Hi, I decided to start my own small business of computer repair in my city. But I have a problem, I put few advertisements online, and stick paper advertisements on bus stops. And durring almost two months I have received only 2 orders, but it wasn't even about computer repairing... Have you any ideas, how I could promote my business? Thank you
Ads in newspapers / magazines in your city , but need careful plans for the budgets (fee/promotion cost).
Do you actually have premises in a high traffic area? It doesn't even need to be a city/town centre. Make sure it's clear what you do, not just from the business name, but any posters in the window and what people can see through the window. Or, if you don't have premises and are working for home, then rely on word-of-mouth for your local area. Don't just do repairs, but offer to make sure people's PCs are secure. Fix their Internet problems, cable/satellite TV set-up issues (or to install/relocate for them). Get known for helping OAPs resolve their PC issues, get online, etc. And of course at a very affordable price. For word-of-mouth, OAPs are one of the best ways for PC problems! They will be talking about you at the bus stops, over tea, etc.
Hi You should create a Yellow Pages listing, and an advertisement in your local newspaper. Your best bet is local advertisement rather than online advertisement. You could also print out a few hundred Flyers and drop them off into peoples mail boxes. Thanks
It depends on your budget on how much you wish to spend. You could try the local paper in your area, you could take out ads on face book but make sure that you only advertise in your local area, you could get some flyers printed or print them yourself and do a letter box drop. If you have a community advertising board at your local mall, you could put up an ad there.
Who is your target market? Small businesses or home repair? I worked for 20 years in the computer repair/network consulting business. A very, very, very small percent of our clients found us in the phone book. Some found us through the local newspaper, but the effectiveness of that media has declined dramatically over the last few years. The majority of our leads came because we spent time at business events, seminars, Chamber of Commerce meetings, and anywhere business people hung out. We hosted seminars, user groups, and training sessions. We were targeting small businesses and schools. Now, if I was going to target home users the answer would be very different. I'd start off by visiting every retirement center in my city and asking if I could post a flyer offering my repair services at 25% off for senior citizens. (Make sure your rates are high enough before you do that, of course.) I would ask if they would like me to do a monthly training session for retirees in their community. (Note: I'm talking about retirement communities, NOT nursing homes.) The second thing I'd do is go to my local library and ask if I could do a monthly computer class for their patrons. You could cover simple things like how to test your computer for viruses, free graphic editing programs, simple webpage design, etc..., The point is to get people to meet you and give them your business card. Next stop...I'd go to several churches with decent size congregations and offer my services 100% free to their church for the next 6 months, with the provision that they announce your generosity at one Church meeting and post a small sign on their bulletin board for you. Final stop for today...Go meet every computer teacher in the local schools. Offer them a finder's fee for sending you new clients. Bonus Points: Put up signs on every public bulletin board you can find. This includes laundromats, stores, restaurants, etc... That should keep you busy..
If you use money to print the your advertisement and stick on bus stop, i would rather to spend that money online. You can submit your services in all directories and classified of your niche location area. Participate more in technology or forum that related to electronics and computers device. There are where your target market hang around and looking for solutions. Get some email database and email tools and blast them regarding your services. Since you only target in your own city , you need build your network no matter online like facebook , twitter , linkedin or offline with peoples that use computer. Every business users or personal users will need computer repair services especially came to hardware issues.
I want to point something out you need to consider very carefully. When your computer stops working, how do you choose who is going to repair it? I agree with other posters who recommend you post your in every online place you can, but when your computer is broke, you CANNOT look up the name of someone to fix your computer online. You are probably going to call the guy you remember from some other contact. Those are the types of contacts I'm suggesting you establish. Get people to remember you as a "person" and they will call you when they need service. I'd recommend you get ads posted on these sites as a bare minimum in your city: Craigslist BackPage EbayClassifieds Oodle/Facebook Classified Adpost OLX USFreeAds Make sure you remember to repost your ads as often as they allow to keep your ads towards the tops of the listings. One last piece of advice. Check with your local newspaper and see if they would like someone to do a weekly "Tips and Reviews on Computers" article for their paper. They will probably tell you no, but it is worth asking. Good luck with building your business. With a little effort you should be very busy.
I also run pc repair its a tough business right now. I have done so in three states so far and the best strategy I can find is to have a little capital and work in barter. It may suck but you will find that you will benefit and get a lot more customers than cash payers. Craigs list has been my best freind in the Field. Just properly make your barter terms clear. From my experience the paper and other costly methods are not that much worth it. Pc repair is not going to get your rich you need to offer phone repair, tablet, and video game console repair to stay constant. In some cases you may do well with just pc but there are more people wanting phone repair and have cash that will come for phones and tabs.
The PC Repair business has been a tough business for years. But, people still need their PC's fixed and if you get your name in front of the right people you will be busy with cash paying customers. If you can build trust and a reputation of reliability in the places I have mentioned before, people will seek you out. Another added bonus: Large apartment complexes often have community bulletin boards. Post signs there and offer the manager a finder's fee for sending you business. Last comment for now. Are you offering in-home service? If you are not, you are losing a high percentage of your business. I'd bet you I could walk into any decent sized community and have paying customers within 2 days, and within 30 days I would be billing 30 to 40 hours per week.
You Can Try Local Classified Sites To Post Your Ads Online. You Can also Advertise your services on Local Newspapers.
What you say is true but until you build your clientele you wont be billing 40 hours a week in 30days. Computer repair is not that much in demand any more in some areas it may be. But for the most part its not people are willing to just buy a new pc with how cheap they are. wiping hard drives no one needs that but very few people since its a push of the button that kills the virus removal market. pluss every one and there uncle can fix a pc in todays time there are videos online to help solve most problems. Just walking into communities may not be a welcome experience and soliciting the managers of properties could cost you more than you want they dont know you, and chances are there is someone there that already has talked to the manager why choose you over a resident. all in all pc repair alone is not a profitable business in the U S. Heres something before you go out and spend money advertising. Get the previous 3 years of yellow pages and look in there for pc repair and see how many of them exist chances are not many will still be in business. Use this as a scale to determine the demand around you. If pc is your only focus hit up businesses because that will be contractual and maintaining there systems is in demand. also targeting is important you as i see now are in the uk this forum is a global forum advice from here is only that as many things may or may not be available to you online there or with in the law there.
Who said I was only going to do repairs? I can offer training, assistance setting up a website, one-on-one tutorials... I can do new computer setups, data transfer from their old PC to the new one. I can assist them in selecting the right new PC, purchasing, and configuring it in their home. I can even help them with marketing for their home business... I am not going to be the "break and fix guy". I'm going to be the computer consultant they like to call and talk to because I offer great advice and communicate with them. I can advise them on the best program to use for the tasks they want to accomplish. Heck, I'll even help them do it. I can recommend, install, and train them on commercial programs, open source programs, and even oddball programs they picked up from "somewhere". Your belief that all people are "computer savvy" is way off base. Most people know how to use a computer, but have no idea how to remove a virus, how to transfer a PC full of data, and dozens of other things we take for granted. You'll notice one of the big items I listed was talking to the retirement centers. That was for a very good reason. The retirees in these communities usually have money, they have little computer knowledge, they enjoy chatting with someone who come to help, and they pay for training. I'm saying all of this from my 20 years of experience out in the field. Getting business is challenging, unless you make yourself special. My specialty was being the best communicator, business partner, and adviser they could find at only $80 to $120/hour. And yes, I billed 30 to 50 hours per week for our company...every week. The average computer repair guy is boring. He does not really care about their story, the person, and their real desires. If you become the guy they WANT, you will get more business and can charge higher rates. I had plenty of home users that called for me specifically because they wanted to "talk to me", while I worked on their computers in their home and were willing to pay $80/hour MORE than the home computer repair guy down the street. Makes you wonder how much money you are leaving on the table....
you said it right there 20 years in the business you are established not new. You are in the U S and apparently in my home state so I defiantly know the demand in most of the state which i have ran 5 shops up till around 2005 between kcmo and Joco. It sucks Again pc repair is a dime a dozen10 year olds can now fix grampas pc. and if he offers those services you say that's fine but we know nothing but pc repair , that is all he stated. He is in the uk not the U S were things are different then here in America. Have you seen his demographics for the area to even know if he holds a chance. how old is he, did he go to school or did he learn from the net, what is the % of pc users and there ages.What is the average age of the pc in his customer radius. Is there a technical school near by all information that is important to discuss with some one before you can tell them to start really getting out there and spend money, and like i said in my statement earlier he needs to offer more than pc repair. these are all personal experience tips and ideas. It seems to be you are at work trying to promote your services on his thread showing your marketing techniques. Which i suggest to this guy he not do its not worth it. $80 to $120 an hour man that's a hard number to believe in today's times. late 90s early 2000 i can see it. all in all this is a thread that any and all responses are personal experience not solid rules. All any one can do is come and offer there point of view and how they tackled or would get there promotion out that's all.
I'm not trying to sell him any services. I don't think he should spend much money at all. I think he should get out the door and start talking to more people. He needs to establish himself as the local expert, the "go-to" guy. PC repair is a dime a dozen. That is exactly why I keep saying he needs to differentiate himself by doing the things other PC repair guys won't. If he wants to build a business he must market himself. The best way to do that is to get in front of more people. I'm just trying to give advice that has worked for me. Your last paragraph is exactly right! He must get out there and test things for himself. Everything I have said is 100% personal opinion and not tested fact in his market. It will still give him a better chance of success than hoping a few online ads are going to get business. That is not going to work. He has to compete at a higher level.
There is one method that could be very effective if you were in India. Advertising in mobile vehicles. I mean in public transits. Here is a pic where you can see how this is done in India. This might look silly, but can you imagine how many people these advertisements are being distributed.
post flyers through peoples letter boxes, eventually you will see results article specialist came up with some great advice all the best
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