Michigan Lawn Care- Residential Guys-Free Leads

[macomb-lawn]

Starting May 25th, we have a billboard going up on I-94 and M-59. The "print" of the billboard is attached in this post. Anyways, we don't really do residential at all. We only have one residential account. Anyways, our smallest machine is a 52 Turf Tracer HP. So, we usually can't fit in to back yard gates. Plus, we don't like doing residential anyways. What's my point?

Well, we are looking for a few GOOD lawn care companies that do residential we can refer customers to that call us, which I'm sure there will be a bunch. We don't sub contract lawn, so we'll just do a referral to your company. If you are a lawn company owner, or upper management, and are interested in having us referr residential accounts to you, please do the following:

Send me an email at d.daogaru@macomb-lawn.com
Send me two customer references that we can call to confirm good work.

In turn, we will forward you any customers that we don't want to do, or can't do. We just want to make sure that you are not one of those $10.00 cut guys, and you can have the customer. No strings attached. Feel free to also call any time with any questions. The point of the bill board is mostly name recognition, and also because we do alot of sod and sprinkler packages for new construction. See attached billboard print.

(586) 226-4300 ext. 710

Dan


:waving:

[Mower For Less]

email sent.

Kevin

[Five Star Lawn Care LLC]

yeah ok...your a joke

[progolferjoe72]

macomb give it up, where the **** are all the other pictures that you were supposed to put up, your a joke, stop doing stupid ****.

[macomb-lawn]

yeah ok...your a joke

Uhm.. ok. Well, when you can afford $6K a month for a billboard, come talk to me. Until them :rolleyes:

p.s. You have to rent them for more than one month incase you decide to go scrounge up pennies :laugh:

[macomb-lawn]

macomb give it up, where the **** are all the other pictures that you were supposed to put up, your a joke, stop doing stupid ****.

That goes for you too. I have no clue why you two insist on following me around to talk smack. Aren't you busy? Hell, we're cutting to dark every day just trying to catch up. Even I'm cutting grass on the weekends to help and I'm a desk jockey. For being lawn companies, you'd figure you'd be busy. I just now got in the office since 7 am and it's almost 8 pm.

[macomb-lawn]

email sent.

Kevin

Thanks Kevin. I got it. Did you guys finish that grade yet?

[Tscape]

For my customer refferals, I do all the Pizza Huts....No wait, that was another guy.:hammerhead:

[NewImageLawn&Landscape]

....and I do all of the the kfc's and taco bell's...

[Metro Lawn]

I know I did my share of taking pot shots at you back in the winter, but I do have a legit question. This is not meant to poke fun by no means. Your design is great, I like the concept. The thing that hits me funny is this: If you are not looking for nor do residential work, why is the ad campaign targeting the "home owner". 6K a month is a good chunk for advertising. I think you are missing your target market with this concept. I could be wrong, but just a thought.

[CamLand]

And you will have copyright infringement for using Exmark with out there consent...

[Tight Angles]

If you don't use anything smaller then a 52'' and don't cut residentials, then why does your ad show someone using a walkbehind on someones back yard?

[Tight Angles]

and, the guy on the mower is blowing the grass directly into the beds.

[macomb-lawn]

I know I did my share of taking pot shots at you back in the winter, but I do have a legit question. This is not meant to poke fun by no means. Your design is great, I like the concept. The thing that hits me funny is this: If you are not looking for nor do residential work, why is the ad campaign targeting the "home owner". 6K a month is a good chunk for advertising. I think you are missing your target market with this concept. I could be wrong, but just a thought.

Well, it's more for "name regonition" than anything. See, companies that have a firm ground do things like billboards and such. The fly by night operations don't. We spend a TON of money on image. The last thing ANY of us need is to be associated or referenced to as being "like" the $10.00 cut guy. This destroys our industry. It really does if you sit down and think about it. Plus, if you drive down I-94 heading into the "macomb" area, there is absolutely no way in hell you can miss our trucks, logo, mailers, etc. It's kinda like one of those "yeah, I've seen you guys around" type things. People see enough of it and they don't forget it. So, when they get mailers and such, they say "hey that's that company on I-94." Then, we get a few commercial accounts from buyers and managers that are stuck in traffic trying to get off of I94 onto Hall Road trying to get home. Then they see our billboard and remember they have to cut their lawn, then they cringe and consider calling.

I'm not saying we won't do any residential. We just don't do $20.00 cuts and such. It has to be a pretty big lot. We have few Oakland Township homes we service that are all nuts. Then, we have a "sod and sprinkler new construction special" going on. We hit 30,000 houses in Macomb County north of Hall Road with those post cards and we've recieved about 200 calls. We already booked until July 9th for new installs on sod and sprinklers. So, we're busy with that. But, for those lots that we don't want, or can't do, we'd like to be able to direct them to someone that can and does good work. That's why this thread is here. We're looking for smaller guys and good companies to hand off the $20 cuts. We can't "afford" to bother with those even if we can cut them unless there are 10 on the same block. It costs us more in payroll to unload the trailer than we'll make off the cut. So, we'll pass them on.

CLIFF NOTES FOR A-D-D FOLKS: Image and time.

:drinkup:

[macomb-lawn]

And you will have copyright infringement for using Exmark with out there consent...

We not only have written premission from Exmark, but they sent us the graphic (actually to Lamar Outdoor) in super high resolution (3000 dpi) because the billboard is 14' x 48' so a 300 dpi file downloaded online won't cut it when the billboard is so huge. Plus, they (Exmark) are paying for some of the billboard with co-op because we buy their machines, and they're logo is on there.

Business 101: Use someone elses money. :drinkup:

[macomb-lawn]

and, the guy on the mower is blowing the grass directly into the beds.

:hammerhead: :dizzy: :laugh:

[lawnboy]

Macomb are you married, just wondering???

[macomb-lawn]

Macomb are you married, just wondering???

Yup. Married, 1 3 year old daughter, one on the way (due in early July.) Why?

[progolferjoe72]

That goes for you too. I have no clue why you two insist on following me around to talk smack. Aren't you busy? Hell, we're cutting to dark every day just trying to catch up. Even I'm cutting grass on the weekends to help and I'm a desk jockey. For being lawn companies, you'd figure you'd be busy. I just now got in the office since 7 am and it's almost 8 pm.

you havent yet to prove one thing you said is true, expect you own 2 trucks, a skid and stuff..... you make outrageous claims and back it up with nothing.... we are busy but were good enough to get done early. So where's the picture of that 12' mower....... oh yea, dont have it. And if your gonna spend 6k a month on a billboard then you should reevaluate your promotion plan. Barley anyone reads billboards... Just not a smart concept for lawncare. I want to see the pic of all 30 of your trucks... until then you aint got jack ****...... why do you try to persist on being some big time company when all you can prove is 2 crews. Its not to be ashamed of to have two crews, infact thats pretty good. Dont try to make yourself sounds like you have 2343242 crews, everyone knows from plowsite, so why keep doing the same stuff. And if you were as big as you make yourself as, you wouldnt be here.

[lawnboy]

well said.....

[macomb-lawn]

you havent yet to prove one thing you said is true, expect you own 2 trucks, a skid and stuff..... you make outrageous claims and back it up with nothing.... we are busy but were good enough to get done early. So where's the picture of that 12' mower....... oh yea, dont have it. And if your gonna spend 6k a month on a billboard then you should reevaluate your promotion plan. Barley anyone reads billboards... Just not a smart concept for lawncare. I want to see the pic of all 30 of your trucks... until then you aint got jack ****...... why do you try to persist on being some big time company when all you can prove is 2 crews. Its not to be ashamed of to have two crews, infact thats pretty good. Dont try to make yourself sounds like you have 2343242 crews, everyone knows from plowsite, so why keep doing the same stuff. And if you were as big as you make yourself as, you wouldnt be here.

First off, why are you assuming anything? How would you know if we have 1 or have 5000 trucks? Because? You have absolutely no knowledge of who we are, who we were, and what we're up to. You do realize that our administrative staff MOVED over to us from the largest companies in the state right? Our sales director came from Rizzo. Another sales Rep. came from Torre. Our designer has over 20 years experiance in this industry and is VERY well know. We deal with alot of big companies. H2O does some of our sprinkler work. Westlake lays some of our sod. Maybe what you THINK you know you only have pieces of. Just because we don't do subdivision cuts doesn't mean we don't have some size to us. Are there bigger companies? Yes, but we're going after them with the pedal to the floor. NOBODY in this industry has the budgets we have. Not even Rizzo. Flat out. Why? Because we have some private investors that could buy Rizzo with what they drop at a black jack table in a weekend in Vegas. Our largest investor owns and develops sky scrapers. Did you think we get $50K trucks with what's in my bank account? Uhm... just let it go. You won't understand. The serious players in this industry have already seen some of our wrath. We don't ***** out, but then again we can do some serious damage to their revenues.

[progolferjoe72]

cause you dont have it....


dont you have another truck to buy or a multi million dollar contract to sign.... your nothing more than a joke..

[dcondon]

cause you dont have it....


dont you have another truck to buy or a multi million dollar contract to sign.... your nothing more than a joke..


:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[macomb-lawn]

cause you dont have it....


dont you have another truck to buy or a multi million dollar contract to sign.... your nothing more than a joke..

Possibly, but what exactly do you have? Are you one of those guys that has no logo on their truck, one open trailer, and cuts in a wife beater and shorts wearing Nikes? Chances are bud, the equipment you've seen so far costs more than everything you have in your company. Regardless, we're not competitors, we're not associates, and we're not even in the same industry really. You go ahead and chase after $20.00 bills. We'll keep chasing the $100 bill's and getting them like we've been doing. For every 20 cuts you do, it's what ONE of our cuts are. And honestly, I could give a rats ass what you think.

[lawnboy]

one thing i have learned about people over the years, is the ones that talk, and brag about having money..... dont.

[progolferjoe72]

Possibly, but what exactly do you have? Are you one of those guys that has no logo on their truck, one open trailer, and cuts in a wife beater and shorts wearing Nikes? Chances are bud, the equipment you've seen so far costs more than everything you have in your company. Regardless, we're not competitors, we're not associates, and we're not even in the same industry really. You go ahead and chase after $20.00 bills. We'll keep chasing the $100 bill's and getting them like we've been doing. For every 20 cuts you do, it's what ONE of our cuts are. And honestly, I could give a rats ass what you think.

i dont even own a company and never claimed to, ill admit that, infact im an employee at five star lawn care, i just know alot about the industry.. do i wanna own my own lawncare compnay, no, not now, the industry has gone down way too much.


Prove to us that you have all the **** you say. Then you will earn people's respect, until then go bs on a different forum.....

[macomb-lawn]

one thing i have learned about people over the years, is the ones that talk, and brag about having money..... dont.

Your right. I never bragged about having money. I'm personally broke. This company doesn't run on my money, and the company is the one that has money, not me.

Look, my point is that I come on here offering to HELP YOU GUYS, and I get slammed for it in turn. If you want the extra business, if you don't, then don't. It's not rocket science. You have absolutley nothing to lose. If you do good work, and we hear good things, then I'll be more than happy to give you all the $20.00 cut calls we get. Others on this forum have already contracted us for construction, and maybe they'll come forward, maybe they won't. Regardless, I doubt any of them will say anything bad about our quality of work. We strive to make our customers happy, regardless if it's a homeowner, or if it's one of you guys calling us for construction help. Honestly, I'm tired of the hermits coming out to slam us. Believe what you want. I honestly don't care. If you believe me or not, we're still going to move forward with our plans, and we'll still sleep at night.

[Tscape]

I know I did my share of taking pot shots at you back in the winter, but I do have a legit question. This is not meant to poke fun by no means. Your design is great, I like the concept. The thing that hits me funny is this: If you are not looking for nor do residential work, why is the ad campaign targeting the "home owner". 6K a month is a good chunk for advertising. I think you are missing your target market with this concept. I could be wrong, but just a thought.

Busted.

It's all a fairy tale. He's a 12 year old kid who drops in here between his "Myspace" sessions.

[macomb-lawn]

i dont even own a company and never claimed to, ill admit that, infact im an employee at five star lawn care, i just know alot about the industry.. do i wanna own my own lawncare compnay, no, not now, the industry has gone down way too much.


Prove to us that you have all the **** you say. Then you will earn people's respect, until then go bs on a different forum.....


That explains why your always swinging off his nut sack. Every time he posts junk, you come in right behind him.

Look, I have nothing to prove to you. You want to see what we're about, next time you need some major grade work, give us a call and let us bid it. When some serious equipment shows up on site, then you'll see. Until then, it's really a moot topic. You want me to run around taking pictures for you? Uhm.. sure, as soon as I get drunk enough to consider wasting my time to prove myself to someone I really don't care about? Doesn't that sound stupid? What do I gain? Nothing. Your respect? Keep it. I don't want it. For what? Incase I ever happen to be at a gas station in Canton refueling and we run into each other? Bud, sorry to say it, but I seriously really don't care. Five Star Lawn Care means as much to me as a $20.00 cut. That being absolutely nothing. I hope you feel the same about me. If not, you have some serious issues. I'm bored wating for the graphics guy to finish a trailer. In the mean time, i'm willing to waste my time bullshittin with you. Otherwise, we wouldn't be talking. Notice that I don't even bother replying to the stupid posts you two put up? It's not cause I don't feel like shutting you up, it's because I honestly could give a damn.

[macomb-lawn]

Where's the guy that asked about our under consturction website? I'll tell you about that. Long story short, our new site is ALL flash. Well, if some of you know how flash works, it's kinda like a movie. You make one small change, the whole thing changes. Well, we keep adding on. Wanna see a preview?

www.webteknetwork.com/dan

There's a small preview. It's about 3 months old but our site is huge in size, and things keep changing so it's taking forever. Every time I want to add, or change something, they literally have to do most of it all over again and start over. It's changed 4 times now. The final should be done hopefully by August sometime.

:waving:

[lawnboy]

Amazing you have enough time to waste posting on lawsite every night defending yourself, but you all to busy to take pics.

[macomb-lawn]

Amazing you have enough time to waste posting on lawsite every night defending yourself, but you all to busy to take pics.

I told you. I'm sitting here drinking beer, bullshitting with you guys, and waiting for the graphics guy to finish a trailer so I can go home. Let me have about 7 more beers and I'll go take some pictures. After about 7, my brain will justify entertaining you clowns with pictures.

[Classic Lawn]

Personally i think this is pertty stupid that u guys are always raging on people. who cares what someone else has. If he says he has it he probaly dose i think he would know better than anyone on this site seen as how he (macomb lawn and snow) owns it. I dont know about the rest of you but i wouldnt be worried about what he has of dose i would be out working. Grow up and go to work this site is for help not to tare people down. Unless all of your s**t is sitting in the front yard and you can see it from Jefferson (Metro). But what ever keep fight about this crap more work out there for me to get cause everyone is on here fighting instead of working come end of there u'll be crying that u dont have any money.

[macomb-lawn]

Personally i think this is pertty stupid that u guys are always raging on people. who cares what someone else has. If he says he has it he probaly dose i think he would know better than anyone on this site seen as how he (macomb lawn and snow) owns it. I dont know about the rest of you but i wouldnt be worried about what he has of dose i would be out working. Grow up and go to work this site is for help not to tare people down. Unless all of your s**t is sitting in the front yard and you can see it from Jefferson (Metro). But what ever keep fight about this crap more work out there for me to get cause everyone is on here fighting instead of working come end of there u'll be crying that u dont have any money.

Agreed, that's why I quit replying to their posts. If you look at the very first post of this thread, all I was trying to do was pass on some free business leads to whomever wants it as long as I'm not dealing with the $10.00 cut guy. The other 98% of the posts in this thread alone are the garbage. Sure, it's my fault for even entertaining them, but it gets old. These guys follow me around and RUIN every thread I post, which are something benefiting someone else. Go look at my destroyed employment thread. I was looking for new employees, and these guys destroyed my thread. So, I'll quit, like I have, but they won't. It's not even worth me posting a new thread any more. They're just going to ruin it with their BS like they think that I care what they have to say.

[Tscape]

You're a funny little man Mr. macomb. You have already been exposed. Remember Plowsite? Oh yeah, it got deleted. He is NOT real folks. Wake up!

[macomb-lawn]

You're a funny little man Mr. macomb. You have already been exposed. Remember Plowsite? Oh yeah, it got deleted. He is NOT real folks. Wake up!

Look, in order to talk shite about someone, you gotta be bigger than them. If you:

Only have 1 truck.
Work out of your house.
Don't have a commercial location.

You can't talk shite. It makes you look stupid. Seriously. If you run everything out of your house, that's great. But common dude, get serious. Do we have a commercial location? Yes we do. Want the address?

50644 Sabrina Drive
Shelby Township, MI 48046

Now, go ahead and map quest it. It probably won't come up. Why not? Because it's a brand new street, and a brand new building built this year. Want directions? Take 23 Mile West right before Schonner (sp?). There is a Flagstar Bank right before Schonner. Pull into Flagstar. That is Sabrina Drive. In order to pull into the Flagstar Bank, you have to pull on Sabrina Drive. We're the first building past Dunkin' Donuts on the left.

[Tscape]

Look, in order to talk shite about someone, you gotta be bigger than them. If you:

Only have 1 truck.
Work out of your house.
Don't have a commercial location.

You can't talk shite. It makes you look stupid. Seriously. If you run everything out of your house, that's great. But common dude, get serious. Do we have a commercial location? Yes we do. Want the address?

50644 Sabrina Drive
Shelby Township, MI 48046

Now, go ahead and map quest it. It probably won't come up. Why not? Because it's a brand new street, and a brand new building built this year. Want directions? Take 23 Mile West right before Schonner (sp?). There is a Flagstar Bank right before Schonner. Pull into Flagstar. That is Sabrina Drive. In order to pull into the Flagstar Bank, you have to pull on Sabrina Drive. We're the first building past Dunkin' Donuts on the left.

I'm laughing. Just know that. You make me laugh. That is not meant to degrade you, young man. I'm serious, you have a fine sense of humor.

For someone so firmly above my station in life, I find it curious that you have the need to explain yourself so in depth. And when you lay out facts that you know will be checked and turn up nada...you have the where withall to pre-emptively explain why.

[Tscape]

Also, please explain your "billboard" advertisement. Why is it directed squarely at a market that you yourself claim to have no interest in servicing?

[macomb-lawn]

Also, please explain your "billboard" advertisement. Why is it directed squarely at a market that you yourself claim to have no interest in servicing?


I went over that already. Go back a page.

[Five Star Lawn Care LLC]

Uhm.. ok. Well, when you can afford $6K a month for a billboard, come talk to me. Until them :rolleyes:

p.s. You have to rent them for more than one month incase you decide to go scrounge up pennies :laugh:


trust me i dont have to spend 6k a month on a billboard to get the phones ri0nging....or excuse me....help build my brand image

2its allready there...if you havent noticed allready we are a well established company that has tremendious brand image in our area...

that billboard you are planing on putting up is going to be the biggest wast of your investors money....if i were your investors i would have for surely cut the cash machine right off by now


i think its great how you change your story all the time....you started off saying we only cut 1 residential ....then it went to we cut a few and we would be willing to cut more if they were bigger lots...then you said you will cut the $20.00 dollar cuts if there were like 10 on the same block.....make up your friggin mind


plus its really going to look stupid to residential clients when they call you up and you say....oh we dont do residential lawn care...but we have a # for a company that does.....that will be great for image....people are going to think your a ****** for advertising straight to the residential market then come to find out you dont even service resiedentials.....AND HOW IS YOUR TAREGET MARKET (BUILDING OWNERS EVEN GOING TO KNOW YOU SERVICE COMMERCIAL WORK....YOU DONT SAY YOU DO


you ever here of KISS (keep it simple stupid) its an advertising concept.....people are sometimes stupid and they arent going to think about things like this

[macomb-lawn]

I'm laughing. Just know that. You make me laugh. That is not meant to degrade you, young man. I'm serious, you have a fine sense of humor.

For someone so firmly above my station in life, I find it curious that you have the need to explain yourself so in depth. And when you lay out facts that you know will be checked and turn up nada...you have the where withall to pre-emptively explain why.

Sorry, I'm bored. So I entertain some of the idiots. It's kinda like watching the special olympics. It doesn't matter who wins, you're still ******ed for competing. So, I'm one of the ******s too. :dancing: I have no choice but to sit here and wait for the graphics guy to finish a trailer so I can lock up. I'd love to get some sleep considering I get in at 6 am. :dizzy:

[Tscape]

I went over that already. Go back a page.

I see nothing about it.

[Tscape]

Sorry, I'm bored. So I entertain some of the idiots. It's kinda like watching the special olympics. It doesn't matter who wins, you're still ******ed for competing. So, I'm one of the ******s too. :dancing: I have no choice but to sit here and wait for the graphics guy to finish a trailer so I can lock up. I'd love to get some sleep considering I get in at 6 am. :dizzy:

For a guy who doesn't care you are awfully wordy. I am embarrassed for you. I'm going to check out of this conversation. It's gotten tedious and I'm sorry I ever got involved.

[macomb-lawn]

trust me i dont have to spend 6k a month on a billboard to get the phones ri0nging....or excuse me....help build my brand image

2its allready there...if you havent noticed allready we are a well established company that has tremendious brand image in our area...

that billboard you are planing on putting up is going to be the biggest wast of your investors money....if i were your investors i would have for surely cut the cash machine right off by now


i think its great how you change your story all the time....you started off saying we only cut 1 residential ....then it went to we cut a few and we would be willing to cut more if they were bigger lots...then you said you will cut the $20.00 dollar cuts if there were like 10 on the same block.....make up your friggin mind


plus its really going to look stupid to residential clients when they call you up and you say....oh we dont do residential lawn care...but we have a # for a company that does.....that will be great for image....people are going to think your a ****** for advertising straight to the residential market then come to find out you dont even service resiedentials.....

Firmly established huh? What's your DNB number? Do you even have one. Hold on, I'll check. Ours is 557339962.

Let's see:

FIVE STAR LAWN SERVICE 13322 Cloverlawn Dr, Sterling Heights, MI
FIVE STAR LAWN CARE 21653 Clifford Dr, Macomb, MI

LUARD, MARK
Also Trades As: FIVE STAR LAWN CARE 5306 Raubinger Rd, Swartz Creek, MI

FIVE STAR LAWN MAINTENANCE INC 4315 Windcrest Dr, Grandville, MI


Well, based on your DNB report, I'm not impressed. Run ours. Credit reports don't lie. Well, they do, but only so much. It shows that your address is residential. Which means that you operate out of a house. Correct? The phone book doesn't impress me because any jackass that is willing to pay a sales rep. can get in the phone book as long is it isn't an inappropriate ad. Infact, I called an attorney that has a full page ad, and the only published number for him is a pager. Go figure.

Regarding residential, yes, we've picked up a few new customers. Mostly in Oakland Township and Washington Township area. Those are big money houses. $1 MIL houses and such. We'd be happy to service their 3 acre lots. But, we can't fit a 52 in machine in a standard gate now can we, for those $20.00 cuts. So, sorry to be a prick by offering to hand you guys the customers we don't want to service or can't. You do realize that at $12.00 an hour per guy, $1500.00 a month for the truck, not to mention the $200K in equipment that goes with it, IT'S NOT WORTH TO EVEN UNLOAD THE TRAILER FOR $20.00 right? Are you stupid or something. It's not hard to understand. We'd make about $2.00 profit (literally) off a $20.00 cut. So... am I going to stop the truck for $2.00? Uhm.. no. But, 6 months from now, I can guarantee you this, a lot more people will know who Macomb Lawn and Snow is compared to 5 Star Lawn Care. Why? Because they got a post card from us, saw our billboard on their way home from work every day, 5 days a week for 6 months, and because they see our trucks all over the place. So.. is $6,000 a month is well worth it for us. Because when it comes down to it.. 5 Star who? Oh yeah, the guy with trucks parked on his front lawn at his house. Oh wait, according to the credit bureau, there's 4 5 Star Lawn Care's in Michigan :laugh: Did I mention that we're doing more new sod/sprinkler installs this month than you are doing probably this whole year? Oh yeah, did I mention that those post cards we sent out are what brought those sod/sprinkler jobs to us? And guess what, they have the EXACT same graphic as the billboard. :waving:

[macomb-lawn]

I see nothing about it.

Sorry, I forgot this mess is on page 5 now. it's on page two.

http://www.lawnsite.com/showpost.php?p=1420276&postcount=14

[Mower For Less]

Thanks Kevin. I got it. Did you guys finish that grade yet?

Wow am I glad I wasnt hanging around plowsite when all this bashing was going on. Otherwise, I may not have believed Dan was a real person either! ;) Im sure if I tell everyone that I have met Dan, seen the Bobcat he posted a picture of, and can verify that he in fact is a business, that somehow I will need photographic proof of me standing next to him, of me standing next to his bobcat, and of me standing next to his shop. I cannot provide all of this, but here is a picture of the finished product of a grading job that he helped me out with. I think it turned out very well. In about 3-4 weeks it should look like a lawn. Im sure I will need to post the follow up picture for proof of that too though. :drinkup:

Kevin

[macomb-lawn]

Wow am I glad I wasnt hanging around plowsite when all this bashing was going on. Otherwise, I may not have believed Dan was a real person either! ;) Im sure if I tell everyone that I have met Dan, seen the Bobcat he posted a picture of, and can verify that he in fact is a business, that somehow I will need photographic proof of me standing next to him, of me standing next to his bobcat, and of me standing next to his shop. I cannot provide all of this, but here is a picture of the finished product of a grading job that he helped me out with. I think it turned out very well. In about 3-4 weeks it should look like a lawn. Im sure I will need to post the follow up picture for proof of that too though. :drinkup:

Kevin

:laugh:

Looks good. Let me know if you need anything else or any supplies to finish. I don't think they would have liked that huge pile of dirt in the middle of the yard when you guys left. :)

[Five Star Lawn Care LLC]

Firmly established huh? What's your DNB number? Do you even have one. Hold on, I'll check. Ours is 557339962.

Let's see:

FIVE STAR LAWN SERVICE 13322 Cloverlawn Dr, Sterling Heights, MI
FIVE STAR LAWN CARE 21653 Clifford Dr, Macomb, MI

LUARD, MARK
Also Trades As: FIVE STAR LAWN CARE 5306 Raubinger Rd, Swartz Creek, MI

FIVE STAR LAWN MAINTENANCE INC 4315 Windcrest Dr, Grandville, MI


Well, based on your DNB report, I'm not impressed. Run ours. Credit reports don't lie. Well, they do, but only so much. It shows that your address is residential. Which means that you operate out of a house. Correct? The phone book doesn't impress me because any jackass that is willing to pay a sales rep. can get in the phone book as long is it isn't an inappropriate ad. Infact, I called an attorney that has a full page ad, and the only published number for him is a pager. Go figure.

Regarding residential, yes, we've picked up a few new customers. Mostly in Oakland Township and Washington Township area. Those are big money houses. $1 MIL houses and such. We'd be happy to service their 3 acre lots. But, we can't fit a 52 in machine in a standard gate now can we, for those $20.00 cuts. So, sorry to be a prick by offering to hand you guys the customers we don't want to service or can't. You do realize that at $12.00 an hour per guy, $1500.00 a month for the truck, not to mention the $200K in equipment that goes with it, IT'S NOT WORTH TO EVEN UNLOAD THE TRAILER FOR $20.00 right? Are you stupid or something. It's not hard to understand. We'd make about $2.00 profit (literally) off a $20.00 cut. So... am I going to stop the truck for $2.00? Uhm.. no. But, 6 months from now, I can guarantee you this, a lot more people will know who Macomb Lawn and Snow is compared to 5 Star Lawn Care. Why? Because they got a post card from us, saw our billboard on their way home from work every day, 5 days a week for 6 months, and because they see our trucks all over the place. So.. is $6,000 a month is well worth it for us. Because when it comes down to it.. 5 Star who? Oh yeah, the guy with trucks parked on his front lawn at his house. Oh wait, according to the credit bureau, there's 4 5 Star Lawn Care's in Michigan :laugh: Did I mention that we're doing more new sod/sprinkler installs this month than you are doing probably this whole year? Oh yeah, did I mention that those post cards we sent out are what brought those sod/sprinkler jobs to us? And guess what, they have the EXACT same graphic as the billboard. :waving:

well lets go down the line

dont know what a DNB # is and im sure my customers dont either

as far as there being other businesses out there...i have never seen the ones that you have listed but i know that there are a couple out there....i just has a quote come through my website yesterday from someone in texas that thought there were going to get a qoute from 5 star in texas

like i told you this winter yes it is a home....i still live at home

as far a the phone book goes its a waste of time...i have the one line that comes with my business line

your truck doesnt cost you $1500 a month and you dont have 200k of equipment on a lawn crew...but i do agree with you about small residential...the profit margin is not there unless your stoping for 3-4 in a stop

keep telling yourself that you will be famous and one day it might happen....a lot of people will probably will know your name...but is it going to be your target market who has your name in there head...NO b/c you are not properly advertising to your target market.

we did do a mass mailing post card last year...targeted to households with income level of over $100K...it worked great got a lot of clients from it....some call were good leads but a lot were price shoping ....then we just got a call yesterday from a 9 acre estate...turned out they had kept the post card from last year and called.

as for the trucks at my house...i bring my crew cab with me at night which is my personel truck...the other 5 stay tucked away at my storage yard...and i also share a yard with another company where i have a 100 ton bulk storage bin...comes in real handy in the winter when i get salt for $13 a ton cheaper than most companys around me


you proably did more sod yesterday than i do all year.... i did 430 yards last weeking for salt damage repair on one of our largest sites thats all i want to do all year hopefully....Im stricly maintenance company...i no longer do any landscaping except for my commercial acounts if they need it....i found out real quick that landscaping doesnt make my company enough money. our guys are allready working 40+ hours a week to have them do landscaping would kill me in overtime ...and i dont want to have a large advertising budget just to keep a dedicated landscaping crew busy through the year.

what we really sould be comparing is pictures of jobs....lets see some of your jobsite pictures...Both Lawn Care and landscaping...you can see some on my website and if you start posting some ill give some of my currents

hey do you do fertilization?

[Five Star Lawn Care LLC]

heres 3 of our trucks at our yard...my crew cab, ranger, and f-600 are missing

[CamLand]

Eric ,Do you have a picture of your gray Dodge? That is a nice truck...

[Mower For Less]

:laugh:

Looks good. Let me know if you need anything else or any supplies to finish. I don't think they would have liked that huge pile of dirt in the middle of the yard when you guys left. :)

We should be good from here. All it needs now is water. When I first saw that pile in the front yard I thought for sure it was gonna be ugly, but it ended up just fine. The customer is very happy with the outcome. Although, if I had it to do over again, I would have had the dirt that was removed hauled away, and all new topsoil brought in to fill the front. Live and learn for next time.

Kevin

[macomb-lawn]

well lets go down the line

dont know what a DNB # is and im sure my customers dont either

as far as there being other businesses out there...i have never seen the ones that you have listed but i know that there are a couple out there....i just has a quote come through my website yesterday from someone in texas that thought there were going to get a qoute from 5 star in texas

like i told you this winter yes it is a home....i still live at home

as far a the phone book goes its a waste of time...i have the one line that comes with my business line

your truck doesnt cost you $1500 a month and you dont have 200k of equipment on a lawn crew...but i do agree with you about small residential...the profit margin is not there unless your stoping for 3-4 in a stop

keep telling yourself that you will be famous and one day it might happen....a lot of people will probably will know your name...but is it going to be your target market who has your name in there head...NO b/c you are not properly advertising to your target market.

we did do a mass mailing post card last year...targeted to households with income level of over $100K...it worked great got a lot of clients from it....some call were good leads but a lot were price shoping ....then we just got a call yesterday from a 9 acre estate...turned out they had kept the post card from last year and called.

as for the trucks at my house...i bring my crew cab with me at night which is my personel truck...the other 5 stay tucked away at my storage yard...and i also share a yard with another company where i have a 100 ton bulk storage bin...comes in real handy in the winter when i get salt for $13 a ton cheaper than most companys around me


you proably did more sod yesterday than i do all year.... i did 430 yards last weeking for salt damage repair on one of our largest sites thats all i want to do all year hopefully....Im stricly maintenance company...i no longer do any landscaping except for my commercial acounts if they need it....i found out real quick that landscaping doesnt make my company enough money. our guys are allready working 40+ hours a week to have them do landscaping would kill me in overtime ...and i dont want to have a large advertising budget just to keep a dedicated landscaping crew busy through the year.

what we really sould be comparing is pictures of jobs....lets see some of your jobsite pictures...Both Lawn Care and landscaping...you can see some on my website and if you start posting some ill give some of my currents

hey do you do fertilization?

DNB is your credit report and company profile. The information is collected over the year from various sources like tax returns, creditors, insurance, etc. It gives a complete profile about a business, whom they are, how many employees they have that are salary, hourly, etc. It also shows your creditors, income, etc. They get the info. from tax returns and such.

Jobsite pics, no problem. Let me find a way to host them and scale down pictures. It will take me a while because I have to figure out how to upload pics and resize them.

We don't do any fert. that requires a license. No money in it. Let Chem-Lawn ***** themselves out on that one. We really only spray to kill weeds prior to new sod install. We do mostly new construction houses which have been sitting for a while and have a ton of weeds, so we have a sprayer on the truck and we just use round up pro. Just a small sprayer from Lesco with a briggs and straton on it.

[macomb-lawn]

We should be good from here. All it needs now is water. When I first saw that pile in the front yard I thought for sure it was gonna be ugly, but it ended up just fine. The customer is very happy with the outcome. Although, if I had it to do over again, I would have had the dirt that was removed hauled away, and all new topsoil brought in to fill the front. Live and learn for next time.

Kevin

It looks good. Did you guys end up hauling away all the junk by yourselves? I could've sent a dump out and had them pick up whatever was garbage.

[Mower For Less]

It looks good. Did you guys end up hauling away all the junk by yourselves? I could've sent a dump out and had them pick up whatever was garbage.

Yeah, I hauled out all the crap and dumped it. It would have been easier with a dump, but we managed. :dancing:

Kevin

[Tscape]

We don't do any fert. that requires a license. No money in it. Let Chem-Lawn ***** themselves out on that one. We really only spray to kill weeds prior to new sod install. We do mostly new construction houses which have been sitting for a while and have a ton of weeds, so we have a sprayer on the truck and we just use round up pro. Just a small sprayer from Lesco with a briggs and straton on it.

You are out of your mind! There is a better margin on applications than on mowing. You are dead wrong. And you need a license to spray any pesticide, even Round Up. The fines are hefty. I'd report you myself, but since you are not real, it wouldn't turn anything up.

[lawnboy]

lol I love it

[Groundcover Solutions]

I know you explained earlier that the billboard was for name recognition, but I still don't see it as being a good investment. I have not seen any torre or rizzo billboards and they have some great name recognition. I am just curious as to if your investors even consider what you are purchasing with there money? It seems to me they are not very business minded. Also if you could give me some names so I could contact them I need some money and they sound like a good source! I have done quite a bit of commercial work in the macomb area and I must say I have not seen you around on many commercial sites. What is your primary market? Industrial or commercial. Do you do your own mulch apps or sub them out? Just curious...

[stumper1620]

I know you explained earlier that the billboard was for name recognition, but I still don't see it as being a good investment. I have not seen any torre or rizzo billboards and they have some great name recognition. I am just curious as to if your investors even consider what you are purchasing with there money? It seems to me they are not very business minded. Also if you could give me some names so I could contact them I need some money and they sound like a good source! I have done quite a bit of commercial work in the macomb area and I must say I have not seen you around on many commercial sites. What is your primary market? Industrial or commercial. Do you do your own mulch apps or sub them out? Just curious...
I don't Know how big his business is, But I know yours is pretty large, seen your truck in GR near the airport last year. Thats a lot of windshield time for a customer, must be a big account somewhere around there.

[Groundcover Solutions]

yeah that was a fun project! New install for all the new landscaping they were putting in, we were able to get 180-240 yards off in one day per truck. that was a great job! Are home office is located in GR so we just sent the detroit truck up to help out on that project for a week. They do the same sending down one or more of the GR trucks to work on projects in the Detroit area.

[Metro Lawn]

test test
test

[stumper1620]

test test
test
Whats he test? to see if you could resurrect a dead thread.

[MStine315]

I'm glad he did! I don't know how I missed the fun this spring!