AboutPeter Gabany Expertise Strategic planning:
Objective based advertising, Ad creative, Writing, Photography - buying and making, Illustration - buying, Print, Outdoor, Event, Media, Media Planning, Broadcast, How to select an agency, What the client must provide, Pitching a client / being pitched
Experience Over 25 years in the business - 22 years operating an agency. Creative direction and agency management.
I must first of all thank you for your time in answering and giving advice to the world. I hope you can help me with my issue too. I run a moving and relocation service and my target is the locals. There are int'l companies and their target is diplomats and missions. So I'm targeting to make my name in the local. My question is, how would I grab the mindshare without the bucks! I thought of having some a welcome kit with brochure ect ect such that when I client calls & we go for the site survey we would drop off the welcome kit. However, what if the client does not use the services?
Thank you in advance,
Raymond
Answer Please do me a favour and read the book - The E-Myth by Gerber. You can also visit the website - http://www.e-myth.com/. I share this with anyone going into business. If you are not a reader buy the audio book E-Myth.
Now let's talk about promoting with no money - don't do it! You are trying to establish a brand and another word for that is reputation. If you look like a hack then people think that you are a hack and won't hire you.
We have a small moving company in the area that started just as you are and named their business "Two Fat Guys and a Truck". They are highly successful and started from nothing.
1st and foremost they had a strict service mandate - don't screw up and over promise on each delivery. I have seen this work with dozens of smaller operations. A painter who started doing home painting ended up with multi-million dollar renovation projects for the Queen' bedroom in Ottawa Canada, the Legislature buildings in Toronto and much more.
I've seen it with a feed store with beginning sales of $90K per year to reach $600K within 13 months.
But you DO need some budget. You need gas, you need a good-looking, good-running, reliable truck and hopefully you will invest on the easiest thing to get your name out - signage for the side of your truck.
I would invest in a graphic designer (NOT a sign shop) to give you a bold, fresh image. If that is all you can afford then go with that. But I hope that you can save a bit more and purchase 2 other items - at least. A business card - with the same image as the truck (please speak to a graphic designer about this) and a simple service sheet - again designed by the designer.
If you can afford more I would create a unique brochure. I would target all the real estate companies in your area and let them know what you do. I would follow up with them each and every week until you are too busy - then I would do it more anyway. I would also partner with all of the storage lockers in the area so that they can refer you and you them.
I would work to gain a good physically fit crew and add another truck and driver as soon as there was the volume to do so - but I would contract the driver and truck rather than pay to acquire another vehicle and overhead.
This is a good business. People always need to move stuff. People need solutions of where to store their stuff. I would also partner with Goodwill, Salvation Army and Red Cross (thrift shops) and ask if you can use their logo on your truck (small) to help them gain articles to sell in their store while alleviating people with too much stuff.
I would look for the George Carlin CD where he speaks about too much stuff. I would see what I could do to buy as many copies of this CD as I could afford and start to us it as part of your marketing material.
And lastly know this. You are not a moving company but rather you are a genius for helping people deal with their stuff. This will get you far more notoriety than a guy with a truck. And notoriety = business.
I hope and trust that this helps. Please let me know what you are going to do and how you might do it.
