Do you just hang them as you go about or do you spend a certain day of the week doing select neighborhoods?
Question 2, how do you keep track of where you have placed them?
Do you do it yourself or hire someone?
How soon is too soon to hang more in a neighborhood?
Thanks for the input.
Saturate the market. Don’t be rude or obnoxious, but at the same time, don’t let them forget about you. Canvas an area and check back often and just make sure you have more fliers on you. Always keep spares on you so you can dispense at a moments notice. Most businesses will let you hang a reasonable sized flier in the front window or on their “community bulletin board”. Always put your stuff directly in the public eye just do it as legally… or close to it.
heck, do them once a month [I]IF[/I] they are pulling. If I pass out a dud I go make a new one and pass it out, and if that plops, I go make another and pass it out.
When you get one that works pretty well… use the hell out of it.
I just goofed around with a weird flier I dorked up… 6% call back, and it does not expire until November 1st.
My last flier did 4% and the one before was at a massive 9%!
Find the right way to communicate and you can literally make 10s of thousands a year from them.
I love mailer/ flier statistics. I have always wanted to find a way to figure in how weather/ day of the week passed out/ and time of day passed out play into results…
Example did this flier only work really well because I did them on a nice sunny Saturday when both decision makers were home?
Those are awesome #s CFP … Why not stick with the one that pulled 9% ?
As most know on here, dont shove them into mailboxes! It is a 40 dollar fine per mailbox if the USPS wants to push it. You could also end up in a identity theft investigation. Mailboxes are private property.
Steve
CFP - could you share your flier that pulled 9% ?
I know its a lot to ask, but I think thats whats going to make this forum 10 times more valuable than the other one…
Lets all share and share alike!
To a point, obviously.
Yeah i wold love to see it
At 9% ROI, you could probably sell it to us and others. 
hey now…lets not start down that path…
I have a great ebook for you on how to protect yourself from unsavory business people. You can have it for only $17 ! [COLOR=“Blue”][B]Click here! [/B][/COLOR]
Just kidding.
What happened to the sharing spirit?
I am a flier obsessed person, no doubt. I get quite frustrated if I get below a 3% response. (which the one I have out now is doing)
I only pass out small quantities to keep them personal. I try to make the most impersonal form of advertising, kinda personal. It is tough. I got 9% in one area, personalized the same flier for a neighborhood a couple miles away and got 1%… only I passed out twice as many to the 1%. (bigger area)
That drives me nuts! So then I go and try to figure out what wording works for that area. I mean, this is not a different class of people, except there are more retired people in that 1%, and less younger families.
I get far, far more customers who are upper-middle class families than any other. I just know how to speak their language.
So my flier could easily tank in your respective areas… and I never share anymore. Not that anyway… [I]and[/I] I don’t believe in spirits
p.s. I will give a tiny piece of advice. I look at every window cleaners flyers/postcards and notice they all have something in common… no offer. What I do see is something that every painter, roofer, maid service, lawn care specialist, dog poop picker upper and babysitter uses- 10% off
Now if we think about the hundreds of fliers some of these people get per month… it’s staggering. All these fliers have a different joke with the same stale punch line.
My offers always seperate and entice. I create a frenzy for them to call before the due date (which is days away from when they read it). I use a lot of words, I used 158 on my last flier (the 9% was around 200)
I know, I know… people don’t read them. All I have to say to that is, how many read the short copy fliers? for those doing the basic business card flier of service descriptions with a salty 10% off special, is it pulling? Do you get 2%, 3%, 5%? Likely .5%
I have real world numbers and I keep a precise track of all of my ads.
The way I look at every ad of mine, it must have these three factors
[B]Does it attract?[/B] Does it get their attention (this starts at the headline)
[B]Does it entice?[/B] Are they getting more interested (all wording is building to my great offer)
[B]Then I take it away[/B]. I let them know they have x days to take me up on it or it is gone forever.
I am beyond leaving it at [B]Call Now![/B]
Figure out who you are talking to. Then figure out an irresistible offer. Then threaten them.
or don’t
Did I ever even answer these questions… lol
for question 1.- I do not do it on their trash day, as the trash can is usually by them (if they have a curbside pickup) I also love to do it after the newspaper gets there, right in the early morning(the daily paper, not one of those weekly freebies. I do not deliver on those days as most will scoop them out and toss the whole thing) Some have talked about the troubles with putting it in with the newspaper, I have never had a problem (almost 6 years), but if you do have problems, don’t do it!
easy, they say I got your flier today and you say where do you live. Heck, I will have 3 different fliers containing different offers, all out at once, but not in the same area.
I hand them out myself… oddly, there is a knack for it.
How soon do I redo the neighborhood again?.. as soon as I can. I do change the flier completely, which is tough to do for some people. I would say once a month to a good area.
I left my company name off of my last flier to see what would happen, no difference. Now I will do it all the time. I like to add more reasons to buy and less self indulged fluff. That damned logo took up waaaay too much space
Thats gold I never would have thought of that…
No doubt. I watch people grab my flier and read it as they walk back to the house. Now if the trash can is there…plop
I need every second I can get
CFP,
Good advice. I will tell you this about my fliers. I tell them that they can get X amount of windows done for X amount of $$. (Funny, the offer is more than my regular pricing per window) It has worked wonders. If you stop and think about window cleaning, dont most people think it is too expensive? I would. Doing windows sucks in a customers eyes. I have had people call me and say I can get X amount of windows For X amount of money? There has to be a catch? Right? No Ma’am. We charge extra for large picture windows and french windows but thats it. They usually tell me that they want to have the whole house done if its that inexpensive. I get alot of quotes and jobs marketing this way. I save my flier-ing for August.
Steve
Thx CFP.
You are sharing some stuff made of GOLD in your posts…I appreciate that. ANd I understand the sharing frustrations too.
Much thx
I really like this and have been toying with the idea of this kind of marketing for the Christmas holiday season.
Care to share the X number of windows for X number of $.
Another thing, do you specify X number of panes vrs number of windows. Many people I quote over the phone will just look at an opening in the wall and call it a window. Meanwhile there’s a picture pane on top with multiple sliders below. Or they they say they have a living room window but don’t specify that it’s a bay window with 3,4…6 panes etc. Or worse, storms.
some of you guys act like a picture window is a big deal. we’re talking about only a few seconds of time more to clean.
I do not charge more for them… unless they are broken into several windows.
I think you’re misunderstanding my post. The picture window is no biggy. It’s all the sliders that have to be pulled out, tracks cleaned etc. Still no big deal but you need to charge for it.
I’m concerned with wording and that’s all. I’ve spoken to many customers who don’t differentiate between window and window pane. They just look at an opening in the wall and say this is my window.
Example: I’ve had a customer say they have 10 windows and when I arrive to do the estimate this is what each of them look like. http://www.beautifulview.ca/web_pics/typeC_window.jpg
I’ve also had customers call up and say they have 10 windows and they each look like this. http://www.beautifulview.ca/web_pics/typeA_window.jpg
Big difference to a window cleaner.
That is why I say when advertising X$ for X#windows one should specify pane or panel as some people call it.
I guess I should remember how different our areas are. Most of our picture windows are stationary. No sills or sliders, just a bigger piece of glass.
Sorry about that
