Door-to-Door Advertising
Found in: About Business
Heatherlee S.
As I prepare to go “door to door” with my flyers for my SM business, I am wondering when would be the best day/time to go? Is there anyone in the “SM Family” who has already done this? Any ideas on what to do when I discover no one home? I don’t want my flyer to get lost in the regular mail with all the other flyers. Would you consider it rude if I taped my flyer to your own inside door? It may take me more time, but it won’t get missed if you have to rip it off the window as you enter your house.
Amy G., Virginia
I don’t know what the laws are in Canada, but here in Virginia I have had good luck with flyers. I don’t go door-to-door, but I do loosely fold them in half and put one in the flag of the mailbox. There are a few rules I follow…
1. ABSOLUTELY no flyers IN the mailbox. The post office gets VERY, VERY upset about this.
2. If the house is for sale, no flyer.
3. If the flag is up on the mailbox, putting a flyer on the flag is near impossible AND interferes with the postman/woman. Stay out of the way of the postman.
4. No flag on the mailbox (sometimes they break off) no flyer.
I fold over my flyer in half (no crease) so that it will STAY between the flag and mailbox. ALWAYS with the writing on the outside.
I have had a lot of luck with this. I have done both color AND just plain white. The plain white works the best for me.
ALSO, I use a mailbox mailer that goes out every other month – called Money Mailer. It is an envelope full of local coupons. Since I offer every single new student two free classes, this qualifies as a coupon. I have had very good luck with that as well.
Between flyers I do myself, the Money Mailer, community bulletin boards in local businesses, my website, the magnets on my car and my husband’s car, the large postcard business card/coupons I give out along with the wonderful Simply Music brochures, and the word of mouth of my students (I have hosted a Bring a Friend to Class week), I built up a studio pretty quickly.
Beth S., Tennessee
I went door to door when I first started and was having trouble recruiting students. I spent a good deal of time on it, had a lot of fun talking to people, but didn’t acquire one student from it. The only good thing for me, I think, was that it loosened my tongue about SM and got me talking, so that by the time an FIS rolled around, I was not quite so intimidated. I don’t think I would tape a flyer. Tape always has the chance of removing paint. I just always wedged my flyer in the crack of the door where it meets the door frame.
Laurie Richards, Nebraska
I did the same as Beth. I didn’t spend a huge amount of time on this, but I did get one student (one of my neighbors). Another thing to keep in mind is that although you might not immediately acquire students, you are still spreading the word and creating some recognition. People are more likely to call after they’ve seen or heard about it more than once, so consistency in getting the word out is critical, in my opinion.