Successful Ways to Advertise to get Tractor Work

[ldowney]

Hey guys. I wanted to get advice on the best way to communicate tractor work in your local communities. What are you guys doing to get the word out that has been successful?

Right now, I have an ad on Craigslist and a website. I also have an ad in our local paper under "services" for tractor work. See links below. I have business cards printed and I have a business flyer that I distribute throughout my area. On rainy days like this one, after I get off work, I'll ride through the country side looking for large pastures or fields that look like no one bush hogs. I leave one of my flyers in the mailbox. That has been a slightly successful. Out of 100 I've left, I may have gotten 3 calls. I have also searched the Land and Farm website which list large acre tracks for sale in your area. I email the agents that have these properties listed offering my services. Out of 75 I've emailed, I've heard back from 4 of them. No actual jobs have come from those contacts though. As of right now, I would say 99% of my business comes in from Craigslist.

I feel like I've done everything right. I have excellent maintained equipment, 20 years of experience and a 2 million dollar liability insurance policy. For my area, I have the largest equipment offered. Tractor size, bush hog size and roto-tiller size. My price is the lowest price within 75 miles. I charge $65 an hour from the time I leave the house until the tractor is loaded at the job site with a 2 hour minimum. Most guys in my area charge $75 an hour with 3 hour minimums using older, smaller equipment.

I've owned tractors for years but recently decided to offer my services locally. April was a great month for me. The phone rang off the hook. I stayed very busy nearly every evening. May has been a different story. Not a single call and we are half way through the month. My question in this thread is, what am I missing in advertising? What else could I be doing to get phone ringing?

Thanks guys as always for your input. My ads are below. Let me know if you see something out of place or missing.


My web page
Advance Tractor Services - Home

Craigslist Ad
ADVANCE TRACTOR SERVICE-Bush Hog, Loader, Post Hole, Grading & Tilling

Local Paper Ad
Advance Tractor Services We provide - Ad Hunter

Business Flyer

 

[houser52]

Those are some eye catching ads you have there.
When I did public tractor work I had some of those "political" type yard signs printed and put them out at some major intersections. The online prices are a lot better now compared to when I went to the print shop years ago.

 

[newbury]

What's the weather been like in your area? We just finished 17 days of rain, 1 sunny day, back to rain.

Do your local tractor dealers allow you to post ads? (and it's ad, not add)

 

[jaydee325]

I hired a tree service years ago that I never heard of but were working a job down the road. I stopped and asked about their services.

With this in mind, if you are working a job where you are visible from the road, you may want to put out some signs advertising your service while you are there.

Your advertising looks pretty good though. Around my neck of the woods, the May weather has been terrible. That could have something to do with the slowdown.

 

[TractorGuy]

When I did public tractor work I had some of those "political" type yard signs printed and put them out at some major intersections. The online prices are a lot better now compared to when I went to the print shop years ago.

Glad those eye sores are against the law where I live. I report them every chance I get. I think the authorities just pick them up. I wish they would fine the people and make them remove them. That would put a stop to it.

 

[brasco426]

Glad those eye sores are against the law where I live. I report them every chance I get. I think the authorities just pick them up. I wish they would fine the people and make them remove them. That would put a stop to it.

Yikes tough crowd, I agree with some of that, but a guy trying to make an honest living is a different story. I put up some professional looking adds with business cardholders at the local gathering places and word of mouth helped me a lot. For example there was a diner in town a lot of the locals went to for breakfast, I was friendly with the owner and she let me put it up. That helped me find work and happy customers tell other people. It's never an easy go to get up and running. It's hard to run a business if no one knows your in business. Like the others said sometimes the weather can affect an outdoor business. Around here May has been up and down temp wise and not really feeling like the warm weather is coming lol. If people aren't going outside to see what they'd like to get done then those are the people that aren't calling right now. Hold steady and it will warm up, and people will call.

 

[RDrancher]

Personally I would never advertise your rates. It gives a potential customer one less reason to call. Price shoppers already have your rate, so all they have to do is find a cheaper one...and there's always someone cheaper. Folks that care more about quality than the lowest rate may think you're cheaper for a reason. If you never get the chance to be face to face with a potential customer (or at least talk on the phone) you don't have much of a chance to close the sale and get the job. You'll always be hoping that your price sells it for you.

 

[bdog]

Craigslist is probably your best bet. I know when I need things done that I can't or don't want to do myself that is the first place I look. I haven't read the local paper in about ten years. Websites are good to provide a link to so people can get more information but you need a way for them to find it.

Have you thought about turnkey pricing? I am always uneasy paying for things hourly with someone I don't know because I don't know if they are going to gouge me or not. Keep a detailed log of all the work you do, the acreage, and how long it takes. Won't take you long to be able to estimate things pretty quickly and accurately. I don't know about others but if guy A said he could mow my lot for $65/hr and figured it would take around 3 hours and guy B said he would mow it for $225 I would go with guy B even though it is slightly higher because I know what I am paying up front.

Word of mouth is your biggest seller. I have not done any shredding work for others since around 2004 but when I did back then it seemed I would mow one place in an area and do a good job and neighbors would stop and ask me, the homeowner would tell their neighbors, etc. Before I knew it I had 3-4 customers in a row I could knock out without even having to load and unload multiple times.

Focus your efforts on people that have more money than time. Doctors, lawyers, etc often have acreage and no time to care for it.

Does your city have a weed ordinance? Ours does and if they get over a certain height the city will hire a contractor to mow the vacant lots and pay you and then fine the owner. See if you can get on as an approved contractor with the city if they do this.

 

[Omega Woods]

Personally I would never advertise your rates. It gives a potential customer one less reason to call. Price shoppers already have your rate, so all they have to do is find a cheaper one...and there's always someone cheaper. Folks that care more about quality than the lowest rate may think you're cheaper for a reason. If you never get the chance to be face to face with a potential customer (or at least talk on the phone) you don't have much of a chance to close the sale and get the job. You'll always be hoping that your price sells it for you.

This is excellent advice. I'd remove any mention of rates from your advertising. When someone calls, go look at their job and sell your service and your happy customers. Replace your "rates" page on your website with a "reviews" page of happy clients singing your praises.

When people call you with an interest, go look at their job and take a references list. Ask your good clients for referrals and give them a discount or $10 if they refer a job to you.

Don't try to be the low cost provider, be the professional guy who does the best job at a fair price.

As others have mentioned, your advertising is quite good. You need to determine your "unique selling proposition" and echo that theme throughout your ads.

Finally, are you trying to find commercial accounts? Job site cleanup, mowing big churches, tilling the community garden (maybe even trade tilling for advertising), horse operations, etc. Talk to smallish contractors who might need trenching, septic field digging, etc.

I am not a fan of putting up unauthorized signs next to the "Lose 20 pounds in 20 minutes" and "We buy junk cars" signs. I AM a fan of putting up some signs with happy customers for a week or two with their permission. "Bush Hogging by Advance Tractor Service" or "Garden Tilled by ATS". You get the idea.

Finally, your website doesn't come up when I google "Advance Tractor Services" but your CL ad does. That's not good for you. You should call your hosting company or a reputable web company and ask them to give you some advice on fixing that. How much web traffic do you get? Is your site new? Something is keeping it off of Google's search. This is important. (I used to do website building and marketing for a living.)

Keep plugging away and doing great work. You'll get there! Congrats on your business.

 

[TSO]

I think you should reconsider your rates. $65/hr is too low if everyone else is charging $75+. Trying to make a buck is one thing, but price wars only lead to everyone in the industry making less money, and cutting corners to get there. $75-100/hr is fair. Good luck with your business.