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http://www.gopherforum.com - Where your phone number should appear in your lawn care website.

You would think by the title of this article, the story below would be so simple you didn’t even have to read   more...it but that is certainly not the case. Most lawn care business owners don’t put much time into where their phone number should appear. Just ask yourself where does your phone number appear? One of our forum members had some great information to share in this post at the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum.

He said You want your phone number PROMINENTLY displayed. You want to make sure you edit your html meta tag description to include your phone number first so your search engine listing will display your lawn care business like this.

http://www.your-lawn-care-business.com - 111-222-3333 Joe’s lawn care blah blah blah blah blah lawn care in Your City blah blah blah blah blah ….

For those that don’t know, I asked him what is the importance of having your phone number in that location? Why is it so important?

He responded by saying Let’s say you lawn care services in Somewhere, Arkansas.

Your would want to make your web TITLE to read Somewhere Arkansas Lawn Care Service

Your DESCRIPTION would be (assuming this is your website name):

http://www.SomewhereLawnCare.com 111-222-3333 Somewhere Arkansas lawn care? We are the lawn service leaders in Somewhere Arkansas. We specialize in landscaping, lawn care, landscape lighting and sprinkler systems in the Somewhere Arkansas area.

The phone number will show up in the link desciption on the search engine (depending on the link.)

Meaning they may not even visit your site first, because they found what they want, a phone number.

The easier you make it to have people contact you, the more contacts you will get.

This is great information and I do hope this gets you thinking on how to alter your lawn care business website to display your phone number and contact information.

Marketing your lawn care business only with lawn care business cards?

Brandon wrote Well these last few weeks I have been completely covered with work. I have picked up several new yard accounts, plus 6 tree removal jobs at about $700 each (average). I have picked up 3 brush clearing jobs. One at $600, one at $1,900, and another at $4,250.

That is great news! Can you give us your advice on how you stay busy? What should other lawn care business owners be doing or thinking about in order to get back on track? Especially if they recently got started?

Brandon replied “Well, Most of my work comes from repeat business and referrals. Most of my new business comes from craigslist. I have never spent any money on advertising, except business cards. I have a theory that once you start paying for advertising, you will need to keep paying to keep the work flow coming, so I’ve tried to avoid it from day one.

I would suggest just putting yourself out there, and never turn down an opportunity to talk about work with someone. I have started up conversations with MANY people about what I do, and the next thing I knew I was giving a bid to them, or someone they knew.

So I guess, talk, talk, talk, and put yourself out there. Let everyone know what you are doing, and don’t be afraid to ask someone if they need something done. A lot of the same things you have been saying on the forum.  less

http://www.gopherforum.com Which lawn care business logo would you choose?

At first glance, you would think choosing a lawn care business logo would be easy. Just pick the one that for whatever reason,   more...stands out to you. Maybe the color, maybe the boldness, maybe the way it looks on your truck. But as we will see in this discussion there is more to choosing a lawn care business logo than just those issues.

Lawn guy wrote on the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum opinions please, there is one lawn care business logo I like the best but I want to get a general opinion on this thanks.

Tom wrote I like the smiley face logo one the best. The smiling face says Im confident and want to be a friend of the customer. You will be as happy with the results as I am producing them.

Lawn guy responded I like that one also. I live in a very rural country area were everyone is kind of scared/shy of big businesses so I think it kinda shows a home town feel too. I am not exactly sure why, but its just different. Its more personal and associated rather than an industrial or high tech style logo. Does that make any sense?

Tom: It does to me! Seek friendship and indicate your desire to help solve their problems.

I like the idea as well. I do feel it conveys friendliness and fun. It makes me think the owner would be approachable and easy to work with. You could have business cards that say Steve The Lawn Guy. And then you could become known in your area as the lawn guy. You could make promotional videos that teach viewers about lawns and lawn care. The more you become the go to guy for lawns the more you will be able to sell your lawn care services!

Great points everyone and I am very glad to see how much thought goes into choosing the best lawn care business logo for your area. If you would like to join in on this discussion further, visit the post at the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum.

Top voted lawn care equipment.

Spring is in the air and many lawn care businesses are looking to buy new lawn care equipment. But before you go out and buy it, check the Gopher Forum equipment review section. There you can review what equipment other lawn care business owners are using. What they recommend and what they wont buy again. You can also see a listing of deals on new and used lawn mowers, line trimmers, leaf blowers plus many other categories.

Lets take a look at a pie chart that shows the voting for lawn mowers. As you can see, the top three lawn mowers voted by the members of the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum are the Exmark Lazer Z, the Walker Model MT and Toros model 74901. Consider these mowers when you are looking to equip your lawn care business.

Next up is the most voted for line trimmers. The top models chosen are the Echo SRM 2305, the Stihl FS90R, and the Tanaka TBC 225. Make sure you get on the Gopher Forum to submit your vote and product reviews of your favorite lawn care equipment.

Last but not least is the most voted for back pack leaf blowers. The most voted for leaf blower is the Husqvarna 150BT. That model is followed up by the Stihl BR 550. Lastly the Troy Bilt 269580 blower wraps up the top 3 list.

Many reasons can effect why a leaf blower, line trimmer or mower make the top of the list. It could be price, durability or functionality. Each one of these products seem to have just what the members of the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum were looking for to help keep their lawn care businesses running at full speed.

Remember your vote counts, so get on the Gopher Forum today and tell us which equipment you liked and which you didnt!

If you are in need of free lawn care marketing material for your lawn care business, please visit our site at http://www.gophersoftware.com. We have hundreds of free lawn care logo, flyer, door hanger and web templates you can download and use for your lawn care business. We also have free lawn care business contracts, estimate and proposal forms. Download our trial v  less

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http://www.gopherforum.com Here is a really interesting question that was posted on the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum. One of our friends wrote in and he had this idea for his new lawn care business   more...name. His name is Brian S. and he was asking “What do you guys think about naming the business B.S. Lawn Care???? They happen to be my initials, do you think this would be a bad name or a good one cause people would remember it????”

Another lawn care business owner responded by saying “that is a good question…it may be catchy at first. But if you mess up one lawn or upset someone it may backfire and become a joke. Here is a motto for you, B.S. Lawn Care - The only manure is in our Triple Mix!!!”

Brian then wrote “The marketing tag lines for B.S. Lawn care would make for a good marketing angle. I was thinking about putting something at the bottom of advertisements,signs and card “Owned and Operated by Brian S.” Maybe they would put the to together and be like Ohhhhhhh.”

You know self deprecating humor can really be funny. If you went this route I would probably play it up and use it to your advantage because it would catch people’s eye and get them talking which is so important.
You could say maybe B.S. Lawn Care
In case you were wondering, The B.S. stands for Brian Smith.Then maybe work this image somewhere on your truck as a joke to make people smile and talk about you. Or maybe even use it on your shirt or in a logo. Oh my gosh that would be a riot.

Would this work? Who knows. But I gotta say it certainly would stand out and get people talking. You could go with other motto’s as well like these.
Tired of all the bull?
Try the company that’s No Bull!
or
B.S. Lawn Care.
(picture)
The company that is NO BULL!

Brian responded “That t-shirt is great, I showed it to my wife and she loved it. I’m really thinking of going with that name. I posted the same question on another site to see what people thought. Some thought it was good others thought it would be offensive, I don’t think they had a sense of humor. I think I might run with the idea of the no bull S*** sign as a logo. Thanks for the great idea if you or anyone else thinks of anything let me know.”

My take is most people just don’t want to stand out. That is why most simply choose to work at a job. When you want to stand out a little, you might start your own business but it probably won’t be that successful. So then what happens is the majority of businesses are trying to fit into the predefined roles and categories they see others are in.Then ultimately no one stands out.

Once in a while you will get a wildman out there who just goes for it and does something different but more often than not people are afraid to stand out and be different. To me this is different. I can’t say how the general public will handle this and that’s why it just might work. Remember without risk, there is no reward.
It kind makes me think of how Wendy’s had created the ‘where’s the beef’ ad campaign and it really took them from behind a plain jane fast food restaurant to the a whole new level. It got people talking and got people thinking. There was huge buzz about it. There were t-shirts made of the old lady saying ‘where’s the beef?’

I say go for it but keep in mind I like craziness and zaniness.
Another member wrote “At first I thought B.S. In the name would be a bad idea! But the T-Shirt idea is great! The name at the bottom takes all negative aspects away.”
So with all of this, what do you think? Do you like it or dislike it? Let me know or get on the forum and tell all of us.

If you are in need of free lawn care marketing material for your lawn care business, please visit our site at http://www.gophersoftware.com. We have hundreds of free lawn care logo, flyer, door hanger and web templates you can download and use for your lawn care business. We also have free lawn care business contracts, estimate and proposal forms. Download our trial version of Goph  less

http://www.gopherforum.com “Back in the days when you were starting your lawn care business, did you encounter the ‘Why would I hire you if you’re so new?’ dilemma?

I’d like to have some way of spinning   more...that question into a positive if and when that should arise.”

That’s the question asked to us by Scott, a new lawn care business owner on the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum.

Without a doubt some lawn care customers, if they sense you are new, will try and screw with you. They will try and push you around on a lot of things such as price and how much work they want you to do. Just be wary of this.

How do you spin it? Well I would say two things off the top of my head. Reliability and affordability. You would be amazed at how many start up lawn care businesses are just not reliable. Show them you are reliable and you will win their trust.

Believe in yourself. You can do this.

Andy shared that he “never had a lawn care customer ask. The key to starting out is to look and act big. If you do this, you will actually believe you are big and everything will fall into place. It does take some cash to get there however it pays off big time to have professional looking shirts & pants as well as lettered vehicles and trailers. If something needs a little paint to look great then personally we do it. All the equipment is washed at the end of the day, no exception, even the mowers, they always look new and clients like that.”

Keith added ” I think everyone’s been in that situation. Many newbie lawn care business owners fall into the trap of lowering their prices to attract customers. In my opinion, lowering your price is a big mistake. Your customers will expect your prices to remain low and will resist when you try to raise them. Besides that, you’re simply selling yourself short when you should be making good money.

Instead, arm yourself with knowledge. Obtain the ability to discuss problems with their yards.

Now, you’re new and you don’t have the experience and knowledge to diagnose a wide range of problems. Instead, pick one or two problem areas that are common to all your prospects. If everyone in your area has shrubbery beds, become a source of information on proper pruning. Learn all you can about proper mulch application. If everyone has clover in their yards, learn proper mowing techniques which will reduce clover production and discuss those solutions with your prospects.

Never seek customers from a position of desperation (i.e. - “I’m new, please let me cut your lawn”). Do the opposite by making them need you more than you need them. If you know more than just how to run a lawn mower over their grass, and you can demonstrate that knowledge to your customers, you will quickly build a roster of profitable customers.”

Joe shared “if you have ever cut the lawns for family and friends, I would suggest you should take pictures of the jobs you have done and made a small photo album, you could show potential lawn care customers the work you have already done and that can take away the tag that you have been a “Professional Lawn Care Specialist” for a short time. Use it to your advantage when this question comes up. Take some before and after shots. Be BIG and believe in Yourself. Walk the Walk.”

Stick to your landscaping bid or pass?

When you are out and about giving new landscaping estimates to customers, when should you stick with your bid price and when should you pass the job on to someone else? This is a great topic and it was brought up on the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum by our friend Tom. He wrote “I have a question regarding a mulch quote. I went to home of someone getting several quotes on a mulch job yesterday. I was told the industry standard for quoting is about $100.00 per yard. The mulch job was for 9 yards of mulch (he also wants all his beds edged). Given my costs of $24 per yard plus delivery plus an extra worker. $290.20 mulch plus delivery then the extra worker $135. Total cos  less

http://www.gopherforum.com If you haven't started your business yet, what are you waiting for? If you don't start your business this year, you'll be at least one year older when you do so get started   more...today.

In today's episode of GOpherHaul I will be talking about, How much do you charge to perform lawn care service? This has got to be one of the most common questions I have seen appear on the GopherHaul Lawn Care Business Forum. It is a very important question too. If you dont know how much the average lawn care business owner is charging for standard services like lawn mowing, gutter cleaning, leaf cleanup, or snow plowing, how will you know if your prices are competitive? How will you know if your lawn care prices are too low? Maybe they are too high and that is why you arent landing enough bids.


One of our forum members wrote Hey guys. I was wondering what everyone was charging. Your normal hourly rate and your minimum charge for cutting grass. Also what city and state your located in. I want to start a poll that way we can all compare and help each other out.

This got me thinking, hey why not set up a form where everyone can jump in and compare their prices and potentially with others even in your geographic area. So that is what I did. Check this out. Compare your lawn care prices at http://www.gopherforum.com

Now it is easier than ever before to compare what you are charging with other lawn care business owners in your area. This is a very powerful GopherHaul Lawn Care Business Web Tool so learn from it and let others know about it as well. Stop trying to compete with low-ballers. Show them they need to raise their prices so everyone makes more money.


I set up another new page to allow you to rate your lawn care equipment and see how others rate their lawn care equipment. This should help us all grow, especially when we are looking to upgrade and buy new mowers, trimmers or leaf blowers. Are you happy with your current outdoor power equipment or has it let you down? We want to know!


Often on discussions at the GopherHaul Lawn Care Business Forum, we talk about outdoor power equipment. Lawn care business owners are constantly looking to see how they can become more productive and profitable with their lawn care business. As we have seen, increasing your productivity is key to becoming more profitable but just which lawn mower, trimmers or leaf blowers are worth purchasing?

You can find all this information out now by using my Rate your lawn care equipment website. Enter your lawn care equipment and tell us what you like or dont like about it and see what others have said about the lawn care equipment they are using. Its a fantastic way to get real world answers for real world lawn care business questions.

If you are in need of free lawn care marketing material for your lawn care business, please visit our site at http://www.gophersoftware.com. We have hundreds of free lawn care logo, flyer, door hanger and web templates you can download and use for your lawn care business. We also have free lawn care business contracts, estimate and proposal forms. Download our trial version of Gopher Lawn Care Business Software. Gopher will help your lawn care business schedule and invoice more customers in less time, allowing you more time to grow or enjoy your life. Check out my lawn care business blog at http://www.lawnchat.com and my lawn care business forum at http://www.gopherforum.com  less

http://www.gopherforum.com - Are you finding it difficult to collect on your overdue lawn care business accounts? Are your lawn care customers holding off on paying? This article should help you with   more...some tips and tricks on how to collect payments.

Gary got on the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum and asked last year was my first year running my lawn care business. I made it through the whole season with only one lawn care client failing to pay. Now that the end of the season is here, I have several (previously prompt paying) customers who have failed to pay their final bill. Is this something out of the ordinary or is it common around the holiday season?

Frank: This happens to me all the time. Last season I had a property manager owe me $1,500.00 and it took him until Feb to finally pay. And as of now I still have some past due accounts but it is just normal and I know that after a few mailings or a phone call it will finally trickle in. The holidays, the economy and peoples ignorance are most likely the causes. Just remember it and either dont work for them next season or just accept the fact they are late payers and you definitely have to keep on them!

Steve: What kinds of things should a lawn care business owner do to get those bills paid that are lagging from last season and how long should they wait before they take further steps?

Frank: Well this is what I do. First send the lawn care customer a copy of your invoice with Past Due stamped on it. If you hear nothing after a few weeks then you go to a letter and remember to include you Past Due invoice (that Past Due really scares people its very powerful so always remember to make that stamp BOLD). If this doesnt work you go to a phone call or stop by the house. Be persistent, thats the key people will get so sick of seeing your face of seeing invoices in the mail that they will pay to get it over with. People are either forgetful or ignorant, sometimes the original gets lost in the mail and they pay by the second notice sometimes they dont have the money and are embarrassed but eventually do get you the money.

Read more about this discussion at my lawn care business blog at http://lawnchat.com/?p=396 or visit the GopherHaul Forum http://www.gopherforum.com/showthread... We have the largest collection of FREE lawn care marketing material. Free logos, flyers, door hangers, web templates and contracts.
Also download a free 30 day trial of GopherLawn Care Business Software from http://www.gophersoftware.com  less

http://www.gopherforum.com Have you ever wanted to make your own animated banner ad to promote your lawn care or snow plowing services and found it difficult if not impossible to do so? Well here is a   more...simple online service that allows you to enter your lawn care business contact information and creates an animated banner quickly, easily and the best part for FREE!

Try out the lawn care business banner ad designer at http://www.gopherforum.com . The online lawn care banner ad creator allows you to choose a font, font color and position of your lawn care business contact information as you want it to appear within your animated banner ad.

You can also choose other types of banner ads to create. Such as a snow plow animated banner ad, a grub control banner, winterizing your lawn and landscape lighting.

Having a tough time designing a logo for your lawn care business? Try this new lawn care logo designer program. Its FREE to use!

Coming up with a logo design for your lawn care business can be a daunting challenge. Not everyone is artistically inclined or has the time to spend trying to create a logo. Well this new lawn care designer program is here to help.

What do you need to do to create your new lawn care business logo? Simply load up the GopherHaul Lawn Care Business Logo Designer you can find it at my blog http://www.lawnchat.com or the Gopher Forum at http://www.gopherforum.com then choose from hundreds of premade lawn care business logo background designs. Add your business name, choose the size, position and font. Then add your tag line and your phone number. Once you have your logo looking just the way you want it to, save the image to your computer and you are finished! Congratulations you have just created your own lawn care business logo without having to be artistic!

We all know the importance of having a logo and branding our business and this new web site allows you to harness that power. I have included a few lawn care logo examples I created using this tool from the GopherHaul lawn care business forum to help get you started with some ideas. I hope you like it and I hope it inspires you to create your own.

If you are in need of free lawn care marketing material for your lawn care business, please visit our site at http://www.gophersoftware.com. We have hundreds of free lawn care logo, flyer, door hanger and web templates you can download and use for your lawn care business. We also have free lawn care business contracts, estimate and proposal forms. Download our trial version of Gopher Lawn Care Business Software. Gopher will help your lawn care business schedule and invoice more customers in less time, allowing you more time to grow or enjoy your life. Check out my lawn care business blog at http://www.lawnchat.com and my lawn care business forum at http://www.gopherforum.com  less