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There are plenty of ways to advertise your computer repair and service business. I am just going to touch on a couple I've tried and the effectiveness and ROI of each method. 4x6" Flyers on Windshields I think this has to be one of the worst forms of advertising I've ever used or heard of. Whenever I get a flyer on my car, I will always grab it and quickly crumble it up without even looking at it. Looking at the whole technique in retrospect, I think car flyers are pretty tacky. Unless you are advertising food like a pizza joint or fast food restaurant, you might want to stay away from this method. The only time I would think windshield flyers are a good idea is when there is a big event going on and heavy traffic will follow the event. One example of an event like this would be a big high school graduation. I recently attended a high school graduation and my car got tagged with two flyers. Because traffic was so heavy and it took me forever to get out of the parking lot, I was forced to read the flyers. One was from a sports bar and the other one I don't even remember.The reason the sports bar flyer stuck in my mind is because it was actually printed on glossy 4x6 postcard type paper, so instead of easily crumbling it up like paper, it is still sitting in my car's cup holder.
My final thoughts on windshield flyers: 4x6 flyers printed on regular 20lb paper doesn't work. But if you put a little bit of extra money into this type of advertising and select the right event/location and time, it could be effective. I would not spend over $.25 per flyer/postcard. I flyer'd about 500 cars in the parking lots of Best Buy, Circuit City, Staples, and many office stores and only had one person call. But I know my flyer wasn't the best. I'd only give it another shot at a big event and I'd have a more colorful flyer. 8.5x11" Flyers on Local College Bulletin Boards I really like this method of advertising. Most colleges have between 5-10 bulletin boards and you can generally get a flyer on each one for free. All you have to pay is a couple of cents to print out the flyers. Make sure you take the flyers to the student activities department so they can be officially authorized and posted. I've posted up flyers once so far. And for the price of about $.05 I've received one call that resulted in a $70 job. That is an excellent ROI. Some tips for college flyers: Go down to Staples and buy some colored 24lb paper and print your flyers on that. I like using Wausau Astrobrights green paper for this. It's a really bright and good looking color that stands out well when it is posted right next to a bunch of white paper flyers. Be sure to add a little clip art image onto the flyer somewhere to call some more attention to your flyer. At the bottom of the page, add a bunch of vertical tabs with your business name and phone number on them so that people can pull off a tab and take your number with them quickly. This will ensure that your ad stays up longer because nobody will take the whole flyer just to get your number. It's also a great way to track the effectiveness of your flyer as you can go down to the college later and see how many tabs have been pulled off.Networking Networking isn't really advertising but it is a form of promoting yourself. And I've found it to be the most effective way to get more business. Networking is the process of talking to people and getting your name out directly. Business mixers hosted by your city Chamber of Commerce are a great way to network. Show off your personality and let people know what you do. If they like you and they have your card, that is all you have to do. Direct Mailing Direct mailing is just how it sounds: mailing stuff to people. I know that I am very receptive to direct mailing. Since I registered my business, I've been flooded with business targeted advertising and I've taken the bait twice. I will be doing repeat business with both of those companies that contacted me through direct mailing. The key to direct mailing is to make sure your target reads the message and to hook them either with a compelling message or a deal that will make them consider leaving your mailing on their desk instead of throwing it straight into the trash. I am going to start my direct mailing postcard campaign tomorrow. I'll be posting up a case study on that once I start getting some results in. These are just a couple of advertising techniques that I've tried with varying success. I'll be sure to post more details on the effectiveness of each campaign in the future. When you do start advertising, remember to ask every customer how they heard about you so that you will know what forms of advertising are working and what is not working. If you have any questions or comments about this article, please leave a comment below. I'd love to hear your opinion and I really appreciate all comments. If you'd like to be notified of new updates, please consider subscribing to the ProPCBiz RSS Feed. Thanks for reading!
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