If all I had was a truck, a phone, and $5,000, here’s exactly what I’d do. I wouldn’t spread that money thin across Google, TV, and radio. I’d get big in a small area. Pick the zip code or the cluster of older neighborhoods where things break, and dominate it. Branded truck parked there daily, door knocks, yard signs. Look like a massive operation in one confined area. Small, focused, and everywhere the customer looks.
@officialchadpetermanTranscript
If all I had was a truck, a phone, and $5,000, here's exactly what I would do to build a business. We all know that marketing is expensive and it gets more expensive every single day. What I would try to do is be big in a small area. What are the neighborhoods where you know that customers need your service? What are the maybe the zip code? Where you want to appear like you are a massive operation. I've seen this first hand with smaller companies in our service areas. They have the branded trucks. They operate in a really small area and looks like they're a big company. Like wow, their trucks are everywhere because they're trying to be a small company but appear big in a very confined area. Own that small area. Maybe it's right outside your shop. Maybe it's in a grouping of neighborhoods that you know or maybe older homes that stuff's going to break and that you could be there to fix it. Get out, knock on doors, let them see your truck in the neighborhood, yard signs, all of these pieces of marketing that we sometimes overlook in favor of TV, radio, Google, all of these things. All of these small things can add up to a really big result.
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