No call outs for 14 days now :(

Agreed. Raise your price to a minimum of $40 per hour US or higher. Learn how to market yourself. Virtually everything in life requires it. Better to learn it now and profit from it.
 
hawks5999 said:
If this doesn't explain immediately why you should raise your rates, then nothing will. Somebody mentioned the appearance of cutting corners on web design if the price is too cheap. Friend, you ARE cutting corners with this leaflet. This is a perfect example of why you would need to charge more, so you can spend more on advertising that looks professional to get you more clients to make more... that's how it works.

I'm going to climb back on the soapbox that I haven't been on for awhile: Your best marketing will be referrals, not flyers or circulars. People ignor the flyers and throw the circulars away, but when they have a problem they ask a friend or someone they know. If you want to take your business up to the next level, you've got to start getting into networking opportunities or business network groups. You need to expand your social and business-social network to the point that you are getting endless referrals coming to you. A few well-placed relationships will generate more business for you than 10,000 flyers. So start getting involved in formal networking (your chamber of commerce or BNI equivalent) and informal networking (community based events).

I'd redirect the money you are spending on flyers towards good quality business cards. spend the extra, get the glossy, the rounded corners, a distinctive design and logo. then hand them out. the personal interaction involved with handing off a card is so much better than a random flyer stuck up at the bus stop or handed out on the corner.

And one last thing, my one and only experience with vista print was a disaster... consider overnightprints.com
Click to expand...

I have had previous customers call me out again and again and have even had some referrels from those people who have passed on my business cards to others, I have a very good quality business card. You mentioned networking with other businesses but I dont quite understand what you mean, are you saying to go to them and give them info about myself e.t.c ?

I'm even more confused weather to bother with the leaflets again as i was going to deliever 1000 today in the hope it might be good marketing, My business is close to dead and so far i'm getting mixed messages on what to exactly do :confused: one person says do leafelts and another is saying dont do them there a waste of time.

I guess in america you do advertising differently so thats probably where the confusion is, I've never tried this business networking so i dont know how to go about doing it, I dont really want to target businesses but domestic customers but hey at this point i'll do anything. :rolleyes:
 
How long you been going?

I recall a time 2 years into the business where I didnt get 1 call in 8 weeks! Longest time ever without a call. Not even a missed call. I even rang my own mobile to check the phone was still working!

Back then I was running a weekly ad in the local paper. Ive not had such a dry period since but Ive gone a week or 2 on occasion w/o any calls. 6 years in Im busy almost all the time now (6 jobs currently on the go) but theres nothing to say I wont experience another dry patch..

Oh, and dont write off flyers. I had several thousand dropped locally about 4 years ago over a 12 month period and I still get new business from them now. Some of the jobs are worth several hundred dollars (would have paid for about 4000 flyers or more), and repeat business. They have truly paid for themselves a hundred times over and are the best value for $$. Working F/T elsewhere and running a yellow pages ad now Im often on the limit of how much work I can handle otherwise I'd definitely get some more flyers dropped.
 
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Andy,

Customers dont care about your business, even your best ones.

Your leaflets need to 'feel' like news or information that is relevent to them or is going to help sort a problem. People care about news, they don't care about your business.

Something a customer will keep is maybe a checklist of things to check if their PC stops working,

1. Check power cable
2. turn on power
3. check monitor cable
4. call andy

etc, etc, etc,

I'm going to try this on my next leaflet drop, and I'm pretty sure it's going to work better.

The birddog
 
Congrats on the call!

Now take that money and reinvest it into whatever marketing you think will work best for you. Try and try again! I've tried many things and only a few have worked but I haven't given up. I don't think I've had a week without a call in over a year.
 
How long you been going?

I recall a time 2 years into the business where I didnt get 1 call in 8 weeks! Longest time ever without a call. Not even a missed call. I even rang my own mobile to check the phone was still working!

Back then I was running a weekly ad in the local paper. Ive not had such a dry period since but Ive gone a week or 2 on occasion w/o any calls. 6 years in Im busy almost all the time now (6 jobs currently on the go) but theres nothing to say I wont experience another dry patch..

Oh, and dont write off flyers. I had several thousand dropped locally about 4 years ago over a 12 month period and I still get new business from them now. Some of the jobs are worth several hundred dollars (would have paid for about 4000 flyers or more), and repeat business. They have truly paid for themselves a hundred times over and are the best value for $$. Working F/T elsewhere and running a yellow pages ad now Im often on the limit of how much work I can handle otherwise I'd definitely get some more flyers dropped.
Click to expand...

Hi, I've been going just under a year i started last september with all the preperation such as advert design and buying equipment, i guess it will just take time for me to get up to a level that its going to be frequent work. I do plan to deliever some leaflets starting this weekend and again next week as i need to get a ton more printed.

I'm still not sure if to get a new leaflet done or not as i think it looks a bit tacky and not very well made, although the wording is fine as my dad came up with that he has been in business for over 30 years.....good old dad :p

Andy,

Customers dont care about your business, even your best ones.

Your leaflets need to 'feel' like news or information that is relevent to them or is going to help sort a problem. People care about news, they don't care about your business.

Something a customer will keep is maybe a checklist of things to check if their PC stops working,

1. Check power cable
2. turn on power
3. check monitor cable
4. call andy

etc, etc, etc,

I'm going to try this on my next leaflet drop, and I'm pretty sure it's going to work better.

The birddog
Click to expand...

your right about customers not caring about your business, Your leaflet idea sounds interesting let us know what response you get, maybe the rest of us could take an approach like that :)
 
$27.85 an hour is way to cheap. Double it asap. What will you do when you move out of your parents house? Your overhead will change and than if you change prices at that time it will be a real shock to your exsisting customers.
 
Andy,

it seems to be generally accepted by all that flyers get a 1% return rate.
If you aren't getting that return rate, it means your flyer isn't working.
Have you gotten a competition on digital point going? they do good work for fifty bucks.

A home made flyer will fall flat on it's a$$ and be a complete waste of time,
I'm convinced a flyer has to look professional.

Best regards,
MrMille
 
MrMille said:
Andy,

it seems to be generally accepted by all that flyers get a 1% return rate.
If you aren't getting that return rate, it means your flyer isn't working.
Have you gotten a competition on digital point going? they do good work for fifty bucks.

A home made flyer will fall flat on it's a$$ and be a complete waste of time,
I'm convinced a flyer has to look professional.

Best regards,
MrMille
Click to expand...

yeah your right I need to get a new one done but printing costs are going go to be huge, i had a look on vistaprint and there prices for leaflets are

Qty Price Colour Back Side
25 £18.99 £21.98
50 £27.99 £33.98
100 £50.99 £56.98
250 £79.99 £88.98
500 £169.99 £178.98
Show more quantities
1000 £184.99 £193.98
1500 £214.99 £227.98
2000 £234.99 £247.98
2500 £254.99 £267.98
5000 £324.99 £349.98
10000 £599.99 £649.98
 
I got 5000 A5 double sided colour leaflets printed for under £100. I think that was with a company called Solopress.

What size leaflet is used in the prices you quoted?
 
Vistaprint's prices are crazy. Try print24...

http://www.print24.co.uk/

5000 A5 115g Glossy, full colour, double-sided, £80.89 inc VAT & Delivery

These guys have a web presence in every country in EU. All printing is done in Germany. I use them for everything, flyers, business cards, letterheads etc. etc. never ever any problems
 
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MrMille said:
A home made flyer will fall flat on it's a$$ and be a complete waste of time, I'm convinced a flyer has to look professional.
Click to expand...

I'd have to disagree here. It's the message that's important. How it's delivered is also important but the flashiest leaflet you can get designed will deliver precisely nothing if it doesn't set bells ringing for the prospect whereas a leaflet with bad design but a good message will always get some response.

Do some serious reading on copywriting. There's lots of free advice available on the net. It is NOT about shiny paper, nice corporate pictures etc. It's more about identifying a pain point, making the customer notice it, telling them you can make the pain go away, anytime, but if they call NOW you have this special offer with 20% off AND a 100% no quibble moneyback guarantee.

If you print that on a laser printer on coloured paper (say yellow) in black you will get a higher response than a shiny 6 page bound corporate brochure about how wonderful you are.

A brief list of points

What are the qualities of good advertising copy?
There are a number of basics to keep in mind and here a few:

1. Get attention - You can do this with a good headline. Ask a provocative question or announce news about your company or product.

2. Set yourself apart from the competition - What makes your product unique?

3. Talk to your customer - Avoid focusing on yourself. You are irrelevant. Tell your customer how she will benefit from using your product. Use the word "you" and you can be certain you are speaking directly to your customer.

4. Prove it! - If space permits, add testimonials, sales statistics and anything else that proves your claims.

5. Create a sense of urgency - If people don't sense urgency, they aren't likely to click on your link. Limited time offers are perfect. Ads focusing on holidays work well. Make sure your potential customers feel the need act now.

6. Reach your target audience - If your product is for a certain group of people, target your ad specifically to that group. You don't have to appeal to everyone if they aren't going to be interested in making a purchase.

Also consider these tips:

1. Offer something free: People don't usually surf the Internet ready to buy. Lure them to your site with something free when possible.

2. That said, FREE is a very powerful word. Other powerful words include:

Sale, Quick, Easy, Last Chance, Guarantee, Results, Proven, Bargain, Today, Secret

3. Branding - use your brand name to create familiarity with your product.
 
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Hey Everybody, the wording of my leaflets is fine but it does need to look professional if its to make an impact, i believe that first impressions count. if you look back earlier in my post you will find that i posted my current advert

A while ago Simon posted his leaflet on here and i gotta say it put mine to shame so i think i need to get a new one done as soon as possible.
 
Pc Fixed Right said:
$27.85 an hour is way to cheap. Double it asap.
Click to expand...

The problem with advertising an hourly rate too low is it can actually scare people off. The psychology can be that if your that cheap you cant be that good! It really is a case of drawing a happy medium. Compare your rates with the local computer repair shop. Give them a call and ask 'how much for a format'? That will give you a pretty good idea as to what you should be charging.
 
seedubya said:
Andy,

The wording of your booklet ad is fine. It's not wonderful, but it's fine. The workding of that A4 b&w leaflet you posted is not fine. Read the post above and see if it meets the criteria. Then check those critera with any copywriting service on the net.

Here's some examples of reasonable flyers
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3573242/Kris-flyer-computer-repair
http://www.carlsonproductions.net/computerflyer.htm
http://www.ct-nh.com/Flyer1.html
http://www.bulletproofyourpc.ca/index.html
Click to expand...

Those flyers are great! :D btw what's wrong with the wording on my flyer then exactly ? and what would you change about it ? I didnt know a copywriter comes up with slogans for adverts.
 
Andy,
Look at the wording of your flyer in the light of the guidelines I posted two posts earlier. Or better still look at one of the other flyers and see where the flyers match the points in the earlier post. It's not something that I can explain any better than those copywriting guidelines do. Have a look at http://www.mightier-than.com/ for some really brilliant articles about copywriting. Copywriting rules apply to every piece of promotional writing you'll ever do. Well worth studying.
 
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