% response for mailing advertisments?

[KLC]

Just sitting here thinking about this rock/flier/ziplock idea. I remember when some advertising actually came with a nickel or penny in it. I would always open it up just to get the money. Cheap zipper bags are about a penny a piece, say 15 cents for color copies and a nickel... 21 cents plus gas for advertising to a ton of people aint so bad, and they get a nickel just to read that advertisement... Not so tacky anymore?? I may try this but of course with handwritten font... :laughing:

Might be tacky, but I think its worth a try, for me anyways!

[bcg]

Just sitting here thinking about this rock/flier/ziplock idea. I remember when some advertising actually came with a nickel or penny in it. I would always open it up just to get the money. Cheap zipper bags are about a penny a piece, say 15 cents for color copies and a nickel... 21 cents plus gas for advertising to a ton of people aint so bad, and they get a nickel just to read that advertisement... Not so tacky anymore?? I may try this but of course with handwritten font... :laughing:

Might be tacky, but I think its worth a try, for me anyways!

It only costs me 15 cents each to mail postcards. 3.3 cents for the post cards (4/4 glossy) and 12.7 cents for bulk mail postage. I have to take the time to print the addresses on them and deliver them directly to the DDU (destination distribution unit) for the delivery address but that doesn't take any more time than putting together the bags, I'd bet.

[Mow Right]

We signed up a total of @ 250 this last year. We retained 125 of those going into the off season and have probably lost another 20 since we stopped mowing in Nov. Reality is that there is a lot of churn in this business so in order to grow, you need to be constantly adding customers. We lost only 3 customers because they weren't happy with the job we were doing for them or because they felt our customer service was substandard. Most of our cancelations were because their house sold or the neighbor kid or their kid was going to take over or they decided it was cool enough to mow it themselves again, their budget no longer allowed paying for lawn service, etc. Houston is a pretty big city and the turnover for customers in the typical suburban neighborhood is going to be higher than it would be in a small town with an established and entrenched population.

I don't work in the field and I do very little in the office. My main job is to handle the routing, billing and advertising and to make sure the crews are doing what they're supposed to but even most of the crew management is left up to the individual crew leader.

I was just answering your question. Say what you will about my answer but I'm not in this to own a job. I've done that already and frankly, it sucks. I'm building a business to supply me with a life. 70 customers just won't do that for me, or a lot of others. 70 customers puts me in the field working in the business every day, not on it. 70 customers means if I get sick, I'm screwed. 70 customers means I don't get vacation.

I was reading your post and I just have a few questions..

What company did you use?

How much did it cost per direct mail piece all together?

How many did you sent out to get the 250 customers?

What is your avg price on these account?

Sorry for asking so many questions I'm just curious, I need to blow some money next spring for advertising. So I'm trying to get the most information so I can send out the most lucrative advertisement.

[KLC]

The post cards that I have bought cost me about $40/100. They are full color and glossy. I print the backsides at home with something directed toward whomever I am mailing them too and print the addresses on there as well. If I could find something better priced I might try doing more of a mass mailing and trying for bulk rate. I am kind of fascinated by the ziplock bag approach but testing this evening proved that a nickel or two pennies lacks the mass to effectively toss it from a moving vehicle. I even added one of my custom pens to a bag and tried that. I think because its weight is distributed over the length/width of the bag it lacks the inertial advantage of the rock.

I asked in another thread if anyone ever tried a newspaper insert and no one answered that over there... Anyone ever try that and record the results???

[bcg]

http://gotprint.net/gotprint/showStaticPage.do?page=postcards_pricing.html

I generally order 20k or more at a time. Still, at $40/250 it's better than what you're paying now.

[Mow Right]

I plan on mailing my advertisments this yr vs putting out door hangers. The company i am going to go through will print the advertisment and mail it for me for $0.19 per piece. That is at the most cost effective method of mailing them per mail carrier route. That will narrow down the ppl who recieve them enough that i will not have too many go to waste. I was curious if any of you guys have advertised this way and what response rates you have seen. I know my door hangers produce typically a 2-4 % response rate with 90% of that response will lead to a new client.

What company are you going through?

[MIMowMan]

I have a question on the river rock thing. Do you throw it through the window and wait for them to call you to fix it? Actually what is this river rock in bag with business card, and how does it work?

[KLC]

I would also like to know who N.TX is using for his mailings.

MIMowMan - the process that you are asking about is described above