How do YOU advertise

[Chris's Signs]

was thinking about how i market my business, asking all customers where they found me....
interesting figures....

word of mouth has one hands down
vehicle 2nd
facebook and website 3rd

this year i plan on doing door to door cold calling....see how that goes

got me thinking where do you guys or how do you guys get your name out their?

[gossipism]

word of mouth pretty much.

though by the first half ill be networking quite a bit.

not so much advertising per se, but focusing more on getting the message out face to face.

[Matt Rankin]

I don't advertise, or at least I don't pay to advertise. I rely on word of mouth and also search engine traffic. I have a heap of free directory listings as well, but hate their annual calls asking me to pay for a 'premium listing'.

But then again, my target audience are Internet users, so it may be different depending on your business.

[David@Verve Recruitment]

We do the dreaded T word, telemarketing.

But we do so very simply and then forward an email outlining our service once we've been granted permission to do so. Our service sells itself so we just need to make people aware of it. Most people we speak with appreciate our service so it's largely just a matter of getting through to them, or (legally) getting some information their way.

We get a lot of referals, although I think this could be significantly increased with a more structured referal strategy, on the list for 2012.

We have experimented with Print advertising in specialist magazines but have had very weak responses. Even the sales people have told us not to expect direct results from print advertising unless you advertise on an ongoing basis, which for us is unlikely to make financial sense. So we've abandoned that media for now.

We've looked at online advertising but haven't found the right forum at the right price as yet.

We're interested in developing a social media presence, on the list for 2012, but we need some advice without being charged the earth, so I think we may have to dive into Facebook / G+ ourselves.

We've thought momentarily about billboard advertising, but we've not had calls returned so we don't know about pricing and expect it to be out of our reach, given that we'd require return on investment.

We've thought about attending some events / conferences, but we're not really the networking types and haven't as yet found the ideal event for us.

We don't do door knocking as we find telemarketing so much more efficient.

[Chris's Signs]

telemarketing would take some tough skin...lol dont think i have the patients to do that...would love to have the funds to outsource it...

ive had 1000 flyers made up, used up half so far..with ok results.

im wondering if a business name can have an effect on incoming business?

[AgentMail]

Door to door is great. If you have customers, pop in and see them, say g'day and then visit the businesses either side of them 'sandwich calls' - then you can use that is your intro - 'I was just in speaking to so and so, as they're a customer of ours and thought I would pop in and see what you do for your blah blah blah' - Gives you much stronger credibility.

Telemarketing is more efficient, but it is a lot easier to say 'not interested' to a voice on the phone, rather than to someone standing in front of you. Plus you get to make a longer lasting impression if they see you.

I will be doing both this year though, as my potential clients are geographically spread across Australia. Direct mail piece, followed by phone call. Then if located nearby a face to face meet.

[tonyk]

Originally Posted by Matt Rankin

I don't advertise, or at least I don't pay to advertise. I rely on word of mouth and also search engine traffic. I have a heap of free directory listings as well, but hate their annual calls asking me to pay for a 'premium listing'.

But then again, my target audience are Internet users, so it may be different depending on your business.

free directory listings have never yielded any results for me. i guess that's why they're free

[Khalid Adam]

regardless of your marketing medium, you need to have a clear message for interrupting other people's lives.

one thing that has worked really well is giving out free information that is valuable. maybe a guide on the 5 things to ask a sign maker.

If you approach it with the intention of helping the market with choosing the right provider and less about selling, you will get more clients. you can then ask people for their email or fax and send them more information until they are ready to buy.

If word of mouth is big enough, consider implementing a formal referral system so you dont have to wait and hope for a referral. You will be able to look forward to X number of referrals per day, week, etc.

the more you systemise your sales and marketing, the more time you will have to invest in doing the actual work and bettering your best.

[jentre]

Marketing/advertising is probably my biggest issue - trying to work out what will work, whats worth paying for and what to stay away from is making me a little crazy.

As photographers the competition is immense - you just have to look at the yellow pages to see how many there are, and thats without considering the big well known names like Pixie Fotos.

So far we have our website and facebook page; we have a paid for listing on two wedding planning web sites (one has generated quite a few enquiries), as well as a few non-paid ads on other sites; flyers at a couple of local community centres and the kid's kinders; we've done a couple of expos as well as a display one weekend at the local shopping centre. And of course word of mouth amongst friends. It all seems to generate a lot of enquiries but getting those as firm bookings is the hard part! Any advise on that would be appreciated.

[tonyk]

Originally Posted by jentre

Marketing/advertising is probably my biggest issue - trying to work out what will work, whats worth paying for and what to stay away from is making me a little crazy.

As photographers the competition is immense - you just have to look at the yellow pages to see how many there are, and thats without considering the big well known names like Pixie Fotos.

So far we have our website and facebook page; we have a paid for listing on two wedding planning web sites (one has generated quite a few enquiries), as well as a few non-paid ads on other sites; flyers at a couple of local community centres and the kid's kinders; we've done a couple of expos as well as a display one weekend at the local shopping centre. And of course word of mouth amongst friends. It all seems to generate a lot of enquiries but getting those as firm bookings is the hard part! Any advise on that would be appreciated.

i would steer clear of advertising in the yellow pages.