I’m driving around looking for neighborhoods to distribute some flyers, and they are all deed restricted and no soliciting. I checked out a dozen neighborhoods, all the same.
Quickly I realized it might be better to do this riding around on a bike with the flyers. I decided to save my energy trying to randomly locate neighborhoods for advertising, until I have a better idea how to approach this…
There are SO many houses in my area that would be great jobs to work, but how do I get my foot in the door when every community has the No Soliciting at the entrance?
Recently my town has been hit by some serious scam artists. I have had them come to my house also. It has gotten so bad this last summer they are going to make it a crime to knock on a door without a permit. $2000 fine for every door knocked and 30 days in jail. Sounds crazy but I live in one of the largest areas in Jersey with retired folk who are ripped off daily. From what I have read in the papers, it’s becoming a national issue and many towns across the country are looking to make knocking on doors illegal so take it serious and if you can get a permit then get one.
Right… I live in Florida. Many of my potential clients are retired folks. Retired people generally have the time to register complaints. However, it seems like many home owner associations welcome small businesses to advertise in their newsletters. It is inexpensive, and I figure that if I give extra business cards to my first satisfied customer then they will pass them out to their friends. The good-word should get around quickly, and any bad review would spread like wildfire in retirement communities.
Each neighborhood has a different name and a sign at the entrance. Sometimes a guard gate, they are common in Florida. Today i drove around near my house and wrote down about a dozen different communites, and notes about how wealthy the houses appeared, and if they are 1 or 2 storys, etc. Then I came home to google each neighborhood, find their newsletters, and on some newsletters there is contact info for property managers or directors, representatives, etc.
There is so many rules, regulations, restrictions and red tape! I suspect that it can work to my advantage, it just takes some extra footwork and patience.
Hey thanks for sharing that info, Juggernaut. I believe it. Personally, I feel weird when I notice that a sales person approached my house and left something in the door. Certainly. It’s just too close for comfort. We live in a country where nobody trusts anybody. Many people avoid their own neighbors and close the garage door before getting out of the car. It’s creepy and breeds more distrust. This is especially true in the suburbs where people are very moderate.
Another story, I remember living in a luxury apartment community. One day a salesperson knocked on my door, kind of hard too, it startled me. I did not answer the door, because I was not expecting visitors. Very carefully, because I was curious who it was, I looked in the peep hole. It was a sales guy. No big deal, he will go away. Then about 20 seconds later, he grabbed my door handle! And not to put a flyer in. He was checking to see if the door was unlocked.
