View Full Version : Your thought and ideas are welcome!
Slinwagh
23-03-2009, 20:26
I work for myself as an IT bod. The work I do is split 70/30 home and business users.
I am planning on putting some adverts out as my main local competitors so to speak have stopped advertising so It seems to make sense to fill the gap.
Now with regards to the adverts, what do you look for in a add other than contact details of course?
Also I don't trade under any name so to speak, people just phone or I am recommended, would now be a good a time as any to invent a business name for the purposes of the advert etc?
Get your thinking caps on please!
Briggykins
23-03-2009, 21:20
Well personally I like to go to the smaller one-man outfits for any jobs I need doing, so I'd be turned off by a business name (but that's just me - probably some people would rather go with a professional outfit). I'd also put something in about your services, but add a couple of extra things most others might not think of, but that are easy to do (like simple data recovery, say, or case cleaning). Just adds a bit of value.
/My £0.02
When I was doing this home users really preferred the personal touch of a one-man outfit. Smaller local businesses seemed to be the same but you had to be careful not to let them down, especially the bigger ones who relied on their IT.
The estate agents I worked for eventually moved their IT away from me and over to a company that specialised with estate agency systems. Although I could maintain and manage their software they preferred to pay a company who could offer remote maintenance, backup etc. At a guess I'd say that company was only 2-3 people max but they had the important looking business name and portfolio that I didn't have, so it's all in the marketing.
AboveTheSalt
24-03-2009, 10:05
I gave up providing support for home and small users some time ago for two reasons. I often found that I was :
removing viruses (repeatedly) from home PCs where the children had been attempting to download porn sorting out problems for OAPsIn the former case, I couldn't bring myself to point out the cause of the problem to irate parents and in the latter case, I felt guilty about charging a realistic cost to OAPs.
As to small businesses, whilst they almost always 'phoned up in desperation when their email didn't work or they couldn't print and they knew the charges before I started fixing their problem(s), they would almost invariably bitch about the charges, try to get a discount and say that they would have to put the invoice through the books which would take ages and involved reminder 'phone calls - Estate Agents were the worst, Newsagents were the least trouble.
I am planning on putting some adverts out as my main local competitors so to speak have stopped advertising so It seems to make sense to fill the gap.
When times are tough...DON'T STOP ADVERTISING. It's one of the mistakes a lot of people make when the going gets tough.
If you want printed media, give me a shout. If you only want an advert artwork to pop in a printed publication, again, give me a shout :)
LeperousDust
24-03-2009, 16:03
When times are tough...DON'T STOP ADVERTISING. It's one of the mistakes a lot of people make when the going gets tough.
If you want printed media, give me a shout. If you only want an advert artwork to pop in a printed publication, again, give me a shout :)
Haha you would say that ;D :p
He's right though :D And from personal experience, he's the man to go to if you need some flyers/artwork/business cards/header paper done :D
OMG BUSINESSES R LIKE A SHARK A BUSINESS NEEDS TO KEEP MOVING IF IT'S TO BREATHE!!!!!111!
- Sir Alan Sugar.
Slinwagh
24-03-2009, 16:32
When times are tough...DON'T STOP ADVERTISING. It's one of the mistakes a lot of people make when the going gets tough.
If you want printed media, give me a shout. If you only want an advert artwork to pop in a printed publication, again, give me a shout :)
I have never advertised to be honest, all my work has come via word of mouth.
I was actually looking at getting some A5 flyers. ;)
I have never advertised to be honest, all my work has come via word of mouth.
That's fine if that's what you've never done. But plenty of companys stop advertising when they need to tighten their purse strings. It's not the best way forward and it's pretty much marketing fact...ALEX!!!! :D
I was actually looking at getting some A5 flyers. ;)
Give me a shout and I'll give you a price. If you like it, great. If you don't, you can piss off elsewhere ;D
Give me a shout and I'll give you a price. If you like it, great. If you don't, you can piss off elsewhere ;D
You should get a job in Marketing Desmo. ;)
I look remarkably like those little nestle bueno hippo things, me ol'china.
- Sir Alan Sugar.
Slinwagh
23-04-2009, 12:03
Give me a shout and I'll give you a price. If you like it, great. If you don't, you can piss off elsewhere ;D
So what services can you offer Desmo? :shocked:
I am ready to go now with some adverts, BT have finally installed my new phone line.
For me the most important information is my contact details but from a client poit of view what would you look for in an advert?
Admiral Huddy
23-04-2009, 12:23
:thumbsup: A5 cards - Desmo did mine - well recommend you use him.
Apart from YP, it's the best means of advertising.. A paid the kids to post 2k of them locally and I got a local distrubutor to send out the remaining 3k around Chelmsford. Cost me.. checks.. £45 per 1k for delivery.
A5 cards work because people tend to keep them - just in case. make sure your message is clear as people only read them for a split second.
Slinwagh
23-04-2009, 12:34
:thumbsup: A5 cards - Desmo did mine - well recommend you use him.
Apart from YP, it's the best means of advertising.. A paid the kids to post 2k of them locally and I got a local distrubutor to send out the remaining 3k around Chelmsford. Cost me.. checks.. £45 per 1k for delivery.
A5 cards work because people tend to keep them - just in case. make sure your message is clear as people only read them for a split second.
I was planning on A5 flyers. As for the message, I was leaning towards a nice bold phone numbers and a simple list of services.
Slinwagh
27-04-2009, 12:07
Can any of you graphical wizards help me please. I need to create my ad for the local rag but I am struggling getting it down to size, the text and graphic loses it crispness.
Thanks !!!
won't they do it for you? That used to be my job - people told me what they wanted and I made it look pretty.
If you need any help with wording etc, give me a yell :)
Slinwagh
27-04-2009, 12:30
won't they do it for you? That used to be my job - people told me what they wanted and I made it look pretty.
If you need any help with wording etc, give me a yell :)
They never said so, it just needs to be submitted to them in PDF or JPG.
ah, bummer. :( I just used to take words/images and build it for the client. Did you ask if they could help with the design or did they just assume you had the ad ready? I guess it really depends on the publication but it might be worth asking if they can help?
Slinwagh
27-04-2009, 12:37
ah, bummer. :( I just used to take words/images and build it for the client. Did you ask if they could help with the design or did they just assume you had the ad ready? I guess it really depends on the publication but it might be worth asking if they can help?
I think they assumed that I had the ad ready to go and I assumed that I needed to give them the ad to print!
Problem is now I am running out of time!
eyecatching, simple but to the point. That's the best advice I can give you. Don't clutter it with stuff you don't need, keep it basic. I think the contact details and the list of things you do is good enough, it tells people what they need to know. Perhaps a tagline or a quote from a satisfied customer (though nothing cheesy!) if you want to jazz it up a bit.
Keep the colours simple but effective. Blues and oranges are very popular in IT, I'd avoid Red/white because it can look cheesy and dated if not used properly (just my opinion).
Make the contact details big and bold and well spaced and put times down if you work inside certain times. If you work anytime make sure you put 24-hour answerphone or something similar, so people won't be surprised if they ring you at 4am and you don't answer! Last but not least, proof read it 1000000 times because a wrong spelling can really spoil things. Not be a grammar/spelling nazi, but it's so important on marketing and so obvious when it's wrong. Get a few people to check it before you send it because you WILL miss the obvious mistakes, it happens when you've stared at something for ages!
Obviously you might not like any/all of the above but I'm searching my memory banks to see whats lurking up there from my advertising days ;D
Can any of you graphical wizards help me please. I need to create my ad for the local rag but I am struggling getting it down to size, the text and graphic loses it crispness.
Thanks !!!
How long have we got? Email me some copy and a size and I'll try and sort something for you. Is is just a single colour advert?
Desmo, will you PM me your business website/details etc? I might need you ;)
Oooh yeah :D
Slinwagh
27-04-2009, 13:32
How long have we got? Email me some copy and a size and I'll try and sort something for you. Is is just a single colour advert?
I am out of time for now, need to pick up the little one for a hospital appointment.
Cheers for the offer I will get back to you later if that is ok.
Dee, will PM you in a tick :)
Desmo
Can you do the same for me please, I have a couple of projects I need to up the ante on
Loki, will PM you in a tick :)
Slinny, you got artwork PM'd to you :p
vBulletin® v3.7.4, Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.