Getting work

[SNAPPER MAN]

I've been passing out flyers like crazy and I am not getting any calls. How do you guys get all of your work? I need work and would like to know the best way to get alot of work. Thanks.

 

[lxt]

what are you trying to get work at doing? your Bio. says lawn & landscape im assuming you are wanting to obtain tree work?

whats your background in tree care & does your area recognize that you are skilled in such? usually when someone does tree care they started with a company & have gained work by people seeing them doing tree work!!! word of mouth if you are good will travel fast, engaging in advertisement along with the above will gain you alot of work(takes time).

The door to door thing is kinda frowned on by people unless you are working in the area then professional door hangers are good, but if not they`ll think of you as a sweeper salesmen & if you`re putting out home made computer flyers & such...........not taken very seriously!!!

put an ad in the local paper, acquire & promote that you`re insured, have references available(if possible) & above all Good Luck!!

Be safe Take care

LXT.............

 

[Slvrmple72]

+ 1 on what LXT stated! Dont give up on your flyers but make them more professional and be sure to put references in them to acknowledge your quality workmanship and legitimately insured business practices. Next step: Yellow pages ad! Good luck in your efforts! Stay sharp and cut safe!

 

[MonkeyMan_812]

I've been passing out flyers like crazy and I am not getting any calls. How do you guys get all of your work? I need work and would like to know the best way to get alot of work. Thanks.

Passing out fliers is alright, but I usually dont deliver them and knock on the door. Just slide them in the paper box. If they need work done they'll call. Probably the most effective way is word of mouth and the local paper if your a small business, and it sounds like you are. Never let an opportunity to talk to someone you know pass you by. Tell them what kind of work you do. You might be surprised at the results.

 

[Mikecutstrees]

the normal response rate for flyers and mailings is 1-2%. So it isn't all that worthwhile. Word of mouth is best. The phone book is good. The best I have found are local business associations. My town has one and it costs $35 a year and they send out a flier with all the businesses and 2-3 sentences about each one. This flier goes out once a year to over 1700 homes. Pretty good for $35 I recieved about 10 calls last year from it and that led through word of mouth to 15 other new customers. So 25 new customers, Jobs from $150 to over a thousand for $35.

 

[SNAPPER MAN]

thanks

Thanks guys for the responses. I know word of mouth is best but the problem is getting work so then people can see me doing it. There are so many other tree services in this area that I dont know if an add in the phonebook would be worth the money.

 

[lxt]

around here most coffee shops & breakfast places have a board for biz cards that local contractors pin up their promos on!! I got alot of customers like this when I first started.

Just be creative but make it professional!!! I see so many flyers & promos that look like a grade school kid could of done it, when I go to the customer they have mine & others advertisements, you can always tell the new guy on the block, his ad`s are less professional cause he`s testing the waters so to speak!! Very easy to discredit those services & obtain their business(many here will try to do this to established Co.`s)

Good luck

LXT..............

 

[becks]

introduce yourself to the other climbing companies as a contractor. fix price or paid per hour. that helped me out in the beginning. how about friends & family. people have to see you in work. any logos on your car/truck? meet other climbers etc. ... good luck, marc

 

[Sprig]

A nice clean flyer with tear-off numbers and hit all the free bulletin boards you can find (supermarkets, laundrymats, churches, coffee shops etc.), if you're qualified, insured, have refferences, etc., say so!

All I can think of right now on this cold afternoon.

& good luck!

Serge

 

[SNAPPER MAN]

Thanks guys again for the responses. About the signs, well I have signs on my trailer but the problem is that they say "Beat the Heat Lawn Service" because lawn maintenace and landscaping are my main services but I am really wanting to get into tree work so I dont know. And I will definatly hit up the bulliten boards.

Thanks,
Sean DePauw

 

[Kogafortwo]

try some community volunteer work

I got into the freelance lawn service-for-pay due to my volunteer work in the community. I auctioned off a day of lawncare work at my kids' school fundraiser and a lot of people bid on me who didn't win, but they saw who I was and asked if I would take on paying gigs.

And I also get people coming up to me when I am at a job with my trailer and equipment out for them to see, asking if I can take on their place. Sometimes people ask me if I will repair their mowers or whatever but I usually turn that down. One guy left a $10 bill on my dashboard and set his pushmower in front of my Jeep while I was working on his neighbor's place, in the hopes I would fix it for him anyways.

Maybe your city or town could use some tree trimming or lawn work in the park or the main street medians or something. You will get seen, and you will get offers of work.

P.S. Love the Snapper equipment, got an old 28" rear engine rider that won't die.

 

[chucknduck]

Talk to them

I just started about a year and a half ago. Don't hand out flyers, your wasting your time. Most reputable tree co's don't hand out flyers, because they don't need to, and people know that. What I did was drive around and look for nice neighborhoods that had trees that looked like they needed to be removed or pruned very badly. Then, I would go knock on the door, introduce my self, as the owner of a tree service that is just starting out, and that I noticed that some of their trees were in bad shape. Then, they will either say no thanks( and you thank them for their time and give them your profession looking business card) or say how much would you charge for ____. Then, you give them a bid, and you tell them that you bid higher because you are insured and do top notch work,(if you don't you need to work for a Good tree co for a while and figure out what top notch work is). You will get more jobs knocking on their door and talking to people than you will by handing out flyers. Once you do some jobs, if you are good, you will be noticed. And don't be cheap, work half as long for twice the money! Just my 2 c

 

[levi758336]

I see that you're in Spring, there are alot of rope-techs there (such as myself) who do tree-trimming part time since we're generally primarily climbers and less so loggers or tree-doctors.

 

[osb_mail]

I am in kind of the same situation trying to find work seems, when I had a full time job and no equipment I had plenty of work now that I dont have a full time job and got most of the equipment cant find enough work .Wish I could help you but I am in kind of the same boat .

 

[GreenManEnvy]

If there are lots of tree companies around, you might have better luck easing into the business by offering those services to your lawn & maintenance customers, and letting the word of mouth take it from there.

If you're just starting out in the other business, it will be a bit tougher. The main thing is to differentiate your service and then make sure your provide a consistent professional image that emphasizes why people should pick you over the other guys out there.

 

[tree MDS]

Sounds like just another lawn guy thats trying to get into treework without a single clue to me. I'll tell you how to get "alot" of treework- by actually being good and doing a good job, not by just buying equipment and trying to look the part, all the while hacking away cuz you just dont know any better- all that does is take potentially good jobs away from those of us that have given all of our adult lives trying to master our trade and actually do good work ! Find a good company and start dragging brush, it pays about 15 an hour these days. Good luck.

 

[becks]

sounds hard but its true.
nobody should start in any business without the needed knowledge and experience. first of all get into the job.
and please, don't try getting jobs by being cheaper than others. that destroys what others set throu over the years.
anyway, best wishes from Bremen!