Hi everyone.
I wanted to introduce myself, explain how I believe I can add a bit of help to the forum (even though I am not a landscape gardener) and gather some genuine feedback from gardeners around the country in the process.
I'm Mike, and have been involved in advertising and marketing for 23 years. Three years ago, I took an enormous risk and, after much toil, buckets of sweat and an unhealthy amount of late nights, I'm hugely proud to say that I now run a successful little business which serves its customers in a way like no other dares to do.
During my time, I have seen a sea change in how people need to market themselves in order to remain busy - certainly with the explosion in Internet use.
It's become harder than ever to be seen and win business and I am keen to learn from you to get a feel of what you think is the best way of getting your name in front of customers, today.
Have you tried something which promised much, only to say to yourself "what a waste of money that was..."?
You're at the coalface, so to speak, so I would really welcome and I'd appreciate your feedback and thoughts on the following:
- Do you still feel there is life in printed media, such as Yellow Pages or local ad-mags?
- Have you tried Google's pay-per-click model with any success?
- Do you feel your online presence/website is strong enough to compete?
- Do you advertise your business regularly, infrequently or just when you need to?
- Word of mouth advertising remains the best, but can you rely on it?
- Are you skeptical of any new ideas, or are you a risk taking early adopter, happy to try new things?
- Have you tried Rated People, MyHammer or any of the other similar lead generation companies? If so, what was your experience like?
- What are your opinions on customer testimonials to prove that something works? Do you take them with a pinch of salt?
In return for your feedback on the above - all of which helps me to understand my marketplace and potential customer opinions a bit better - I will happily offer impartial help and assistance on any kind of advertising and marketing, as well as answer any Internet related questions you may have.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Mike
Views: 103
Replies
Hi Mike. Most of our work comes via a business referral networking group. Different approaches for different markets. I think Yellow Pages has had its day and Rated People clients have unrealistic ideas on costs.
We have all wasted money in the past, so it's important to ask any new client where they had your details from.
Hi Mike
Almost all our business comes from referrals from existing clients, people who see us working and local magazines. Getting chatting to neighbours, a friendly smile and a hello seems to work wonders.
Biggest waste of money for us personally was a breakfast meeting/network type thing.
I do have a facebook page; have picked up a few bits of work from it and I find it helps get your name about. I do think though that there is a huge chunk of the populaton and possibly the most affluent chunk at that view facebook with the utmost suspicion! I had one customer who said her opinion was that the internet was evil!!!
Rated people - wasn't impressed!
Personally, I am happy to try new things but the first question I always ask myself would I consider buying by that method; if the answer is no then I'd probably need some convincing to spend time/money on it.
Personally, a customer testimonial would not make me do business with someone. How can you know that the testimonial is genuine. Sorry if that is cynical!
Do you still feel there is life in printed media, such as Yellow Pages or local ad-mags?
Not for what we do
Have you tried Google's pay-per-click model with any success?
Nope, no need
Do you feel your online presence/website is strong enough to compete?
Yup
Do you advertise your business regularly, infrequently or just when you need to?
Never, see website reply
Word of mouth advertising remains the best, but can you rely on it?
It's Ok but is an over rated, out dated saying, with very little behind it for a modern world, especially when a business operates on a national/international basis.
Are you skeptical of any new ideas, or are you a risk taking early adopter, happy to try new things?
I'll try anything but if the provider will not put their money where their mouth is they can look elsewhere, they need my money more than I need them
Have you tried Rated People, MyHammer or any of the other similar lead generation companies? If so, what was your experience like?
Nope they have zero impact in our market place
What are your opinions on customer testimonials to prove that something works? Do you take them with a pinch of salt?
Totally ignore, unless there is the ability to potentially follow them up, i.e. name, organisation...otherwise they have the worth of a piece of used toilet paper.
Hope that helps.
My thoughts/answers:
Do you still feel there is life in printed media, such as Yellow Pages or local ad-mags?
- no/limited life for YP. Still feel there is life for very local mags/directories in closer knit communities
Have you tried Google's pay-per-click model with any success?
- played around, limited success, not really relevant in commercial work environment
Do you feel your online presence/website is strong enough to compete?
- proberly not as good as I'd like, which is why it's due a total revamp
Do you advertise your business regularly, infrequently or just when you need to?
- we advertise infrequently/when needed
Word of mouth advertising remains the best, but can you rely on it?
- majority of work comes this way, but not measurable or totally reliable as you can not directly affect it
Are you skeptical of any new ideas, or are you a risk taking early adopter, happy to try new things?
- Comfortable being on the bleeding edge (have done so with software on many occasions), but like answer above need to a risk shared approach. I/my business is not here to line someone pocket
Have you tried Rated People, MyHammer or any of the other similar lead generation companies? If so, what was your experience like?
- currently very little relevance to our target market.
What are your opinions on customer testimonials to prove that something works? Do you take them with a pinch of salt?
- Yes, a pinch of salt unless fully disclosed / validated details
I think one needs to keep an open mind on what may or may not work for you in your environment to generate a sales pipeline.
I applaud innovative, new ideas and welcome their presence on LJN. Maybe one of these will rise to become an accepted means of marketing, after being initially Poo Poo'd as none of us knows what the next successful on-line sales/marketing concept will be....
If one is lucky enough to have a full order book, with a waiting list and are truly profitable than that is a great position to be in, but take a look in The Hub now; there are people looking for ways to generate interest, hence work as they are not so fortunate in their region.
All I would say is look at it, consider it, kick it around but if it don't roll in the right direction for you then leave it there for others to consider, but don't scare the concept off - it may morph to suit some.....
Finally, as for the cost ? If it generates a ROI, then its a good business expense.
If the, say, £2k in costs generates a £100k's worth of projects then who's to say it's expensive?
What price a new web site, 20,000 full colour brochures, logo'd van, sleepless nights....
What ever you do/use just be SMART when looking at possibilities - look for it to be:
S Specific
M Measurable
A Attainable
R Relevant
T Timely
Do you still feel there is life in printed media, such as Yellow Pages or local ad-mags?
Yes, I live in a retirement area where loyalty to local ad-mags means it still works well. YP and Thompsons probably less so.
Have you tried Google's pay-per-click model with any success?
Never tried it..should I?
Do you feel your online presence/website is strong enough to compete?
No. Been disappointed with the online response, although not sure how the competition find it either. My website does need some serious updating, regular social media input I find tedious, so don't tend to bother as much as I should perhaps.
Do you advertise your business regularly, infrequently or just when you need to?
Regularly, with a steady and consistent ROI throughout the year.
Word of mouth advertising remains the best, but can you rely on it?
You can't rely on it, and at the risk of contradicting my last answer, doesn't that apply to all advertising? It's great and it's the best no doubt.
Are you skeptical of any new ideas, or are you a risk taking early adopter, happy to try new things?
I question them, not an entrepreneur by instinct so not a great risk-taker.
Have you tried Rated People, MyHammer or any of the other similar lead generation companies? If so, what was your experience like?
No, should I?
What are your opinions on customer testimonials to prove that something works? Do you take them with a pinch of salt?
I think they can reassure, but only if accompanied by a name/place or something that could easily be verified if need be.
Thanks to everyone who has answered. There's some really interesting stuff there.
I thought it might be smart to give you my answers to my questions:
Do you still feel there is life in printed media, such as Yellow Pages or local ad-mags? For the longest time, directories were where most people advertised - there was little else available. However, and as has been pointed out, their use seems to be rapidly diminishing and it's often older folk who prefer to turn to the Yellow Pages.
Have you tried Google's pay-per-click model with any success? We tried it for one of our domestic cleaning customers, and our findings were jaw droppingly incredible. Around 5% of people who clicked on our ad went on to make a phone call to us. At near enough £1.70 per click, it was costing us over £35 to generate just 1 enquiry. Dreadful. We've also been able to measure performance from Yell. It was every bit as poor as Google's CPC, with enquiries coming in at £32 per call for a windscreen fitter.
Do you feel your online presence/website is strong enough to compete? Without doubt, your website is considered your shop window these days. Many people will check your website before doing any business with you, so first impressions are absolutely vital. Your website MUST be considered your primary marketing tool.
Do you advertise your business regularly, infrequently or just when you need to? We are about to embark on a significant marketing campaign, using a variety of different methods and this is our first real marketing spend since we started the business 3 years ago. We plan to drip drip our marketing all year round using social media (Facebook and Twitter) email, text, banner adverts, and some trade magazines. It's quite frightening!
Word of mouth advertising remains the best, but can you rely on it? Some of our best customers have come from word of mouth, but we've found that relying on our customers to sell our business for us, even with a nice incentive in place, is too slow. Hence the marketing drive explained above.
Are you skeptical of any new ideas, or are you a risk taking early adopter, happy to try new things? By nature, I love to investigate new things. When it comes to risk taking, I believe you have to if you want to make a difference. Ours is always calculated, checked, measured and compared - but taking risks has got us to where we are today.
Have you tried Rated People, MyHammer or any of the other similar lead generation companies? If so, what was your experience like? This is the one I can't answer directly, but from speaking to our customers, they liked the thought of paying per enquiry, but did't like the fact they were immediately in a price war with 4 competitors, because it was usually the cheapest who got the job. Many of our customers have tried it, few are still using it.
What are your opinions on customer testimonials to prove that something works? Do you take them with a pinch of salt? For me, this is perhaps the most important of all my questions. It's also the one where most of the answers that you gave were the same. We've worked hard on our testimonials - indeed, every potential new customer is invited to speak to our clients and ask whatever questions they like. We have tried to give as much info as possible on the website, including the customer's name, the site we provide for them and a number for you to call if you want to speak to them - but potential customers still rarely make that call. We see testimonials as enormously important, but I'm not sure we've got it right yet (any feedback would be welcomed - see http://www.percall.net/testimonials to see how we've gone about it)