We've Sent 1000s of Customers To Our Locksmith Clients
Hi, my name is Garret Merkley...
I am the #1 expert when it comes to marketing for locksmiths.
That is why Google has ranked me #1 for the term "Locksmith Marketing"!
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I am the owner of eWebify.
I have done and continue to do marketing for locksmiths throughout the United States.
With 1,000s of hours of marketing behind me I am confident in my abilities to market for locksmiths and many other types of local businesses. Now before I get into the various marketing ideas for locksmiths I want to ask you two questions to make sure we are on the same page.
*If you are just starting a locksmith business, be sure to check out my article that shares many locksmith names to help you with naming your new business. You might also get some good ideas from my lists of garage door company names as well.
Question #2: When do you make your company/yourself the most money?
Answers
Most locksmiths will answer these two questions pretty similarly. I have listed common answers to these questions below.
Question #1:
a) In order to be able to expand my business.
b) To get more jobs because I am slow right now.
c) To fill in my schedule and eliminate any slow times.
d) To keep my technicians busy.
Question #2:
a) When I am unlocking cars.
b) When I am reprogramming car keys.
c) When I do a house lockout job.
d) When a large business hires me to rekey their building.
e) When I do emergency locksmith jobs after hours.
Why You Shouldn't Be Interested in Locksmith Marketing Ideas
I know, you came to my website looking for ideas to market your locksmith business. Don’t worry I will give some tips, ideas, and advice for marketing your locksmith company. But, I honestly think you should stay far away from trying to do your own marketing.
*If you want to skip to the ideas, you can do so by clicking the links in our table of contents box to the right.
Why do I think it is a bad idea to be interested in marketing ideas?
1. Because you as a small business owner have very little time to make money. Every minute and hour will either be used to make you more money, lose money, or make no money at all.
2. If you are like almost every business owner out there, you are in business to make a profit. In order for small business owners to make $ they have to do a lot of things and the more strung out or multitasked you are the less likely you will make any $.
3. Because marketing is time consuming, stressful, and has a huge learning curve.
What if someone asked you to tell them how to cut a new car key and reprogram it? Would you tell them that it was a good idea for them to do it themselves?
Learn From Henry Ford!
To give a real life example of why it is a bad idea to do your own marketing I am going to share some text taken from “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. I recommend reading this book if you haven’t already. You can buy it virtually anywhere. If you are like me and don’t want to go to a local store you can read it online for free or order it on amazon.
Here is the exact quoted text from the book.
Mr. Ford was plied with such questions as the following:
“Who was Benedict Arnold?” and “How many soldiers did the British send over to America to put down the Rebellion of 1776?” In answer to the last question, Mr. Ford replied, “I do not know the exact number of soldiers the British sent over, but I have heard that it was a considerably larger number than ever went back.”
Finally, Mr. Ford became tired of this line of questioning, and in reply to a particularly offensive question, he leaned over, pointed his finger at the lawyer who had asked the question, and said, “If I should really WANT to answer the foolish question you have just asked, or any of the other questions you have been asking me, let me remind you that I have a row of electric push-buttons on my desk, and by pushing the right button, I can summon to my aid men who can answer ANY question I desire to ask concerning the business to which I am devoting most of my efforts. Now, will you kindly tell me, WHY I should clutter up my mind with general knowledge, for the purpose of being able to answer questions, when I have men around me who can supply any knowledge I require?”
There certainly was good logic to that reply.
That answer floored the lawyer. Every person in the courtroom realized it was the answer, not of an ignorant man, but of a man of EDUCATION. Any man is educated who knows where to get knowledge when he needs it, and how to organize that knowledge into definite plans of action. Through the assistance of his “Master Mind” group, Henry Ford had at his command all the specialized knowledge he needed to enable him to become one of the wealthiest men in America. It was not essential that he have this knowledge in his own mind.”
What Not To Do
This is a basic list of marketing ideas or practices that you shouldn’t do.
1. The Phone Book
2. Radio Advertising
3. T.V. Advertising
4. Local Newspaper Advertising
5. Mailers
6. Sponsorships (Local sport teams, schools, etc)
7. Restaurant digital ads
8. Billboards
9. Social Media (I don’t think you should do it but someone should. Most business owners will spent way too much time trying to get social media to work. It isn’t easy and can be a big waste of time and money if you don’t have the experience.)
Why?
Although I have specifically said not to do the above marketing/advertising methods for your locksmith business doesn’t mean they are worthless. It means that I strongly feel they will not bring you a Return on Your Investment as a locksmith. If you were in another industry, the “bad list” could be entirely different.
Good Locksmith Marketing Ideas
Here is a basic list of marketing strategies and tactics that you should be doing as a locksmith.
1. SEO (Search Engine Optimiaztion)
2. PPC (Adwords or Bing Ads)
3. Car/Van/Truck Wrap.
4. Local Online Directories.
5. Handing out business cards to customers.
6. Getting to know local car dealerships, auto shops, paint shops, car repair shops, realtors, home inspectors, contractors, landlords, property managers, etc.
7. Building relationships with all the other local locksmiths. Locksmiths tend to refer work to each other often when they can’t get to a job.
8. Build a website & blog about your business.
9. Get listed on Google (Doing this right is extremely important. Past clients have tried to do this themselves and have negatively influenced their ranking.)
10. Add your business to the major data aggregators online.
11. CRM – This stands for Customer Relationship Management. Believe it or not it is a lot easier and less expensive to get return customers than new customers.
12. Joining a local networking group. Some common networking groups are BNI, PowerCore, or your local Chamber of Commerce.
13. Track all your calls from various marketing avenues. When you know what works you can focus more time and effort on that.
What I Would Do If I Were You
I know this is going to sound self servicing/self promotional but this is really what I would do if I were in your shoes.
I would find a marketing professional or company that is experienced and seasoned. The marketing company that I would choose would be focused on results and promise results. For locksmiths those results would be in the form of exclusive quality phone calls. I would set up an agreement that I paid them for results and results only.
*BTW – This is exactly what I do. I market for local locksmiths, guarantee results, and charge them for results. I produce a monthly ROI report that shows them exactly how much they spent and how much they made all on one piece of paper.
Join My Facebook Group!
I have created a private Facebook group where I answer questions and share my articles on marketing. Feel free to connect with me here and ask me whatever you want.
I can’t promise that I will always be able to provide the answer for you but I am working on it everyday. I do own and operate a business and have many clients that I do marketing for.
How To Join?
Click on the link below and request to join. Once I get your request I will approve it. I invite you to participate in the group and always add value to the group and I will do the same.
→ Join Here: eWebify’s Facebook Group on Marketing
Resources
1. I wish I could thank Napoleon Hill in person for his amazing book "Think and Grow Rich" but Napoleon Hill died on November 8, 1970. Napoleon Hill's book "Think and Grow Rich" was published in 1937 and is one of the best-selling books of all time. I included the story he shared about Henry Ford in my article. (If you want to learn more about Napolean Hill, there is a lot of information on his Wikipedia Page.
2. www.Sacred-Texts.com has the complete "Think and Grow Rich" book available on their website for people to read for free. Sacred-texts.com launched in 1999 and now it often gets over 1 million hits a day. You can read more about them on their website (they have an about us page that talks all about them, what they do, when they started, etc).
3. Personal Experience from 2009 - 2014. A lot of the content and advice given above came from my personal experience with marketing for many local businesses. I have done marketing for locksmiths to youtube channels. I love marketing and over the years have become really good at it. My favorite thing about marketing for local businesses is giving them a ROI report that is above 200%. I also love it when they share how much they appreciate what I have done for them! You can read more about me on our about us page.