Leafleting | Letterbox marketing | advertise your business

The mythical cost of “DIY, cheap, affordable and low and lower prices in leaflet distribution” can only … rebound on you. it took us a long time to see that at those prices is the lowest we can go, the tightest possible margins.

Any lower and you are bargaining against yourself. In the best case scenario you would be faced with “the naïve enthusiasts” trying their hand of distribution “how hard can it be, take two guys and deliver” they can tell you any price for the “sake of trying, or a start up”…and they would soon find out that it can’t be done, unless they do it “out of goodness of their heart” but since we know this is very hard physical work, we have to assume that they will get tired and soon stop…

Worse case scenario is that…well we better don’t say it! They well know that at low prices this Can’t be done, still low prices you are quoted, giving you the false impression that you are getting a bargain.

Well, in both cases…the distributor will never lose, in the end it will be you that won’t get what you need! For the sake of few tenners or hundreds, you are helping somehow, to make your local advertising campaign a failure, before it has even started.

There is a reason that we employ professionals in most things we need, at home and at work.

We can change 4 tires on the cheap, paint a wall, change the oil in our car or fix a light on the wall. There is nothing wrong with that, if you want to try your hand or do it with few friends and your brother, as light fun on Sunday afternoon; is one more excuse also to go for a nice round of beers afterwards. Though to pain the entire house, fix the car, change your windows or fit a new kitchen, we call in the professionals, that by definition are the people who do  this daily and for a long time.

On leaflet distribution in London, we are the people to call, door too door, business to business or handouts, we know the time frames, the costs, the number of people needed to complete any job, area density, postcode data and so on.

Call us, trust us, and leave leaflet distribution on the hands of professionals, not chancers that can give you “bargains” and make you “temporarily happy” by way of getting a bargain..your happiness should be based on a good distribution and the results you get after, not on “cheap prices” that will be so dear at the end. You get what you pay for!

How much is door to door leaflet delivery?  Is the most common question that our clients ask us. They continue, “but this is more than I thought” or…”other people, did quote me less, much less that I hear from you”…

Our clients are serious businesses, be it small or large, their investment in Local Advertising, matters a lot to them, in all fairness; this leaves us in a position trying to explain the difference between us and “others” that in appearance seems like we are doing the same thing: leaflet Distribution.

Either at the beginning or the end of our explanation we have to remind them of the old adage along the lines of “you get what you pay for”  and also the importance of advertising for their business, done in a professional and trusted way, rather than by anyone who can give you a simple and unrealistic quote.

Given the recession and harsh economical conditions, our prices have gone down recently, across the industry. While once we used to charge £45-50 per-000 fliers in door-to-door distribution in Inner London, now we charge £40—per-000 fliers. Can we go any lower? Not really, other-ways it will affect the quality of work.

To get an idea how distribution is done you must know that this is hard, physical work, where “boots on the ground” count. The distribution operatives need to be paid a fair amount for their working hours, otherwise the incentive to do this job and do it well, simply isn’t there.

·         * You should expect us to send there qualified and trained staff, not just any guy who shows up for work today and give him fliers…This ensures that our operatives have training. They need to be paid fairly.

·         *They work at set times, supervised and in uniforms.

·         * Logistics, maps, live checks and/or back-checks, incur costs to us; this is the purpose of the client coming to us, the specialists in distribution fields. You relay on us do do a good job, or you will hire 1 or 2 or 4 people and tell them: “here deliver this X amount of fliers for me”

·        *  Transport, offices, storage, maps, tracking, end of work report and supervision also costs money.

·        *  Dealing with inquiries, logistics, invoices, calls and emails, cost money and time for us. Costs of running a business are the same for us, as they are for you.

 If the costs don’t ad up then you that the “guy or the people who quoted you £25per 000 fliers in Solus distribution in inner London –worse is outer parts of a rarer housing density- is not that well prepared to do this in the proper way.

Clients often ask: what is the best format for a leaflet? A simple question, that isn’t easy to answer. Many times we have explained on this blog that design-wise the best policy is Simplicity. Keep the background  light and bright, use no more than 2-3 colours. Your fliers should be:

·         Easy to read and understand

·         Clear and without clutter

·         Include picture/pictures

·         USP and what you offer in quality, speed, reliability and of course, Price!

·         Contact, website-email-phone

 The format depends on your needs, message and creativity.

 * A6 [postcard size] is a good way to spread a simple and quick message. Business launch, community meeting, offers and can be used as a voucher also.

* A5 [printing paper A4 folded in half] gives you more scope to explain some of your points in detail, describe and compare different deals and services on offer.

* A4  maybe be used in the form of a letter or as a thorough description of your business.

However, your imagination shouldn’t stop here. Not all fliers should be in rectangle shape. One of most successful ideas that we promote is to use the A4 Format. Turn it sideways and fold it twice, as per DL measurements. Now you have 6 small pages instead of a bulky one. It can be used as a mini-brochure. Introduction, products/services, pictures, testimonials, comparisons, prices and contact. Having 6 pages to spread your message for nearly the same price, can only be in your advantage.

Door hangers are a great concept also. The visual is beyond the average leaflet we see daily, their novelty value makes it pleasing to the eye and easier to be kept for future use. Se our two operatives Imran and Lim delivering door hangers for wimdu. You can try that type of format to break the usual rutine.

Dont forget to see the video in our page about our top notch [click] SEO service that we offer recently.

During cold months of winter, distribution doesn’t get any easy, still our teams are out there doing their job daily. Be it in high density areas or rural ones, despite the cold and harsh weather condition our teams carry on with their dedication and usual reliability that we provide.

If you want advice pre-campaign, for anything that concerns leaflet distribution in London and beyond, if you need design and printers recommendations, don’t hesitate to contact us, Fastleterbox is only here to help you. Our relations with our regular clients or new ones are always long term, your success is our success. Teams we send out there are fast, highly visible, working at set times and always supervised.

Leaflet delivery in London and anywhere; needs the right planning, logistical support and experience. Anytime we start a local advertising campaign, we cover all the bases and take care of any eventuality. You need help for your restaurant business, are a dentist or a solicitor, a plumber or an ice cream seller, we have the right package for any of you.

Call or write to us at anytime and see your returns increase. enquiries@wheretoadvertise.co.uk

 Merry Christmas and a Happy  New Year to all of our customers!

If you need any kind of Leaflet Distribution to be done before Christmas, contact us before 4PM on Wednesday 21 of December. For advice, help and quotes either by phone or email, you can reach as at anytime.

Use this time to think about the coming year. The economic situation will be demanding, so do not forget the advertising side of your business. To get people In, you have to Go Out and Find them. We are here to do this for you. Fliers, leaflets, catalogues, magazines, menus, brochures, anything you need to sent out, contact us and we will complete the best leaflet distribution in London.

Along with our clients we wish the best year to come for our regular guys that make us proud with their hard work and dedication at street level, working in any weather conditions and achieving highest penetration results. Hope the coming year will bring more work and prosperity to our clients.

Wishing a Fantastic Festive Season and a Great 2012 to all of you!

This starts with printing. Printing consumes a lot of energy, uses different chemicals and produces high levels of waste. Customers often want to know of the ways on how to reduce the negative impact on the environment by using the right choice/products themselves. If you ask, do the research or get the information from the specialists on the field, it is easy to Go Green and still not compromise on the quality.  At Fastletterbox we care about our Leaflet Distribution work and the Environment. Several issues are important in here:

·         Raising awareness

·         Research and improved knowledge about the impact we have in the environment.

·         How reduce waste

·         Control pollution and seek ways to change and control it

·         Find and use environmentally friendly materials and practices

·         Preserve energy and materials

Today there are many printers that are environmentally aware and use vegetable based inks, recycled paper and produce less waste that traditional techniques of the past. There is a wide range of recycled paper used for envelopes, leaflets, newspapers and magazines.

As a customer you can do your bit by Recycling fliers, leaflets, catalogues, newspapers and brochures than you buy or come free through your letterbox. Remember All Paper Is Recyclable, sometimes the additional processes may render it unusable but the main point is Paper can be recycled many, many times.

It is up to us all, the printer, the distributor and the client to chose the best way to make our materials, products and services in a way that serve us and the Environment.

The best idea always is to hire a professional to make an Ad, so your money can go a long way if you chose to do this. However there is no perfect ad and you need to cover all the point with research and preparation in order to convey the right message out there.

·         Explain your product and service. For what purpose/need, your client has to come to you.

·         Study your competitors. What are they offering, compare similarities and differences.

·         Clearly highlight your USP [unique selling point] to make it easier for clients to understand.

·         Establish Brand Awareness, however common or basic your service and product is.

·         Delivery of service and product needs to be explained in clearest possible way.

·         Describe all the benefits, usefulness and returns your customers will get.

Either alone or while explaining the above points to a professional advertiser, the above points have to come through in your Ad. It can be on newspapers, tv or radio or printed on a flier. Leaflets are ads and should be treated with the commitment any type of advertising deserves. Leaflet distribution in London or anywhere has the same aim as others forms of advertising. The choices to make often cover both ends of the spectrum and at times some fail to do this properly. You should keep your ad informative but concise, attractive but simple, explanatory although not patronising, comparative to your competitors but respectful, pointing our your excellence and quality yet remaining modest and so much more…

A single product or service will not testify who you are, however a part of you will come through it. Customer service, quality, speed, dedication and everything that can make a difference in the choice the client makes. An ad is not simply selling one thing, one product alone but is your “shout” to the world out there. As services multiply, as we look for easiest , fastest and more secure ways everyday to get a service at our own convenience, the competitions becomes fierce. However this will not stop a new restaurant from opening or 000 of others to attract new clients either through a niche or a dedicated and proven service that works.

It has been said that a good advertiser can sell “snow to the Eskimos” because he can compose a great ad, can be highly persuasive and know how to point others towards a deal that interest him. In fact this is a Myth. You can sell snow to the Eskimos or sand to Bedouins once, the 2-nd time they will realise there is no need for it. You help to create a demand but can’t force it artificially to the point of absurdity. You need to back up your claims with solid reputations so your clients come back again and again, a solid customer base is the key to a successful business, not one off deals.

The best Ads relay on Simplicity and honesty, claims that are supported by logistics and reliability of anything you have to offer. Focus on these points and never forget to ask for your clients feedback, because anything that needs to be changed or you may have missed, will be reflected on the feedback you get.

As explained in other articles by wheretoadvertise blog discussion and during feedback from our clients, our main concern is that advertising in local scale, represented via Leaflet Distribution as the most common and well known form, should be thought and done in advance and not as a last minute resort. If calls have dried totally, if clients won’t come the wake up call may be too late to save your business. If you are an estate agent that during good times has survived through high street presence and clients demand and you did only 5-10.000 fliers per month, now that savings have to be made do not think that by printing 40-or 50.000 fliers your luck would change right away. It would have been a better idea if you did 20.000 during the good times to make sure your name is out there, inside peoples letterboxes.

During the good times you need to make sure to offer what is needed with the minimum expense possible and at the right time. Is called The Law of the Minimum or Liebig’s Law, you can have the best resources available but not offering what the market wants, as a result you will fail.  This law says: Growth is not controlled by the amount of resources available but by the scarcest resource.

This was seen in agriculture for the 1-st time, where it was found that by increasing the amount of plentiful resources does not increase productivity, but only increasing the amount of the limiting nutrient the one that is least abundant in the soil becomes the most important one.

To illustrate how the plants growth is dependent of the nutrient that is in short supply, Liebig used the image of a barrel whose staves are of unequal length. The capacity of this barrel would be limited to the point of shortest stave. This example can give you some good ideas on how to explore and what to offer your clients without the need to break the budget or go on spending sprees.

Liebig’s Law teaches us to be observant and how to find out what is needed. Is as simple as this, try to find the “limiting nutrient” in your services and with some adjustments and adaptations you will know how to help the plant grow. Beside the metaphor the point is simple, sometimes you do not need to break your budget to offer your clients exactly what they need and to increase your profile.

Let Wheretoadvertise.co.uk handle your leaflet distribution campaign, being highly skilled and with experience in door drops, business to business delivery, handouts in trains stations and promotions we can certainly help you to get more clients. Leaflet delivery in London and inside M25 is our speciality, our leaflet distributors can deliver through London Letterboxes in the best possible way. Send us an inquiry and we will take care that your newspapers, brochures, magazines, cards, menus, catalogues, leaflets or fliers will go door to door in your chosen London postcode.

Most businessess have understood the importance of local advertising, it is affordable, easy to control and quantify and brings results. Day after day we have clients that ask usa about different ways on how to advertise. Fastletterbox thinks that the best way is a combination of different methods, one being increased visibily on the google local, see this video for a more detailed explanation. Leafleting can be used by large companies and by small ones, old ones continue to do it regularly and new businesses realise its importance and flexibilty, in order to reach for more orders and exposure.

Fow a while some people did predict that with the internet, online ordering, email lists etc the humble flier will dissappear, facts show that leaflet distribution is on the increase and will continue to be used in the future in different ways. The challenge is to be precise, informative and inovative on the formulation and design to attract the attention of your persepective clients.

Local Advertising  does need to start in large numbers, the most important points being: make your presence felt, be informative and offer a good service/product.

Whether you are a new business or an established one you need to reach out to other businesses, this depending on the specifics of your service/product, at Fastletterbox leaflet distribution [see our website www.wheretoadvertise.co.uk ] this is one of the methods that we use, alongside with Handouts, Promotions or Door to Door Residential deliveries in London.

Fastletterbox did a business to business delivery for our clients at Red Bag Recycling covering some specific main roads around central London. They provide a full range of waste management services for a variety of businesses, highly specialised in collection of waste, recycling and disposal of different materials in an environmental friendly way. You can see them at www.redbagrecycling.com and also engage their services if you have anything to dispose. Their USP is at the fact that Redbagrecycling does collections 24 hours, at your convenience and at good prices, but not only, they have no minimum collection, no contracts, large discounts and either fixed monthly cost or pay as you go schemes.

At www.wheretoadvertise.co.uk we stress our green credential and always recommend to our Clients printers who use recycled materials, participate or donate to environmental causes [tree planting, using environmentally friendly ink and paper etc] as Fastletterbox wants to do its bit for the planet earth. That is why we recommend that you look up RedBagRecycling for all of your recycling needs. Fastletterbox sent a team doing deliveries to all the businesses in the market areas, high streets, secondary roads and anywhere in between that had shops or businesses operating in the vicinity.

B-2-B Deliveries are charged at higher prices than d-2-d [click here http://www.wheretoadvertise.co.uk/leafletdistributionprices.php ] as the nature of this kind of leaflet delivery is different from residential one. This kind of Leaflet Distribution is harder and more time consuming. Fastletterbox operatives have to stop to explain to some business owners what the flier is about and shops and businesses are in clusters making distances of delivery longer.

Fastletterbox completed the delivery in the best possible way and with the highest  penetration levels. Included are some photos of the team send to complete this particular kind of delivery. This time to keep the clients mind at ease we introduced a new technique as Proof of Delivery. They gave us a specific list of major roads, on all this roads before delivery our two operatives took pictures with the sign of street signs clearly displayed day after day, until the delivery was completed. Also you can see more pictures of our guys in here http://www.wheretoadvertise.co.uk and also in here at Freeindex.co.uk http://www.freeindex.co.uk/profile(fastletterbox-ltd)_147724.htm  around 20 pictures of our operatives engaged in different types of Leaflet Distribution in different areas of London.

Click on the pictures in this article as they are in the thumbnail format.