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[USCSigma1097]

Gentlemen,

I own and operate a roofing company in Charleston, SC. This is my first year in business for myself, and I have been more than pleased with my results thus far.

I have a quick question for the forum. What should a typical 3 Line Newspaper Insertion ad look like. Right now I am having moderate success with

PALMETTO ROOFING
Repairs/Replacements
Free Est. xxx-xxx-xxxx

However, there are typically ten to fifteen that look exactly the same. Anyone have any great ideas for a "hook"?

Sigma

[UncleSalty]

I don't have any comments about the ad but wanted to chime in that home inspectors are a great source of referral business. (I'm starting a home inspection business here in Colorado) If you really want to network yourself you might consider putting together a short presentation on something roofing related (new materials or installation techniques, common defects, etc.) and presenting it to a local ASHI meeting. (Check out www.ashi.org for details on finding the local chapter near you.) They meet once a month and members get continuing education credits for attending.

I will personally be seeking a good network of roofers, structural engineers, plumbers, electricians, and HVAC servicemen that I can refer my clients to when I find issues in their new homes. You should try to be on the short list of high-quality roofers for all of the inspectors in your area.

[z28dreams]

USC,

Have you considered lead-generation services?

I actually work for a smaller one, and our clients make boatloads of money from the leads.

I looked and we don't get much volume at all for the SC area, but there are bigger named companies out there.

ServiceMagic, ReliableRemodeler, Contractor.com, etc, are just a few. (I work for Respond.com)

I'm not sure what their fees are, but we typically charge around $15 a month subscription, then $25 per lead (it's not an exclusive lead - you'd have anywhere between 0 and 4 competitors).

Let's assume from all the leads you receive you get a 15% closing rate (very modest).That means that you only need $166 of profit per job in order to -break even- with the service.

Let's assume you make $500 profit (I have no idea what it actually is, probably much more than this) per job.

Let's say you receive one lead per day.
For the year,

365 leads * $25 per lead = $9125 in advertising costs + $150 yearly subscription = $9275.

If you close 15%, that's .15(365)= 54 jobs closed
54 * 500 = $27000 of profit from the jobs

That is, $27000-$9275 = $17725 total profit

That's almost a 91% return on investment with VERY modest numbers for both profit and closing rate.

Like I said, our service doesn't have many leads for the SC area, but I'd highly recommend you give others a shot. Work on your phone & sales skills - these are your most important tools.