what to spend?

[Abbershay]

Recently i have moved , i am now the new guy. In my old area i never even had to advertise, but now i find myself having to do something.


i look at the yellow pages and the costs are huge , it just seems like a huge gamble and waste of money. i tried the most popular news paper this was completely worthless , only calls i got were guys looking for a job.

I see some of these guys spending huge amounts of money for yellow page ads . pages of services. can anyone tell me if these huge yellow page ads are worth it?

I thought about some radio ads but they wont work until i am in the phone book.

 

[TreeJunkie]

My 2 cents; Good radio advertising will be very comparablly priced to yellow page advertising.
Personnally I think radio advertisement should be left to be done until you have already established a name around town.

Go w/ good signage on your trucks. Also most importantly, get your name out there via word of mouth. Make some good solid contacts around town. Once your name gets out that you do great work you won't have a great need for advertisement.

Up until a month and a half ago i worked for a company whose gross sales ranged from 600k-850k. This much business was all done w/ only a one liner in the yellow pages. Proof that time and good work can establish a good clientle.

 

[NeTree]

the problem with the yellows is... you won't be in there until they publish the next printing. So consider how far off that may be.

Radio would provide instant results; but remember your target audience is homeowners, not juvenile delinquents; station selection will be vital.

I've had great success with yellows and the local circular.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Less is more with the yellow pages, and you outta be in em. It shows you're not fly by night. Business card size, or a tad bigger.

 

[Tree Machine]

Just an idea; Write your own ad in a neighborhood newsletter. Find a neighborhood you want to work in, and offer to take out an ad, or write a story about a cat rescue or something entertaining. post something like that in a local animal clinic, or where people have to wait; auto repair, oil change shop, tire store, local pub, the list is extensive with creativity

I'm fortunate enough to not have to drive all over town, which is a huge plus for me. To accomplish this, find a couple adjacent neighborhoods you want to work in, and make yourself visible. First, get a job. I find laying out tarps in my drop zone is like having a giant neon flag that shouts, "I do quality work, I care about your property" or something like that. People often make comment that they stopped because 'it looks like you care' (which you do). Who'da thunk a beaten tarp as a form of advertising, but ya know.....

Smile. Be engaging from a distance. One job gets you the next, and so on. You know how it works. Once you've got 4 jobs booked in an area, and you're around, you'll get more jobs by virtue of just being out there. Amp up your overall level of quality, good news travels fast.

You'll do fine. What does your business card look like. This is more important than you know. Post it. We'll suss it up for you.

 

[Abbershay]

yellow pages can cost thousands and there are pages of services. it seems you cant get past paying them.

the more i look at it it seems like theres more money in advertising than working on trees.

i really like radio however people cant remember a number .

 

[Stumper]

Abbey, I'm guessing that you are in a big market since the YP are so costly. Going door to door can get discouraging but if you have the ability to take the "rejection " of a lot of "no thank you"s you can get some biz that way. One of your best immediate options would be to call at local nurseries.-IF you can talk to the right person there and make a good impression they can send a ton of work your way.

 

[ORclimber]

Just counted 35 YP adds in phone book of 130,000? here. Sold a few jobs from $100 mo radio add. Maybe my adds suck, but word of mouth and repeats has been where it's at. Contract climbing saved my bacon first 1.5 years. A few early landscape maintenance connections helped and keep helping. Busier than a monkey trying to F a rope now. Getting started sucks. Hope it goes well for you.

 

[Abbershay]

thinking about spaming with door hangers? it seems in my new area that is the most effective because people are used to it.

 

[a_lopa]

i spent $600 last year on yellow pgs,this year i spent 3k its only just been worth it IMO. saying that i think bigger clients when looking for 3 qoutes will chose the bigger ads,but from there you have to win the work to make it pay,its a double sided coin.

 

[wiley_p]

In this area a yellow page ad can cause alot of dead proposals you wind up "bidding" against alot of different companies many of which are way out of their element and often way cheap. Ours is often a craftsman industry and it can get difficult when you are trying to find a way to offer the lowest price possible in order to land the job when you know who else a submitted. Door knocking does eliminate that but its not for everyone myself included.

 

[jkrueger]

Originally posted by Abbershay
thinking about spaming with door hangers? it seems in my new area that is the most effective because people are used to it.

Door adds can help, and put some ISA pamphlets with them about the need of correct tree care.

Get involved with your city tree projects. Speak out on proper care. Where ever you go ingage in conversation and you can move it to trees and the work you do. Talk 'excelence' in tree care not how good you are.

Get on local public TV programs that are about anything green.

After doing some of this I began to get calls from clients that said, "We've had all the big tree companies here and we like what you say, you talk about our trees needs and your interest in them. We want you to do the job.". Boy, when that started to happen it was great.

Remember it is about the trees and you are there to demonstrate that. Not how much iron, experience, or who you have on staff.

Jack

 

[begleytree]

How about calling some of the established landscapers and lawn services? Folks usually ask them about trees, some attempt small jobs, but refer out the ones you want anyway.
May be a scratch my back thing, some I pay 10% of the job to them if I get it, some will refer you just to have an answer for when the homeowner asks.
I work with quite a few different guys around here local. It gets you out there and gets you work. At least until the phone book comes out again.

Another couple of things I did getting started that worked were:
Go through all the bank drive thrus you can. ask for deposit slips or something, but pull the generic pen out of the tube and replace it with yours. Go back in a few days, it'll be gone. Leave a few on the counter inside.

Dont forget about mailings. I hate junk mail too, but it does work. You can pick what zip code to mail to, to avoid paying to stuff apt boxes.

Just a thought.
-Ralph

 

[Nickrosis]

Or write your own newsletter like I do. 4 times a year. (3.2 mb download).

 

[Toddppm]

Yellow pages are a must. Go BIG. Don't get lost in the small ads.
Until then, mailer ads like like ValPak or similar work pretty good. Shoppers or not, the more proposals you do the more work you'l get.

 

[fattyphatcakes]

I think the newsletter is a good idea, I'm doing something similar in a community newsletter (cheap). I think that Abbershay's problem is that he doesn't have a customer list (or like myself he has a very short list). I suppose you could always buy a mailing list of residents with high incomes, or high property values. But that won't bring the responce that a list of past customers will.

Knocking on door sucks, but has gotten me work nearly every time I've done it, and probably 50% of those have resulted in a referral.

 

[Nickrosis]

Good, Mike.

You can also get YARD SIGNS. And use them.

 

[DDM]

Drop a Tree on a House Or cause a major traffic jam That will get you in the news !
LMAO




I just had too...... Sorry