#1 best advertising - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

Grumpy · 02-07-2005, 08:32 PM

Ok guys list your #1 source of new leads... word of mouth doesn't count in this thread!

For me: Online lead services!

Glasshousebltr · 02-07-2005, 08:33 PM

I havn't picked up much online, however I've used it a lot to comunicate with potentials.

Bob

**Nathan** · 02-07-2005, 10:00 PM

A little local newpaper around here. I get 60% of my leads from that one ad!

**ProWallGuy** · 02-07-2005, 11:41 PM

Don't laugh, and I've said this before, but:

The local Jewish newsletter
The local gay/lesbian newsletter

:Thumbs:

*Gays are twice as likely as the general population to have a household income between $60,000 and $250,000. source: Simmons Research

*In the end, a loyal customer
regardless of sexual orientation or other
niche classification – is a loyal customer, period.
Robert DiGiacomo, Office.com

*79.3% of lesbians and gay men buy
based on advertising found in gay media and
publications. Chicago based research firm, Overlooked Opinions

*Lesbians and gay men in St. Louis, like gays in the rest of the
United States, tend to “search out” companies
that are lesbian or gay owned or gay friendly.

*Like other lesbians and gay men across the county,
St. Louis lesbians and gay men have a higher
than average income, are trend setters, have more
disposable income and are well educated.

Trust me, it works.

Grumpy · 02-07-2005, 11:54 PM

Hey Pro, this isn't really a personal question.. but are you jweish and/or gay? I ask only because I have been considering joining the gay/lesbian chamber of commerce and I am no where near gay.

PipeGuy · 02-07-2005, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grumpy

I am no where near gay.

Yeah, but have you been thinking about it more lately? (Not that there's anything wrong with that.

)

**ProWallGuy** · 02-07-2005, 11:59 PM

I'm neither. Just look everybody in the eye, and show respect, and its a cakewalk.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I'm not to sure about joining a assoc., but doing business is not a problem.

And the ad rates are fairly low, ain't much competition out there for these newsletters. Its surely an untapped resource.

02-08-2005, 03:13 AM

...

DecksEtc · 02-08-2005, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdac

some of them were hot.

Chris, how did I know that you would be the first one to make this comment? LOL

The points made in this tread about gays are very valid. Short story: I was building a deck for a couple of women last year. They had no kids, lived together, very friendly towards each other and were very specific about what they wanted done, etc. I thought they were gay but it turned out they were sisters - thank the lord I didn't make an assumption "out loud"! LOL

Like a couple of you said, gay couples generally have a much larger disposable income and they are generally very good about knowing what they want, etc. I pity anyone who would be stupid enough to turn away a customer because of their sexual orientation.

**ProWallGuy** · 02-08-2005, 08:53 AM

My personal thoughts on the alternative lifestyle:

DecksEtc · 02-08-2005, 09:03 AM

LMFAO!

donb1959 · 02-08-2005, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Ok guys list your #1 source of new leads... word of mouth doesn't count in this thread!

Newspaper ad. I want very much to try the online lead services, but I'm not sure how effective they would be in my region NC. Plus the fact that I'm a little confused as to exactly how they work, not to mention that there seems to be a gazillion of them out there.

DecksEtc · 02-08-2005, 11:20 AM

Advertising, what advertising? I just stop people on the street and say "Hey you, wanna deck? I build you a really good deck. Call me!" That or I follow them home...

Another thing I am thinking about for this spring is to buy one of those old Ronco microphones. You know, the ones that work with your vehicle's radio. Then I was going to drive around with the windows down and yell out my company name and phone number - what do you guys think?

Don't knock it, it's a cheap way to get your name out there to potential customers...

magnum · 02-08-2005, 04:33 PM

Online with service magic sends me 4 to 8 lead a day. About 25% I would consider sellable. I like the gay and lesbo idea. Have done lots of jobs for that community but never considerd ads targeting them. I just talk to a new hot tub and pool retailer today and lined up deck referrals. I was the first in the door hope it pans out. But the best thing its FREE referrals.

Grumpy · 02-08-2005, 08:24 PM

Magnum where are you located?

magnum · 02-08-2005, 09:04 PM

30 ml. north of baltimore.

Grumpy · 02-08-2005, 09:26 PM

Usually I get equal ammounts of service magic leads but they have all but stopped this month. I am getting a huge ammount from Improve net, but the quality has dropped incredibly. It appears improvenet is doing some type of "Win a free coffee maker Sweepstakes" and tricking people to sign up, then selling them to us as leads. It's all good as long as you request your lead credit within the first 4 days.

magnum · 02-08-2005, 09:43 PM

I havn't seen much change in the last couple months. Service Magic is trying to get me to turn over to their new exact match with a spending limit. I dont like the idea of them sending me leads I can't review, I cover 4 counties but don't cover the entire area so they may send me leads out of my service circle.

Grumpy · 02-08-2005, 10:05 PM

It's two seperate systems, with two sets of leads.

It's not a switch, but rather an Add on. I am giving it a try, since I can cancel anytime, I will cancel if I don't like the quality of the leads.

Diamondscapes · 02-10-2005, 09:44 AM

My Company has also been using Service Magic , we dont get as many leads as Magnum but we do get about 4 per week. As to date we have closed 90% of the leads we have obtained from Service Magic. I think it is a great service.Out of the 38 leads we have closed 34. Much better closing ratio than we ever had from the newspaper,local gazette,yellow pages,word of mouth,yard signs,door hangers,direct mail and cable tv.just my 2 cents.