[pianotech] experience advertising w/Angie's List?

[Greg Newell]

Mark,

                I have a lot of experience with them. Where to start. 

                I have been their “Super Service Award “ winner in my
category for the last 7 years consecutively. I’ve advertised with them a
fair amount. I get enough customers from the advertising that I feel it’s
worth my while to do so. That being said, the only complaint that is ever
reported about me is that my prices were too high. Like many or most on this
forum I feel that I am more than a “tooner” and therefore my prices are
higher than most in my area. Angie’s Lists customers are often price
shoppers. They do offer a way to reach customers who are looking for quality
and it is one of the ways that I try to set myself apart from my
competition.

                I don’t think that Angie’s list is national but I’m pretty
sure that they’d like to be. “Angie” hails from Indiana and her business
covers most nearby states to her. I’ve been miffed by a few things in
dealing with them. I’ve wanted them to tell folks who won their categories
each year and asked many times why this was not done and the reasons for it.
I placed quite a few phone calls and received quite a few promises that
someone would call me back. This never happened. Most recently I signed a
contract and paid the money for an ad for this upcoming year. They told me
that they would create the ad with my input. I gave them the link to my
Yellow Pages ad to use as a base. After at least 6 weeks of dragging their
feet they sent me a copy of my new ad and told me I had 4 days in which to
make corrections and send it to them. Two of those were weekend days. The ad
was horrible and I had MANY corrections, in fact I told them to scrap it and
start over as it was unacceptable. They told me it would have to run because
they didn’t have enough time to make another one. I finally got it
straightened out but lost a month with a crappy add They ask their customers
for ratings on local businesses. I wonder what they would think about the
rating that the businesses give them.

                All in all I would say that it has been a frustrating but
rewarding experience. The “list” has had a positive effect on both my
reputation and my wallet.

 

Greg Newell

Greg's Piano Forté

www.gregspianoforte.com

216-226-3791 (office)

216-470-8634 (mobile)

http://www.wealthyaffiliate.com?a_aid=NNaYfMKd

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Mark Potter
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 6:26 AM
To: Pianotech
Subject: [pianotech] experience advertising w/Angie's List?

 

Greetings -

As they are a national organization, I assume most of you have heard of
'Angie's List'?  For those that don't know, members of Angie's List
(consumers) pay a fee to have access to a list of service people who have
been 'graded' by other members.  There's more, but that's the basic concept,
I believe.

 Apparently (perhaps?) because some of their members have been leaving
positive comments on my business, I have been contacted repeatedly by them
the past 6 months regarding advertising piano servicing on their web page
and in their magazine.  Obviously they are trying to drum up advertising
dollars, but before I even look into the details, particularly the cost, has
anyone had any experience advertising piano servicing with this
organization?  Just wondering....  

Thanks for any replies

Mark Potter





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