Marketing your business

tanglehorn

tanglehorn

Going into my third year of business, I am starting to ponder other more expensive ways of marketing. I never knew it was so much to get a baby half in the yellow pages, or an arm and a leg to get a website optimized. Anyway I am just wondering ways that you guys market. Effective over cheap, Although alot of the times the cheapest ways are the best and hardest to do.

So far i have business cards, matchbooks, signs on my truck and chipper. I'm working on getting a website which i would also like input on if anyone has the want to help me out.


thanks in advance,


Mick
 
mick I have a web site that I designed through yahoo, still needs some work but not expensive at all. It work check it out steve go to ....southcountytreeservice.com
laugh.gif
 
We all know how important it is to seek a qualified arborist for tree advice.

In addition to asking how other tree companies have done it, my advice is find someone who is a professional in marketing. It is worth it.

Remember: having a website isn't about brag'n about the largest or most techical tree removal. It isn't about brag'n about the matching shirts. It isn't even to brag about our credentials...

Having a website is about being relevant to search engines to find you and present you to your target demographic.

In a nut shell--To generate a click, then a conversion (phone call).

I see crappy websites that do nothing to land them conversions.

I also see very fancy websites that do nothing to land them conversions as well.

Hit up Volume Up Marketing if you want to be effective online.

I digress...
smirk.gif
 
Get your name out in your community by:

Volunteering at local school, church etc. This gets you into bulletins, newsletters, etc.

Send stories to local media for print. ISA has a lot of ready-made stuff on their website, and...

Powerpoints too, for giving talks to local garden clubs, etc.
 
those are all great points! marketing is not the same as advertising, marketing is creating an image and in tree care that image should be that you are the guy the customer wants to hire because your image shows a professional company that will do the job correctly in a safe and efficent manner..show a little of everything that you do not just the glitter. use pictures and words to get your point across.IMO... good luck
 
There is also a way to setup your (already present) listing on google so that it becomes owner verified. Its free and you can then edit what you want google to present to possible searchers
 
Depends how big you want to be. If you are happy as a owner, operator, small operation you should be able to make it on referrals. To encourage this give every customer 3 or more business cards, and ask them to distribute them. That ought to do it. These are the customers you want anyway. They already trust you and are happy to have you. The yellow pages or website calls can be a waste of time.
 
A consideration will be your market area. If your marketing covers 1000 square miles of residences, and your service area is 100 sq. mi. you will spend a lot of time answering calls/ emails from people you don't want so much.

One simple thing that you might be able to do would be to have a professionally made sign posted near your base of operations. A bit of money up front, and a bit of money for "rent". Get the hometown crowd that reduces your time and money investments.


As your new contacts how they got your number. Record and quantify to see what is working for your business, and what isn't.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Going into my third year of business, I am starting to ponder other more expensive ways of marketing. I never knew it was so much to get a baby half in the yellow pages, or an arm and a leg to get a website optimized. Anyway I am just wondering ways that you guys market. Effective over cheap, Although alot of the times the cheapest ways are the best and hardest to do.


[/ QUOTE ]

Arm and a leg? What's an arm and a leg to you, like $2000?

Because if you just have a few pages and need it optimized, it should be more like a matter of hundreds. But hopefully under a thousand.

There is also a difference between optimizing snd promoting. I think that promotion of a website (online) is a more difficult and expensive task. Optimizing is relatively simple, although somewhat precise.



cool.gif
 
hey thanks all.

lots of good advice and MD it was priced to me at around 75 bucks a month for optimization if your bundled with the 200 or more a month yellow page ad. and thats not including the 40 or 50 a month for the site..


the phone book guy was selling position and under tree service in my area if you want position you have to buy a baby half for 200 a month that puts me around 4th position. a full half puts me in first for like 230 a month.

now i need to figure out if i even want those calls.

i think marketing the old fashioned way of shaking hands is the best bet for alot but you only are meeting people so much. the phone book could bring in more customers which is what im trying to do.
 
During big storms, with a lot of electrical lines out, you don't have internet access, as much. Something to think about if your are trying to cash in on storm work.

I really don't want to run around town bidding jobs far from home when traffic is a mess from storms. IF I can get the local business within 5-7 miles of home, I'll be happy as a catholic clam in the woods (is that how the expression goes??).



4'x8'
P1050545-Copy-1-1.jpg


We will see how this works over time. I put it in the ground in July. $200 for the sign. $50 in materials, maybe $30 payroll, plus a little of my time.

I found a spot in front of a business near my house (on Steamboat Island Peninsula) at the highway entrance (not really visible from the highway itself) for $65/ month for "rent". I know a guy that pays $100/ month for slightly smaller vinyl banners at busier intersections in town.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom