Blog Archives

Days of Inspiration

4/29/2014

Today has been inspiring and encouraging! I spent the majority of the day working on marketing my business on line and developing ideas on how to best let my potential customers know who I am and what I have to offer.

During the process I received many words of wisdom on how best to make the approach. It's a good feeling knowing there are those who appear to have your back and those who offer kind comments and forward inspirational emails during challenging times.

I managed to find a few local on line market places where I can post my business information, website link, contact info, etc., however I soon found there was a catch. I began receiving phone calls from these free market places this morning and there is a price to pay! "Let's meet up and I will discuss ways of how your business can increase" was one of the calls and that, of course, means doling out money - not going to happen just yet. Regardless I'll be ready for their selling pitch and will be having coffee with one tomorrow. Besides, it sounds interesting and I'm curious.

I managed to find someone looking for a handyman through one of my sources, so I contacted them and gave my sales pitch by directing them to my website where they could see what type of services I offer. Shortly following their visit to my neat site - voila! I received a text/email explaining what type of work they would like done and asked if that was something I would be interested in. That was a no brainer! Of course! I love to help people who, in turn, are helping me and my business! Now that's very gratifying! So, I have set up an appointment tomorrow night with my new found client and looking forward to meeting their needs.

Feel free to leave a comment and thanks again for reading!

Repeat Business - Always A Good Thing!

4/28/2014

Is it possible to receive repeat business in less than a week? One customer proved it so!

I was asked when could Wilson's Handyman Services come over and take out an old set of taps out of the upstairs bedroom and replace with new. I said, "well...what's your schedule looking like? I could come over tomorrow. Would that be okay"? The gentlemen said "What? You work on Sundays?". "Absolutely" I said. So we arranged for a 1pm appointment.

I went over and arrived a little earlier than normal (as I often do) and I took a look at my customer's concern - a dilapidated Faucet that didn't work with no means of replacing it themselves.

I then grabbed some tools, wrenches, screwdrivers, safety goggles etc. and got to work.

It was a little challenging due to the very limited space I had working with an older sink, but fortunately there wasn't a vanity to deal with. I had to lay across the floor and look up in a very small area to access the copper pipes and remove the bushing and couplers. Another challenge presented itself and that was a little bit of rust was preventing the old taps to come out, but with a little lubricant and persistence - off they came. It was nice there were shut off valves located under the sink for both the hot and cold water - that made things that much easier.

After cleaning up the area underneath the old taps, new ones were installed with ease.

I came down stairs in less than an hour and told the nice folks they were in business.

I won't forget the smiles on their faces and knowing I was able to help them out for (what I'm told) less than half the price a bigger plumbing company would have charged just to show up at their door.

Thanks again for choosing Wilson's handyman Services! Ready when you are!

Knock, Knock!

4/25/2014

The sun was shining, but not for long as rain was in the forecast so... I took advantage of the mild weather and hit the pavement and got some advertising about my business out there!

I decided to canvass in an area close to where I live and I'm glad I did! If I am able to drum up some business, then I will be just a stone's throw away from my customers in which will benefit both of us.

After parking my vehicle I began distributing door knockers house by house - beautiful, well maintained homes with very large front properties. Within just a few homes I bumped into a very nice lady and introduced myself and asked if was okay to leave my door knocker with her. She smiled and said "that would be wonderful, I will have a look at it when I am finished up here". I thought to myself that would be great if all my potential customers were like that. I also thought I could just take over doing what she was doing by tidying up her shrubs and front lawn area and then she could do other things she wanted to do.

So on my way over to the next street and wow! There were rocks on some of these properties that were worth more than I pay in rent! Gorgeous homes, 3 car garages, beautiful scenery!

I continued on my way distributing my door knockers and I was fortunate enough to bump into some people and formally introduce myself and my new business.

One gentlemen was very receptive and kindly took my advertisement and wished me luck with my business. After a few more homes, another lady came to her door and, despite having her hands full of prepared food dishes for her neighbor next door; she smiled and said "just leave it with me and I will grab it on my way back" This really made my door knocker distribution campaign that much more enjoyable :)

After about distributing about 40-50 homes it began to rain, so I got back in the car and drove to a couple of nearby churches. I walked in looking for the office which I quickly found and was approached by a gentleman who asked if he could help me. I asked him if I could post a flyer on their bulletin board and he said he would have to have it cleared by the office, but otherwise that was fine - that was comforting to know.

I did the same at another nearby church where I was greeted by a lady who asked if she could have an extra flyer and my business card. She then asked "do you do crown moulding?" and I smiled and said yes, yes I do! and she said she would be in touch soon. One other lady said she too needed some work done around her home and was just waiting for her son to move out, but otherwise said she'll be in touch.

The moral of this story? In person door to door advertising does work! I just needed the right approach :)

All Decked Out

4/24/2014

Wilson's Handyman Services went into full swing on its first official day of business. I was called out to assess some damaged cedar deck planks and a burst in an outside copper piping line.

The assessment lead immediately into hands on immediately - this elderly couple wanted things fixed and fast, so...I got down to business!

Of course, like many jobs, what seems to be straight forward and fairly easy to repair - wasn't.

The 10 foot cedar planks were not only rotted through and unsafe to walk on, but the 3" deck screw heads were rusted and some of them just popped off making the job more difficult than what was anticipated.

However it was nothing a pry bar and jig saw couldn't handle and within not much time, but some effort and strength it was "out with the old and in with the new". At this point the lady of the house came out to see the results and said she couldn't believe the difference and how beautiful it looked.

Job 1 completed - on with the next.

A copper pipe was located underneath the deck that was coming from the foundation of the house and about 8 feet long with a number of joiners that had been welded in. This pipe had its day and had obviously been repaired on more than one occasion.

The gentlemen of the house asked "Can you take it out, replace it with new, but have it coming out the other side of the deck and put a new tap on it?"

I said "sure! I'll get on that today". and so I did.

The challenge was crawling underneath the deck with a height of only about 2 1/2 feet and I'm 6' tall! But I enjoy a challenge.

I cut the old pipe off, observed the break in the line (no wonder! A harsh winter and no insulation around the pipe! Not to mention the pipe's age) and noticed a lot of oxidization that had formed. Regardless, I crawled back under the small, dark space, sanded the cut off end, used my 1/2" wire pipe brush, added some flux to both the end piece and a new copper elbow, applied the torch, added some solder and voila!

I then took the 4 1/2 foot line and secured it with some strapping, fed it along the foundation and out the side of the deck.

I then applied some flux to the other end, added in a threaded adapter, put some flux on, joined the two together and applied the torch and solder and voila!

I then added some plumbers tape to the threads of the new outside tap and we were in business.

There were a couple of added smaller jobs to do while I was there, but enough said already!

The very sweet couple are happy with the end result and that's what matters most!

Thanks for reading!

Now...on with Day 2....

Author

Hi, I'm Blair Wilson. I'm the owner and Sole Proprietor of Wilson's Handyman Services. Please feel free to visit my website often, leave a comment or ask a question on my contact page.

Thanks for visiting!

Days of Inspiration

Repeat Business - Always A Good Thing!

Knock, Knock!

All Decked Out

AuthorHi, I'm Blair Wilson. I'm the owner and Sole Proprietor of Wilson's Handyman Services. Please feel free to visit my website often, leave a comment or ask a question on my contact page.Thanks for visiting!

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Author

Hi, I'm Blair Wilson. I'm the owner and Sole Proprietor of Wilson's Handyman Services. Please feel free to visit my website often, leave a comment or ask a question on my contact page.

Thanks for visiting!