The New Guy!

Fjlawn41 · #1 10-11-2011, 11:24 AM

Hey, every one! Glad to be part of a great site. Lots of great knowledge.

My name's Jim Thiewes out of Minneapolis. My business name is Feldjagers Pest and Lawn. I officially started 9/6/11, left the bank 8/31, which I had been working at 10 years. I was freak'n tired of working for these Corp. slave drivers for next to nothing. So, I decided to start my own business, got licensed with Minnesota Department of Ag. for Commercial Pesticide Applicator and Non Ag Fertilizer Applicator, and have done around a dozen and a half yards now. Posting On Craigslist and some other local neighborhood sites, haven't done any flyers yet though. It's a bit slow, but I am positive and I'm trying to do all the right things with advertising and marketing. This site sure helps though, thanks Steve! I'll be trying out your lawn school for sure. Has any one here tried Google Local/Maps for advertising? I think it's free. What are your thoughts? My Website is www.fjpestandlawn.com

Steve · #2 10-11-2011, 05:43 PM

Lawn care business tips

Welcome to our forum!

Yea get on that google maps listing.

What are some of your big plans to push your business further next year?

Will you be offering snow plowing this winter?

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Fjlawn41 · #3 10-12-2011, 01:19 AM

Hi Steve. Thanks for having me! This is agreat site. Ok, I'll check out Google Maps, should help.
As far as next Spring, I plan on Delivering Flyers for Spring clean ups, and try to have people sign up for contract mowing in select areas. Also, plan on utilizing neighborhood Association websites, Craigslist, hopefully word of mouth takes off, and I'm going to target coffee shops, grocery stores, thrift stores, etc to post, and will continue improving my site and look for more free or very low cost internet advertising.
I stopped at a mailing place the other day to get figures for mass mailing for flyers and the guy said that post office charges $.15 postage per parcel, so the example he gave me was if they sent 5000 flyers via mail, with postage and all the co.'s other fees the total cam to $1200. My budget can not afford that right niow. Statiscally, these flyers return 1-2%. What are your thoughts on that? Thanks again Steve.

PS. I really don't mean to dump on my previous employer. I am greatful for the work they gave me. I'm just ready for a change. Something that I really love doing!

Fjlawn41 · #4 10-12-2011, 01:23 AM

Snow Plowing? No, actually look to do some snow blowing on sidewalks and driveways. I don't have a truck or plow, yet any way! I use a JEEP and tow an enclosed trailer. I could put a few blowers in there for sure.

Steve · #5 10-12-2011, 04:18 PM

Quote:

I stopped at a mailing place the other day to get figures for mass mailing for flyers and the guy said that post office charges $.15 postage per parcel, so the example he gave me was if they sent 5000 flyers via mail, with postage and all the co.'s other fees the total cam to $1200. My budget can not afford that right niow. Statiscally, these flyers return 1-2%. What are your thoughts on that?

I'd say just start handing out business cards to people you meet and hand out flyers in your area by going door to door. As you do this and gain more customers, word of mouth will help further.

Ryan's Lawn Care · #6 10-12-2011, 04:49 PM

work on setting up a twitter or fb account for your business my business professor told me about this and i thought it was the dumbest thing i had ever heard for a lawn service but he explained it and it made sense.

jymie · #7 10-15-2011, 01:00 PM

Not only Google maps, but list also on the other search engine maps, Bing and yahoo. Don't forget to list on every business directory you can find online. Facebook is a good utility, your customers can do a review of your work which is always good.

Steve · #8 10-17-2011, 03:33 PM

Quote:

work on setting up a twitter or fb account for your business my business professor told me about this and i thought it was the dumbest thing i had ever heard for a lawn service but he explained it and it made sense.

What was his view on using those sites? I am still not sure if I am convinced either of them really do anything so I'd love to hear your view point.

Fjlawn41 · #9 10-18-2011, 01:09 AM

Thanks for the great feed back! I will definitely be setting up on all these sites. Does Google, Yahoo, and Bing increase traffic to your site? Aren't these called Organic searches?

What's the Difference between this Google organic search and a Google Ad word search? Non the Less the Organic is FREE! So, I'm on it.

Had good luck with Craigslist, but man, there are a lot of guys in our line of work on it. Tough compitition. That's why every customer I get, I treat them like Gold. Starting from the ground up could take years to be profitable! Must stay the course!

Steve · #10 10-18-2011, 03:39 PM

Quote:

What's the Difference between this Google organic search and a Google Ad word search?

The organic one means you appear on a list of sites when a person looks up certain key words.

The ad word search, I am guessing means you advertise with them and your ad appears when someone looks up certain key words or phrases.

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