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I used to have a mobile windshield repair business and made a bunch of mistakes. This thread is to help you not make the same. If your business is not windshield repair, you might still notice and appreciate some of my bonehead moves.
Vehicle magnet signs:
I started out with a lot of information on the magnet signs that I pasted all over my car, and I learned this was not smart.
I also learned that going cheap and getting thin signs was a bad idea, they blow right off of the car.
Newspapers:
This was in 2007 to 2011 era and my $45/day local newspaper ads were worthless.
Chip Savers & Ice Scrapers:
When a windshield get's a "ding" in it, the damaged area should be covered by a piece of tape, so I had business cards made with peel-off tape with "Repair Me" written on them. Best marketing ever for this business. I would leave one with the invoice, explaining how it works, I would put one in the glove box, and a third between the driver's seat and center console (so that it would be found weeks or months later). Because I live in cold country, I also had ice scrapers customized. I left one in every car. Because a huge part of my business came from repeat clients, these were great!
Sail sign, apron, VW Bug, hat:
I was a well-known cop in my town, I am 6'2" and kinda known as a man's man, so I went silly. I wore a red apron, a huge straw hat and drove a bright red VW Beetle with sign magnets all over it. I was not "cool" but I was very memorable. Heck, to get attention, I once got a friend who owned a gas station to give me an old gas nozzle with a 2-foot length of hose. I stuck it in my car so that it looked like I forgot to remove it and drove away. I had a 5' tall "sail" that I hooked to the back of my motorcycle, it was bright yellow with red font advertising and could not be missed. (Back then I was still a statist, so I had the government's flag on top
)
If your ego allows, this silly stuff (depending on the seriousness of your business) got me great bang for my buck.
Random postcard mailings:
Nope. Horrible ROI. (Return on investment)
In-person cold call sales:
Darn it. Yep, this was the best. I remain "afraid" of cold call selling, however, it really works. For those that can suck it up and make it happen; it is better than anything else.
I hope some of these gave you ideas of what to do, or more importantly what NOT to do.
This business taught me a bunch, I love messing up and learning from it!
-Shepard
Vehicle magnet signs:
I started out with a lot of information on the magnet signs that I pasted all over my car, and I learned this was not smart.
I also learned that going cheap and getting thin signs was a bad idea, they blow right off of the car.
Newspapers:
This was in 2007 to 2011 era and my $45/day local newspaper ads were worthless.
Chip Savers & Ice Scrapers:
When a windshield get's a "ding" in it, the damaged area should be covered by a piece of tape, so I had business cards made with peel-off tape with "Repair Me" written on them. Best marketing ever for this business. I would leave one with the invoice, explaining how it works, I would put one in the glove box, and a third between the driver's seat and center console (so that it would be found weeks or months later). Because I live in cold country, I also had ice scrapers customized. I left one in every car. Because a huge part of my business came from repeat clients, these were great!
Sail sign, apron, VW Bug, hat:
I was a well-known cop in my town, I am 6'2" and kinda known as a man's man, so I went silly. I wore a red apron, a huge straw hat and drove a bright red VW Beetle with sign magnets all over it. I was not "cool" but I was very memorable. Heck, to get attention, I once got a friend who owned a gas station to give me an old gas nozzle with a 2-foot length of hose. I stuck it in my car so that it looked like I forgot to remove it and drove away. I had a 5' tall "sail" that I hooked to the back of my motorcycle, it was bright yellow with red font advertising and could not be missed. (Back then I was still a statist, so I had the government's flag on top
) If your ego allows, this silly stuff (depending on the seriousness of your business) got me great bang for my buck.
Random postcard mailings:
Nope. Horrible ROI. (Return on investment)
In-person cold call sales:
Darn it. Yep, this was the best. I remain "afraid" of cold call selling, however, it really works. For those that can suck it up and make it happen; it is better than anything else.
I hope some of these gave you ideas of what to do, or more importantly what NOT to do.
This business taught me a bunch, I love messing up and learning from it!-Shepard
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