Going at it full force next year

[Cashin H&P]

I have been running my company part time for a year now and have decided to go full time next year. I have all the tools needed and a truck and trailer. However what i do not have is weekly cliants. I have about 8 people who I have done clean ups and such for but no weekly work. I plan to send out a thank you/ Holiday letter and will let my cliants know about the change. But I would like to have about 20-25 clients next year. So my question is how do I go about doing this. I have gone door to door in my neighborhood and have been very successful is this the marketing route I should go or is there a better way? Any advive is welcome Thank you Liam

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

I have gone door to door in my neighborhood and have been very successful is this the marketing route If it works, keep doing it! Also, are you utilizing craigslist? Are you offering services into the winter as well to help keep yourself in front of those customers? When you are out there doing cleanups do you try and upsell your lawn care services?

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[Cashin H&P]

I have put adds on craigs with and have gotten zero jobs from that. My girlfriend is helping me make a website which im hoping will help a little.

I am offering services into the winter such as tree work, roof shoveling, as well as snowblowing. I have a few people who have said they will keep in touch with roof shoveling as well as snowblowing so I should stay busy. I have a few tree jobs lined up but nothing major.

When I do clean ups I would love to up sell my lawn services but I dont know how to go about this with out sounding pushy.

[jymie]

Originally Posted by cashin home and property

I have put adds on craigs with and have gotten zero jobs from that. My girlfriend is helping me make a website which im hoping will help a little.

I am offering services into the winter such as tree work, roof shoveling, as well as snowblowing. I have a few people who have said they will keep in touch with roof shoveling as well as snowblowing so I should stay busy. I have a few tree jobs lined up but nothing major.

When I do clean ups I would love to up sell my lawn services but I dont know how to go about this with out sounding pushy.

You need business cards to hand out to everyone you meet. Just curious, are you over 18 and have a vehicle and a trailer?

[Cashin H&P]

Originally Posted by jymie

You need business cards to hand out to everyone you meet. Just curious, are you over 18 and have a vehicle and a trailer?

Yes I am 18. I have a 2004 chevy 1500 z71 that I baught my self. I have been working for a Landscape company for 4 years and saved every peny to start my own company. I have a 5x8 trailer a 48in gravly and all the other tools. I have been collecting them for a few years.

I have cards that I give to every one I talk to about doing work.

[jymie]

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
• kijiji.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
• bizhwy.com
• getfreelisting.com
• mylocalservices.us
• diyodp.com
• evliving.com
• freebusinessdirectory.com
• volta.net
• freeonlinebusinessdirectory.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!

[Cashin H&P]

Wow thanks for all the info. I only have one magnet on my truck right now because the other one blew off going down the highway. I am going to look into getting the lawn signs made today after I was off my mower.

[Mikes mowing]

Originally Posted by cashin home and property

I have been running my company part time for a year now and have decided to go full time next year. I have all the tools needed and a truck and trailer. However what i do not have is weekly cliants. I have about 8 people who I have done clean ups and such for but no weekly work. I plan to send out a thank you/ Holiday letter and will let my cliants know about the change. But I would like to have about 20-25 clients next year. So my question is how do I go about doing this. I have gone door to door in my neighborhood and have been very successful is this the marketing route I should go or is there a better way?

Any advive is welcome

Thank you Liam

I learn that the big guys do a a final lawn cut when they do clean ups.
I tryed that this year.one it leaves a good clean iamge.
two it shows your mowing work.

[Steve]

I have put adds on craigs with and have gotten zero jobs from that.

Have you experimented with different ad designs? Do you or don't you include prices in your ad? Do you try different graphics in your ad to attract the readers attention?

When I do clean ups I would love to up sell my lawn services but I dont know how to go about this with out sounding pushy.

Could you give the customer a bid for annual lawn care while you are there and just let them know you are there to help them with their property care needs? You may be surprised after you finish your cleanups, how many would sign up with you.

Also, keep your eyes open for any other issues they might have on their yard and offer to fix them.

When you are onsite, this is your chance to make your sales presentation and see how many of the customer's yard problems you can help resolve.

[Cashin H&P]

Originally Posted by Steve

Have you experimented with different ad designs? Do you or don't you include prices in your ad? Do you try different graphics in your ad to attract the readers attention?



Could you give the customer a bid for annual lawn care while you are there and just let them know you are there to help them with their property care needs? You may be surprised after you finish your cleanups, how many would sign up with you.

Also, keep your eyes open for any other issues they might have on their yard and offer to fix them.

When you are onsite, this is your chance to make your sales presentation and see how many of the customer's yard problems you can help resolve.

i did a clean up today and I gave them a quote for weekly mowing and bi weekly weeding. 35$ to and 50$ to weed I got the job as well as the mulch and hedge trimmming. I just mentioned it to her and she was all over it. Im glad I did it gave me the confidence to do it more. The way thingsare looking i will be almost full time next spring I just need to get a few more accounts