# Post cards are working



## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

Finally got our post cards in Monday and spent 2hrs stuffing plastic door hanger's last night. Had an employee hand out about 300 today and had 5 calls before 4pm, not too bad.


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## getsum (Jan 7, 2011)

I have always wanted to do that but am too scared to do it... Thumbs Up time to nut up or shut up i guess


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Buck up and mail them!


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

grandview;1326332 said:


> Buck up and mail them!


I think you get further with the customer's you meet and get talking to, plus I know they were delivered where I want them. We're targeting 3 subdivisions and each year we seem to get a few more.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

That's why I use a mailing company,you pick the area right down to the street.


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## THEGOLDPRO (Jun 18, 2006)

I tie them to rocks and throw them through windows in the areas i want to work in.You are guaranteed 100% of people will call you back with this method.


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

THEGOLDPRO;1326380 said:


> I tie them to rocks and throw them through windows in the areas i want to work in.You are guaranteed 100% of people will call you back with this method.


LOL That was funny! :laughing:


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## thelettuceman (Nov 23, 2010)

Ben: I learn something new everyday !!!! LMAO !!!!!


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## BC Handyman (Dec 15, 2010)

THEGOLDPRO;1326380 said:


> I tie them to rocks and throw them through windows in the areas i want to work in.You are guaranteed 100% of people will call you back with this method.


LMAO:laughing::laughing::laughing: Your very right, I bet 100% will callThumbs Up


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## getsum (Jan 7, 2011)

THEGOLDPRO;1326380 said:


> I tie them to rocks and throw them through windows in the areas i want to work in.You are guaranteed 100% of people will call you back with this method.


JUST SPIT MY BUD LIGHT OUT A BIT HAHAHAHA:laughing: :laughing:


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## R3Dside (Oct 9, 2011)

grandview;1326347 said:


> That's why I use a mailing company,you pick the area right down to the street.


is that a nationwide chain? something that would work for me? or just a local biz. Im looking at the mailer route (to the exact housing divisions i want, not all over town) but havn't decided exactly how to execute it yet.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Check with your Chamber of Commerce if you have one,there is always a local company that does direct mailing. what you do is pick the areas you want then they buy a mailing list .I think it cost around 100.00 for 10,000 addresses. Have a postcard design ,Most of these companies can help you from start to finish. But check a couple out ,prices may vary as to what they mark up.


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## phillie (Aug 24, 2010)

Depending on how much time you have, you could use zillow.com to get addresses. I direct mail for my Lawncare company and it does well, but I only do that for the expensive neighborhoods. Other neighborhoods I use door hangers. Direct mail is worth it but can be expensive, dont expect 1 mailing to get you alot of customers. It takes repeated mailings to the same addresses, at least for me it did.


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## Plow man Foster (Dec 10, 2010)

R3Dside;1335255 said:


> is that a nationwide chain? something that would work for me? or just a local biz. Im looking at the mailer route (to the exact housing divisions i want, not all over town) but havn't decided exactly how to execute it yet.


Im pretty sure vista print does this same thing. Im pretty sure thats what i came across last time i got one of those emails for "FREE business Cards! *just pay $20 in shipping"

Im right they do-do this 
http://www.vistaprint.com/postcard-mailing.aspx?xnid=VisitorHomePage187_183_131&xnav=TsrItem

Click the link for a quote!
For full color postcards, postage for 250 and a targeted consumers list its like almost 200 bucks. ,007 For each contact.

lol I guess where i live we must be really lame or something. Its on .05 cents for each name. Each card came down to .50 a piece im not gonna get them but thats good to know!


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## NickT (Feb 1, 2011)

Subscribed


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

phillie;1338327 said:


> Depending on how much time you have, you could use zillow.com to get addresses. I direct mail for my Lawncare company and it does well, but I only do that for the expensive neighborhoods. Other neighborhoods I use door hangers. Direct mail is worth it but can be expensive, dont expect 1 mailing to get you alot of customers. It takes repeated mailings to the same addresses, at least for me it did.


Your right it does take multiple mailings or in our case door hangings. Honestly, as soon as the calls were coming in they stopped. It's funny around here, people wait to the last minute, I had people calling last year and the year before in the last week of Nov. to schedule from this area. We're still getting calls but now it's more like 1 or 2 a week. Nice thing is, it only takes 1 or 2 customer's to make your money back.


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## phillie (Aug 24, 2010)

Ya, true on the 1-2 customers if you direct mail on a smaller scale like me. One thing to remember is that if you design your own card you have to leave space for the label. I didnt leave enough space and had to cover some of the design so the machine at the post office wasnt messed with by some of the design. I have been doing all of the address gathering, labeling, designing, stamping, and mailing. Its way cheaper to do it yourself but a huge hassle. One day, I'll be able to outsource it. I'm only in year 2 of my business.


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## brianaaron (Sep 18, 2011)

if anyone needs a residential mailing list send me an email. i have an unlimited salesgenie account. i can pull anything you need and i will do it for free, well i may ask some advice.


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## x.system (Aug 3, 2009)

I was in my local bank a couple weeks ago where I have my business account and the teller tells me they are promoting local business's and ask if I would be interested in doing a display. I said sure, ran down and had 500 flyers made up in about 30 minutes, took those and around 300 business cards in to her the next day and she set it all up. I got a cleanup job the same day she set it up and have had calls almost every day. Got about 20 new snow accounts all within 3 miles of the shop. I went in today to get my leftover cards and flyers and she says they are all gone. I am expecting a lot of last minute calls or calls when it gets deep.


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

x.system;1354827 said:


> I was in my local bank a couple weeks ago where I have my business account and the teller tells me they are promoting local business's and ask if I would be interested in doing a display. I said sure, ran down and had 500 flyers made up in about 30 minutes, took those and around 300 business cards in to her the next day and she set it all up. I got a cleanup job the same day she set it up and have had calls almost every day. Got about 20 new snow accounts all within 3 miles of the shop. I went in today to get my leftover cards and flyers and she says they are all gone. I am expecting a lot of last minute calls or calls when it gets deep.


Good for you! Thumbs Up A major factor in advertising is repetitive mailings, radio ads etc. We're still getting calls here and there and just as I expected the last of our usual customer's called yesterday and the day before to set up plowing, we've already been out salting one time and had plowable snow a few miles south of us. We ended up picking up 3 new plowing customer's and a few fall clean up's out of it. One clean up took care of the price for the cards x 4. I was hoping to pick up a few more plowing customer's but each year we pick up 2-4 more in the same area. Price of cards-225.00, expected income from signed customers and fall clean ups 3k...not too bad.


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## chs1993 (Nov 12, 2006)

R3Dside;1335255 said:


> is that a nationwide chain? something that would work for me? or just a local biz. Im looking at the mailer route (to the exact housing divisions i want, not all over town) but havn't decided exactly how to execute it yet.


Vista Print also offers it and there post cards are pretty cheap! I have had good success with them. I get all my printing done by them only neg is it takes like a month to recieve a order.


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## Remstar (Sep 4, 2011)

chs1993;1356324 said:


> Vista Print also offers it and there post cards are pretty cheap! I have had good success with them. I get all my printing done by them only neg is it takes like a month to recieve a order.


Stop being so cheap and pay for 7 day shiipping.iorder from them all the time and everything comes quicker than I could get it done locally.


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## DodgeBlizzard (Nov 7, 2003)

Go to your local post office. I had a bunch of postcards made from vistaprint and then found out later that the post office will work with you now on different postcard distribution options. But the postcards I had made were the wrong size for them and the plan they were offering. So before you get them printed, talk to your local postmaster first.


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## DuraBird02 (Oct 26, 2011)

Brian Young;1354857 said:


> Good for you! Thumbs Up A major factor in advertising is repetitive mailings, radio ads etc. We're still getting calls here and there and just as I expected the last of our usual customer's called yesterday and the day before to set up plowing, we've already been out salting one time and had plowable snow a few miles south of us. We ended up picking up 3 new plowing customer's and a few fall clean up's out of it. *One clean up took care of the price for the cards x 4.* I was hoping to pick up a few more plowing customer's but each year we pick up 2-4 more in the same area. Price of cards-225.00, expected income from signed customers and fall clean ups 3k...not too bad.


One clean-up was $900? What did you clean-up?payup


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

DuraBird02;1362397 said:


> One clean-up was $900? What did you clean-up?payup


Oppps I guess I meant one day of clean ups. Its a very wooded subdivision. But it was a perfect day, dry leaves and a perfect breeze to help us along.....so yeah, it was a good day!


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

DuraBird02;1362397 said:


> One clean-up was $900? What did you clean-up?payup


The guys wallet!


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## phillie (Aug 24, 2010)

grandview;1362779 said:


> The guys wallet!


Haha, no doubt. YOu never no what people will call with though. I sent some out last year 3 times to the same neighborhood just to test direct mail out. I got 1 customer. They initially signed up for 6 lawn apps, since I have planted 4 trees laid 15 yrds of mulch and signed them up for snow removal this year. At first I wasnt happy with only getting 1 customer out of the deal but, it was 1 neighborhood and its a great customer. It actually lead to 2 moore customer referrals and a few phone calls from people passing by in that neighborhood. Now I do the same on a bigger level, the cost is very outweighed by the benefit.


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