Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Legality of putting door flyers on OUTSIDE of mailbox?

When I am out walking, I always see flyers stuck in the "flags" on the sides of mailboxes. I want to distribute flyers for private lessons in my area and it just occurred to me that it may be illegal to do that. I am sure I can't put them INSIDE the mailbox, but does anyone know if you can put them on the outside? How do you distribute your door flyers? THanks.

People are quite oblivious to property rights these days, and generally do what ever they want. Politicians (of course), carpet cleaners, pizza delivery, various religious groups, various groups of "do gooders," so most of us are acclimated to the continuous stream of unwanted fliers, brochures, etc.

You might consider a flier which can be stuck between the door and jamb, which is what most of these firms use, rather than hanging on mail boxes. Other than being fairly time consuming, unless you hire some young kinds to deliver them, this is fairly acceptable and you're unlikely to run into any one with a shot gun.

Another approach, which might cost you a little more money, but might be more effective and less time consuming, is to purchase a mailing list and send out post cards to prospective clients. By targeting your advertising to likely clients, you'll probably enjoy a higher success rate.

Just a thought. Good luck.

I have no idea - but does anybody have some stats as to how successful this kind of advertising is?

Such as, how many fliers did you put out, how long did it take, how much did it cost and how many students did you get out of it? Not speculation but actual rough numbers? I'm not jumping to conclusions one way or the other, just curious.

(Not to diverge from the question by the OP... maybe someone can answer this all at once?)

Oh no. Please don't. Really, honestly, truly - please just don't!

re: Legality - it depends on local laws in your area. Some cities have ordinances against this.

But, I can tell you, as someone who occasionally gets these (in a "no soliciting" condo complex) - I hate them, and make a point to never, ever do business with the people who leave them.

(And we have a guy on the condo board the contacts the businesses, requests that they stop, and then reports them to the police if we receive additional material from them. It seems to help.)

I know I'm going to get flak for this, but it's just such a nuisance. Half the time the flyers/letters/coupons don't stay put and end up as trash in people's yards. Even if they DO stay put, nobody wants to deal with having one more thing to pick up/handle as they are trying to get in/out of their home.

There have got to be better ways to get your name out there... mailings? website? doing stuff with the local schools?

I do direct mail advertising a few times a year. Since I teach mostly music & movement classes for toddlers and group piano classes for older kids, there are certain times a year when sessions begin and students enroll for new classes.

I would never go door to door and hang fliers; a waste of time and effort. I would, however, spend money instead on purchasing a mailing list. You can request a particular zip code and an age range, homeowners vs renters, income level, etc... Although there are several national companies that specialize in mailing lists, I'd search out a local company instead. There's usually a minimum cost 'per thousand' names/addresses (maybe $25 per thousand, with a $150 minimum purchase). You may honestly not even get enough names to meet your criteria, but the minimum price still stands. Then you can print fliers that look like a brochure, or perhaps send out postcards.

If you have a business bulk mail permit, you get a discount when mailing out the fliers, but there's usually a minimum of 200 or so pieces.

I have a mailing list of a few thousands names that I keep in a database. Most of these are families that I know have kids a certain age. Sometimes I do what I would call a 'blind' mailing, where I pick a neighborhood or sub-division (and have no clue who lives there) and mail out a little postcard (doesn't cost much when you print 4-up on an 8 1/2x11" cardstock). From a mailing of 500 postcards I might get 5-8 sign ups for a 12-week toddler session. And then, those kids will most likely sign up again for the next session.

Yes, it costs some money, but I look at it this way: if I get one student who signs up for piano lessons for the year, then it's basically paid for that mailing. If I get more students, then it's even better.

I realize my situation is a little different since I only teach a handful of private students and mostly group piano, but so far it's worked really well for me.

I'd avoid this type of advertising if possible. If you have current students, perhaps you could offer an incentive for bringing you more students. Do you have a website and a facebook business page? I get lots of hits on those items as well. Word of Mouth is the best and cheapest form of advertising!

Irenev, I think it's safe to say there would be no legal consequences to putting fliers on mailboxes. I get a lot of cheap looking photocopy ads at my door and on mailbox. It makes the person look desperate IMO.

If you do use fliers, or door hangers be sure it is high quality paper...perhaps shiny. The quality and content of the ad could outshine the impression of desperation that ads like this give.

"When I am out walking, I always see flyers stuck in the "flags" on the sides of mailboxes. I want to distribute flyers for private lessons in my area..."

I think your idea of acquiring students in your local area is a good example of targeting the demographic you want. And the fact is, pests and litterbugs though they are, the multitude of pizzarias and drycleaners and dog walkers who use these fliers must keep doing it because they get some business from it.

There are neighborhood throw-away papers that accept advertising, at very modest rates. Our local piano performance series accepts advertising in their programs, also for inexpensive cost, and what better example of targeted marketing could there be--- with no taint of that gum-on-your-shoe nuisance that comes with the flier under your windshield wiper, or on your doorknob, or lying soggy in the gutter, cast in annoyance where it belongs.

Making it easy for students to find you if they want you, is perhaps a better idea. There are far more affordable methods than Yellow Pages ads. The website, the professional association, the nice business card, the networking with locals like your realtor (my realtor is a champ networker) or piano/sheet music store (avoiding the entanglement of kickback arrangements), or your piano technician.

Do you think you might be up to the challenge of doing a short, regular piano education segment for your local public radio station or cable tv provider? They are always hungry for content, and it is a great way to get your name out there. A segment on public radio sponsored by you (no content needed) will work, too, and listeners appreciate these funders.

It is possible that there are student publications for a local community college or university where you could help students to find you... maybe there are those who want some tutoring in keyboard skills.

I found my piano teacher right here, by following up on a post he wrote.

I may have misunderstood, but on another forum (yes, sometimes I do stray......), the door flyers were highly recommended as the only source of advertising for students that brought any significant results.

Thanks, John. PUtting them on the door knobs would be very time consuming, but probably a safer bet as far as legality is concerned. I like the mailing list suggestion, but that would cost a lot more than my delivering them to select neighborhoods.

I've posted flyers in every possible location in the past year where people go (markets, child care centers, karate centers, libraries, etc.) and have only received 3 calls and one actual student.

Stanny, why would you avoid this type of advertising? I can't really generate word of mouth students until I get some to start with! lol. I actually offered a free lesson to start the semester, and of course, one free lesson for any referred students. I plan to create a website, but until that happens, this is something I thought might help.

Thanks, all great suggestions!

When I used to advertise I targeted the neighborhoods I wanted to teach in (that I knew were overflowing with kids) and did flyer drops onto doorknobs or on the outside of mailboxes. This type of advertising was *extremely* effective and I often had phone calls on the answering machine before I even got home from dropping the flyers.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were starting from scratch!

Flyers might be appropriate in your general neighborhood. I would hand deliver these right to the door instead of the mailbox (unless the mailbox is attached to the house) It's also good to establish a relationship with the music teachers in the local schools and the choir directors of the churches. Don't underestimate the website and facebook page. Today's younger parents are really internet savvy!

Several years ago I did two rounds of such advertisement. Got many inquiries, and ended up with 4 students. The adult student lasted exactly one lesson. The two brothers stayed for less than 3 months, and the third kid (the dreaded Yamaha transfer student) eventually quit piano a year later when he got into the sonatinas.

You will get responses, but don't expect the best students in the world.

Be patient! Wait for the economy to turn around. I'm one of the few lucky teachers in my branch of MTAC who have roughly the same number of students for the past several years. I lost some students each year, but I also gained some. The great majority of my students came via word-of-mouth referrals. Flyers and ads don't really work for me.

I am about to print up 500 post card sized ads. From my experiences from the last 3 years of dropping off flyers/letters door to door in neighborhoods near by, I believe my success rate is 1%. Getting just 1 student pays for the advertising in 1 month and the rest is gravy. Getting an average of 5 from this advertising alone is really good I think. I'm realistically hoping to get 15 this time around. We'll see what happens in a month's time.
In terms of putting it outside the mailbox, I used to put them right at the foot of the door, on the tables beside doors, all the places where they were sure to notice it from the rest of the flyers. I haven't heard any complaints so I never thought of it as a legal issue

Fliers or directly mailing a flier or postcard has been better for me than ads in publications. You have to be patient, though, and know that a person has to typically see something 5x before they'll respond.

If you put an ad somewhere, make sure it's a monthly publication and not the regular daily newspaper. The newspaper is too expensive and people throw it away in a day.

I wait for Saturday and stick flyers on the back of an unwary Jehovah Witness missionary.

They usually don't notice, and they go house to house all day spreading the word.

Nice people, I enjoy talking with them.