radio spots?

I did a bid last week on a small deck for $445.00 and got a call today from the home owner offering a trade for services. She has offered 50, 30 second spots on an AM radio station (mostly gospel and praise music as I can tell with some talk radio and they cover the local college games) in exchange for the cleaning and staining of the deck.

Has anyone had any experience with radio ads? It's about $850-900 worth of air time, but right now I need cash or forms of advertisement that I feel sure about, however I hate to pass up a good opportunity. I'd appreciate any feedback from those of you that have tried radio whether it was good or bad.

Thanks,
John

Talk radio and sports are great in the morings and afternoon, no mid day or evenings.

A month ago i ran 30 , 30 sec. on a c/w station here local. the cost was $565 . got one job off it that paid for the advertizing.
and 1 regular account .

lots of people heard my ad , had 2 yesterday tell me they heard it.

I may run it again in April.

If i were you i would do it in a hart beat!

Mel

John

First - Do not pass up this opportunity. Make this deal.

Second - What do you plan to say in these 30 second ads. You need to convey a message to the lisners that separates you from the competition. Don't just say your name, phone number and what your do. Come up with a slogan or jingle - so that the customer will remember your business name. I do not know your business name or I could give you some ideas. You want your ad to answer some questions for the listners:

Is this a reputable company?
Will this improve my property?
Is this company knowlegeable?
What will it cost - whats my obligation if I make a call?
Give a phone number.

Yes you can answer if not all, some of these questions in 30 seconds.


You can finish your 30 second spot with something like this?

"If your searching for an ethical company to protect and restore your property - then Boomer Pressure Washing is the cleaning contractor for you. Call the Restoration experts today for a free estimate - at 333-4343.

thats 10 seconds or your 30 second spot - you answer the questions above.


Break your add into three sections - Introductory, Informational, & Impression.


The above is the impression - I listed that first because its the most important.



You add will start off with the Introductory portion (10seconds)

Purpose:
Inform the customer of who and where you are?
Inform the listner of your purpose for this ad? Grab their attention.

"Hello, my name is xxxxxx, the proud owner of Boomer Pressure washing located in xxxxxxxx. Spring time has arrive just in time for our Season Sizzling Sale.


In the Information portion (10 seconds)

Purpose:

Inform the customer of what you do and what your expertise is in.
Give them something that may make them think - my house has that problem.
Give a phone number

"We are offering discounts on restoring decks, cleaning driveways, and house washes. Boomer Pressure Washing are the wood restoration experts. Are you tired of those ugly black streaks on your roof - call us today at 333-4343 - We can remove them.


Important points - say your company name at least 3 times - best to do it in each 10 second segment - that is enough to put it in the customers head. List your phone number at least twice. Its also good to say something like this:

Call the Restoration Experts today at 333-4343 or see our listing in the yellow pages. this allows them forget your number, but most important, your name is program in their memory.



You may think that there is no way you can get all this in 30 seconds - When you do the commercial (and Yes, you should do the commercial - it makes you familiar with the listners - personal).
When you speak- you will go a lot faster than reherst.

Guys,

thanks for the posts, and Tim thanks for going so in depth, those are all great points. I'm supposed to call tomorrow to confirm and it's great to get a little reassurance that it's a good trade. It seems like it should be a no brainer but I've gotten a little fed up over the past year spending money on advertising that hasn't shown immediate results. I know that's the wrong approach to marketing but you know how it gets sometimes.
Again, thanks for the information.

John

Let me know if you need any help.

Radio Spots

looked all over the net and cant find one cleaner for them.
Try Dial soap. lol
I guess it depends on where you live as to the effectiveness of advertising on that type of radio station.
I bet you got that deck job from the chuch work i suggest you do?
If he pay's you and he charge's you back and you both pay the tax, you can write it off in your tax's.
If you swap you loose that right.
It cost you time and materials allready.
"clenliness is next to godlyness"

Commercials, Billboards, or Radio


Is only effective if your constantly run it. Thats with any advertisement - you have to be consistent.


But, in this case - jump on it - take the ads - Compared to what you would pay for these ads - its a win win situation. You may find that you get a lot of business and choose to keep running the ads or you may find that you do not get any business-then you know and your investment was limited.

The above advertisements methods also brings crediblilty to your business - When the average consumer see or hears your advertisement on the above three (due to the cost of advertisement in that particular method), the consumer will think this must be a reputable or establish business. This is more so than mail-outs, flyers, newspaper, etc.

Think about it - Who and what businesses do you see on commercials, billboards, or the radio. There are always execptions.

ron p

I haven't tried the church cleaning yet, but I hope to in the next week. I'm also thinking of going to the schools (private ones) and suggest cleaning their playground equipment in exchange for their support. Any suggestions on the best way to get information from the school to the parents? I don't have any kids so I"m not too familiar with what mediums I would have available from the school. Maybe just a sign at the pickup/dropoff location?
The single best source for business last year was working a deal with a local grocery store and deli that allows customers to run a tab. I cleaned the owners deck and he dropped one of our flyers into his monthly statement in June. We saw about $10,000 worth of business over the next two months from that one. I'm convinced that local support is the way to go. Potential customers are just more receptive if your info comes from someone they already have a relationship with.

John

oh yeah

I'm recording the radio spot in the morning. Guess I'll keep my fingers crossed. I cleaned the owners deck yesterday and they love it. I actually had to talk them into still letting me stain it.

John

Can we get an update???

John hwo are those radio spots working? When are you running them?

Thanks,

on the air

the spots are running already. They started last week and will continue this week and the next two. I know they are running one spot in the morning, between 8 & 9 and one in the afternoon between 5 & 6 and then the station manager said he would throw in one mid day and one late night as part of the deal. So far, I haven't had any response on them, but keeping my fingers crossed and imagining that it boosts my credibility to anyone that hears them.

John

Remember that advertisement is sometimes like seeds. You may not see results right away, but keep watering & you will see results.


What did your commercial say?

Tim,

I don't have the script of what I said in front of me right now, but I borrowed heavily from your earlier post in developing what I would say. I followed the 3 segment guide that you described and just tried to get the company name and a quick description of the type and quality of work that we do. I'll try to remember to put down exactly what I said so that others can use/improve upon it.

John

book i recommend

John, I highly recommend you get the book " Secret formulas of The Wizard of Ads" by Roy H. Williams.

In it he talks about how to configure your timing on radio ads, to get greater effect.

In short, its better to reach 1% of the people 100% of the time, than to reach 100% of the people 1% of the time.


Quote from book " To become a household word,you must schedule at least 21 radio ads per week, between the hours of 6am to 7pm, 52 weeks a year, on as many stations as you can afford. Plan to endure minimal results during the first 8 to 13 weeks, of your schedule. This is known as the "chickening out period" when you will probably spend a lot more on radio advertising thatn you will see in results. "

Rich

I have read his book - it is a great book. Lots of information, I really enjoyed it.


Do some research and find out what particular organization donates a lot of money his way.

you may find that the word "Broadcast & Radio" is in the title.

John

How did the radio spot work?

John

How did the radio spots work?

Tim,

I'm sorry for the delay in responding, I haven't been on the bbs as much lately. It's been a year since the spots ran and they ran for 2 months, april and may of 2003. Unfortunately, they didn't produce the hoped for results. I did receive one call from them, it was from a guy that worked at the station. They ran 2 spots during peak hours (normal driving to work and driving home times) and 6 spots through the rest of the day. The good thing for me is that it didn't cost dollars but instead I cleaned and stained a deck as a trade.

I hope everyone reads this line though, I would not count out radio spots for your advertising. It must be remembered that this was run on an AM station that doesn't have a large listening audience. If I were paying cash for the radio spots, I would have made sure to put them on a different station. For me, it was a shot at some inexpensive advertising and it may have worked better than I realize, in terms of awareness and credibility for future advertising. If nothing else, I have two more customers (the free deck and the guy who worked at the station) to spread word of mouth for me.

I agree with you 100%. Each ad ran on the radio is like planting a seed. Radio cost a lot to be efficient - as with all advertisement - it has to be ran consistent over an extended period of time. I would have made the exact trade in a heartbeat.