[cannon]

Does anyone advertise in a magazine called your home and garden?

Ive had a meeting today and provisionally signed up.

Its a free magazine from a local upmarket garden centre where my ad will be placed, though it is produced for other garden centres nationwide.

The garden centre has a footfall of approx 1500 a week, and i would say was upmarket, even selling guns etc so def attracts the type of customer i would like.

The magazine is produced twice a year and the deal is for 2 year, so 4 editions with a half page ad in each.

The price.........960 pounds!!! spread over 6 payments

Im interested in anyones opinions on this or experience of advertising in this publication.

[derek west]

do publications work for you?

they don't for me, well not radically though, whats your best form of advertising at the moment? in a recession like this you need to use what works for you, not experiment, if your number one advertising is "X" and you have scope to spend more on "X" then thats the way forward.

thats my way of thinking, all other new forms of advertising like, deicer cans, fridge magnets, kites mouse mats and roundabout advertising, + the sandwich board while naked out side of tesco's can all wait til the recession is over.

"disclaimer"
i'm not saying i'm right, just giving my opinion.

[Mike Halliday]

the reason they get you to sign up for multiple additions it that if you sign up for just 1 you will find out it doesn't work so won't do it again, so they need to get  a commitment, to get as much money as possible up front.

tell them you will do 1 editions as a test if it works you will do the rest.... see what they say :

[Steve Gunn]

Steer clear I advertised in golf club members handbook for an up market golf club got nothing.I know its not the same publication but as Derek says do what works in these times its no good doing things which are trial and error. I also did a national construction magazine only for the builder where my unit is had never even heard of the magazine

[cannon]

No Derek this is new territory to me ive rellied solely on website, adwords and leaflets, I quickly realised newspaper ads were not for me.

I'm really trying to increase my marketing mix this year, ive gone with yell.com and the book!! Yell.com alone has my phone ringing a few times a day at the minute........ unfortunatly its with sales calls

This magazine is def something i would like to advertise in but you make a good point and especially where my business is at the minute it maybe isnt the time to be experimenting.

But then again I remember a wise man once saying "sometimes uve just got to suck it and see"

When it comes to parting with money i can be really indesisive at times

[derek west]

No Derek this is new territory to me ive rellied solely on website, adwords and leaflets, I quickly realised newspaper ads were not for me.

I'm really trying to increase my marketing mix this year, ive gone with yell.com and the book!! Yell.com alone has my phone ringing a few times a day at the minute........ unfortunatly its with sales calls

This magazine is def something i would like to advertise in but you make a good point and especially where my business is at the minute it maybe isnt the time to be experimenting.

But then again I remember a wise man once saying "sometimes uve just got to suck it and see"

When it comes to parting with money i can be really indesisive at times

if these 3 are whats making the phone ring then spend the grand on these, do more leaflets, improve your adwords, and maybe spend more on improving your website, (if it needs it) if it doesn't need then more on seo or a new site, thats only if these 3 are making the phone ring.

see disclaimer above.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Many of us try the diversifying route by edging our bets and seeing if there's another way of bringing in work by other methods, the internet isn't the be all and end all of work one day its advertising won't work, my experience tells me this as the best adverts pound for pound was in YP and look at that now! spread your bets that's what I would recommend.

Shaun

[The Carpet Cleaning Pro]

Tried something similar and was a complete waste of £1800. "Nice advert though" My advise Shaun is stick to what you know works for you and your business. From my experience these sort of things are just about the magazine paying for its own publication. (That's where we come in). You will have to let us know how you go on with it.

[happy mondays]

No Derek this is new territory to me ive rellied solely on website, adwords and leaflets, I quickly realised newspaper ads were not for me.

I'm really trying to increase my marketing mix this year, ive gone with yell.com and the book!! Yell.com alone has my phone ringing a few times a day at the minute........ unfortunatly its with sales calls

This magazine is def something i would like to advertise in but you make a good point and especially where my business is at the minute it maybe isnt the time to be experimenting.

But then again I remember a wise man once saying "sometimes uve just got to suck it and see"

When it comes to parting with money i can be really indesisive at times

Ive sucked it and seen many, many thousands of £'s go down the drain in advertising over the years, its a hard pill to swallow. I once spent a grand on something like you mention, and to this day I dont think it ever got me one job. It was infact my own fault because the advert was rubbish. The lack of calls isnt always down to the publication, it is normally the content of the advert, the lack of cash made from it is then your own fault.  Just as it is with websites, some say adwords is no good and blame google. This is the easy answer, its more a case of the website looks awful and has bad grammar and spelling mistakes.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I agree glossy mags don't work but Ian Harper will tell you when Google decides to spit its dummy out and shuffles the pack then your calls will drop, why put all your eggs in one basket? IMO the internet is a lazy way of advertising you need a mix it's a good insurance policy, if the internet was to go down tomorrow how would you get your calls?

Shaun

[happy mondays]

Mixing is good Shaun, no one would or should argue with that, as you have just said never put all your eggs all in one basket. Glossy mags, the internet, local papers, leaflets, they are all in that basket so I am confused  :

[The Carpet Cleaning Pro]

Use the advertising space to its best potential. We tested newspapers with ordinary adds and response was rubbish. We then used the same size advert on same page and offered a free carpet clean. Phone went mad. We did the free cleans and used them as our advert and gained loads of work and regular customers from it. Some people on here think some of the things we do are mad but if thought out correctly ... it works. We are not carpet cleaners... we are business owners and that means we have to be marketers of that business. As someone once said to me... "The world will not come to you, you have bring it to you"

[hotsteam]

It's not all about spending money,on monday could not park my van all yellow lines !,so knocked on a neighbours door asking where to park ?,he moved his car so I could squeeze on the end,when I had finished he asked me for a quote for his lounge to be done when finished decorating.
Went into town for a sandwich bloke tapped my window "have you got a card mate I need some carpets cleaned ! "
I just wish it was all ways so easy !  : Regards Hotsteam

[The Carpet Cleaning Pro]

everything is easy "If you know how"

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Free carpet cleaning is one way of getting customers you do have to be cute when advertising in papers and mags and it's quite easy providing that you understand FREE carpet cleaning is a long term thing just like paid for carpet cleaning you still need to show off a little even when you are doing it for nowt because the 'Free carpet cleaning customer' needs to become a customer for later or a cheer leader. I put a free carpet clean up for a prize at my kids school and the woman who won it had 3 rooms cleaned paid for 2 and then booked in her mother to have 2 carpets cleaned and that's how it CAN work, ok not always but that's upto you!!

Shaun

[The Carpet Cleaning Pro]

did a competition a few years ago and a woman in Ashgate won a free carpet clean for all house carpets. Got work from 4 neighbours within 1 week. 3 from her telling and showing them and 1 from van signs. How many out there do not have their van decalled... why not?

[cannon]

yeah i think ill leave it at this moment in time, i think a grand would yield a better return elsewhere.

I suppose you could fling an endless ammount at these things, business card stands in supermarkets etc.

Some excellent ideas on alternative advertising, i need to think outside the box.

Really like your idea Monty offering services as a prize, school fetes, charity events etc.

[The Carpet Cleaning Pro]

Just remenber... it's not about the giving away "It's about how to use it to gain work"

[AJB]

The best way to look at these things, is to ask
who made the first approach?
if they did then don't touch it with a barge pole,
the only one to gain will be them. They claim all
sorts of magnificent figures for responses, but if
they were that good everyone would sing their
praises and you would be approaching them, begging
to go into it.

[Kate2]

I used to sell ad space, did it for many years.  I stopped around 4 years ago.  I worked for a glossy food magazine.  My customers all used to say hardly any response.  I stopped because it was just getting harder and harder to shift space.  People spending money on their own websites was a big reason.  Infact they would tell me what they would pay.

I would advise against it OP.

IF you want to give it a go.  Phone near deadline, and see what they have left and just offer a price.  Something nominal.

But I definately think your money would be better invested in something else.

Dont get tied in or sign anything