STEP 1: Before the End of the Summer, Hire a Photographer and Have Them Photograph a List of Properties

Don’t forget to get written consent from the homeowners to photograph the property and use it in your marketing materials.

Go inexpensive: Hire a student photographer and have them shoot 5-6 properties you’ve done. Write an email to the coordinator of a local college photography class, ask the kid that works in the photography boutique in the local mall or put an advertisement up on craigslist.
Go medium-range: Hire a local photographer and post your offer on websites like upwork.com, look some up on behance.net or other freelance websites for creatives.
Go higher-end: houzz.com has plenty of architectural photographers that range from mid to high price ranges.

Images courtesy of Bahler Brothers Elegant Outdoor Living

STEP 2: Update Your Website, It's the Foundation of Your Marketing Plan

A website has the power to turn a potential customer’s interest into a phone call or turn them off completely. So many templates exist today that a decent web developer can get a nice looking website up for you in as little as 1-2 weeks’ time (provided you can supply him with the photos and text in a timely manner).

Keeping your web portfolio updated is crucial. Here are 3 ways to do it:

Get a maintenance contract where your web developer spends a few hours once per month updating your site with new photos you supply.
Do it yourself: Have your web developer train you on how to upload new pictures to your site.
Automate: make them install a plugin that pulls the photos of your jobs off your social media account through your Instagram handle or when you use a specific hashtag.

IMPORTANT: Ask your web developer about what they do to ensure good SEO (google ranking). Do your homework and check if their past clients rank high on google when you type in their service + city (don’t type in the business name, that’s not an effective way to check their SEO).

STEP 3: Bring Traffic to Your Website with Digital Marketing

Google’s funny. You see, the only way for your website to get higher rankings in the search results is for it to have high traffic. How do you generate that traffic so you can rank higher? You have to bring traffic using other platforms.

Google Adwords: Google Adwords (how convenient for google…) allows you to rank at the top of the page when people search for landscape contractors in their area. Putting a monthly budget towards Google Adwords and outsourcing your campaign to a digital marketing company pays huge dividends when done right. Be sure to reserve higher budgets for the months when people are most searching for landscape contractors.

Houzz.com: Houzz is a HUGELY POPULAR directory for homeowners looking for home improvement professionals in their area. Piggy-back on their incredible SEO (google rankings) to be found by homeowners in your area. Complete your profile, upload photos and, just like that you’re ready to get leads.

Yelp: Although it was created years ago, Yelp is still widely used by homeowners looking for local professionals.

Social Media: It provides the highest ROI marketing for small local businesses. Facebook, Instagram and Houzz now allow you to get in front of real potential clients in a specific county/location.

STEP 4: Flyers Still Work Wonders

If you have the money to invest, flyers are still extremely successful marketing initiatives. Choose specific neighborhoods where you know one good job will pay back your whole marketing campaign; whether that means an area that is approaching time for renovations or a brand new development where one job means you’ll soon be signing the whole street. Expect a 1% response rate for a successful campaign.

Do you have any marketing tips that have been successful for you? Share your advice below.

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