Start A Lawn Care Business

Make money with a lawn care and landscaping business.

Posts Tagged marketing

Make Something Happen TODAY with your Lawn Care Business

Apr 10

Posted by Lawn Care Business in start a lawn care business | Comments off

Is your lawn care business in the doldrums?

I spoke with a lawn care business owner recently who said he was very depressed that he only has 5 customers going into the summer mowing season. When I asked him what he had done today for his lawn care business he said that he had put out over 1,000 flyers. To clarify, I asked if he put all 1,000 flyers out today. He said “no, last Thursday. I didn’t get any results. What’s the point?”

LOL. Just from this very quick conversation, I can identify 3 things that are going on with this guy. He’s impetuous, impatient, and burnt out.

To begin with, he DID get results. Although he would have like to have more customers, his flyer campaign got him 5 customers. That’s not too bad for a rushed together flyer campaign. However, flyers should never be the only marketing plan implemented by a lawn care company.

Once again, I asked him what he has done TODAY. “Nothing, I’m too tired from the flyers.”

HAHAHA Today is Wednesday and he’s too tired from something he did almost a week ago???

As he said this I thought about a book I read about Sam Walton (the founder of Wal-Mart) years ago. He said that slow steady growth is the key to a successful business. Market smart and market consistantly. Do something every single day to grow your business.

This is important because if you burn yourself out by placing 1,000 flyers you won’t have the energy to continue with a smart, consistant marketing plan. Advertising should be performed on a consistant, daily basis.

Successful marketing takes careful planning, forethought, and persistance.

What have you done TODAY for your Lawn Care Business?

If you are interested in learning the RIGHT way to market your Lawn Care Business, consider purchasing our Lawn Care Business Guidebook and Software program. It is packed with information to help you start and grow a successful lawn care company including things you can do every single day to steadly grow your business.





To learn more, visit our main webpage: http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com/order.html

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Lawn Care Advertising – Funny Cow or Sad Clown?

Aug 26

Posted by Lawn Care Business in advertising, customers, Lawn Care Advertising, lawn care business | No Comments

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
Lawn Care Advertising – Funny Cow or Sad Clown

I often get inspiration for my lawn care business by observing the ways other businesses market their goods and services.

In fact, I am writing this blog post from one of my favorite restaurants – Chik-fil-A. Chik-fil-A does an outstanding job of marketing. Sure, their advertising is great. We’ve all seen the huge billboards with the two cows painting a funny sign that says: “EAT MOR CHIKIN!” However, marketing is more than advertisements on billboards. Marketing includes the way Chik-fil-A actually runs their business on a day-to-day basis. Their restaurants are always clean, their staff is always friendly, the food is always good, and the waffle fries are almost always hot.

As I walked into Chik-fil-A about 10 minutes ago (laptop bag slung over my shoulder) I was greeted by the cashier. There was eye-to-eye contact and she seemed genuinely pleased to take my order. I was treated like a human being and not just some annoying customer. Whether she knows it or not, the cashier is one of the most important pieces in Chik-fil-A’s marketing strategy. Her attitude ultimately determines how likely I am to return to the resturaunt and eat mor chikin.

Today, Chik-fil-A’s marketing efforts are in stark contrast to another business I passed on my way across the parking lot a few minutes ago. A hair cutting place is running a promotion in the parking lot. Someone dressed as a clown is wandering up and down the sidewalk and several of the hair cutters are waiving a “NO WAITING” sign signaling to passers-by that they can come in for an immediate haircut. Now, this is a great strategy since LOTS of families are out this weekend buying new clothes and supplies for their school children. It’s a great time to get a back-to-school haircut.

The sad thing about the hair cutting place’s marketing strategy is that the haircutters could not look more disgusted with the fact that they have to be outside trying to drum up business. As I walked by, not a single hair cutter made eye contact or even smiled in my direction. Their body language and facial expressions were so pathetic that I was certainly not inspired to go inside to get my hair cut (even though I need it). Who wants to get a hair cut from some cranky hair cutter with a bad attitude and a pair of sharp scissors? I am sure they have all had a long day standing in the blazing sun but, for gosh sakes, even the clown didn’t look happy.

There’s nothing more depressing than a sad clown.

If you are looking for marketing ideas for your lawn care business, take a lesson from Chik-fil-A. You are your own best marketing asset. Your attitude and the way you make your customers feel will determine if they continue to do business with you. If you are surly, cantankerous, and have a bad attitude about your work, your customers will look elsewhere for their lawn care service. However, if you present a knowledgeable and pleasant attitude, your customers will readily hire you for all their lawn care and landscaping work and tell all their friends about your lawn care business.

Given the choice, most customers will choose a funny cow over a sad clown every time.

Well, my chicken sandwich is finished, the last two waffle fries are cold, and I’ve just refilled my Mello Yello. In closing, I just want to say that I am with: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com We are sincere about wanting your business and wanting you to purchase our Start A Lawn Care Business program. We feel we have put together the best lawn care business course available for guys, like you, who are trying to start your lawn care business and make it a success. We have been in the industry for nearly 20 years and it is our goal to give you a GREAT product at a GREAT price.

So, if you are trying to make your lawn care business a success, take a look at our main website and consider purchasing our lawn care business package. It includes lawn care business strategy guides, business manuals, equipment reviews, video tutorials, and the complete line of estimating software. http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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More digital cameras for your lawn care company.

Jan 6

Posted by Lawn Care Business in landscaping photography, lawn business strategies, Lawn Care Advertising, money | 2 Comments

After yesterday’s blog posting extolling the virtues of having a high-quality digital SLR camera to take marketing pictures for your lawn care business, I received a number of emails asking if there are less expensive options available that give equivilant results to the Canon T1i.

At current writing, the T1i costs just over $700 through Amazon.com. $700 certainly is a lot of money right now but if you are looking for a dSLR that also takes HD video, the 15 megapixel Canon T1i is one of the best options under $1000.

If you are looking to spend under $500, I have a great option for you. The XS and the XSi are near equivilant models that offer similar professional results. Though the XS and the XSi offer lower resolutions and no video, their feature set includes liveview and full manual controls for $100’s less than the T1i.

Canon XSi

The Canon XSi features 12 megapixel, liveview, complete manual overrides, and an 18mm – 55mm. At its current pricing, it saves you about $160 from the T1i.

Canon XS

If you want to save even more money, take a hard look at the Canon XS. At its current price of $449 it saves you $270 from the T1i’s price. At 10.1 megapixels, this camera is no slouch. I’ve read that the higher megapixel cameras are limited by the lens that comes with the camera body. If you have no intention of buying additional lenses and if you don’t need HD video, I think this camera is the one to buy if you are on a budget.

Additionally, with the $270 you save buying the XS, you can easily buy a fairly decent video camera to make short presentations of your lawn care and landscaping work.

If you own any of these cameras, let us know your reviews. Or, if you have a different high quality camera you want to tell us about, please let us know.

As always, if you are looking to improve your lawn care business, check out our training materials located at our main website: StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Canon Rebel T1i DSLR Camera for Your Lawn Care Business.

Jan 5

Posted by Lawn Care Business in landscaping photography, Lawn Care Advertising, lawn care business, lawn care videos | No Comments

The more I think about advertising and marketing for your lawn care business, the more I realize that you must make extra effort to stand above the crowd and bring attention to your business.

As websites and online marketing take precedence over newspaper and other print advertising, the visual quality of your marketing campaign becomes ever more important.

Digital cameras are priced to the point where everyone who wants a digital camera now has one. I’ve recommended for years that lawn care business operators keep a digital camera in their work vehicles for “before and after” documentation of special jobs and for pictures of special circumstances that may arise. For example, if a homeowner isn’t home when you finish a leaf raking job, you can take a picture to prove all leaves were removed from the lawn at the completion of your work. If leaves are on the lawn after the homeowner arrives home, those leaves fell after your leaf raking was complete.

As higher quality digital cameras become more affordable, professional quality photography becomes available even to small lawn care operators. Professional photography equipment can turn an otherwise ordinary looking picture of an outstanding lawn care job into a vibrant masterpiece that screams for the view to call your number and hire you to do their lawn care work during the upcoming season.

If you are looking for a high quality semi-professional digital SLR camera, Amazon.com has one of the best-priced affordable cameras we have seen in a long time.

The Canon D-500 (T1i) features 15 megapixel, liveview mode, and full HD video (use the 720 for best performance).

While I don’t recommend throwing this camera in your work truck, buy this camera to keep in your office and only take it out when you want professional quality shots of your best lawns. If you want marketing shots of your landscaping designs or your lawn striping, this camera will give you amazingly vibrant shots at an affordable price.

The link below will allow you to purchase from Amazon.com at their recently reduced price:

For for information on starting your own lawn care business, visit our website: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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I Never Even Heard of It.

Jan 5

Posted by Lawn Care Business in lawn business strategies, Lawn Care Advertising, start a lawn care business | 1 Comment

I was reminded today how difficult it is to keep your business name in front of potential customers who may want to hire you for your lawn care services.

A friend and I decided we wanted to get some Jiffy-Pop after dinner. Jiffy-Pop has been around as long and I remember. When I was a kid I used to love listening to the popcorn kernals shaking around inside the foil pan and watching the aluminum top carefully unfold as the crazy explosion of popcorn inside caused the container to expand.

Walgreens did not have any Jiffy-Pop so my friend asked if she had missed it on the shelf. The clerk’s response was “I Never Even Heard of It.” It took me a couple seconds to realize the clerk was being sincere and had actually never heard of Jiffy-Pop.

Jiffy-Pop has likely spent 10’s of millions of dollars on advertising over the years. To me, it’s one of those products that has always been around and always will be around. It’s a staple to American society.

However, as ubiquitous as it is to our culture, there are still people who don’t know what Jiffy-Pop is. This makes me think about the difficulty of keeping our lawn care brand names in front of our prospective customers. If a multi-million dollar company has difficulty reaching a retail store’s stocking clerk, what hope do our puny lawn care companies have in making sure all the residents in our lawn care service area know our names.

If you are attempting to market your lawn care company and are finding it difficult to keep your name in front of your prospective customers, our lawn care business strategy guidebook and software package will help you with professional business marketing and advertising strategies.

You can read more about the business package by visiting our main website located at: http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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John Deere, Fruit Snacks, and Your Lawn Care Business

Nov 25

Posted by Lawn Care Business in John Deere, lawn business strategies, Lawn Care Advertising, lawn care business | No Comments

I was in a convenience store the other day and I saw a John Deere item on the shelf. 

Now, I’ve long known about John Deere scale model tractors and John Deere keychains but this particular item took me by surprise.  It was a box of Kellogg’s Fruit Flavored Snacks featuring John Deere on the box and tractor shaped fruit blobs inside the box.
 
I have always admired John Deere’s marketing department for their efforts to make John Deere an American institution.  In our minds, John Deere built the American mid-west and currently cultivates the agricultural bread basket.  John Deere puts food on our tables and gives us the ability to sell wheat to the rest of the world.  John Deere has strength to both mow our home lawn and harvest a 640 acre central pivot cornfield.  We all know “nothing runs like a Deere.”
 
John Deere has cross promoted itself into many areas of American life and I think this cross promotion works well for them.  In an age where effects of advertising campaigns are measured in days or weeks, John Deere bucks the trend by using long term marketing efforts.  Who buys (or, at least, uses) fruit snacks?  Kids do.  The fruit snacks might be purchased by adults but it’s the kids who enjoy them.  I can’t believe John Deere is turning a profit selling fruit snacks.  However, that 10 year old kid who gobbles down a fruit snack today will remember the name John Deere 20 years from now.  When it’s time to buy a new tractor or lawn mower, John Deere will be forever entrenched in his mind and John Deere’s investment in fruit snack marketing will finally pay off.
 
I love to think about marketing strategies and I am as guilty as the next guy trying to developing advertising which has immediate dividends for my lawn care business just like John Deere does.  As we forge forward into a new year we should all attempt to develop marketing strategies which will have long term benefits and not just an immediate payoff of days or weeks.

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Timing your advertising.

Mar 26

Posted by Lawn Care Business in Lawn Care Advertising | No Comments

I was asked tonight:

“When is the right time to advertise my lawn care business? I’m sending out flyers but I want to hit the timing just right.”

That is a great question. A common mistake is to make an advertising run a one-time shot.

If you are sending out flyers, resist the temptation to send all your flyers out in one huge mailing. A smarter tactic is to ease into your advertising campaign so you can learn from your mistakes and refine your approach.

As an example, let’s say you have the budget to mail out 1000 flyers to potential lawn care clients. Do not send them all out to 1000 different addresses at the same time.

Choose 100 addresses to target in your first mailing. Give it a few days and judge your response. If you don’t receive any calls, you know you need to tweak your flyer. If you do get a few calls with this first mailing, ask them constructive questions. We discuss constructive customer questioning in our lawn care business program available at: StartALawnCareBusiness.com

The answers to these constructive questions will help you tweak your flyer to grab the attention of the recipients of the second 100 flyers. Follow the same procedure. Once you have tweaked your flyers again, mail a third hundred to the same address as the first 100 were mailed to. If you have successfully redesigned your flyer, your results for this round of mailing should be dramatically higher than the first round.

If you are pleased with your results, double your next mailing to 200 brand new addresses. As your results continue to improve, you can mail to larger numbers of recipients. Each group of potential customers should receive a minimum of two mailings. This will help you correctly judge the effectiveness of your refined flyers.

Never spent your entire advertising budget on a one-time, do-or-die advertising campaign.

Our Lawn Care Business Program includes the complete marketing guidebook to successfully advertising your lawncare / landscaping business.

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Advertising your lawn care company.

Mar 26

Posted by Lawn Care Business in Lawn Care Advertising | 1 Comment

by: Start A Lawn Care Business

When is the right time to start advertising a lawn care business?

There is an easy answer to this question: If you own your own business, you should ALWAYS be advertising.

When landscaping companies think about starting to advertise their lawn care businesses, they are often referring to the first advertising campaign of the season which begins in February, March, or April depending on where you live in the country.

Companies that don’t start advertising until Spring do not realize that there is more to running a grounds maintenance company than just cutting grass.

From picking up fallen branches, leaf raking, snow removal, and gutter cleaning wintertime is full of business opportunities. We recommend advertising your lawn and landscape business 12 months out of the year.

If you keep your business name in front of your customer all year round, they will find jobs they need you to work all winter. One easy example of a customer that answered a wintertime advertisement of our is a lady who hired us to intall a mailbox and post on her property one December When February rolled around we called back to see if she had a lawn maintenance company for the coming summer. She asked for an estimate and hired us on the spot. It is never too early to start advertising.

Advertising should be an ongoing concern for all business owners. Our Lawn Care Business Package contains a complete Marketing Guidebook. To order the package (on sale right now) visit our website at:

www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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