Advertising

[norris]

Recently qualified gas engineer and due to lack of companies willing to take me on its looking like i'm going to go self employed. So where abouts would you recommend to advertise to get work? Yellow pages?

 

[GASMAN10]

Consider sub-contracting for servicing in social housing. Likely to take on if you have not years of experience!

 

[dontknowitall]

Local magazines seem to be favoured. I use my van and the internet and the rest (the bulk of my work) is word of mouth. I did a fairly successful business card drop (as opposed to a leaflet drop). I'm also thinking of advertising in programmes for events, e.g. local festivals and things like that but it's more for my business awareness than trying to get jobs directly from the advertisement.

Most advertising is a total waste of money though for generating immediate work. I find many people prefer to ask someone if they know of a plumber instead. I'm not saying don't advertise, but £10,000 worth of advertising won't necessarily give you even £5,000 worth of work.

I started around three years ago. The first six months was busy, then a really quiet period with a few jobs in my second winter. The summer was quiet then the second winter was quite busy. Last summer I sort of ticked over and since October I've not really stopped. It takes ages to build up and I hope it works well for you.

 

[mike_s]

Local paper and google. I built a website for 4.99 a month and its top of google for local searches for plumber, heating, gas engineer etc. Google is free and most of our new customers come from it.

 

[gaspastemania]

Try a local leaflet drop , put business cards in shop windows , and stick an advert in local rag for couple months . Dont go to mad as advertising can be expensive . Use agency works off and on as well which will help cover bills and mortgage whilst trying to drum up a customer base. If you know couple small builders ask them to price couple jobs if they get any offers of boiler swaps etc.I wouldn't use a builder you dont know as they may mess you about with money. And the best one is to plaster your van with your name and what you do !!!

 

[villa_tom]

I'd try sub contracting - thats what I'm doing. Also easy to get time off when you need it. So what I tend to do is book my jobs that I get in over the phone in for a certain day then book that day off and away I go. Also subcontracting is a regular wage while you get yourself on your feet. And you could allways just do 2-3 days a week and keep the rest free for your own work

 

[norris]

And how would i go about getting some sub-contract work going?

 

[markproperjob]

ive been self employed for over 10 years, it can be bloody hard, and ive had to take on-the-books jobs occasionally during down turns, but i will say that being self employed is much less stressful than being somebody elses bi?ch!
the worst thing about being employed in our game, is that you know what the jobs cost the client, and you only get a fraction of that in a wage.
i did the usual, advertised in local press, leaflet and business card drops, sign written van, (yes, it really is worth part ex ing the hot hatch for an old but clean combo or the like! your name and number is always on show then!)
i live in a rural area, so opted to go OFTEC and learn about vapourising appliances. best move ever! there are 1000's of gas guys out thre, but very few oil guys in comparison, especially for old vaporising cookers etc. ive always got work, thankfully, and most of it is word of mouth.
providing residential care homes and sheltered accomidations with clear, polite and professional leaflets also works.
if the elderly trust you, and you provide a reasonably priced service, are always fair and totally honest without exception and take the time to chat and listen to their stories, you will grow a large group of clients and their families.
ring around the yellow pages advertised plumbers, l
do it regularly, you could call at a time when they are short staffed due to big jobs or holidays or sickness, and that could be your opening into regular subcontract work.
being your own boss is difficult at first, it WILL take a few years to establish, but its worth the work if only to say to yourself, ' I did all this'.
best of luck matey. google gallop print. they do top buisness cards, flyers and duplicate invoice books reasonably priced.
and design a good logo! comedy cartoon plumbers dont really scream 'im professional and reliable!'

 

[royston]

I suppose its the area you live in and how many plumbers are out there, when i went on my own about 12 years ago i put my first advert in the weekly free paper as i knew it was delivered to every household locally, and still do today. There is also a weekly local paper that you can buy but my thinking was the free paper will go through everyone's letterbox, or should do ! Of course i made sure i left a business card at every job. Never went down the leaflet drop route as i have never needed to really. I don't agree with the statement above regarding advertising as being rubbish for immediate work, because i do emergency work so people will go straight to my advert for this, giving me immediate work.

 

[HoodedClaw]

Go out and walk the streets putting leaflets or bus cards through doors. It really is a great way to get your name out there. I get half my work from them, people have held onto the leaflets for 6 months now and call me as I'm local and therefore more likely to do a good job at a good price (so the theory goes) and the other half are recommendations from people who used me from the leaflets. Yep - put a free line ad in the pages/thompson local, but no need to take out a page. If your sole trader, use that - people do like one man companies, again seen to take more responsibility (from the feedback I have got).

Good luck.

 

[Bodd]

Recently qualified gas engineer and due to lack of companies willing to take me on its looking like i'm going to go self employed. So where abouts would you recommend to advertise to get work? Yellow pages?

Hello Norris
I think you you should sub contract for a while, it'll give you time too build a cliant base and most of all it''ll give you experiance. You'll have work collegues who you can bounce off.

As some as said do a card drop as apposed to a leaflet. Peoiple tend to keep cards, it does work mate.

Bod

 

[gasmarc]

if you are planning on staying local call yourself something local ,that is what i have done and i have been in business for years, put a small ad in the thomsons or your local parish guide whatever ,approach all the estate letting agents , I use to do them all doing breakdowns and GLSC on a regular bases which would be a couple of hundred pounds every week money for old rope. Good Luck

 

[norris]

Whats best way to get sub contract work? Contact british gas?

 

[villa_tom]

Sign up with a few agencies - they seen to have alot of subcontracting opportunities sewn up. So just get with as many as you can, just because your signed up to them doesn't mean you have to have work of them and its all free to join. You can contact british gas yourself - but they contacted my mate direct when he subbed to them. I'm subbing to them at the moment and I've gone through an agency as its my first time contracting and this way atleast I have somebody who can do all the contacting british gas for me whenever I have a problem

 

[GASMAN10]

To find sub-contracting jobs, go on the job centre website. search under "acs", and contact the agencies etc that are advertising on there, they may have opporunities that are not listed on there.

Also try jobs on sun website, daily mirror website.

 

[gaspastemania]

Get yourself a cis card and cscs card if your going the sub contract route .Contact all the agencies that you see on jobcentre plus website ,contact any housing association main contractors and any plumbing companies that do any new build houses . Sub contracting is a good way of hearing whats on the grapevine as well and you can earn good money as well as doing your own customer based works .

 

[markproperjob]

yes, local is good.
i sub to a national firm, but their prices are too high to cover the overheads.
ive lost count of the times ive been told that the customer has cancelled their jobs because they thought it was a local firm and find out its a call centre in south wales.
all of my own work, on average 2 jobs a day, comes from local press and business cards through letterboxes, put up in post offices, church hall notice boards etc.
i was born in wales, and have lived in cornwall for years, i still get comments of 'youre not local, are you? ' and reply with ' yes i am! i live 2 miles up the road! and my wifes great great grandfather was the lord mayor of Launceston! we're all Celts at the end of the day, arent we!'
this always gets a cup of tea!

 

[gasmarc]

i was contacted by an agency offering me £18 per hour which is a joke if you are doing breakdowns,

 

[justlead1]

Have you considered contacting local plumber/heating people? As a lot have not got a ticket and need a bit of gas work doing.

 

[gaspastemania]

Most agencies i have done gas work for is normally £21 plus p/h for install work or a price which the part of the country i live i wont complain .I have done heating install work for a national govt backed company and they we're nothing more than a joke , bad organised , never paid and where quite frankly a shocking outfit. So sub-contracting can be hit and miss at times.