Does anyone have business website as sole trader?

[MTI]

hi all, im a spark from leeds and have set up on my own. Luckily im in with local builders and trades so that does pass me some work but i have now set up my own website in hope of work in this tough climate. I appreciate most work comes from word of mouth and that the site cant be relied upon for business income however, it is a good way for people to check you out and enquire about proposed works.
The problem im facing is, so far i have spent tons of hours all year round so far to get the site something like reasonable and inviting.
It is getting hits/visits but i have only ever had one or two enquires of which nothing materialised.

Id really really appreciate it if everyone would quickly visit my site and then fire any comments back to me so that i can rectify my mistakes. Its still early days and sometimes we do things and then think why did i do that!?
please go easy on me but feel free to comment on the smallest of things.
the reason for so many pages (like doorbells) etc is to allow more information and keywords per website overall. cram it up and search engines penalize you.

BIG BIG THANKS GUYS!!!!!

:: M.T.I. ELECTRICIAN ROUNDHAY NORTH LEEDS ::

 

[SirKit Breaker]

My personal opinion is that you are barking up the wrong tree.

I have a website holding page, but as for using a site to drum up business it is going to cost £000`s.

You would need to pay a fortune to make sure that you come out on top in various searches with google and the likes..

I`m also in Leeds, i have free ads in Yell.com, yellow pages, thomson local, all you need to do is visit their sites and put in your info, all the one line ads are free, you will get sales calls form them but thats part of the deal i suppose.

Also get a van if you havent already and get it sign written for about £200, these forms of advertising work wonders for me and i`m always busy.

Word of mouth is the best but it takes time to get established, in the meantime look for the work yourself instead of hoping it will come to you, get calling round builders/plumbers etc in you area.

I got going by sending flyers out to people who applied for planning permission on the Leeds City Council website, in my first year i canvassed about 300 applicants and got £11,000 of work, i now do all electrical work for 3 of the building companies i dealt with and 1 of the landlords whos has over 50 properties in and around Cas/Ponte areas, i also get a lot of recommendations from the customers i worked for.

Good Luck..............Howard

www.theelectrician-leeds.co.uk

 

[iceman]

hi i live in the shropshire area not to fare from birmingham i got me van sign written and posted about 600 flyers out and not one single job as came of it i thought me business would hav taken off once i got me niceic registration if anythin its like the anti christ i had more work last year unregistared its a joke

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Could be the current climate, bad timing etc. I am busy but ticking over, unlike last year when i was sprinting and booked up till end of year.

The tide is turning, i had an interesting chat with an estate agent a couple of weeks back, the house market is picking up slowly due to the people who were in the market to buy a year ago couldnt raise the funds as the banks werent lending, these people have now been saving for ayear and have the required deposits to secure lending, the lenders are starting to lend to them and they are now buying houses, bat it out and it will all come good towards end of year when these people start completeing on their house purchases.

Cheers...............Howard

 

[welsh spark]

HI,
I have a small web site did it through vista print only costs me £7 per month cheep and cheerfull but to be honest i dont get a lot of work out of it word of mouth recomendation is the best way of advertising if you ask me buil a good rep and youll be fine it takes years though

 

[MTI]

My personal opinion is that you are barking up the wrong tree.

I have a website holding page, but as for using a site to drum up business it is going to cost £000`s.

You would need to pay a fortune to make sure that you come out on top in various searches with google and the likes..

I`m also in Leeds, i have free ads in Yell.com, yellow pages, thomson local, all you need to do is visit their sites and put in your info, all the one line ads are free, you will get sales calls form them but thats part of the deal i suppose.

Also get a van if you havent already and get it sign written for about £200, these forms of advertising work wonders for me and i`m always busy.

Word of mouth is the best but it takes time to get established, in the meantime look for the work yourself instead of hoping it will come to you, get calling round builders/plumbers etc in you area.

I got going by sending flyers out to people who applied for planning permission on the Leeds City Council website, in my first year i canvassed about 300 applicants and got £11,000 of work, i now do all electrical work for 3 of the building companies i dealt with and 1 of the landlords whos has over 50 properties in and around Cas/Ponte areas, i also get a lot of recommendations from the customers i worked for.

Good Luck..............Howard

www.theelectrician-leeds.co.uk

Thanks for your response and all the great details. i have done/doing most of the abouve and just getting my flyers done now.

Getting work from the council website-wicked idea!

So if i was to do the same sort of thing and with other websites too, what sot of thing did they want to see from you business wise? same as elecsa etc? insurance etc etc?

thanks, thats a big help!

HI,
I have a small web site did it through vista print only costs me £7 per month cheep and cheerfull but to be honest i dont get a lot of work out of it word of mouth recomendation is the best way of advertising if you ask me buil a good rep and youll be fine it takes years though

i agree that a website is just to look professional and let people check you out. the name can be put on cards and flyers etc and does look good but im not relying it for work as much as i maybe make out.

it is amazing though, the amount of people that do get work through websites. my mate (a spark) lives few streets away from me and has been getting tons from his site as he is very high on google but i beat him on many searches. he has been working 6 days a week through the bad times due to his site but im not taking a leaf out his book because of it.

overall, people in leeds search for electrician or electricians a few thousand times a month as a whole, however they will contact a handfull of people at once and taking into account there are in region of 2000 websites for sparks leeds apparently- im not doing bad. page 1/2 for many searches but page 5 and rising for electrician leeds.

anything is a bonus i suppose. many people now say they check the web for a trdesmans online recommendations and feedbacks as customers can rate you on most sites. this is purely how my mate ranks very highly on google-not cos he is superspark!

 

[SirKit Breaker]

When i first meet a new customer i give them the Elecsa householder letter (downloadable for their site) which explains all they need to know about Part P etc etc, and then i leave them to it. It informs them what the requirements are for both the Electrician and the building regs so they then know that i have got all the required badges for the job.

Glad your mate does well on his site, i`d have a bugger about with mine but i havent the time or inclination but its each to his own i suppose.

I would look in the Harrogate area planning as well, theres some good money to be had up that way and its on yer doorstep.

Goodluck.................Howard

 

[MTI]

When i first meet a new customer i give them the Elecsa householder letter (downloadable for their site) which explains all they need to know about Part P etc etc, and then i leave them to it. It informs them what the requirements are for both the Electrician and the building regs so they then know that i have got all the required badges for the job.

Glad your mate does well on his site, i`d have a bugger about with mine but i havent the time or inclination but its each to his own i suppose.

I would look in the Harrogate area planning as well, theres some good money to be had up that way and its on yer doorstep.

Goodluck.................Howard

Cheers again Howard! You have some quality information behind you! its getting very tough for me now and i have had a rough time over the last month. Had barely any work at all and earned a few hundred pounds as a result. I only started out purely on my own at christmas and things are getting slower which doesnt help the fact that im trying to get leaflets and the van signed up. Not only these, i have bought my nice shiny fluke etc and im know trying to find the time, money and resources to earn my part p status because as we know, i cant trade on the electrical side of things on my tod without it. I currently have been sharing the little work i have with another spark and vice versa so that jobs can be signed off. Obviously this isnt the route i want and im loosing out big time. I now just need to find the time and resources to become confident for applying for part p status. Its just the testing side and form filling that i have no experience in at all really.
I do quite often get work which doesnt fall under the part p so im ok there (cat5, alarms etc) but this is falling short now and people are short of money too so they look for the basic essential works and maintenance.

Im glad your doing well though howard and if i can ever be of assistance