I’ll get straight to the point here! The 2 marketing tools that really suck are:

1. some telephone directories (to avoid any litigation I won’t mention the colour) -what’s wrong is the big flashy ads don’t use good copywriting and the poor contractors pay thousands for a dud ad.

2. expensive websites with crap SEO – same again except there are way too many web designers that know zero when it comes to marketing, copywriting and SEO

There, I’ve said it, and it’s all true!

Just a quick diversion from our 101 Tips series!

Today I want to talk about 6 really effective Marketing Tools that bring in customers by the truck load!

These 6 marketing tools are:

1. flyers with good copy

2. vehicle signage

3. a well constructed and crafted website  with good SEO (search engine optimisation) and with good copy

4. well designed business cards

5. a great USP and good copywriting

6. a well designed system of generating solid referrals

Next time I am going out on a limb to tell you the marketing failures that really suck! I’m going to name and shame the things to stay right away from!!!

101 Tips continued:

21. Have controls and mechanisms in place so you can see what is happening at any time in the business – this refers to systems, so if you want to see how many quotes (and conversion rates etc) you are doing in a week then you can quickly find this information

22. Learn to delegate, but also teach your employees about effective prioritisation - this is a good point! The only way you can delegate is by teaching your staff to do all their jobs properly and in a systematic way. This takes patience but pays dividends in the long run. Regarding prioritisation, I guess this applies to your senior staff, say managers etc.

23. Relax, treat the business like a game, and you will think better - This relaxing attitude comes with time, especially after you install and implement systems in your business.

24 Give your business a full health check at least once a year – just like we all should go for the annual health check – to make sure everything is working properly. In the same way we can give the business a once over each year. I think this applies really well to your marketing strategy. Each year you should see what works and what doesn’t in your marketing. Get rid of the marketing deadwood so to speak!

25. Analyse what you already know because what you assume you knew may have changed – what can I say. yes I agree with this. Don’t assume anything, keep asking questions and seek answers.

101 Tips continued:

16. The more people you you hire, the greater the potential headaches, yet the greater the potential gain. Balance your objectives – No Pain, No Gain is the cliche! However, if you put in place good systems you should be able to train up staff to be productive in your business without too many headaches.

17. Employ positive people – this goes without saying.

18. Avoid negative people – ditto the last tip. At all cost avoid hanging around negative people, they just suck the life-blood out of you, and you will find it hard to be creative in your own business.

19. Respect your employees. Value their work and praise them when they do a good job – this is really important, we all need to recognise positive results with positive reinforcement.

20. Never assume you are right. Before you criticise ask for the facts. It’s amazing how often you will be wrong in assuming the worse of people rather than the best- my brother-in-law often says, “It is better to be nice, than right!” In other words, you don’t have to have the last say or always have to correct people or always have to be right, rather, just be agreeable and you will get on just fine. Also, get the facts first before tearing someone apart!

What are your thoughts? Can you add any good ideas to the tips? If so, please leave a comment.

101 Tips continued:

Note: Just a reminder that this list of tips I found in a big cleanup in my office has been collecting dust for years. Some of these tips are sort of not related to us, nevertheless, we can get some mileage out of them…hence I will see how they can relate to us anyway!

11. Concentrate on your voice control & volume to improve your professional impact- another mmmm! Look, I do agree with this, however, the sort of presentation you will be doing in front of your lawn mowing and gardening customers will be in the form of asking questions and taking notes. If you have had any experience with acting (as I have, and here is the proof - look for my name, Gerry Faehrmann, at the bottom of the linked page) you will understand the importance of voice control and volume. However, I think we can relax a bit on this point for now.

12. Buy a nice suit, spend the extra money. It is worth it- this is quite comical…well, we are contractors / tradies after all. Okay, we are not going to buy an Armani suit, but it is really important, that if you want to project a professional image, then you need to have a uniform that looks the part

13. Be professional in your customers’ eyes at all times. As soon as you relax you lose the sale and their respect – one thing I have learnt from Business Coaches and from my own experience is as soon as you have given your quote (and told the customer that if they decide to go ahead you will have the job completed within 7 days) you say your courteous goodbye and leave immediately. Contractors that hang around for a chat do not project a “I am very busy” attitude.

14. Work backwards. Start off with how much you want to earn, and then work backwards to the amount of activity that you need to implement to generate the desired revenue – this is standard when you are writing your business plan…always start with what you want to earn for 52 weeks (be adventurous as well!), and break this down to weekly and monthly figures. Then you can work out how you go about getting the weekly targets with the different marketing tactics etc.

15. Think profit, not sales – this is so true…your business plan needs to take into account the dollar quality of jobs you take on. Please don’t sell yourself short. The “Zero To A Hundred K in 30 Days” Blueprint demonstrates this with the Fixed Price quoting system.

What do you think of my commentary? All I am trying to achieve here is to add my take (that is, my experience and knowledge) to the different tips that somebody else wrote years ago.

101 Tips continued:

6. If an order comes in by mail or over the fax or phone, don’t process it, try and generate more business and upsell it – the message here is like at McDonalds where they take your order, and always they ask you “Would you like fries with that?”.

7. Concentrate on your positioning and angles of campaigns and spend less time on fancy artwork – this is so true…if you don’t have a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) then don’t waste your money on fancy (and ill-thought through) flyers that won’t bring in any business anyway!

8. Send a newsletter that tells your customers that you are interested in their needs – this is so easily done in the gardening related industry. You can write a short letter or newsletter to your customers about different gardening topics depending on the month of the year or the season. This newsletter can be via email or snail mail.

9. Keeping your customers informed of what you are doing –  let your customers know what you are doing – personalise your business, tell them when you are going on holidays, what equipment you have bought for the business, etc

10. Develop an action plan, and action it! – your plan of action only needs to be a few lines, just make sure you start implementing your ideas, that is, create a list of things to do and start ticking them off!

start making those little 1% changes to your business each week…and you will have a thriving business in no time

I’ll get straight into it.

In a big Office De-Clutter session I had recently I found this list of “101 Tips to Improve Your Business” in a handout I got from a seminar years ago. I will para-phrase them 5 at a time for the next 10 or so weeks.

In that time “The Zero To A Hundred K in 30 Days” Blueprint should be launched.

Here goes:

1. Always look at ways to increase the Dollar Value of each sale - this is a no-brainer! If you were to increase the price of all your Lawnmowing jobs by $5 or whatever, you increase your sales by X%, and decrease your exertion effort by the same amount.

2. Always ask prospects “How did you hear about us?” when they enquire about your Landscaping Services – this is really important as over time (using a spreadsheet for this data) you will see patterns emerge, and it will be obvious where to spend your advertising dollars.

3. Practice your presentation in the mirror- mmm, I don’t know about this one. Anyway, the point with this tip is that you will have to follow some sort of scripted spiel when you are pitching your services to prospects. In my Lawn Green business, I have set spiels for answering the phone, giving a quote, handling price objections etc.

4. After you have done a presentation always ask your colleagues, “How could I improve?” – I guess for contractors like us in the Lawn Mowing and Gardening Industry this may not really apply, but certainly get outside opinions on your telephone scripts etc.

5. A Pat on the Back for work well done is priceless – this goes without saying, but I will say something anyway. Positive reinforcement is a great tool in recognising good work done. As a general rule, always thanks your staff for their efforts.

That’s it for now, I will be back in the next few days with the next 5 tips on improving your business.

My challenge to you is to examine briefly each of these tips and how they can apply to you. Remember, if you can make little 1% changes to your business each week, you will have a thriving business in no time.

Learn all You need to Know about How To Build a $100,000 a year Lawn and Garden Business in 30 days and For Less than $300

Just a quick note to say that we are working hard to releasing this important Blueprint soon.

 Why is this Blueprint important?

Well, the way I feel about it is, if someone had told me 25 years ago (when I first started out) all the stuff I needed to know to be successful in the Lawnmowing and Gardening Business than I would have been a whole lot happier financially, emotionally, mentally and so on.

The “Zero To A Hundred K in 30 Days” Blueprint is a report based on:

1. over 19 years of industry experience
2. ideas and marketing knowledge shared with other successful contractors
3. marketing knowledge developed from experience, attending lots of seminars, reading copious marketing and business books, and
4. 3 years part-time of formal university study resulting in a Masters Of Business Administration from Macquarie University (in Sydney, Australia)

The Core Business Model of The “Zero To A Hundred K In 30 Days” Blueprint takes into account the following 7 factors:

1. you can hit the ground running with less than $300 in advertising costs
2. you can create a pipe-line of jobs just like Turning On A Tap
3. you are motivated for success
4. your competition is minimal
5. you will charge more for your service than you thought possible
6. you will under promise and over deliver
7. you get out of bed early each day, that is, You won’t be sleeping in!

The Blueprint report also explores the following:

1. the core Business Model and why it’s a go-er – that is, How To Implement The Strategy Successfully
2. Forecasting For Success
3. 6 Long-Term Business Strategies that support the core Business Model
4. 4 Business Strategies that I Do Not Recommend, and the reasons Why
5. and much much more ( the report is around 30 pages of solid information)

The Blueprint report will be ready for release in early 2010.

So to be 1 of the first to read The Blueprint, please make a Comment (and leave your email address), or alternately, hit the Grab The Content Feed (RSS) button on top Right Hand corner of the is page.

Thanks again for calling by. I will resume writing my regular weekly post next week.

Here is another 10 mistakes made by Contractors Starting their own Lawn Mowing and Gardening Business:

1. Collecting and Bagging Grass Clippings:  If you can, mulch the lawn clippings back into the lawn. If not, make sure the customer agrees to you disposing of the clippings in their green waste bin or compost heap.

2. Not getting Paid for any extras and add-ons: Don’t be the hero and do extras for customers without them paying. Be sure to have an agreement in place (verbal or written) that says charges will apply for any additional work completed.

3. Not having Clear Goals for the different Seaons: In the Australian climate we have distinctly different seasons. The warmer season is around 6 months long, and a sort of slow period in the winter. Once you recognise the seasonal patterns, you can plan your work and set goals for the year.

4. Inadequate Experience in the business: This is easily rectified by starting off small, and starting in the easier part of the business. By Small, I mean just do as much as you have to without compromising on Quality & Workmanship. By Starting in the Easier Part of the Business, I mean lawn mowing. As you go along, you will accumulate experience with the more challenging Gardening side of things.

5. Quitting job security too soon: There is a lot to be said for planning, planning and planning. Then quit the old job!

6. Launching yourself into the business without a business plan: This is taken care of by subscribing to The “Zero To A Hundred K in 30 Days” Blueprint. This Blueprint is effectively a Business Plan that shows You how to build a $100,000 a year Lawn & Garden Business in 30 Days, and for less than $300. The Blueprint will “hit the shelves” so to speak in the next month or so.

7. Inadequate Cash Flow, or in other words ”running out of money”:

8. Partnerships: Why bother with partnerships, unless the partnershiop is with your wife! Just work on your own with help from subbies and employees.

9. Lack of selling and marketing know-how: Goes without saying!

10. Expanding too rapidl: This alos ties in with Cash Flow issues, subbies etc.

Here are some things contractors often get wrong when they start out:

1. Working by the Hour: Once you commit yourself to working for customers on an hourly rate then in their eyes you are not worth anymore than that hourly rate. Working by the hour kills any chance to make serious money.  Always quote a fixed price for jobs. $20 for this lawn, $40 for that one, $980 for the list of gardening tasks – get the picture

2. Inefficiencies: Slow machines and clumsy, inefficient operations hinder your chances of making serious money. Even though it will cost in the beginning, be sure to have the best equipment for the job at hand

3. Bad Attitude: Get rid of the bad attitude! Customers can pick you a mile away. Some contractors (young and old) regard customers as old fogies or as easy targets to be ripped off.  Big Mistake! You’ll make loads more money by cultivating respectful, friendly relationships with your customers

4. Unreliability: Nothing infuriates and upsets customers faster than erratic and unreliable service. On occasions you may fall behind in your roster of work, but keep the customers informed and “in the loop”

5. Arbitrary Price Increases: Sudden price hikes also infuriate customers. You can raise prices, but only with a spirit of friendly negotiation

6. Poor Quality Work: Sloppy work is another good way to lose customers. You’re a professional, so your customers’ lawns should look as good as or better than any in the neighbourhood

7. Big Spending: Buying a bunch of fancy stuff up front – brand new truck, brand new trailer, etc, brand new ride on mowers, tools and so on  – is a big mistake. Buy things only as they are needed and as the business has the actual cash flow to pay for them

8. Executive Mowing: This is that wonderful scheme where you send out the troops to do the grunt work while you sit home by the pool sipping on cocktails.  This one belongs in your “Maybe someday” file.  For beginners it’s usually fatal.

9. Homeowner Machines: Most of us start with machines designed for homeowners. That’s fine if you start out with Dad’s old mower etc, but buying more of the same when the Dad’s old mower blows up is another big mistake. Only acquire machinery with Commercial warranty

10. Hiring “Under the Table” workers: This is a giant mistake.  If you’re going to classify your workers as “subcontractors”, make sure they qualify. Check these details with your accountant