Hi, UsBlkgal!
You market yourself. Make or have business cards made. Make "cold calls" (personal visits) to schools and introduce yourself and get to know the band directors. Attend as many concerts that you can and introduce yourself to the band directors there. Be supportive of the band programs. If a printed program for a musical or concert in a school or even for a local symphony, dinner theater or community theater has opportunities for businesses to place ads, then place an ad. Find the names, addresses and phone numbers of private instrumental music teachers in your are who mainly teach students how to play band instruments. Call them and introduce yourself. Advertise in the Yellow Pages of the phone book. Network like crazy. Build an excellent reputation, and the work will come.
You can also hang your professional looking business "shingle" with the pull-off tabs for your phone number, wherever there is a public bulletin board to hang them. These include, but are not limited to the following types of places: grocery stores, Quick-Mart type stores, Laundromats, libraries, bowling alleys, etc. I frequently make it a Sunday drive with some friends for enjoyment/company, to travel about and hang up my advertising "shingles."
I will assume that you are in the U.S. There are a number of excellent sites on the Internet where you can advertise for free. Most notably,
craigslist: san francisco bay area classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events
(To use Craigslist, you just find and post on the one that is near you.)
USA - cliQs.com Everything from Everywhere DomesticSale - The Effective Free Classifieds Free Classifieds Ads - Internet Advertising to Sell Online Vast.com - Search All The Classifieds On The Web PennySaverUSA Classifieds Online: Local ads in California Free Classifieds - FinditClassifieds.com Oodle.com Classifieds - Search local online classifieds BuySellCommunity Classifieds - Buy & Sell Locally : Free Online Classifieds Free Classifieds @ Adpost.com Free Classifieds, Free Ads, Free advertisement, Business Opportunity Free Classifieds - FinditClassifieds.com Free Advertising, Free Classifieds, Free Classified Ads, Free Ads, Classified Ads, Free Classified, Bulk Email Advertising, Opt In Email Marketing Services, Email Lists, Classified, Free Ad, Advertising Free, Classifieds, Classified Ad, Free Classifi
And, there are others. Just do a Google search for free online classifieds and you will see what I mean.
You could also get involved in some of the blogspots that are out there and advertise your business.
I have been doing online advertising for well over two years now. Most of my business comes from people responding to my online advertising. I have never spent a cent for it. If you do a Google search, or a search on any search engine for that matter, for Clough Quad Cities you will see what I mean.
It could work for you also. If you see how I have worded my ads, you will know how to word yours. I get more results from my online ads then I do from the Yellow Pages. Although, I still have Yellow Page ads, because some people still do not have a computer and the Yellow Pages, for some people, is going to be the first place that they look.
This site that we are on right now gets excellent coverage on the Internet. Some sites don't. You have to go to the sites themselves to find what you are looking for. Even though this site is not to be used for advertising, as an example of how easy and powerful it is to advertise on the Internet, my typing in right now, Clough Piano Tuning, in a few days should be showing up in searches on the first couple of pages of a search if people use those words. Mind you, I haven't really just now used this place for advertising because I haven't included any contact information.
Please keep in mind when advertising on the Internet, that people aren't going to be looking for your name or the name of your business for your service. They are going to be looking for what you do and where you are.
I don't know where you live, but I'll pretend that you live in Rock Island, IL. You could title an ad like this in order to draw people to your ad. Band Instrument Repair, Rock Island, IL. Musical Instruments in Rock Island, IL. Music Repair Shops, Rock Island, IL. Etc.
Don't be afraid to put any personal contact information on the Internet. People need your email address, phone number and physical address. I have never had any problems with this. You will get bogus responses from time to time. But, they are harmless. Just never respond to them. Most of the time they are just looking to make sure that your email address is legit so that they can spam you with something else.
I wish you much success with your band instrument repair service! If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to give me a holler!
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