One of my childhood friends had a change in a career path this last week! He left the job he has held for years and started his first small business, a lawn care company.
He has work coming in already from referrals of friends on Facebook, and his community directly.
I called him and immediately said, “Hey, I have been marketing businesses like yours for a decade +, there are a few things we should knock out this coming weekend to ensure you can be in great shape and get on your feet fast to start generating leads outside of your friends and family network
Starting your first small business? You must do the below:
- Create your Google My Business – This is where you gather local reviews, share your business info, break down your products and services, + customers can call and text you from here! An amazing lead tool!
- Your Website – As a skilled marketer I do not love Squarespace and Wix as long-term solutions, but they are GREAT low-cost ways to get a website up quickly with little headache. Just make sure to use high-quality photos from a source like unsplash.
- 4 key pages you need: Homepage, Services Page, About Us, Contact Us.
- 4 key pages you need: Homepage, Services Page, About Us, Contact Us.
- Blogging & Page Builds – a low-cost way to get ranking and prove your legitimacy is with content creation. In 5 seconds you can see the most popular searches on Google and create content about them. (This blog took me about 15-20 minutes to write, set a timer and knock it out)
- Facebook Business Page – Always create your Facebook Business Page so people can connect with you professionally via the business chat. Also, be sure to tag your business when necessary on FB to generate lead flow. When you share the blogs that you write on FB, tag your business!
- Free CRM – As a lawn care business owner, generating leads and new customers is important but LTV (lifetime value) is the lifeblood of your business. Set up a free CRM like Hubspot or Monday.com CRM so that you can track your customers over time.
- Email Marketing – You do not have to start email marketing immediately. You likely are just trying to get enough jobs so that you can have a sustainable business. But setting up an email marketing platform like Mailchimp will be key!
- PS. Your CRM is most important, that will link to your email marketing platform in the future so that you can nurture, upsell, and communicate with customers in a personalized way.
Let’s generate some sales
Once you have your website and Google My Business set up. Start telling everyone you know about your business, knock out jobs and make sure to ask for reviews. Most new small businesses generate leads from word of mouth! These are typically friends and family. BE SURE to ask for a review on your Google My Business.
Do not get discouraged. It can take months of consistency.
90% of small businesses fail, 10% of entrepreneurs just don’t quit.
Anonymous
If this is your first business, be sure to read my article covering how to market your business with a $0 budget. This will be a life-changing opportunity for you to kick off in a lean and affordable way. I believe in you!