Jarrod

Good post Barry. Todd, I had a perticular few sub divisions that we did really well in last year. Three or 4 weeks after my post cards were sent there, I sent more to the same sub. Not 1 call from that sub. I hand picked all of my subs last year. (Way too much driving! But worth it.) I then grouped them into different mail campaigns. I also tracked which subs gave the best response. On my next mail campaign, I would include those subs. Each time, the response was the same (with the already mailed to subs) - little to no response. As Barry said, what works for 1 person, doesn't work for another. You have a much better chance for higher response by mailing to a "fresh" area than an already mailed to area. I know that SOME of the people in a previousely mailed to area did not see my ad. I also know that ALL of the people have NOT seen my ad in fresh area. Knowing this, where should I spend my money? In which area am I certian to get more calls?

I have sent post cards to the same areas b4 with little to no results. My ad is so good that people retain it. Many times, I have had calls from 1 month to a full year after my ad was mailed. Like I stated b4, either they want you or they don't. You have a better chance of getting jobs from an untapped area than from an area that you have already mailed to. By the way tv ads are repeated because they are "intangibles."

I ordered a 1/4 inch barb from E-spec north along with my other stuff. I tried it out yesterday. All I can say is "Holy crap! This thing really works!" (I really said that.) Yes, it shoots further than an X-Jet. Looks like I'll be Down Streaming houses this year. I'll still use my X-Jets on those Behr decks. If you haven't tried this yet, you have to. It's worth a couple of bucks, trust me. Bennifits are: 1 - Shoots further/higher 2 - 1 bucket of housewash per house! (Instead of 2 or 3) 3 - No more tangled hoses 4 Only move the bucket of H.W. once or twice. (Unless you can leave it in the truck.)

OK. I keep forgetting about that.

Phone Book (Yellow Pages) · Cost – I had a very nice deck restoration ad in the yellow pages. It cost me $545.00 per month. I ran this ad for 2 consecutive years. Since deck season is only from April to July in the Midwest, the ad was really only relevant for 4 months, 5 at best. If you take the total yearly cost of this ad ($6540.00)and divide that by the relative amount of months, (4) you end up with a monthly cost of ($1,645.00) per month! · Response – In the 2 years that I advertised in the yellow pages, I received a whopping 12 phone calls! · Prospect type – I didn’t get enough calls to even be able to judge this category properly. I can say that most callers just wanted an over the phone quote because they said they’re “going down the list.” Why didn’t this form of advertising work? · Inconvenience – With the internet, 411 and other various ways of obtaining information these days, almost nobody uses the phone book any more. Who wants to lift a 10 lb. 3 million page book to find a phone number anyways, and that’s if they can even remember where they put it! · Low Visibility – Most phone books don’t even know where to put you, so they suggest that you do multiple listings. Such as – Deck washing, deck staining, painting, maintenance, power washing, pressure washing, pressure washing service & equipment, and so on. (This also allows them to charge you a lot more money!) · Competition – If the prospect is lucky enough to even find the section you are in, there’s anywhere from 10 to 50 competitors on the same page! · Shelf Life – 1 year, and it gets really dusty! · No Control – If your ad does not work, too bad! The bill comes every month and it has to be paid. You cannot just cancel and move on. Any mistakes on your ad will remain there for the whole year. If you advertise in the bigger book, you will be wasting advertising on cities or areas that you will not travel to. Deck season is 4 to 5 months long, however, you will be paying for advertising for 12 months.

Thanks Roger. I have so much work to do on the site. I have about 25 really nice pics to add, tons of text to write and so on. That's it! I'm gonna start on it tonight.

Remove & replace, that's it.

Jon, with direct mail you need to send out at least 5,000. The 2nd time you hit the same neighborhood would have been better spent on a different one. With direct mail, you have to have a "Go big, or Go Home" mentality. I never hit an area more than once per season. Either they want it done, or they don't. If they want it done next month, they will most likely hold on to your ad. (If they find it appealing) Grime Dawg, your post was right on.

Exactly! And there's more. I'll post later.

Cancel the ad! Big FAT waste of money! When was the last time you used the phone book? I pick up my phone book once a year, it's when I throw it in the trash.

Oopsy!

I wass going by the avitar pic you have. I just got to my office to find my shirt was delivered today. Looks good!

One guy is in prison for not recovering wastewater. His name is "Sam the Sludge"

We have to come up with names for the 4 thugs on the shirts. I'll start - the front middle guy - Two-Step Tony. (Pronounced With an Italian accent)

Unions are like welfare. Thay started out as what seemed to be necessary at the time and then came back and bit the country in the a$$. I think that both should be abolished because they make people LAZY.

How do we know that he's there? All that matters is that he is a coward and he's hiding.

They should also add - Must be able to walk on water, feed the poor, create the entire universe in 3 days (God took way too long, 7 days - what an ameteur!) solve the national debt while working, fight the war, deliver pizzas, brush your teeth with a flaming chainsaw, and last but not least - own one of our crappy pressure washers.

Cool!

How do you find a spineless coward that hides in caves, tunnels & bunkers amidst thousands of miles of desert? Honestly, the only good thing that ever came out of Iran & Iraq is oil.

Best wishes Phil.!

Well said Philip.

Well said.LOL

Classic, all 1000000000000000000000% true.

Well, for a lot less money we could have leveled the place and took all the oil. If you ask me, that is the way to fight a war. B4 the liberal media and the internet that was the way that things were done. What would you rather have - everyone fearing us because we'll blow you to kingdom come if you mess with us, or - everyone laughing at us because we fight a "nice little war" and let undermining liberals in the media and government micromanage our generals and soldiers? Some might say "That's not fair! You're blowing up that poor little country." To that, I'd say "Well stupid, that "poor little country" funded the human waste that flew planes into our buildings, killing thousands of innocent people FIRST!!!" So, back to your and your party's complaint Jeff. If this war was fought the correct, non P.C. way, it would have been over in 1 week. But since the undermining libs are micromanaging everything, it's gonna take much longer and cost a whole lot more!

Now THERE'S a can of worms!