Everyone worrys about how everyone else is advertising, but more importantly is understanding our areas target market. So I think it would be helpful if the ADC guys filled out this survey. That way we can know who we are going to get the most business from and can go about the best ways to reach people.


1. State and region/rural or metropolitan

2. What services do you offer

3. Full time or part time

4. Do the majority of you jobs come from within or outside the city limits

5. Are your jobs related to home issues, businesses, or agriculture.

6. What kind of business do you deal with most often (golf course, real estate, construction, store front, bug control)

7. What income range would you put most of your customers

8. What is the ethnic background of most customers

9. What range do you cover

10. Do you have competition within your range.

11. What is your average call like

12. Do you charge a flat fee or a per animal.

Lets give some guys a few ideas of how you handle calls. How would you charge for the following situations.

1. A home owner calls and says there is a skunk under his house. After 5 days of trapping you remove 4, and then cover the hole which was an uncovered crawl space.

2. A commercial warehouse has bats comming through a chimney cap. You remove 13 and cover the cap.

3. You trap two squirrels out of an attic and spend a whopping 3 more hours finding the hole and cover.

4. You remove 1 venomous snake from a basement.

I think these questions can really help everyone starting out

Great idea Throw Back! If anybody is stupid enough to answer those questions, you could make more money than most of us by selling the answers to our less successful competitors.

I have enough trouble with the lurkers on this site who never add a single thing to the conversation, but follow every single thing we do!

You betcha Paul!!!

Too much good quality info throwback, while many folks are comfortable with competition and training the others in their industry to the betterment of all, as Paul says (and I'd agree) that is good solid info that many would take and run with and that is hard won by just trying to find it the old fashioned way the way most have had to do.

Justin

I am sure there will be a few, Paul.

Well thanks for the insult. It was highly appreciated, not to mention constructive.

Doubt that now Dave, when Paul Winkleman publicly degrades someone, people follow suit.

Throw Back,

I'll let Paul answer for himself in due course, but when I first looked at the line of questions a group of them are not anything I'd worry about sharing my answers to, several others are the type that franchises and others looking to franchise or grow into a new area are looking for and have difficulty finding from any other source unless the state game and fish agency or other wildlife managing group is tuned in well enough to provide them for them. For me the following questions are those that your competition would always like to know that I wouldn't answer on a forum...

1. State and region/rural or metropolitan

2. What services do you offer

3. Full time or part time

4. Do the majority of you jobs come from within or outside the city limits

5. Are your jobs related to home issues, businesses, or agriculture.

6. What kind of business do you deal with most often (golf course, real estate, construction, store front, bug control)

7. What income range would you put most of your customers

9. What range do you cover

10. Do you have competition within your range.

11. What is your average call like


*****

The techniques and scenarios some may answer, some may not, the more technical the required answer the more folks
are giving away what they've taken time to learn.

When you are on an open forum like this one, there are folks who have yet to hang out a shingle, or never plan to hang
out a shingle but are trying to make a buck from someone in their home town by offering a "professional" service. We
see folks myself included giving answers all the time on here about how to resolve a variety of problems, sometimes
with pictures and sometimes with ideas on how to price.

Again, I don't think Paul was personally attacking you, but rather suggesting your question is the type that gives a lot
of lurkers and folks who don't share and participate with their own knowledge information they haven't invested in.

Sharing something on .info for example is shared only among those able to access it by paying their dues, over here
a homeowner, or any other random person can log on and take in the info. When I was still a fed we were called fairly
regularly about some of those questions on your list from people looking to do new startup franchises in the area I operate
in now, I'm sure it is still happening.

No one objects to competition, it is another thing entirely to give up the farm in one quick thread without considering who
is listening and where they will use your shared info.

*****

That said, if folks want to answer your question they will, Paul's post isn't going to stop them. I believe Dave K was stating
that some folks still likely would answer despite thinking as Paul did that you are giving away a ton of info, but he can say that
for sure, I can't.

Best,

Justin

Throw Back, looking back at my answer, I could have been a little more tactful. But Justin is right; I was not directing my anger at you but at those who don't help anyone but themselves.

I apologize for any hard feelings. Your answer to question #10 is the key. You have no competition while many of us do. I am not anti-competition. It's what allows us to afford more of everything.

I helped put my biggest competitor in business. He worked hard and when an established business became available, I helped broker the deal. That's a lot different that trying to find out who your clients are and undercutting your prices.

one thing I realize I may have miswritten is ethnic background. I don't mean color, I mean cultural differences. It may not matter if 20% of your clientele is of Mexican decent, but it would matter if you target area has 30% population that only spoke Spanish. You could be missing out on dozens of clients just by not offering advertisements and contracts in Spanish. I hope you have a better idea of what that was trying to accomplish. No offense meant

Thanks Throw Back,

Understood, will edit my related comment.

very understandable, whenever I have to fill out paperwork that ask for ethnicity it irks me too.

we cool

I think that you have done a good thing to show the newer guys how to start to think through the business end. When I started doing this stuff as with Paul and a few others, there was no pc's or cell phones, LOL heck I remember I think it was Rob Ericson that got the 1st phone in the industry LOL Rich Daniotti Called me and said Hey I was just talking to Rob and he was in is truck with one of those remote phones LOL he call me on a ready LAND LINE lol Pagers was the big thing LOL. To most of us, we was good in the methods on control work, But just like today very week in the business end. I have said for many years the most important part of the business to be successful is, 1. marketing, the second is operating the business, the 3nd is selling the jobs and last is knowing how to do the work. What taught me this, was talking to many, back in the day that could not catch a cold in Alaska with their pants down LOL but was making money hand over fist. How? They was businessmen first. To many of us, this should be second! the work comes first in our minds! and I know that there will be some that are going to challenge me on this right now LOL, But like was said to me many years ago by 3 very wise men in business, one was a roofer, the other a busness major that owned a jiffy lub and another that is a major player in the wildlife control field still today. If the jobs are not there, there is NO WORK. The only way in those days to learn the business end was to go and pay for it at seminars and talks, or at the WCT conferences. Zig Ziglar, Guerilla marketing, for examples.
When you innocently posted the above, you posted the inner core of the individual operation. The nuts and bolts of each, These are things that give a successful business the advantage over some other business in that area, the above if a successful shop was to reveal the answers, well that would give the competition the advantage. The guys on here, we tend to think of as well friendly, good guys, and one of the biggest downfalls to this industry is, that we are good ole boys, and forget that business is a life or death. you make it or you don't. and I hate to say it if another company is taking all the work and you are not getting any then you do not make it no matter how much of a good ole boy you are. And in any field there are those who will do whatever it takes, TO COME OUT ON TOP! yes even in this good ole boy business field. This information is killer if let out. methods lets face it, if a person or tech has the ability to do this fieldwork, they can figure it out on their own, without help, so the information we give is not a break me secret LOL just that a help that will make the industry good stronger. if a person does not have the ability to catch a cold in Alaska with their pants down, you can write the methods down and they will still not catch the critter or solve a problem LOL

So in a sense you have done a great deed to the many that may not know the importance of a business plan, thinking that the business is catching critters. you may have helped some to get on the right track, but you will not get the answers to these from anyone who has been there, done that, and got the tee shirt LOL. In todays world of hit a key and the answers come up, I think we have lost the understanding of secrets LOL We expect to find the answers rather than work or pay for them. Please do not take this wrong I am all for the hit the key, life has been a lot easier this way. but we lost a little too. Just like the days not long ago in the fur trade, 70's when folks made a living from fur and a good one I might add, there was questions that was never asked, the person had to find those answers themselves or build a relationship with someone to the point to get those answered. in the fur trade it was methods and where, in this business it is how do we get the work LOL
and your ethnic should be changed to serviceable population.( who will pay for a service )

It is almost amazing that no matter how old I get, I am still able to swing my foot all the way up and place it squarely in my mouth! After making such a big deal about Throw Back's questions, today I had to fill out a profile questionnaire for the Trapper's Post and they had almost the same questions. I guess it serves me right. Some people live and learn; I just live.

P.S. I'll let you guys know what issue my profile is in so you can all see what a dummy looks like.

Jonsie gets the award for the most LOL's in a single post....LOL!

took me 2 hours personal record

Well, I can't say I didn't learn something. Can't expect help, and the world will forever be cut throat

I sent you a pm.

Amen.