What do you think?

[dmjlambert]

Originally Posted by Classic Heartbeat

We have decided to start advertising with C/10 Builders Magazine.. This is the add.. Curious to see what everyone thinks... WES

It is well done and nice looking. If you want to kick it up a notch in future runs, here's my ideas:

Writing to sbcglobal.net, comcast.net, yahoo.com, gmail.com and other addresses like that for a business are a turn off to me. I recommend since you have the domain classicheartbeat.com anyway, go ahead and set up the domain email and give an address like support@classicheartbeat.com or orders@classicheartbeat.com (or bolt@classicheartbeat.com)

I don't find value in the pictures of body parts or brand logos, such as Inline Tube, Precision, KeyParts, and the other ones I can't read because the print it too small. Leaving those out will leave room for...

Mention in the add what sets you apart. You mention in this thread you "have produced some of my own product that the quality is unmatched". In what circumstances do you do that? Is it when reproduction parts makers don't offer specific parts or the quality is low, you step up and fill the need? Any hard to find parts? Have you done the homework for us and know what vendors have good parts, and only offer those? Do you offer any complete kits for some repair or upgrade that others don't offer? Let us know in the ad what you're about. You don't need to get wordy, just say in a couple bullet points what you do better than the rest.

[dmjlambert]

Website tips:
I noticed that all the links down the left side of the FAQ page and Links page do not work. Featured sites and the Links pages both have links that go to discontinued pages.
Not all of the pages offer a way to get back to the home page, examples are the trucks for sale page and the FAQ page.
I often click on the company logo on whatever site I'm on in order to go back to the home page, I recommend fixing your site to do that for all pages.
That is just a brief look, I recommend going through the whole website click by click sometime in the near future to check that everything works. Give it a once-over.

[Classic Heartbeat]

Thanks for the compliments guys. It makes me feel good that you like the add. It's for sure not perfect, but I hoped to take a good swing at it.

dmjlambert, you bring up some good points about my website. I will kinda let the cat out of the bag here a little. I completely built that site on my own over the last 20 years. It has gotten so large that it has become less and less manageable, especially because I also answer the phones, pack the freight, and much more. Months ago I consulted with a web designer and have been working on a whole new updated website that myself and the web designer can manage and keep up with. Broken links, price changes and my Panel project are issues that all need attention. When I launch my new website, hopefully those issues will be resolved. I appreciate your comments. WES

[Smitty]

When I want quality, my first call is to Wes. Never a regret. The prices aren't that far off of the others listed. But the quality makes them worth that price difference. Selling parts that he uses himself, tells me all I need to know. For years I purchased parts from Rick's in Phoenix who had the same business practice. Used what he sold. Never went wrong. I've recommended Wes to several people without any hesitation and will continue to do so.

[Killer Bee]

I am by no stretch of the imagination an advertising expert but I like the ad..

tells me what you're selling and how to get there..

and I'll agree with the above, some of the local catalog houses may be nearby, but way too crowded, long lines, or incompetent counter help that makes shipping more attractive..

I recently bought a previously discontinued high hump floor mat for my 65 from a place 20 minutes from my house.. although I was very excited to get my hands on it, saturday morning lines out the door aren't my thing.. so I paid a few bucks and had it shipped 15 miles to my doorstep instead..

good luck with the ad, hope it's productive!

[samkost]

Originally Posted by dfwright

Wes, I think the ad looks good, but I think you could do better. Your best selling point, in my opinion is that you know these trucks, you build them, and you stock parts that you are willing to use on your own builds. You've also been instrumental in getting new repo parts made that are better than anything else available. I don't know how you say all that in your ad, but if there's a way to get that message out there, it's what I would want to know about you.

I think I have most of your self-developed parts on my truck, and I have called you and asked for your opinion in the past, something I'd never do with any of the other resellers mentioned in earlier responses.

Don't let the grumblers get you down. I hope the ad will help you grow your business.

I agree 100%.

Everyone who has met or dealt with Wes like I have, understands his great personality, knowledge and customer service.
He has helped a lot through my restoration.

If I would change anything Wes, it would be to maybe eliminate some of the product logos and enlarge the font size of your toll free phone number.
Under the larger phone number how about a quote from Good Ole Wes:
"Give me a call and lets talk trucks!"
You need to get people to call you.
Once they talk to you they will be repeat customers like me.

Good luck Wes,
Sam

[Canuckvetter]

As a longtime member of this site your have every right to ask the guys and gals that have used the other vendors and have been frustrated by the lack of knowledge, cheap parts that don’t fit or wrong parts sent to try to get a leg up on the completion. The fact that you know these truck inside out is worth while dealing with you. Your reputation as a fair, knowledgeable guy has made its way into Canada. I have only bought 1 thing off you so far and had a great experience. You did what you said and followed up till I got it. I find some private sellers on this site shut down with no response or returned PM’s once they find out they have to ship to Canada. Even some responding to this post. I have dealt with quite a few fellas over the years as where to buy and your good name always comes up. Glad the biggest responses have been truly helpful and wish you the best of luck with your ad.
Michael

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by demian5

Gotta state something that gets me to want to use you when I am driving distance from 3 of the places I listed.

Just my 2 cents.

I agree.

Originally Posted by Classic Heartbeat

I guess there is no value in our help and experience. WES

I don't agree.

The whole question of advertising in general has been rolling around in my head for 24+ years, ever since I've been a retailer. I sell different stuff than you but I'd venture to guess it really isn't much different. I've always felt ( up until 4 months ago, more on that in a minute.) that my advertisement dollars were basically money thrown directly in the trash can. I tried the local papers, TV, the thrifty nickel (a free publication placed in all the restaurants etc.), menus, the backs of grocery store receipts, calendars, mini footballs they throw out at high school football games, you get the picture. With a budget of only a few hundred a week it seemed like i would get just enough business from the ad to cover the cost of the ad. Sometimes I would see no results. Eventually I just quit these methods all together and felt all the better, like I was saving money, which is the same as earning it in my eyes.

Along came the interwebs and now its all changed. You nearly have to be on every social media site, posting like a teenager in love, or spend a gianormous load of cash to an SEO company to get in front of their face. For several reasons, I don't have the desire to do this, but I do believe it works when done properly.

Back in June I decided to close a store. I didn't want to hire any more employees only to let them go after the store was closed, so I hired a liquidation company to handle the management and sales for the event. Part of the contract that they required of me was to advertise via direct mail. 10,000 8.5 x 11 heavy card-stock flyers a week through the US post office program called E.D.D.M. which stands for every door direct mail. The cost comes in at 33 cents each. yes, 3 grand a week, ouch. The commitment was for 8 weeks, but it was such a success I asked them to stay for 2 more, so 10 weeks total. I sold the equivalent of 2 years worth of product in 2.5 months.

I say all this to recommend that you look for a GOOD mailing list and directly mail to guys like us. Look for your specific demographic, I'm guessing the majority of the board is over 40 and male. Personally, I save all of the truck related stuff that comes in the mail and put it near the porcelain throne for in depth study while attending to the "grunt". This way, when I'm ready to buy whatever I'm needing, I have already done the homework to make the purchase.

In regard to how well your ad grabs attention, there are so many schools of thought on this I say print what you like. Yeah, you're not gonna win them all but remember, you are trying to get older guys attention, so I don't think flash is needed.

Hope this gives you some help somehow. It is my real life experience and I will continue to use it for event oriented sales, maybe 3-5 times a year, to stay in the minds of potential buyers.

[Red71gmc]

Cornerstone sounds like a man in the know. I am horrible at advertising and agree with everything he said including the Facebook type things. Who has the time.

The mailings are the best things I've done too (and yes expensive). I had my talented daughter make a flyer for our repair shop. She did a beautiful job and it really got your attention. I had just bought the store and changed its name with a new sign just maybe a week or two prior to the mailing. Funny or not funny, she forgot to put our address and phone number on this beautiful ad. We caught it after a customer that did know where we were at (with new name change and all) brought it to our attention. Needless to say I figured I just wasted 2-3 grand.

It couldn't have worked better if it were by design. People were asking other people where this place is at. It actually brought more attention to us and stirred a buss. I made a thing out of it and gave a candy bar to every customer that figured out where we were and used our shop. They received a discount with the flyer so we knew who each was and it was a bunch.

The shop went from very little work to overloaded and has stayed that way for three years. Advertising the shop part of the business is no longer needed. I actually apologized to the mechanic for overloading him. The mailing actually worked.

If you can find truck owners addresses and do a mailing, it must get a persons attention quick. The rule is it has to grab your attention in the two seconds that your tossing your junk mail in the trash can. A person usually glances at this mail briefly as they are tossing it and it needs to deserve a second take.

Ours was for mower repair. My daughter had green grass that jumped off the page with a red mower on it. That was it. Simple but got your attention. So simple it didn't have our info on it. Lol

Maybe a beautiful C10/c15 with a old wood barn behind it and green grass jumping off the page lol.

There are companies that sell information to businesses that have done the research on different households. Maybe a search for people with home shops. Maybe people who have classic vehicle insurance. Maybe people who subscribe to car/truck magazines. I don't know if I agree with these companies knowing what they do about people but it is the world we live in.
Good luck

[mjoc1]

So as a newbee to the Truck market.. THe add doesnt do anything to allow me to know that the company listed is one I want to pick over others. the testimonials here have changed my mind but the AD doesnt do anything to make me want to choose him over the others in his field... just letting you know what a new comer see.
maybe for the next set issue you may want to change it up a little to try to put your business "philosophy motto" (dont know the right word) but something like we sell only the best products we use on our projects and then have a link to your highend builds with videos etc. maybe have a QR code to the link.

Michael

[sick472]

I'm probably not the norm when it comes to being affected by advertising, but I can make a few suggestions that mean something to me...the rare case.

I like that you list your manufacturers, especially when I recognize the names and they are of superior quality.

I don't need the all the pictures, but one of my truck would certainly get my attention, lol, but you would have to finish it if you wanted a photo anytime soon! Seriously though, a photo of a classic is important and maybe a square body and any other truck styles you support. Truck pics are better than sheet metal pics.

A few comments about the website - It may be a pet peeve of mine, but when it's hard to find/search for parts, I loose my patience and I think I have more than most; patience that is. I do not want to flip from page to page "looking" for the parts. I have built extensive Cart Lists by searching for the buzz words on other sites for other builds. I don't think you can search for parts on your website. A good example is...your Battery Tray is located on the "Patch Panel" page. I may be out of touch, but I would not have guessed that it would have been located there, would not have found it, and had to call or buy from somewhere else. On the other hand, if you make yourself easily available to answer questions over the phone...that helps. I'm ranting...Short story...a search function is a wonderful thing!

I can also say that when I first visited your site (and GMC Paul's - they are similar in set-up) that I was not impressed by the lack of parts compared to places like LMC and Brothers. NOW, after being apart of this community, I have learned that you two (WES and Paul) do not carry everything because so much of it is JUNK. You should make that known with a catchy statement like..."If we don't carry it, It's Junk and you should look for NOS". OK, I'm no jingle writer, but you get the picture.

If you add pictures of the parts on your website, everyone relates to pictures, make sure they represent the parts well. I take it personally when I buy a part that shows up with surface rust and the photo shows it painted black.

I hope you can get more out of my advise than you paid for it and know that I have a lot of parts to buy for my build and you'll get a crack at'em because of your presence here on the forums...thanks for all your free advice WES!

[ubtripn]

The ad will work. If you want next level quality show it to a local media/marketing company and ask for the local artist to complete your vision. I own a business and I did a pretty good ad like yours but the artist took it to new levels for me for under a hundred bucks. Just my own 2 cents.

[1971Stepside]

https://99designs.com/

99 Designs is another great resource for small businesses. You can get graphic design work done for cheap and often get several versions to choose from. Submit what you want done and designers will offer concepts. They get paid if you pick their creation.

[Dad's72]

I think they need to put out more magazines. I got my last one in May and called because I had not received another one yet they told me the next one won't be till November. They have weird quarters.
But the add looks good. Congrats.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

https://99designs.com/

99 Designs is another great resource for small businesses. You can get graphic design work done for cheap and often get several versions to choose from. Submit what you want done and designers will offer concepts. They get paid if you pick their creation.

This is a fantastic idea! I have never heard of this before. Thanks!!!

[Classic Heartbeat]

Again I appreciate all of your comments and suggestions. Your support is awesome too. I am going to have to look into the design place to see what they can do for me. That's something I mostly have done for myself. There has been some great suggestions here. This is why I come to you guys for opinions. WES

[Low Elco]

Originally Posted by Classic Heartbeat

I can see a couple of the companies you have listed have poor quality parts. Some couldn't tell a bumper from a windshield gasket. You can ask around the boards here. I have a reputation. WES

This is the point I'd be making as your differentiator in the market, Wes. " We don't sell crap." Or, " Our customer service doesn't suck." What makes you different/better than the 50 other guys, and how am I gonna know about it at a glance?

[mjoc1]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

This is the point I'd be making as your differentiator in the market, Wes. " We don't sell crap." Or, " Our customer service doesn't suck." What makes you different/better than the 50 other guys, and how am I gonna know about it at a glance?

Your right up to the time this was posted up I have no idea who has better customer service or better products you need to make me want to call you and find out that you are going to be my go to guy.

Michael