Introducing myself

Hello,

I am introducing myself in this forum as a newbie. I recently re-located in Lincolnshire, from London, where I have set up my small business. I will be coming here to ask for advice to become a "local".

In fact, I already have a question: can people tell me what they have found to be the most effective means to promote your small, service-based, business locally, having a small budget to start with? I am targeting private buyers but also SMEs. I am looking at Google adsense by geographical location (e.g. 50 miles radius around my location), Yell pay per click, local papers (but they lack the business classification I need), local directories (freebies posted to all local houses and small businesses) and as many free listings directories like mylocalservices.co.uk

You can click on the link to my website, to see what I do, if you wish

Thanks

Hi Fredmila, and welcome to the forum. Stick around - once you've done 10 posts you can include weblinks.

For myself, the most effective means of promotion is probably tied between simple word of mouth - friends or previous satisfied clients recommending me to their contacts - and online networking such as this forum.

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Welcome aboard.

Online tends to be the most cost effective and its effectiveness is much easily tracked, so you're going the right direction, but feel free to ask specific questions in the sales and marketing forums.

So what line of business are you in?

Blimey, relocating from London to Lincolnshire!! Bet you noticed a difference in house prices

Got friends in Tattershall and Boston, lovely area, but in serious need of a few dual carrigeways!

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cheers Steve
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Thanks, yes at the moment the only way to check my website is to go to my profile and look at the contact tab. Agreed, the only problem with my location is the lack of "proper" roads.

I thought google adwords was more global than local but I guess there are people entering searches like "plumbers grantham".

In my view, the advantage of online promotion is that it is instant. The local directory told me to wait until the September issue to enter my advert and also told me: "Give 4 to 8 weeks to start getting enquiries". Not very encouraging to wait until October/November just to get enquiries.

Is anybody using Yell.com advertising or pay per click? I generally avoid searching there because it is rather bad, it usually finds a lot of things but what I want. And I cannot see that they have such developed technology for targetted advertsing as Adwords.

Hi Fred
And welcome.
Regarding yell.com, as far as I know, it is losing ground fast, when was the last time you looked at yell for any business? PPC is ok, but you do need to have a budget and be very focussed on your keywords otherwise you will end up having loads of clicks that have no interest in what you do, which you are paying for.
Good luck, I have always found word of mouth to be the best for getting new business and using forums and networking events is good for getting to know people and if you help them, they in turn will help you.
Mike

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PPC wise, you can't beat adwords, either local or nationally.

Not heard much in the way of good stuff ref Yell's PPC, have started a thread in marketing and see if anyones had any joy..

http://www.mylocalforums.com/offline....html#post7285

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cheers Steve
Forum Admin - teaboy and general gofer...

Forum Rules and FAQ's at a glance | Find me on Google+ | or even Facebook!

My Local Services - The UK and US Online Business Directory | JobsVitae - Recruitment Help and CV Creation

If you're here to spam, then expect a ban

Thanks again.

What Goeconow said about Yell is what I suspected but I will follow the thread that sjr4x4 started anyhow.

The problem I have had with putting entries in free listings directories is that the only calls I have had are from incredibly pushy sales people promising me the earth for their monthly commission, I mean fee. But the main thing is if I have not heard about these directories, then I guess neither have most other people. It's not like they advertise them like gocompare or confused.com. These directories are only good for picking a few contacts every now and again.

I agree that networking is one of the best ways to generate contacts and work, but this is long term and at the moment I need to pick up a few jobs in the near future.

I keep forgetting to say what I do, as I keep thinking that my website address will appear here. I do CAD design and drawing in various fields like architecture, products and graphics.

The free directory listings may not bring in much traffic but they can help your SEO, if you work on this you can help to bring in some work from search engines Though this won't be much of a quick fix, have a look on these forums for some SEO tips theres a lot of helpful information .

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Welcome to the forum, Fredmila.

There are some good tips here. It seems that no-one has anything positive to say about Yell anymore. I recall a previous thread about this very subject.

I wish you every success with your business.

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PPC Marketing is ideal if you are wanting to target regionally. I am a small business owner and I target a 35 miles radius of my postcode and combined with the correct keywords, adgroups and adtext I am getting decent results and it's not costing me a fortune either!

Stick to the main Search Engines though - Google, Yahoo and Bing. And when you set up your accounts don't have your search and display adverts in the same campaign - set up separate campaigns as it gives you more control

Watch your match type too!

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