final critique from the experts - card

[knosaj]

ok, i am about to send these to the printer and thought i would run it by you guys who have more time in the trenches. let me know what yall think about the business aspect of things. please be honest. im going to print these and hang with a rubber band instead of the normal door hangers. a bit more time consuming so i wont proably do it this way again. we'll see whawt happens. for now time on the couch in front of the TV putting on rubber bands is not a big deal. I tried to keep it clean, but all that info started gunking it up. oh well. im just going to use a Yahoo address for now. and get the web stuff set up later. trying to get things low pro for now.

Attached Images

LawnCare_Card.jpg (502.4 KB, 36 views)

---

Last edited by knosaj; 02-23-2012 at 09:33 PM.

[CHEESE2009]

Lawn care business tips

Love it! The credit card pictures should be a little closer to the text, "We also accept" Maybe use ( : ) or ( ; ) instead of ( . ) after the text "We also accept" The text "Fair pricing" could maybe be changed to "Affordable" to sound more professional and not something off craigslist. In the second coupon "typical" should be replaced with "standard". (my suggestion) Maybe change "Discounts, and list of services on back" with "Limited time offer on backside!" Put a disclosure on the coupons, an expiry date. You might change your mind about offering free/discounted services next year. You did a fantastic job, really awesome. What kind of deal are you getting with your printer?

[Hedgemaster]

It looks great.



Word of caution: DISCLAIMER! DISCLAIMER! DISCLAIMER!

I know you have something "generic" on that "1st cut $25" coupon, but when you start getting requests to cut lawns that are 4-5 weeks behind on that first cut this spring, be prepared to handle it.

Last season I considered offering a similar discount, but after thinking about the people with gigantic properties and 2' tall grass that may call, I came up with a disclaimer to cover that.

I'll see if I can find what I wrote. I ended up not even doing it.

[knosaj]

excellent suggestion....exactly the type i was looking for.

man, i cant believe the bind i may have gotten into on $25 cuts with out an expiration date! and only have two days a week to mow, man...lol!

i thought about the length of grass too on the offer, but figured i could talk my way out of it key word being typical, or now, standard. but yea it might be smart to add a bit more.

wil get fixing now.

thanks!

well, my plan was to get 100 oversized cards, 8x5 from vistaprints for 36 bucks. i was planning to selectively post them through my neighborhood instead of a blanket canvas. but after seeing another post, i think i may need alot more but didnt want to spend that much up front. i only want between 10-20 customers right now, but i understand that door hangers only have about a 2% return. oh well. gotta start somewhere.

[CHEESE2009]

Originally Posted by knosaj

well, my plan was to get 100 oversized cards, 8x5 from vistaprints for 36 bucks. i was planning to selectively post them through my neighborhood instead of a blanket canvas. but after seeing another post, i think i may need alot more but didnt want to spend that much up front. i only want between 10-20 customers right now, but i understand that door hangers only have about a 2% return. oh well. gotta start somewhere.

Marketing is very expensive.

100 oversize cards may look great, but it's not enough.

If you walk 2000 feet, that's about 100 houses lol. You'd have them handed out in an hour. It's also better to advertise in quantity, instead of trying to target specific clients.

I suggest making your advertisements on business cards. You can get thousands of cards for about $50 (vistaprint). They are expendable, while expensive postcards aren't.

If I knew that every person I advertised to would hire me, then I'd buy fancy postcards. Don't waste your money right now.


Hope this helps my friend!


p.s

If I was you right now, I would be so mad... Your postcard design looks really good lol, BUT DAMN IT'S EXPENSIVE!!!

[Hedgemaster]

I can't find what I was going to use.


How about simply adding "Some restrictions apply"?

It's not too wordy and should fit along with the expiration date.

[CHEESE2009]

*certain conditions apply

[Hedgemaster]

To expand on what Cheese said before, I took advantage of a Vistaprint offer when they were doing 500 bus cards for $10.

I typically do not like Vistaprint, but for this purpose it was acceptable - and cheap.

I made "ads" for snow removal - business card size - that were based on a flyer I had distributed last year. I figured I could hand them out, or put them in mailboxes. I didn't use anything that would limit the use to this season, so I can use them next winter too if I don't use them all.

Here's a link to a post that shows it.
http://www.gopherforum.com/showpost....7&postcount=36

[Hedgemaster]

I was going to PM you, but I'll post it here in case it's of use to anyone else.


I use these people for my business cards and post cards. The website is easy to navigate and uploading your own design is easy. (software-specific templates are provided if needed)

Overnightprints.com
(linked you to postcards since that's what you were looking at here and they offer several sizes to choose from)

I could get a discount for referrals, but I'm not interested in that. I'm just a satisfied customer and thought I'd throw it out there for you to consider.

There may very well be less expensive options out there.
I know that when I compared Vistaprint to these guys for my bus cards (in quantity), I would have only saved about $5 with Vistaprint, and the quality isn't as good (white isn't as bright), nor are Vistaprint cards the RIGHT SIZE! They are SMALLER than they SHOULD be. It's only by a "smidge", but I noticed it immediately - they just look cheap to me.

I will note that the first batch of post cards I ordered, I went with the "Premium" cards, and more recently, I ordered post cards to send as "Thank Yous", and went with the "Value" cards.
They are both "glossy", but the premium cards are VERY glossy and look AMAZING, while the value cards looked MUCH less glossy.

As stated on the website:

Value Cards are printed on a digital press.
Premium Cards are printed on an offset press.

I went with the value cards since I was ordering a small quantity AND wanted them printed on both sides - I wanted to keep costs down.


If nothing else, sign up with your email and you'll get special offer codes sent to you. I recently used a code for $15 off any purchase of $15 or more.
I got 50 magnetic business cards for $15 after the discount and including shipping.

I will note that I'm not wild about their shipping pricing structure. They give you multiple options and shipping price depends on when you'd like to receive your item. "Sooner" is a bit more pricey than later, if you know what I mean.

[Steve]

I was wondering, on the back you mention two free cuts with any lawn maintenance agreement. Above it you also say discount for 6 month or 12 month contract (cancel any time).

How are you going to handle it if the customer signs up for an annual lawn care contract, gets two free cuts and then cancels at any time?