wanted to say hi

[jayhawklawn]

hey everyone, im shawn, im new to starting my lawn care business. i just wanted to stop by and say hi and give everyone who is a some encouraging words. i'm relatively new to the field but i already have 21 clients. it will happen just keep plugging away thanks

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Hi Shaun, Welcome to our forum! What got you to start your lawn care business? What type of marketing have you been doing?

__________________
- 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.

[jayhawklawn]

i semi retired from a carreer as a professional fighter. and since i grew up in the business, i figured it would be an easy transition. as far as marketing i have a website www.jayhawkllf.com and basically word of mouth. any ideas would be helpful

[Steve]

Hi Shawn,

That is fascinating! As a fighter, did you have to deal much with the business end of it? Marketing yourself and promoting?

I'd love to hear some of your insight from that experience!

[jayhawklawn]

i did do a little self promotion. but i had a manager/trainer who booked all my fights/venues. i do have a website for my fighting, and tried to use the same sucess to build a website for my lawn business www.jayhawkllf.com . i used some template ideas from the forums/templates. but im also looking for more ideas as far a servicing, marketing, ect...anything would be helpful.

[Steve]

I think one of the important things you can do is leverage your contacts within your community.

Have you handed out business cards to everyone you know?

Do all your friends and family members know you are now in business?

Can you do any type of goodwill projects. For instance help someone in need, take care of their yard or clean up their yard? Then you could make a press release and take pictures. Send it to the local paper and promote it on your site that you are a semi-retired fighter who recently started his own lawn care business.

Such stories can really reach out to your community and endear them to you and what you are doing. If you come across as a good guy who cares about his community, your community will remember this.

Have you thought about anything along those lines?

Could you do anything to bring your two interests together? Could you have a section on your website that talks about how you are a semi retired fighter and maybe that you offer free boxing classes at the local YMCA once a month to help give back to your community?

Would something like that help get the word out about you?

Tell me your thoughts on all that. Does it spark any further ideas?

[jayhawklawn]

those are good ideas. i'll start working on those. what are your thoughts on door hangers. do they work in your opinion? i see other company utilize them, i just don't know though

[Steve]

Door hangers do work but I think it's more of a shotgun effect. You kind of spray and pray hoping someone returns the call. The more specific you are with your marketing, the more bang for the buck you will get.

Quite often you will find many successful lawn care businesses are built on word of mouth. Friends refer friends to you and so on.

This is why it's a great idea to work your inner social group first and work outwards as you go. Let friends and family know. Give them business cards, etc.

If you do decide to do distribute door hangers, combine it with going out and meeting people. Be prepared to give an estimate right then and there on the spot.

The more people you meet, the better your chances are of making a sale.

[jayhawklawn]

cool, i'll try the business card deal to see how that works

[Steve]

Do you know any store owners in your area? Can you get some of your cards on their counter too?

Think of all the people you know within your service area and then think about how you can get a hold of them and then let them know you are in business. Then think about how you can get them to talk about you as well and tell others.

Let us know how your business cards turn out.