Admin nuggethunting Posted August 23, 2010 Admin Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Hello All, As most of you know, Rob's Detector Sales don't advertise and really never has in the past. The business was built by "word of month" sales and over the years I've managed to become one of Minelab's top 5 partners in the US. I find that pretty damn good since the only advertising I do is my outdated website (being honest) and my forums. The "word of mouth" and continued sales support & field instructions has kept me up there with the big boys, if you want to call them that. Over the years I've considered running a few half or full page ads in the major prospecting magazines, but noticed the price is not cheap. Just wanted to ask you all if you think it would be worth advertising my business in the prospecting magainzes or just continue doing what I'm doing now and save that extra advertising expense? Just wanted to ask you your thoughts on this and if anyone has noticed an increase in business with ads. Any thoughts, suggestions or comments would be appreciated. Thanks in advance,Rob Allison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grubstake Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Rob, to be honest with you, I have two treasure Mags. I read them and nevr look at the advertising. In fact some have so much, over the years, I have droped them. I wouldn't pay the money to advertise, unless you think it will make a big diference, which I don't. word of mouth is ten times better, my opion. Grubstake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grubstake Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Hey ROB, why don't you just self publish a news letter ? and let people that come on the forum have one or more that way they could pass them out. I will. Grubstake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyLundy Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Rob,As any business person will tell you the best advertising is "The Word of Mouth". 1/2 and full page adds are costly and can quickly eat into your bottomline. After I retired from the military, I started my own business. It was based on "The Word of Mouth" and quickly became bigger than I expected. I sold it and the headaches. The economy is slow and money is tight. You can try advertising, but the end result is the economy and not your products.LuckyLundy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Ron Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Yo Rob...My college degree is in advertising and marketing, I have nearly 45 years in the business and I owned an advertising agency for 8 years in San Francisco after working several years for some of the largest agencies in the the world...My opinion is that you skip the advertising in the magazines...In order for it to be effective you need to realize it is a very long term thing and you need to commit a bankroll for a sustained period of time...Like an absolute minimum of two years...Your word of mouth advertising is seeming to do very well for you and, after all, the objective of any advertising is to create sustainable word of mouth...You're already making that happen ... I'd concentrate on what you are doing, especially spiff up your website and gather testimonials... As you say, Hope this helps... Cheers, Unc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grubstake Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Yep, you want to advertise out of your area, print up 500 flyers, I put them around Mariposa and Merced. on peoples car windows. Up here we get people from all over the world on there way in to Yosemite National park. and we have arest stop right here by my house, sometimes 80 cars in there at once, and prob. 500 to a 1000 on any given day. Grubstake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reno Chris Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Robb - Of course I have my own bias, but I will tell you I've had a number of both equipment makers and retailers tell me of their success stories in advertising in the ICMJ magazine. Earlier this year I sold hundreds of copies of my magazine with a small monthly advertisement - that's my own success story. I don't know if you've checked, but our rates are much cheaper than the GPAA magazine. I think it all depends on what you want to do. Between family, work and business commitments, you've got a lot on your plate. A slow rate of word of mouth growth may be just fine for you. You've got a large number of loyal customers that are very happy shoping with you. Word of mouth is good, but can be very slow - you are basically waiting for customers to come to you. On the other hand if you are looking for a faster rate of growth in your business and to capture a greater market share, you need to get the word out. You have to take positive action to reach out to your potential customers. There are a lot of options out there for people who want to buy detector equipment through mail order. Those who do actively advertise are seen by some folks as more "substantial" in their business. Plus there are many prospectors out there who are not net savvy, and will not search out your business on the internet - there are also thousands of prospectors who are rarely if ever on the net, but who do subscribe to the ICMJ. Its all just in what you want to do and where you want to go right now with your business. I know that either way you choose to go, you'll do well.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredm Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Hi Rob;how busy do you want to be with detector sales? If you dramactically increase your sales of the Minelab Pi will you have time to continue your one-on-one field instructions...which is I assume a key part of your customer service...who will do the extra bagging and tagging?As for advertising, I think many "small business people" assume that advertising will make them more money...that ain't necessarily so...I have never heard a bad word about your service; and I will personally vouch for your most excellent service, hopefully that high standard will remain through what ever level of success you pursue...fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
way2cool Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Hi Rob I would love to see you update your website. I would also look into online advertising. If I goolge Minelabyou show up on page 3. If I type Minelab Sales your on page 2. You want to be on page 1 perferably in the top 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sandtrap Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Hi Rob, Why not just put a few of your business cards in everthing you send out? The ones I received from you, were handed out to individuals, and whenever I come across a bulletin board in a store,etc.. I pin one up. Can't hurt to advertise, but this seems an inexpensive way. By the way,I could use some more of your cards. My 2 cents worth............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minerjoe01 Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Howdy Rob, If it were me i, would update my website. if that doesn't cost too much. I think you could really make your buisness huge if you wanted. Your videos on you tube were a great feature also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Beeper Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Hey Rob,If you are willing to spend money to make money then I would start with your website. Meta elements need to keep up with your products. Ordering online is a feature many look for. It costs a couple % but it is per sale, so the cost is covered, unlike a magazine ad. If I were in a market for a new GPX5000 and narrowed my search to the top few sites, with all things being fairly equal, the one with online ordering would get my sale. When you make up your mind you want to complete the deal now, because you are excited about it!IMHONew Beeper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paseclipse Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Hey Rob word-of-mouth is certainly respectable especially in this day and age of the internet and computers. But one of the trends I'm noticing right now for businesses is the whole social network thing (Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter). It seems a lot of businesses are starting their own pages now. I’m on Facebook and I know there isn't much in the way of metal detecting for gold nuggets on there (I've looked) and it seems like this is wide open for the taking right now, at least on Facebook. I've seen a couple metal detector businesses on there but they don't specialize with gold prospecting. I'm not sure if it costs $ for businesses but I know it was all free for me. Perhaps you could investigate this avenue? I'll be the first to send you a friend request if you sign up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota Slim Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Hi Rob. Newspaper and magazine subscriptions are on their way down. The internet changed everything. All the magazines and newspapers have their own web sites because they work. The bottom line is your web site -- and especially this forum -- put you and your business front & center with prospectors through search engines. If you have a decent ranking in the search engines for the keywords people use to find your products I don't think you need to spend any other advertising money other than maybe a classified ad with a link to your site in ICMJ. (I have had some success with those). The bottom line is, you could probably SELL advertising on this forum if you wanted to. Also, if you haven't done so already, I would suggest that you sell some items on ebay. Make sure you put links to your web site and your forum on your ebay auctions. Just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Joe Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 Rob,It's been suggested that you update your website. I think that is the single best thing you could do right now. It won't cost anything (if you do it yourself) and will generate business. You will need to do some search engine optimization (seo) for the key terms you want people to find you with. You don't want to be on page 3 of the search results for 'Minelab GPX-5000' --- you want page 1 and it's not that hard to do. Do a Google search for 'power sluice' and you will find AME on page one. We are not a big company, but I did the seo myself and there we are. Point being, if I as a novice can do it, it's just not that hard to do and is time well spent. Now as far as magazines go, I would run a small ad in both ICMJ and the GPAA magazine with your web address included after you do the website update. You will see this will work pretty well for not much cost. The Google adwords program is also effective to drive people to your site. Good luck.Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvchris Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 Rob,Slim nailed it pretty good except one thing, linking ebay adds to your website, it's ebay policy that if your site sells the product then no linking to it. I sell on ebay and have an ebay store, I cant mention my site or link to it. You might get around it by linking to your youtube videos as they link back to your site. Today it's all about content, meta tags and meta data are just not king any more. The forum you have is golden and it's driving unique new sales.My advice is is to put your $ into website banners on unrelated sites..... ones that have < one-hundred thousand hits per month. Up dating your website should come first with a store (so folks can look at and buy product). Fresh content weekly on the website is what improves search ranking. Success stories and product reviews that include key search terms in the title and body.I have a few Ideas for the forum that would improve search ranking if you'd like to chat about them.google analytics is a great tool to see just where your visitors come from. And a whole lot more.It's in my best interest for you and all dealers to do well so I'll help in any way I can.Regards,Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toad_Whisperer Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 Just my two cents (for what it's worth), if your going to invest in banners then repetition is key.You may also want to consider expanding your product line by adding Fisher, Whites or Tesoro to your dealership. With the reputation Minelabs getting for a less than stellar customer support allot of people that can't afford the latest and greatest P.I.'s are avoiding them like the plague. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SGTFDA Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 Start placing some of your less expensive items on ebay with a link to your home page. Get folks use to buying from you and they will look to you later for more expensive stuff. I did the same when selling masonic jewelry and it worked for me. Others are doing it that way. It's just one tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grubstake Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 Hey Sarge, did they find out, that your house is built on an old indian burial ground? If it is. you might end up moving. Grubstake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rexb Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 Probably depends, my only experience with magazine advertising is a full page ad we ran in a real estate magazine in the Phoenix area for a real estate investing seminar we were holding down there. We had a simplified website address in the ad that people could easily type which would redirect to the online sign-up page. Incoming traffic from that specific address would be tracked, and we found the return from it was low enough that we decided to cut the campaign short (not renew for another month) and instead motivate our existing customer base to spread the word about the seminar by inviting their friends and colleagues. We supplied them with flyers to leave in offices and share with others. Of course, we also used other promo methods which included e-mails and a call center that pitched the seminar to licensed real estate agents all over the U.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claim jumper Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 Give DOC a call. He use to run adds in a magazine and swore by the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reno Chris Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 Actually Doc still runs ads (at least in the ICMJ - I dont see every issue of the GPAA magazine).Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridge Runner Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 Rob Don't go throwing your money away on ads.You start that you may have to go full retail or cut out the package you give so freely and everybody likes the package for sure.We'll keep telling the truth about what great deals you have and the great service after the sell.We all know what a great guy you are so I won't say anything about that. Chuck Anders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutch john Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 Rob... It goes w/o saying we are in a down cycle. The DOW, NASDAQ, S&P,and DOLLAR are in trouble... Even the 16-nation euro zone has declined the month. It has been known over the years the worse the economy is, the brighter gold becomes and can bedriven higher by speculation. This is alsotrue with silver. Gold is holding at around $1200 (As I write this gold/new york $1226) One negative thing regarding magazine ads, it is only natural for some magazines in order to survive as their printing and especially their mailing costs increase and their circulation drops (due mainly to the economy) is to increase their advertising ratio. All of the posts on this thread have been informativeand have given you a large plate of "food for thought." My thought is that you are running a steadycourse and doing things right... as someone one said"it is the economy..." ... Jim Straight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkirkll Posted August 25, 2010 Report Share Posted August 25, 2010 Hey Rob,Man, is this a smart group on your forums, or what!!!I heard some great ideas.....I have just one more:Save the money on the mag ads and donate me a 5000,,then you can deduct it!!! Just think of all the money you will save!!! Save money on not placing ads, and the tax savings......Double dipping!......PRICELESS...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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