Signs, Flyers, And Business Cards

[Enjoidc]

Look, Im in the same situation you are in, and while time will tell my results, Im very stingy when it comes to marketing.  I printed all the flyers I will need for a LONG time at school this year (20,000, tech fee needs to pay for something) and I try to dodge the law with my signs so that I skirt around where they will pull them.  In my opinion this will be okay because I blanket the edges of town, which is actually pretty busy.  This side of town holds the supercenter wal mart, and my signs outside of it are outside the "pull zone"

But anyways, if you want to be cheap you have to do A LOT more leg work.  For the past few weeks I have passed out fliers to neighborhood A on Monday, B on tuesday, etc.  Next week I do it again.  I have and will save hundreds on direct mail.  Is it as effective?  We will see as I go.  I dont think fliers are as effective as handwritten letters, but I will pass out twice as many if that is what it takes.

Im stingy, and I have time.  If doing XX work means saving X dollars, Ill do it.

Only you can say what will work best for you as you fine tune your marketing. And I can tell you from other business experiences that 10 of five things is always better than 50 of 1 thing when it coems to marketing. Good luck.

[Enjoidc]

...they don't cost a cent.

Not entirely true.  You have to drive to every door, and you have to pay for the phone.  In my situation, Id rather foot it, and door knock as I go when i pass out fliers.  I always knock FSBOs and run down houses.

[joker]

Thanks for all the info guys its great help. I already have another phone line setup for business only so i will be calling as well as putting up signs around town. Cold calling wont be the most effective way but if your fast and efficient with your time i think it will work well in the time to money ratio.

[joker]

Would it be ok to just get black and white flyers made at kinkos and put those in mail boxes?

[fadi]

Never put anything inside the mailbox, that is USPS property. You can put it on the outside, but not inside.

[joker]

Oh yeah? Ok well where does everyone put there flyers when they go door to door? Is it ok to use black and white flyers made at kinkos?

[Nato]

I went out this weekend and printed out several "We Buy House" flyers at Kinkos. They had free color paper to use so I printed them out on bright yellow paper. I printed out 100 for under $10.

I went out in my target neighborhood and taped the flyers on vacant houses doors with packing tape. I also wrote down the address so that I can locate the owners and mail them a "yellow letter".

[Enjoidc]

I print 4 to a page and cut them out.  I don't think you lose anything going down to that size for a door to door flyer, but you gain 4 for the price of 1.

If they have glass doors then there is always a crack to fold and slide them into.  Otherwise roll them up and stick it between the door knob and jam.

[fadi]

By the way, why does everyone adheres to the "secret code" of how a flyer should look like and the format of the content?

I never see anyone use for example an article style flyer with good enough content to sell their business. Every flyer I see has "we buy houses" couple of bullets and a phone number. Thats a major waste for an 8x11 paper.

As far as where you place them, you can place it on the doorknob.

[Doug Pretorius]

fadiz, Richard Roop does something similar to an article on oversized postcards.

The few times I've put out flyers I found that I spent half the time trying to find a place to put the damn thing! Probably 75% of the houses either have no screen door or it's locked, so you can't put it between the doors. Many screen doors around here have an "open ended" handle too, so you can't roll the flyer up and stick it in there.

I can't count the number of times I stuck a flyer partly under a mat or a veranda chair cushion or in a potted plant because there was nowhere else to put it!

If I were to distribute anything door-to-door myself again, I would absolutely, positively, go with custom-printed post-it notes. Peel, Stick, DONE!

[Enjoidc]

fadiz, Richard Roop does something similar to an article on oversized postcards.
Many screen doors around here have an "open ended" handle too, so you can't roll the flyer up and stick it in there.

Actually if you sort of half roll it and put it in there the tension is just enough to keep it in.  This only works with the 1/4 page fliers I use though.  Bigger fliers have no spring and are too big.

Might sound weird....

[Doug Pretorius]

Might sound weird....

No, that makes sense. I never tried flyers that size. And now... well, I'd rather spend an hour calling 50 people who are struggling to sell their homes and buy a couple of houses, then put out 100 or so flyers to people who probably don't even want to sell.

The telephone is still by far the most efficent and cost-effective deal-finding tool available, IMHO.

[Enjoidc]

Hey its good exercise! :D

[fadi]

There is a local company that tapes their flyers right above my garage door leaving it hanging over the door. It always grabs my attention and it is orange, so I had to read it to make sure it was not a citation.

[Doug Pretorius]

Hey its good exercise! :D

LOL that's true How many deals have you done thanks to flyers?