More Customers

[kandalawncaremgr]

Is this gonna be full time for you. You have a nice equipment list there. I'm guessing some might be financed. You reaaly need to advertise your a** off unless again your fine with 15 lawns a week. I put out 3100 in advertising my first year. Which was a lot of money for a small one man operation. But In return I raked in almost 25000 my first year. So its an investment that is returned well over what you put out. Coming into my second season I doubled my client base. And will continue to dump money into advertising. I ask when I get a call where they heard about me they say well where haven't we seen you lol. Your everywhere. I say yep. Its how I built my brand and name followed by quality work. Get a website and take before and after pics

[kandalawncaremgr]

Thanks gonna put my order in now.

[southerlawn]

no equipment is paid for which is a plus

[Kelly's Landscaping]

Originally Posted by southerlawn

So I've got all my equipment together now an a few customers, how did you guys grow your customer base when you first started. I know that advertising would be a waste of time and money until I get my reputation built up.

I am still blown away by this line why bother starting a business if you are certain your real goal is to fail at it? Get yourself in the local paper get yourself into some sort of direct marketing and start planning out your website. I once signed up 27 lawns in a 3 day weekend in March and how did I get the leads from advertizing of course.

[LandFakers]

I put out flyers everywhere, and run an ad in the paper every saturday and Sunday. If you don't advertise, you won't get much work, and then you still won't have a reputation. Reputations take years to establish, so I guess you won't be advertising for the next 5 years?

[throopguy21]

Originally Posted by kandalawncaremgr

Is this gonna be full time for you. You have a nice equipment list there. I'm guessing some might be financed. You reaaly need to advertise your a** off unless again your fine with 15 lawns a week. I put out 3100 in advertising my first year. Which was a lot of money for a small one man operation. But In return I raked in almost 25000 my first year. So its an investment that is returned well over what you put out. Coming into my second season I doubled my client base. And will continue to dump money into advertising. I ask when I get a call where they heard about me they say well where haven't we seen you lol. Your everywhere. I say yep. Its how I built my brand and name followed by quality work. Get a website and take before and after pics

Was that $3100 or how many flyers you put out?

[georgialawn88]

Originally Posted by throopguy21

Was that $3100 or how many flyers you put out?

im betting 3100 fliers. if he put out 3,100.00 fliers thats a buncha fliers!!

[throopguy21]

not that much in flyers but that much in advertising total.

[RMLC_BZN]

I would try craigslist if you haven't already. All the other lawn care companies on craigslist in my area just write up a quick little text add and they are a little boring. I made an ad specifically for craigslist with my logo and a picture in photoshop, just something a little more creative and that sticks out. I probably get 4-5 calls a week from it. Granted a lot of those people are just looking for a deal or want it done today but I have landed some good accounts from it.

[fentonlawncare]

When first starting out you have to be very aggressive in advertising. Here are some things you can do:

1. Postcards! One way to set yourself apart from other cheap lawn guys is to make double sided glossy color postcards and put them in the newspaper boxes. People are less likely to throw these away. I got 2500 of them for $140. Just drive around and put them in the newspaper boxes.

2. Craigslist add. Find someone that can create a nice craiglist add for you and keep it posted on the 1st page as much as possible. Repost it every couple of days.
3. Website. Today websites in my opinion are the best way to get good customers besides word of mouth. In order for them to find you, you need someone who is good at SEO (search engine optimization) to get you listed on google, yahoo and such when people search for lawn care companies. Investing in a quality website will get you very far.

Good Luck!