5 Quick Marking Tips for getting your phone ringing

This is an excerpt from a great article written by Adam Hudson of HudsonInk.

Here are five quick ways to get more calls for less money than you think:

  1. Signage and visibility. This means trucks, vans, yard, favorite retail establishments for whom you trade work, team sponsorship, coupons inside paycheck vouchers for area employers, paying half for the other side of a newspaper insert, card-deck (Val-Pack), Welcome Wagon packets and about 50 other things I don't have room for that only cost you pennies per impression.
  2. Publicity. News releases every month, "gifting" of services to public causes, contests and giveaways, offering expert interviews to media about copper theft, irrigation, drainage, anything newsworthy, sending your newsletter to every media contact in your city. Also enter contests from your local business community. Crazy that more don't jump up and get noticed by thousands for virtually no cost. Got some energy? Offer yourself as "The 5-minute Home Answer Guy" on radio or TV. I've got clients in various cities doing this now, to the tune of six figures of media exposure ... for nothing.
  3. Top of Mind Awareness ads in your newspaper. Call the paper now, ask about the program, get started. Create your own ads or use ours and let this be another "mindless" program running automatically. Quit recreating the stress wheel every month. These ads pepper through the newspaper, also in the services section, and get noticed.
  4. Postcards to your customer base. One every three weeks all summer, that's four friendly reminders over 90 days so your customers won't forget you. Watch your business soar, retention burst through, referrals climb off the charts. This happens to almost all who follow this step. So simple, so effective, so underused. Can't do that? At least send one.
  5. Summer radio blitzes. You want to get serious? Do all the above and invest in "volume blitzes" in your local radio media all summer. We have ads just for this. People spend way more time in their cars during summer and the "repetitious" message becomes part of their hierarchy of recall. You will get calls from this whether they remember the source or not. Hint: Verbalize a strong guarantee in each one.

What do you think? Post your comments below:

Adams Hudson is president of Hudson Ink, a contractor marketing firm. Visitwww.hudsonink.com

 

By Plumbing Marketing Profits

Josh Nelson is a marketing expert that specializes in helping Plumbing Business increase their sales & grow their business by more effectively MARKETING. He is a recognized speaker, author and regularly presents at PHCC, ACCA and Plumbing Contracting Associations. His articles have been published in Plumbing & Mechanical Magazine, Contractor Magazine and HVAC Insider. He is the author of The Complete Guide To Internet Marketing for Plumbing Contractors.