[md_cleaning]

Do any of you advertise on local radio? If so what sort of costs is it and does it bring work in?
Dave

[Simon Gerrard]

Dave,
I've tried it a couple of times but didn't meet with much success. You need to have deep pockets, a lot of nerve and plenty of patience as it is a shot in the dark.

Simon

[md_cleaning]

Cheers Simon, I thought it would cost alot, but did think it would bring lots of jobs in.
Dave

[The Great One]

Hi

I looked into it but was looking at £8,000

Pass

Martin

[Simon Gerrard]

Dave,
It probably would bring a lot of jobs in, but it is the time, repetition of adverts (which need to be very regular) and the money it takes to keep that going to eventually convert people to buying carpet cleaning services in that type of media.

Simon

[md_cleaning]

£8000, blimey I don't blame you for passing, crazy money, was just an idea, I think I to will pass.

[benny d]

^^Cheapskate^^ 

[escorttdi]

3000 a month star radio.......... durham an surrounding ares

[Kinver_Clean]

Do you take any notice of the ads? Can you tell me any that are on your local radio?
I bet you just close your ears the same as everyone else.

[Simon Gerrard]

Clearly not everyone turns a deaf ear otherwise no one would do it. There are lots of examples on our local station where firms advertise all the time, taxi companies in particular, which has sucked their competitors into doing the same, which in turn has made radio an important aspect of their marketing. If a carpet cleaning company had the resources to do it long term their competitors would have to join them and that would cause an expansion in the local market as more people get exposed to the notion of having their carpets cleaned.
And that is all it would take to launch carpet cleaning into the big time as a local success would spread and more people would get involved.

Simon

[wynne jones]

When you are listening to the local radio, do you ever listen to any of the interviews on there?

Sometimes they are very interesting. Maybe about a subject that's related to something that's been on your mind.

Of course these people aren't selling anything, merely telling their story or solving common problems. And they wouldn't be on the radio unless they were the top experts in their field would they?

There was a guy on the other week who ran a land skiing equipment shop. He talked about how he got into it, what equipment is good for beginners, and what goes wrong most often and how to fix it.

At the end of the interview the interviewer mentioned where the shop was and the guy's website. Luckily it was easy to remember as I was in the van at the time and couldn't write it down.

So I wonder if this is something to think about, simply talking about what you do and how you can solve people cleaning problems.

[Mike Halliday]

our local Chemdry used to do it. thier tag line  was carpet cleaning that was out of this world....... using a syetem certified by NASA

they did it for ages and i loved it...... i knew if they were wasting thier money on that then they would'nt be spending it on marketing that worked.

 funnily enough they stopped it totally and now spend all their money on google adwords

[Steve Chapman]

We've advertised on local radio for the last two years and its been very successful.

In that time its kept three of us in regular work.

I think you have to look at it as a long term investment and use it alongside your regular advertising.

I wouldnt do it if I was a new startup business but if you've been around a while then people will

recognize the name etc and look you up. Most who hear it then google our website and get our details

from there.

Costs probably vary from area to area but for us it costs about one medium sized job a week,

Regards
Steve

[Neil Williams]

Costs probably vary from area to area but for us it costs about one medium sized job a week,

Yeh but Radio Portland broadcasts to how many? 150 humans, 2000 seagulls, a few cormorants and a few trawlers passing by

[Steve Chapman]

Think your find Neil that Portland pop is upto 160 now & very loyal bunch they are too 

I never knock the seagulls either, they kept me in window cleaning work for 12 years, so every cloud and that 

Steve

[Adam P]

adverts i remember on the radio..., go compare, dolmaio, macdo, tax return coming up, other big names, ones i forget are the little guys i've never heard of. imo radio advertising works to remind people of a product/service they are already aware of, not as an introduction. all it would do in my opinion is make the person think to get their carpets done, which would push them towards google and then who ever is on there at top will be benefiting

[Seymour Sunshine]

I think you'll find that the way it works is that they give ads to taxi firm, one Chinese takeaway, one electrical shop etc as a loss leader. They then mug other businesses who think they have to keep up.

[Jim_77]

Would you clean for free at one house in every street, in the hope that it got all the neighbours to pay you to do theirs?!

[wynne jones]

Would you clean for free at one house in every street, in the hope that it got all the neighbours to pay you to do theirs?!

A better comparison is budget airlines. You have empty seats you won't get anything for if you don't sell them, so slots can be cheap if you time it right.

All space shifters will try to get the best possible price and like all good salesmen they don't want to give the impression they are desperate, but come deadline time.....

[jasonl]

Another example of someone who actually has the cashews to try something , while everyone else who has not thinks of reasons it wont work .