Beginner advice for cheap advertising

I have to say, I have been reading the threads on here for a while now. I have never posted a reply or anything because I am no scrap expert, I am a part time beginner (i really got into the old broken computer towers and printers and such because I knew too many people that had 1 or 2 laying around, and just started buying them off of them so i could break them down and get familiar with the different values and such)

But I can tell you, my other side business (the one I make most of my night and weekend money with) is vinyl graphics. And just putting the words "Free Scrap Metal Removal" and phone number on your truck (or van) on the sides and back window, I have gotten phone calls from 1-2 people almost daily since I did it. The material that I used to put that on paid for itself in 20 minutes. Keep in mind, the people that get your number off of your truck are close by, they just saw you. Craigslist people are very rarely right across the street. It just has made life so much easier when people stop you instead of you trying to find them.

This also helps out with night time curb shopping. If a cop sees that on your window, he doesn't have to stop and ask you what you're doing. I don't know how many times you guys have been stopped, it has happened to me twice though in the few months I have been doing this. Nothing came of it, but it was a waste of both my time and theirs, and it's annoying. Just food for thought. I know some of you guys probably already have something like this going, but I'm sure there are a bunch that don't. Maybe some don't want to. Who knows? For those that don't want that plastered on their vehicle unless they're out, magnets!! A little more expensive but only there when you want them to be.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. Hopefully one of these days I can give u guys a dollar or two instead :)

I do computer recycling only (Well, I take other electronics, but you get the point).

We had an event in our local town (10,000 people or so). We ran radio ads 5x/Day on the major stations, ran newspaper ads for two weeks, and parked our 15' Cube van at the site two days before the event (On top of a small hill near a busy street). The truck parking was free, and got us about 10 people (We asked them all how they found out about us).

We did a town of only 2500 the week before. We only did flyers and newspaper ads. They worked great!

If you can do it, the newspaper seemed to work well for us. Some papers may even let you into the "Free" category.

But, still, seeing your box truck with a giant banner on it is pretty cool!

I wish I was deep enough into it to do the radio/box van thing myself. Maybe I will give it a shot one saturday and see what happens. I live in a town of 70-75k so who knows? it might work out ok. I will post the results if I do it.

I have been thinking about some other ways to draw people to me but I haven't tried them yet. Trying to secure my own schedule and build up the will/nerve to make a full day commitment/investment with the potential for a belly flop. But never know until ya try, right?

Read the recycle event threads guys...no reason you shouldn't partner with a group, give them 20% and have them do the bulk of the work of mouth advertising.

You won't know until you try it.

I used to buy stuff from an E-Waste place. I spent a lot on that. I told myself that it would be cheaper to do it myself. It was hard for about six months, but after that, I was able to supply myself pretty well (Landed a school contract at that point).

Are you looking to resell stuff, or just scrap it?

Radio was pricey, but I have it for my computer repair shop anyways. I just had a new advert made, and switched it out. Radio worked great for the event.

If you do an event, make sure you're well equipped to handle the stuff. My box truck is an E-350 Ford (15' Long). I filled half of it in our 10,000 population town. It would have been more if I took CRTs and TVs for free.

I'd give it a shot. Just find a spot, put a truck there, and run some cheap ads in the paper. I bet you'll get a few people. I did the 2500 person town as my first event. It was like a dry run if you will. It cost me $100 in newspaper ads (I printed a full page flyer myself, so that cost me some), and about $30 in gas.

I didn't have much to lose ;-)

I do some repairs. But most of what I wind up picking up isn't worth fixing. I might steal a few parts here or there, but that's about it. I always do try to make the most of whatever I get my hands on. Scrapping something that can be resold and 5-10x the scrap value never has made much sense to me :)

I got to look into that, could help set me apart from the others. Got a local place around here as well.
As for the newspaper I started running a free classified word ad in it, still no bites but every little bit helps to spread the word.

Where have you guys ordered vinyl lettering for the cheapest price?

I've never done vinyl lettering for a truck, but I had two banners made for our E-Waste truck. I had them printed at Staples online. They had a sale- 2 large banners delivered for $40. They do car magents too- they were about $15/magnet back then. The sale may be over, though.

I had a vinyl sign put up buy our computer repair office. I just had a local place do it. It was about $50, plus $25 for them to put it on (Door has a film on it, and I didn't want to damage it).