advertising in a local paper, good idea?

[Flannigan]

So you landed 15 jobs based off of a lie? Is this something you do often?

So you think me telling people that they get a discount is shady business? I'd love to know what business school you went to, to learn that. If I had called everyone, including the person who won 50% off, and said they get 10% off thats one thing, but I didn't. Please go back to the hole that you crawled out of. rops:

 

[jackwax]

So you think me telling people that they get a discount is shady business? I'd love to know what business school you went to, to learn that. If I had called everyone, including the person who won 50% off, and said they get 10% off thats one thing, but I didn't. Please go back to the hole that you crawled out of. rops:

According to your post noted below, you in fact called every person and told them they won 10% off. You stated a 50% off and 10% off, you did not however state multiple chances at 10% off. Sounds like you are having difficulties keeping track of yourself, whichever that may be.

Thanks. Another thing I did at a car show is raffle off a 50% coupon and 10% coupon. So I called the person the won the 50% and let them know. Then I called everyone else that entered and told them they won 10% off. I think I ended up getting 15 jobs from that show, and only had to give most people a 10% discount. Well worth it imo.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk

 

[Flannigan]

According to your post noted below, you in fact called every person and told them they won 10% off. You stated a 50% off and 10% off, you did not however state multiple chances at 10% off. Sounds like you are having difficulties keeping track of yourself, whichever that may be.

So what is wrong with offering 10% off to everyone? I still gave the 50% off to the person that won. I didn't screw anyone over, I just offered everyone that entered a discount. I really don't know what your problem is buddy.

 

[ride5150]

Im the MAN

 

[ride5150]

groupon?

i think im going to try groupon, anyone try it before?

 

[Flannigan]

Re: groupon?

i think im going to try groupon, anyone try it before?

Unless you are a volume shop it is a waste of time IMO. First you have to give 50% off the service. Then groupon takes 50% of what you make. So you are left with only 25% of what you would have charged for the service. Yes you can upsell some people, but not everyone will want anymore than they paid for. Also you will have to make sure you have the time and man power to fufil all the work. I've seen groupons from a small shop sell to 200 people and the guy couldn't handle it, and another one the guy would have had to work everyday for 6 months to finish them all and he wouldn't even have turned a profit. Just food for thought.

 

[MDetail]

Crown Kote does groupon deals, have a talk with him

 

[CrownKote]

i think im going to try groupon, anyone try it before?

Unless you are a volume shop it is a waste of time IMO. First you have to give 50% off the service. Then groupon takes 50% of what you make. So you are left with only 25% of what you would have charged for the service. Yes you can upsell some people, but not everyone will want anymore than they paid for. Also you will have to make sure you have the time and man power to fufil all the work. I've seen groupons from a small shop sell to 200 people and the guy couldn't handle it, and another one the guy would have had to work everyday for 6 months to finish them all and he wouldn't even have turned a profit. Just food for thought.

Crown Kote does groupon deals, have a talk with him

Yes I did do a Groupon and it has been wildly successful! I sld 145 of them for my level one package... I will post a few links to look over so I don't have to spend 3 hours typing it up again... These links are my posts and I have set them with just the direct post for you guys... There are disadvantages to doing a Groupon but in my mind it is a great way to go about start up ads!

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/36742-2006-audi-a8-l-lookin-sexy.html#post480030
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/36742-2006-audi-a8-l-lookin-sexy-2.html#post480064
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-make-money-detailing-cars/31856-advertising-coupons.html
if you have any more questions please feel free to ask me I will do my best to answer... I do have another going out soon for the same deal... And they are starting up a thing called groupon now that will be introduced in a month or so but I can't say any more than that cause it is a beta...

 

[Flannigan]

Good to know it worked so well for you Chris!!! Do you do all the work by yourself, or have a small support staff? Either way great work!

 

[ride5150]

Yes I did do a Groupon and it has been wildly successful! I sld 145 of them for my level one package... I will post a few links to look over so I don't have to spend 3 hours typing it up again... These links are my posts and I have set them with just the direct post for you guys... There are disadvantages to doing a Groupon but in my mind it is a great way to go about start up ads!

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/36742-2006-audi-a8-l-lookin-sexy.html#post480030
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/36742-2006-audi-a8-l-lookin-sexy-2.html#post480064
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-make-money-detailing-cars/31856-advertising-coupons.html
if you have any more questions please feel free to ask me I will do my best to answer... I do have another going out soon for the same deal... And they are starting up a thing called groupon now that will be introduced in a month or so but I can't say any more than that cause it is a beta...

wow you sold 145 of them? i was thinking like 10-15 haha, just because im mobile and by myself. it would take me 145 days to do 145 cars. im most definately going to try to upsell once i get the customer, especially on a headlight restoration.

so they buy a groupon, and call you to make an appointment?

also, did your groupon just have one price? or did it give an option for different kinds of cars and increase with price? (coupe, sedan, SUV, etc)

 

[Flannigan]

wow you sold 145 of them? i was thinking like 10-15 haha, just because im mobile and by myself. it would take me 145 days to do 145 cars. im most definately going to try to upsell once i get the customer, especially on a headlight restoration.

so they buy a groupon, and call you to make an appointment?

also, did your groupon just have one price? or did it give an option for different kinds of cars and increase with price? (coupe, sedan, SUV, etc)

I know for a fact they have a minimum of 50 for a sale. At least they did when I looked into it.

 

[CrownKote]

Good to know it worked so well for you Chris!!! Do you do all the work by yourself, or have a small support staff? Either way great work!

It is just me! Eventually I will get to a small support staff but it will be something that I will have to be very comfortable with... I am very picky and that sometimes can be a detriment... lol...

wow you sold 145 of them? i was thinking like 10-15 haha, just because im mobile and by myself. it would take me 145 days to do 145 cars. im most definately going to try to upsell once i get the customer, especially on a headlight restoration.

so they buy a groupon, and call you to make an appointment?

Yep 145... They come in streams Remember that up just need to make a light suggestion to them to get them thinking about the "up sale" I don't say things like "So do you want to go with a Level Two or Level Three?"

I start the conversation off like this: "Thank you for calling CrownKote; This is Chris how can I help you?... Well thank you for purchasing the Groupon! Were you looking to set up the first available appointment?... Very good! I can definatly do that day for you. To give you a better idea on how long the detail will take I need to know what kind of vehicle you are having done? Very nice I love Audis! On your Audi do you have any areas you are specifically concerned with? Oh wow you have some light scratches? and a few stains on the carpet? We can look at those for you when you get here and see what can be done. Oh you have looked at our website? and you were thinking about doing a different level? I can do that for you. So with the level two it takes about 5 hours to do. I have you down for a Level two on this date at this time. Do you need directions? Great well if you can't find us please put our number in your phone and give us a call. Thank you so much for calling CrownKote! Have a great day"

That is just a quickie but it gets the point across...

 

[CrownKote]

I know for a fact they have a minimum of 50 for a sale. At least they did when I looked into it.

I could do as little as 5 if I wanted... It depends on price point...

 

[WindyCity]

good advice

your not the owner of windy city detailing by logan square are you? i see that place often haha

No not the same.....I searched like crazy to make sure the name was not in use and after I did all of the legal stuff I drove past their shop!

 

[Flannigan]

I could do as little as 5 if I wanted... It depends on price point...

Thats funny...they told me I HAD to do at least 50 and I think my price was gonna be $150...

On top of the not being able to keep up with the work, I wasn't happy with their communication skills. But still I'm very happy that it worked out for you!

 

[MDetail]

Minimum might depend by the market.

 

[BorisC]

Press releases in the local papers usually work well if done right. And they're free. They need to be educational / informative to the reader, not all about how your detailing is the best as w/ ads.

 

[ballfan4141]

boris c I like that idea. do you mean instead of telling them why you are the best just tell them facts on why you are as far as products and methods.

 

[CrownKote]

Press releases in the local papers usually work well if done right. And they're free. They need to be educational / informative to the reader, not all about how your detailing is the best as w/ ads.

I have never heard of a business being able to do a press release can you please expound on this? I would love to know how this works!

Thanks!

 

[BorisC]

Ok guys, in a nutshell here goes:
Press releases are in the papers all the time. You've probably read them and didn't know it. If you read an article for example about a new business opening, it usually has info about the owner(s), their experience, how much they love the area they work in, how they got started, what they bring to the community, etc.

Or if your reading about the best ways to have great looking grass; you'll get info about how & when to cut, seed, fertilize, water, smoke (I mean... uhhh ), you get the idea.

At the end of the article is basically a signature box, just like at the bottom of a post, this is where you plug your business. Usually something like: Joe Smith is the owner operator of Smith Landscaping and has been in business for 20 years. For more info on keeping a great looking lawn and a free estimate, call Joe at 555-5555.

Most of the time press releases are written by the biz owner themselves. It's kind of tricky b/c you want to promote your service but you must put yourself into the customers shoes and ask from the customers perspective 'what's in it for me?' 'why am I reading this?'. Because nobody cares that you have a 50% off detail special. If they want a deal they'll read the ads, not an article that explains the why use 2 buckets to wash a car. And if you write a release that sounds like an ad it won't get published anyway. NEVER write a release that sounds like an ad, you're wasting your time. You need to educate and/or provide useful information.

The release also needs to be in the correct format. Don't have any typos or grammatical errors. (Don't trust your spell check.) Read your release & have someone else read it to see if it makes sense. Just b/c you understand it doesn't mean someone else will. Just like this post. Makes sense to me but maybe not to the next guy/gal reading it. The editors at the paper will not correct anything in your release, if something is wrong it gets tossed into the circular file.

There's a bit more to it of course. I'm no expert but I've had a number of releases published in the past so I'll try to answer any questions as best I can. If this post were a release this is where I would promote myself:: For more info on getting your press release published get my new book 'Press Releases for Detailers' :coolgleam:

I'll post more as I think of things.