[enrikapolozo]

I am working on starting a business installing hardwood floors and have been handing out flyers that are black and white, but have no calls yet its been 1 month. Should I get color copies to enhance the look of my flyers?

[Lowtax4eva]

How many did you put out and where?

[Lowtax4eva]

I wanted to add, if you are handing out flyers at a mall, this is a bad idea, most people will take a flyer you hand them and quickly toss it if it's not applicable to them (in your case if they live in an apt, live with parents etc.)

The best idea is to deliver these flyers door to door in middle and upper class neighborhoods. Before redesigning your flyer, look at who is receiving them.

[valinors_sorrow]

Color flyers, besides being about ten times the expense, won't necessarily help if the information on the flyer isn't professional and appealing. You might get better result if you advertised in the local Thrifty Nickel type paper, where trades people are often listed. Are you licensed and bonded? You could check in with the big box stores (Home Depot, Lowes) to see if you can become a recommended installer for when people buy the product there. Also hook up with other related tradespeople who can recommend you, like one good tiler or carpet layer -- that how we found most of the good people we did business with when we remodeled our house. If worst comes to worst, you could offer to do a job for free for some place worthy (like a church or non profit) as long as they buy the materials and you can use them as a reference later. Just a few thoughts.

[Fr_Chuck]

Tough business to get into unless the stores selling them are recommending you at times or even yellow page adds.

But yes it is possible that news paper adds may also be of great help.

The trouble with flyers is you have to give a flyer to someone who is needing and wanting a floor.

And of course it is a matter of odds. If for example you give off 1000 flyers, you can expect somewhere I am told from 10 to 2 percent response, and then only a about 1/4 of those that you will sell to.

So if you have not given out several thousand flyers it is not unusual to get those type of odds. ( the new business I am starting recommends flyers done every morning and I got the odds from the sales report they gave out. So I expect real odds are not quite that good.

You need to talk to supply stores and try to get some high quilty adds up with them

Also see if you can sub contract for some local contractors.

[nourish]

I am working on starting a buisness installing hardwood floors and have been handing out flyers that are black and white, but have no calls yet its been 1 month. Should I get color copies to enhance the look of my flyers?

That's great to use flyers. Color is good. My question to you is... are they 8.1/2x11 ? If so, maybe try a new approach and make 1/4 panel flyers. What I mean by that, and you can ask your local Kinkos or printer, to make the flyer fit four to a page. Then, cut each sheet that has four flyers into 4 flyers. They are small, easy to fit into doors, no folding. Easy to put on car doors/windows. One tip: Make sure the original print is no less than 13-14 pt type in the smallest portion of information, that way the reduction to 1/4 panel will maintain the information. Plus, don't overload the flyer with pictures - unless it's a logo.

[enrikapolozo]

I am working on starting a buisness installing hardwood floors and have been handing out flyers that are black and white, but have no calls yet its been 1 month. Should I get color copies to enhance the look of my flyers?

Thanks again for all the responses I have put out 1,702 so far in areas that are upper to middle class and always place them on the door. I have been making them with a full page of printing paper and could probably fit two on each page in order to show the details of the picture.

[Lowtax4eva]

In this case, before going to the extra cost of a color flyer, try a more professional design, do you have a company logo, who did the design of the flyer? Try comparing it with flyers you think are well designed.

I know Staples here in Canada has a design centre, you can sit down with a graphic artist and they can design a professional looking flyer. I would try this, ask them to make a color and black and white sample.

Try a re-design and re-distribute black and white flyers, color flyers may easily cost 10 times more.

[ScottGem]

Marketing is one of the areas where many startups try to scrimp and wind up shooting themselves in the foot. Your marketing materials tell a story about you. Using an unprofessional design with cheap paper and without color (in some cases) says you are a new company or maybe a fly by night that is not totally trustworthy.

You are selling hardwood floors. Would you buy such a floor from a black and white picture? I would highly recommend you approach a professional DTP or marketing person to design a brochure for you that makes your services attractive. Yes you will spend more money doing so but, if you shop around you may find it not that expensive. And it will reap dividends in attracting clients.