spring is upon us! what marketing weapons will you unleash?

DOG

DOG

owner
I'm starting this thread for analytical purposes.
i will be using
residential:
1) postcard mailers
2) roof cleaning demonstrations
3) service magic
4) door hangers in areas I'm working
5) hopefully by mid spring a Lott of "word of mouth"
6) ?? somehow reaching H.O.A.'S???

commercial:
1) using Ron's (and others) approach of sending out coffee mugs and other market specific goodies to real estate and PM professionals.
2) mail campaign with three sided brochures.
3)???? need ideas?????
 
I'm almost exclusively targeting PMs and HOAs this year.

I'll be delivering home made Valentine's cookies to all of the female PMs next week.
 
Oh and as for the HOAs, When I see a condo complex or managed neighborhood, I stop and take pictures of all of the dirty places that need cleaning. Then I print them off and send them to all of the residents along with a flyer explaining how I can make their neighborhood look better and raise their property values. I also put in a "neighborhood discount" coupon.

Put the dirt in front of the homeowners and let them be the squeaky wheel to the PMs.
 
DOG said:
that's pretty good Joel. what are the results of these methods?
why exclusively targeting only PM and H.O.A.'S?
Click to expand...

Thanks. Don't really know all of the results yet. I do know that the season hasn't started yet, all I've done so far is send out letters of introduction to most of the PMs in my city and some HOAs, and I have over $90K worth of bids out there with about $60K worth approved so far. The rest is waiting on HOA meetings.

As to why I'm targeting PMs and HOAs? I think I just answered that... :D
 
We have had great luck with PM's, not so much HOA's directly, I usually let the PM companies handle that portion. We work with a PM company that does all the maintenance for over 3500 properties in the Metro area so during nice weather we stay BUSY.....and busy doesnt even begin to explain it.

Just some other methods of advertising:
* Logos on your vehicles
* Tradeshows - they are expensive upfront but pay off big time.
* If I see graffiti on a property, I will pull over and go in to that property and let them know about it and give them an onsite quote.
* we sponser high school athletic car washes and hand out coupons to each person that goes through
* get familiar with your neighbors
* sponser a youth soccer team - usually only $100 or so for entry fees and make up some t-shirts.
* Post flyers at local grocery stores
* leave business cards at local coffee stores and print shops
* use your local craigslist.com its free!!!
I pull 5-6 SOLID leads per WEEK from the denver craigslist.com
* I could go on and on - call me if you guys need more info
 
Thanks for the input Nicole.
so how did you make first contact with PM'S? letter? cold call? email? or all three? i have a list of over 30 PM'S and HOA'S compiled. tonight i will write a sample letter for the PM'S will post for advice.
 
DOG said:
Thanks for the input Nicole.
so how did you make first contact with PM'S? letter? cold call? email? or all three? i have a list of over 30 PM'S and HOA'S compiled. tonight i will write a sample letter for the PM'S will post for advice.
Click to expand...


Here was what I sent out for my initial mailing. When I had pictures of certain properties, I sent them along too. Many thanks to Jeff for posting some of his marketing material on which some of these are based.
 

Attachments

  • HOA discount small.pdf
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  • Initial Communication.DOC
    30.5 KB · Views: 146
  • PM flyer small.pdf
    58.7 KB · Views: 146
DOG said:
Thanks so much man these will be excellent templates to work with. yea Jeff is a big help to me on another thread i started.
Click to expand...

Sure...

Let me know if you need the originals, I can email them to you. I had to shrink the quality to get the file size down to be able to post them.
 
DOG said:
no Joel it's fine Thanks again
exactly how and where do you distribute the fliers?
yea you can email any thing you want
email: ecocleaning1@yahoo.com
Click to expand...


First, I went through the phone book & found all of the property management companies in my city. I googled each company to find their website. That's where things got interesting. Each company had a varying degree of information on it. From just a company phone number and address to a list of staff members with individual phone numbers and email addresses.

The interesting thing is, most of them also had a section on some of the properties that they manage. Some of those HOAs on the list also had websites for the homeowners to get together and share information. I went to those sites and got the names of the HOA board members and the locations of the properties. Now I knew where the properties were & I could drive over and take pictures. I spent two whole days just driving around taking pictures.

Now I had the addresses of the properties, the company that managed them, the individual manager's name and number, the HOA board members names and, using infospace, the names, addresses and phone numbers of every resident in the property.

I mailed out those three flyers along with any pictures I had to everyone I had information on. This round I concentrated on PMs and HOA board members. Next month, I'll send a mailing to the individual residents. If I've learned anything from working for PM companies it's that the homeowners that complain the loudest, get satisfied first. If I can get some of them to complain about the property being dirty, I'm hoping the PM will call me...
 
oddjobs said:
First, I went through the phone book & found all of the property management companies in my city. I googled each company to find their website. That's where things got interesting. Each company had a varying degree of information on it. From just a company phone number and address to a list of staff members with individual phone numbers and email addresses.

The interesting thing is, most of them also had a section on some of the properties that they manage. Some of those HOAs on the list also had websites for the homeowners to get together and share information. I went to those sites and got the names of the HOA board members and the locations of the properties. Now I knew where the properties were & I could drive over and take pictures. I spent two whole days just driving around taking pictures.

Now I had the addresses of the properties, the company that managed them, the individual manager's name and number, the HOA board members names and, using infospace, the names, addresses and phone numbers of every resident in the property.

I mailed out those three flyers along with any pictures I had to everyone I had information on. This round I concentrated on PMs and HOA board members. Next month, I'll send a mailing to the individual residents. If I've learned anything from working for PM companies it's that the homeowners that complain the loudest, get satisfied first. If I can get some of them to complain about the property being dirty, I'm hoping the PM will call me...
Click to expand...

thats a good solid plan
 
DOG said:
your a genius Joel been working on it since i read it. most have picture on they're site that are visibly in need of work....
Click to expand...

Wonderful! I hope it works for you too...

Keep us up to date...
 
oddjobs said:
I'm almost exclusively targeting PMs and HOAs this year.

I'll be delivering home made Valentine's cookies to all of the female PMs next week.
Click to expand...

Give the cookies to the office, not just female PM's, let everyone one enjoy the cookies and see your name

Good luck
 
Jackpot!

I passed out the cookies yesterday. That's one week after the mass mailing I did to all of the PMs I could find. I got 2 calls and gave 3 bids yesterday. Now I have about $120K worth of bids out there and almost $90K approved! Holy CRAP! That's more than the last 2 years combined and the weather hasn't even broken yet!

One guy raved about my marketing technique. He said that it was the most ingenious thing he had ever seen from a contractor. He went on to suggest that I attend his company's next manager's meeting where there will be 25 PMs from his company. All from a company that I didn't have high hopes for because they have their own construction and remodeling crews.

Just goes to show you that you never know until you try. I'm telling you, I'm as introverted as they come. I AM NOT A SALESMAN. But, thanks to this and other forums, I am armed with the information to assure these PMs that I know what I'm doing and that I can do the job right...

Good luck to you all and I hope your year will be as great as mine is shaping up to be...

Thanks again,
 
oddjobs said:
Here was what I sent out for my initial mailing. When I had pictures of certain properties, I sent them along too. Many thanks to Jeff for posting some of his marketing material on which some of these are based.
Click to expand...


Joel,

I like those fliers , they look GREAT. I might use some of it if you dont mind

Good Looking stuff!

Jeff
 
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