The Floorcovering Institute

Lee:  Maybe I should try to return to your city of????  Tell me again why someone would want to visit Toronto.  Hope to attend anyway since it is Mississauga. I should know soon if that will be possible.

I didn't see to many of the GTA'S finest there.  I guess they should find a place to hold these seminars where the cleaners don't already know everything about Jack S**t.  I guess that is why the cleaning prices are so high in the GTA everyone knows all there is to know.

Allen:  I feel it was well worth the drive.  I donot live close to the real world of the GTA.  It filled alot of voids in areas I thought I already had a good handle on.  Strait answers no beating around the bush.

Mr. Steamer the big companies work on the same premis as you." Bulls**t Baffles Brains"

Mr. Steamer:  It appears that everytime someone attends an educational function in an attempt to broden their horizons there is a problem.  I don't claim like you to be master of all.  Unfortunately when something of interest comes along where their is a chance of learning something new I try to attend.  It all costs money, what you lose  being away from your business and the costs to attend.  If I were a big company I would tell the subs to attend at their own expense so I could reap the benifits, but I am a small company And to try and survive we have to try to make some kind of an attempt to stay on top of things as they evolve.

Allen:  What some don't realize is in this business big companies don't help small companies they use and dispose of them.

Steamer,

I'm not quite understanding you...  you are not provided these items like signing, telemarketing, and advertising?  Or are you writing that from the point of view of a one-man operation? Get cheap customers?  Not for me, baby... and I hope not for you. 

Do you have to send out your own advertising?  And you work for a name brand company? If you do, then I'm a bit concerned over the contract you're on.  I'm not being sarcastic.

Dunno what half page ads cost for you.  Get away from the main cities to the nearest rural area.  Cheaper ads, less competition, more money. A telemarketer around here will work a week for about $800 through an agency.  That's telemarketing, and putting info to a simple database for later reference.  For $800 and phone costs, they don't even need an office of yours to work from.  You get an Excel spreadsheet with names called, addresses, phone numbers, last time carpets were cleaned, and next contact date.  It's brilliant, and gives you information to reuse.

Bump up the response... send one colour A4 mailers with a special offer to an area, THEN have the telemarketer call, "We've recently sent you some information about our service, along with a coupon for one free room clean with every 3 rooms paid for? Do you remember getting that?  We'd like to give you another reason to try our service now: we'll also give (insert special offer here: $10 to your favorate charity, half off carpet protection, a $20 voucher for one of your friends...) if you book your carpets to be cleaned. The best thing about this is... you can book up to 6 months in advance...     <get the point?>

Van signage for me was $600.  That's an expense that'll last 6 or 8 years, so the cost is negligeable in the long run.

Don't think big... think niche.  Guerrilla Marketing.  Check out Jay Conrad Levinson in your search engine of choice.

Or don't.  I've been in it for 6 months and I'm not rolling in it yet.  I didn't expect to be at this stage though.  BUT...winter's finishing.  We've had about 4 days of good weather, and I've already got a full week.  I think we'll be ok.