Advertising - Basic Rules

Hi All.

I've had a couple of positive comments regarding a flyer that I put together for myself that I had forwarded to others. It only took a short time for me to put together, but I have worked (in another life it seems) in marketing and advertising.

There are some very basic points to remember when putting any sort of advert/flyer together. It can be summed up with the acronym AIDA.

A = attention

I = interest

D= desire

A = action

Attention means the headline that they will see first to get them to read on. eg "Window Cleaner Available Now!". It is NOT your name, not at this point in advert. Don't be tempted to see your name in print, thats vanity, it doesn't sell.

Interest. Sell your pitch a bit. What you can do for them, special offers, your USP (unique selling point), why you are the best for them. Not a life story.

Desire. Say something that will make them want to call. I've used the phrase "Clean windows make brighter homes!". Fully accept it's not brilliant but hopefully you get the idea. It could be something that is applicable to your area.

Action. This is where you tell them to call you or contact you somehow. Your phone number. I personally recommend a landline number, if you have one. I think it shows you are steady, stable, solidly based. Anyone can get a mobile number, some sim cards are given away free! Your address would also demonstrate a solid case for them.

It is said "a picture paints a thousand words". However it does have to be a good clear picture, related to your presentation.

There is also an expression in newspaper advertising that "white space sells". Notice that when I type this I have split it into paragraphs. It makes it easier to read. Don't feel you have to fill the whole available space with text.

This is just a quick few points you may find useful when putting something together for yourself.

Just another thing -PROOF READ and SPELLCHECK!! You only have one chance to make a first impression.

Good Good post Vito, following basically the same principals of web design etc you've got to grab a persons attention or it will probably go straight in the bin without being read.

Bit of rep for that one I think, I'm gonna do that more often as I don't think it's done enough.

Very good post mate, would it be possible to see something you have designed as you say a picture paints a thousand words /emoticons/tongue.png

The flyer you sent me vito is the one im using at the moment i will let you know how i get on with it as time will tell .

But at the moment i have gotten all my jobs from knocking . I have put out around 200 so far as a rough estimate .

Very good post mate, would it be possible to see something you have designed as you say a picture paints a thousand words

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As requested. Freely admit not perfect.

Window Cleaner Available Gav b.docx

Do you print them yourself vito? What paper do you put them on ?

I printed off on basic computer printer and sliced up with a guillotine I bought from Lidl!!

Great post vito. Cheers

Excessive marketing and advertising for a sole trader window cleaner isn’t needed. You also shouldn’t be thinking about marketing until you have answered all your questions on pricing what you are marketing for.

If you want £4,000 a month divide that by the number of days you will work each month i.e. 16 = £250 and divide that by the number of customers you aim to service each day – 14 divide £250 by 14 and your average customer price is £17.85.

Now you know you need 224 (£17.85 x 224) customers a month with an averaging price of £17.85, now all you have to do is some homework then go and target your potential customers within a set timeframe (speak to them in person – sales)

A good wfp sole trader window cleaner can walk over small companies with much higher overheads, premises and staffing cost.

Richard

(£17.85 as an average is low)

Excessive marketing and advertising for a sole trader window cleaner isn’t needed. You also shouldn’t be thinking about marketing until you have answered all your questions on pricing what you are marketing for.

If you want £4,000 a month divide that by the number of days you will work each month i.e. 16 = £250 and divide that by the number of customers you aim to service each day – 14 divide £250 by 14 and your average customer price is £17.85.

Now you know you need 224 (£17.85 x 224) customers a month with an averaging price of £17.85, now all you have to do is some homework then go and target your potential customers within a set timeframe (speak to them in person – sales)

A good wfp sole trader window cleaner can walk over small companies with much higher overheads, premises and staffing cost.

Richard

(£17.85 as an average is low)

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Good reasoning and thinking.

I think, maybe, the figures used were for ease of illustration. £1000 per 4 day week would be marvelous!! Especially as a sole trader..

Thanks, reasoning and thinking is a sign of a good self employed window cleaner, if anyone thinks being a good window cleaner is about cleaning a pane of glass, then they might find themselves better off financially working for someone else’s business.

I would say apart from those very few exceptional people; who struggle to clean a window - the definition of a good (self employed) window cleaner is attached to his earnings / hours worked and nothing to do with his ability to clean a window, that’s usually a given and is expected (by all).

How much marketing do you need to gain what is essentially a handful of customers for a one man business? I’m all for the self employed window cleaner, that’s why/who I wrote a book for, keep in mind in all the research involved when doing a book I found less than 20 % achieve what is possible with earnings.

The ease of illustrations (more below) are limitless, whether you think you can do it, or whether you think you cant do it - Your Right – so no argument from me is warranted.

If you want £2,000 a month divide that by the number of days you want to work each month i.e. 12 = £166.67 and divide that by the number of customers you aim to service each day – 12 divide £166.67 by 12 and your average customer price is £13.89.

Now you know you need 144 (£13.89 x 144) customers a month with an averaging price of £13.89.

If you want £3,000 a month divide that by the number of days you want to work each month i.e. 20 = £150 and divide that by the number of customers you aim to service each day – 14 divide £150 by 14 and your average customer price is £10.71.

Now you know you need 280 (£10.71 x 280) customers a month with an averaging price of £10.71.

If you want £5,000 a month divide that by the number of days you want to work each month i.e. 18 = £277.77 and divide that by the number of customers you aim to service each day – 8 divide £277.77 by 8 and your average customer price is £34.62.

Now you know you need 144 (£34.62 x 144) customers a month with an averaging price of £34.62

That's good. Mind you it can all go ***s up with the weather but that looks a good way to me.

It would take alot of time to find 144 £35 jobs

It can sound challenging when only the number of customers and average price are mentioned, and it’s all too easy to say it would take a lot of time, when you are at the starting point.

Does it mean 144 customers priced at £17.50 would take half as long to get? And half the time again if priced at £8.75? And if you increase the marketing, does the time reduce even further? The point your making is valid, but so is saying - I can get 25 new customers next week if I window clean for free, or I could get 1 new customers charge at £35

It doesn’t take that much time, when you look at the number of years you intend to window clean. But if you do decide to take your take and not rush things and gave yourself 3 years from when you start window cleaning to achieve this, you only need 4 new customers a month at £35 as an average.

I have heard it said numerous times it can take 4-5 years to build a decent round, that would mean you need 3 customers a month over 4 years, and 2.4 customers a month if you do it in 5 years.

I will do is an experiment over a 3 month period, using the £35 as a guide and post the results later on in the year.

Richard

a £35 house is a very big house, there are only so many of those within a workable distance, most will already have a window cleaner.

otherwise @£35 you will almost always be overcharging a customer, even if you get them i doubt they would stay for long.

my average house price atm is £8.50, although im trying to raise it to £9.50 avg.

people like making an honest living, even if it means earning less, its not all about making as much money as possible and trying to get as much from your customers as you think you will get away with.

you need to be building a sustainable business, with some customers using your service for 30/40 years.

price fairly, for the customer and for yourself!

£35 jobs are going to be commercial.. Around Belfast there is commercial cleaners everywhere. I started 5 years ago, never took things seriously until about 2 years ago. I am now flat out all day everyday, I just haven't got time to do anything never mind go looking for commercial work. What's your key to successfully getting commercial work? I have no problem walking into a chippy or newsagents to ask for window cleaning, but wouldn't know where to start for cleaning bigger places..

I haven't got much **** work I would be happy dumping and can't really afford to be losing any money at the moment. Bit I do want to earn more money..

when was the last time you put your prices up belfast? just adding a quid to each house can dramatically boost your earnings, even if you loose a couple of customers you will be better off, doing less work for better money

I have only put prices up in 1 area and was only around 20 houses. Lost 1 customer. All new work I price alot better than I did when starting. I do have some more I want to bump up.

a £35 house is a very big house, there are only so many of those within a workable distance, most will already have a window cleaner.

otherwise @£35 you will almost always be overcharging a customer, even if you get them i doubt they would stay for long.

my average house price atm is £8.50, although im trying to raise it to £9.50 avg.

people like making an honest living, even if it means earning less, its not all about making as much money as possible and trying to get as much from your customers as you think you will get away with.

you need to be building a sustainable business, with some customers using your service for 30/40 years.

price fairly, for the customer and for yourself!

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I agree with some of your comments and like your principles, but I cant help but think you are kidding yourself; you’re in business so you have to be more realistic and possibly be more forceful.

Saying that, going from £8.50 to £9.50 is about a 12% increase and probably a 20% on the net.

Richard

(£35 is the averaging price; you could have prices from £15 through to £55)

£35 jobs are going to be commercial.. Around Belfast there is commercial cleaners everywhere. I started 5 years ago, never took things seriously until about 2 years ago. I am now flat out all day everyday, I just haven't got time to do anything never mind go looking for commercial work. What's your key to successfully getting commercial work? I have no problem walking into a chippy or newsagents to ask for window cleaning, but wouldn't know where to start for cleaning bigger places..

I haven't got much **** work I would be happy dumping and can't really afford to be losing any money at the moment. Bit I do want to earn more money..

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Don’t use up all your time with cleaning windows! Put just as much effort into your numbers as you do cleaning. I target particular work/customers and I have a number of compe***ive advantages. I always try and get to talk face to face and importantly get a price/quote in and to the right person.

Richard

But what do you do when all your time is used up cleaning windows?

Time to put prices up - Refine your round and if possible refine your cleaning method/equipment to save time – any free up time that becomes available fill with work over/above your current the average price, do not take on any work below this figure.

Richard