Advertising

[hmtiling]

Nothing replaces recommendations by clients, past or present, it will always be the best form of advertising.
It's only restricted by the number of people your clients come into contact with and to some extent their standing within your local community.
Hence the term, 'not what u know, it's who u know'.

You are in a unique position tho Harry because, as u say, there's a limited workforce on the island.
So they're lumbered with who they've got on the island! Hahaha 😛😛😛
(Obviously only to some extent, cos labour can be brought in)

Trouble is in larger populated areas, if u haven't been lucky enough over the years to meet those 'useful contacts' you probably will still have to advertise.
Right place, right time syndrome.

I don't have a website perse, but I have elaborate photo album that only potential clients can access, but that's only if I supply a link.

.....and the last time I actually advertised was 1987!

I've only been in the island 10 years. before that I worked for a tiling firm in the north west so only ever had to look for work the first 2 years of being here before they'd trust a northerner to do their work!
I'm still in touch with a few guys up there but the prices they're getting are incomparable to what I get here.
It's definitely who you know wherever you are as long as you know what you're doing.

 

[MTiler]

I have heard of tradesmen being forced by customers to do extra work for free or they wont give them a good review on those trading sites.

 

[macten]

Until very recently I've never advertised - recommends from Tile shops and traders I've worked with has been enough to keep me in enough work to pay my bills and go on holiday but it was always feast or famine and there would be periods where I had nothing on.
I can't recommend social media enough - in our village a local mum set up a mums group for the community running alongside a freecycling site. My other half set up a selling site that runs alongside them and they just grew. What was noticed is that a lot of the posts were for recommendations for good local tradesmen. Not missing a trick this local women then set up a website linked to the FB group advertising local businesses and reviews from customers. Each business pays an annual fee (Gold, silver and bronze packages) and she has now been able to quit her job and live very well off the revenue this generates. I post my jobs on my FB tiling page and this automatically gets shared with the community's social page and my posts get 1500 + views - all local people! I am now in a position where I always have work and what's better it's all local. If a job is more than 15 mins away I say I'm too busy unless it's a job I really want.

 

[Italy]

Until very recently I've never advertised - recommends from Tile shops and traders I've worked with has been enough to keep me in enough work to pay my bills and go on holiday but it was always feast or famine and there would be periods where I had nothing on.
I can't recommend social media enough - in our village a local mum set up a mums group for the community running alongside a freecycling site. My other half set up a selling site that runs alongside them and they just grew. What was noticed is that a lot of the posts were for recommendations for good local tradesmen. Not missing a trick this local women then set up a website linked to the FB group advertising local businesses and reviews from customers. Each business pays an annual fee (Gold, silver and bronze packages) and she has now been able to quit her job and live very well off the revenue this generates. I post my jobs on my FB tiling page and this automatically gets shared with the community's social page and my posts get 1500 + views - all local people! I am now in a position where I always have work and what's better it's all local. If a job is more than 15 mins away I say I'm too busy unless it's a job I really want.

you're a legend, I have not understood everything, but enough 🙂
I have put like your facebook page is 1501 views !!! ahahah

 

[Andy Allen]

I have heard of tradesmen being forced by customers to do extra work for free or they wont give them a good review on those trading sites.

That's bad !!! Should be a law against that kind do of thing.