Direct Mail Advertising

[ferdinand711]

Does any one uses Direct Mail Advertising? How's it going?

[RedWingsDet]

I paid $600 last year and did not get 1 call

[Team Gopher]

Hi RedWingsDet,

Can you tell us a little about what your direct mail advertising? What did you send out? How many?



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[RedWingsDet]

The size was a little bigger than a postcard on one size, listing the services we preform, along with 2 coupons, and phone number.
I had 30,000 sent out and did not recive one call.

[gilatplc]

I would NEVER recommend Direcet mailing with a another company for they do NOT have you best interest in mind from what I experience.

I am under a contract with them and it is costing me $1,200 a year, this year 3 call and no customer service from the company I'm with.

Yes I have a bitter taste but this was a lesson learned and have spent ALOT less in other local advertising services and have had MUCH better response and gained 12 customers just this year from them.

FYI, to all here, Welcome Wagon is a ripe off DON'T USE THEM!!

[TJLANDS]

I have had very good results with direct mail advertising.
Last year I sent out 10K I think, and received 300-400 calls.
My post card is on this site somewhere.(search my posts)
Very important to work your own mailing lists.
Target specific areas and households.

[TJLANDS]

The size was a little bigger than a postcard on one size, listing the services we preform, along with 2 coupons, and phone number.
I had 30,000 sent out and did not recive one call.
Wow, was it the right phone # LOL
That sux

[ICS]

The size was a little bigger than a postcard on one size, listing the services we preform, along with 2 coupons, and phone number.
I had 30,000 sent out and did not recive one call.

If you spent $600 and had 30K "mailed", there is NO WAY they ever got mailed. We mail 8K at $2300 each time always get a 3-6% response. FYI postcard postage is in the .2 range which would have you at a minimum of 6K in postage. And I am a shopper and I have never seen postcards for .02 cents each. Do you mean you made photo copies and handed out 30K

[ICS]

If any of you guys decide to do direct mail, keep the following in mind.

I have a friend that sold copy machines and when I told him that I was thinking about trying direct mail he told me that he sold machines to some of the companies that did direct mail campaigns. But he only recommended ONE company. I figured maybe that they bought a lot of machines from him and when I asked he said, NO they are just the only company that will actually mail your entire address list. So just to be on the safe side I always include at least 5 family members on the list to have a small checks and balance system. And if anyone is considering a campaign also keep in mind that it is just like any other form a advertising you just don't do one mailing you do multiple mailings throughout the season. Most likely a potential customer might call after they have seen your advertising or trucks a couple of times and not the first time.

[J Hisch]

ICS is right most LCO's dont get a retrun becasue they dont stick with it. If your looking for a knock out punch advertsing then Direct mail is the way to go, but you must go at least 12 rounds to make it a good fight before a knock out will come. To bash direct mail if you only did it once, is a weak excuse of why it didnt work. That would be like passing out one business card and since it didnt land you business right away you never handed out another card.

[UpNorth]

FYI, to all here, Welcome Wagon is a ripe off DON'T USE THEM!!

I don't disagree, they don't seem to work well for our industry. Isn't Welcome Wagon the same idea as Val-Pak except postcards?

I will disagree in the sense that this method is NOT direct mailing. If you do direct mailing you need to get a list that is targeted to your market (ie: lot size, home value, age of home, etc). And a postcard, brochure, etc. mailed specificly to those potential customers. It's much more money but you will get better leads, and sales.

Welcome Wagon and Val-Pak hit huge amounts of addresses but what about the townhouse communities, and apartments that it goes to??

[Josh.S]

I have had very good results with direct mail advertising.
Last year I sent out 10K I think, and received 300-400 calls.
My post card is on this site somewhere.(search my posts)
Very important to work your own mailing lists.
Target specific areas and households.

What was your close rate compared to response rate? Also when you targeted the homes you wanted them sent to did you just target specific editions and area's, or did you target specifics area's by the price of the home and things like that?

I plan on sending out a small amount of direct mail next spring, and a large amount in spring of 2008 when everything is setup better and I am more financially stable (having everything paid off and several thousand banked)...

By the way, I found your postcard here

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=142755

and it looks very nice and professional...

Thanks for the help, and IMO you are having superb response rates..

- Josh

[quietone]

We have used both the bundle mailer services(Moneymailer) and sent out our own with a printing company. The Moneymailer worked but was not the kind of demographic we were looking for. We then selected our demographic and got exactley the customer we where looking for. I would never use the bundle services again. I was wondering if anyone has the contact info of any printing services that they liked. Mine was ok, but I suspect they did not send out our full order due to the number of call we received. We sent out 2500 and received 15 calls.

[Joe Shooner]

If you have any concern about a direct mailing company actually sending your pieces, ask for the 3602. The 3602 is a USPS form that outlines the exact number of pieces, weight and postage amount as your pieces get entered into the mail stream.

Any reputable company will have no problem supplying you with this.

[TJLANDS]

What was your close rate compared to response rate? Also when you targeted the homes you wanted them sent to did you just target specific editions and area's, or did you target specifics area's by the price of the home and things like that?
- Josh
I signed 65 new lawns this year. 25 or so full serve. Mowing, cleanups Fert program. All lawns in my area are $40 and up.
Also several good size landscaping jobs. My mailing brought in about 150K.
I got a call just last month for a cleanup from somebody that said they had received my card in April.

I targeted lots of at least 1 acre, had to have an attached garage(ruled out small properties and trailers) also all new properties, (2 years or less).
My post card also went to ALL commercial properties in the township.

By having the mailing list on my computer I am able to delete any address that i do not want, or I think would be a waste of a card. I narrowed a
30,000 plus mailing list down to just over 10,000.

[TJLANDS]

We have used both the bundle mailer services(Moneymailer) and sent out our own with a printing company. The Moneymailer worked but was not the kind of demographic we were looking for. We then selected our demographic and got exactley the customer we where looking for. I would never use the bundle services again. I was wondering if anyone has the contact info of any printing services that they liked. Mine was ok, but I suspect they did not send out our full order due to the number of call we received. We sent out 2500 and received 15 calls.

lpbgraphics.com.
very nice people to work with and you can do everthing over the phone and internet.

[smarino21]

i think the advertising goes all by timing, if i start cutting april 15 when is the best time to advertise to get resdentail lawns?

[ICS]

i think the advertising goes all by timing

a men to that, timing is EVERYTHING.......

[TJLANDS]

i think the advertising goes all by timing, if i start cutting april 15 when is the best time to advertise to get residential lawns?

There are two types of costumers to pick up.

The ones that are looking now for next year. These are the money customers. For these send them out mid winter.

Then there are those costumers that decide in the spring that they do not want to cut there lawn anymore. These spur of the moment costumers are picked up just as the grass turns green in the spring. Late March early April.

[gilatplc]

I don't disagree, they don't seem to work well for our industry. Isn't Welcome Wagon the same idea as Val-Pak except postcards?

I will disagree in the sense that this method is NOT direct mailing. If you do direct mailing you need to get a list that is targeted to your market (ie: lot size, home value, age of home, etc). And a postcard, brochure, etc. mailed specificly to those potential customers. It's much more money but you will get better leads, and sales.

Welcome Wagon and Val-Pak hit huge amounts of addresses but what about the townhouse communities, and apartments that it goes to??

They provide me with a list of new or recently purchased homes in the zip code that I purchased.They miss lead me and told me that it was not to target townhouse communities and apartments.
Val-Pak is different because they hit new and current homeowner as a mass mailing from what I understand.

Welcome wagon has a good idea and could work for are industry but not the way that they run there business, It's a joke.
In a sense it is a direct mailing provider for I did not have the addresses that they provide me with so that I can mail out my broacher's. I receive this list once in a blue moon instead of the once a month that my contract states!

[Team-Green L&L]

We have used both the bundle mailer services(Moneymailer) and sent out our own with a printing company. The Moneymailer worked but was not the kind of demographic we were looking for. We then selected our demographic and got exactley the customer we where looking for. I would never use the bundle services again. I was wondering if anyone has the contact info of any printing services that they liked. Mine was ok, but I suspect they did not send out our full order due to the number of call we received. We sent out 2500 and received 15 calls.

http://gotprint.com

[UpNorth]

They provide me with a list of new or recently purchased homes in the zip code that I purchased.They miss lead me and told me that it was not to target townhouse communities and apartments.
Val-Pak is different because they hit new and current homeowner as a mass mailing from what I understand.

Welcome wagon has a good idea and could work for are industry but not the way that they run there business, It's a joke.
In a sense it is a direct mailing provider for I did not have the addresses that they provide me with so that I can mail out my broacher's. I receive this list once in a blue moon instead of the once a month that my contract states!

The Val-Pak in my area absolutely comes to townhomes. I live in a townhouse community with at least 800 units and I get a Val-Pak just about once a month. Just threw one out yesterday.

How does WelcomeWagon work? I'm not real familiar with it I've only seen it once or twice. Why did they sell you a list? How much did they charge for the list alone? How much for maiing the cards? etc

Just curious.

[Josh.S]

I signed 65 new lawns this year. 25 or so full serve. Mowing, cleanups Fert program. All lawns in my area are $40 and up.
Also several good size landscaping jobs. My mailing brought in about 150K.
I got a call just last month for a cleanup from somebody that said they had received my card in April.

I targeted lots of at least 1 acre, had to have an attached garage(ruled out small properties and trailers) also all new properties, (2 years or less).
My post card also went to ALL commercial properties in the township.

By having the mailing list on my computer I am able to delete any address that i do not want, or I think would be a waste of a card. I narrowed a
30,000 plus mailing list down to just over 10,000.

So if you mailed out 10,000 and signed 65 new ones, that means that .65% close rate and a 3-6% response rate? And you said it cost you around $2300? So it was $.23 per postcard bought and mailed?

So basically out of 6 calls 3-5 of them were tire kickers?

Also how big of lawns are you doing for $40? Do you mean you are doing 1 Acre+ plus for $40?

Well thanks for the info I really appreciate it..

- Josh

[TJLANDS]

[QUOTE=Mow Right]So if you mailed out 10,000 and signed 65 new ones, that means that .65% close rate and a 3-6% response rate? And you said it cost you around $2300? So it was $.23 per postcard bought and mailed?

So basically out of 6 calls 3-5 of them were tire kickers?

Also how big of lawns are you doing for $40? Do you mean you are doing 1 Acre+ plus for $40?

Well thanks for the info I really appreciate it..

- Josh[/QUOTE
Most lawns are 10-15K $40-60 (Total lots are 1 acre)
Sorry I cant give you better numbers. Alot of the post cards went to newly built homes. Some of them haven't done anything yet but will. Several houses we installed the lawn(sod), sprinklers, landscape and also do the maintenance. So even though my close rate might be low the ones that I did close were good ones. I know we did one paver job of 9k that pretty much paid for the mailing.

[Josh.S]

Most lawns are 10-15K $40-60 (Total lots are 1 acre)
Sorry I cant give you better numbers. Alot of the post cards went to newly built homes. Some of them haven't done anything yet but will. Several houses we installed the lawn(sod), sprinklers, landscape and also do the maintenance. So even though my close rate might be low the ones that I did close were good ones. I know we did one paver job of 9k that pretty much paid for the mailing.

So how much gross of mowing a week did you pick up so far from the $2300 of postcards? I'm assuming around $2600 if you picked up 65 at $40 a pop.. thats sounds almost to good to be true (not saying your a liar, its just I would do anything to get an extra $2600 a week in gross) Did you hit the same area with several rounds of postcards? If so what did you pick up with your first direct mail investment?

Thanks for the help...

- Josh

[gilatplc]

How does Welcome Wagon work? I'm not real familiar with it I've only seen it once or twice. Why did they sell you a list? How much did they charge for the list alone? How much for mailing the cards? etc

Just curious.[/QUOTE]

UpNorth;

Welcome wagon provides me with 3 products.

1, They provide me with add space on Realtor.com corresponding with the zip code that I purchased so when someone looks on what service are available in this area they see my add.

2,They send out a very nice booklet that they put together to the new home owners with in my zip code with my add in there also.

3,They provide me with a list of newly purchased homes in my purchased zip code with addresses so that I can send out my broacher's to them. The only problem is after looking in to this list its 2 to 3 month behind if I get it. Yes there are townhouses in there but more homes then townhouses, but there are no post cards that come with this service I provide my owen broacher to send out which I like better.

Its costing me $102.00 a month and I cant get out of my contract and they are not holding up there end of the contract. When I tryed contacting them to disuse the issue, no one wont's to talk about it and reminds me that the only way I can get out of the contract is to end my business!

[TJLANDS]

So how much gross of mowing a week did you pick up so far from the $2300 of postcards? I'm assuming around $2600 if you picked up 65 at $40 a pop.. thats sounds almost to good to be true (not saying your a liar, its just I would do anything to get an extra $2600 a week in gross) Did you hit the same area with several rounds of postcards? If so what did you pick up with your first direct mail investment?

Thanks for the help...

- Josh

I added 65 homes this past spring. Most came from the mailing. 20 or so of them were newly built homes. Did they all come from the mailing I do not know. I should have a separate phone number for the advertising but I didn't.

Five years ago we only did a handful of houses, maybe 30, almost all of my work was commercial. Townhouse Dev, condos, office complexes, retirement
etc. Started going after houses 3 years ago with advertising, direct mail mostly. My residential count now is 175. Still a small part of my business but growing.
I said $40 was my minimum for houses most of the homes we pick up are $50-60

[stumpslawncare]

where do you guys get the mailing list from that hit demographics from your area.

[TJLANDS]

where do you guys get the mailing list from that hit demographics from your area.
I get mine from someone in real estate. They always have access to mailing lists. You could also try your local Republican club. Or you could just buy the service on line. I will look for that info.

[Josh.S]

I added 65 homes this past spring. Most came from the mailing. 20 or so of them were newly built homes. Did they all come from the mailing I do not know. I should have a separate phone number for the advertising but I didn't.

Five years ago we only did a handful of houses, maybe 30, almost all of my work was commercial. Townhouse Dev, condos, office complexes, retirement
etc. Started going after houses 3 years ago with advertising, direct mail mostly. My residential count now is 175. Still a small part of my business but growing.
I said $40 was my minimum for houses most of the homes we pick up are $50-60

Wow I really am impressed, is it ok with you if I edit the postcard you sent me and use it next spring? It looks very professional and I don't think I could make something like that myself, and its hard to scratch up an extra $50 or more so somebody could design it when I really think what you have would work very well....

I really appreciate your help and all, btw did you just change your avatar I could have swore you had a doe on it before :dizzy: ..

Thanks alot!!!

- Josh

[ICS]

Wow I really am impressed, is it ok with you if I edit the postcard you sent me and use it next spring? It looks very professional and I don't think I could make something like that myself, and its hard to scratch up an extra $50 or more so somebody could design it when I really think what you have would work very well....

I really appreciate your help and all, btw did you just change your avatar I could have swore you had a doe on it before :dizzy: ..

Thanks alot!!!

- Josh

Best of luck, just remember you are in the Lima area and if you narrow your market down to 300K+ your numbers are going to be a lot smaller then someone in NJ.

[TJLANDS]

Wow I really am impressed, is it ok with you if I edit the postcard you sent me and use it next spring? It looks very professional and I don't think I could make something like that myself, and its hard to scratch up an extra $50 or more so somebody could design it when I really think what you have would work very well....

I really appreciate your help and all, btw did you just change your avatar I could have swore you had a doe on it before :dizzy: ..

Thanks alot!!!

- Josh
Yes I changed my dam avatar from an 8 pt buck, mostly because I think it was bringing me bad luck, missed two nice bucks so far this year.

As far as the card, your welcome to use it or I wouldnt have put in on here.
I am sure you are not the first. Might be tough to edit out the logo.

[Josh.S]

Yes I changed my dam avatar from an 8 pt buck, mostly because I think it was bringing me bad luck, missed two nice bucks so far this year.

As far as the card, your welcome to use it or I wouldnt have put in on here.
I am sure you are not the first. Might be tough to edit out the logo.

I thought it was a doe, and you must have brought me bad luck also because I shot to deer this year and didn't kill either of them....

Do you have a copy of the front before you put the logo on it?

Thanks...

- Josh

[TJLANDS]

I will have to look. My printer is online and she has it for sure.
If you are going to use a printer give them a call and ask for Lisa.
They are as good as anybody and very low prices.
lpbgraphics.com

[Ric3077]

I haven't tried it, only because I haven't heard anyone say it is worth it

[Josh.S]

I haven't tried it, only because I haven't heard anyone say it is worth it

Some say its worth it, some say it isn't... but I think it probably depends on your area you are targeting, and how well your card is designed..

[Turfdoctor1]

The size was a little bigger than a postcard on one size, listing the services we preform, along with 2 coupons, and phone number.
I had 30,000 sent out and did not recive one call.

i'm sorry, but this is hilarious to me. Let's think about this. How much do stamps cost? I believe 24 cents for a post card stamp, and you mailed out how many for $600? The most you could have possibly sent would be 2500, so I'm guessing none of them got sent. geez. gotta use your brain folks.

[tinman]

The size was a little bigger than a postcard on one size, listing the services we preform, along with 2 coupons, and phone number.
I had 30,000 sent out and did not recive one call.

just the postage would have been about $7200 on that many, so you must have spent more than the $600 you posted or did you just mis type? Thanks

[tinman]

ICS is right most LCO's dont get a retrun becasue they dont stick with it. If your looking for a knock out punch advertsing then Direct mail is the way to go, but you must go at least 12 rounds to make it a good fight before a knock out will come. To bash direct mail if you only did it once, is a weak excuse of why it didnt work. That would be like passing out one business card and since it didnt land you business right away you never handed out another card.
Good point about multiple mailings. It is hard to continue mailing when the first couple of mailings don't get anything. You think you are throwing money away. But if you stick with it it will work just because of repetition. If you track your results (and we all should), don't just keep up with the # of clients from each mailing. Keep up with the amount of money they pay yearly & multiple that by the avg. # of years your clients remain with you. And keep track of the referral business they give you & keep up with that $$ amount and I think the mailings will be well worth it.
If you mail to one address every month that only costs $3 per year for postage. So it really is cost effective if you are not mailing hundreds of pieces to the wrong type client. Examine your client base & see what kind of person you service most & try to find those type people (widows, single women homeowners, over 55 ages, etc).
Also it is good to place "or current resident" under the person's name just in case they no longer live there. It is very disappointing to get a ton of pieces returned because of bad addresses. Last year I had a few left over doorhangers which I cut into small postcards for my pressure washing service. I only mailed about 80 and got only one call. But that one call turned into $800 of work. I have 1500 of 2000 good postcards to send this 1st quarter. I sent 500 already with only one call & no job. But in Feb I will send out 500 more to the same addresses & we'll see what happens. Postcardmania.com is a good place to read about postcards & buy them. InfoUSA.com seems to be a good place to get a list, although I have not bought one from them yet. The site is easy to use.

[Josh.S]

Best of luck, just remember you are in the Lima area and if you narrow your market down to 300K+ your numbers are going to be a lot smaller then someone in NJ.

Target market DOWN to 300k+? In a stupid city like Lima there is only 2000 people that make more than 100k and have a 150k+ house. There were a few other specs I had in the search, but that was 5 zip codes wide for 2000 people.

I will have to broaden my target market actually because I would like to get a list of 5000 to send.

TJLANDS, what kind of name recognition do you have where you live? I don't know if I could get those responce rates because I have none/little name recognition at this time.

[mtdman]

I wrote this somewhere else but I'll reiterate it. Direct mail is, imo, a great marketing tool. It's a way to get your name/brand out to people, to increase exposure. If you go into it thinking that it's going to bring you in a ton of customers from one mailing you are going to be disappointed. It should be one tool of a multi-level market program. You need to expose your name/brand to as many people as possible, repeatedly over time. Direct Mailing is a great way to target the areas you want to work in. You can control where the mail is going, when it goes there and how often. But to rely solely on one mailing for new customers is misguided.

I send postcards out in the spring to the areas I target. I also do large yard signs in those areas, on top of working in the target neighborhoods as well. If people repeatedly see your name, your company in an area, they start to build recognition. And even a little trust. I often hear "I got your postcard, then saw you in the phonebook/neighborhood/working on my street/etc so I called you." That should be the goal, to build your name in their consumer conscience so that when they decide they need a lawn care company you get the call.

I happen to target the areas out where I live with the cards, so they get to see my truck/me out when not working as well.

That isn't to say you aren't going to catch some eyes with a direct mail offering and get immediate calls. But don't get discouraged from direct mail if you're not getting a ton of calls from a mailing.

And IMO, postcards are the best. They are short, sweet, and to the point. A well designed, attractive card will catch someone's attention at the mailbox in the short time they give you when going through the mail. A folded or enveloped flier probably won't even get you a second look.

[Team-Green L&L]

Target market DOWN to 300k+? In a stupid city like Lima there is only 2000 people that make more than 100k and have a 150k+ house. There were a few other specs I had in the search, but that was 5 zip codes wide for 2000 people.

I will have to broaden my target market actually because I would like to get a list of 5000 to send.

TJLANDS, what kind of name recognition do you have where you live? I don't know if I could get those responce rates because I have none/little name recognition at this time.

Don't get over-targeted now. $300L + is 1 market, but there are many markets and that 1 is a tough one to get into at a productive level. We've been marketing for 5 years (targeted) and have only gotten a small percentage of our revenues from that market. I think that it is better to target multiple markets with multiple promos. The 300K + market may respond to postcards for mowing, but the numbers will be smaller than the $150K - $250K market with annual income of $65K. For your first whirl at it I would try an easier market myself. The graphics layout and advertising methods will be under more scrutiny in the affluent market. IMO.

Mow Right, I think you are attacking a good market for your area, but that won't work for everyone and MAY NOT work for you. Don't put all your eggs in 1 basket. I hope you didn't wipe your budget out with that 1 market?

[lawnpro724]

I do direct mail and it works great for commercial accounts but you dont need to hire a service to do it for you. I just take my bike out for a spin around town and look at area businesses I would like to have and write them down, them when I get home I look them up in yellow pages for address info and send them out a business packet. It works and I have been doing it that way for years and have alot of commercial accounts and just about all of them are from direct mail. Target what you want!!

[hustler king]

The size was a little bigger than a postcard on one size, listing the services we preform, along with 2 coupons, and phone number.
I had 30,000 sent out and did not recive one call.

That's hard to believe, sorry

[TJLANDS]

Wow, this thread was retired 2 years ago!

[domain311]

Wow, this thread was retired 2 years ago!

Brought back to life again...those were some pretty good results you had.