Local newspaper??

[tibet]

I just paid for a 2 weeks ad in the free local newspaper and I'm quite disappointed at how the ad looks! Website URL is in 2 sections, as well as the phone numbers and e-mail address! Doesn't very good, quite messy even!
But anyway, does any of u have experience with local newspaper advertising and does it work?

[David Worthington]

Did manage to get a feature in the Local Freebee some years ago when i won some award.... picture of me holding trophy and winning wedding shot...... not a titter from that at all !!!!!

Tried again 3 or 4 years back when i got another award and I got the run around from the paper asking for some more of my "lovely pictures" they were never published despite promises they would be.

Also had a front page shot used of a wedding in the North West evening paper and again not a peep !!!!!................ do i think it works ?? well not for me at least........... hope you do betterXXXkissXXX

[tibet]

Mmmmmh! To be honest, I doubt it! When I saw the ad, I thought "right! that's it, waste of money here!". But hey, it wasn't really expensive and if it brings me at least 1 customer in 2 weeks I'll be happy. Have to try them all I guess, never know. I also put ads all over the town, in Post Offices, Newsagents and supermarkets. Will let u know how these go! ;)c to be continued....
PS: Any advice regarding local advertisement is more than welcome of course! :D

[David Worthington]

WOULD be interested to hear how you go.....if you have the time to post with all the work that comes floodin in !!!:drinks:

[tibet]

R u being sarcastic?! O_o

[David Worthington]

R u being sarcastic?! O_o


Yep !!!!!:russian_r :hunter: XXXkissXXX XXXkissXXX

[tibet]

LOL!! Well, I hope u're right anyway! ;)c

[tonymidd]

I just paid for a 2 weeks ad in the free local newspaper and I'm quite disappointed at how the ad looks! Website URL is in 2 sections, as well as the phone numbers and e-mail address! Doesn't very good, quite messy even!
But anyway, does any of u have experience with local newspaper advertising and does it work?

If it's that bad get onto the editor and complain and complain and complain untill the ad is right and certainly don't pay for the ads untill they are right.
If that does not work get on to the group CEO and again complain.

[tibet]

LOL!! Ok. Thx Tony. But I don't really feel like complaining cos I only paid £9.50 for a week so that was £20 for 2 weeks. Quite cheap really.

[David Worthington]

LOL!! Ok. Thx Tony. But I don't really feel like complaining cos I only paid £9.50 for a week so that was £20 for 2 weeks. Quite cheap really.


no Tibet i am with tony on this ,,,, it dont matter how much/little you paid it shud be right !!!." heres is you cheap 5x4 madam yes its blurred cos it was cheap ".......:hand: ..... I dont think so !!

[tibet]

LMAO!!! Yea, u got a point! O_o

[crazy monkey]

Hmmm advertising in local papers, the problem we have with local papers is that we never know when we will get one.

The best form of local advertising is 'free advertising'.

Ok I know that sounds mad and you have only paid £9.50 anyway but you can get free advertising.

David has already mentioned winning an award gained him coverage but
there are other ways.

For example (bear with me on ths one) lets say one day a client walks into
your studio and would like a portrait of the beloved family dog. Yes you say, click click, that will be £xx cheers see you later. Thats the usual senario. But why not ask about the dog, why the portrait etc. In this case it turns out that the said dog while enjoying a day out at Beachy Head last year got over excited and fell off the cliff. Distraught family, rescue teams
crying kids, dog in traction for six months but now fighting fit.
Now thats a story that any paper would love to publish,local interest and the Aww factor.
And the fantastic portrait BY yep you guessed it.
Great ad - no cost and a story that folks remember.
Ok I'm not suggesting you throw a dog of a cliff but maybe some of your clients have interesting stories or won things themselves - its a great hook
for you to piggyback your story on.

[tonymidd]

Don't forget the quality, or lack of, reflects on your business. Crap ad = crap business.Is that what you want?

[Stemmy]

Totally agree Tony - if you are going to advertise do it properly

A crap ad reflects on your business !!!!!!

Get the editor rang !!!

By the way first thing get your "FREE" line entry in yellow pages.

I know everybody slates the YP but I get quite a lot of business from here.

I spend £2500 per year. I look at it as 3 weddings - If I get three wedding from it in a year then its done its job. I can guarantee I will get a lot more than that.

Yes you get a lot of "Tyre Kickers" but so what !! You will also get some great customers.

If you cant afford a full advert at least get you "FREE" line entry.

What harm can it do - you don't get anything - so what its not cost you anything !!!

[tibet]

Been in the Yellow Pages for a while now Stem! ;)c Even paid for it! Well, next year! Got 1 customer from it so far. :(
I'm also in Thompson local.
The prob with the ad in the newspaper is that my website URL is quite long and doesn't fit so I guess they had no choice but to put it on 2 lines instead of one. Same for my e-mail address. The ads are displayed in columns and it's not very wide. I'm afraid there's not much they can do about it unless I buy a full page ad which I have no intention to do!

[Dotty.c]

Tibet, sorry I've seen your ad, and I hate to say it but you got exactly what you paid for, linage in the classifieds, just above the plumbers. What you should maybe have done is spent a little more and had a boxed ad, we thought about these local papers but they often dont even make it through the letter box, or get thrown straight into the bin, unfortunatly I saw your ad in the local Kebab house in Melksham and that was because i went looking for it. Ok a good location??, but the ad wasnt worth a second look, sorry to be so blunt, only 50% of advertising works, but which 50%?

[tibet]

"unfortunatly I saw your ad in the local Kebab house in Melksham"?? I've never been to Melksham! I'm not sure what u're on about! Or do u mean that u've found the paper in the Local Kebab house in Melksham? And yes, the ad does suck, I know! :( But it was just a try, not the end of the world so it doesn't really matter. I just won't do it again. Learnt my lesson. ;)c

[Dotty.c]

The local paper in question was on the counter in our local kebab shop,
I imagine about eight miles Melksham to Devizes not a bad local area.

[Stemmy]

I dont unerstand why your email address is this ??

you@pascalerphotography@fsmail.net

If you own pascalrphotography.com then your email should look like this

info@pascalrphotography.com

why are you using fsmail if you own the domain name ?

[tibet]

Ah ok Dotty! Got u now! ;)c
Stemmy, what my e-mail address has to do with anything here??

[LTJ]

It is very tricky to know how to spend your money in relation to advertising. I have found the best type is image building where you put abit of personality and a story behind the name. I have always had features when i have won awards which dont always get people to pick the phone up straight away but certainly when they do need a photographer you will be thought of. Their is a differnce between advertising for work and product identity advertising. In my experience you need both. The worse thing you can do is spend alot on an ad and expect the phone to ring straight away, it probably wont! advertising works on a slow build up with your name being seen more and more and a general awareness for you built. I also advertise on the radio which at £580 a month is expensive but the amount of times i go places and say my name and people have heard it shows me that my ads have done what i intended ie upped the profile of the business. A simple ad does not do that. I had a feature when i got married and also i have done fun charity things such as naked cricket calender. The paper even ran a story how i had been broken into a few months back which i was abit brassed off at!! But customers who came knew all about it so not too bad i suppose! Look at other businesses that are succesful that you have heard of in your area. You will probably find you keep seeing their ad - you dont immediately order a new fireplace or whatever but when you need their service their name will pop into your head. Thats what i aim for anyway!! Pop into as many heads as poss!! Good luck with the ad but dont be too dissapionted!

[tibet]

Yes, I totally agree and that's what I'm aiming at too which is why I'm trying everything I can think of. I don't expect much from that ad at all but it was intended to show my name more than anything. Didn't know the ad would come out that bad! O_o I did put my business cards in lots of small villages around where I live and I give my card to every new people I meet and so on. I know it takes time and I'm not expecting to get calls straight away. I give it about a year before work really starts to kick in but since I already have a wedding booked in 2 weeks, It might be quicker than that if my clients are happy with my work cos they will then probably recommend me. That's what I really count on, more than advertising. So let's wait and see. Thx for ur feedback. :)

[BarryM]

I think Stemmys explantion of the email address was to 1. cut down the lettering a bit and maybe then it would fit into one line and 2. Its nice to tie your website in with your email address, i.e barrymoirphotography.co.uk and my email is barry@barrymoirphotography.co.uk, it just keeps an element of proffesionalism by linking the two in my opinion. Ive always taken the standard isp emails as house/personal emails, not business related at all, which you are geared towards.

[philghost]

The only sure way that I have ever got work, is through people mentioning my work. Other ways are, wedding fairs, local Exhibitions, or my website. The website took about a year before I got a booking and now I have had a few good jobs from it.

I dont think newspaper advertising works, unless you offer them free photos and even then it can be tough.

I still say word of mouth is best!

I also approach people and offer them a free print if I can use them for a shoot on a certain subject. This can be a very succesfull way to get yourself known in the area. Allow them to view the quality picture you have taken on a larger scale to impress, then give them a free print that is on ther small side, often they ask to buy a bigger version. But it has to be QUALITY.

I am sure that many of the guys and girls on here have great ideas and give excellent advice, and I listen, as always, because you can never stop learning.

You can spend alot of money on advertising, but it doesnt cost a penny to be friendly :)

Hope this helps anyone.

[BarryM]

I have to agree with you, at the moment i rely on word of mouth, and my business cards being handed out, i decided to do work for people whom i know can recommend me such as flower shops, a wedding dress designer etc at a cheaper rate and it certainly has paid off.

[Stemmy]

I just paid for a 2 weeks ad in the free local newspaper and I'm quite disappointed at how the ad looks! Website URL is in 2 sections, as well as the phone numbers and e-mail address! Doesn't very good, quite messy even!
But anyway, does any of u have experience with local newspaper advertising and does it work?

You mentioned here that they printed your email addy in two lines.

If you had the Domain name email address it might have stayed on one line.

[tibet]

Ah yes, ok! Well, actually, the e-mail address came with the domain but I have no idea how to put it to use which is why I never used it! Call me dumb if u will! O_o LOL! And yes, word of mouth, I think, is the best advertising campaign ever. I've done a few free photo shoots with friends and neighbours too and that might be good too. :)

[Gadget]

News is the key.
The regional press today are becoming increasingly stretched, journalists are being reduced to nothing more than copy writers because it is cheaper to keep them at desks han to send them out looking for news. Its disgraceful because whether you like it not the regional journo is the one that holds those in authority to account, if they are not aloud to go out and talk to people they cannot be the voice of the community...but i'm getting of topic.

-The trick is to find something to shout about; your 1st year in business, your 5000th wedding, bandwagon a client who has been sucessful and find a way to use it as a story for your own business. you've been chosen to exhibit, any of these will work.
-We all have tieups with other photogs so get one of them to take a relavent shot of you then write yourself 300-400 catchy words. Remember to get the basic jist in the first 2 sentences.
-Once you've done that and depending on who you want to attact, find out either who the business writer is who the reporter is that covers your patch. Speak to them and tell them whats coming and then e-mail the stuff and THEN FOLLOW IT UP!!!

remember it is the image that will sell whether you get published and it needs to be around 300dpi and 2.5k-3k pixels.
depending where it goes it can be worth upto £400 of free advertising.

Go on give it try.

[tibet]

A 'lil update here: the local newspaper was a complete waste of money! Oh well, at least I've tried. :)

[Stemmy]

Yes live and learn Tibet - I did a newspaper ad once - never again.

[tibet]

I hear ya Martin! ;)c