hey everyone, i got my DNR ADC permit and insurance and everything else I need to make myself legal to go and do ADC work. My question is how do you even start to get phone calls or what did you have to do to get noticed. We have a Facebook page, business cards, and fliers up right now. Any help on how to get more business rolling in would be great. By the way I live in Renville, MN.

Yard signs at busy intersections. Talk with as many different businesses as you can that might get you leads. From bug companies to a.c. guys. Realtors, foundation repair companies, literally anyone who might encounter wildlife issues.

...gutter and chimney companies, local police and sheriff ofc, flyers/cards in EVERY feed and hardware and grocery and convenience store bulletin board you can find.

INVEST in a website!
That may have helped me the most, since MOST folks Google/search on the web. If your I.T. guy has the bases covered, every time someone Searches "Mn raccoon (or insert ANY animal) removal", your website pops up.

One our own here on T-man built mine and I can surely refer you if needed.

Google adwords...gotta have a good website first

I have used road signs, website, google adwords, national websites, business cards, cold calls, and introduction letters. It takes some time don't get discouraged.

If you provide a good service and back what you do, You will do well.

Chuck

I might be interested, can you please send me a PM with contact information?
trapperjohn, you need to empty your inbox.

Start by looking at the services you want to offer and then look at the demographics (average income, number of homes, number of people, age ranges, etc.) of your service area to see if you need to make any changes to either services and/or service location. Not everyone is going to want trapping services and some areas are going to be better for certain services than other areas. Another way to think of this is if you're opening a restaurant you need to develop the menu first (i.e. the type of food you want to sell) and then see if it is feasible to do so. For instance, if you're going to open a pizza place in NYC but will only sell Chicago deep dish, you'll be facing an uphill battle. That's not to say it isn't possible to do, just that a different location or product may make life easier.

Next, think about how you are solicited by other service businesses and see if you can use the same methods. Are you getting direct mailings, phone solicitation, newspaper, radio, TV ads, flyers, bulletin board ads, etc. Now look at how you are marketed to and see what you reject (e.g. telemarketer) and what you accept (e.g. newspaper ads). Then ask friends and family to see what they prefer and what they hate. This can give you a good starting place for where to invest your advertising money.

Based on your service location, a website may or may not be productive (the same can be said about flyers to police stations and fire departments). Despite popular belief, not everyone uses the Internet to search for service providers as it really depends on the service location and the technical skill/comfort level that exists there. Of course, there are some standards such as an urban area or even a highly populated suburban area is more likely to use the Internet versus a remote rural area. But, based on the services you want to offer, you may want to be targeting the rural area instead of the urban/suburban one. This also can be shown at times based on the average age of the area. I have areas where the average age is 70+ that use a lot of Internet and other areas of 70+ that couldn't find the computer or cell phone power button.

All of this comes down to understanding what services you are trying to sell, what services your client base is willing to pay for, and where that client base exists. You can have the best advertising materials in the world, but if you can't get them in front of the people that you want to see them it's just a waste of time.

I'm interested in doing some yard signs to promote beaver control. Any suggestions on what info to and not to include?? I know my business name and contact info....what about catch phrases??? Suggestions please

Start with asking yourself what yards do you plan on putting the signs in - customers, road corners, undeveloped business lots, etc. Now think about who is going to see the sign and how much traffic they are going to be exposed to. Again, look at how other service companies do it (roofers, lawn care, wildlife control) and what you like and hate.

Most service companies put yard signs in customers yards for the service they were hired to do. You'll need the clients permission to do so and an agreed amount of time that the sign is going to stay. Generally, this means that you're giving some sort of discount to the client, but regardless, make sure you have it in writing as part of the contract (if discount) or separate if they wanted to give you some type of "review". Based on the sign, customers may or may not allow it regardless of the deal you give them. For example, a yard sign with the words "We Get The Bats Out" is most likely never going to see the light of day in 90%+ of all cases but a sign saying "Mole/Gopher Problems? We Can Help" isn't going to be hit with the same restrictions.

Of course, if you change the words you may get a different result. For instance, change the bat sign to say "We Stop Attic Noise" and just list a phone number and you may have better acceptance. Ultimately, it comes down to the client and how comfortable they are explaining to the neighbors what they hired you for. Also, keep in mind that by putting your company name with a service others may not agree with, you can end up with a bunch of harassment and false solicitation calls so you want to keep your call to action words generic when possible.

As for street corners and business lots, I personally stay away from them as I know how I feel about them. Want your sign to disappear, then put it on the corner of my property without my approval. People think that just because there isn't a house on the lot that it's open territory when in fact it isn't. Somebody owns it and is paying taxes and if a company's think they can just put a sign where they want, they'll never get my business no matter what it is they're selling. Of course, everyone is able to make their own decision about this which is why again I recommend looking at what you find acceptable for advertising tactics and what you don't.

trapperjohn, I took your advice and worked with trapperman Brent Coles on putting together a website. It's pretty much done, maybe a few things to tweak here or there. Check it out if you'd like and tell me what you think. Good, Bad, any feedback is appreciated!
here's a link:

https://www.callmebobtrapping.com/

Thanks,

I would take the picture of the dead skunk off. Just don't think it's a good idea to have a dead critter on your site JMO

thanks Michigan Trapper, good point. I typically try to avoid showing dead animals too.
just did not have a live skunk picture handy.

Def link up with police,aco's contractors, real estate agents, lawn care, social media and a website. Word of mouth has been the bulk of my work. My website is nothing special, but it has produced quite a bit of work and sales as well. Ultimately you need to be proactive and have that go gettah motivation in this industry.