Lawn Care Business Marketing Tips - GopherHaul Blog

Matt: “I have been in the lawn care business for 6 months. The advertising I am doing is lettering on my truck, sign on back of trailer, business cards, and newspaper ads. So far I have about 20 customers. A family member owns a company in FL and started with a push mower and advanced [...]

Getting your foot in the door is an important step when you are marketing to commercial clients but how should you go about doing this?
Greg: “I need some help in get some commercial accounts. I have one only because one of my customers has a storage place. How do I get my name to others [...]

There are lawn care businesses that like to market their cheap price as their greatest strength. This tends to happen with newer businesses than those who have been around for a while. Being the cheapest lawn care service around is one of the fastest ways to go out of business and we will see why [...]

Here is a novel idea. What if you offered a home owner property safety inspection?
Consider these old axioms: “People buy from people they like.” and “Fear motivates most purchasing.”
You could walk a property, explain how certain bushes need to be trimmed or maybe re-landscaped. How you would suggest new landscape lighting for the nighttime.
I bet [...]

I liked this post because it focused on the difficulties new start up lawn care business owners find while trying to get their first few customers.
David: “What are some good ideas to hook some new customers???
I have put up flyers at all the local stores, businesses and put them on car windshields in parking lots. [...]

Gerald got this discussion started by sharing with us what he was planning on doing to promote his lawn care business and was interested in some more off the wall marketing ideas he could experiment with.
Gerald: “Hey I am just starting out and am looking at different ideas to help me advertise and market my [...]

This is a great question that was posted on the Gopher Forum. It stands to reason if you see a home with an over grown lawn, they would be in need of a lawn care service. Let’s look more at this question and see what we find.
Gerald: “Hey guys I am new to the business [...]

There are many ways you can advertise your lawn care business. Should you consider renting a billboard?
Keith: “What experience does your company have with billboard advertising?
I have seen no less than 3 of these full-sized billboards around my city lately.”
Steve: “I have heard others who have experimented with this form of advertising and they didn’t [...]

Becky joined up on the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum and shared with us some of her insight into the power of word of mouth marketing.

Becky: “Hi everyone. My husband has been in the lawn care business for 13 years, I’ve been helping him for 4 and this year is gonna be great! We [...]

This was a really creative marketing idea Chuck was kind enough to share with us. Maybe this will inspire you to look for synergy with local companies in your area.
Chuck: “So because my business is less that a year old this winter I only had enough work to keep me busy 3 days a week [...]

This is a very interesting idea. Creating a coupon book that can be used at different times throughout the year.
Daniel: “Here’s another “hot” strategy to increase the amount that each customer spends in your lawn business.
Create a coupon book. Put whatever amount of coupons you like within it each offering a deal or discount tied [...]

Our friend Brandon was on the forum sharing with us some of the photographs he has taken. He is a real enthusiast when it comes to taking pictures. As with almost any personal interest, it can be harness to gain you attention to help promote your lawn care business. This was my view on how [...]

This is a trap many many lawn care businesses fall into. When they first get started, they tend to be one man operations and because they spend most of their day mowing lawns, they are not answering their business phone. As we will see, it is very important you have all your business calls forwarded [...]

I thought this business card discussion was very interesting and I thank James for sharing with us some us his insights. He posted his new business cards and they didn’t have a person’s name on them, unlike most normal business cards. I asked James why and got some great insight from him that you might [...]

If you are looking for more add-on services to market to your commercial clients, consider offering the services Rodman did.

Rodman: “Hey everyone I have been very busy I have not had much time to come to the Gopher Forum. I have some how gotten myself into new aspect of lawn Care. As a lot [...]

This is a great discussion I wanted to share with you about hiring lawn care employees form this post at the Gopher Lawn Care Forum.

Steve: “What is tougher, hiring your first employee or having to hire and manage a second crew?
Which was the bigger jump for you, do you feel?
A lot of small business owners [...]

If you are a lawn care service business, team up with a company that provides landscaping services or tree services. Find a company that is complimentary but doesn’t perform the same services as you do. Then work together to pool your marketing resources and reach out to more people.
That is exactly what our friend [...]

How long should a commercial mower last? This is a very good and important question when you are considering buying one. Here is a great discussion from the Gopher Lawn Care Forum that I wanted to share with you on this topic.
TNT: “I’m in my 3rd season as a lawn care professional. I have around [...]

This is such a great discussion on the ins and outs of using mailing lists, I just had to include this discussion. Keith: “Chestin, In a previous thread, you spoke a bit about lists.
I am genuinely interested in this subject. Properly marketing a list is an art, I know.
I want to tap your knowledge on [...]

Tom shared with us his marketing ideas for early Spring. In a post at the Gopher Lawn Care Forum He said “know your target market and let them know of services coming up for any given season well in advance. For example I plan to start advertising color change out and irrigation start ups in [...]

Fuel costs are going through the roof for lawn care business owners and some are trying to figure out what to do to cover those costs. This was a great post made in the Gopher Lawn Care Forum that I had to share with you.
One forum member posted “fuel is part of operating expenses, and [...]

I thought this was a great flyer Julian shared with us that he is using to promote his lawn care business.

I thought this was a creative marketing idea. A business who makes foot oder shoe inserts sponsored a stinky sneaker contest and it did a lot of media attention because it was different and unique.
It’s fascinating because it’s like a contest opposite to what the business stands for. The business is about making [...]

Bob from plan-itgraphics.com shared with us his insight in how best to utilize postcards in your lawn care business marketing. He not only runs a marketing business for lawn care business owners, he also runs a lawn care business, so he has learned from years of experience.

Bob: “The other day I had a customer [...]

Most communities have local parades. Why not do what Rich did and take your mower out and pull a small trailer of wagon to promote your lawn care business.
Rich posted these photos of his parade pictures on the Gopher Forum.
When I asked him about being in the parade he said:
“Being in the parade has help [...]

Most area have local events like home shows where vendors can get together to promote their products or services for the home. If you really want to be a hit at the home shows, consider these marketing ideas.
Justin wrote “I got a letter in the mail from the local municipal office and I was wondering [...]

My latest lawn care business book is available on amazon and here

The GopherHaul Lawn Care Marketing & Landscaping Business Show Episode Guide.
The most asked lawn care and landscaping business questions answered by professional entrepreneurs.

Are you in the planning stages of starting a lawn care or landscaping business or operate one and want to know [...]

This question comes to us from Jon of Legacy Lawn Care. Thanks for your question Jon!
Question: How do you suggest expanding from one two-man crew to more?
Answer: The jump from a one two-man crew to more crews can be a challenge. Consider these points as you think about making that move.
1) Take a close look [...]