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SSS
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22 hours ago, SSS said:

 

I have already incorporated and chosen the name so changing the spelling is not an option. I appreciate what you’re saying and I thought the same thing when I came up with it. When spoke to my accountant he offered me some business advice and said not to worry about the business name, the ‘tag line’ and branding is more important. 

The business name is fine its the logo that is difficult to read, i would suggest re-designing it sooner rather than later.

If your focus is repairing recycling equipment then stick with that, drop all the fabrication and repair stuff in the company description as it makes you sound like an odd-jobber rather than a specialist which is where the money is. Also makes life easier for marketing as you can be really specific. Facebook for B2B is quite difficult as relies on people being interested in their job outside of work....i cant imagine many recycling workers are. Linkedin would work better as you are trying to get to site managers however i think in your business it would be best to put your sales rep hat on and go knocking doors at the local places that use the equipment you are talking about (literally and figuratively) also speak to the equipment manufacturers these sort of manufacturers are always on the look out for decent repair guys to support their products especially if it someone who can look after the older out of warranty work. 

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On 29/02/2020 at 20:27, SSS said:

Thanks for the input. My domain name is www.byrkley.com. 
I built the website using squarespace because I am currently very time poor (could be worse things to complain about than being busy!) and it’s especially easy to do on there  

I have already incorporated and chosen the name so changing the spelling is not an option. I appreciate what you’re saying and I thought the same thing when I came up with it. When spoke to my accountant he offered me some business advice and said not to worry about the business name, the ‘tag line’ and branding is more important. 

 

you might want to buy a few other domain names with different variations of your company name and point them all to your webpage, that way people will still get there.

 

Your logo doesn't really cover what you do, if I saw that on an invoice I'd assume that you only did engineering and welding so it may help to add the other services too (something like your 1 stop shop for....)

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On 29/02/2020 at 14:33, Thunderbird said:

 

PLEASE, DON'T KEEP ME A SECRET! I build my business on reputation and referrals. If you're happy with the service I provide, tell your friends, business contacts and colleagues. 

Best of luck. 

I’ve stolen that, thank you!

2 hours ago, Deker said:

 

you might want to buy a few other domain names with different variations of your company name and point them all to your webpage, that way people will still get there.

 

Your logo doesn't really cover what you do, if I saw that on an invoice I'd assume that you only did engineering and welding so it may help to add the other services too (something like your 1 stop shop for....)

I intend to buy some more as and when funds allow, currently I’m on 30 day net payment terms with most and I’m waiting on invoice payments. 
 

thanks everyone, my lack of experience in actually marketing a business it’s what’s difficult. Like has been suggested, getting someone like a student etc on board for half a day a week may be the way forward until I get on top of cash flow!

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8 minutes ago, SSS said:

I’ve stolen that, thank you!

I intend to buy some more as and when funds allow, currently I’m on 30 day net payment terms with most and I’m waiting on invoice payments. 
 

thanks everyone, my lack of experience in actually marketing a business it’s what’s difficult. Like has been suggested, getting someone like a student etc on board for half a day a week may be the way forward until I get on top of cash flow!

Speak to your local business enterprise organisation too, you might well be able top get access to some funding to support your activities, or at the very least there will be a lot of support material and guidance available to you to help you develop your skill in that area.

Without being disrespectful to the other comments above, do not get hung up on the logo or getting other domain names, etc.  It will make no positive difference right now, way more important is the message that you get out there by the channels already open to you.  I certainly never made a buying decision on the basis of a logo.  Once you get to the point where your brand is known and synonymous with the field in which you work in then you can worry about your logo and how immediately identifiable it is, but until then put it out your mind.

You can use analytics to find out about how many people search Google/Bing, etc for the services that your company provides and you could spend a bucket load in trying to optimise your website to appear in those searches first, but that is a steep learning curve for you to learn and only considers the web.  Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a worthwhile thing when you know what you want to achieve.

Right now use the contacts you have, you are the expert in what you do and nobody is going to be better placed in promoting your services than you.  Work on your elevator pitch, that 10-15 seconds where you describe what you do.  Detailed enough to make it meaningful, but also to the point so you’re not waffling and losing folk’s attention.

Give it a go here, 1 paragraph describing what you do, the sector that you do it in, where you do it and what differentiates you compared to others.

 

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1 hour ago, grrclark said:

do not get hung up on the logo or getting other domain names, etc.  It will make no positive difference right now, way more important is the message that you get out there by the channels already open to you

This is good advice, you're not building a brand (not now at any rate), you're selling your services to potential customers. 

In the early days of starting a business equal importance is often given to everything, then later in you realise what works and what doesn't.

For example getting business cards printed. I have not used business cards for years and in fact I no longer have them at all. 

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24 minutes ago, Thunderbird said:

For example getting business cards printed. I have not used business cards for years and in fact I no longer have them at all. 

I still have about 450 of the original 500 that i bought at the outset when starting my business.  Never again!

If you’re doing trade shows and meeting loads of random people they still have a use, maybe, but mostly they are good for levelling up dodgy table legs.

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