Hi, I am new to the posting idea. I have been racking my brain trying to find ways to inexpensivly advertise and promte my business. My son and I own a Garage door company. With the market being in the condition that it is in, things have come to an almost complete halt. We are a small company ( we are the only 2 employees) but we carry a higher end than normal product. Also back a few months ago, we could see things really start to slow down so we tried to get into some other ideas that were garage oriented. My question is, what are the most effective yet free or inexpensive ways to advertise our business? We have also considered adding a shopping cart feature to our website to mabey help with some of the "do it yourself items" that we carry. Any advise would be very helpful. Thanx

Okay, you need to be different!!! Start looking for a Marketing partner, someone who you can share the costs of your advertising with and both of you can use the prospects.

Thank you for the advise. I do have a couple of freinds that are owners that might be interested in doing a little shared advertising and marketing. What are your thoughts on opening a brick and morter store? This is something else that we have concidered. The only thing that is keeping us from doing such is the cost assocciated with it. But thanx for the advise.

Having a brick and mortor store seems like a good idea, but I think that would be risky in the "rent fees" if you are low in sales already. I think you need more people to start refering you, get your name out there with the people that would pass it on. What about a refferal fee? Find a neighborhood that you want to install in and look for maybe a few house that need a new door and write a ad that would allow them to pay a price that you wouldn't loose money but it would get your name out in neighborhoods you want. Leave business cards and flyers everywhere you can.

Laura:P :P

>Having a brick and mortor store seems like a good idea, but I
>think that would be risky in the "rent fees" if you
>are low in sales already. I think you need more people to
>start refering you, get your name out there with the people
>that would pass it on. What about a refferal fee? Find a
>neighborhood that you want to install in and look for maybe a
>few house that need a new door and write a ad that would allow
>them to pay a price that you wouldn't loose money but it would
>get your name out in neighborhoods you want. Leave business
>cards and flyers everywhere you can.
>
>Laura:P :P

I agree.. advertising through word of mouth.. and advertise in areas where your products are hits.. Goodluck!;-)

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Here are some things to think about.....

What is your current target market? Where are you looking to expand?

If you have to, how much are you willing to pay?

What types of advertising are you currently doing?

Are you willing to partner with oter like companies selling similar products or services? Sharing profits?

Possible brochures? Can be relatively inexpensive

Where are you looking to expand from your current product line?

Do you install or just sell items?

....These questions might help to direct you towards a specific form of advertising and promotion to fit the needs of your company.

I offer some small businesses free advise. Contact me offline and we can talk

Thanks


Joanna Swank

JSwank Marketable Concepts
www.jswank.com
info@jswank.com

A small and targeted promotional advertising campaign would work very well for you. People like free stuff. Flyers and business cards don't always make their way to the decision maker and often end up in the trash. A promotional item has staying power and will keep your information in front of your potential clients for a lot longer than a biz card or flyer. For a company such as yours, I would recommend either custom imprinted calendars, or even a magnet would work well for you since you're a service related company. I have a plumbing company that puts together a promotional packet for every house call they make. They leave a pen, pad, magnet and a chip clip or some other type of promo item and they have these small bags that they put them all in. I believe the total cost of the giveaway is around $2-$3 per bag. The customers love them and it keeps his logo and his name in front of those customers all year round.