At what point do you hire an agency?
I'm at the point in my business where I really need to not be doing stuff that I'm not good at and I have enough money to invest in different areas of the business to improve the operations. I'm actually rebranding as well so I'm changing our website then it got me thinking - My old website was good, I put a lot of work in to the back links, SEO optimizing it myself, but it does look a little DIY. I got to thinking, this would be a good time to do it correctly and potentially have a professional do it, and maybe I've been missing out on potential traffic because of the website. Has anyone hired an agency with success? What about failures? What things should I be thinking about when approaching this?
Marketing for a Growing Landscaping Company (When You’re Still Wearing All the Hats)
For those running small-to-mid size landscaping companies (especially maintenance-heavy businesses), how are you handling marketing as you grow? I’ve been managing ours in-house due to my convenient design background, but between operations and crew management it’s becoming unsustainable—especially when it comes to SEO and lead generation for higher-value projects (which I have less experience with) Are you outsourcing to a freelancer/agency, or hiring in-house? And at what point did that investment start to make sense for you? Do you have any recommendations for Canadian companies?Which social media platforms work best for marketing a local service business?
Managing partner here for Rene & Son's Landscaping, Inc. in Wheeling IL. Was just wondering and trying to get everyone's input on this. I'm 25 and when it comes to social media marketing I am kind of at a loss. Is Facebook still a thing that a lot of people use? I have FB but barely use it. I know older generations use Facebook but to what extent. Should I be focusing my marketing more toward Instagram or tik tok? I mean as we continue to move forward should our focus shift into different marketing trends. Should the focus be more on Google marketing or Yelp? Do people still use Yelp?You Get One Billboard.....
If you had one billboard for your business, just a few words seen by thousands of people every day, what would it say? The one message that really explains what you do best and why a customer should choose you over anyone else. Think about what makes your business different, what your best customers appreciate most, or what you wish people understood right away when they hear your name. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s answer!What to do when business gets slow?
What would you add? Here are 10 things you can do when business gets slow to help drive more business: Call past clients. Cheapest client to acquire but most overlooked. Send out monthly newsletters that have nothing to do with sales. Just connect. Relationships are the goal. Send out handwritten cards to past clients with a $5 Gift Card for coffee. Create raving fans who market your business for you! Hit the street. Get door hangers and go door to door. Get your team to join you! Double down on networking relationships. Schedule a meeting every day with a different referral partner. Don’t cut back on marketing. Cut down on other areas but never marketing. Double down on marketing when others are pulling back. Negotiate costs with vendors instead. See how partnerships could lower costs or help cover costs…for example providing co-branded marketing material. Be disciplined and active on social media and community pages. Low hanging fruit. Serve. Givers gain. Give your time, your expertise, and resources and it will come back to you. Communicate with your team. Let them know what they can do to help. Don’t suffer in silence…before it’s too late. Start a service contract that keeps you top of mind with your clients all year and generates reoccurring revenue. LEARN. IMPLEMENT. TAKE MASSIVE ACTION! 😎🤙🏼Should you use yourself as your model in your advertisement campaign?
I recently was looking into having some professional photos taken for my website and Google profile and was wondering.. Should I use myself as my "model" for the photos or look for a professional? I like the idea of using myself so people know who I am when I arrive at their home, but I admittedly don't look the best in pictures!4 Overlooked Sales & Marketing Techniques! *They all have to do with appearance.
I am posting this because it might be overlooked due to being pretty foundational but newer people to business might not know. If you are new to business, you are actually skilled at what you do, but business just isn't taking off, then read this. If you get offended easily, then don't continue. However, if you really want to grow and improve yourself, then read on. Appearance - This is going to take some serious ability to be self-aware and evaluate yourself for growth. Some people might not want to bring this up because "just do you" is a cultural norm now, but the reality is that people are going to judge your appearance before they ever hear a word you say. We might want to assume people will overlook appearance but they might not and we just have to understand that is a reality no matter how we feel about it. Here are a few things to consider: Professional Attire - If you are the owner of your business and you are trying to sell your services you shouldn't show up to sell the way you would to just any other casual occasion, or to do labor. Step it up. Wear nice shoes, slacks, and a collard shirt, or button up shirt. Make sure your clothes are neat, clean, and not a wrinkled mess with stains. Hygiene - Make sure you have decent hair cut and don't look like you just crawled out of bed. If you have beard make sure it is well groomed. Wear deodorant and make sure you smell nice. Make sure your breath smells good too. Keep gum or mints in your vehicle. Piercings & Tattoos - I personally hire guys/gals and I don't personally care about piercings or tattoos but our customers might. Just take that into consideration and make an attempt to cover them if you see that this could be a factor in certain sales situations. Weight/Personal Care - This one could get some hate but its just real. I'm not even 100% where I want to be with this one. Here is the reality... being healthy and in shape takes discipline. When you show up as someone who is in shape and not overweight it communicates something without using words. It communicates discipline. People want to hire people who are disciplined and do what they say they will. When you look good, then you don't even have to say you are a disciplined and consistent person because your presence communicates it. You will also show up into rooms with more confidence which will help tremendously when selling. Language - you may cuss like a sailor and that is fine. But when you are in a sales situation air on the side of caution and clean up your speech. Speak professionally and never bring up politics or religion. Vehicle - Make sure your vehicles are clean and organized. I don't care what you say. People will judge you based on your vehicle. That is just the culture we live in. I'm not saying you have to polish your work truck but make sure it is clean and organized. If you have papers covering your dash board, fast food that is a month old shoved in the dash, and bottle, cans, and other trash falling out of the floor board when you open the door, then do better. Have a place for your tools and equipment and keep them clean and organized on your vehicle. Website - Your website is going to make a big impression on your customers. How you do one thing is how you do everything to your clients. If your website is unprofessional, messy, unorganized, and confusing then your clients might think that you are all those things. Take time, or money to invest into having a nice website. Social Media - If you are not present on social media (personally or professionally) and posting professional looking content, then you are communicating something to your client. You could be communicating that you aren't active, you aren't truly professional, or if your content is low quality...clients might view you as being cheap or low quality. Business Practices - This is such a simple concept. Have professional business practices and standards. Answer your phone. Show up when you say you will. Do what you say you will do. Be organized and clean. You can ignore all of these little things if you think they aren't important but I can promise you if you are letting your offense of any of these things keep you from doing them, or giving them attention then that is probably part of why you aren't growing. I promise you that companies that are growing and doing big things take all of these things into consideration and constantly try to improve them. Make excuses for yourself, or start making changes. This is all part of your brand. You want a better brand, then make yourself better. Raise the standard. Always be improving and evaluating. Make it easy to refer your business because your professional standards are so high and seen by all that make contact with you. Never get complacent and satisfied always find ways to improve. When you do this be ready for the new opportunities that will come your way!Why should I wrap my business vehicle?
Home service pros with vehicle wraps ➡️ Do you have any tips or advice? What are the pros and cons you've experienced? Pros that don't have theirs wrapped ➡️ What’s been holding you back from getting your vehicle wrapped? Is it cost, design ideas, or something else? Got a pic of your wrap? Share them in the comments for bonus points! 📸
