Is it worth it?

**A.P.D.** · 07-22-2009,ï¿½05:55 PM

Since the economy is not so good, is it really a good time to advertise? I do find alot of detailers are going m.i.a. on the other side we all know salesmen will say anything to make a buck

**Barry Theal** · 07-22-2009,ï¿½06:18 PM

I tried a few things and in all seriousnous nothing has got me more work then word of mouth. I have had some success with craigslist.

**Got More Wax** · 07-22-2009,ï¿½07:44 PM

That`s how I measure how desperate the competition really is - those who don`t normally advertise on Google all of a sudden pop up on the top of the sponsored listings. If the business is not there, it`s not there. If you have a marketing strategy that has historically performed, maybe look at tweaking it rather than changing midstream.

Andy

**Barry Theal** · 07-22-2009,ï¿½08:12 PM

Originally Posted by Got More Wax

That`s how I measure how desperate the competition really is - those who don`t normally advertise on Google all of a sudden pop up on the top of the sponsored listings. If the business is not there, it`s not there. If you have a marketing strategy that has historically performed, maybe look at tweaking it rather than changing midstream.

Andy

Now thats the most truthfull thing i heard. I recently tried google and it was a waste of time and money.

**ohiostate** · 07-22-2009,ï¿½09:35 PM

Word of mouth and craigslist....

**imported_Jakerooni** · 07-22-2009,ï¿½10:09 PM

Any sort of free advertising is really the only way to go right now. Paid ad`s are ridicuolously over-priced and 99% don`t even give you a break even for ROI. Craigslist is a great spot. Kijiji is another for free. Word of mouth and showing up at the local summer events and spreading the word around are all free and key things to be doing right now.. It sucks out there. I know I`m in a huge slump right now. I have a couple of contract gigs I`m working through but my phone hasn`t rang for a customer pay gig in almost 2 full weeks now. Times are tough all over and only the most creative will survive this one I`m afraid.

**Envious Eric** · 07-23-2009,ï¿½12:35 AM

lets just say this weekend at the US Open of surfing I will be walking around in a detailing shirt, dropping flyers all over the place, and hitting every car I can!

**brwill2005** · 07-23-2009,ï¿½05:50 AM

Originally Posted by bufferbarry

Now thats the most truthfull thing i heard. I recently tried google and it was a waste of time and money.

80% of my most recent new business has come from Google searches. IMO, you can not go wrong with the Adwords. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad; which usually means they are actively looking for a detailer. I usually only pay around $1.25 per click. I am using a small target area, so the amount almost never goes above $50 per month. I am also advertising on the online Loudoun County addition of the Washington Post. Because this is a highly read online publication, I get traffic to my site and even phone calls. This cost my about $125 a month. I have started to get away from print advertising. The results are minimal and the ROI is not good at all. If you are relying solely on Word of Mouth, you business will grow very slowly.

**Showroom Shine** · 07-23-2009,ï¿½07:12 AM

Originally Posted by bufferbarry

I tried a few things and in all seriousnous nothing has got me more work then word of mouth. I have had some success with craigslist.

Ther are a slew of FREE advertising sites. Some that you can even display pics. Do a Google search for free advertising. In the meantime check out : Freeads.com,Localads.com,and all the other sites. Craigs list also gets alot of attention. How do you beat FREE?

**Barry Theal** · 07-23-2009,ï¿½05:08 PM

brad thats really cool you have had success with google. did you pay someone for the seo or did you do it yourself? I got the business for sure Im curious on what type of clientle you have gotton from google.

**BigAl3** · 07-23-2009,ï¿½05:49 PM

the way the economy is nowadays, i don`t see why people wouldn`t want their vehicle detailed and kept up (though even that`s hard on some people`s wallet), rather than spend money on a new car that they probably can`t afford in the long run...

**brwill2005** · 07-23-2009,ï¿½06:34 PM

Originally Posted by bufferbarry

brad thats really cool you have had success with google. did you pay someone for the seo or did you do it yourself? I got the business for sure Im curious on what type of clientle you have gotton from google.

The customers I have gotten from Google are good customers. I might note that it is a bit difficult to track whether someone found my site directly from Google Adwords, or from the regular search results. My site comes up fairly high in the regular search results as well. I have listed my business for free on some of the local newspaper`s sites as well. I also have the free listings on Yellow Book.com and SuperPages.com etc. Usually the more sites your site is linked to, the higher you are in the regular search results. I did the ad right through Google and wrote it myself. I too tried it a few years ago, and then gave up on it until this past Winter. You have to be patient with it and target the correct areas. I basically target a 20 mile radius from where I live. I could expand the area, but do not like driving too far. For me, it is good deal because it does not cost much, and the people are actively searching for Auto Detailing services.

**detailingnmore** · 08-01-2009,ï¿½08:16 PM

Business has been off this year for me by about 50% but now is not the time to cut back on marketing. I can`t afford traditional advertising, but spend a lot of time on my website and seo for google. 65-75% of my calls come from my site. You can learn to do it by searching the web. You don`t need to be an expert since many of us operate in a certain market area and you are just looking for local results. I believe in the shotgun approach. I also make flyers, postcards and plaster local businesses, restaurants and vehicles in parking lots as I spot issues. When things start to turn around, I hope they will remember my business.

**FrogKnowledge** · 08-14-2009,ï¿½04:53 PM

Staples is running a special right now $0.05 per B/W copy I put 6 ads per sheet and printed 250 sheets Mon and Tues and placed them all on car windows while people are at work took me 2 full days of sales and now I have tonight all threw next week booked solid I will make about $1300 and only spent $12.50.