where do I market??

[G.E:A.R.S]

Hey folks, so I m new, and really hoping for some feedback from the vast collective!
Ive gotten everything business related pretty much under control and been doing ok for almost a year. My biggest issue is really just finding where to market!
I know it doesn't sound that difficult, but a billboard and a website just are not cutting it. What i need to know is, where would I market to hit my target well market!?

Re-manufacturing is what we do. We take wood/plastic/metal electrical/mechanical products that are built for a specific purpose and once they break, we rebuild or reuse what we can and recycle what we cant, then sell the rebuilt units back to a customer.
The primary issue is that manufacturers do not particularly like us, because while we save thousands of pounds of products from the landfills and put tens of thousands of pounds of alloys/metals/plastics back into the worlds resource pool, we undercut their business (not intentionally but most customers will not pay equally for a refurbished unit vs new) or if not undercut, then at least reduce manufacturing sales.
Our target market are those larger companies who do not manufacture themselves but that have contract manufacturing done or companies that have their manufacturing outsourced.

So where do you go to market to large businesses that are predominately outsourced or have contract manufacturers?
We have had a website and billboard up for 9 months and have yet to receive a single related phone call. So I would like to be more proactive.
Any ideas?

[Freelancier]

Billboard is a waste of money unless you think all your best customers live along the corridor where the billboard is located. What would be the odds of that?

Web site is useful, but it's like an online brochure: unless you're marketing the web site -- through adwords, press releases, social media -- it's just noise in a sea of louder noises. So it's good to have, but not the end of the road.

From what you describe, I'd think that you'd want to start looking at vertical market magazines related to manufacturing. Not all manufacturers should dislike what you do if you can show them a way they can save money on warranty repair/replacement (since that's a cost center for them). Just need to find the ones who are thinking about how to solve that problem.

[G.E:A.R.S]

The billboard is posted next to one of the busiest freeways in one of the highest density cities in the U.S. so lots of people see it... but hasn't seem to have done a thing so your pretty much spot on there!
And I have been looking at manufacturing forums/magazines/manufacturing organizations but every time we approach a manufacturer, well it is not generally pretty. They all see us as a threat. Warranty shops do not work anything like the way we do, and are generally much smaller operations then what we do. We do complete overhauls, warranty shops (generally) just replace a part or two. For most companies having the repair work done in house is the most affordable solution as its all under one roof, AKA no extra shipping costs, storage costs and no extra rent. Also being in California, its not like we have the advantage in more affordable labor either!
SO basically that is why I am looking to find, those larger companies that would like to be able to reuse a broken product (vs throwing it away) or a company that would like to advertising on there own products the benefits of our green practices or other advertising features such as (assembled in the USA) ect. I mean if w found the right people, the system would sell itself, but that is fundamentally the problem-finding those people!

[tallen]

How come I can't find your website? Searching your company name (from intro post) lead to corporationwiki and similar general listing sites, but not to your own website.

What do you think people who would be looking for your services would search for on internet searches? You need to make sure your website shows up in those searches!

[cbscreative]

You mentioned you have a web site, I suggest setting up a signature file with a link to your site. We can be more helpful after reviewing your site and with a better understanding of your business model.

My first thought for attracting some amount of attention was the Thomas Register, but it looks like your system is more unconventional and would not typically be sought so TR may be a waste of money. That would mean you have to create an awareness campaign that reaches people who won't be threatened by your service. I can't tell from your description what types of products you remanufacture. Identifying who exactly your target market is will help shape a strategy to reach them.

[Fulcrum]

Re-manufacturing is what we do. We take wood/plastic/metal electrical/mechanical products that are built for a specific purpose and once they break, we rebuild or reuse what we can and recycle what we cant, then sell the rebuilt units back to a customer.

I wonder if part of your problem is the range of service you offer. If done properly, just repairing and recycling wood pallets could keep you busy.

[G.E:A.R.S]

Ah heck sorry about that tallen, we are having this new graphics group rebuild it, kind of prettying it up ya know? Here is our face book https://www.facebook.com/GEARSLLC that has all of our basic info.
Currently we rebuild industrial ovens. A 3phase unit and a 110 unit. Our primary customer is ARZYTA you can see some of our units on our Facebook and their website.ARYZTA AG (http://www.aryzta.com/)
But we're not really limited by types of products, we can basically rebuild anything as long as its available in sufficient quantity. I can basically lay out my target market, largish company's that sell or otherwise provide a mechanical unit that they maintain responsibility for but who are not manufacturers. I just have no idea how to find them!
I like the sound of an "awareness campaign". How does it work?

[G.E:A.R.S]

Sure, we do that already! We don't resell them, as we use everything we find generally. But that's the idea in one! The problem is always 2 parts, finding a source of equipment (in decent quantity) that gets tossed, which is harder then you think, because most organizations try not to list what the throw away!
The second, is after you find a product to rebuild, you need a buyer, which can be easy sometimes, or impossible other times it really depends on the product.
Which is why I try to find companies that we can help who can provide our supply and demand.

[cbscreative]

I like the sound of an "awareness campaign". How does it work?

That's kind of like asking how to build a house but I'll use what little I know about industrial ovens to present a few ideas. The market for such ovens would be bakeries, maybe food packaging companies and restaurants. There are probably trade shows where users of these ovens would want to be attending. A trade show environment would be an ideal venue to raise awareness for your service.

The Thomas Register I mentioned above may be a good resource for you too. It's too passive to qualify as a real awareness builder but more of a credibility boost with potential to get you noticed and possibly establish some good connections. On a similar note, the EPA has a Green Suppliers Network. You should qualify to join and that would increase your exposure in the market.

You should also be on LinkedIn. Facebook is more suitable for B2C and your doing a B2B model which LinkedIn is better for. You can look for groups to join that match your personal and business interests and establish connections that way.

Since your business model is reducing waste and recycling, you should be able to find favor with media outlets. Getting featured with some good press helps raise awareness too.

You also have the advantage of an identifiable target market (like bakeries). Do everything you can to be where they will be found. In addition to trade shows mentioned above, advertise in trade publications, join trade associations, build a mailing list and make yourself more visible, etc.

[G.E:A.R.S]

I think I am starting to get the idea.
Industrial ovens are just something we found. One of the product we are looking at in the future is a bread display rack made of wood, I mean we could do workout equipment or transmissions or power tools or well just about anything. That was kind of my point when i said basically every single business that produces a mechanical/electrical/wood product in decent quantities and does not make it themselves is basically my target market. Ovens are a pretty decent market to get into (everyone eats), but it is a pretty tight grouping of suppliers who all offer repair/warranty programs (hobart, unox, aryzta, winco, G.E.) Which is why I am really trying to move the business outward to incorporate new types of products.
I will definitely check out Linkedin and I have been checking out "Thomas Register" since you mentioned it in your previous post. Though i must say I am very interested in a "green" awareness network! I haven't really thought of pressing in that direction!
I have been looking for any type of re-manufacturing group/organization ect. as "There are over 7000 re-manufacturing firms in the United States and Canada active in at least 125 different product areas and they are active in almost every state and province."(the remanufacturing database August 17, 2012 The Database of Remanufacturers, Robert T. Lund Professor, Boston University http://www.bu.edu/reman/The%20Remanufacturing%20Database.pdf) but the real gig is that 95% of these re-manufacturers are highly specialized and rebuilding/reusing their own products and as such, there is not really any organization involvement as they are all also the primary manufactures. Which leaves little guys like us to repair and replace what other large corporations are not. So that is my target market, I have as yet been unable to figure out who exactly to talk to or who to approach (in terms of companies). That is why i was hoping to find a really awesome marketing idea, so that these groups can find me.
Sorry for the wall o` text, I just want people informed as much as possible so that they can provide the best possible advice.
But thank you for everything so far, it seems I have a few more options and places to start looking, and a few more online profiles to make, hah!

[cbscreative]

Sorry for the wall o` text

Use double spaces to separate your paragraphs, that helps a lot.

Other than that, you are on the right track with finding niches. Trying to eat the whole elephant is much harder than taking bites. You'll find a lot of good info along those lines in our Marketing forums.

[michelle222]

I would suggest stay away from billboards- they are too expensive and the amount you spend here can be spent in other means that can increase your sales. Having a website is a good idea. However, if you do not know how to market your website online, then it is another waste of time. I suggest you start your online campaign and get your website ranked. If you do not know how to do this, better start reading topics and articles on SEO. You may also choose to hire a SEO specialist to market your website.

Also, you should get some leads and do several cold calling.

Good luck!

[Jeremiah]

Gears,
It seems like you know your niche very well which is a good thing have you tried a combination of cold call sales and special offers. Call these large corporations and speak to their purchaser if possible visit their office. If you cannot reach them at least find out the purchaser name and contact information. Send them a quick information packet through the mail addressed to the specific person and tell them you will be sending it. Your niche is small and does not need to be broad based marketing. It should be specifically targeted and given a reasonable off to at least give your company a try. I hope this helps and cold calling isn't fun but its much more effective than broad based marketing.

[JoshThomas]

I suggest you do some research for manufacturing groups or organizations in your area. I used to attend monthly tours of factories with a group representing small manufacturers in our state. I made a lot of great contacts going to those tours, even though I had to drive hours to the factories sometimes.

I collected email addresses, phone numbers, and information on the movers and shakers in all of the companies so we knew who to contact with ideas. If you find a group like that, offer to do their SMS reminders for meetings. It would allow you to collect mobile phone numbers for all the members that could be valuable for an SMS campaign in the future.

[Richt]

KILL the Billboard they work but are the best for retail businesses to market to local consumers, Retailers marketing to tourists on major interstates or for Big brands to Maintain Brand Awareness and Market Share, use your money somewhere else. here's an idea and I'm not really educated in your type of business but i would find a product to remanufacture then sell it to the market via business auction sites or Email marketing to a specific buyer, so lets say you got your hands on 100 bakery ovens, remanufactured them and then marketed them to used restaurant supply houses in lots of 5 or 10 units depending on freight limitations. I think your profit margin would be higher because your selling small lots and finding a list of used restaurant equipment companies is easy, you just need to have a sales arm of your company. This is what merchandise Liquidators do, they advertise to manufacturers that they will buy for cash all their overstocked or remanufactured inventory ( note they usually never buy for cash because they offer 3 to 4 cents on the wholesale dollar, then they offer a much higher price if they can control the liquidation as the exclusive agent for a defined period of time) So you may want to find an item, get the rights to market it, figure out the highest cost of remanufacture then pick your target market and pre sell the remanufactured product for delivery in 6 to 8 weeks or what ever lead time you need. This conserves your cash and helps you build a list of buyers at the same time.
Just a thought,
Rich t

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[justinnichols]

Hi G.E:A.R.S,

You need to focus more on sales and less on marketing. 22% of all marketing yields zero results, and an additional 23% of marketing yields zero results within 60 days. By the way 25-50% of all online ad traffic is FAKE. That means that out of every $10,000 you've spent on marketing, you probably wasted $6,000 of it.

Linkedin is a great way to prospect, but another great way is to join an association whose membership is comprised of your prospects. Meeting someone face-to-face still has the highest conversion rate; especially if you have a stellar site to point them to after the conversation.

Proviso: Marketing is still important and it does have it's place in the world, but you need to be very careful with it.

[Damon the Marketer]

Hi G.E:A.R.S,

You need to focus more on sales and less on marketing. 22% of all marketing yields zero results, and an additional 23% of marketing yields zero results within 60 days. By the way 25-50% of all online ad traffic is FAKE. That means that out of every $10,000 you've spent on marketing, you probably wasted $6,000 of it.

Linkedin is a great way to prospect, but another great way is to join an association whose membership is comprised of your prospects. Meeting someone face-to-face still has the highest conversion rate; especially if you have a stellar site to point them to after the conversation.

Proviso: Marketing is still important and it does have it's place in the world, but you need to be very careful with it.

At the beginning, you're right. But you'll eventually realize that you only have so much time to sell. Whereas sales is linked to time spent, marketing can get you clients passively.

[londonmoon]

I'd say go for Facebook and start a group in your industry otherwise you should focus on getting organic search traffic from the major search engines.

[Paul]

Couple of thoughts here. Maybe a change in your service rather than marketing is needed.

I think it’s going to be very difficult to find the situation you are looking for, for all the reasons you mentioned and the fact that it just doesn’t fit into a manufacturer’s business model. They are focused on selling their new products/equipment with repairs in house or in the field. Refurbishing and reselling just doesn’t make financial sense for them.

However, you may want to consider this. There are constant auctions of merchandise that was returned to the big retailers, sears, best buy etc. for pennies on the dollar in pallet and truck loads. You may want to look at that and see if it makes sense to buy and refurb and sell yourself. You are probably already aware of this.

The other thought is because you mentioned ‘made in America”. There are companies that import goods from overseas including restaurant equipment. Instead of importing finished goods they can import the parts and have you assemble. Then they can say “assembled in America” and It may be cost effective for them to import parts instead of finished goods. Be a general assembly plant.

[liamdai]

i'm not sure if this has been suggested before... sit down in a quiet place and focus

1. create your BEST ideal client on paper (be very specific, age, sex, income, location, personality, etc...)
2. then add a few more traits for your 2nd best client
3. do it again for 3rd best.

Now if you were that #1 client, where do they shop? what do they do? What do they read? That's where you need to be marketing and advertising.

[LandingOnePPC]

Today, in 2014, it's all about digital or online advertising. There really is no more effective way to market your product or service. Upwards of around 95% of folks who are searching for anything but the most mundane of everyday products initiate a search online at some point. Think about the last time you went to buy a new car or similar. It all begins online. Whether your business is local, regional, national or international, your customers are shopping for what you offer online. You need to have a viable presence in order to compete. Print, radio, TV and other mediums can still be effective adjuncts but nothing replaces the internet in 2014.

[Harold Mansfield]

Today, in 2014, it's all about digital or online advertising. There really is no more effective way to market your product or service. Upwards of around 95% of folks who are searching for anything but the most mundane of everyday products initiate a search online at some point. Think about the last time you went to buy a new car or similar. It all begins online. Whether your business is local, regional, national or international, your customers are shopping for what you offer online. You need to have a viable presence in order to compete. Print, radio, TV and other mediums can still be effective adjuncts but nothing replaces the internet in 2014.

I know this is an old thread and the OP probably moved on, and even though I am in the web business...I have to disagree with you here.
Yes, we all know how important the web is and I agree with the fact that everyone should have a professional presence online. But it is not the best or only way for every type of business or industry to market.

Also, yeah, radio and print have taken huge hits simply because they can't offer the same convenience and interaction and their reach is getting shorter and shorter... but TV and visual entertainment still reins supreme. It's still the most effective way to reach and influence large numbers of people at one time, and have your message repeated to them over and over again.

Content on the web is quickly consumed and people move on. You may see a headline repeated in your news feed more than once, but you only read the article or engage in comments once. The second time you skip right over it.
On TV, however, you zone in and watch the same content over and over again. Reruns, and commercials alike.

TV and web do frequently go hand and hand these days, and that's because a TV commercial with a website address or Facebook page mentioned on it will get instant traction.

An actor on a talk show mentioning their Twitter handle will get thousands of followers. And that brings up a good point, if you look at the people with the most traffic, most social media followers and most interaction....it's either companies that advertise on TV, or people who are on TV all of the time. TV, Music, Sports, and Movies still have HUGE reach and influence that can't be beat. Out of all of the mediums, being on TV is still perceived as the most credible.

[Blessed]

I know this is an old thread and the OP probably moved on, and even though I am in the web business...I have to disagree with you here.
Yes, we all know how important the web is and I agree with the fact that everyone should have a professional presence online. But it is not the best or only way for every type of business or industry to market.

Also, yeah, radio and print have taken huge hits simply because they can't offer the same convenience and interaction and their reach is getting shorter and shorter... but TV and visual entertainment still reins supreme. It's still the most effective way to reach and influence large numbers of people at one time, and have your message repeated to them over and over again...

This year we moved away from TV advertising to focus on Social Media advertising for the children's consignment sale event I work with and after the year we agree with you - TV advertising is HUGE, our situation is that instead of taking what comes from corporate (it's a franchise) we need to do our own commercial so we can point people directly to our local social media - Instagram, Facebook, Twitter... and that's expensive, but we are revisiting it for 2015, because in addition to the message being repeated etc... via advertising we've found that the TV stations are more likely to cover our event if we're advertising with them. We always see the largest influx of new shoppers/customers/people who have never heard of us before - in the few hours after a newscast about our event. But you can't guarantee that news coverage - being a paying advertiser definitely helps.

Again - not sure that any of this discussion relates to the original poster, but I liked your point Harold and wanted to add what we have noticed this year. :o

[Harold Mansfield]

In your situation that makes perfect sense and good thinking.

[Unique Designz]

Love this formula!! ;)


i'm not sure if this has been suggested before... sit down in a quiet place and focus

1. create your BEST ideal client on paper (be very specific, age, sex, income, location, personality, etc...)
2. then add a few more traits for your 2nd best client
3. do it again for 3rd best.

Now if you were that #1 client, where do they shop? what do they do? What do they read? That's where you need to be marketing and advertising.