CAn I get some help with a tag line

[rootytalbot]

Working on some post cards and I need assistance.

The message I want to convey is -

I am solo and the benefit to that is that you get the same responsible adult on your property any time work is being done.

Any body got a good way to word this?

[Steve]

Maybe include a picture of yourself on your postcard and say next to it.

Advantages of hiring me:
- Owner / Operator.
- Insured.
- Reliable.
- Quality service.
- Affordable price.

Then maybe below that, you might say something to the effect of, unlike other lawn care companies in our area, I am on every job site I sign up to service. My quality is consistent, and I show up when I say I will show up. No longer will you be wondering when the next time your mowing company will show up.

How is something like that so far?

[rootytalbot]

Maybe include a picture of yourself on your postcard and say next to it.

Advantages of hiring me:
- Owner / Operator.
- Insured.
- Reliable.
- Quality service.
- Affordable price.

Then maybe below that, you might say something to the effect of, unlike other lawn care companies in our area, I am on every job site I sign up to service. My quality is consistent, and I show up when I say I will show up. No longer will you be wondering when the next time your mowing company will show up.

How is something like that so far?

I was in a rush to get the postcards finished so I could get 50% off on printing.
I like what you have said, but this fit in the space I had. I emailed a customer who is a lawyer and she gave me this..

"I do not have employees. You can trust that the same responsible person who maintains your lawn takes pride in its appearance and truly appreciates your business."
I ordered 2000 post cards and will deliver them to doors and newspaper boxes. $127. Includes aeration, installs, cleanups and fall type work - but the way I worded it I could also pass the same postcards out in February.

Honestly I HATE passing out flyers, but I have gotten my best customers and my best jobs from them. Its a painful process, but it has to be done.

[Steve]

Well it will be interesting to hear how the response rate goes.

Are you going to be tracking this by asking your new callers, where they heard of you from?

That way you will know how many calls came from the postcard.

I'd love to see what it looks like if you can include a picture.

[rootytalbot]

I might be able to track responses. If I get any useful info while doing this "fall advert" I will be sure and bring it here for discussion.


There is no need, in my mind, to try and pass out 2000 flyers to random boxes at this time of year.
I am heading out today when the rain stops. I will start by tagging houses that 21" tracks (homeowner mows it), lawns that might need aeration, overgrown shrubs, and those type lawns that look like they could use some help.

Then I will hit the hoods with the small, tight lawns that are in the "young professional" income range. Too busy, not skilled in specialty maintenance like aeration. I am really growing fond of these lawns. Too small for a 48" mower reduces the competition a lot - and I have a TT36 and a 21 that fit just right on them.

[Steve]

I will start by tagging houses that 21" tracks (homeowner mows it), lawns that might need aeration, overgrown shrubs, and those type lawns that look like they could use some help.

What is your view on why you are targeting those houses versus houses you may feel get professional lawn care services as well?

[rootytalbot]

What is your view on why you are targeting those houses versus houses you may feel get professional lawn care services as well?

Have you ever been passing out flyers for a service, lets say mowing, and you come to a lawn that is so steep it would have to done with a trimmer, and you think, " I don't want to deal with that junk". So you walk on past that one without troubling to give a flyer.
Well its sort of the same principle. With a different premise. Its still target marketing, in a sense, but with the intention of time saving.
If they obviously have someone then the postcards that I am passing out right now might not be the best way to approach them.
No time to waste IMO. I have mowing a schedule to keep right now. These adverts are to make up for clients that have gone to two week scheduling and for those that I lost this year. And to draw in customers that need services other than mowing. Aeration, tree and shrub work, fert, mulch, renovation.
I am time limited - so I cannot target every random house.
A quick look at the lawn and I can see the 21" tracks or the rider circles - and if that particular lawn has overgrown or tall hard to reach shrubs I drop a postcard.
Or if the lawn is in sad shape and could use an aeration I drop a postcard. Its quicker to do it this way.
Later on when its closer to aeration season I will pass out home printed flyers that have been successful in the past. And these will go to most houses.

Here is a for instance - I drove up to one that has a line of trees at the top of a retaining wall above a driveway. First was a 20' Crepe Myrtle, and then 6, evenly spaced, 25' Leyland Cypruss all the way up to the house. The center Cyprus was dead and well beyond saving. So I wrote a note on the back of the postcard.
"Dig out and remove dead tree and replace with a Crepe Myrtle. This allows visual uniformity at a reasonable cost. $425.00". The cost of a Leyland that would even come close to that size would be outrageous, so put in a Crepe and the symmetry is not lost. And, as the home was for sale, it makes sense to do improvements to the "curb appeal" without breaking the bank.

[Steve]

The thing I wonder is how does one come up with who is their ideal customer?

What if this ideal customer you are targeting isn't the ideal one for you?

Does one need to be broader at first with their marketing and then based on the results they get, narrow it down to who tends to contact them or is it just as well to work out a theory and go for that group?

[biglee]

To make yourself you take what you can get in the beginning.
It is important to market the neighborhood not the home.
Bid the same way.... price the neighborhood not the home.

Handpicking clients has never worked for me.

[biglee]

Postcards and flyers will tend to gain you a mediocre clientele base.
Think about it, cheap marketing targets cheap clientele.

[Steve]

Handpicking clients has never worked for me.

That is the thing I was wondering about. It could take an entrepreneur quite some time before they were able to successfully pinpoint an ideal target group. After experimenting with a lot of marketing material.

[rootytalbot]

Its too late to save me fellas. I am passing out flyers when I see one I like. Darn the torpedos, full steam ahead.

[Steve]

Keep us posted on the responses you get. It will be very interesting to hear.