Does anyone have any ideas for boosting my decorating business?

I work by myself mainly on domestic properties and have little spare cash for radical ideas. I also cannot borrow any money as i am already up to my ears in debt

I am a time served decorator and i pride myself on doing a great job all the time.Problem is that there are poor tradesmen or women out there who do a naff job for peanuts

If you are a good decorator your reputation alone will sell your business. People are always looking for decent decorators - be reliable, efficient, helpful and dont be ripping anyone off - you will always get recommendations and referrals. Place an advertising board outside the job you are working on and that way if the neighbours dont actually want the decorating done at that time, they will know who to ask when they need some work doing.

Become a better designer?? Word of mouth is your best friend.

Put some cards up in shops advertising what you do. Before you know it jobs will come rolling in

Try to get people to tell other people, and make sure you do a really good job when your working and maybe people will spread the word.

Make an effort to advertise your specialty for the time of year. For example, since it is now getting warmer, advertise deals on exterior decorating - painting the outside of houses etc. Plus people are always wanting fences and sheds painted, and decking, gates, panelling, etc etc...

Do a couple of jobs at cost to gain some extra credibility and then hopefully you'll get more work off their recommendations.

easy! drop your prices down when it gets around so will your customers otherwise as you say your heavily in debt it can only close you down

if you look anything like your avatar, people aint gonna be comfortable with you in their houses!

have you tried making leaflets and canvasing areas? notice boards in local shops? look professional - nice white overalls etc. and make sure you do top jobs, and be nice to ensure word of mouth praises! ...good luck!

Forget boosting the business - just get out there and paint the town red...

A simple maildrop of leaflets is inexpensive and easy to do.

Also, when you have finished a job leave some leaflets and aks your clients to apss them round to their friends.

A decorator who is quick, reliable and reasonably priced will very quickly make a good reputation for him/herself

Good luck :)

with a name like `NOMAD`why dont u wander down`SOUTH`where the MONEYS`treble`ps`-dont 4get to Sign`on-FIRST``

As you see in the above answers, 'word of mouth' is what people keep repeating.

Heres a practical way to harness the power of recommendations

Do you have a customer who can recommend your business? If so get listed for free on this newly launched site called http://www.servicedomino.com. Its a site for small businesses to promote themselves. The top listed services are often promoted, online, in their local areas by the website free(as part of their own marketing campaign).

With the different categories there...you benefit from the already available traffic.
Also as the database grows...you get traffic directed to your listing and category....as customers look for recommended businesses. Recommendations are the best form of ads arent they?
The basic listing is free as long as you are recommended by a customer. You get a subdomain free

e.g: http://josed.servicedomino.com
http://spiritmassage.servicedomino.com

Let your customers drive your PR engine. If you saw a service on a third party website with recommendations from customers...you would prefer that to something you pull out of a classifieds wouldnt you? Also a customer who puts in a written recommendation is more likely to remember your services in the future too.

You can even print out these recommendations...put the link to your subdomian on flyers etc.

for a boost why not set up a referral program - offer customers money or vouchers for recommending you, once you have more customers drop the cash reward and just ask for referrals.
if you do leaflet drops make sure you do them in areas where your typical customer lives, and to estates where people have the money to pay for your services.
make sure you follow up on any enquires you've had, if someone has had a quote or asked about your services get back in touch with them - they may now be ready to 'buy'
perhaps consider where people look for decorators (local free papers personally) and consider advertising for a few weeks in there, i know it may be money you don't have but just one or two leads may pay for the advert.
anyway hope these ideas help, good luck!