Considering advertising

I know that it is critically important that people hear about Redcoat Computer Services.  Without people knowing that the company exists and how we can help, we can't help and we can't make any money to keep the company going.  So, the question is, what is the best way to get people to know we exist and what we do.
 
There are so many options out there that applying time and money to each would be very difficult and potentially leave no time to actually operate the business day-to-day.  I believe that one of the most important and influential ways to attract customers is by word-of-mouth referrals.  Do a great job for someone and ask them to mention your services to friends and family and repeat.  That relies upon doing a great service which should be at the heart of every business regardless of industry or profession.  But what about traditional advertising media, newspapers, radio, TV, flyers, community meetings, social media technology etc.  Well, I have begun to think about the key customer groups that Redcoat Computer Services will support and it's made me realise that there are definitely some channels to which I'll pay slightly less attention than to others. 

The first was the new social media tools such as Twitter and even this we(blog).  Given that we're aiming to solicit interest from people who might be intimidated or confused about what to do with a computer and how to do it, it's likely that they won't be following a Twitter feed or logging on to Facebook with any regularity.  It might be that family member may pick up on these posts but it's also likely that they'll be technically savvy enough to help the frustrated friend or family member. 

The other media that won't get immediate attention is the Mail-A-Map (Mail-A-Map East Lyme and Niantic) concept which is distributed from stores and town offices showing a map of the town and which carries advertising from local business, particularly restuarants and stores.  Since Redcoat isn't a walk-in or drive-by type of business there is little need to be placed on a map and I suspect that these maps are really only useful to non-residents like tourists who would not need the services of a computer repair business. 

It is much more likely that traditional print media and the yellow pages will be the key to success in advertising the services to less technically adept customers, one of the key local papers being the Lyme Times and that is where I shall start as soon as the website is live...

Tony