A new Year/ A new Mission

We are trying something for 2006 that we hope will be beneficial to many visitors of our site. *For the new year, UnitedEnvironment.com will be aimed at aiding young landscapers make a mark in the industry. *We believe that since we are young and have begun to make an impact, so can many others. *We want to make ourselves the voice of the new generation. *All episodes of the Landscaper will be aimed towards this objective as well. *If you are between the ages of 17-25, we want to hear from you, and if you are in the NJ area, we might even like to bring you on the show. * please let us know through this link if you are interested, or if you have anything to say about the subject. age" target="_blank">http://unitedenvironment.com/phpBB......> study

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

These are some good ideas. You could discuss different topics effecting young business owners, each month and talk about ways of overcoming these issues. As we have discussed here in the past, it would be interesting to hear an interview with a company who promoted the owner in their advertising versus a company that doesn't and then talk about the results they have found.

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absolutely, we actually made this decision out of responsive action. Not to long ago, we had bid on a project, nothing to big, some plants and a sidewalk. Now It was explained to the prospective client in detail how the walkway was to be installed. He already had a walk made of actual bricks, not pavers, bricks, which was laid over a cement pad. Over a few years it shifted everywhere. We proposed using Techo-Blocs Victorian pavers to replace the old ones, and all the materials that would go into laying the base. The reasons why Interlocking Concrete Pavers where needed versus brick where fully explained using facts, the reasons why cement could not be used and a proper base would have to be installed using a quarry process stone and bedding sand where also laid out in detail with evidence to back it up as well.

Anyway, the next guy wo came to bid showed up as we left. A few days later we revieved a phone call from the client who was rather angry. He accused us of being liers, that the bricks could be reused for the project, and that stone dust was more than sufficient for the final inch of base. His exact words where dont you think your a little young to be charging the same prices as someone far more experienced in the field.

This truly frustrated us and pushed us into this idea for a new campaign. We have already begun preparing some great new concepts that will really help young guys in the industry.

[Steve]

How do you propose you get around such problems?
If someone is going to give a young business owner a problem for being young, what do you do when you go to bid in person? It would be difficult to hide your age.

there is absolutely no way to truly hide your age, but there are ways to show a level of maturity and work ethic, that is what we plan to showcase in great depth. Expect a series of episodes of the landscaper that sort of expose the problem and then attack it. we will show you how to change your appearance, create an unbeatable portfolio and presentation, as well as providing resources to bring the young guys up to par with the competition. It will be fun, and trust me when I tell you, it will make a lot of the older pros angry. Just understand that we will not be showing the younger crowds how to underbid, or giving them secrets of the field to eliminate the senior crowd, we are actually trying to educate them and get them on the same playing field, so that they are not underbidding or biting off more than they can chew.
stay tuned

[Steve]

You know that does make a lot of sense.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]create an unbeatable portfolio and presentation

To me seems to be a great way to build up confidence in the potential customer. If they can see the work you have done in the past along with testimonials from them, it should do quite a bit to set them at ease with your skills.

I am wondering, with that one problem client, were they shown a portfolio of your before and after job pictures?

Maybe with certain people, you just aren't going to win them over no matter what you do.

well, heres the thing, we have one #### of a portfolio, im not going into it because thats one of the things we will be covering in our campaign, however, the new thing we tried since that has had a profound affect is very simple. Give the client the portfolio. Now this might seem insane, but its really not, im not talking about leaving them your actual portfolio, but a streamlined version that covers all the important things. We actually have a format for this portfolio that we will lay out once we try it out a few more times

[Steve]

That does sound like a good idea. And why not!
There is no reason why you couldn't make up a bunch of portfolios that look nice and still should be fairly cheap to put together. Maybe even a video portfolio where you have past customers talk about the project you did for them and how they are so happy with your services.

If the video portfolio idea took off, you could offer it as another service for your production company.

ya know, you really have to stop figuring our our future plans before we reveal them, lol
Thats one option we are going to show and provide, but there will also be a small scale one for those who cannot go that far

[Steve]

Great stuff. I'd love to see a video presentation.