methods of advertising

[bolton78]

(admin hope this is in the right place)

I have just recently opened my own company as i sub contractor machine shop,I already have a few on going contracts with people i got to know over the years,but i would like to get new customers,i was just wondering what you guys reckon is the best way to get other potential customers

thanks

[planebuilder]

I am in a similar position. I have a 4'x8' heavy duty router and Hypertherm 1250 plasma. I’m
thinking there must be some clever, unique, idea out there that we can use. I want to cut a
sample of various metals, in various shapes, to show the quality and potential of our service. I’m
sure there are some jobs out there, and that the owners of those jobs don’t know our type of
cutting could be applicable and help them.
I thought I could cut the target customer/company’s name or logo out and give it to them. It
might stay on their desk as a constant reminder of us. It would be a lot of work if there are many
potential customers. Another thought is cut my logo/name & phone # or URL, much easier, once
programed I can cut multiples. But they may not want it in sight in case their customers see it
and go direct.
What if we can come up with a “fun” 2D or 3D puzzle or something artsy that gets the message
across, it might stand a better chance of being on display.
Also I take pic’s of almost everything I cut and put it in an album. Eventually I want to add the
album to the web site. You never know who will look it over and see some idea, put it with one
of their ideas, and call you with a new idea!
Any ideas?

[ImanCarrot]

Coffee Mugs. Scribble paper pads, calenders, diaries etc...all with your name and details on it.

I know a tooling company that sends out end mills with jelly beans and mints with their name on the packaging, but the guys in "goods in" steal them before I get my hands on them lol.

The same company hosts a golf tournament every year and invites customers.

I've had memory sticks with demos of company product posted to me, I watched the stuff then deleted it, but I still have the stick with their name on it (you can buy them for buttons).

One company behind my shop has a 20 foot long "blimp" advertising his car repair shop- you can see it from 1/2 a mile away!

[ViperTX]

Personally, you're approaching this from the wrong end.

Your approach should have been..."What do companies in my area need?"

Just think about it...if you're a company that manufactures bed frames...do you have a need for someone that offers laser cutting services or plasma services.....hmmmm...most likely not, but if you have a Shopbot or equivalent and show the bed frame manufacturer how to customize its bed frames to fit the interests of the consumer...then maybe you have something that will fill an unanticipated need.

Paul

[leo zhu]

Hi, that is great. I support u

[zamquest]

Hi, that is great. I support u

5 star post

[aiyana]

HI ! Now a days 2 method is popular to advertising direct marketing and online marketing................

[DouglasR]

Bolton:

I strongly suggest what I call "shoe leather day." One day a month, I get my business cards and a printed facility list and drive to every industrial park within 1 day's drive of my office. I always come back with something.

I tried online services (a disaster!) as well as ads (just a waste) and NOTHING beats getting out there and "pressing the flesh" and chatting with people.

Work the phones too. Do a directory search of potential users of machined components. You'd be surprised.

Motorcycle, boat, and hot rod shops are always looking for jobs to be run. Packaging firms and makeup companies are good places to look too.

[Astonlee]

I posted this news item on my MCtooling blog last year about “not claiming your business on Google new local business centre/maps”, and I have had several phone calls asking me about the implication, and benefits, as follows:

1. “FREE SERVICE” from Google, unlike their AdWords.
   
2. Google carries out over 70% of all user searches.
   
3. You get a free valuable Google back-link to your site.
   
4. The Google business centre even gives you stats/traffic of where your visitors are coming from.
   
5. Its free high quality advertising.
   
6. Within 2 hours of claiming my entry on Google, my business was in the top position on the first page of Google when searching for: “Tooling suppliers in Derby”
   
7. Its helps local people/business prospects find you “when they have a real need”

So if they want to find potential “new local customer” you should drop everything else this week and get this done a.s.a.p.

Alan

[billj]

I have to second the suggestion from Astonlee about getting your business registered in Google Local (now called Google Places). You don't even need your own website to do so. This only works for your local area though.

If you want to reach a broader potential audience and have a good website you should consider "search advertising", for example Google Adwords. Here's an article to help you think through that: Should I Advertise Online?. There are several companies in this industry that are having success with this.

Bill

[Astonlee]

I have a couple of sites where I display Google Adsense Adword Ads, which I earn money from, and I have use Adword myself for keyword research & ads etc, but I often see a lot of companies wasting their time & money because they do not take the time to set up their Adword ads geographic targeting correctly: I regularly go on holiday to Salcombe in Devon (UK), where there is a small sailing school, and I was recently looking at Canada power boating website templates for some new design ideas for my new site subconeng when I saw this same sailing school Adword ads appearing.
They had a really great looking ad, so I know that they would have paid for clicks from the sites USA & Canada visitor, but not takers!

Alan

[billj]

To Alan's point, geo-targeting your online ads is important, and that is easily accomplished using Google's tools.

In the example given about the sailing school I suspect they were specifically targeted for their ads to be shown anywhere in the UK. So if Alan was in the UK while looking at the Canadian power boating website, it really was correct that he would see the ad for the sailing school. That's actually a good example of the power of geo-targeting: it doesn't matter where the visited website is, it only matters where the person doing the viewing is.

Some machine shops will want to target their online ads to be presented only in the geographic region near their shop, for example if the nature of their typical product doesn't warrant the cost of long-distance shipping. But others will have specialties, strengths or capacity that require them to advertise more broadly. To use an extreme example, if you believe you are the world's best at machining titanium, it wouldn't make sense to advertise only near Peoria.

Bill