Advertising

[nyerinfl]

I'm going to be doing some advertising for my company in the near future, basically I'm trying to find out what has worked for other people. The market I'm trying to appeal to is mainly commercial, tenant rebuilds, and that type of thing. Any feedback on what has worked for you, how much traffic it generated, how many calls you recieved from the ad would be helpful, since a lot of these places can cost a good amount of money, and it would be nice to actually make money off my advertisements, thanks.

 

[dezwitinc]

The best answer is that you should expect to spend money at first with little or no return.
The key to successful advertising is to keep it up once you start it to build a name recognition.
One shot ads are a waste of money.
Our most productive residential advertising has been with those coupons that arrive every couple of weeks.
That being said, it was not until the fourth go around that we started to see a steady stream of calls from them.
We spent alot of money on one shot glitzy ads that didn't even come close to paying for themselves.
On the commercial side, I don't know if advertising is going to gain you much because commercial work is based (in my opinion) on personal relationships and trust.
Most GCs have their fair haired boys and an ad will probably be ignored.
I have found that you need to get out and introduce yourself to the estimators and owners, bid a few projects, and then prove yourself once you get awarded one.
This is the best way to break into the commercial marketplace along with networking at your Chamber, ABC meetings, and other trade associations.
You might want to talk to your local Blue Book rep.
We advertise there and use their lead system which has gotten me in touch with several GCs that are now throwing us some work.
They provide you with project leads on a daily basis for you to follow up on. It has worked out quite well for us.

 

[480sparky]

Here's a simple, easy, and extremely low-cost idea:

Every time you go to the hardware store or home center, look around the parking lot for trucks & vans with other trades names & phone numbers plastered on them. You know.... "Dave's Home Repair", "Fred's Home Improvements", "Fly-By-Night Builders"....

Stick a business card in the driver's window.

I've picked up 3 small builders/remodelers this year doing this.

 

[Rewire]

All public works projects are advertised in the paper in public notice section they will list a contact person that will give you a GC list you then contact them to get on their bidders list.