What worked this year?

[TiedemanLLC]

With the season starting to come to a close, what worked this year for you in regards to marketing? Was there anything that you did differently that worked? What absolutely didn't work at all?

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[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

I sure hope someone had positive stories about their marketing this year!

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[Mike@Redneck Lawncare]

Well I used Craigslist and business cards and a few home-made flyers. did fair but I did'nt find this forum until October -

And let me tell you guys I have learned alot of things that I did not think about and learned what I was doing wrong.

I bought 3 of Steve's books - I have crushed through two of them already and let me tell you they are crammed full of awesome ideas and lots of knowledge, plus with what I learned here on the forum from all of you that are members here, All the info on here is very good and I would like to thank you guys and Steve for all the help..

I would highly recomened any new guy or anyone to buy Steve's books they are worth spending the money cause you will get a better grasp on the business and get some good marketing and networking ideas plus learn how to upsell - that is a must in this industry,

Thanks for listening to my rant ..... Mike the Redneck..

P.S BUY STEVE'S BOOKS YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT .

[TiedemanLLC]

Originally Posted by Steve

I sure hope someone had positive stories about their marketing this year!

We have started to focus more on our direct mail again. We took two years off from it, and concentrated on social media, but now we are back to direct mail. Don't get me wrong, we are still doing social media, but the ROI is not that great with social media.

There are a bunch of other little things we did too this year though.

[LawnBoy0311]

The one thing I HATE about advertising is every company out there wants to suck you dry of cash. Some of the prices to do things are crazy. I contacted ValPak to get some coupons printed out and sent out with their other customers. I just laughed at the cost.

I try to stick to free or cheap. I gained 20 customers off craigslist...and a few leads doing flyers. This winter I'll be handing out pens to a bunch of local restaurants, bars, liquor stores. Hopefully my pens will start floating around the community. The cost for the 500 pens with shipping was like $85. Also going to target certain neighborhoods to fill in the gaps on my route. I don't do social media, maybe I'll look into it since its free.

I wish I could tell you what works...but its all a gamble hoping something will pay off.

[Steve]

I try to stick to free or cheap. I gained 20 customers off craigslist...and a few leads doing flyers. This winter I'll be handing out pens to a bunch of local restaurants, bars, liquor stores. Hopefully my pens will start floating around the community.

All of these things are worthwhile to experiment with as long as they are reaching out to your target market. (Those decision makers who own homes with lawns).

When you are not reaching your target market, the effectiveness of this or any marketing diminishes.

[LawnBoy0311]

Originally Posted by Steve

All of these things are worthwhile to experiment with as long as they are reaching out to your target market. (Those decision makers who own homes with lawns).

When you are not reaching your target market, the effectiveness of this or any marketing diminishes.

I figure its worth a shot. The only advantage is I know all these bars/restaurants from working with them. So I will only be going after those that have an older crowd. It wouldnt be worth it to go to those that the younger crowd hangs out at.

[deschampsbrothers]

The best way of marketing for a business owner in this field is by the word of mouth from a current customer to their friends and family or even neighbors. I have tried it all and by far the difference is going out of your way here and there for your current customers, hit those couple weeds in the bed that look horrible with the weed whacker as your going by, hit the weeds growing in the cracks of the walks, it makes a difference( weedwhacking can make or break a company, i have had 4 new customers which are all neighbors of current customers who switched to my service because of the difference in trimming). Another thing i do for my current customers is provide them with professional looking flyers on nice thick paper with it clearly stating all the services that i offer, It also says in big letters, FREE ESTIMATES. The agreement between me and my customers is every full maintenance customer that they refer to me equals a month of mowing half off, so if its $30 a cut i would normally get $120 but instead i get $60, hey i break even on there lawn for the month with all my over head but in the long run it is worth it. The catch that i throw in is that you dont get your month half off until they have received service for a month themselves, so i also make money off them before i have to reward them for the referal. I have learned that you have to use your current customers for links to get more work, and the only way to do that is talk to them for a min or 2 here and there, find out where they work? who provides them service? Ask them if they have any family members that receive service from another company? It doesnt hurt to ask

[ringahding1]

Originally Posted by TiedemanLLC

With the season starting to come to a close, what worked this year for you in regards to marketing? Was there anything that you did differently that worked? What absolutely didn't work at all?

Everything listed in your "Signature"