Deck Renewal Update

As promised...

The results from my deck renewal classified ad:

Five days in a paper with a circulation of 75,000 dispersed over 9 fairly affluent towns:

Zero. Zip. Zilch. Not a call.

Now...does this mean that it won't work?

Of course not. If I wanted to pursue this, I'd market it like any other business until I found the customers I needed.

Maybe I'd advertise in a different paper. Put flyers up. Put together a joint venture with a landscape company. Find referrals.

It takes TIME and dedication. Nothing happens overnight.

John

....people buy "How To Do It" Reports!

To SAVE the TIME and TESTING it takes to get orders!

However....I've found that most people "OnLine" are "cheap" and unless the "How To Do It" Report is less than $50....they'd rather try and doit themselves!...and, if they decide to continue, windup spending a LOT more than $50....and then they don't come up with the "RIGHT" ads or sales materials that has worked for the person selling the Report.

Don Alm


My Unique Home-Based businesses

didn't you say in your May 13th post that when you placed your ad, your phone was "SWAMPED with calls"??? Well, If you go back to John's post on May 15th you will notice his newspaper ad he showed us he was going to run was VERY similar to yours! How can you explain how you were "SWAMPED" with calls versus the fact that John did not receive even ONE call???

If what you said was true about getting many calls on your ad, then does it stand to reason that John should have gotten AT LEAST one response?

Just makes me start to wonder about your original post that got this whole thing started...

> ....people buy "How To Do It"
> Reports!

> To SAVE the TIME and TESTING it takes to get
> orders!

> However....I've found that most people
> "OnLine" are "cheap" and
> unless the "How To Do It" Report
> is less than $50....they'd rather try and
> doit themselves!...and, if they decide to
> continue, windup spending a LOT more than
> $50....and then they don't come up with the
> "RIGHT" ads or sales materials
> that has worked for the person selling the
> Report.

> Don Alm

> didn't you say in your May 13th post that
> when you placed your ad, your phone was
> "SWAMPED with calls"??? Well, If
> you go back to John's post on May 15th you
> will notice his newspaper ad he showed us he
> was going to run was VERY similar to yours!
> How can you explain how you were
> "SWAMPED" with calls versus the
> fact that John did not receive even ONE
> call???

> If what you said was true about getting many
> calls on your ad, then does it stand to
> reason that John should have gotten AT LEAST
> one response?

Not at all.

Advertising is a funny beast.

The same ad can totally FLOP in one location within the paper and work gangbusters in another.

Don didn't say WHERE within the newspaper his ad ran, and neither did John.

My own local paper has two different places where this type of ad could be placed...

One place for tradesmen & trade-like services and the other for anyone who wants to advertise (general) - including tradesmen & trade-like services who do not want to spend the Extra Money to be listed with the other trades.

One is called the Service Directory (fancy name) and the other is the General Classifieds.

I make it my business to watch both sections to see which people repeat their ads. Not only does it give an indication of which section is more viable for the different advertisers, it shows, to some degree, which 'services' people are buying at the moment.

For instance: During the Summer months, the ads for Cleaning-type Services are repeated every week. Once the Spring/Summer season ends, those ads do not repeat.

And it makes perfect sense because Spring/Summer down here is viewed by many as 'Spring Cleaning' time. After Spring/Summer the market dries up.

In the 'services' section, removalists are a constant. Within the 'general' section, removalist ads come and go from week to week as different removalists Test the section, find it does not work and leave.

On top of this, there is the question of Decks being used in the area. No decks, no market, right?

My city has an extreme lack of decks. So any ad would probably not pull at all.

Maybe Don lives in an area of high deck usage and John lives in an area like mine with almost no deck usage.

And then there is also what the people in the area are trained to do when needing certain services.

Do they automatically pick up the Yellow Pages or look through the local paper?

Are there any Deck Installation services in the area - no Deck Installers should indicate a lack of decks.

Are their geographic and climatic reasons why decks would need renewing in one area more than in others.

What was the weather like while the ads were being run? People aren't going to look for lawnmowing guys while it's snowing, or for snowshovalling guys in the middle of Summer.

Was there something else distracting the people while the ads ran? Spiderman and Star Wars perhaps?

Maybe in Don's area a company had run a few large space ads near the front of the paper, which educated the locals to the possibility of deck renewal. Once those ads were gone, the people, who now knew of deck renewal, would look elsewhere.

There are Many Variables to consider besides running the same ad.

Michael Ross.

I am NO LONGER giving away "ALL MY SECRETS FOR FREE"!

I am sorry....I felt that by "prompting your brains" about the "Deck Renewal" biz would be "enough"!....and I did NOT feel like giving away ALL the "inside" stuff.

The ACTUAL Ads and Marketing program that is getting me....THREE orders a Day...for BIG buckos (we have also added "House-Washing", "Gutter Cleaning" and "Roof Washing")....operating with TWO men....I am NOT giving away on these forums.

I learned back in January, with my "Daily Specials Boards" that I gave enough info away that allowed MANY people to go out and give the program a try and do well with it.

No more!

If you'd like to have info on my latest program, "How To Make $1200 A Day...Renewing Decks" ...send me an email.

Thanks....Don Alm

Hi John,

Congratulations on at least advertising.... At the very least, you learned something from the experience.

I noticed there were some things Don Alm didn't clarify in what he did.... For example, he didn't say if his ad was a classified ad or not. Or even which section of the paper it was in.... He may have placed a space ad (rather than a classified), for example. Classifieds are very cheap, but space ads, while they cost more, will generally get more "eyeballs" to read it (because it's much more noticeable), and you can put in more information there to "sell" them on your service as well....

By the way, I'll share with you a little "check list" of things I like to consider when starting a new business project. I like to make sure I've thought about these things....

Target Market: Who are you targeting? Can they afford the thing you are planning to sell to them? Do they want it? Is this group easily contactable (through advertising, etc.)? Is there too much competition in selling this product already, and if so, do I have some advantage over them, so that people will buy my stuff instead?

Product Source: Where will you get the product to sell? A wholesale supplier? Create the product yourself? Joint-venture with someone who already has a product? Or sell a "service" and use your own time?

Lead Generation: Where will you get your leads from? Advertise in a newspaper or magazine? Referrals? Look them up in the Yellow Pages? Direct mail? Ezines? Search engines?

Sales Generation: How will you convince them to buy? Will you use face-to-face selling? Or sell over the phone? Or send a sales letter? Or sell through a web page? Use eBay?

Order Taking: How will you process orders? Cash? Checks? Credit cards? Use an order-taking service? Paypal?

Product Delivery: How will they get the product? Will you deliver it personally? Through the mail? If it's a digital product, will they download it from a web site? Or get it through email?

Customer Satisfaction: How will you ensure they are satisfied? Money-back guarantee? Contact them later, to ensure they are happy with what you provided?

Problems: What problems could arise from this business idea? Can you find any solutions to them?

Anyhow, it sounds like a lot, but I think you need to think about all these things in order to help ensure success.... A failing in ANY of these areas could mean your business idea wouldn't succeed.... It's always better to think of such things earlier, rather than later....

I actually list these headlines in a document, and fill in the details under each headline. This ensures that I've thought about each of these things, and haven't left any of these important items out.... (It doesn't take long to do.)

Here's a quick run-down of how the deck renewal idea looks....

Target Market: Obviously, people with decks! You'd have to check if there's already a lot of competition for this in your area, and if there are plenty of people close by with decks that need renewing....

Product Source: Order the deck renewal product over the internet or wherever you can get it. Essentially, here you're selling your own labor and skill.

Lead Generation:

I think this one needs some thought.... Is there a way to get a list of people in a local area who own decks? Maybe from others in your area who also sell products or services to deck owners?

(This also suggests another business - if you can get a list of deck owners in a local area, it's a list you can sell to people who are doing the deck renewal biz themselves.)

Of course, newspaper advertising is a way to get leads too.

Sales Generation: I wouldn't try to sell them from an ad, I'd just use the ad to generate inquiries.... For something like deck renewal, I'd try to sell them over the phone or face-to-face in person.

Order Taking: Cash in hand would be preferable, possibly checks.

Product Delivery: Since this is a service business, you have to go to the client's deck to perform your service.

Customer Satisfaction: I'd probably give them a follow-up call a few days later to be sure they are happy with their "renewed" deck. This could help prompt them to refer their friends with decks to you for your service.

Problems: Liability seems to be the main problem - you need insurance coverage (as Mike Rodman pointed out).

After you've done several of these lists, you'll notice how some business ideas have much more potential than others....

Nothing is a guarantee of success, of course. There's no substitute for DOING it! But this can help weed out the ideas with less potential earlier.... :)

- Dien Rice