Marketing reps on craigslist?

[Steve]

I just saw Weedman was posting jobs on craigslist "Weed Man lawn care is looking for energetic, outgoing, and friendly people for our spring marketing campaign. These people will go door to door " Do you think this is something you could use too? Would finding people on craigslist to go door to door handing out marketing material help your business grow?

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Originally Posted by [b Quote[/b] (Team Gopher @ Feb. 25 2008,9:11)]Do you think this is something you could use too? Would finding people on craigslist to go door to door handing out marketing material help your business grow? I definitely use it! but right now by budget is kinda tight. If this guys say what they are, I consider to give it a try, Im pretty sure this guys are good on this, they are salesman and are more skilled on talking to people. I met one guy (on craiglist) that say he would help me get more customers by marketing my areas, we exchange a couple e-mails and gave my phone#, but never got a call back. should I post the e-mail he send me? was very convincing.

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[FourSeasons]

I was really thinking about doing this because I hate it and I havent and probably won't ever go do it. I just leave the flyer in the door.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]should I post the e-mail he send me? was very convincing.

Yes, I'd love to see it.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]I was really thinking about doing this because I hate it and I havent and probably won't ever go do it. I just leave the flyer in the door.

What do you hate about this? Can you explain it a little?

[FourSeasons]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]

What do you hate about this? Can you explain it a little?

I am fine with people when they call me going out and meeting them and giving bids. Thats when they call me.

But I know what its like to get home from work and not want to be bothered. I just dont like bothering people even though sometimes they probably need to be.


I remember when I was a little kid and the church I went to used to go out on the weekend and pass out flyers to try and get people go to the church. Some people you could just tell were irritated to have to answer the door and be botherd by you.

Plus I hate salesman. It seems like you cant go anywhere without someone trying to get you to buy something. Its annoying. Like everytime I walk thru the mall I get these stupid cell phone salesman going hey hey what kind of phone do you have. It annoys me pretty bad.

So just don't want to be like that I guess?

[Steve]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]I remember when I was a little kid and the church I went to used to go out on the weekend and pass out flyers to try and get people go to the church. Some people you could just tell were irritated to have to answer the door and be botherd by you.

Plus I hate salesman. It seems like you cant go anywhere without someone trying to get you to buy something. Its annoying. Like everytime I walk thru the mall I get these stupid cell phone salesman going hey hey what kind of phone do you have. It annoys me pretty bad.

So just don't want to be like that I guess?

This is such a great topic. I was having a chat on skype the other day with one of my friends on this very topic. I think more people hate sales than like sales. So I think that is normal.

I think there are many ways to sell without being in your face pushy trying to sell something. Ultimately it does come down to which way takes advantage of your skills and your personality.

In fact we were talking about this on a previous podcast. It was last weeks podcast near the end. The point of the discussion was that if you are not a born salesman and you don't like sales, you will need to find someone who is if you want your business to get big.

I am not sure why all of us have such an aversion to sales actually. I believe being a salesman is a good thing especially if you are running a business. It's a very important skill set. You also need to be a self promoter. People need to know you exist and what services your business offers. If you can notch that exposure up a little as you go through life, I think you will be very happy with the results.

What's your view on this?

[FourSeasons]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]I am not sure why all of us have such an aversion to sales actually. I believe being a salesman is a good thing especially if you are running a business. It's a very important skill set. You also need to be a self promoter. People need to know you exist and what services your business offers. If you can notch that exposure up a little as you go through life, I think you will be very happy with the results.

What's your view on this?

I agree.
I wish I was a little better at cold calling than I am.
I do well with people that call me first. And I would probably do fine going door to door. I just don't want to do it for some reason.

[Steve]

There has to be other things that you could do that could promote your business and you feel comfortable with. I am sure there are many many things, they just haven't been explored yet.

One of the things I thought that was great that Matt was doing that you could do is becoming the local go to guy for lawn care and landscaping questions. He encourages his friends on myspace to ask him such questions and he answers them. This is a way to reach out to people that could help you as well.

What's your take on this or other things you would be comfortable with doing?

[FourSeasons]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]There has to be other things that you could do that could promote your business and you feel comfortable with. I am sure there are many many things, they just haven't been explored yet.

What's your take on this or other things you would be comfortable with doing?

Actually I had a really good year last year. The only time I was really worried about not haveing any work was during the winter.
I was pretty fortunate that the flyers I did pass out and the advertising I did made for a good year for my first year.

I've read that some guys have no luck with the paper and other places. It worked great for me.

But I do want to focus on getting more lawn care customers.

[Steve]

Have you thought about things you could do to get attention for you and your business that would be based on something you really enjoy doing?

Leveraging your interests could really help you enjoy marketing more.

For instance, I know you are into cars, could you host and sponsor a car show at a local garden center? Or at some local facility that would tie in with you and your lawn care business?

What do you think of that? Then you could send out all the press and be the spokesperson for the show and have links on your website to it and then maybe make a website specifically for this that links to your site as well.

At the show you can have a register table maybe and you could hand out your marketing material. Maybe you could also have trophies that promoted your business?

The local neighbors would want to check this out and this is your customer base.

What do you think of something like that?