[STEVE-UK]

ive got a few ideas but wanted to know what you guys found is the best way to advertise for commercial work,

im going for safe contractor at the mo which might throw some work my way

[AJ]

The best way is to let them come to you via advertising.
Work on optimizing your web site to get a first page rank on Google and as long as all the information required is on your site, your set.
Leaflets etc generally get thrown in the bin as SPAM by the secretary.If you can get a specific name on the letter following a phone call that really helps.

[STEVE-UK]

cheers AJ, i ve been optimizing my site and its gone up in the ranking a bit, but its one of those free ones from msn,im considering paying for a company to build one then it will be optimized from the start

does yellow pages work ?

[jampot]

yellow pages can be a hit or miss. how may wc are advertising in your area?!
also  not cheap for a decent ad. 

you can have a free ad with yell.com ive picked up a few.

try to optimisze your website. i think most companies use the net rather than a book.
speak to windowwashers for help with site  optimiszation

[michael papworth]

There are two approaches to getting new business:

Fishing: you throw your net out and hope to get any prospects that happen to be passing.

Hunting: you go for one prospect at a time.

Fishing uses high volume/lower cost materials. Hunting uses low volume/higher cost materials.

Newspaper/Yell/Internet advertising are examples of fishing. Direct mail is more like hunting. Having a list of carefully screened qualified prospects is real hunting.

AJ reckons that fishing is better than hunting. That's a very bold statement. It really depends on where you are and what kind of game you're after.

Hunting can lead to immediate results: you hunt down a qualified prospect and bag him on Monday and you're doing the job Tuesday morning. Fishing ALWAYS has a lag time. Like jampot said, it's hit and miss. More miss than hit.

I don't think that it's possible to say that this method is always better than that method. The truth is that both methods work to some extent. Advertising is a very inexact science.

In order to be most effective you need to ask yourself two questions:

* Who is is my ideal target customer? (Eg - shop, office ,manufacturing, school, etc)

* How can I best influence him/her that I am the natural choice to supply his/her needs.

Then, when you know (i) what kind of customers that you want and (ii) the kind of advertising you are going to do, you go for it.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jampot, is that fishing for customers or fishing for your supper ;-)?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[AJ]

Yellow pages is more for your residentials.
Try Google Adwords. Its pay per click advertising, comes up on the right hand side of Google search page (sponsored links). You can set the amount you want to spend each month or each day and can suspend the ads when you want. Untilyour site hits page 1, it is very effective. Easily pays for itself in the commercial sector.

[STEVE-UK]

wally, im intending to advertise for the unexpected customers or the ones which are further out,and 'hunt' the local ones down

AJ - how much would you budget, for the pay per click adverts to work / to get you on the 1st couple of pages,i assume it works for you ?

[michael papworth]

wally, im intending to advertise for the unexpected customers or the ones which are further out,and 'hunt' the local ones down

Good plan.

Remember that the more precision you can get into your qualification for a prospect, the better able you are to offer precisely what he/she needs.

[AJ]

Its basically a bidding thing. You set the amount you want to pay per click, say 50p, if it doesn't appearr as much as you would like, then you up the amount. It will vary depending on the amount of companies with the same keywords. we were spending up to 50p per click, with a daily of £30. It very rarely used the £30 per day, it was normally around £200-250 p/month. The thing is, we were bidding in London which is very competetive with loads of companies after the same work with the same keywords. When we got our 1st page natural listing we stopped doing it, but it did serve its purpose very well.

[michael papworth]

Its basically a bidding thing. You set the amount you want to pay per click, say 50p, if it doesn't appearr as much as you would like, then you up the amount. It will vary depending on the amount of companies with the same keywords. we were spending up to 50p per click, with a daily of £30. It very rarely used the £30 per day, it was normally around £200-250 p/month. The thing is, we were bidding in London which is very competetive with loads of companies after the same work with the same keywords. When we got our 1st page natural listing we stopped doing it, but it did serve its purpose very well.

Now that is a VERY smart way of doing things.

That is super-smart fishing - choosing the right bait for the prevailing conditions and re-assessing things as you go along.

Brilliant.

[STEVE-UK]

AJ , i typed in window cleaners london and yeh you come up on the 1st page, How long did you have to pay per click for before you could stop paying and still come up on the 1st page?

[poleman]

Steve, there is a free listing on Google 

[DASERVICES]

There is a way without paying but a lot of work, type in window cleaner angus.

Sorry Dean

[DASERVICES]

Forgot to say 25 towns/cities top search engine. Latest one working on Inverness.

Soon top all searches

[windowwashers]

Yellow pages is more for your residentials.
Try Google Adwords. Its pay per click advertising, comes up on the right hand side of Google search page (sponsored links). You can set the amount you want to spend each month or each day and can suspend the ads when you want. Untilyour site hits page 1, it is very effective. Easily pays for itself in the commercial sector.

You forgot to mention when you stop you go down in rankings, do you think google are stupid ?

Not having a pop at you at all, but please give all the details on google ranking.
Your page rank makes a difference in natural listings
Ian

[STEVE-UK]

window washers - ive just signed up for google adwords to see how it goes for a month or two, i seems to be lower in the ranking than i was before,but it is only a day does it take a little while to sort out?

how much would you charge to get me higher in the listings for sussex & surrey ?, i was on the 2nd or 3rd page, if i typed in 'window cleaners brighton'

[Dean Aspects]

There is a way without paying but a lot of work, type in window cleaner angus.

Sorry Dean

  first on the page well done Doug i'm only third 

Dean

[poleman]

Steve, I have just signed up to Google Maps for free, that puts me top of the page, ok with other window cleaners, but aim not 100 pages away and its free

[ronnie paton]

im on the first page for most of my key words but i dont really know how it happened???
been there foe over a year but to be honest it hasnt brought me lots of good work but i have had the odd one, with plenty of add ons.

[windowwashers]

window washers - ive just signed up for google adwords to see how it goes for a month or two, i seems to be lower in the ranking than i was before,but it is only a day does it take a little while to sort out?

how much would you charge to get me higher in the listings for sussex & surrey ?, i was on the 2nd or 3rd page, if i typed in 'window cleaners brighton'

Hi steve,

google is spidered if hit right it can be hours, I did this with window cleaners in devizes as I hit it right.

I do not have a window cleaner on my site in brighton that costs £49 a year and links in with yoursite.

Give me a call on 07788 732 789 and I will have a chat with you, or text your number and I will call you.

I will have a look at your site later, I have kids wanting to do window cleaning right now on my house and cant say no to my niece bless her.

Ian