Advertizing help

[John Rayl]

I'm just starting, and I've been putting Doorhangers in neighborhoods wher houses are $200K or more(only about 1500 so far) and I have ads in 3 community "freebie" papers, and ads starting in 4 more. My problem? My ads have been running for about 2 weeks and only one call for a quote. My doorhangers have also yielded one call as for a quote. My only sure customer so far is one older lady, and I got her by word of mouth. I need a whole lot more than one customer, so what am I doing wrong?

[Fantasy Lawns]

you Gotta hang in there ....keep the flyers going ...get some signage on and drive around ...offer a "special" check me out deal ....leave your business card everywhere you can (most Wal-Mart's, food places, grocery stores have a bulletin board)maybe donate service to your local church or little league field (signage or banner)....get creative ....good luck

[1MajorTom]

As far as "freebie" papers, I know in our area, the majority of people looking at that type of paper are people looking for a really good deal, basically tire kickers.

As far as your doorhanger goes, what does it say on it?
We laid about 400 doorhangers so far in a very uppity neighborhood. Sure, we got a few calls, but the people weren't nice, and they were in a hurry.
They were concerned with ONE THING. The bottom line

We are landing the customers now, but you know who they are?
The are average people living in older to modest brick homes.

If the upper class neighborhoods aren't working for you right now, target a different neighborhood. Average working people with decent brick ranch homes that you see have decent landscapes.

Believe me, it's scary in the beginning. But once you get your name out there, land a few jobs, you will gain your confidence. Then after that, word of mouth will be your best advertisement.

[Groundcover Solutions]

Like the theleven said just hang in there!! I know that in my area there is only like a 1% return on flyers. Just keep passing them out. What kinde of door hangers are they that you are putting out. Are they pretty genaric or top of the line ones. I know that i had some lame flyers my first year and now i have made big changes and have a decint return rate. Put FREE and cupones on them too that alwyes gets peoples attintions. As for the news papers i really do not put adds in them they have not given a signifacent enough return rate to keep them running. Just my 2 cents hope it helps!

[kutnkru]

To quote the movie Field of Dreams:If you put them out there, they will call.

Just keep in mind that although they have not started calling yet, once they get a few days of warm sunshine without the snow on the ground your phones will begin to ring off the hook.

Just be patient and keep putting your name out there.

Good Luck this season!
Kris

[RYAN]

It always seems that the phone really starts ringing a week or two before the cutting season. And then it will ring off the hook the first few weeks of the cutting season when all the lazy arses decide they don't feel like mowing it or don't have time. April is always the month I get the most calls. Keep it up with the flyers and the newspaper add and things should pick up.

[bilchak]

Having the same problem right now. It's been a cold spring
in Ohio, I'm holding out hope that when the weather breaks
people will start to call.

I've put out some fliers, and have an add running
in the local paper, etc. and so far only a couple
calls. Pass out those business cards!!! Just
keep talking to people and get your name out there!!

jb

[DBM]

John, I've been in the same boat as you for the last little while, very few calls had been coming in until the last few days. My flyer response rate is almost bang on at 1 percent. This is my first year but here is what is working for me. I've had my best success with placing an add in the local paper on Wednesdays and Sundays under the gardening section just 3 lines in bold with a title Affordable Lawn Care, second line is company name, 3rd line is my slogan and 4th line is company number. I've put this small add in the last 2 sundays' papers and got a total of 9 calls from the two adds (total cost of $38.00). Tell everyone you know you're in the business. Hook up with someone in a related business but isn't a direct competitor with you. I've been lucky enough to meet up with a guy who only does tree topping and pruning, he can provide me with quite a bit of referral work as he has been doing this full-time for 15 years. I'm also hoping to hook up with another company that only does spraying work. (I'm not yet licenced for pesticide application.)
I had a posting similar to yours and the responses have been really helpfull. The people that have been phoning me are for the most part either unable to take care of their lawn due to physical limitations, or are too busy to do it themselves. Ths is exactly what the members of this forum have been saying to me. Now if all goes as well, referral work should slowly come my way.
If you follow the advice of the senior members, you'll do O.K. Keep in touch periodically via e-mail and we can compare notes. GOOD LUCK
Doug

[tpirobert]

It is a numbers game. The more flyers put out...more response. Provided there is a reason to respond. Your advertising has to get there attention and give reason to call. I keep my ad copy simple and easy to read with a CALL TO ACTION. A special deal with a deadline for sign-up will get more calls. Examples: free 1 time fert treatment to lawn or third mowing is free. Use bullets with one line statements rather than wordy paragraphs. This is what I have learned from experience. I put out some really bad flyers when I first started.....and still got calls. When the weather warms a little, your phone will be ringing off the hook. Good luck.

[John Rayl]

Thanks a lot, folks. I really hate sounding like a kid, but I was getting VERY worried. I've had a few local companies tell me the same thing as I'm hearing here, but I trust this forum a lot more. I'll keep pounding the pavement. My wife has been saying the same, too. I am very thankful for her, I don't think I'd have the nerve to start out like this without her!

[ron]

HEY GET THOSE FLYIERS OUT the more work you can do the better example landscaping debree pick up light hauling power washing etc the more meat inside the pie the better it taste. build a web page and post it on your vehicle this works very well....

[MIDSOUTH]

I sent out 15000 flyers last week inserted in the newspaper to zip codes I have picked out, I have picked up 7 new yards off of them (4) that look to be really good people and (3) I may have to set straight or trash, after a while, but I have learned that some of my yards I thought were gonna be the worst ones I could ever dream of having have turned into goldmines, you can't judge a book by its cover. If I get too many more yards I don't think I am gonna be able to handle them, I am a solo opp. with 70 accounts so far. I have some on every other week so that helps, I am gonna start weeding old ones I don't like (such as cutting season only yards) as I take on new year rounders.

[joshua]

john, hang in, the calls will come, the past 2 days i walked about 400 houses and only 3 people have called, granted 2 people stopped me. but when the grass grows more than likly 30-40 people will call me just from those houses i walked. this is the part that takes time. and when spring comes people are gunna call from your newspaper ad. plus couontless others who have heard of you by word of mouth. hold your head up high and keep passing out fliers, the calls will come in.

[Turfer]

This sure sounds familiar! I've picked up about 25 customers since 2/15. Only 10 are full service and the rest are fertilizer only. I need atleast 20 more full service customers to pay the bills. I'm up most nights pondering my future. I was a VP at a major SE bank until January this year when I decided to take a buy out when the bank downsized. I've told this story enough. It is scary when you don't get that paycheck every 2 weeks but I tell you, just like everybody else on this forum says, there is plenty of work out there. When I'm on that mower on a 70 degree day instead of in that computer room, I thank God for giving me the skills to do this kind of work. I'll probably not sleep a peaceful night until I reach my first year goal of 30 full timers. My wife, like yours, is supporting me 110%. She is extremely encouraging. I get really low on Mondays and Tuesdays because these are the days that I am not "on the grass". I try to put flyers out almost every day. I get 2 - 3 calls a day for estimates. some days are better than others. This past Monday, I was really down until I got 2 calls at around 5:00 p.m. I landed both customers, full service. I still was not satisfied because I know I have to get to the 30 customers number. The mowing customers are slow coming in but I have a presence in 4 seperate, upper middle class neighborhoods. I sure hope these guys are right when they say referals will kick in soon ! They've been right so far on most everything I've asked them. email me directly if you want to share ideas. Sounds like we are in the same boat. caryturf@aol.com
Thanks for listening. Gil.

[cclllc]

I have been in the biz since 85 and have never put out doorhangers.I use word of mouth(the best),yellow pages,phone calls to business,business cards at stores-banks-etc,and newspaper ads.You will get calls by using all of these.Also tell them that you'll give them a free service or a discount for more customers.

[Edited by cclllc on 03-16-2001 at 11:35 AM]

[dhicks]

As previously mentioned, hang in there and be persistent. I received a call from a grandma last week that kept my flyer from two years ago. Second, make a web presence. My website has paid for itself many times over. Put your flyers in K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Grocery stores, etc. Rent a table at AARP functions, garden and home shows, and hand out flyers, magnets, pens, etc. You'll have more business than to can handle.