[richywilts]

had some new leaflets knocked up for driveway cleaning and sealing etc and ive prob handed out poss 1-2000 but not had one hint of an enquiry from them

[samson]

Let that be a valuable lesson for you !

[Mike Halliday]

What do you mean by 'handed out'

Have you posted them? If so 1000 is not a proper test, put out 10,000 then avaluate their response, 95% of my powerwashing  work comes from leaflets I find them very successful but I have 2 Part time lads working 9 hours a week so get  upto 3000 a week put out .

[samson]

What do you mean by 'handed out'

Have you posted them? If so 1000 is not a proper test, put out 10,000 then avaluate their response, 95% of my powerwashing  work comes from leaflets I find them very successful but I have 2 Part time lads working 9 hours a week so get  upto 3000 a week put out .

Mike you have got a cracking system there, do you just target the local area ?     My area covers about 65k houses !

[samson]

Mike, how do you pay your lads, is it minimum wage, and a bonus for each customer ?

[Kev Martin]

When we were doing Pressure Washing and I don't know if it still works today but I used to approach local Boy Scouts, Guides leaders etc and offer them  Money, Tent Equipment, Pay for a coach trip or anything they wanted within reason.  That way I got 1000's of leaflets distributed in one night and the cost was reasonable I thought for the return as it was seen as a local business supporting the local community.  You would be amazed at how many locals took notice of Scouts in Uniform delivering leaflets on a sunny summers evening and felt they had to support them!!  I also used to use Parish Church Magazines for paid advertising and they brought a high return as well

Kev

[Mike Halliday]

Mike, how do you pay your lads, is it minimum wage, and a bonus for each customer ?

I pay £5 an hour which is above minimum wage for thier age, they do 3hr shifts, the 3 hours begin as they start leafleting and finish not the travel time to the area.  I made a deal with them that I would pick them up & drop them off at the top of thier street but they don't get paid travel time.

They don't get any bonuses, but I have a very flexible attitude to them, if they need more money they can work extra hours if they are busy they can choose not to work.

People say I'm ripping them off by paying only a fiver but they choose to work and are happy with the terms and we have a great relationship.  some days we start the shift at an 'all you can eat'  breakfast buffet and have sausage eating contests or when we finish we go to a great Italian ice cream shop.......we sit, chat and eat massive ice creams

[samson]

Mike, how do you pay your lads, is it minimum wage, and a bonus for each customer ?

I pay £5 an hour which is above minimum wage for thier age, they do 3hr shifts, the 3 hours begin as they start leafleting and finish not the travel time to the area.  I made a deal with them that I would pick them up & drop them off at the top of thier street but they don't get paid travel time.

They don't get any bonuses, but I have a very flexible attitude to them, if they need more money they can work extra hours if they are busy they can choose not to work.

People say I'm ripping them off by paying only a fiver but they choose to work and are happy with the terms and we have a great relationship.  some days we start the shift at an 'all you can eat'  breakfast buffet and have sausage eating contests or when we finish we go to a great Italian ice cream shop.......we sit, chat and eat massive ice creams

Do you pick them up in Italy, after they have docked ? 

[chris scott]

All this talk of sausage eating  contests and approaching boy scouts…you lads should know better.

[dmckellar]

Mike, how do you pay your lads, is it minimum wage, and a bonus for each customer ?

I pay £5 an hour which is above minimum wage for thier age, they do 3hr shifts, the 3 hours begin as they start leafleting and finish not the travel time to the area.  I made a deal with them that I would pick them up & drop them off at the top of thier street but they don't get paid travel time.

They don't get any bonuses, but I have a very flexible attitude to them, if they need more money they can work extra hours if they are busy they can choose not to work.

People say I'm ripping them off by paying only a fiver but they choose to work and are happy with the terms and we have a great relationship.  some days we start the shift at an 'all you can eat'  breakfast buffet and have sausage eating contests or when we finish we go to a great Italian ice cream shop.......we sit, chat and eat massive ice creams

those boys have no incentive to work hard for you do they? Hardly showing them that working hard pays well. You should at least give them a tenner/fiver for any client they pick up.

You might be surprised, they might try and pick more work up if they think they can make £15 an hour and not 5.00

[Mike Halliday]

On a serious note..... I once read a business book that told the secret to success.

It said ........'work out the cost of success....... Then pay that price'

I can tell you  the leaflet secret to successful domestic powerwashing, but not many are willing to pay the price.

I could move anywhere in the country do what I do now and within 2 weeks I would be earning good money.  Leaflets are a fast way of getting work, as long as they are going through letterboxes and not sat boxed up in your hallway

Dmckeller...... (You posted as I was typing).  How would they work harder? They walk the street delivering leaflets, would they walk faster?  I pay them £15. if I was handing out bonuses for every job they would maybe get £30  but I would get a better return by just employing more lads and paying them the extra£15 I was giving the other lads in bonuses .

[Neil Jones]

Yes they choose to work for £5 per hour but they might not have a choice if they can't find other work.  Minimum wage is bad enough but £5 and hour, what's the point

[Rob@Blast off]

I did 3k leaflets had two small jobs, never bothered after that.

[Stoots]

i also did 3k for two jobs. ive also had a site that ranks fairly high for over a year and next to nowt off that either, i just dont think pressure washing is that high demand at least not at the prices i would want. The only way i can see it being a viable business is commercial work.

However with the paying £5 per hour thing, its not illegal and this is business afterall not a charity, if these young lads wanted to earn better money they could be entrepeneurs or go find a well paying job and not prepared to work for a fiver.

its certainly something i will be looking to do soon but i would want to leaflet alongside them to make sure its being done.

[Mike Halliday]

Like Adam says we are not charities we are here to make money for ourselves to give us the lifestyle we desire. If £5 an hour sounds bad try £2:75 an hour .........which is what one of my lads gets as a 'modern apprentice' (in office administration ) I pay him £45 which nearly doubles his weekly wage.

the other lad is at university, living at home and gets no money apart for a government grant twice a year.

I've leafleted continuously for 18yrs  mostly within a 4-6 miles radius of my home, to put this into context every home in my town has received  85 of my leaflets, most of them with a picture of me, my van and my company name.

This is why I believe I get a good result from leaflets,  they have a massive cumulative effect

[Mike Halliday]

its certainly something i will be looking to do soon but i would want to leaflet alongside them to make sure its being done.

This is what I'm doing this morning,I'm sat here having a coffee then  all 3 of us are going out leafleting, normally they accompany me to jobs and as I work they leaflet the surrounding area, they never go out themselves and leaflet. they are accompanied or I am nearby.