going it alone?

[rolty_gti]

well after the last year and a bit of being fed up of being taken for a mug by the flooring contractor i subby for i have finally given them the elbow!
all just got a bit to much was gettin stressed about them taking the mick over rates of meterage etc.and to many foreigners in the game, yesterday i said bye bye!
i'm currently looking into working for myself doing home improvements with my bro.
offering decorating,tiling,flooring etc.
just looking for some advise on best ways to advertise?
got the tools, got the know how just need some pointers on promotion more than anything!

any help would be appreciated

thanks guys

[Blazing Storm]

Have you thought about advertising on places like Facebook and Twitter? Set up a page and you can post recent photos of completed jobs showing the quality of your work and post customer feedback etc. Worth I go I feel as a lot of businesses are adopting this strategy now.

Get your business cards out there, too, and drop them through people's letter boxes. Could even see if you can leave some at DIY shops or anywhere else that's relevant.

Just my 2 pence.

[scarr89]

Local shop windows, post office etc. Local weekly/monthly/quarterly mags.

My old man recently started up a upholstery cleaning business and advertised 10% for 3 months when quoting XYZ from this monthly newspaper that gets delivered around my village. Got a lot of hits with this and then loads of jobs. You'd be surprised what people will buy if you give em a discount  

[rolty_gti]

thanks lads!

i've got some business cards on the way, and i have thought about doing the social media pages, so will definantly give that a go!
i'm also gonna design a a6-a5 flyer and get a few thousand handed out around the local area through peoples doors etc.

i am currently re-designing the website which will hopefully be done in a few days.

local magazine ads sound like a good idea, not sure what mags we get round here tho lol   

[scarr89]

The local mags worked out quite costly, just under £500 for a years advertising in one, 6 issues. The money has been recovered though!

[Sam]

could always do what my mate did and steal all your favourite clients off your old company 

[Toby]

Checkatrade.