Part 1 of the Audio Interview with Author

Here is (part 1 of 2) of our interview with author and business owner Joel LaRusic. Download and listen to these great and insightful marketing and advertising techniques from Joel who has utilized these skills to build his business over the past decade. This is an mp3 file of about 3megs and is 22 minutes in length. Technical note. We did have a problem with a buzz when recording Joel's side of the conversation. I am sorry about that and we will improve our recording in the future Please feel free to discuss any issues we talked about in this interview. If you have further questions or comments, please share them with us. Download file by clicking the podcast image.

Lawn care business tips

Thats great. I listened to it this morning, very informative. Can't wait for part 2.

[Steve]

Hi ritchiem,

Thank you. Do you have any thoughts on what you would have done differently?

I thought it was great for the newbie. So far I agree with everything he had to say. I can't wait to hear what he says about contracts. I use signed agreements but they can cancel anytime. I don't believe in forcing someone to buy your product if they are not happy. It is very important to have guidelines though. You kinda pulled one of those famous "will be continued" stunts a good tv show will do sometimes. You stopped it right at the question, holding us in suspense

I would normally agree about not including a price on flyer's. But I am going to try advertising the 12 month price. For example on a $30 lawn most are used to paying $120 - $150 (depending if there is a 5th cut) a month. I am going to hit these areas with a flyer's advertising $90 a month which equals the $30 cut when spread out over 12 months. This is just to get the phone ringing, I'm not sure if they will fall for it after I explain it's 12 month payments. I will be the ginny pig though and report back in April.

I would suggest contacting Jim Lewis, and/or Rodfather from ******** and see if they would participate in an interview. They don't use Gopher but they are both well respected in the community. If it's just Gopher users that you are interviewing? Did Lawngodfather ever start using Gopher? He would be a fun one to hear interviewed, he does know what he is talking about, but he tells it like it is. I remember talking to him a while back and he said he was just talking to you and he was going to start using Gopher. He said it was funny I called him because you guys were talking about me for a minute. I can only imagine what you guys were talking about. It better have been good, and not that I was a big pain in the arse

[mowboy]

Thanks for the replies thus far everyone. It's good to get your feedback so that the podcasts can continually improve.

I'm sure the contracts discussion will generate some posts as there are a lot of varying opinions out there. We'll have to wait since Team Gopher left us with a cliffhanger!

By all means, try putting a price on your flyers. One thing I stressed somewhere in that interview is that while we have guidelines we shouldn't be afraid of trying something new. It may not have worked for some but it may work well for you. Stick with what works and keep looking for better ways to do it. This kind of experimentation will help in building the an awesome marketing system that works for you in your area.

Let us know how it works out!

sweet

[Billz]

that was great, I am anxious too hear the rest!

[azgreen]

terrific! Great book BTW. What if they hang onto that quote, let the yard grow much longer can they still hold you to the price quoted? What is the longest timeframe we should honor the quote?

[mowboy]

That's a great point. As a rule of thumb you should always limit your quotes, even if you are jotting it down on a flyer. Actually it is best to use a quote sheet such as the one included in my book... or whatever you use. Just make sure there is a disclaimer stating that the quote is only valid for a certain time frame. I'd say 30 days however if you are quoting a lawn cut I would not hesitate to shorten that or add a note saying something like 'Quote may vary with lawn conditions'... just to give you a way out in case they call when the grass is 2 feet long!

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you are enjoying the podcast!

[myrlin]

want happen to part 2