Lawn Care Marketing

What lawn care marketing strategy will give your business the best chances of success in this challenging economy?

Remember when customers used to go looking for your service in the Yellow Pages phone book, letting their fingers do the walking? Those days have long gone, haven’t they?
Nowadays in most areas the Yellow Pages phone book is all but dead! What about traditional print newspapers?

In recent years, the circulation of newspapers has declined by as much as 7 million, a drop of about 19% just last year alone. In contrast the number of unique readers of online newspapers has increased by a dramatic 29% in the same time period. The significance of this is that any company that depends on traditional newspapers for its lawn care marketing will find it increasingly difficult to hold onto their customers as well as generate new business.

This raises a crucial question regarding the marketing of your lawn care business, namely, What is presently the most cost effective way to generate new business and promote your services to existing customers in your lawn care business?

Recent statistics regarding Internet usage indicate that as of June 2011 the 347 million Websites on the Internet are being accessed by more than 2.2 billion Internet users around the world. What a phenomenal market!

Did you know that between 84% to 94% of all local customers actually research a business on the Internet before even making contact with them to make a purchase? Do you see where almost 90% of your prospects are right now? Yes, they are searching on the web looking for a business like yours.

Are your prospects and customers finding your Website when they go searching? Or do they find your competitors instead? No doubt you can see the need for an effective Website presence to carry out your lawn care marketing. Having a meaningful online presence, is fundamental to the survival of a business in today’s marketplace.

Nowadays customers expect you to have a Website. But more than that, they expect to find an engaging site loaded with sufficient, valuable content in the form of articles about your service and products and videos that inform, enlighten and entertain. No modern business would even dream of operating without having a telephone. That’s how it has become with having a website for your lawn care marketing.

Key Benefits of Using a Website for Your Lawn Care Marketing

The Internet has grown to become an information superhighway that is open for business 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Therefore having a website enables your customers and prospects to learn about your business at any time that is convenient for them. For example, while you sleep at 3 AM in the morning, your prospects can be watching videos or reading articles on your Website without any need for your personal intervention.

From your site, they can submit an inquiry for a price quote or other requests for information regarding your services. In this way it serves as a lead generation tool and every business needs a constant flow of quality leads in order to be successful.

In addition, on your site, customers can pay for invoices and schedule service calls as well as upgrade the service offering they receive from you.

How A Lawn Care Marketing Website Helps Customers Find Your Business

But you may wonder how customers are able to find your particular Website among so many other millions of Websites online today. We are thankful for the help of search engines such as Google.com, Yahoo.com and Bing.com, not to mention a host of other smaller search engines.

A search engine is simply a computer program that catalogs Websites online, keeping track of the content found on those web pages and matching up the site with a given search request. For example, to search for a Website like yours, your prospect may enter “lawn care service” into the search engine which then examines its database to determine which Websites offer content that is the most relevant to the searcher.

It’s a bit more complex than that because there may be several Websites featuring content on that same subject. So the search engines have a way of grading Websites based on the quantity, quality and relevance of the content to the search. Also if a Website has greater trust in the eyes of the search engines, and a higher ranking, it may be displayed higher up in the results thus receiving more search traffic. But how is this higher ranking accomplished?

High ranking and greater trust are achieved by a process known as search engine optimization, abbreviated SEO. Effective SEO performed on a Website can bring a flood of traffic to the site resulting in increased sales and profits. But how is SEO performed?

A Website is optimized in two ways, on page optimization and off page optimization. On page optimization involves the way that the content on each web page is organized and formatted, letting the search engines know what the Website is all about and that its content is relevant to a  particular search phrase or keyword. On the other hand, off page optimization is performed on other Websites by placing hyperlinks that point to your Website.

So the more back links that point to your web page the greater its popularity and trust in the eyes of the search engines. Among the ways used to generate such back links and increase the rankings of Websites are the following:

Article marketing, press release marketing, Website directory submission, social media marketing such as Facebook, Twitter, social bookmarking and RSS, to name just a few.

Other Benefits of Lawn Care Marketing Online

As business owners, we all know that selling to customers takes effort and money. But when a customer searches for your business online and visits your Website, these are the best kinds of customers! Because you’re providing the exact service which they’re searching for, we describe these customers as highly targeted.

Not only is this high quality traffic, but it is absolutely free as there is no charge by the search engines for these referrals. And once you have optimized your Website to receive this traffic it pretty much runs on autopilot. As you can see, online marketing of your lawn care business is the most cost effective and targeted form of lawn care marketing.

So, you no longer have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars each month paying for Yellow Pages telephone book advertising in an unchangeable 12 month contract. Instead, market your business for free on the Internet. The right information can provide you with appropriate consultation and help you achieve good results in your lawn care marketing on the Internet.

Lawn Care Marketing is a post from: Lawn Service

Starting a Lawn Care Business

Starting a lawn care business  does not require intricate knowledge of  lawns and their care. In fact, it can be fun to run one. A lawn is what gives the elegant look to a building whether it is a stately mansion or a simple and functional lean-on.

Visualize White House or Buckingham Palace without their extensive lawns.  Now you know the purpose of having a lawn adorn a structure. And, all lawns need to be cared for.

Starting a Lawn Care Business is an all-weather preposition

Be it Summer or Fall, a lawn or a landscapes needs constant maintenance unless the residents prefer to live ensconced inside bushes. During the rain conditions, grass grows by leaps and bounds and the lawn care people will see a spurt in their business. In summer too, when the sun tries to scorch away the lawn and its contents, the lawn needs caring for.

Whether a hamlet of 20 houses or a mega city  of a million homes, there are always lawns in them and you can expect calls from the landlords all through the year. Whether your business is small having a staff of one, that is you or, an outfit where there are hundreds of workers, you will find work. Considering that 80% of U.S. homes have lawns, lawn care can hope to run a reasonable business.  There are many lawn care businesses that had started out small and have grown many times over. There are also many that have started big and grown even bigger. We can not advertise for some big names but you them well.

"lawn care business"

Lawn care business is primarily a service-oriented one. Service businesses do not require huge amounts of money to be invested and without complicated procedures. And, if you did not know it, service businesses are always high on profit which holds completely true in the lawn care business. That is one of the reasons that can be cited for starting a lawn care business by people who can not find wherewithal for some substantial business.

The equipment and implements involved are not too expensive. You do not have to buy them all at once when starting a lawn care business. You might start small and watch it grow. Start with basic lawn care service for small lawns without many adornments like flower plants, landscapes and fountains. The first and foremost requirement is for a lawn mower. A blower, edgers, rakes, brooms are too necessary. To safeguard yourself against injury and dust, you must be in possession of gloves, safety goggles and boots. Unless you are able to carry all these on your back and walk for miles, you had better get hold of a trailer  or some such suitable vehicle.

Hirers expect workmen to be punctual, no matter what. Well, you are the same, aren’t you? So, show up at your work place at the specified time and without forgetting any of the things you will require in the course of your work. No one likes to see a hired hand wasting time shuttling between his home and theirs.

Fulfill Legal Formalities before Starting a Lawn Care Business

It is not uncommon to come across people having no license at all moonlighting as lawn carers.  We do not encourage this practice. Keep it legal. Government tends to  look askance at people who brow-beat them in business. Necessary licenses should be applied for from the appropriate office and registration of the business name should be undertaken. In case of dispute, having a license could well work out in your favor. On the other hand, not having one may lead to some unpleasant encounter with law.

Any business worth its salt finds it necessary to advertise its ware or service. Starting a lawn care business is no exception. Business promotional material is to be distributed  among your potential customers. One of the proven methods of promotional activity is to hand out attractive business cards  to friends and acquaintances and ask them to recommend you. Flyers have been in used in the past, but no longer work.  Websites where advertisement is free can be found all over the internet. Find the relevant sites and get your advertisement online.

You can cultivate real estate developers and property management professionals who can certainly give  you  business.  You may even get in touch with owners of the buildings under constructions and canvass your business.

Fees
Your fee is a tricky proposition. It should not be too paltry because your business is new. On the other hand, it can not be higher or even equal to your competitors. You are a greenhorn, after all.  You are the best to decide this. One safe way to do this is to visit the site personally to survey the lawn, to take stock of the work that needs to be done and the type of expertise to be employed in accomplishing  the particular job. Work contract by phone is to be avoided. You may find the place different from what has been explained  to you as.

Once you gain confidence of a client, you might suggest an annual maintenance contract (AMC). Many an experienced  lawn care business owner runs his  business only  in AMC mode. By the time you get the contract, you have built up a rapport with your client, you know what he expects of you and he knows your work culture and workmanship and there is hardly a reason for dispute.

Starting a Lawn Care Business and Developing it

Take full advantage of  online forums that pertain to gardening and lawn care. Get yourself registered in as many of them as possible. Lawn care is an evolving process that comes up with new developments and procedures. Make it a point to attend workshops on the subject.

As time goes by, you should be able to tell the type of soil just by looking at it. You should be able to choose the best manure for a particular type lawn and plants. Irrigation is another important activity that you should learn. Weeding without harming the lawn is a task that you should be learned   It will do you no harm to learn about the equipment you use and repair them. This may save you some good amount of money, some times. Starting a lawn care business is not a bad idea at all!

Starting a Lawn Care Business is a post from: Lawn Service

Lawn Care Flyers

There was a time when lawn care flyers were the premier marketing tool used as part of a lawn care business plan. As the popularity of the internet began to rise however, customers began turning to their computers in search of lawn care companies. Today, many lawn care organizations are aware that they need to have a website if they desire to be taken seriously by potential clients.

These companies can still promote their business in personal ways, such as handing out business cards with their website addresses on them, but a flyer should not be used under any circumstances.

Aside from the fact that lawn service flyers are simply not effective marketing tools in this age of the internet, and have gone the way of yellow pages, there are other important reasons why customers find a flyer offensive in modern times. As recycling and encouragement of a greener planet rises in popularity, flyers can be seen as an unnecessary waste of paper. Often, if not adhered correctly, they can also blow around and create a mess which would discourage any potential client. Also, it is considered intrusive for strangers to step on the property of others. Prior to the internet, door to door sales or advertising was acceptable because there weren’t many affordable alternatives available. But today, customers will search on their own when looking for lawn services, which takes only a brief online search when they are ready. More often than not, walking up to a stranger’s door will not result in a warm reception.

If you aren’t convinced yet, let’s look at the top reasons why lawn care businesses need an internet presence instead of handing out lawn care flyers:

Lawn Care Flyers Present A Professional Image To Potential Customers?

Even if you are reluctant to stop handing out a flyer to draw in new lawn care customers, your competition is not. It isn’t enough that your flyers end up in a consumer’s hand because the majority of people still use the internet to search for local lawn care companies. Even the most professional looking advertisement on paper cannot compare to the design and look of a professional website for lawns. Imagine yourself in the customer’s position and how they would respond to your flyer, then your website. Image is everything and a flyer’s inability to portray professionalism cannot be disputed.

A carefully constructed website that contains a logo, your mission statement and information about your business speaks volumes to those considering lawn care. Websites can be developed with many categories that future clients want to see, including photos, rates, testimonials and much more. A lawn care flyer can never hold all of this information and, therefore, can never have a professional feel because it is lacking so much pertinent information.

Lawn Care Flyers Develop A Sense Of Trust With Future Clients?

Many clients who are in search of lawn care are hesitant to hire a company that looks unprofessional. Many families are in need of service for their lawns because they lack the time to care for their yards, trees and shrubs. This means that the people hiring a lawn company, in many cases, won’t be home. Trusting in a company is of the utmost importance, because customers recognize the lawn care team will be in their front and backyards when no one is home.

A website for your lawn care business gives you the chance to develop trust before customers make that first call to schedule lawn service. One important way this is accomplished is by providing testimonials from your other customers. You can ask your current clients to please offer some words of praise and assurance, explaining that you would like their permission to post their recommendations on your website. When potential clients hear from other satisfied customers, it establishes a sense of trust.

Another way that lawn service websites can offer peace of mind to customers, is by providing information that shows your lawn company is an established site. On the home page, you can provide historical information, how long you’ve been servicing lawns, the number of customers you serve as well as the size of the staff. This is the time to also clearly present special credentials you have that will build trust, such as being bonded, licensed or insured.

Finally, websites offer lawn care companies an opportunity to post photos. A potential client can feel an instant connection to your company when he or she sees pictures of your lawn specialist team. To enhance trust even further, you can provide friendly and brief biographies next to each lawn care team member. In so many ways, websites can offer future customers the trusting feelings necessary to convince them to make that call to your lawn business.

Lawn Care Flyers Don’t Reach Enough Customers To Grow Your Business

When you use a flyer to promote your lawn care business, with the exception of potential word of mouth advertising, you are only reaching those individuals who have the flyers in their possession. Often these ads are thrown away immediately, but even if a household keeps the advertisement it often becomes lost or used as scratch paper because the household might not have been searching for the service at that particular time. The important point to understand is that wherever the flyer ends up is the only advertising your company will receive, whereas websites are ready whenever your customer is ready.

With a website, you can draw new lawn service customers in everyday. First, when a website is developed correctly with appropriate keywords and search terms, just having a website on the internet guarantees the site is passively advertising itself for you every day. When people type in a search for lawn care businesses in their area, when constructed appropriately, your site should arrive on the front page of the search list. When you consider how many people are looking on the internet for lawn care business in your city each day, that is an impressive amount of future customers.

Also, having an online internet site gives you many creative ways to reach customers who want their lawns serviced. You can leave business cards that display your website address, and leave them on bulletin boards in your city or on the table after dining at a local restaurant. You can also ask other local businesses to display your cards in exchange for advertising their services on your website. In sum, having a website opens the doors wide to extensive marketing opportunities for your lawn care business, which would never have been possible with lawn care flyers.

Lawn Care Flyers is a post from: Lawn Service

Lawn Care Business Plan

Having a lawn care business plan has several benefits. It ensures that the business endeavor is successful. Several factors have to be considered while putting together a business plan for the lawn care business.

A business plan that has been well laid out can be used to secure loans and woo potential business partners. This goes well beyond lawn care flyers. Depending on the size of the business, the entrepreneur can go for a self-styled plan or choose the services of a professional consultant. The requirements and budget should also be considered before employing a consultant. Most lawn care businesses use a self-styled plan since it is does not involve any expenses.

Features to include in a lawn care business plan

An effective business plan should include several features. It should be easy to read. The primary purpose of a business plan is to communicate ideas to interested parties. Hence keeping the plan simple and easy to understand is essential. The writing style should be unassuming and sentences should be short. Accuracy is equally important. Anything and everything included in the lawn care business plan should be checked thoroughly for mistakes. Even a small mistake or inaccurate detail can severely affect the lawn care business. The hallmark of a good business plan is a clear layout. It must be easy to navigate and should have an organizational structure that makes sense. Charts, tables and graphs may be used to enhance the appearance of the layout.

Benefits of using professional lawn care business plan consultants

Although most businesspersons prefer to create the business plan themselves, using the services of a professional consultant has its advantages. A self-styled business plan will take some time to create since the entrepreneur has little or no experience in this regard. The greatest advantage of using a professional consultant is that they will create an effective business plan in the shortest possible time. As every successful entrepreneur would realize, time is the most valuable commodity. Hence the initial expenses involved in hiring a consultant will seem trivial in the long run. Business is all about numbers and figures. A common mistake seen in many self-styled business plans is the lack of numbers and figures. A feasible business plan is one which includes numerical estimates that can prove that the business will be a profitable one.

Use of a lawn care business plan

The first year is the most difficult time for any new lawn business. A poor business plan has caused the downfall of several businesses. A good business plan will address all problems faced by the company. Only then can the entrepreneur take the necessary steps. A lot of time and money can be saved by creating a strong lawn care business plan. It is the blueprint for a profitable and successful future. Insufficient capital has led to the downfall of a lot of companies. The funding requirements for starting the business will be included in the business plan. Another advantage of having a business plan is that it enables the entrepreneur to launch the business in an organized and methodical manner. All information required to launch the company will be provided in the plan. A smooth startup process can save the entrepreneur from a lot of stress. As each section is completed, the businessperson can delete the relevant information from the plan. This gives a sense of achievement as well.

Most businesses involve multiple partners. Hence having a business plan is crucial since it ensures that the partners do not disagree on matters pertaining to the business venture. In today’s world, any new business requires funding from investors or lenders. Therefore the lawn business owner has to convince potential lenders that the business venture will be successful. The amount expected from lenders will be included in the business plan along with the returns that they can expect. Depending on this, investors can take a decision regarding funding. In addition to partners and lenders, the business plan will be viewed by local authorities and landlords. Local authorities will use the lawn care business plan to ensure that the business complies with licensing requirements and local regulations. Landlords usually view the business plan before leasing commercial space to the venture. Hence the business plan has to serve various purposes.

Every business should have short term and long term goals. This is vital to the success of any business. Realistic goals and ways to reach them can be provided in the business plan. However, the plan should not be discarded once the business has been set up. The goals provided in the plan should be used to measure success and failure. If the goals are not met, the business should be willing to take remedial steps. In order to start a lawn care business, a lot of information is required. Executive summary, industry overview, market analysis, competitive analysis, marketing plan, management plan, operating plan and financial plan are some basic sections that should be included in the business plan. Although executive summary is the first part of the plan, it should not be written without completing the other sections. Executive summary is a synopsis of the business plan. Factors related to the industry such as estimated sales and position in the industry should be provided in the industry overview section.

Products and services, demographics, general needs of the market and other such features come under market analysis. Information related to other competitors in the lawn business should be included in the competitive analysis section. Promotions, advertising, pricing and details regarding the services offered may be included in the marketing plan. Management plan covers external resources, human resources and legal structure. Employee requirements, facilities, business location and capital equipment have to be provided in the operating plan section. Although financial plan is the last section, it is one of the most important aspects of the business plan. All financial details including current assets, financial statements, funding requirements and outline of the financial plan has to be provided. With proper investment and a well laid out lawn care business plan, the business can be a highly lucrative venture.

Lawn Care Business Plan is a post from: Lawn Service

Lawn Care Business

Lawn Service

Looking to Improve Your Lawn Care Business?

WHO ELSE

WANTS MORE LAWN CARE BUSINESS CUSTOMERS

THAN THEY CAN HANDLE ?

Hey, it is 2012. Lawn care flyers and mailbox handouts died two years ago.

Watch the lawn care marketing video above to learn how to get landscaping customers fast.

 

The lawn care business can be a very profitable endeavor when done correctly. It is pretty obvious when looking at lawn service companies, to pick out the ones that got it right. Newer lettered trucks, uniforms, good equipment, and cash in the bank. So what did these landscaping businesses do that the guys mowing yards out of their ’89 Hyundai did not do? The successful lawn care business advertised their landscaping services better, and they used lawn care software . This allowed them to take on only the most profitable jobs, instead of having to take any job that was offered them. They were able to turn down the work that they didn’t want, and cherry pick the higher paying landscape jobs. So how does a new lawn care business start up company do that?

Can you afford pay thousands a month to the yellow pages for a full page ad? Most new lawn care business can’t afford that. TV ads? Television ads are not a highly targeted venue for a lawn mowing business, and cost a bundle. Newspaper ads? The newspapers are going under because no one reads them anymore. Lawn care flyers have a very high cost to response rate, generally a .01% return.  Basically, they are not worth the effort. So what’s left? What is the least expensive and highest converting advertising venue in the world, full of motivated consumers looking to hire your lawn care business? The internet. Specifically, the internet search engines. Like the yellow pages, internet search is highly targeted. No one will go pull the phone book out of their closet to look up “landscapers” unless they want to call a lawn care business. Similarly, only two types of people will type “lawn care Columbia S.C.” into a Google search bar; customers looking to call an Columbia S.C. lawn care business, or a landscape competitor. However, here is where it gets even better. The searcher might type in “Orlando lawn care” or “lawn service company reviews Austin.”

Unlike the phone book, you can optimize a page on your website for each exact term that relates to your lawn care business. Also unlike the phone book, internet search is way up, and yellow page usage is way down. Here are some more reasons why internet search is better than the yellow pages and the reason why you need a landscaping website: COST. The yellow pages are not cheap. The last time I looked into it (a few years ago, it’s probably more now) they were asking $2500.00 dollars per month for a full page ad, and there are two yellow books in my city. That’s five thousand dollars a month, forever (or as long as you run your ad). What does your website cost you a month? Around seven to ten dollars, plus your domain renewal fee of around twenty bucks a year, and this brings us to another point – YOUR WEBSITE IS AN ASSEST.  Any time or money that you put into developing or ranking your landscaping website is an investment. Any money you pay the yellow pages is not. You own the domain (website name). It increases the value of your business. As someone who builds and sells websites to business owners, having a website that ranks in the top five search returns for a coveted keyword phrase is worth money. YOUR SALES PITCH. If you can afford a full page yellow page ad for your lawn care marketing, you can place a few photos on it. What you can place on your website is literally limitless. Videos, photos, customer testimonials, opt–ins for newsletters, instant chat, and more. You can also use that same multimedia for each keyword you are targeting. For instance, a brick paving page, a sprinkler page, a landscape lighting page. You get the idea. To succeed in 2011 you need two things: lawnmaintenance software and a website. Still, none of that will help you if no one sees your website. Showing you how to gain search engine visibility is what this website is all about. If you want some free videos that will tell you exactly what you need to do to rank your lawn care business website. Just fill in the form to grow your lawn care business.

Lawn Care Business

Lawn Care Business is a post from: Lawn Service