The Blog of Justin Marks

One more truck, Five more yards, and Six more weeks until Mowing Season starts!

2011-02-20T10:43:00.000-08:00

Two Guys and a Mower Update:

This door to door knocking continues to pay off! A lot of people are scared to do the door to door scene...but if you can simply put that fear aside and plant the seed with your client directly...you're more then likely to get more favorable results because the client then knows not only what they are about to get...but when...and who they will be receiving the service from.

With all success stories comes the failure that precedes that success. If you constantly visualize what it is you are wanting in your business, you will only succeed. If you visualize the fear and risk associated with starting your business....You will notice those aspects more and more.

We managed to get a new truck! This was the only piece of equipment that we didn't have a back up on so we found it crucial to have one. It wasn't necessarily in the budget but considering we are only 6 weeks away from mowing our first yard...it had to be done.

2011-02-13T02:15:00.000-08:00

Two Guys and a Mower Update:

Incredible news! We are up to 17 yards thus far! It's amazing how fast a business can grow if you can simply take a little time and effort and apply it toward the marketing. I only handed out around 100 fliers this week but in the process of doing so knocked on around 100 doors. Face to Face contact is EXTREMELY important when starting a business. Everybody hands out fliers....nobody cares about them anymore. People inherently want to do what you tell them...and when you tell them about how important it is to have your service...they will listen and consider it every single time! Not only do we currently have 17 yards...but we have at least another 4 coming because of the door knocking.

So remember to:

1. Face to Face Contact will bring in better results then lame ol' fliers!
2. Always follow up with your future potential clients!

When doors don't open for you.....simply find another door!

2011-02-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

Two Guys and a Mower Update:

It's the small and simple things that can make or break a business...and when you're at your starting point you want to efficiently make all of the right decisions that put you in the right direction to most effectively grow your business as quickly as possible!

This week we purchased our final piece of equipment that we needed...the oh so awesome HRC 216 Honda Commercial Grade Mower! We currently own 2 of these mowers which is great for a few reasons: 1. They are $1,200 dollar mowers and the best in the industry 2. We got both of them for less then $800 dollars through constantly searching Craigslist.com, and 3. They are extremely durable and made to last years and and years at a time! So my advice when buying equipment for your business....don't waste your time by purchasing inadequate equipment and always look around for the best deal!

We've started the marketing process for growing this business and acquiring more clients. Thus far this year we have handed out around 800 fliers and as of yesterday I went and knocked on some doors! Now do know that I did this with 12 inches of melting snow on the grass! Strangely...through simply knocking on doors I managed to get two new weekly clients and two new bi-weekly clients. The end result of this will be thousands of dollars of residual income all by simply taking two hours out of my day and knocking on some doors. When people would turn me away...instead of dwelling on the rejection...I would just focus on getting to the next door! And getting to that next door in the long run had a greater outcome then that of giving up when rejection was there.

If you're interested in saving some money.....

I just did my taxes recently and have six $20 dollar off coupons for getting taxes done with Jackson Hewitt Tax Service. If you want one let me know and I'll mail you a coupon in the mail!

Email me at: pestmarketing@gmail.com

Slow and Steady wins the race.

2011-01-30T10:39:00.000-08:00

Two Guys and a Mower Update:

We had a great week compared to last weeks minor disasters! We started off the week with 0 clients and now have 9 weekly/bi-weekly clients who want their lawn maintained starting April 4, 2011. We passed out around 500 fliers this week to different areas around town and we put 3 new tires on our trailer! What a great week! The week wouldn't have been successful if we hadn't been persistent and dedicated with our business.

I'm not feeling up to par today so I want to apologize for the blog not being up to par as well. I will do better next week!

Thanks

Bad Business Week! ! !

2011-01-23T08:32:00.000-08:00

Two Guys and and a Mower Update:

Originally this business week started off great! It wasn't 5 minutes after I posted last weeks blog that we received a call from someone who had responded to one of our craigslist ads saying they wanted a pretty decent sized landscaping job done. We gave them two different quotes and they went with the higher bid because they wanted more landscaping done then average.

We went to our shop and loaded up the trailer and all of our equipment, drove to Home Depot and rented a piece of equipment we were missing....and started driving a little bit more when out of no where one of the tires on the trailer EXPLODED! I guess you can say that was kind of surprising. Luckily there was a tire place less then a mile away so we went there and fixed the tire for a little over $100 dollars! It was definitely a bummer to have to be $100 dollars out already when were were heading over to a $265 dollar landscaping job....but crap happens and being prepared for that crap is important...so we just went to the job like nothing happened!

We did about 80% of the job and decided to finish the rest of it the next day for timing reasons! After we dropped all of the equipment off and we were almost home...the truck broke down! ! ! What a BUMMER! I called my mechanic and he had a towing truck there within 30 minutes. To put a long story short...a few days later it cost me $252 dollars to fix. We used the 20% we have been setting aside for the business to fix the problem and the remaining that I owed was significantly lower!

SO the next day I loaded two back pack blowers, two weedeaters, and about 18 fifty five gallon trash bags into my Mitsubishi Lrv Expo and drove to the job to finish it up! We finished it after about 4 more hours of work!

The lesson this week is to always be prepared! Don't expect disasters...but if one occurs roll with the punches and do what you have to do to eliminate the problem as smoothly as possible.

On a positive note ...I am meeting with the person in charge of marketing and advertising for the "Oklahoma Gazette" on Monday. This magazine goes out to 55,000 people all of whom are in the area I want to mow! I'm hoping to be able to post some small ads in this magazine to boost business!

Water Only 365 Update:

Water and Business Update!

2011-01-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

This week has been a great week for both the Water Only 365 project and my business! I'm going straight to the updates:
Water Only 365 Update:

Since January 6, 2011...I have been determined to follow through with my objectives of Water Only January/365. As far as the water goes...I'm not having any problems at all...but my main problem with this project is in the food. It's so easy to pick up a delicious snickers bar and eat what's tasty rather then what's healthy. So I'm working on a diet plan this week that should help push me a little bit out of my comfort zone and further my progress in a healthier life.

Two Guys and a Mower Update:

This week was a great week for business all around! We passed out 400 fliers to home in the area, did a $175 dollar clean up job of someones property (which only took 2 hours), spent $700 dollars on a trailer (which we used for the clean up job), AND FINALLY..............opened up a small business checking account for the business!

What a great week all around! We had someone write us a check to "Two Guys and a Mower"! If you've thought of an idea for extra income and you're having some success to the point where you're making thousands of extra dollars....I am going to highly suggest that you open a free business checking account with your local bank. This will be the best way to track your expenses that will allow you the security blanket of knowing that Uncle Sam isn't going to be angry with you when Tax Season comes around.

Website of the Week:

Helium.com is a site for those that enjoy writing articles and essays or even poetry. If you haven't checked this site out...please go to helium.com today and give it a go. Not only do you have the opportunity to enter writing competitions with different members of the writing community, but you also can make a little extra money while doing so. Even when you don't enter competitions...the site is designed to give you small amounts of money for the writing that you do write. When people read your articles/essays and click on the advertisements, you get a few cents here and there from the people who click on your ads. You have a better chance at making more money though if you enter the competitions. Check helium.com out and let me know what you think.

New Blog will be up next Sunday like always! Thanks for reading and contributing!

-Justin

Save your money in 2011 while listening to some music and losing weight!

2011-01-09T04:02:00.000-08:00

Would you like to have financial freedom?

Some of the biggest Multi-Billion dollar conglomerates in the world survive off of the smallest amount of money that you are required to offer........only 10%! ! ! ! I'm referring to the churches and synagogues you go to on your days of worship. You have to wonder....if you're willing to give 10% to your place of worship to build the church up and make the church stronger...why not do the same for yourself to build you up and make YOU stronger!?

With 2011 rolling right along, I've decided to implement a new savings experiment of putting 10% of my money aside and not touching it at all until 2012. I'm going to recommend you all do this as well as it will help you build a small savings and develop self discipline with your financial management.

Website of the Week

Grooveshark.com - This site is just incredible. I saw this site on one of my friends facebook walls and I was immediately in love with it when I tried it out. Click on Grooveshark.com and type any musician you are interested in listening to and bada bing bada boom....the music is there! Definitely a good site for when you're away from your Itunes library on someone elses computer and you want to listen to music you like. Check out the site and if you like it tell your friends.

Two Guys and a Mower Update:

Nothing has really changed other then the fact that we have handed a few of the fliers out to some of the locals of Oklahoma City and some of our co-workers and friends. We plan on passing fliers full throttle starting February 1st whether there is rain or shine! We are still looking around for a trailer but even so we are moving right along!

Water Only 365

I've started a channel on youtube centered around improving my health and the health of my subscribers. I started off the year at 222 pounds and would like to drop my weight significantly throughout the year so I'm logging my progress on my channel.

My two objectives with this channel are to number 1, Drink Water for the month of January and number 2, Don't eat Fast food. Please follow the channel to watch me make progress throughout the year!

The next blog will be posted next Sunday! This blog was short, sweet, and to the point.

Mark Zuckerberg: Person of the year, Positivity, and Lessons Learned!

2010-12-19T01:43:00.000-08:00

Does anyone know what happened February 4, 2004? A random Harvard undergrad decided to create one of the most influential and world renown online social networks ever to exist from day one of the creation of the internet......FACEBOOK. This man I speak of is 26 year old multi BILLIONAIRE Mark Zuckerberg.

In a recent addition of Time Magazine, Mr. Zuckerberg was named "Person of the year" for his outstanding success at creating a better way for people to communicate and advertise. I find it incredible that a random nobody out of nowhere become an incredible somebody with such amazing influence. The point of me talking about him today is because I think it's time that we all start to focus on what our potential is. Often times we get caught up in what we are not good at...what we can't do because of some personal weakness...or all the things we dislike about ourselves. Success has no bounds for anyone who puts forth an effort...so.....will you? ?

What do I need to be happy?

We all only have 100 years to live if we are lucky enough to live a full and healthy life. So what really matters? Is it the fast car? The amount of money in your bank? The number of business you own or your influence in the community? I say NO! One can't simply be happy by having all of these things...for true happiness lies within. I know I like business and I know I like the idea of having millions and millions of dollars and such...but ultimately it is not my number one reason for doing anything in life. I realize that money is just paper and can be gone in an instant so I've come to realize that friendships and acquiring a purpose are good reasons to be happy. One of my good friends introduced me to an incredible band called, "Animal Collective". They sing a song called "My girls". The main singer is talking about his daughter and his wife and how he doesn't need all of those material possessions of the world. I like this because this band has a pretty big following and lots of success all over the world...yet he wants to live humbly with his family. This is what I want as well I've realized. I want to be financially stable with my businesses and investments...yet live humbly as well. I'm putting a link to the song I was telling you about. Go listen to it here and enjoy!

Two Guys and a Mower- Update
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We went ahead and purchased 5,000 high gloss post card fliers with full front and back color for the business. I am so excited to hand them out to everyone and see what kind of reaction we get out of these! I will try to get you a picture of the flier the next time I post!

Other then that all we need to be a fully operational business is to by a landscaping trailer and one more commercial mower. Back up pieces of equipment are very important!

Stock Market- Update
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I'm going to two things here....one...I lost a lot of money this week.....and two....it doesn't scare me. :) I will post a new update when I transition myself out of the mess I'm currently in!

Thanks for reading! I hope you like the efforts I'm putting toward this blog. Email me if you have different ideas!

pestmarketing@gmail.com

P.S. I will not be posting again until after the 5th of January! I will be on vacation. Have a great holiday! :)

Echo Equipment and Whispers from Wallstreet!

2010-12-12T02:16:00.001-08:00

Two Guys and a Mower
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Since we last discussed my landscaping company...we've made so much progress on getting everything we need to really get started on next season! I spent an additional $1,600 on lawn equipment and around $200 on some marketing proofs. The progress we are making is truly incredible and I have to say I am quite invigorated about seeing what the results might be of all of this hard work a year from now!

In buying the equipment....I had two different brands to buy from. Each brand had its benefits but ultimately I decided that the best thing to do from a business perspective is to have some kind of uniformity. So we will be sporting Echo equipment this year. The Echo brand is really slick and looks really nice and professional. We bought the following equipment:

1. Two back pack blowers-$399 a piece
2. Two edgers- $219 a piece
3. One weedeater- $329
4. One honda mower- $400

All of the equipment listed above is commercial grade with 5 year warranty's! We are super stoked and have already mowed a yard and did a leaf job for a client with the new equipment!......and it's freaking DECEMBER! I sure do love Oklahoma! :)

Stock Market Update:
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Well let me tell you a thing or two about my week in the stock market. I was somewhat smart and dumb about all of my buys and sells this week. Last week I put $1,200 in my Scottrade account to invest with. I decided to start off the week with purchasing $1,200 dollars worth of the stock I mentioned to you last week....GRYO! I saw that it dipped to a low of .1277.....it was the lowest I'd seen it in a while so I thought it would only go up...my goal with it was to buy it at that rate and sell it at .18 by Friday.....well...things didn't exactly go as planned! :( I woke up the next day and saw that the stock had already dropped and I had lost several hundred dollars! I quickly freaked out and sold the stock thinking that the best thing to do would be rebound back into a better stock and try to recover the few hundred I lost. So I sold the stock and had just under $1,000 left from the initial $1,200. I invested the rest of it into a stock I've been watching for almost a year now called BIEL....and as expected it went up and I gained some of my money back! :) Everything seemed peachy keen until...............

.........................I went stupidly wrong! I'm hoping I will teach you all a very important lesson! I sold out of BIEL on a wim and followed a random email I got about a stock that was supposed to move big time (LBGE). I invested into it at .11 cents and bada bing bada boom...it's sitting at .07 right now.! ! ! I lost almost $500 dollars within hours of investing and I'm stuck in a pickle where if I sell out of it I'll just lose my money! !

So...Stock Market advice for today is don't invest into any stock you see advertised in a bulk email unless you have spent an adequate amount of time researching the pro's and con's of investing in the stock. There are several SEVERAL companies out there that are designed specifically to move the stock market. They send hundreds of thousands of emails out promoting a stock just because the company they are promoting paid them a large sum of money to do so. It is a requirement by federal law for the bulk email stock promoters to disclose to it's readers the amount of money they were compensated to promote the stock. If you ever get an email like the one I'm discussing today...read the fine print at the bottom and you will see.

Other then all of that...it's 4:54 on a Sunday Morning and I'm exhausted out of my mind. I hope you all are enjoying my little blog and I hope you guys are able to learn from successes and failures. For those of you who don't know...I have a goal of being a multi-millionaire. I know I am capable of doing this and it excites me to think about. I am accepting of the fact that I will lose lots of money along the way to having an overwhelmingly awesome amount of money :)

Take it easy and thanks for reading.

-Justin

2010-12-05T02:17:00.000-08:00

Tuesday wasn't a very exciting day for me in the stock market. I decided very spontaneously to sell 17,374 shares of BIEL...(Bioelectronics Corporation) and buy 333 shares of GRYO (Gryphon Resources Incorporated). I'm not really certain with as to if I actually regret this decision or not. I bought GRYO at .30 cents a share...and it hopped up and down throughout the day from .16 cents a share all the way back up to .21 cents a share. Definitely not the original .30 I bought it at but oh well...you live you learn.

Two Guys and a Mower is moving right along. If you are friends with me on facebook you know that I bought a $1,249 dollar commercial grade mower for the price of $400! What a bargain! I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a deal to go to craigslist.com and look around in the for sale section. I once bought an 88 key keyboard piano from someone for $300.. turned around 2 weeks later and posted the exact same ad I found to buy the piano...and sold the keyboard for $375. It was the easiest $75 dollars I have ever made and I was able to enjoy the use of the piano while I was waiting to sell it! :)

In other business news...we purchased ledgers, invoice books, calenders, and an address book to keep track of clients and expenses throughout the upcoming year. We recently assessed what it is that we need to get this business rollin' and it comes down to 10,000 fliers for marketing and a few more vital pieces of equipment! We are very excited to finally start making money for ourselves rather then some boss some place.

I had a fun money making opportunity on Thursday ! I bought a 1990 Honda Civic with 81,000 miles on it and sold it in the same day for $1,500 dollars. There were some pro's and con's to the sale though! ! ! Pro's were I bought a 20 year old car and sold it for 500 more then I bought it. The con's were I sold it to a person and set up a payment plan. So even though I am making a 500 dollar gain...I'm getting that money over a certain amount of time. Oh well.. Money is money is money is money.

Other then that...not a lot happened in the personal life department this week. Just work mostly. I am going to Ohio on the 21st of this month for a 15 day vacation. That should be interesting!

I'm looking for suggestions on landscaping business ideas so please send me a message via facebook or email if have any ideas! My email is wemowyouryard@gmail.com.

Thanks

New blog post starting Sunday! ! ! !

2010-11-30T02:39:00.000-08:00

I've decided to really start to take pride in myself a little bit more these days! I started this blog up in October of last year and haven't done anything with it since. So starting Sunday, I will be posting a weekly blog discussing different life and business ventures I've taken on. I'm extraordinarily happy about this...so if you have any tips or anything...please fill free to follow me or shoot me an email!

Thanks guys!

-Justin