New Member

[bmdlawncare]

My name is Brent and I am new to the forum as well as owning my own lawn care business. I just wanted to introduce myself and ask if anybody has any ideas to get started. I have already been sending out door hanger as well as advertised in a local magazine. Please give me some suggestions as to what to do next! Thank you

[cleancutlawncare5382]

Lawn care business tips

Hi Brent, welcome to the site. You have already made a very valuable first step. “Asking for help on this site”. Some of the best in the business are here and very willing to help. Do a search on this site and you will find many answers. Basically though start your net working, talk to neighbors, go door-to-door, and pass out flyers as you net work. Advertize in all the free local classifieds in your area- Craigslist – Backpage – ext. Most of all: as you build your customer base always exceed their expectations. Word of mouth goes a very long way. Tell us more about your target customer list, High end , Middle of the road, ? Large town / small ?

__________________
www.montgomerysqualitylawncare.com

[jymie]

I have posted this before but here it is again...


Welcome to the forum, there is a ton of information here. First and foremost you must have a website.

There are a few ways to go about advertising your business. I have done:

• Door Hangers
• Post Cards
• Display Advertising in my local pennysaver. They have a nice page inside they call Local Business Directory, it looks like a bulletin board.
• Business Cards to every one I meet in Restaurants, Gas Stations, Bars and anywhere where there are people.

The best time to start is always. The peak time would be a month and a half before the grass begins to grow, then continue till the end of the season.

I drop off business cards to any place that has a bulletin board, like grocery stores, department stores Laundromats etc. You can get business card holders from Artie on this site. http://www.marketingholders.com/CARD...PING-CRDQS.htm

They hold probably 25 business Cards. Check out his other products on the site, he has a lot of stuff that could be useful.

Have magnets made with your company logo and phone number on them, one for both front doors and one for the back of your vehicle. People behind you can't see the sides of your truck when you drive around with no trailer. Good free advertising that way. This is a great site and the magnets are excellent quality: http://www.buildasign.com , I also order signs for the front lawn from them, also great quality for a fair price.

Utilize the free methods to advertise, google search free classified advertising

• Craigslist
• Backpage
• topix.com
• thumbtack.com
• buysellcommunity.com

Add your business to every business directory in your area

• Yellowpages.com
• Yellowbook.com
• merchantcircle.com
• manta.com
• local.com
• kudzu.com
• thumbtack.com
• yellowbot.com
• citysearch.com
• superpages.com
• local.yahoo.com
• superads.com
• landscaping-companies.com
• neighborhood.letsrenovate.com
• start.cortera.com
• allpages.com
• local.garden.org
• insiderpages.com

Submit your website and business to all the search engines, then submit to the maps of each of the major search engines

google maps
bing maps
yahoo maps

Maps info show up before search results so this is crucial.

See this thread for more:

http://www.gopherforum.com/showthread.php?t=13299

Hope this helps you get started! Best of luck!

[Shark1611]

Originally Posted by jymie

I have posted this before but here it is again...


Welcome to the forum, there is a ton of information here. First and foremost you must have a website.

There are a few ways to go about advertising your business. I have done:

• Door Hangers
• Post Cards
• Display Advertising in my local pennysaver. They have a nice page inside they call Local Business Directory, it looks like a bulletin board.
• Business Cards to every one I meet in Restaurants, Gas Stations, Bars and anywhere where there are people.

The best time to start is always. The peak time would be a month and a half before the grass begins to grow, then continue till the end of the season.

I drop off business cards to any place that has a bulletin board, like grocery stores, department stores Laundromats etc. You can get business card holders from Artie on this site. http://www.marketingholders.com/CARD...PING-CRDQS.htm

They hold probably 25 business Cards. Check out his other products on the site, he has a lot of stuff that could be useful.

Have magnets made with your company logo and phone number on them, one for both front doors and one for the back of your vehicle. People behind you can't see the sides of your truck when you drive around with no trailer. Good free advertising that way. This is a great site and the magnets are excellent quality: http://www.buildasign.com , I also order signs for the front lawn from them, also great quality for a fair price.

Utilize the free methods to advertise, google search free classified advertising

• Craigslist
• Backpage
• topix.com
• thumbtack.com
• buysellcommunity.com

Add your business to every business directory in your area

• Yellowpages.com
• Yellowbook.com
• merchantcircle.com
• manta.com
• local.com
• kudzu.com
• thumbtack.com
• yellowbot.com
• citysearch.com
• superpages.com
• local.yahoo.com
• superads.com
• landscaping-companies.com
• neighborhood.letsrenovate.com
• start.cortera.com
• allpages.com
• local.garden.org
• insiderpages.com

Submit your website and business to all the search engines, then submit to the maps of each of the major search engines

google maps
bing maps
yahoo maps

Maps info show up before search results so this is crucial.

See this thread for more:

http://www.gopherforum.com/showthread.php?t=13299

Hope this helps you get started! Best of luck!

This is great information! Thank you for sharing!

[jymie]

You guys are more than welcome. I am sure there are more things I could add to the post, but this is a good start.

[Steve]

Hi Brent,

Welcome to our forum!

How have you felt about your responses to your marketing efforts so far?

Are you working your social network too? Do all your friends and family know you are now in business? Are they telling their friends as well?

[bmdlawncare]

Steve,

Everybody on here has been so helpful. Thank you to everyone that has posted and given me pointers.

I have told all of my family and friends and I am networking as much as possible. Please continue to give advice as you guys feel necessary.

Thank you all again!

[lightninglawncare1]

Word of mouth goes a long way. Also, once you get your first customer, make it stand out by doing a great job. I have gotten several customers just by them looking at the good job I do (in fact, I picked up five from one account in the same neighborhood and I passed up a sixth cause I am just part time). And then it cascades from there. I get calls from referrals, "Ms. Smith told me to call you and she told me you do a good job cutting grass, can you give me a quote?" and most of the time you are the only person they have talked to and will accept your bid cause of her friend's recommendation of how well you maintain their yard.