http://www.google.com/adsense
MSN AdCenter https://adcenter.microsoft.com/
Blog
Blogging is a hot topic these days and many of the webhosts mentioned above provide it in their hosting packages but the thing to remember for a blog to be effective is continual content. If you can’t come up with 50 interesting topics to write about off the bat, a blog may not be for you.
Another popular way to advertise online is through your Facebook business profile. With the same idea as the blog, unless you aren’t going to be putting fresh and interesting content on a regular basis, you are probably wasting your time.
Craigslist
Craisglist.org, the popular free online classified website is a way to get your business in front of local people looking for lawn care at no cost. In some areas, typically small and rural, Craigslist works fairly well, while more urban areas it does not work as well (not always but it seems to be that way). Craigslist isn’t going to make you rich and you will get several calls for one time clean ups and low ballers, but you will also get good contracts as well, provided your ad is professional.
If you don’t want the one time cleanups and low ballers place your minimum pricing and that you are not currently accepting one time service calls. This will keep a majority of the time wasters away.
Signage
Vehicle Signage
Your truck and trailer make a perfect rolling billboard. You can use magnetic signs for the truck or plastic signs for an open trailer that cost about . To really stand out you can do a vinyl wrap for the truck or enclosed trailer for around 0. Professional signage looks great and will really draw homeowners out and talk about your services and get occasional calls when driving in traffic.
Yard signs
Sometimes called bandit signs are an inexpensive way to advertise in a high traffic area. If you are putting in a high traffic area be sure to keep the message very short in big letters so it is easy to read. Yard signs cost around each in 100 unit packs.
Other Advertising
Back of receipts
Many grocery and some retail stores offer advertising space on the back of the receipts and is an inexpensive way to advertise.
Newspaper
Newspaper offers wide distribution to a wide audience for your lawn business and depending on your area can be cost effective. The newspaper advertising on average works better in small, rural areas, especially when placed in the free community papers. Not to say it won’t work in larger areas but you are competing with a lot of noise and distraction in the larger paper and your ad will likely go unnoticed unless you go for a half or full page which may not end up being cost effective.
Poaching
Another way to advertise your lawn care business is to make a note of the houses being serviced by other companies and approach them to take the business. While the incumbant company has an advantage becasue they are already there you can make note of things they aren’t doing well and give sell the homeowner on those benefits.
Attire
Believe it or not but your attire will say a lot about your business. While a suit and tie isn’t real practical for mowing lawns, it would be appropriate for workers to be in a company shirt with a logo and phone number and if you are doing sales calls then a polo with a logo is great. Shirts will cost you – while a polo will cost -.
Professionalism
You already know your professionalism will be judged by the end result of your work but also consider your and your employees behavior while at the customer’s home and while in the public’s eye when driving in a company vehicle with your logo.
When you are at the customer’s home they are watching you while you work so mind the language, especially with your higher-end clients. Also when driving with the company vehicle, it’s best not to drive like a maniac because someone will see you and could mean a lost customer.
Phone Etiquette
A last point on professionalism is that once the marketing materials are sent out and calls start coming in, your professionalism on the phone is important. Answering in an agitated or hurried voice isn’t going to give the
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