm sure you should be well placed contact wise to see you through the harder times to come.

All the best

 

[mikethetile]

steer clear of yellow pages

im facing the same as you, i dont advertise as enough work comes in on reccomendation, repeat work etc

begining of the year is always slack but theres always something in the pipeline

this year was a bit of a shock but work is coming in now

so im thinking same as you..........how do i market my business

the answer ive come up with is ..........the internet

if people want a tiler they type in tiler and their location into a search engine, im still researching this but i will be setting up a website showcasing my work and then advertise the website through leaflet drops , sign writing on van , a board outside each job etc

anything that gets my name noticed to get people looking at my work and reading testamonials from my clients

i think advertisng is expensive and ineffectual........the internet is the the future in marketing

mike

 

[david campbell]

if things are getting a bit slow i tend to drop an advert in the local paper for a few days,usually gets you a bit of work to tide you over till other stuff comes along! also as others have said make a few calls to plumbers/joiners you have worked with over the years!

 

[Jtsd02]

thanks for that guys.i wasnt sure if the internet would work so well yet.ill maybe look into cost for a website and consider it.i get work from a kitchen fitter who has website and he says he doesnt get much from it even though its quite an impressive site.s'pose it has pros and cons like everything else

 

[faithhealer]

Have you any post offices with a bit of advertising space, for a quid a week I get regular income from them