Open Association of Landscape Industries
Is the credit crunch still affecting you?
prob everyones the opposite, but this year had a handfull of timewatser quotes , and havnt really got any new clients and lost about 7 after the winter due to people cutting back, some this is after keeping their gardens looked after for 3 years.! although i am due to start a fairly good job in 2 weeks , im stil keeping fairly busy 4/5 days a week but not packing out the hours..
phone doesnt seem to ring and when does seems more timewaster quick tidy up jobs which not really interested in, suppose havnt gone mad on adve rtising as comfortable enough work.
The adverts in window seem to attract penny pinhcers shall we say, what other forms of advertising should i try out, as got a good base of cleints that we are happy with each other and would like to expand a bit more and really have a helper as currently on own and if rain all week a big struggle to motivate myself!
Tags: recession
Replies to This Discussion
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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Brian www.mibservices.co.uk on -
Hi Ian, your profile page could do with a lot more seo friendly information for a start and also "website coming soon". I would stronly advise you get a website set up quickly and also your profile page. As gets said so often on ljn, ljn's web presence is very strong and its free, use it too its full potential. Veiw other members profiles to get some ideas for content.
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Permalink Reply by Ian Parkes on -
yea ive had a few recommendations, dont mind bit of rain but tuesday was just tipping it down, everything double as hard and heavy work... when too heavy my cleints would cancel or not expect me to work in it... today i worked in it fine, odd shower is fine.
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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by David Cox on -
Be cheery and positive, and when talking to clients make it clear your looking to "expand this year" so they know your looking for more work. Obviously dont say "im loosing customers left right and center and feeling abit glum".
They may think your fully booked so are not reccomending you to friends etc, so this may help.
Also This sort of thing does happen in waves, a month from now you may find yourself struggling to fit work in due to 5 new big jobs coming in next week... Such is life!
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Permalink Reply by Ian Parkes on
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yep exactly i stil got one or too that i havnt started yet as they have been away.. i be telling u ive got too much and want a holiday by end of may yes very true..
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Permalink Reply by Colin Hunt on -
Pretty good here, havent lost anyone, gained a few with a fair number of enquiries for maintenace and landscaping.
I wouldnt class one-offs as timewasters Ian. Treat every enquiry with respect, you never know where they may lead. It's always interesting to try and trace back the 'recomendation family tree' of a good regular client or job. Often you can trace their enquiry back a number of recomendations to a small 'one-off' 5 -10 years ago.
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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Jen@A&J Owenwindows&gardens on -
Hi Ian
Same here to be honest! Good start in March, first half of April rubbish - hope it improves.
We get most of our work from our window cleaning customers, and some from local directories.
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Permalink Reply by phil smith yewtreelandscapes.com on
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i know a lot of people on here have regular customers and most do maintenance work, but as i only do 1 off hard landscaping jobs, to be honest i think the recession and credit crunch is all media hype, because in the last 2-3 years i havnt stopped, other than the odd day when it has rained, and work in the diary untill the end of august this year looks ok aswell, personaly i put most of it down to a good looking sign written truck, 2 web sites, (1 only been running for 2-3 months) 3rd of a page advertising in thomson local and 3 adverts on their web site, (total price for thomson local £1500) but only take 1 job and that is paid for, and 3ft x 2ft sign boards put at every job i do (made by the sign shop in andover) so advertising on van, sign boards & web sites are 1 off payments, and thomson local £1500 a year, i know it sounds a lot but like i say it only takes 1 job and its paid for but i would say i get at least 50% of my work from thomson local
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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Stuart @ Eco Garden Maintenance on -
Hi Ian,
As said before, get your website up and running as soon as possible. Take steps to get on the first page of searches for the services you provide in your catchment area. LJN is a powerful tool which will help you rank highly in searches so you must make the most of your profile page and link back to it from your website. A few free listings on trade directories might help but only pick the ones that regularly show up on page one of searches. If you have'nt got your vehicle sign written then think about that also.
Don't take this the wrong way but you must make an effort to write anything you publish on LJN in a professional way with good spelling, grammar and structure. After all you are talking to your potential customers.
Good luck and yes i have experienced some increased caution with spending from clients and potential clients.
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Permalink Reply by Ian Parkes on
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thks guys, have made a basic website, but dont think ive had any traffic at all as havnt a clue how to meta tag and get it into google, tried and failed, seems bit beyond me..
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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Jen@A&J Owenwindows&gardens on -
I'm clueless also when it comes to technology! All I did was register for free index and qype (can't recall the others). Our website consistently comes up for the searches I want! However, from personal experience I would say your best business will come from talking to customers and referrals particularly for maintenance type work. A positive attitude with customers does help even if you're feeling down. Two enquiries have come in since my post first thing this morning.
Our lost customers fall into two distinct brackets. Older pensioners who have gone for cheaper quotes (we are high end price wise round here) and those with kids where one of them has been made redundant or they are just struggling and they are just doing the work themselves.
Ian Parkes said:thks guys, have made a basic website, but dont think ive had any traffic at all as havnt a clue how to meta tag and get it into google, tried and failed, seems bit beyond me..
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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Stuart @ Eco Garden Maintenance on -
My website (free through GBBO) uses google sites which does not let you put in meta tags. This is because google does not consider them important enough anymore. A lot of people abuse the use of them (along with keyword stuffing) and so google now frowns upon such things, they prefer content rich sites which are updated regularly. There are many ways to optimise local SEO without the use of meta tags and i have learnt this through the development of my own site. Websites are like gardens - they are never finished!
I agree with Jenny, recommendations and referrals are the best way to get new work. I did no advertising at all in the first twelve years of business and it is only in the last six months that i have started to (for expansion).
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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Brian www.mibservices.co.uk on -
Ian, web presence is essential, make no mistake about that. If you don't have techy skills to build it yourself pay a web company to do it for you, £100 - £300 will get you a website up and on Google pages 1-3. At the very least get your ljn profile page improved
Ian Parkes said:thks guys, have made a basic website, but dont think ive had any traffic at all as havnt a clue how to meta tag and get it into google, tried and failed, seems bit beyond me..
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