I've been looking at PDQ and other marketing options (mailers mostly)

I was wondering who's using these? are you making your own?... are you printing them or having somone else print them out for you?

mostly looking into ways to start up cheap... i'd eventualy like to pick up PDQ... but 1st get off the ground...

what kind of printer are you using if you are printing them yourself? seems printing to many will add up quickly w/ ink costs :(

thoughts? ideas?
thanks once again
mark

This is how my day went.
Well I am sending out about ten cards a day, targeting dentist in my local area. First cards went out yesterday and today I got a call from a Dr Fami Patel. I had a very hard time understanding her. Again, this bunch of cards are targeted to dentist and say in bold big type about carpet and upholstery cleaning (thats it, nothing else). I had a few hours to kill so I went up to her office to bid. When I get there she has it in her mind that I am going to clean the bathroom, wood trim, sinks, windows and so on, she then tells me she needs me once a week to clean her house which would consist of the oven, dishes (if any in sink), picking up dry cleaning and I think she said something about a camel.
I had to tell her I was carpet and upholstery cleaning only and she could not understand or did not want to. Needless to say I walked away. I just dont get it, how much more clear do I have to make it. Well at least I know that my cards are being read, just not being understood.

Patel is an Indian name. (the subcontinent of India). Many Patels are in the hotel business, especially in fairly low-end "no-tell motel" types of establishments. The ones I have encountered are, shall we say without getting into ethnic stereotyping, cheap. And they want to do things their way. Eg., they won't ask you for a proposal. Instead, they'll say: "We pay such & such an amount".
So with Patels, as with some other ethnic groups, there are always likely to be some cultural-based misunderstandings, or conflicts.

Hi Mark,
Out of all the boards I posted this on your the first to answer. I know what you mean about the being cheap part and I hate to say it but I dont market to a person with that type of last name. I delt with to many of those type when I worked for Sears. They woould come in and first word out of there mouth was do I get a discount. I sent a card to that office because it was her business name and not her name. If I had knew this I would of saved a stamp. You hate to be this way but I guess sometimes you have to. It made me a little ****** that it was going to be her way or no way. So I hit the highway.

Donaldson: I make my own postcards b/c we just happen to have adobe illustrator and photoshop. Then when done I upload it to www.overnightprints.com where I can get 1000 for about $120'ish (I think) or 2000 for about $185. I used to print them myself on my color laser printer and the quality was MUCH worse and if you include the cost for color toner, not much different. They have screwed up 2 of my orders and both times they re-did them for no charge, no questions asked. If you would like to see a copy of the postcard I designed email me and let me know.

Joe: Your day beat mine yesterday. I had 2 couches, 3 la-z-boys, and about 700 sf of carpeting. Upholstery takes so long this was quite the marathon job. A brother-sister were there with their parents who lived there. The mom spent the whole day rambling on about her religion which I make a point of not talking about religion or politics with customers... On and on and on about God, jesus, heaven... and practically cornering me to try to get my take on things, which I never gave her. She even held up a picture of Jesus and claimed that she took it even though it was obviously a poster. Then the whole family was in the kitchen arguing with each other for about a full hour... And to top it off I rammed their chandelier with my head and have a nice gash on my poor, bald head....

I need to find a way to do upholstery faster. A 3 section couch seems to take me 2 hours with a 6 inch buffer and pads.

Grant d go to Joe Englands web site he has a good upolstry tool it is kinda expensive but simialr models sold by van snider (somthing like that) are twice as expensive, I believe the web sit is www.smart-cleaning-solutions.com

Wow, But at least you made money.

Once you've done several of them, a sofa should't take you over 45 minutes or so. Some parts often don't require any more than a dry vacuuming the back; the sides down beneath the area. C.C. legend Gary Heacocks in Portland Oregon says he has sofas down to 15 minutes with his encapsulation method. I think his website is www.heacocks,com. Or throw in some likely keywords and Google his site.

its
http://www.heacocks.com/University.htm

and a sofa should only take about 30 min or so and I do them by hand using a sea sponge.