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Sending out mailers? What have your results been?

4K views 32 replies 17 participants last post by  NextCoatings 
#1 ·
I am considering sending out some mailer cards thru SW Painters Advantage. What kind of results have you guys had? I picked out a couple zip codes in my area of homes $500K and up. Maybe a 1% return as far as phone calls?
 
#10 ·
Thanks Ken. Since my budget is so small right now I can only send approx 1500 cards through Vista Print for around $800 and with it still being winter perhaps Im better off buying some Google ads and also passing out a few fliers myself.
 
#11 ·
If your on a tight budget, and have free time (you said you have no work) I would suggest have some colored half page fliers printed up, and you drive around and put them in newspaper boxes, you should be able to do 200 a hour. A lot cheaper the direct mail, and you can really target the hoods your wanting to work in. Just a thought.

And if you have worked in those areas before put something like references from your neighborhood available, this really helps
 
#13 ·
This is my recomendation too. Hit the ground with some nice flyers or brocures that target your audience, have a strong sence of urgency, and

Develop your relationship marketing first, then when you have more incoming jobs cause of this, you can focus on where to advertise effectively. I say when you can hire a company to create a highly searchable/findable web site for your business. Also, do direct mailers using your own materials. Vista print is a great start, but isn't top-of-the-line printing or paper. Still beats what most painters ever use and has helped us out a lot.

Here is a script I used in the past for knocking on doors.

Knock, Knock...

Good (morning, afternoon) (sir/mam), Sorry to bother you right now. I am simply here in your neiborhood offering free estimates on interior and exterior painting. Have you thought about painting your home this year?

Then be ready to answer their questions about why they may or may not need to get their home painted.

if yes, then take down their contact info name and address, leave them a business card and flyer, and let them know you will be contacting them within 48 hrs. to schedule an estimate.

Do this and only count the Yes's not the No's. Knowing if you get into a good neighborhood and get one house and do a good job. You can hang flyers in this area again when you paint and turn some of those no's into yes's.

The only challenge at first with this is locating your target audience. Here is the basics of people who hire painters.
  • The home is in need of a paint job but not desprately (in most cases).
  • The cars are nicelly maintained but not brand new. They are of an age that somonge would own in their 50's on up.
  • Smaller homes in older developed neiborhoods with maintained lawns by landscapers that are hired out.
  • These are just a few. Ad more as you gain experience.
 
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#14 ·
I have done just like Dave Mac. Sticking fliers in boxes. I go early in the morning, usually still dark, so I can drive down the wrong side of the street and just reach out the window. (while drinking coffee and smoking a cigar.)

It got me in a few doors and something is better than nothing.
 
#18 ·
For you guys that have them made, do you have any recommendations?

Not just for printing, but coming up with the whole concept, verbage, ect.
 
#19 ·
Ok, I am going to give my opinion on this matter. I tried my first advertising in '04 and consistently have advertised since '07. I have b!tched and moaned about business for several years - but looking back, looking at my advertising budget and how I got some jobs just at the right time to pay my bills, it's an absolute miracle I am still standing. I have the benefit of having a marketing plan going on my 5th year now - having a much greater understanding of what works, what doesn't work, when and where something works, that I can make approx. 50k based on a 5k advertising budget that doesn't include my internet presence nor all my guerrilla marketing efforts.

My opinion to most guys here asking about what works, what doesn't work - there isn't anyone thing that really works other than a marketing plan. And I will just say it plainly, if you are the type that doesn't really have much advertising out there and looking to get work, you're gonna need a minimum of 15k to spend on advertising to get some work through the door. And that's a bare minimum. In fact I'd say there was a 50% chance you could spend all that money stupidly enough and not even get enough work to pay for it back. For the most part, I think you're screwed. I was lucky enough to squeeze by with a shoe-string budget and getting the right job at the exact moment I needed it.

This recession has really toughened a lot of professional crews out there. 2010 over 1 million private sector jobs were created - and it's looking like 2011 will be double that. Unemployment is coming at a good clip - should be in the 8's by late spring. Despite higher mortgage foreclosures among the lowest quintile of homeowners - money will be flowing from the highest quintile of homeowners - and it's those guys with a marketing machine that will soak up every penny of that business.
 
#21 ·
"last year with flyers we had a .0014 responce rate with close to a 10roi"

Am I figuring this correctly.... that's 1.4 calls for 1,000 flyers...or 14 per 10,000?
(.0014 * 10,000 = 14)

-No wonder I've never bothered...
I believe the .0014 is not a percentage, like you said the latter 14 per ten thousand. That is a 0.14% response rate. Which is right on the money. It's such a little response rate - you had better be selling higher priced ticket items.
 
#23 ·
Couldn't agree more with Daniel about a "plan" and Jeff when he says, "your call to action".

Woodland, check out what I wrote about Marketing here. (3rd post)

There are some questions and exercises....I found it extremely beneficial to close my laptop monitor and reading and thinking and tangibly 'write' down some of things you find there. "Elevator Test" and "Finding Your Core".

Its a basic overview, but does encourage you to focus on your direction.

Also the Myth that Marketing is Advertising.

I've bought some stuff through zazzle.com with good results.

As for plunking mail in the mail boxes.....kids/paperboy are more than happy to run flyers for $20. :thumbsup:
 
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#26 ·
OK, so help me understand the ROI value = 10? What does that mean?

that means

900 a month for 12 months I spend a total $10,800

my gross sales because of the fliers are way over 10,800 x 10 = $108,000
So for every dollar I spend I get at least 10 dollars in return


make sense I'm not the best at explaining things
 
#29 ·
One thing about this low response rate, my flier is going in the newspaper box with about 10 other fliers, and thats part of the reason for the low response rate, I use other company's that cost more to hand out but they only put 4(max) fliers in at a time.

If your the only flier going in the news paper box and you have a good design I believe your response rate will be much higher.
 
#32 · (Edited)
I usually get at least 2 calls per 1000 fliers/mailers distributed . I used to get between 6 to 8 replies per 1000 before the economy tanked .



Here is my latest mailer , It's an over sized full color postcard ...

 
#33 ·
What about your community expos? Sure there are the large "Home Shows", but we have local community expos where local business set up in the gym and we have a huge turnout. I'm in a small town and nearly every small town around has something similar. It's more than just being there, you have to have a message that's effective as well. You can secure your booth space for a couple hundred dollars and walk away from the show with 30 - 50 leads (people who actually stoped and talked with you and requested a quote). Based on the numbers for mailing in this thread; there are better ways to connect with your market. I would be contacting every local town chamber to see if there are events like this on the calendar in their community. You can hit a half dozen shows between Feb and March.
 
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