How do you get jobs?

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I would like to see what you guys have found to be your best methods for getting vinyl work. I have had good success with going door to door with my business cards and talking with people. If you go door to door do you carry a portfolio of your work?

[Dr12volt1338 116]

I have a folder with a few pictures of various jobs I carry with me but BY FAR my best method is good old simple word of mouth....... I put up cards all over the place and craigslist but 90% of calls or emails I get are referrals from other customers...... As for the bigger jobs I go into places that need signs and very politely let them know that their signs are an eyesore and that to have them professionally made and installed is probably more reasonable then they think.... Some of them are serious when they say to get them a measurement, some say it just to get me out of their store or business but when I give them the quote are very receptive to moving forward..... My competition walks around with a big fancy tablet with 100's of photos on it with his big fancy brand new truck all kinds of fancy displays.... When he goes into a business he is like a mobile infomercial..... I know of a few customers who told him he is way over the top when he comes in and they don't want to pay extra so he can have all kinds of gizmos and fancy sales pitches..... In this line the customers just want a quality product at a fair price.......

[mabscotthandyman 1,410]

I have a folder with a few pictures of various jobs I carry with me but BY FAR my best method is good old simple word of mouth....... I put up cards all over the place and craigslist but 90% of calls or emails I get are referrals from other customers...... As for the bigger jobs I go into places that need signs and very politely let them know that their signs are an eyesore and that to have them professionally made and installed is probably more reasonable then they think.... Some of them are serious when they say to get them a measurement, some say it just to get me out of their store or business but when I give them the quote are very receptive to moving forward..... My competition walks around with a big fancy tablet with 100's of photos on it with his big fancy brand new truck all kinds of fancy displays.... When he goes into a business he is like a mobile infomercial..... I know of a few customers who told him he is way over the top when he comes in and they don't want to pay extra so he can have all kinds of gizmos and fancy sales pitches..... In this line the customers just want a quality prodbestuct at a fair price.......

Years ago I did some advertising yellow pages , radio etc then I found that a good reputation for good work fair prices and good service both before and after the sale is the best sales promotion you can get I have not advertised in lots of years and I stay busy as I want any more as I have got older I am trying to cut back to 5 or 6 days a week and only 8-10 hours a day my old body is tired and arthritic I can't go like I did a few years ago. Ask customers to leave a coro sign on site with your ad on it and offer an incentive for referrals you will be surprised at the business it produces it worked very well for my construction companys and cost almost nothing to make the coro signs .

Dan

[Pcrat 65]

if your new like me.. yea word of mouth is the best....Were i work, i made a few decals, and put some on my locker, my file cabinet etc.. some pretty cool ones, people at work ask where i got them. told them what i did.. sold a bunch of smaller decals, yea, but they know what i do now so word of mouth..

The big advertising, might work a little, but yea go over to vistaprint and get yourself some free business cards, ( or cheap too like $4 or $5 bucks fo a ton of them ) and place them around town,

if you have done some small jobs, or whatnot, create a small free website,

Dont just go to your local store and put up a typed up piece of paper saying "i do vehical graphics" lol

but dont go overboard neither.

that guy with a new truck, fancy dancy tablet etc,,, those are they ones who have ALOT of overhead. ive bought 4 rolls of vinyl so far only 12 inch. each was 9 bucks, ( bought from here uscutter ) thats 27 dallors, Plus SHipping (9 dallors ) thats ummm 36 dallors..

My first 2 jobs paid for all of it, and i have alot left over... so the rest is profit. but thats 12" cheap stuff.

Do you like in a smaller type town or a big city?

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Do you like in a smaller type town or a big city?

I live in a medium sized town about 50 min outside of New York city.

I haven't been doing this long enough to be able to rely on word of mouth or referrals. I started placing coroplast signs around the town to stoke up some business. My most successful ways of getting business have been finding trucks, trailers and vans with no signage and soliciting them.