# terrapro snow removal flyer



## terrapro (Oct 21, 2006)

so this is my latest flyer i have passed out and have not recieved 1 callback from. see if you guys can find anything unappealing about it or have any ideas. actual scan of a real one attached

TERRAPRO
LANDSCAPE SERVICES
￼￼￼

UNLIMITED SNOW REMOVAL
$90PER MONTH!
INCLUDES PLOWING DRIVEWAY
INCLUDES SHOVELING WALKS

PER PLOW ALSO AVAILABLE
$25 MINIMUM FOR PLOW
$5 MINIMUM FOR SHOVEL W/PLOW

CALL COLE NOW AT (810)623-****
*FULLY INSURED*​


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## SixStar (Oct 6, 2006)

*too cheap and no benefit defined.*

I think that you are too cheap and that may be throwing people off. If you come across as a cut-rate provider that can turn people off. Find a balance between price and quality. You need to *sell* your service as a benefit to them. I don't see you selling your service there. What about saving aching backs, taking away worry from the working person too busy to shovel their walk or drive. Helping children, mothers and seniors avoid risks of slipping and falling. Sell the surity of a planned event they can rely on instead of hurting themselves or waiting till last second to call for help.

And charge accordingly. I charge a min of $100 per month as a contract maintenance fee, just to have them on a preplanned route. This guarantees them I will always be available and not have too many houses on a single route. Then I charge them a min of $20 per push ($15 for new customers, single event only) based on a 50', flat drive. I charge greater than that based on additional size and difficulty. And I have been told on this board that I am still too cheap so go figure.

Sell to a customers pain. And charge accordingly. You aren't selling your product and you aren't convincing people with your low prices.

Too low and no benefit = no biz. Hope this helps.


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## LLM Ann Arbor (Sep 18, 2006)

double.............


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## LLM Ann Arbor (Sep 18, 2006)

Unfortunately the days of passing out flyers for business are long over in this game ive come to believe, unless you can mass market the thing and physically send out, not pass out 10's of thousands of copies at the least

Its a pecentage game and theres just too many people doing it old school, myself being one of them and Im inthe same boat as you, and have a professional looking piece.

It doesn't work either in limited quantities.

Its a tough nut to crack without mass, and I mean mass marketing and or someone in the know to turn accounts your way...OR, to purchase existing accounts.

One of the things a lot of the smaller midsized successful players dont tell you is that they got a huge rope to pull, and theyde rather you think they got the accounts old school in the beginning.

Frankly....the guys without the connections, and or the cash to physically purchase accounts, or mass market are the guys like you and I that struggle consistently beating our heads against the wall and wondering what we are doing wrong.


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## LLM Ann Arbor (Sep 18, 2006)

And you can call it sour grapes if you wish, and while it may be, its also very true.


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## SixStar (Oct 6, 2006)

*Diagree strongly with this sentiment.*



LLM Ann Arbor said:


> Unfortunately the days of passing out flyers for business are long over in this game ive come to believe, unless you can mass market the thing and physically send out, not pass out 10's of thousands of copies at the least
> 
> Its a pecentage game and theres just too many people doing it old school, myself being one of them and Im inthe same boat as you, and have a professional looking piece.
> 
> ...


 I took peoples advice on this board to hang flyers and it has worked well for me. Crafting the flyer to *sell* and capture your audiences interest is important. The hard part is picking visible locations to hand these flyers and also a location where they wont be taken down. I track where I leave the flyers, where they actually stay up and where property owners are quick to take down and where I get my responses from.

In addition to flyers, I am perpared to spend $100-$200 per month on local advertising. You can get a static display advert (they call is 'sponsorship') on your local cable access channel for $100 per month (this is the cost in my area). Seniors watch and or listen to the music on the local announcements channel. It's work a buck or two to target your seniors via this method. Also consider running a 1/4 or 1/2 page advert in the local paper a week or two before the snow season starts. That's Dec 1 here.

Get out there and spread the news in person too. Recruit local sandwich shops and gas stations to place your adverts in prominent places and then give em a free plow or shovel if verifiable biz comes from them. Be a salesman goddamit! You are in biz for yourself so you have to wear all the hat's Don't be shy about it. Shove it up the flagpole - all the way - and see who salutes. Git' er done.

You don't need anyone to feed you accounts or to buy accounts. Hustle and get your biz going but use your smarts. There is coin to be made here and you should expend all amounts of energy lining yourself up for success that will fill you pockets. Be creative and aggressive.

-SixStar


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## terrapro (Oct 21, 2006)

no sour grapes here. i know its tough but i thought i might atleast get 1 response out of 1500 flyers. when i first started in the landscaping game i couldnt get away from the customers, no advertisment other than word of mouth. not the same anymore. i thought it might get easier since alot of the 1 year wonders have realised it nots so easy and moved out of town. i also like to blame the economy, people dont like to spend money unless they have to. not like a few years ago when they were handing it out in bagfulls lol.

if anything i atleast want people to look at my flyer so they atleast have my name in the back of their heads. i personally dont think my price is to low, the per plow on there is the minimum and $90per month for a 4 month contract is average from what you guys said. $90x4mnth=360 or $500 for 6mnth contract comes out to $83.33333....per mnth or per plow i figure my average will be $35per visit x 12 visits=$420


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## LLM Ann Arbor (Sep 18, 2006)

SixStar said:


> I took peoples advice on this board to hang flyers and it has worked well for me. Crafting the flyer to *sell* and capture your audiences interest is important. The hard part is picking visible locations to hand these flyers and also a location where they wont be taken down. I track where I leave the flyers, where they actually stay up and where property owners are quick to take down and where I get my responses from.
> 
> In addition to flyers, I am perpared to spend $100-$200 per month on local advertising. You can get a static display advert (they call is 'sponsorship') on your local cable access channel for $100 per month (this is the cost in my area). Seniors watch and or listen to the music on the local announcements channel. It's work a buck or two to target your seniors via this method. Also consider running a 1/4 or 1/2 page advert in the local paper a week or two before the snow season starts. That's Dec 1 here.
> 
> ...


All reasonable and worthy suggestions. I have just found they dont work here with any success and the fact is that unless you have some legs and contacts to get it off the ground most cant afford to stay the course.

Im finding myself in that position and if Lawn care doesnt turn around for me this next season...my second, Ill be working for one of you.

Id be out passing out more postcards now except I have blisters on my feet and hands from doing it for the last ten days and I look at the phone like some teenager waiting for the girl to call.

She doesnt.


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## lodogg89 (Jul 8, 2006)

SixStar said:


> I think that you are too cheap and that may be throwing people off.
> 
> you think that is to cheap, driveways here go for as low as 60 a month, i guess we have less snow, id love to get 90 a month for a driveway. Most single drives are 20 bucks including walkways


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## gene gls (Dec 24, 1999)

It takes time(years) to build a snow route, espically if you live in the country. Lots of folks don't even look at a flyer, they toss it. If I were starting out plowing, I would design a letter and mail it to the likley households in the area that I wanted to plow. I wasted hours traveling in snow storms trying to service a few customers when I started. In my area yearly contracts for plowing just do not work for residental. Even small business goes by per push.


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## terrapro (Oct 21, 2006)

gene gls said:


> It takes time(years) to build a snow route, espically if you live in the country. Lots of folks don't even look at a flyer, they toss it. If I were starting out plowing, I would design a letter and mail it to the likley households in the area that I wanted to plow. I wasted hours traveling in snow storms trying to service a few customers when I started. In my area yearly contracts for plowing just do not work for residental. Even small business goes by per push.


i dont know what you consider the country but i live in an upper middle class suburbia. within 2 mile of my home i have 5 subdivisions with 200+ homes in each on top of that there is the regular city homes that im not even going to attempt a guess on the amount. lots of potential customers thats why i wanted you guys to tear this thing apart and tell me whats wrong with it.

i also agree with LLMAnnArbor this area is tough, up until this year there was a new landscaping company popping up every week and i thought it was only going to get worse when the big3 layoffs started but it seems like about 1/3 of the blue collar population of michigan moved out of state to find work lol. im not giving up, youll have to pull those plow controls out of my cold dead hands 

im use to doing things the hard way, ill get some customers one way or another. i just designed and ordered my new biz cards from vistaprint soon i will be going to the bar way to much


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## gene gls (Dec 24, 1999)

terrapro said:


> i dont know what you consider the country but i live in an upper middle class suburbia. within 2 mile of my home i have 5 subdivisions with 200+ homes in each on top of that there is the regular city homes that im not even going to attempt a guess on the amount. lots of potential customers thats why i wanted you guys to tear this thing apart and tell me whats wrong with it.
> 
> i also agree with LLMAnnArbor this area is tough, up until this year there was a new landscaping company popping up every week and i thought it was only going to get worse when the big3 layoffs started but it seems like about 1/3 of the blue collar population of michigan moved out of state to find work lol. im not giving up, youll have to pull those plow controls out of my cold dead hands
> 
> im use to doing things the hard way, ill get some customers one way or another. i just designed and ordered my new biz cards from vistaprint soon i will be going to the bar way to much


WOW........It sounded like you were in the "country".. You have more houses in one subdivision than there are in my five mile around the block area. My route only has 12 customers and takes 4-6 hours per push. There must be a lot of plow boys in your area to accomadate that dense of a population. When the first snow hits you will get some calls for plowing.


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## LLM Ann Arbor (Sep 18, 2006)

Some areas around here gene every tom, dick, harry, and fireman with a honey do list waiting has a truck and plow.

Guy across the street from me works a full time job as a machinist and plows. Brothers the city attorney and he gets him all his gigs.

Says things to me like....eh! Ill just go get a couple more contracts.

Im like.....where? Ya sound like they are as easy to get as going to the store for milk.

Then throw in a dozen or twenty plow service companies going for National contracts....guys that dont even own a plow.


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## Rcgm (Dec 17, 2000)

They say for every 1000 flyers you pass out you get something like 2 - 5 calls. Canvas the area LIGHT there phones up.


RCGM
Brad


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## terrapro (Oct 21, 2006)

thanks for your replies guys


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