Top 10 Promotion Ideas for Area Reps

One of the most common questions we get from new Area Reps is: "What should I do to get people interested in buying a pergola?"

This article goes over the top 10 promotion techniques our best-performing Area Reps are using to sell a lot of pergolas and make thousands of dollars every month.

Introduction

Pergolas are something that A LOT of people would really enjoy having but is very difficult to shop for. If Mrs. Johnson would like a pergola, how exactly does she go about buying one? She can't just go down to her local Wal-Mart or even Home Depot or Lowes and buy one. So where does she look?

A lot of would-be customers simply don't know where to look... and therefore never do. Others may make a few calls to local contractors, but very few contractors specialize in pergolas... and Mrs. Johnson ends up getting a lot of "half-baked" answers and a wide range of quotes with the only commonality being that they're all quite high. Mrs. Johnson ends up not buying a pergola.

The #1 key to selling pergolas is simply making people aware that they're available and how simple it is to buy them.

So let's talk about how to do that! 

1. Target "Upscale" Neighborhoods

Pergolas are a luxury, and Sunset Pergolas are about the nicest, highest-quality pergolas on the market. The vast majority of people buying our pergolas are well-to-do homeowners who care about making their yard look nice and creating an outdoor space to enjoy. This means your #1 demographic is homeowners in upscale residential areas.

Most people these days do not take kindly to door-to-door salesmen (not to mention the fact that many cities and states have laws that prohibit door-to-door sales without having a license to do so). So the best way to make residents in upscale neighborhoods aware of our pergolas is with a door hanger.

Door hangers are quite fast and easy to place, and they do a great job of providing a lot of information without being pushy or intrusive. People who are interested in learning more will reach out to you, allowing you to then focus your time and energy on people who are actually interested.

We source the door hangers listed in the Area Rep Store through VistaPrint. Like everything in the Area Rep Store, these door hangers are listed at cost (no price mark-up). The price-per-unit is quite high when you only buy a few (i.e. $68.88 for 100, which is $0.69 each), but it goes way down when you buy a lot (i.e. $132.49 for 1,000, which is $0.13 each). Our recommendation is:

2. Leave Business Cards at Offices & Stores Around Town

Many offices and retail stores around town (particularly those that have a waiting room or a common area where people tend to congregate and sit) will allow you to place a handful of business cards on a desk or counter. This is a great way to make people aware of Sunset Pergola Kits and your installation services.

This is a very low-cost, efficient way to advertise since a) business cards are very inexpensive, and b) only people who are truly interested will take one. A stack of business cards left in a dentist office waiting room may last months and only cost you $1-2. (The business cards offered in the Area Rep Store are about 5 cents each when you buy 1,000+.)

When placing business cards, think about who your target market is: well-to-do homeowners. Business cards left at targeted locations (like a home builder's office or a title company) will generate a lot more leads and inquiries than those left at more general locations (dental offices, salons, etc.). That said, this is such low-cost advertising that it's probably worth leaving a stack of business cards anywhere and everywhere you can get permission from the owner.

Here are a few ideas of offices, stores and buildings around town you may want to target:

Always make sure you have permission from the business owner (or their employee) before leaving a stack of business cards.

3. Put Car Magnets on Your Vehicle(s)

A lot of our Area Reps have been shocked at how many calls they get on an ongoing basis from simply slapping a car magnet or two on their vehicle(s).

As mentioned above, pergolas are one of those things that A LOT of people would really like to have but don't know how to go about buying them. When they're walking through a parking lot or stopped at an intersection and see your car magnet, a lot of times their interest is piqued enough to give you a call.

4. Post Ads in Your Local Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace represents a great way to get the word out about Sunset Pergola Kits and your installation / assembly services. More and more people browse Facebook Marketplace every day, and at least as of now, posting in it is completely FREE!

As an authorized Area Rep, you have permission to use any picture on our website in your posts. As for the verbiage of the post, make sure to copy and paste from our authorized marketing materials on the advertising materials available in the Area Rep Store.

5. Pass Out Business Cards or Flyers at Community Events

This one is pretty simple and self-explanatory, but it works. Many Area Reps shy away from this marketing technique, but those who do it report phenomenal results. If you're too shy to hand flyers out yourself, you can always hire a helper to do it for you or leave them on a table, counter or desk (with permission) where people enter and exit the event.

In addition to the business cards we offer, the Area Rep Store also has small 4" x 6" flyers and large paper-sized 8.5" x 11" flyers available to purchase at cost.

6. Put Flyers on Bulletin Boards

Speaking of flyers, another great promotion technique is to leave a flyer on bulletin boards in offices, restaurants and stores around town (with permission, of course).

Many of the same establishments listed in #2 above also have bulletin boards (or only have bulletin boards). Additionally, you may want to try the following:

• Recreation centers
• Community centers
• Grocery stores
• Libraries
• Churches
• Chamber of Commerce
• Local government buildings

What's amazing about being an Area Rep for Sunset Pergola Kits is that a flyer that cost you 20-50 cents could easily turn into a sale that makes you $1,000 or more!

7. Leave Small Flyers on Windshields in Parking Lots

Another low-cost form of advertising is leaving flyers on the windshields of cars in parking lots. This is a lot like door hangers (#1 above), but you have a lot less space to cover in a parking lot than you do in a sprawling, spread-out neighborhood.

The downside with this technique (compared to door hangers) is that you can't target customers quite as well. That said, people who live in nice houses tend to drive nice cars. So if you're on a tight budget and don't want to leave a flyer on every car's windshield, you can be selective based on how nice each car is. :-) 

Of course, make sure to follow all local laws and respect private property, meaning you should get the permission of the business that owns the parking lot.

8. Use Social Media

Facebook, Instagram and all the other social networks aren't just for posting pictures of where you went on vacation and what you ate for brunch. :-)

An occasional post here and there can be a great way to get the word out that you sell and install pergola kits. Even if you only have 50 or 100 friends (followers) on your account, the power of social networking is how posts are shared, re-shared and re-re-shared over and over again. If 5-10 of your followers "like" or comment on one of your posts, all of their friends will see it. And if any of those "friends of friends" like or comment on it, all of their friends will see it. In the end, hundreds of people you don't even know may end up seeing your posts.

Best of all, it's all free advertising.

9. Post Signs Around Town

This promotion technique is similar to the car magnet technique listed in #3 above, except that a) you'll need the permission of the property owner to post a sign on their property, and b) the sign is stationary. Given that fact, you'll want to focus on high-traffic areas where a lot of people will see the sign.

We currently offer 2 different sign options in the Area Rep Store (where everything can be purchased at cost).

Note: The quantity discount on these signs is pretty crazy. If you only buy 1-5 signs, they're around $20 apiece. The price-per-unit drops to $10-15 per sign if you buy 10-30 signs. Never buy 50 signs ($7.30 each), as you can pay only $10 more and get 100 signs (with the price per sign being just $3.75).

10. Ask Past Customers for Referrals

Last but certainly not least is gettin referrals from your happy past customers. Virtually everyone who has a Sunset Pergola rants and raves about how much they love it. If you've done a good job installing their pergolas, your past customers are sure to love theirs as well.

So ask them if there's anyone they know who might want a pergola as well... family members, friends and neighbors, people from work, people from church, anyone! (Even if the referral lives outside your area, you can still earn an affiliate commission for referring them to Sunset Pergola Kits).

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If you have a question about any of these promotional activities, please don't hesitate to ask.