Advertising Your Biz In Papers & Newsletters

[Fiver]

Do any of you who do lead gen/SEO/misc run ads in local papers or newsletters. Just wanted to know how effective those methods were for others.

I remember running an ad in the Penny Saver for my web design biz years ago and I think I only got 1 call for the whole month. Big waste of money for me.

What has your experience been? And where do you get most of your clients?

 

[Grindstone]

And where do you get most of your clients?

I don't fuck around in that market anymore but when I did I'd just rank #1 for "location industry" and field calls/contact requests that came in that way.

I found that positioning yourself as a web expert selling web services to local businesses, it's hard to portray the value of your services if they find you through traditional advertising. YMMV.

inb4 boxcar graffiti links...

 

[jryan54]

Hey Fiver,

I operate in the seo niche and local ads are total crap. Most people dont understand anything about what we do and it takes a bit of education to get them to understand. Not really translated well through small local ads.

I find one of the best ways to grab clients is to jump on meetup.com and look for local business meetings/groups and go along and network. I dont overtly sell anything but do explain what I do WHEN asked about it. I swear doing one meeting a week flooded me with clients after about a month. From that point on its all word of mouth mate.

Most B2B transactions like this have a certain comfort level to reach before they pull the trigger. Remember also that these guys get spammed constantly with fucking vindahar and rajesh selling their shitty seo services so are fairly gunshy of it all.

Anyway hope that helps. Feel free to PM me if ya want any advice.
Cheers

 

[BlueYonder]

OP, I worked at a community newspaper chain for years. Penny Savers are mostly read by local people interested in buying/selling cars, running ads for missing cats, clipping coupons for haircuts, etc. I don't think it's the right venue to advertise tech services targeted to business owners.

I'd check out the local chamber of commerce and start networking with the business community. Here, look at this example C of C site. They offer lots of opportunities to network with locals who would probably be receptive to the kind of service you're offering.

Greater New York Chamber of Commerce