Are most areas of Delaware Retirement age communities? (Camden, Wyoming: how much, houses)

[tounces7]

It gives you the price for how much it would be to create an account there, if that's what you mean.

[EnjoyEveryDay]

Originally Posted by tounces7

Is Angie's list really that popular there? That's good in one sense of course, because it's online and free. The only challenge is getting reviews on Angie's list when you don't already have reviews on Angie's list. Sort of a chicken and egg thing.

Angie's List has always been a paid service. I've been a member for the past dozen or so years, and it has served me very well as I've moved from Pittsburgh to Memphis to Cincinnati to Minneapolis to Chicago during that time. I have never yet been disappointed in a service provider that came highly rated on Angie's List. And as mentioned, it can be especially useful when you are new to an area or need a seldom used service.

You have to actually read the reviews to get the most benefit.

If you look, you can usually find a new subscription deal. I currently pay under $20 per year and it gets me listings for both my suburban Chicago location and Lewes, Delaware. In my opinion, well worth it.

Good luck!

[tounces7]

Wow, Angie's list has a TON of complaints against them. Over a 100 negative reviews on just consumer affairs. I didn't know they charged businesses for putting deals on there...

So they're charging businesses AND customers. Talk about greedy.

[EnjoyEveryDay]

Originally Posted by tounces7

Wow, Angie's list has a TON of complaints against them. Over a 100 negative reviews on just consumer affairs. I didn't know they charged businesses for putting deals on there...

So they're charging businesses AND customers. Talk about greedy.

Appreciate your point of view, but to me, if a business finds another revenue stream that's just good old capitalism. My guess is that after Angie's List realized that they had accumulated good info on businesses, they went to those businesses (who were benefiting from their good work being reported on Angie's List) and said "hey, if you want to offer a deal to our customers on our site, it will generate even more business (and potentially good ratings)."

Companies certainly don't have to participate. Just a few weeks ago I hired a radon mitigation service and bypassed two highly rated providers who were offering coupon deals, and instead chose an equally highly-rated company that was closer to me but didn't offer any kind of deal.

[longneckone]

Originally Posted by tounces7

Been considering moving to Delaware, because it has a lot of upsides to it.

However, the one major drawback I'm seeing is that it seems to be considered a "Retirement" state. I run a small Plumbing business, and 100% of my advertising is online...and older generations don't tend to use the internet anywhere near as much as their younger counterparts, so I might not be able to compete with the large corporate-owned places there that use traditional advertising.

Also, I have young children, so not really looking to go somewhere where families are a rare thing.

Is everywhere in Delaware mostly the "older generation"?

.
Here in Sussex County there are some 55+ developments but being a beech area there are also many second home areas where weekends flock to get away. These folks need service on weekends. We have 2 good school districts in the area which cover a large area.
I am a senior and have not looked for a business in the yellow pages for years .

[newmassphd]

Originally Posted by tounces7

Been considering moving to Delaware, because it has a lot of upsides to it.

However, the one major drawback I'm seeing is that it seems to be considered a "Retirement" state. I run a small Plumbing business, and 100% of my advertising is online...and older generations don't tend to use the internet anywhere near as much as their younger counterparts, so I might not be able to compete with the large corporate-owned places there that use traditional advertising.

Also, I have young children, so not really looking to go somewhere where families are a rare thing.

Is everywhere in Delaware mostly the "older generation"?

How much are you able to spend on advertising?

Perhaps a booth at local events might be a cheaper alternative. Many many towns have
local events that are most likely not too expensive to maintain a booth. You could hand out
cards, but even better is a small edible item- packaged cookie with your company name on it,
or bottle of water with your company name on the label, etc.

The US Post office also has an every door direct mail product where you can select routes
to target with your advert mailers. You would also go to the local papers and get a flier
into their Thursday or Sunday edition. I notice many Thursday editions are laden with
fliers and adds for many small businesses. By local, I mean the small town newspapers.

You could also relatively cheaply put out radio ads on public radio as well as small local
radio stations.

There's also a company called Carvertize that designs marketing campaigns by paying individuals
to let them "wrap" their cards with ads. As said person drives on highway or around town more eyeballs
see the advertisement.

Also, make sure your vehicle (truck, sedan, whatever) has a colorful logo. I've actually called a
Natural Gas service company for service because I remembered them when sitting in traffic
next to one of their trucks.

Many many families go to the small town festivals and events.

Good luck and please do not get discouraged.

[newmassphd]

An example, my family and I ventured this weekend to the Strawberry Festival at Pfeiffer Farms.

While I cannot estimate crowds, the event was jam packed the entire day with mostly families.

While most of the vendors were there selling food and activities (rock climbing, spring jumping),
setting up a bounce house would be a hit and you would get to talk to many potential future leads
or people they refer. At such an event, you could also hand out bottles of water with a tie in between
plumbing and good water. Or even a PVC pipe display with big plastic wrenches for kids to
"try out plumbing" would be a big it. The idea is to associate a pleasant and memorable experience
with your company name. While the child is playing with the PVC plumbing, you could chat with
mom or dad about plumbing and or plumbing needs.

[Mary2014]

Originally Posted by tounces7

So far as I can see from their website, a "Nextdoor" community doesn't even exist where I live, so I'm guessing it's not used here. How does it work?

And I'm relatively new to Colorado Springs, too.

I had never heard of Nextdoor.com until I moved to Delaware. Your development (community) decides to sign up for Nextdoor. The HOA association notifies the homeowners that they are participating in Nextdoor. Only homeowners in that particular development receive an invitation to belong to that group and they can choose to join or not join. So, the messages you post are limited to just your next door neighbors.

You may have 4 or 5 separate Nextdoor groups in a local area. You can choose to post just to your group or post the message to all linked groups. You can see all of the posts in your group, but, will only see messages specifically shared from the other Nextdoor communities.

We have 100+ members in our Nextdoor group and getting recommendations for contractors/stores/services and being aware of upcoming events are popular topics as well as lost/ found pets and various other issues specific to our development.

When you are new to the area and don't know very many people, it is helpful to get feedback from neighbors you may not have actually met yet.

Mary2014

PS: regarding Angie's list, it is free the first year to consumers here, because, there are not nearly as many reviews as in areas with a higher population density. So, it depends upon your zip code as to if it will cost you anything to view information on Angie's list.

[rdlr]

Originally Posted by newmassphd

An example, my family and I ventured this weekend to the Strawberry Festival at Pfeiffer Farms.

While I cannot estimate crowds, the event was jam packed the entire day with mostly families.

While most of the vendors were there selling food and activities (rock climbing, spring jumping),
setting up a bounce house would be a hit and you would get to talk to many potential future leads
or people they refer. At such an event, you could also hand out bottles of water with a tie in between
plumbing and good water. Or even a PVC pipe display with big plastic wrenches for kids to
"try out plumbing" would be a big it. The idea is to associate a pleasant and memorable experience
with your company name. While the child is playing with the PVC plumbing, you could chat with
mom or dad about plumbing and or plumbing needs.

Friendly correction....."Fifer's Orchards". I know what you mean about the crowds. We live about a mile from Fifer's on the main street leading there, and traffic was lined up in front of our house for hours. We'll be going over there this afternoon, when it's like it usually is....a quiet orchard/farm.

We don't live in a subdivision/development or anything similar. We live in a small Kent County town of 1400 people, where everybody knows everybody. Most of us went to schools in either Smyrna, Dover, Caesar Rodney or Felton. Many of us oldies in Delaware still rely on our old habits, when trying to find a plumber, roofer, furnace repair guy, etc. Places we go to ask (if we can't think of anybody we went to high school with, having those businesses).....Brown's Tavern, Witt Bros. Market, Spence's Bazaar, JPs on the Wharf, our Town Hall and other local establishments. A town business license is required to perform work in our town. Native Delawareans are "talkers" and love to share information. For the most part, many of us have found newcomers to be very reserved and stand-offish, somewhat suspicious. That's what Angie's List and similar Internet businesses count on. There is one exception. In all of my 75 years here in Delaware, I've never met a newcomer (in person) like NYJoe! I think he was a Delaware native in his first life! He has so many Delaware traits it's mind boggling. I've renamed him DEJoe!

[tounces7]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEveryDay

Appreciate your point of view, but to me, if a business finds another revenue stream that's just good old capitalism. My guess is that after Angie's List realized that they had accumulated good info on businesses, they went to those businesses (who were benefiting from their good work being reported on Angie's List) and said "hey, if you want to offer a deal to our customers on our site, it will generate even more business (and potentially good ratings)."

Companies certainly don't have to participate. Just a few weeks ago I hired a radon mitigation service and bypassed two highly rated providers who were offering coupon deals, and instead chose an equally highly-rated company that was closer to me but didn't offer any kind of deal.

Apparently companies that do not participate lose their "Awards". It's kinda like the old Mafia days and "Protection Money".

Also, it's a conflict of interest. Read the reviews of consumer affairs....if Angie's list gave themselves a rating, it would be an F.

Also, they're posting a net loss for the last 5 years in a row, because of how much they spend on advertising, due to the negative reviews they've gotten.