Yellow Pages and van signage

[tabs]

Hi

I know there are varied opinions on here on how good yellow pages is but as a fairly new starter business I thought I'd give it a try.

How much should I expect to pay for a standard(ie:cheapest) advert with them?

Also would folks on here if they use van signage go for preprinted stuff from Corgi etc or get it done professionally? And if so how much does it cost?

 

[DESL]

Get van done professionally - shop around - keep it simple to keep cost down.

As for yellow pages I got a free offer this year and have got a bit of work but word of mouth gets me most of my work.

Which leads me back to van signage this gets me work as van parked at someones house will advertise you then neighbours ask and if you are any good you'll work a lot of that street.

If your with Corgi see if you can get a special deal to go in the Corgi entry in Yellow pages.

 

[jefoss]

im with yp cost me 91 a month but it paid for itself already. highly recommend it and as for the van sign look up to what DESL said

 

[gas4you]

I used to always go in the £orgi corporate ad in YP until this year when they hiked the cost up 40%, so told the arrogant rep to shove it where the sun don't shine

My van, now 5 years old, has been fully sign written since new, cost about £300, the best form of advertising I have ever paid for (but does have to be notified to insurance company)

Always getting people asking for cards at jobs or traffic lights etc. Paid for its self many times over.

Most of my customers say they would never use someone out of YP as you might as well just stick a pin in with your eyes shut and programs like rogue traders etc always point to YP.

90% of my work is word of mouth.

 

[spice]

Get van done professionally

Which leads me back to van signage this gets me work as van parked at someones house will advertise you then neighbours ask and if you are any good you'll work a lot of that street.

I have magnetic signs made up, I know it looks better if its signwritten, but I can take my signs off whenever I want.

Try and make your sign eyecatching, so people will remember it, and like Desl says, if its parked out someones home, people will take the number of it.

TBH, I have always had a plain white van (white van lady) lol, but designed my own decorating signs, which definately do stand out.

I only had the signs on for a day or so, and got stopped when I went into a shop,a customer had come out of the shop as I was getting into my van,she asked me for a card and got 3 weeks works from it.
I have even stopped at TL and seen a passenger scribbling down my details, (either that, or it was my number plate)

I do take them off now and again, as If anyone rings me, I know I cant do thier job for a couple of months or so, and I dont like saying no.

Normally my work is on recommendation, but sometimes even that slows down, but the signs are definately working. s

 

[tabs]

Thanks for replies. I'll think I'll just go for getting my van signed up for now and leave the yellow pages for now unless they offer a special deal

 

[tabs]

im with yp cost me 91 a month but it paid for itself already. highly recommend it and as for the van sign look up to what DESL said

Not having done it before £91 a month sounds a lot to me but I'd appreciate getting some idea what everone else pays.

Thanks Jefoss

 

[mgheating]

I've got magnetic signs which look great and only cost about 70 quid.

Be warned though, i have heard about kids taking them off and sticking them elsewhere, like passing buses for instance.

If that happens i think i'll just cough up and get it painted on.

 

[Thermo]

got my van signwritten with large logo on three sides etc for £175.

We went with yellow pages and yell.com. Very expensive and little return. People are looking at a needle in a haystack. We had a small two colour add in it and it cost us £800. Yell.com has just come in at £700. Both are being told where to shove it. Very very pushy sales people. Weve always found a decent small add in the friday-ad is by far and away the best. All depends on your business and your target market really. Youve probably missed the deadline with Yp anyway, but you can still get free one liners and the same on yell.com.

 

[jefoss]

im with yp cost me 91 a month but it paid for itself already. highly recommend it and as for the van sign look up to what DESL said

Not having done it before £91 a month sounds a lot to me but I'd appreciate getting some idea what everone else pays.

Thanks Jefoss

for that price i get a slightly larger advert, with colour, i think its good as i chose a white background and it stands out pretty well. i would tell you how big but cant remember and dont have a yp here


HTH

 

[sterod1971]

YP is a total waste of money. A lot of money! i've had ads in the book, on yell.com and 118247 and had little responce. The sales woman was very pushy and kept making all sorts of claims. I decided Id give it a go but it just hasn't been working. Of the customers who have come through the yellow pages. All said they looked in local directorys first and couldn't get anyone round as they were all too busy. Im cancelling all the advertising with yell and going local this year!

Have had vans sign written with a catchy design and its got me loads of work. Best money ever spent. Each van was £300 plus vat. I have blue trannys and the sign writing is in reflective yellow and white. It really stands out from the crowd.

Also worth considering (and if you've got kids they can help here) is having some leaflets printed up and shoving em thru letter boxes. I know junk mail is a pain but its the most effective form of advertising known.
For 5000 leaflets double sided full colour A5 expect to pay around £150 plus vat. We went quiet so this is what I did and i've had a really good response.
Tips here are don't deliver on days when the local rag is. try not to deliver after 5pm (I go letter box stuffing during the day when Im quiet) and keep some on the van to stuff through the letter boxes of your customers nieghbours!
Steve

 

[jbonding]

You can go in the free section of YP but to be honest i get nothing but sales people ringing me and wish id not bothered sometimes, ive had one or two jobs out of it but mostly sales people. Van signed up is your best bet and the money you save of YP could go to getting a website.

 

[sterod1971]

Got stung big time on the websites. Decided after desining my own to have it done proffesionally, with search engine optimisation, meta tags etc and it cost a fortune. 18 months down the line ive cancelled the project and re-done my original. easyiest way to optimise for search engines is to have every page titled with your relevant trade. ie
Welcome to joe blogs plumbing
about jo bloggs plumbing

Then register with google business and use thier online search tools such as maps etc.

Im not web desiner by any means but manged to download a free trial version of dreamweaver and used that to build the site. then got a free FTP client (Core ftp lite) and have my websites hosted by switchmedia, who are great.

 

[Shytalkz]

Interesting comments re YP: on our local structural engineers page, it was a case of big dick advertising, with ever-increasing sizing every year between the principal local ones.

I decided not to compete with that, kept small, still get some work from it and that's invariably with a comment that the other ones look too expensive for the size of their ads!

I make a note of where jobs come from (they're mainly from recommendation and or repeat/longstanding clients) and I'm not too sure that it's worth actually advertising in there and/or Yell.com to be honest.

But, I don't have the "luxury" of a van and signeage on my car "Shytalkz Structural Engineering Services (we do it with minimum strain!)" would look a bit pants, methinks .

 

[WoodYouLike]

Im not web desiner by any means but manged to download a free trial version of dreamweaver and used that to build the site. then got a free FTP client (Core ftp lite) and have my websites hosted by switchmedia, who are great.

The most simple and effective way nowadays to create and manage your own web presence is using blogging software. I'm an amateur webdesigner and have set these up for various small businesses already.
The best IMHO is Typepad (aff) from Six Apart. Comes including hosting, you can even show it with your own webdomain.
For some examples see one of my own blogs - I use typepad for all my 7 blogs, the best found and read is our FAQ & News website on wooden flooring