Advertising on a budget

Hi Guys, This is my second year in business. I'm am doing pretty good so far but the biggest thing I need right now is volume. I made the mistake of not having a lot of money set aside to advertise my new business at start so it was a little slow the first year. This year was better but I still am just keeping bills and help paid and I don't have a lot to advertise.

Do you guys have any tips for getting that volume?

Here are a few things that I did: I spent $2,000 on radio ads and nothing, another $1000 on newspaper and got enough to pay for the ads but that's it, also i spent $900 on Google ads in my area. Again I got a few from that but not much. That pretty much cleaned me out for advertising funds. After that I just went door to door on businesses looking for commercial stuff. Thankfully I got one that now pays for bills monthly. Of course I leave cards everywhere I can as well.

I haven't tried coupons (like Valpak) or Groupon, TV ads, or mailings. Any ideas? Do any of these work?

Thanks

One old stand by is door hangers for the neighborhood where you have a cleaning job. Another is to ask your customers for referrals. Offer them a discount on future cleanings. One guy I knew used to throw out handfuls of business cards at sporting events.

Gabe...sent you a PM

You have already spent more than me for the last 5 years, but I am an odd duck.

I did have good luck with door hangers this past year and it generated a lot of returns in new market areas for me. Others have had vastly different results and some areas have rules against soliciting, so be aware of that.

I like the simple approach, just remind yourself that you are the business and that means 24/7 365 days per year. Always carry a stack of cards and leave them everywhere you go in a given day. Drive the van around even when not working and make sure it has a logo and number on it.

My best advice is talk to the real estate agents in town. Give them a card and offer discounts on sale prep cleanings.....emphasize that you can restore a carpet instead of needing to replace it. Then leave a card in the closets of those homes or on the fridge....the new owners will call you in the Spring as well.

That should get the snowball rolling......

Rob gave some excellent advise on your question.
My answer : it depends on where you live and what's the median income of the residents, the reason why is if the median individual income is 50 grand or more, you're not going to be successful advertising in valpak or Groupon or pennysaver, most people wouldn't look at those, so before I can answer your question, I need as much info including the demographic of your area you serve.

Thanks for all the info guys!

ohhh...

I think u need to start local buisness advertisement with some major platforms..like (website, mobile apps)

To really answer that; more info about your area is needed.
Angie's list works well in large metro areas. But not in my rural area.
I suggests postcards to professional offices, churches, and yes; target nice property managed properties.
Snd 100 cards to pro offices; schedule 1-2 and get $200-400/job
Send out to abunch of cards to churches = $300-1200/job is what I get.

Then do it again. Tell them "your the one to call"!
I put on the cards:" We know how to clean commercial carpet, like yours"
OR, " We know how to clean carpet in church's; 1000's of sq ft every year".
"We clean professional office carpet like your all the time"

There's a couple great free ways to advo on the internet.

But again you would need to answer DP's question.

Don't waste your money anymore on print advo I'd say,

You didn't mention if you have a website. That is our best source for customers and best ROI.
Consider networking groups such as BNI and Chamber of Commerce.
Do you have a niche in your area. We were one of the first to promote encap in our area and we probably do at leats $20k in commercial encap per year.
When dealing with real estate, we promote our carpet stretching and repair and pet deodorization because those are problems for realtors.
Find an problem that you can take care of and promote that you are the customers answer to solving that problem.