Hi,

I am currently considering an ad in YP. I have heard lots of neg feedback from fellow plumbers that they get very few calls from their adverts.

Can any tradesmen out there give me some feedback on their experiences, advert costs, sizes, directories etc... Sheff, Roth.

Thanks

Sam
Dearne Domestic Plumbing

That depends on what the nature of your ad is.

If (as I would suspect) you competitors ad just says

"Plumber - Blogs & Son Est 10 years - Free quote
Phone number, website etc"

They will get NO replies - why ? because it doesn't give the potential customer any reason what so ever to ring them.

What the ad effectively says is
"we are here - we think we are brilliant so ring us.."

When constructing an ad - you must give the punter a reason to contact you. (A free quote is no good - why would I want to pay for someone to tell me that I need my drains unblocking)

I would prefer not to discuss more online but this is something we are working on. (No I am not a plumber..)

Feel free to PM is you want to exchange ads/Proof test each others.


PS This doesn't apply to big corps who just have an ad for status & regardless of cost

Not worth the cost in my opinion. Tried it in the past. Youre basically competing against the large companies and large emergency plumbing providers in YP. However, I have noticed the large number of plumbing/gas adverts recently , maybe thats due to the Rotherham 'training schools' ;) A very small number of customers found me via YP....

Best thing i did was to look at my local area. Most people want a decent,honest, and reliable local tradesperson. I got leaflets, cards, etc out in my area. There was a 'lag' time after doing that but then work came in. You'll be surprised at the number of places that you can leave a card. That led to 'word of mouth' recommendations and more work.

Also, always sell yourself for free!! How many estate agents, landlords, letting agents are in your LOCAL area. Call and see them.

Use other building contacts. If i see a builder/spark etc i will stop and pass on my card and vice versa.

Good signwriting on your van will pay for itself (although my current van is still plain white as my last one was vandallised :mad:)

If you do decide to put an ad in the YP, do as 'sharpend' suggests.

I advertised in the Yellow pages book and to be honest, the replys I got was very few. In fact, I got more responses from a thread I posted of Sheffield Forum.

SO...I had a brainwave to advertise on Yell.com, this was in March, and as yet I'm still awaiting for my 1st phone call. This for a cost of nearly £400

If advertising in the yellow pages book, If I was you, I would go with a one line ad for £80

Biggest con merchants on earth. I advertised in the book and on 118247 I got absolutely sod all from either of them and I even phoned 118247 and asked for a company in my area of the same nature as mine and they gave me 3 companys other than mine and 1 of them was about 15 miles away.

You would be better off using google adwords.

I suppose it depends on the area you work in - sounds like it's not much use for tradesmen. I have to say though that I get loads of phone calls from people looking for jobs who have just sat with the Yellow Pages ringing companies almost at random. I guess the thing with tradesmen is that people want to use someone who has been recommended to them, because you hear so many horror stories about unprofessional plumbers, builders etc - you want to know you're going with someone who will do a good job, and you just can't tell that from an ad in the YP - I certainly would never find someone that way.

I certainly would never find someone that way.

Thats the way to look at it .... If you were you looking to buy what you sell - how would you go about it ?

Geddit ?

Also heard stories about directories targeting startup with "amazing offers" -

People who know nothing about marketing think amazing really does mean amazing and get talked into spending £££££'s by the "silver tongued sirens" on the phone...

I have an ad for my buisness and get loads of response, I find Yellow Pages customers are prepared to spend some money unlike local newspaper customers who on the whole want everything for nothing. I spend around £1000 a year with YP and get plenty of work from it, not sure about there internet side of the buisness, never really checked that.

we have hardly ever advertised and are currently snowed under with work! the best ever form of advertising is Word Of Mouth. i do know a gas fitter who did/does advertise in YP and he couldn't handle the amount of work he recieved from this.

i suppose it is the luck of the draw, as some one said, if you were looking to employ your service, what would appeal to you?????

As a mere punter, I'd like to suggest something that has occured to me in the past.

Why don't you get together with a reliable (i.e. not just a mate) electrician, locksmith, anybody who is needed pretty sharpish. Have laminated postcards printed with all your details and ask the punters to place it by their fusebox. share the costs and it's got to be better than YP/Stir or most other advertising or leafletting.

Hi,

I am currently considering an ad in YP. I have heard lots of neg feedback from fellow plumbers that they get very few calls from their adverts.

Can any tradesmen out there give me some feedback on their experiences, advert costs, sizes, directories etc... Sheff, Roth.

Thanks

Sam
Dearne Domestic Plumbing

118118 offer a new service which has worked so so well for me and my business.
PM me if you want some details.