I've gotten quite a few emails regarding traditional advertising. So instead of answering each one individually, I'm putting up this post as my response.
I'm categorizing traditional advertising as newspaper, radio, television, etc.
Here's my answer on the subject of "does it work and is it worth it":
YES and NO!
Yes, this type of advertising does work. There are countless businesses in every field that proves it. Just look at carpet cleaning companies, pest control companies, restaurants, dry cleaners and yes....windshield repair companies.
Many types of businesses utilize traditional advertising. I feel that service businesses get the most benefit from traditional advertising because of this fact:
In most cases a service business does not have a storefront, so the advertising you do is essentially your storefront.
And by not having a storefront, you have no lease, no extra utilities, etc. which frees up funds for advertising.
Now here is where many new repair techs fall into a trap. They place plain, generic ads in the paper and wait for a response. In some cases they don't get the response they were looking for, so they throw more money into larger ads...and this continues until they are out sometimes thousands of dollars and decide windshield repair is not a good business, so they quit!
Here's my advice on traditional advertising: Start off slow (small ad), use eye-catching creative ads and be consistent. Don't place an ad for two weeks then stop for two weeks. You have to be consistent.If you are starting off in this business with limited funds as many do, go out and try and get customers in other ways....such as going business to business. Sure, you won't get rich doing this, but you will start bringing in some cash flow and you will be making contacts.
As your business builds (slowly and steadily) you can then start testing the "traditional advertising waters" and decide for yourself if it's worth it.
I know there are many opinions on this subject and I respect each and every one. We all have our own experiences. Some techs do not agree that this type of advertising pays off and others swear by it.
Just be careful and don't invest more than your willing to lose. Some ads just won't pull. You'll have to TEST-TEST-TEST!
I hope this helps.
Scott
be careful unless you do a huge volume of work it can be costly. Make sure you check out the books in your area, just because one books says they will give you a column ad for the price of a bold listing in the other book doesn
