"About Us" in marketing

[Steve]

For those of you who really have a descriptive 'about us' section in your marketing material, can you share with us your reflections on how that has effected your business?

__________________
- Subscribe to my Lawn Care Marketing Blog Feed and get daily tips sent to you. Free!
Download your Free trial of Gopher Lawn Care Software.

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Here is a great example of what I am talking about. Our friend Patrick runs a lawn care business and a website/graphic design business. http://www.blairprod.com/ Here in his 'about us' section he talks about how his daughter's needs brought him to becoming an entrepreneur. Here is a website he created to talk about his daughter http://www.maggiblair.com. Patrick can you share with us any reflections you have had on having such a descriptive 'about us' section? How has that effected your business? Would you suggest other business owners share their story of how they came to become business owners as well?

__________________
- Subscribe to my Lawn Care Marketing Blog Feed and get daily tips sent to you. Free!
Download your Free trial of Gopher Lawn Care Software.

Well, I would say that the About Us section on any website should have the business' roots in it.... how they first started and why... "I was sick of working for someone else" is even a good start.

For me, personally, when people visit www.BlairProd.com (Blair Productions), they read the About Us portion and get a little bit of an idea why we started... then from there, they can check out more about my daughter. They get an understanding of what we go through on a daily basis with her... and knowing all that and that we're running our own business(es), they really get a good understanding. I have had people request quotes from me and tell me what an amazing family we must be.

I encourage EVERYONE to write a PERSONAL "how we started" About Us page. You'll be surprised how many people who visit your site will comment to you about it.

[Steve]

Did you ever pass your story on to your local paper by the way? I would think that could bring in much more business.

Oh yeah... well, it wasn't to actually promote the business (Blair Productions), but it got a mention.

Read the story here.

We'll probably be getting another article in sometime before spring for the purpose of promoting the business. Plus, I worked for the Citizen newspaper for a while, so I get FREE classified ads.

[Steve]

Here is a screen capture of the article.

Patrick,

Could you tell us a little how you got your article published? What steps do you suggest a lawn care operator take?

Also, what kind of reaction did you find once your article was published?

Well, here was the situation: My daughter needed a wheelchair, but insurance wasn't going to cover all of it. We were left with $2,000 to pay BEFORE they would even order it. So we put on a comedy benefit show to raise money. We have a dear friend who is an actor. He came into town and participated. So with his celebrity status, the community service acts of a local improv comedy troup and a touching story about our little girl, the newspaper just ate it up when my wife called them. Now there was just a small blurb about the business in there, but we instantly got 3 clients in a month off that article. ...and one lady DOUBLED what I quoted her for her site just to help us out.

Here's a good suggestion:
All you guys out there who want more customers, sponsor something for charity. Let's use a comedy show for example. Find local comedians (GOOD ones) and ask them to donate their time for the charity. Ask a local bar or tavern to donate space to use for the show. Tell them you'll be bringing in TONS of customers for them with this show. Next, pick a GOOD charity (something to do with battered women, children, or cancer patients is usually good) to donate the proceeds to... and Finally, call your local newspaper(s) to tell them about it. If they don't want to send someone to meet with you to write it, then write it yourself and send it to them. ....or send it to them afterwards with a photo from the evenings events. Make sure in the article to promote your business a little (don't overdo it).

I GUARANTEE that people will call you.

[Steve]

You have some great ideas.

You could keep your eyes open for situations that call for assistance. For example, someone is injured in a car accident and has no medical insurance.

You can contact them, especially if you know them, and offer to put together a benefit for them. Offer to do it for free. You will however, create a lot of good will for yourself and your business by doing such good deeds.

Bingo! That's a great example!

[Steve]

Did this article come out before you had your lawn care business?