Looking For Promotional Ideas For Lawn Care Business.

[bodaggin]

I started a company doing snow removal and want to rapidly expand into Lawn Cutting this summer. As with snow removal, I want to gain customers and offer them incentive to make the switch to my company, but it needs to be more strategic than that.

Customers that are within close proximity to each other, for either snow removal or lawn cutting, are HIGHLY profitable, because it reduces travel time and equipment loading. With this said, I want to incentivize referrals of next door neighbors. I want to make it REALLLY enticing.

I already do straight up referral fees, and offered a draw for a season of free snow removal last year and they worked well. But I would like to expand on that, and get CREATIVE with some new ways to entice people to encourage their neighbors to sign up.

I am looking for your creative genius now!

Thanks!

[The Diamond Pen]

"Double the neighbors, double the savings."

For example: Get one neighbor to sign, get $10 off. Get TWO to sign up, get $30 off ($10 for the first, $20 [double!] for the second). Get THREE neighbors, get $10 plus $30 plus $60 (regular, double, the double-the-double) off. Make it valid per street or block or something. I'm sure tossing in $100 discount is worth the two extra houses on the same street. Right?

[bodaggin]

Great catch. I like it, good flowing tagline too. And you're absolutely right, $100 would be worth it, and it would cause a bit of competition among neighbors too, and definitely create a buzz.

Thank you Diamond pen, I like this idea!

[iAmNameLess]

I have a few businesses and ultimately, I am a marketing consultant with full fledge services.

I would recommend a variety of methods, and you can EASILY have a full schedule of work if you follow this.

Door to Door Sales, canvassing. Best way to get to know people and get sales locked up. Drop off a flyer, or brochure.

Get a website.. So many people destined themselves for failure by not getting a website.

MARKET YOUR WEBSITE! Find a business consultant that knows a lot about internet marketing, and SEO. I get clients ranked all the time for their location and occupation. If you were located in San Diego, you can rank for keywords like San Diego Lawn Care.

Citation building, get listed on sites like Yelp, merchantcircle, and related directories.

Direct mailing - works for commercial accounts, especially with lawn care. Go to manta to find business information.

[bizmaverick]

Great idea Diamond Pen. Of course bodaggin, you need to get the campaign down the neighborhood. So start spreading the news using ads, flyers brochures, etc. And oh,if you wish to get a cheaper publicity, then post an ad on the newspaper.

Good luck!

[The Diamond Pen]

By the way, don't underestimate craigslist as an advertising tool. It's free, takes just a few minutes a week, and gets TONS of traffic.

[chinlee]

I would say use everything you can, Facebook, Craigslist, websites, and maybe even Twitter(once you get past the spam). But that may be great and all you still can't forget about the offline marketing because that is where you will get most of your customers from.

[bizmaverick]

hmmmm... I'm not sure if you have been advised about getting into home and gardening shows but I think you should try it. You can look for the nearest and soonest home and gardening shows then you can register for a small slot and choose a strategic location where you can place your booth.

You should dress your booth creatively and bring lots of leaflets, business cards and the likes. My aunt tried joining H & G shows to boost her gardening business and her sales really went up! You can join these shows as often as you want to meet more clients and boost up your popularity. Besides, the registration fee is just a penny compared to the dollars you will be raking in!

Aside from that, maximizing the social media wouldn't hurt. All the best to your endeavors!

[ilovemedia]

Work more on the referral program. Entice referrers to refer more. I agree with The Diamond Pen.

[ReganP]

Since you're focusing on local and will likely be promoting your services in person have you thought about giveaways? It's great to drop of a brochure or flyer, but if you leave something for them to use they will have a better chance of remembering you.

You could do things related to your industry like water bottles with your logo. Or, you could just do any useful item just personalized, like a flash drive with a tagline or your logo on the front that might display a coupon or customer testimonials when people plug it in. For more information on the flash drive idea click here.

Do you have some sort of customer loyalty program in place to keep people using your services, like every fourth session is 50% off or something? If their neighbors see your truck regularly they'll likely start asking who does their lawn and what your rates are. If your customers are happy they'll spread the word without you even asking them to!