Nice logo'ed van or vans.

That and the quality of work kept me swamped non-stop for 20+ years when I was in Kansas.

After moving to Oregon,I'm starting over but gaining a little everyday

The company i work for has been around since 1996. The company i worked for before that was arouned since the 70's. Not $1 spent on advertising and the website is not a factor. The company i worked for previously just recently put up a website that had something other than contact info only. Everything has been word of mouth referrals from clients/builders/architects/IT pros etc. The company site could be shut down tomorrow and i still think we could stay busy the rest of my life.

But...

This aint 1996 anymore. A new company doesn't have the luxury to build that long line of referrals based solely on doing good work. The market is bursting at the seams with new companies. Some good some bad some in the middle...all of them competing for the same client and once that client signs off and spends the money...game over. You being better than the other guy just means you will end up getting called to fix the mistakes...no hardware sales...angry client with a tight purse. Good luck with that.

You should be doing something to stand out in the crowd. My advice based on personal experience and feedback...

1.Website. If you dont spend a dollar on anything else...get a website. It doesn't have to be a $10,000 website but if you have the $10,000 i wont tell you not to spend it on the website. I have seen $500 websites that look like a million bucks and $10,000 websites that look like hell. Do some research, ask people here in the forum for referrals. Same stuff you would expect one of your clients to be looking for. Examples of their work etc.

2.Company branding. Again...you dont have to have a $5000 branding package but if you have the money to spend you will find that $5000 goes quick when you are having a logo made, vans wrapped, company uniform, brochure etc. When i see a van roll by with nice graphics or employees show up with a company shirt it "says" professional to me. This is why the geek squad is still in business. Those idiots look sharp in their trucks and grey khakis.

3.Meet with and build relationships with builders/architects/interior designers. Show the designer that you can help them sell more of their over priced furniture and fabrics by hiding your equipment in motorized cabinets. Be part of their team not the AV guy.

Do those 3 things and we wont hear from you for a while because you will be too busy to listen to me argue with the republicans about whether or not Obama is coming for their women.

By far my best ROI channel has been donating items for charity auctions. I have many clients that have foundations or that raise money for different charities. I always ask if I can donate to help the cause. They are surprised when I ask to be included because normally they need to beg people to help.

This does a few positive things:

1. It cements the relationship we have with this client. They always appreciate the gesture.
2. I get a tremendous amount of exposure during the event. They allow banners, flyers and other advertising displays that work great for the exposure.
3. We are usually the only CI there so we stand out from the wine baskets, Spa treatments and golf vacations.
4. We always get calls after the event from people that see us there and didn't know we existed.
5. It's a great way to get rid of something in inventory that needs to move.
6. It's a great tax write off.
7. There are many vendors that will match the donation essentially paying for 1/2 the cost.
8. It makes you feel great knowing you're helping others.

As a reference, I donated a Pioneer Receiver ($300) I had laying around in inventory. I received a call to install 2 days after the event. I upsold them on the receiver (they wanted more features) and I ended up selling them a $15K system for the rest of the house.

They referred a client that we have done 5 projects for, another client that we did 2 projects for, another that we did a large project for as well as countless other referrals. In total we have acquired over 2 dozen clients from this one auction.

This $300 donation ended up being responsible for over $1,000,000.00 in business over 9 years as wall as producing a long list of some of my favorite clients to work with. If that wasn't enough, I got introduced to a great group of golfers that go on fun trips all the time. There are a few of these people that I can call friends. It not only improved my business but it changed my life for the better.

I would highly recommend this to everyone, there just isn't a downside from what I can see.

Good luck.

HomeBoy

My GF at a crowded bar where rich guys hang out! "My Bf does bla bla bla for a living".

Goldens Seo is really good when testing my site. his always comes up before mine.