How to Advertise Your Custom Woodworking Service
Advertising generates interest in a company's products or services from potential customers. Custom woodworkers have a variety of advertising options from which to choose, from advertising on the Internet to advertising at trade shows. Some of these advertising methods do not require payment. Business owners must be persistent in their advertising efforts to attract an ever-increasing number of clients.
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Instructions
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Use the Internet. The web provides businesses with the opportunity to reach a wide market. There are a myriad methods for advertising a woodworking business online and these include creating a website for the business, posting messages on various forums and providing updates on your business products on social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace (see Resources below).
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Place an advertisement in local newspapers. Types of advertisements range from a few lines in the classifieds section to full-page ads. The cost of the listing will depend on the size and the placement of the ad. If you wish to reduce advertising costs, consider placing your listing on free classified websites online, such as Craigslist and Kijiji (see Resources below).
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Circulate business cards. Hand out business cards for your custom woodworking business to people you meet. Also consider including them in outgoing mail.
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Circulate brochures containing information on your business, such as the type of custom work you create. These brochures should also contain attractive pictures of some of the pieces you have created.
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Offer discounts and giveaways. For instance, offer a gift to the first 20 people who visit your business. The gift can be something small and useful that you have made, such as a wooden letter opener. It does not have to be expensive.
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Take a booth at a trade show. These are places where you can make business connections and attract potential customers. Set up your booth with product samples, business cards, brochures, flyers and other informational items you may have.
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Encourage current customers to advertise for you. For instance, offer discounts to those who refer others to your business, and give your customers T-shirts imprinted with the name and address of your business.
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Create a marketing calendar. In "How to Market, Advertise and Promote Your Business or Service in Your Own Backyard," Tom C. Egelhoff recommends creating a marketing calendar, at least six months ahead, to organize your advertising efforts. You can use the marketing calendar to space the advertising events appropriately and keep track of past and future events.
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Distribute your business card to local furniture dealers (an antique dealers if you work with older furniture or do restorations) and let them know that your business can customize or repair the products they sell.
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Tips & Warnings
If you have some custom woodworking pieces to display, consider having an open house. Invite the community to come in and view your work.
References
- Photo Credit statue 18 image by Nathalie P from Fotolia.com
