New Business: How to get the initial word out?

I

imported_hockeyplaya13

New member
So I'm starting a mobile business and while I know word of mouth and your reputation are the best marketing tools, you can't get word of mouth recommendations until you've had a few customers. But what's the best way to go about getting those first few customers? I want to do it in a high class way that doesn't give off the impression that I'm marketing to a huge audience and that the people I'm marketing to are just a number, but rather a client.



Here's what I'm thinking so far.

Networking: Start attending local car club meetings and get to know the members.

- Attend local car shows and walk around with my shirt and business cards.

Advertising: I'm going to get two, maybe three big car magnets that have my logo/name, contact info, and a little something about what I do that I can throw on the sides of my truck whenever I'm driving around town. The third might go on the back.

Direct mail? I'm thinking of targeting a few of the high end neighborhoods around and sending out some flyers. I'm up in the air on this one. I think it would be a good way to get my name out and about, and make them aware of me (there are no other mobile detailing services around). But at the same time I'm wondering if that will take away from the high class, professional image I'm trying to portray. It'd be pretty expensive because I'd invest in some high quality flyers, and then have to pay postage. But if I could get one client in each neighborhood, the return would be well worth it. The client itself would likely pay for the expense, and then I could potentially get referrals to that persons neighbors. It would just get my foot in the door.



I'm also thinking of going to local Chamber of Commerce meetings to a) get more insight and advice on starting a business, and business tips and tricks and whatnot and b) to network and ask them to refer me to anyone they might know that is interested in my services.



Any other tips to get the word out in a very professional manner?



Thanks,



Scott
 
Oh, and I forgot to mention I'll be doing free details for friends that I think will be able to get me some referral business. Ex. my girlfriend's dad owns an accounting firm here in Louisville, so I'm hoping to get work from his co-workers. Also, my dad works at Papa John's, and works pretty closely with Papa himself, so I'm going to see if John will let me detail his car for free. That might get me some business with the execs, and then I could possibly get referrals from them, etc...Such is my plan.



Any feedback at all?
 
Want to get the word out? Dont do any shoddy work. Make certain every job you do is one you can be proud of....work with a PASSION! The rest will take care of itself. I would be careful of doing FREE work. It is not really good for the sole. Who works for free? Free work seems to send a statement that who would pay for it anyway....think about it. Let Pappa PAY he has the dough. No pun intended! Do it half off, dont tell him you are a beginner, if you can convince him your NOT. Above all do the best job you can. One cant ask for more than that. Good luck!
 
paintxpert said:
Want to get the word out? Dont do any shoddy work. Make certain every job you do is one you can be proud of....work with a PASSION! The rest will take care of itself. I would be careful of doing FREE work. It is not really good for the sole. Who works for free? Free work seems to send a statement that who would pay for it anyway....think about it. Let Pappa PAY he has the dough. No pun intended! Do it half off, dont tell him you are a beginner, if you can convince him your NOT. Above all do the best job you can. One cant ask for more than that. Good luck!
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Yea, from all the reading I've done around here, doing top-notch work and getting referrals and building a reputation is the best way of gaining clients. But before you can get referrals and in order to build a reputation, you have to get those first few clients. I'm trying to figure out the best way to do that. As for the free work, yea I'll definitely limit it, and it would only go to family/close friends that really I wouldn't charge for anyways, and then only if they could possibly get me referrals in their other networks.



paintxpert said:
Drive a detailed car 99.9 percent of the time. This indeed does help. People ask me how I keep my car so clean....hence, I hand them my card!
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Haha, yea I've thought about that. Going to be washing it a lot more frequently than I used to. I think this, coupled with the car magnets, could bring business.





What about trade shows or other networking opportunities? I'm trying to figure out ways to actually get out and network with people in person. I'm going to make use of the online social networking tools, but nothing is better than networking face to face. So what would be some good groups/meetings to go to? I just am not familiar with them. Just so you know, I'm a uni student studying finance/accounting, so I'd also love to go to any sort of business club meetings or whatever in order to learn and network for that too. I've thought of local car clubs, and then chamber of commerce meetings, but I'm just not aware of what other opportunities are out there.
 
do free for those people who you think will spread word...not your friends! I have detailed for free about 10 cars (15 hour+ each) and NOT ONE had given me any return. I have detailed a boat load for 30% off and those all returned the favor with multiple referrals. I have given out a one FREE detail and he has now set me up with someone whos car I will be doing on monday, and I believe he has a couple more, with more friends!



I just charged retail for a detail and he was impressed and mentioned he has friends, and they all want what he got because they have been getting screwed over from every other detailer in the past...plus he wants my maintanence program for a few cars and bets that his friends will too!



I am done with the free work, and doing less and less cheaper work anymore!
 
Do you have a website? If not, get one. If so, make sure you have blog either integrated into the site or through another provider. Hit all the social media outlets hard. Second, do some of the other things you mentioned, which can be hit or miss honestly.
 
When I started up, I told people like my dentist, doctor, neighbors and parent's friends.



I did my parents cars and after that they told their friends, that got me a few clients. But the biggest boost I got was my dentist, She had her car done, then the secretary, then the technicians. I pretty much did the whole office. After that I began getting calls from other dentists in the same complex.



Word of mouth definitely is the way to go when you start out. Just make sure you are always polite and friendly.



Another little tip I did was, talk to them about their vehicle and paid close attention to their favorite things on/about it. This helped me focus on the areas I knew they enjoyed which kept them very happy.
 
brwill2005 said:
Do you have a website? If not, get one. If so, make sure you have blog either integrated into the site or through another provider. Hit all the social media outlets hard. Second, do some of the other things you mentioned, which can be hit or miss honestly.
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No website yet, but I'm working on it. I plan to have one up and running within the next month. I'm reading a book on social networking right now, actually :) I had already planned to tap into Facebook, maybe Twitter. But from what I've read so far, blogging is pretty important. I could see that. I'll probably try to do it through my own website.
 
local car forums.



I live in a relatively small town, but we still have two different local car forums. Post up before and afters on the forums as kind of an advertisement. Similar to the pro before/afters on here.
 
You can start @ Merchantcircle.com and use there free blog and web set programs. You cant beat FREE!!!! Doe as much BLOGGING as you can. If you know something....play it up. Make yourself standout from the crowd. Identify what it is that you do different, play that up. Paint rejuvenation and scratch removal have been big for me. I am self taught at dent removal....only doing doors now. But still I earn revenue doing all those things. Above ALL stay connected to QUALITY work and efforts. Sometimes if the work isn't great the EFFORT is. If the customer sees that he is impressed. I personally HATE to lose a customer. Unless its a wholesaler, then I might tell him to go to H---. Just kidding.
 
Take what ever job you can get your hands on and let the word spreed. When I was just getting started I had the experiance and know how, but no one new who I was. I took any car I could get my hands on and make it look new. I went above and beyond my first year on some of the crappiest cars in the world, But I put every ounce of passion in them and the rest is history. DO NOT do free work. I did this and it was a mistake. If you are cheap people will think there is a reason for it. Trust me on this. If you ever want to talk fell free to call me.

Barry Theal
 
paintxpert said:
You can start @ Merchantcircle.com and use there free blog and web set programs. You cant beat FREE!!!! Doe as much BLOGGING as you can. If you know something....play it up. Make yourself standout from the crowd. Identify what it is that you do different, play that up. Paint rejuvenation and scratch removal have been big for me. I am self taught at dent removal....only doing doors now. But still I earn revenue doing all those things. Above ALL stay connected to QUALITY work and efforts. Sometimes if the work isn't great the EFFORT is. If the customer sees that he is impressed. I personally HATE to lose a customer. Unless its a wholesaler, then I might tell him to go to H---. Just kidding.
Click to expand...



It is much better to set you blog up within your website. The whole point of blogging is to draw traffic to your site. When it is set up on another domain (I.E. Google), you are simply drawing traffic to their site. Free is fine, but not when it compromises other things.
 
:wavey I'm actually in Louisville as well, so I can understand your frustration. The market here is really odd IMO compared to a lot of other cities.



Good luck out there man, hope it works out for you. Are you going straight full-time or part-time mobile? I am gunning for part-time gigs right now and hopefully in a year or two I can go all in.
 
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