I have seen agencies and bondsmen drop like flies from exorbitant advertising. and trying to maintain a physical office.... northern Virginia, several years ago, was charging upwards of $2k a month for a full page add in the Verizon book.... I know because my son was running several of them.... of course he was writing about everything out of Stafford and north for several years.... big time... but unfortunately if slacked off and other factors drove him out of the business.... it depends on the area and the type of jails... the state laws... and of course human nature.... but he and 5 other agents that worked for him were setting the jails on fire with the business they wrote... it last about 6 years.... in fact, I worked for him for a while but then went out on my own down in south-side VA....
My advertising amounts to one line ads in black and white... no newspapers, no office, no TV, no radio.... my business cards in the jails and signs on the roads close to the jails is what I have found works best for the money.... I have "space" phones in several jurisdictions (phones that simply exist in hyperspace and are forwarded to my office phone) I have one cell phone and 5 toll free numbers that run me less than $125 month.... my 'space' phones run about $25 a month for each one and use a toll free to forward to my office... the phone book ads total less than $500 monthly in all my jurisdictions so my total outlay for ads and phones runs less than $750 and I split that with my daughter.... now that's a deal....
We do a lot of PR work in and around our base and hit the courts and hand out cards daily.... (no, we don't solicit inside the courts, but if someone is standing outside when we leave... I will sometimes simply say... as I walk by.... "you all don't need a bondsman do you?".... and they may smile and say "no, but give me one of your cards.... "; they asked, so I give................. and then sometimes they say.... "well, since you mentioned it... yes we do!!"... you gotta fight for business in this business but is not that hard if you work smarter.
I have gotten calls from the FRN listing and have a few deals from other bondsmen and will gladly pay a reasonable amount to help keep this site up and running... the networking and friendships I have acquired on this site are worth every penny of whatever Phil comes up with .... just as long as it isn't toooooooo much....
Over the years, I have gotten many very nice bonds simply by handing a card to someone and they have called me a week or two later...............
I will reiterate... I think a nominal fee here is fine.....
