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Post your windshield repair tips, questions, advice! Note there is a sub-forum specifically for business development questions.
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justdoit
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Fleets and Dealerships

Post by justdoit »

i'm looking for the best ways to market windshield repair. yellow pages, newspaper, biilboards , etc...? i'm on a tight budget and want to get the most bang for my bucks.
DaveC

Hmm.....

Post by DaveC »

While there are definately other participants at this forum with much more experience in this particular business, and probably much better advice, I can at least share my personal experiences/opinions:

1. Letter your vehicle. Vinyl graphics are relatively inexpensive, 100% advertisement write-off and you now have a "rolling" billboard.

2. Pound the pavement!!!! While I have all of the equipment/capabilities to change my oil/rotate my tires, I frequent the local oil change/carwash/tire places and pay them to do it for me. As soon as they see my graphics, they generally ask me about the WSR and I advise that as long as they refer business, they will receive incentives.

Case in point: Last week, I paid $50.00 to have my dually's (with the graphics) tires rotated/balanced at a local tire shop (very high volume running 20 bays). Wound up fixing the manager's WS for "free" and am now receiving an average of three referrals per day from this shop alone.

Just some food for thought;)
gold star wsr
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Post by gold star wsr »

Best advertising money I have spent is having my truck lettered. It has paid for itself many times over in the past several years. If I had it to do over, though, I would have done it BIGGER & BOLDER ... the extra cost would have been minimal compared to the attention it would get.

I also publish a local business directory annually that is mailed to the entire rural area I live in ... 4 zip codes ... fewer than 2,000 postal customers. The directory actually pays for itself because other businesses pay for their ads to be in it... so my information goes out for free. In fact, this year, we (my publishing partner & I) managed to pay ourselves a small amount & also put some aside for seed money for next year's directory.
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justdoit
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Post by justdoit »

thanks guys. do you put much money into the yellow pages ?
ChipDoctor

Atlantic Windshield Repair

Post by ChipDoctor »

We have been in business since 1996 and haven't placed an ad in the Yellow Pages since 1997. Unless you can afford a full page ad, yours will probably be lost behind the full, half and quarter page ads of the large glass companies.

The Yellow Page costs are enormous and the returns are poor. Too many of the calls are just price shoppers.

These days, a large percentage of people go onto the Internet to search for vendors. A good web site will be a much more effective tool to allow customers to find you. The cost is usually extremely reasonable.

Regards,

Mike Burstein
Dominion Windshield Repair Inc
http://www.ChipDr.com
Coitster
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Anyone from the Dallas Area?

Post by Coitster »

I think Billboards won't work and you will waist a lot of money. Because so few people know the windshield repair is free with insurance you really need to teach people about it. One on one or haveing a chance in a sales letter is really the best way to go. To start off try talking to people about what you do. I get a lot of responce from my shirts that say Free Windshield Repair "Ask me how" on the back. Remember most people don't know its free.
David
Coitster
cracker

Post by cracker »

If you do internet the right way you can get a tremendous amount back on your investment.

Don't spend a bunch of money having a website built if you can't get it place on the top page of the search engines. There are a lot of cool websites that will never get noticed because of that reason alone. On the other hand there are some pretty basic sites in this business that are making wsr people alot of money.

I know this from experience. You also can take advantage of search engine placement without a website.

I have recently started marketing top search engine placement for local business people because of wsr.

You can get a basic website/contact page built and get into one of the top positions on almost all search engines starting at around $400. That covers the whole mess for the first year. Less money if you don't want a website.


See ya
Cracker
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Post by cracker »

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