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  David Beasley Garden Design February 7, 2010 at 11:21am

  Hi Kevin
  
  I had my first ever set of flyers designed by a graphic designer friend of mine (+ stationary etc. as a return favour for laying him a simple patio!). He was a seasoned user of printing.com and we used one of their offers and got 10,000 A6 flyers printed up for about £180.
  
  The flyers were full-colour, double-sided and printed on good quality card. I even used the option to have 'perforated cards' and had a 'tear off' business card and discount voucher intergrated into the design.
  
  The flyers looked great and worked a treat (before the recession) and I had calls over a year after delivering them from Clients who had kept them because they stood out from the crowd!
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  Kevin Nichol February 7, 2010 at 8:55pm

  Thanks for the reply.
  Never thought about the landscapers leaflet being like a take away menu flyer! Good reply.
  
  What should i be listing in the flyers and what sucsses rates can you expect for say every 1000 leaflets at this time of yeat
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  Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com February 7, 2010 at 9:46pm

  Don't drop the leaflets in bad weather!!
  
  We noticed a remarkable increase in response rates between when we 'dropped' on rainy or even cloudy days and when we delivered them on bright and sunny days! If you monitor closely enough you might also notice (as we have) that we receive more emails and phonecalls when the sun is splitting the sky than any other occasion! Trust me you'll get a much better return this way and it works regardless of the season (although obviously less enquiries in winter than in spring).
  
  I agree about the quality of the leaflet as well - if it is designed and produced to appeal to more discerning clientele then you will achieve a better response rate.
  
  Good luck!
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  Keith Barker February 7, 2010 at 11:19pm

  I think it's easy to put too much information on a leaflet - the longer it takes to read, the more likely it is to end up in the recycling.
  
  When we do leafleting the main aim is sometimes to promote an offer, but always to drive traffic to the web site. There clients can read about what we do in much greater detail than we could ever fit on to a leaflet.
  
  Make sure the quality of the leaflets reflect your company and where you sit in your local market. I'd suggest a black and white photocopy on flimsy 80g paper sets you, in the eyes of your potential client, at the cheap end of the market; a full colour double-sided postcard on 300g board sets you higher. Personalised mailings maybe even higher than that.
  
  In other words, make the medium fit the message. My old boss used to say - imagine you see a hand painted sign next to a hedgerow saying "Farm Fresh Eggs Here". Now imagine the same sign saying "Aeroplane Rides Here". Which would you give your business to?
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  Claire Brown February 8, 2010 at 12:40pm

  I use printing.com as well, - good colour works wonders. - I agree with the other comments, - do the same roads 3 times at 2 week intervals.
  
  Be choosy, - look for the roads locally where you'd like to work, - don't bother wasting your time on houses which are likley to be rented / have students.
  
  I have found the end of the week works wonders - do your flyering on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning (yes in good weather is best) then when they look out in the garden at the weekend and think "that needs doing" they will have your flyer in their hand.
  
  but most importantly Always follow up any calls - if someone leaves you a message and you get back to them and you get an answerphone, - leave a cheery message, but don't presume they will get back to you again, - if you want the business phone them again a day later. (at a different time of day) - i've found that if you wait more than a day to get back to them, they may have phoned the people with the next flyer that comes through the door.
  
  hope that helps - over the next few weeks is the best time of year to be flyering.
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  Rachel Mathews SGD February 8, 2010 at 1:58pm

  As the others have said - if the quality is good and it doesn't look like a typical leaflet drop then it will more likely get looked at.
  
  I used to only drop mine around newish estates, approx 6 months after people had moved in - got a good success rate with those. If your market is for maintenance as well then older gardens will be a better choice. Also having a good website where people can find out more information helps with conversions to sales.
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  alan mcmillan February 8, 2010 at 6:54pm

  I thought Sundays would be a good time to deliver as very little traffic through the letter box, so more likely to read it.
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  alan mcmillan February 8, 2010 at 7:03pm

  Is that 100 people that will offer you some work, or is it 100 people that give you a call?
  
  Karl Harrison said:

  success 1% usually!
  
  first drop goes in the bin
  
  second drop they might notice some of it
  
  third time , mmm I think I've seen this before
  
  phone rings, etc
  
  If you do this bi-weekly you should get some success.
  
  If you use your flyer to develop a relationship with your client rather than "cheap cheap buy it now blah" you will stand more chance.
  
  Offer a simple statement of fact dressed up as latest news....this will make you more believable
  
  cheers
  Karl
  
  Kevin Nichol said:

  Thanks for the reply.
  Never thought about the landscapers leaflet being like a take away menu flyer! Good reply.
  
  What should i be listing in the flyers and what sucsses rates can you expect for say every 1000 leaflets at this time of yeat
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  Kevin Nichol February 8, 2010 at 7:12pm

  How do you mean make a nuisance of yourself with the local parish council and companies Steve?
  
  Steve Kenyon The Garden Company said:

  best way make a nuisance of yourself with parish councils local companies etc ! the leaflet thing is really a waste of time , people think , why as he dropped a leaflet through my door !!! lookin for work , is he any good cause he lookin for work ! thats what goes around ! we have a local mag here , and some of the gardeners are in 52 weeks a years why ??? because there hopeless , if they are good they would soon build up regular work , no need to advertise 52 weeks a year etc , but starting off just place an ad in your local , and take it month by month etc
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  Kevin Nichol February 9, 2010 at 5:16pm

  Hi again,
  
  just sorted out the art work for the leaflets. Got a great deal with printing .com , 5000 double sided gloss colour leaflets on 300g a5 paper for £100.
  
  Now just need to decide on a where and when to do my first mail shot. I was think of doing it may 500 at a time in one area then may be again in two weeks time. then perhaps try a new area.