<HTML>Terry, I did this too, a few years back.  The ads almost always paid for t= hemselves, and then some.  But what I got 100% of the time(I'm not kidd= ing, either!) was someone with a really beleaguered old piano that wanted it= "tuned" or "fixed" just so that wll of the notes would work.  I think = they must have bought their pianos in the same publications.  I ended u= p with alot of repair experience from those ads.  Make sure you have pl= enty of glue and clamps in your tool kit. Dave Stahl In a message dated 4/30/03 7:41:33 PM Pacific DaylightaTime, gnewell@ame= ritech.net writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-= LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Terry,        I have had some experience wi= th just what you intend to do. I started doing this when I first started tun= ing quite some years ago. At the time they were targeting areas for me by de= mographics and all manner of variables. My first time in an area was good an= d actually profitable. I did somewhat more than actually paid for the add an= d I considered that to be profitable as I had someone to call on the next ti= me around. I found that the next time around in the same area was not as pro= fitable as the first and diminishing returns as I hit the same area each add= itional time. While it got me started I would never do that again now as I f= ound that the "pennysaver" is exactly the mentality of the customer I got fr= om the add. These folks were always looking for something for nothing and va= lued my service mainly because I was willing ,at the time, to discount it.        Terry, you've been on this li= st for a while as I recall so that hardly puts you as beginner. I would reco= mmend to you the method that I have been using for years with some fair meas= ure of success. Referrals. Now before you go all glassy eyed on me read on. = At the end of each service call / tuning I say simply this. "Thank you for h= aving me out to tune your piano today. I appreciate your business. If you li= ke the service I have provided for you today I would appreciate a referral. = Each referral you send me is worth $5 (or whatever you think is appropriate = for your business) off of your next  service." I'v= e found this to be simple, straightforward, and easy! The penny pinchers out= there try really hard to get $5 off coupons and that's great 'cause their s= ending me new business but they only get to use the coupon on their NEXT ser= vice. Those who can tell that I do a fine job on their instrument usually wa= nt to tell their friends especially if I've developed a rapport with them an= yway. Either way it's a win for you and for your customers. Try it you've ve= ry little to loose. Greg At 10:19 PM 4/30/2003, you wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-= LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Has anyone had any success = with running ads in the "pennysaver", or other similar mailers? I'm wonderin= g if i put in a simple text ad to run for 8 weeks, in 7 different zones, (th= at I would consider to have the most piano "density"), if it would be profit= able. First, I know that these ads, to really be at all  successful, ne= ed to run regularly, but I'm assuming eight weeks should give me at least a = fair idea of the ads effectivness. Based on the cost of the ad, if i book ju= st 1 tuning per week from the ad, I will double my investment...but then aga= in, because these mailers generally attrac "bargain hunters", I may have to = lower my price, or risk losing the job as my normal fee is not considered to= be in the "low end". I plan on placing a Yellow page ad for the next Verizo= n Super pages Book, but that will not be coming out until 10/03, so I though= t I'd give this a try. Any thoughts or experiences with this type of mailer?= thanks! Terry Peterson </BLOCKQUOTE> </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>