Hello, dears!
Welcome to another entry in my 'serious' month, where I discuss issues that matter to my audience myself, instead of letting you lot do it for me!
I've had some feedback that my last two posts were a little longer than usual, so this time, instead of waffling about the weather, I'll be cutting straight to the point, and introducing our topic for the week: how to promote yourself when you're a courier driver.
Now, I'm sure even those of us who don't do delivery work for a living have seen the signs or posters on shop windows advertising man-and-van or parcel delivery services. Most of us have probably even used them now and again.
But where most people in the field go wrong is in thinking that – and the digital version in places like Gumtree, for example – is the only way for a freelance courier driver to advertise. This couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, arguably, an even more important tool for a courier driver trying to get their name out there is networking.
Basically, friends are everything in this job – like in most other jobs these days, to be fair – and the more connections you have, the more likely you are to get new customers. Referrals can come from anywhere: from a fellow driver to a satisfied customer, a personal friend, or even someone in an online community you're a part of – I hear those are quite popular these days, so chances are you belong to at least one.
The reason these organic recommendations work is because people tend to trust word-of-mouth far more than advertising (probably with good reason!) and are more likely to follow up on a suggestion from a friend than something they've seen on the telly, Internet, or even a shop window. But don't worry – advertising (be it through posters, advertisements in the local paper, posts on a community website or what-have-you) still works wonders. Just make sure it's not the only way you're advertising.
Well, that's all from me for today, see you here next week for the final post in this series.
Until then, ta-ra!
Gertie
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