becoming an odd job man ?

bigblackdog

i need to find work round my local area doing od jobs , what is the best way to do this?
i am skilled at painting and decorating , bricklaying , block paving , able to work hard trustworthy and reliable , i cannot find any employment at the moment , so think my time can be of use for people who need some extra hands for an hr or two , or longer if required.
i can put together furniture ,put up shelves , replace light fittings , unblock drains , fix water leaks , cut grass .replace fence panels and put up sheds / prepare a concrete base .
i am sure there is a market for my services but no one knows about me .
i live in highly populated area , so want to let people know i am available .
how can i let people know?
any original ideas ?
i was thinking of going door to door handing out business cards , after all i havent much else to do at the moment , it may be soul destroying getting doors slammed in my face , but i also may be in the right place at the right time when someone is looking for an odd job man .
i would of course have to get some cards printed , what would i put on the card to get me work?
not sure where to start with this :question:

Browntoa

this guy does the same thing , just a simple web site will do

http://www.thenigglyjobman.co.uk/

if you click on "services" he just lists all the types of work he does and the prices on another page

you can set up a free web site on

http://smallbusiness.office live.com/en-GB/free-business-website

or just print up some flyers

you need to edit out the space between office and live in the link for it to work

or google

office live small business

and its about the 3rd one down

Browntoa

would have thought walking in a few places that do property to let, they may have an in house person already but you could off to do urgent or short notice stuff ??

bigblackdog

Browntoa wrote: »

you can set up a free web site on

http://smallbusiness.office live.com/en-GB/free-business-website

or just print up some flyers

they have stopped new business start ups on there so its not working ,

a cheap website would be good though , free website would be better ,

as to flyers , i am trying to find a paid use for my time and skills , not sure flyers are any good for that , i am not keen on them

Browntoa

i'm thinking small flyers through some letter boxes to see how it goes, most of the jobs you will do are impulse ones

your flyer in letterbox , any of the listed jobs you do should spur some people to ring up. Personally I hate doorstep sellers although I have kept and used flyers through my letterbox

moonfruit still seem to do free web sites

http://www.moonfruit.com/

buy a cheap web domain and point it at the moonfuit web site for a more professional look

Silk

Hi bigblackdog,
I think putting cards through a door is more effective than flyers as people tend to keep them more than a flyer ... alot of people collect usefull cards in a drawer but how many people have a collection of flyers ???
I also think if you can find another reason for them to keep a card such as a calander or useful phone numbers to the local area or even 10% discount when card produced etc etc is another bonus.

What area are you based by the way ?

bigblackdog

thanks , moonfruit seem ideal for me , any idea where to get a cheap web domain ? would that mean say , that if someone typed in www.mydomainhere.com it would go to my site from moonfruit?

bigblackdog

Silk wrote: »

Hi bigblackdog,
I think putting cards through a door is more effective than flyers as people tend to keep them more than a flyer ... alot of people collect usefull cards in a drawer but how many people have a collection of flyers ???
I also think if you can find another reason for them to keep a card such as a calander or useful phone numbers to the local area or even 10% discount when card produced etc etc is another bonus.

What area are you based by the way ?

agree on a lot of your points , hence was thinking of going door to door so people could see me , a human face to go with the card .
i am in Bromley

Loanranger

Do you have a local newspaper or magazine in your area?
Could you contact Age UK to get on their list of tradespeople?

Silk

bigblackdog wrote: »

agree on a lot of your points , hence was thinking of going door to door so people could see me , a human face to go with the card .
i am in Bromley

That depends what your face looks like :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Seriously though I think thats best and as you say it's down to luck.

Can't help with Bromley though ....but worth keeping your eye on the local section of Gumtree jobs section as a few advertise for odd jobs to be done shelves decorating etc.

Good Luck with it

flea72

bigblackdog wrote: »

agree on a lot of your points , hence was thinking of going door to door so people could see me , a human face to go with the card .
i am in Bromley

personally i hate seeing a face at my door that i dont know and wasnt invited. i feel put on the spot and intimidated, even if they are not pushy and really pleasant. i would much rather just have a flyer put through my door - however i dont keep them so it would just have to be a lucky coincidence that you put one through in the week that i needed something doing

we have a magazine here that gets put through our door about once a month (think its called something like Local Link) . i have used people who advertise in that, as im more likely to have the magazine still hanging around from one month to the next

F