Post card timing

[Shades of Green LService]

When do you guys recomend sending out post cards? Now, Feb, or march? Any suggestions?

[rcreech]

When do you guys recomend sending out post cards? Now, Feb, or march? Any suggestions?

I sent mine out last year in the third week of March and got an overwhelming response!

If you need any info on postcards and the who, what when and where's...PM me.

I have some great info as I research it last winter and it made my card very effective.

I also have a great Co that I work with and they were very affordable and helpful. I have used them several times since.

[rcreech]

I ended up getting a bunch of PM's on wanting post care info...so rather then type you all back and repeat myself. This post should answer all your questions.


#1) The most important thing is getting a list of the people you want to send the card to. You can give them the list...or you can have a firm do this for you (which I highly recommend Cactus Mailing ----See below for contact info) come up with one. You can give them Streets or neighborhoods you want to hit etc.

On my first card I just told them the zip codes I wanted the card to go to and then you can pick the criteria that you want such as the value of the home, income per household, homeowners only, age and a few other things.

This helps to eliminate the people that won't be interested in your services. You don't want to send a post card to someone making 20 grand a year or a renter.

They can get a list for you that is best for your business. Out of a town of 5,000 you may only send out 2,000 cards.

#2) Timing is the second most important. I was advised to have the post card hit between March 15 and Apr 1. (This also may change depending on where you live) WORKED GREAT FOR ME!

#3) The front of the card has to look good with a great picture and have a CATCHY slogan. If you go onto the internet type in a search engine "lawn photos and you can find all kinds of ideas on there! This takes a lot of thought! There is a lot of "junk mail" and marketing info in teh mail...so you need to make the homeowner want to flip it over to the back.

#4) On the back you want to describe your services and make sure you say you guarantee your work. If you are a small business and local you DEFINITLY want to put your name on the card.

#5) Make and offer! I offered a FREE 21 Point Lawn Assessment (which is always free) and also a Free Perimeter Pest Control when signing up for my lawn services.


As far as a repsonse rate most say you will get about 1%. I ended up getting about a 3% response and was able to close 2%. I paid for my cards more then twice and will hopefully retain these customers for a long time! Great marking tool if done correctly! You can also upsell or keep your name in front of your customers!

I highly recommend Cactus Mailing! They do an awesome job and I can't tell you how many times that I was told how professional my post card was. They put a UV coating on the card and it looks like a glossy picture. They will also help you design the card. THIS IS BIG! You can put the same thing on two post cards...but one may be more effective then the other due to placement of info. They do this everyday and know what they are doing!

Cactus will create the card, get you a mailing list and will also send it out for you. You don't even have to touch the card!

Here is the contact info if you are interested:

http://www.cactusmailing.com/contactus.php

For great assistance ask for Joe Mcatee! I talk to Joe pretty often and he is very helpful. You can tell him that Rodney Creech sent you and tell him he can share what I did if you want. That will give you a good idea where to start!

Cactus was also very affordable.

Sorry for the long post...but hard to say all this in a few words!

GOOD LUCK!

[Shades of Green LService]

I ended up getting a bunch of PM's on wanting post care info...so rather then type you all back and repeat myself. This post should answer all your questions.


#1) The most important thing is getting a list of the people you want to send the card to. You can give them the list...or you can have a firm do this for you (which I highly recommend Cactus Mailing ----See below for contact info) come up with one. You can give them Streets or neighborhoods you want to hit etc.

On my first card I just told them the zip codes I wanted the card to go to and then you can pick the criteria that you want such as the value of the home, income per household, homeowners only, age and a few other things.

This helps to eliminate the people that won't be interested in your services. You don't want to send a post card to someone making 20 grand a year or a renter.

They can get a list for you that is best for your business. Out of a town of 5,000 you may only send out 2,000 cards.

#2) Timing is the second most important. I was advised to have the post card hit between March 15 and Apr 1. (This also may change depending on where you live) WORKED GREAT FOR ME!

#3) The front of the card has to look good with a great picture and have a CATCHY slogan. If you go onto the internet type in a search engine "lawn photos and you can find all kinds of ideas on there! This takes a lot of thought! There is a lot of "junk mail" and marketing info in teh mail...so you need to make the homeowner want to flip it over to the back.

#4) On the back you want to describe your services and make sure you say you guarantee your work. If you are a small business and local you DEFINITLY want to put your name on the card.

#5) Make and offer! I offered a FREE 21 Point Lawn Assessment (which is always free) and also a Free Perimeter Pest Control when signing up for my lawn services.


As far as a repsonse rate most say you will get about 1%. I ended up getting about a 3% response and was able to close 2%. I paid for my cards more then twice and will hopefully retain these customers for a long time! Great marking tool if done correctly! You can also upsell or keep your name in front of your customers!

I highly recommend Cactus Mailing! They do an awesome job and I can't tell you how many times that I was told how professional my post card was. They put a UV coating on the card and it looks like a glossy picture. They will also help you design the card. THIS IS BIG! You can put the same thing on two post cards...but one may be more effective then the other due to placement of info. They do this everyday and know what they are doing!

Cactus will create the card, get you a mailing list and will also send it out for you. You don't even have to touch the card!

Here is the contact info if you are interested:

http://www.cactusmailing.com/contactus.php

For great assistance ask for Joe Mcatee! I talk to Joe pretty often and he is very helpful. You can tell him that Rodney Creech sent you and tell him he can share what I did if you want. That will give you a good idea where to start!

Cactus was also very affordable.

Sorry for the long post...but hard to say all this in a few words!

GOOD LUCK!

Thanks for the info and time.

[humble1]

what was the cost per card, made and mailed, plus the list?

[humble1]

yup, should have checked the link first!!! The only thing I worry about is how do you know that they are mailing the amount they say they are. I mean it seems they are in a good spot to say they mailed 1000 and only mail 700. I have been ripped off before so have a hard time trusting people.

[rcreech]

yup, should have checked the link first!!! The only thing I worry about is how do you know that they are mailing the amount they say they are. I mean it seems they are in a good spot to say they mailed 1000 and only mail 700. I have been ripped off before so have a hard time trusting people.

The price is determined by the amount you send.

I think when it is all said and done with the customer list, card design, post card and postage it cost me around $1800 for 5000 cards (that was about 9 months ago). I would say that you would be looking at $.30 -.40 each.

That is cheap if you think about it. For every 100 post cards...or $40, you should pick up atleast 1 customer! That is SWEET!


I undersand your concerns about not trusting...but I can tell you that they did a great job for me. That would be VERY dishonest and I hope no Co would do that. I guess it could happen.....but he post card Co wants you to succeed so you will do more business with them!

[PHS]

If they designed, printed, and mailed 5000 cards for you that is very cheap. Designing and printing for $.10 per card seems awfully low for such a small order. Must be one color, what kinda stock did they print it on?

[rcreech]

If they designed, printed, and mailed 5000 cards for you that is very cheap. Designing and printing for $.10 per card seems awfully low for such a small order. Must be one color, what kinda stock did they print it on?


Their prices are listed on their website!

I KNOW it is a great deal! You better call them!

You made me second guess myself since it has been almost 9 months since I done this so I got in my records to get the actual price. I paid $545 for the post cards and $1,179 for postage. That is it!

The card was absolutly beautiful and was full color. They don't do the one color two color thing. It is all color, UV coating and is great quality.

Call Cactus and have them e-mail you a copy of my card so you can get an idea of their work.

I am telling you it is totally awesome!

[PHS]

Sorry to sound skeptical, I was a little beer'd up last night :). I haven't looked at the website yet but that is an awesome deal. Not to get off on a tangent but that is the cool thing (and sometimes the scary thing) about todays marketplace. The "little guys" are now able to compete with the big guys price-wise on so many fronts that they weren't able to say 15 or 20 years ago. If you were limited to the local print shop it would cost you a small fortune to make a run like that.

[humble1]

anyone know w/ c-lawn starts their marketing for the next year

[rcreech]

Sorry to sound skeptical, I was a little beer'd up last night :). I haven't looked at the website yet but that is an awesome deal. Not to get off on a tangent but that is the cool thing (and sometimes the scary thing) about todays marketplace. The "little guys" are now able to compete with the big guys price-wise on so many fronts that they weren't able to say 15 or 20 years ago. If you were limited to the local print shop it would cost you a small fortune to make a run like that.


I agree that is does sound way to good to be true!

I shopped around like crazy...and didn't go with the cheapest quote. I just felt that Cactus was the best quality for the money!

I am in OH and Cactus is in Arizona. I checked local and it was like 2X the price. And I guarantee the quality couldn't be any better!

After I seen there work I wouldn't think about going anywhere.

[Pilgrims' Pride]

anyone know w/ c-lawn starts their marketing for the next year

They start now by trying to confirm as many current customers as they can.
I believe they offer a better prepay discount to those who prepay now.
(I may be wrong on that)

But most folks think they "signed a contract" and are bound to them.

Its never to early to work on next season.

[mikesturf]

Many fertilization companies try and sign their customers up for a full year by giving them a 10% discount if they pay in full and it is received by the end of November-for next years service.

[RigglePLC]

When I was at Tru Green, (20 years ago), the first of two winter letters went out Jan 16. Second letter with a lesser discount went out about a month later.

[A1Lawns]

yup, should have checked the link first!!! The only thing I worry about is how do you know that they are mailing the amount they say they are. I mean it seems they are in a good spot to say they mailed 1000 and only mail 700. I have been ripped off before so have a hard time trusting people.

Unfortunately, that's because you can't. Years back, I paid a bunch for inserts of my ad (about 15,000 were supposed to go out), and I got ONE..that's right ONE phone call.

It's ok though, may even be a blessing in disquise. The price to mail out alot of ads can be very expensive. You very well may be better off simply passing your ads out yourself. That will mean hiring PEOPLE YOU CAN TRUST(family, friends) to get your ads out. Cost MUCH less and there is no wondering if your hard work has been delivered or not.

Alot of scumbags out there. Unfortunately no one is exempt.
:cool2:

[rcreech]

Unfortunately, that's because you can't. Years back, I paid a bunch for inserts of my ad (about 15,000 were supposed to go out), and I got ONE..that's right ONE phone call.

It's ok though, may even be a blessing in disquise. The price to mail out alot of ads can be very expensive. You very well may be better off simply passing your ads out yourself. That will mean hiring PEOPLE YOU CAN TRUST(family, friends) to get your ads out. Cost MUCH less and there is no wondering if your hard work has been delivered or not.

Alot of scumbags out there. Unfortunately no one is exempt.
:cool2:

I think you would definitly want to work with a Co you can trust and work with!

I can understand your question and hesitation...but I don't see a well know Co doing something like this.

#1 - It is totally wrong
#2 - They will want to grow your business and hope it works so you will comm back.

I got tons of feedback on my card and a lot of calls which results in a lot more business then I expected! I would say depending on your area you should be able to close on .5 - 2%.

If my first post card wouldn't have worked...I would do anymore.

But since, I have send out several and plan to do a lot more this year!

That is just my take!

[AustinLawnscape]

Rodney,

Thanks for the great info & contact regarding printing & mailing of postcards.

You mention "I offered a FREE 21 Point Lawn Assessment (which is always free)." Can you share a little more about the 21 point lawn assessment (do you have a form or checklist that you use?

Thanks again for the help.

Ed Beacham
Austin Lawnscape Services

[rcreech]

Rodney,

Thanks for the great info & contact regarding printing & mailing of postcards.

You mention "I offered a FREE 21 Point Lawn Assessment (which is always free)." Can you share a little more about the 21 point lawn assessment (do you have a form or checklist that you use?

Thanks again for the help.

Ed Beacham
Austin Lawnscape Services

Glad it helped you out! Postcards really helped me out last year...and they should again this year!
I have a form that I fill out as I measure each lawn. It is your normal assessment form where you are looking at:

grass type
soil type
thatch layer
grassy weeds
broadleaf weeds
mowing height
density of lawn
overall lawn health
shade or sun
etc etc

Nothing big! Infact I pretty much just use the "FREE 21 Point Assessment" to get there!

Once I am there and look a their lawn, they never ask about it, but I still give them a copy of the assessment as it also has my recommendation with pricing.

Hope this helps!

RC

[AustinLawnscape]

Rodney,

I'm negotiating with Cactus now and would like to clarify the pricing shared in this thread.

You said: "I got in my records to get the actual price. I paid $545 for the post cards and $1,179 for postage. That is it!"

Did those costs include the mailing list? Thanks - Ed

[rcreech]

Rodney,

I'm negotiating with Cactus now and would like to clarify the pricing shared in this thread.

You said: "I got in my records to get the actual price. I paid $545 for the post cards and $1,179 for postage. That is it!"

Did those costs include the mailing list? Thanks - Ed

I think so, but not sure without looking!

Don't quote me but it was only a penny or two for each name...so if that total doesn't have the names included it still wouldn't change the total that much. 5000 names would only be another $50-100.

[LawnsRUsInc.]

Sounds like a great deal so you sent out like 10,000

[rcreech]

Sounds like a great deal so you sent out like 10,000

Last year I sent out 5000 last year, but am I am going to send out 10,000 in about 3-4 weeks.

This year I think I am going to send out 5K then wait a week or so and send the other 5K (all to different people).

Just doing this to spread out the phone calls and weather risk.

I'll let you guys know which one works best (earlier or later mailing).

[LawnsRUsInc.]

so last year you recieved about 100 customers from the 5k though?

[rcreech]

so last year you recieved about 100 customers from the 5k though?

I ended up measuring about 160 people and ended up picking up around 100 accounts plus or minus a few. But even more importantly then how many people you pick up...is your payback on the new customer and their future business.


I paid $1700 for the post cards and almost got almost a 10x return from it on year 1. That doesn't count all the future business from them, these new people getting referrals and also just the branding you do with the card. It is a great way to get your name in everyone's home I think.

That is why I am so stoked about sending these things out! I think they work great. Maybe I just got lucky also...but I also live in a VERY SMALL community where my everbody knows everybody!

I sent out my post card and people that I had not seen in a year or two seen my name on my post card and called me. They didn't even know I was in lawn health becasue this was the FIRST marketing I had done.

[FdLLawnMan]

Last year I sent out 5000 last year, but am I am going to send out 10,000 in about 3-4 weeks.

This year I think I am going to send out 5K then wait a week or so and send the other 5K (all to different people).

Just doing this to spread out the phone calls and weather risk.

I'll let you guys know which one works best (earlier or later mailing).

Rodney

I am working with Cactus mailing also. Very nice people to work with. I am interested as to why you are sending out your postcards when you do. I am in central Wisconsin and plan on sending 5000 out in early March. I would think in Ohio you would be sending them out earlier. What is your reasoning for the timing you do.?

[rcreech]

Rodney

I am working with Cactus mailing also. Very nice people to work with. I am interested as to why you are sending out your postcards when you do. I am in central Wisconsin and plan on sending 5000 out in early March. I would think in Ohio you would be sending them out earlier. What is your reasoning for the timing you do.?

The dates for my mailings are just what I have been able to come up with for our "typical" weather here in OH.

We can still have a lot of snow fall up to the end of March.

If I send out the post card and there is a foot of snow on the ground then a lot of people might throw them away! I am just trying to hit the better weather if possible.

Maybe I should send out my first 5000 in the 1st or 2nd week of March and the rest at the end of March. I don't know as it is kinda just a big guessing game.

[FdLLawnMan]

The dates for my mailings are just what I have been able to come up with for our "typical" weather here in OH.

We can still have a lot of snow fall up to the end of March.

If I send out the post card and there is a foot of snow on the ground then a lot of people might throw them away! I am just trying to hit the better weather if possible.

Maybe I should send out my first 5000 in the 1st or 2nd week of March and the rest at the end of March. I don't know as it is kinda just a big guessing game.

You are correct. It is a guessing game, plus I have to be concerned about what the big boys are doing. I might send out the 5000 in early March and then, depending on the response sending out another 5000 4 weeks later.

[AustinLawnscape]

I bit the bullet and placed an order with cactus. This will be my first mailing and mailing list selection. Hoping to avoid any rookie mistakes, I would like to hear some wisdom from those experienced on list criteria.

They are able to choose geographically plus the following criteria:

Age
Household income
Gender
Martial Status
Households with children
Age & gender of children
Households with Senior Adults
Housing type
Homeowner/renter
Home value
Year home built
Length of residence

There are other criteria available at additional cost but I don't see relevance.

Thanks in advance for your assistance. - Ed

[rcreech]

I bit the bullet and placed an order with cactus. This will be my first mailing and mailing list selection. Hoping to avoid any rookie mistakes, I would like to hear some wisdom from those experienced on list criteria.

They are able to choose geographically plus the following criteria:

Age
Household income
Gender
Martial Status
Households with children
Age & gender of children
Households with Senior Adults
Housing type
Homeowner/renter
Home value
Year home built
Length of residence

There are other criteria available at additional cost but I don't see relevance.

Thanks in advance for your assistance. - Ed

The ones enlarged are the big ones in my opinion!

Households with Senior adults might be a good one also!

Good Luck!

I just placed my order yesterday....and as you, hoping for great results this year!

[AustinLawnscape]

Thanks for the feedback. Our thoughts were the same except I added:

Housing Type (single family versus condo, duplexes, etc.)

It's always reassuring to have someone else confirm our instincts.

Much success with your postcard mailings! - Ed