Wheres the best place to advertise?

[sugarknight]

Ive recently gone self employed and just looking for some advice for the best places to advertise. Im currently signed up with Skillhouse directory and ive had 2 jobs from it this month, it cost me 35 pound to join for a month with no contract and choose my own working mile radius so im happy with my return and will be staying with them but is there any similar ones anyone could recommend that wont break the bank? Ones like skillhouse that are relatively new and aren't saturated, there would be more chance finding a needle in a haystack than finding me if i paid to be on the main ones and their prices are extortionate. I dont want to be paying any more than 30-60 per month, plus im not a fan of paying for leads even if it doesn't land the job, so im basically asking if theres anymore like the one im already on. thank you. 

Shaun.

 

[Rob.]

Print out some business cards an post through doors. 

Facebook seems to be quite possible.

Word of mouth is the best advertising. 

 

[Sharpend]

Two options, 1) make up some flyers A5 and walk the streets posting - cost paper and ink,

2) use the local brochure that is delivered once a month, on your street or the like, cost - depends upon choice of advert size. 

These keep you reasonably local and will build a customer base for word of mouth to be born! 

 

[Murdoch]

Going self employed takes a great leap of faith and sometimes deep pockets.

The very best advertising is word of mouth, so you need too be making a good impression when you meet clients, then when you do work for them. 

There's no silver bullet, and I would avoid certain UK wide companies who advertise your skills ...

The aim in the first year is to make a profit, then build from there and most importantly don't give your skills away cheaply. 

You don't say where you are in the UK but location matters a lot when it comes to pricing.

Hope this helps

 

[Evans Electric]

As said above ......   and as Murdo said  get your pricing right for the area you operate in  . (Can't charge London prices in Birmingham )  

I assume you are mostly domestic , the best thing ...in my opinion .... with that market is cover to your local area ....travel expenses are less.  

1)   Try to reach a point where you are not paying for contacts or working for an agency .

2)   Best advertising ??   As said above in a local pamphlet  ie;  Church , local councillor etc  but best is the side of your van ...locally people start to notice & remember. 

        And don't plaster it with information , people stop reading all that including your name .    

3)    Look for the local website that covers stuff like , anyone know a good electrician /plumber/builder/ decorator/ have you seen my cat . etc

4)   To sum up ;  

         Local pamphlets with local advertising .

         Business cards  printed  .(Vistaprint  ) 

        Name & number on van .

        Get your prices right and be honest . 

        A local builder can be a Godsend .     (Or a pain in the  arse )  

        Also  Landlords  / local plumber , /heating guys.  

        Build up your own customer base .   Don't buy work & line other's pockets . 

        Do a good job , work tidy , be pleasant .

        Replacing a broken light switch for Mrs Jones  often means you have now inherited the whole Jones family as potential customers.  

        If you're with a Part Pee scheme  they include you on the online  register so you show up as the nearest to whoever is searching by post  code.   

        Recommendation  is the the best but it takes time to build up . 

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Ive recently gone self employed and just looking for some advice for the best places to advertise. Im currently signed up with Skillhouse directory and ive had 2 jobs from it this month, it cost me 35 pound to join for a month with no contract and choose my own working mile radius so im happy with my return and will be staying with them but is there any similar ones anyone could recommend that wont break the bank? Ones like skillhouse that are relatively new and aren't saturated, there would be more chance finding a needle in a haystack than finding me if i paid to be on the main ones and their prices are extortionate. I dont want to be paying any more than 30-60 per month, plus im not a fan of paying for leads even if it doesn't land the job, so im basically asking if theres anymore like the one im already on. thank you. 

Shaun.

Mmmm????   call me an old sceptic... 

But when any new member starts posting about some product/service/website etc..etc..etc.. that hardly anyone has ever heard of, saying its great only costs £x.xx and I've had  £y.yy back from it...

It does make me wonder if they don't have some hidden agender????

Never hear of "Silkpants" or whatever its called... :shakehead

But the site (skillhouse.co.uk) has very little info about exactly who and what they are..

Personally I NEVER give any money to any business that I don't know of a physical address & contact details for.

There is a recent start-up Ltd company, of a very similar name, listed at companies house, 

Who offer Web-Portal and other information services???

But they were only incorporated in Jan this year, and the Director will only be 22 this November!?

You need to think about a random sample of Joe-public, how many people have heard of;

Facebook, Twitter, Trusted Trader, Nextdoor, Yell.com, Thompson Local, Skill-House, etc..  etc..

Personally I wouldn't waste money buying advertising on a platform that is low-down the pecking order of places people may search at.

99.999999999999%....

No hang on 100% of paper flyers that come through our door at home go straight in the Blue paper & cardboard re-cycling bag...

That is also what would probably happen to any paper you push through local houses,

Nowadays you have got to have internet presence..

But If you are going to spend money on a third party site, make sure it is one of the major sites that the majority of people use for searching for what you provide.

Any half decent company today will have a website, and domain names are not that expensive to buy...

So even if you haven't got a website yet....  think about what website name you would like....

Try and purchase it ASAP if its still available before anyone else owns your preferred name.

You can  sort out any actual website later at you leisure. 

(In some circumstances it can be useful to buy multiple name extensions as well to avoid confusion with similar sounding business names.

e.g.   "xyz.net"  -vs-  "xyx.com"  -vs-  "xyz.co.uk")

Exploit all of the free internet sites as much as you can to get your name out their you local target audience..

You can put a FREE business listings on Facebook, Nextdoor, Yell.com, Thompson Local, and have a Twitter account etc...

ANYTHING that is free is stupid not to register your name onto!

BUT...  the bottom line is; personal reputation, experience, customer satisfaction & recommendations will ALWAYS beat ALL of the about advertising methods hands-down!!!

So get out their, keep grafting and build up a reputation for reliability, punctuality, and tiding up afterwards!

Guinness

 

[Evans Electric]

Typo  warning in my post .

My line (1)  should read  .....Try to reach a point where you are NOT paying for contacts  or agencies. 

 

[Doc Hudson]

Typo  warning in my post .

My line (1)  should read  .....Try to reach a point where you are NOT paying for contacts  or agencies. 

Just edited your earlier post for you.

Doc H.

 

[Evans Electric]

Thanks Doc  ....wish I could do that ! 

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Mmmmm  again...

Still More of an old sceptic....

New member joins yesterday asking about some new internet directory no-one has heard of, under the disguise of an enquiry about advertising....

But still hasn't logged back on since yesterday to see if anyone has replied to their enquiry...??

Mildly curious to say the least???    

:C

Does anyone else smell a tin of spam being opened??

:|             :Spam

Ones like skillhouse that are relatively new and aren't saturated, 

Surely are also less likely to be found on internet searches ?

Anyone doing advertising needs to maximise the chance that potential customers may be using their preferred advertising location.

 

[Evans Electric]

Hmmmm  food for thought  , got me thinking now .

Just Googled  "Skillhouse "     its a Tokio based staff agency .  One of those outfits I deplore , trendy wendy offices  & suits & ties .

About 5 light years away from  double setting  6 inch trunking  or crawling round a loft filled with 3 ft of fibreglass insulation . 

I'd go with Steps , I 'm turning septic too ,    Nice bit of free advertising  .