YOU'RE Doing it WRONG... a BETTER way to use DIRECT MAIL (EDDM).

[@gregthurmond3179]

Good video. I totally agree on your frequency message. I spent 11 years with a large ad agency that specialized in print marketing. I helped clients in lawn care, dentistry, restaurants etc. get more clients with a lower ROI than solo direct mail or EDDM. Depending on your ad budget, consider saturation mail, DAL Card for 25 cents or less, designed, printed and mailed. Use bullet points on your postcards (5 to 7 bullets with 5 to 7 words each. Less is more, do not fill the page with images and text. No lengthy text. Your sending a brief message not writing a letter. People typically sight read. This means their eyes don't move when they look at something they only read what they can see.

[@brianfolding40]

I am 61 years old and just started a lawn cutting service. I appreciate your efforts to help us be successful. Plenty of good tips in this and other videos you've produced.

[@yanbaihuzxzxzx]

Mailers are good when you done everything else, you got a Website, you have trucks lettered and wrapped, you have the angies list thumbtack home advisor ads up, If you are going to one house and you want the neighborhood send mailers and hand written letters, Hand written letters works takes a minute but if you get business that breeds other business its priceless.

[@BobbyBowker]

Video was definitely awesome as usual. @ 5:11 making so much sense. I’m gonna use a family photo postcard this Spring. My cousin is a Postal Carrier in an awesome neighborhood of over 700 houses 😎. I doubled my number of clients this fall by offering leaf removal using post cards. Also picked up an awesome employee that is even more OCD than me when it comes to the way he wants the yard to look. Each year just gets better and better. Your business is too, been watching for 3 years now, you definitely have the business acumen necessary for success. Congrats, thanks and best wishes in 2020!!!

[@2an_sound]

I found you while searching for direct mail tips for a completely unrelated business (DTC ecom). The copy on your mailer is really good!

[@shannonlambert8826]

Hey Johnathan , super useful video!!!! I’m looking to start my lawn care Business this year . I been cutting on the on weekends and after work for the last 10 years . It’s time for me to go full time . I thought about sending out flyers , but to all of a zip code . Now that I watched this video , it makes perfect since to send them to certain addresses . I live in south Louisiana and we have a lot of subdivisions coming up in our parish . Ascension parish is the fastest growing parish in the state . All the companies that cut grass here , I never got a flyer . I really think this tip from you will help me grow . Thanks for the advice and keep up the work helping the ones that are looking to start their Business.

[@audiovideomediaservices9465]

Your advice sounds very reasonable. Thanks!

[@JayneCobb88]

Your marketing info is great for any small business. I’m not in lawn care and it still help me out

[@migue5955]

One of the greatest methods when I started and wish I can repeat is door Knocking. It was hard work but paid off.

[@miamiwax5504]

Great way to piss people off

[@otismichael2583]

Tried that. People dont seem to want to answer the door for me. I'm putting flyer in doors next.

[@johnnewby2043]

If you live in a town or small city it might work... door knocking in a suburban metro won't work

[@TheBestPostcards]

Agree. Good thoughts here on DM. Gotta be consistent. Go deep, not wide

[@sheriwillhite2697]

Tim here, Sheri's husband. I am not starting a business, but planning to do EDDM to send a message to the public. Everything you said helped me. Thank you.

[@whoahorseywhoa4685]

well thats a bit ominous sounding

[@TexasWatchman]

Good stuff from a credible guy. Much appreciated.

[@johnbraun]

Great tips. You reflected the same things I've found and taught for years.

[@schaeferlawncarepropertyma4898]

J.C. you are a marketing genius.

[@twobrotherslawncareservice7337]

For those with a smaller budget, I post on the newspaper all the time & it works pretty good. I do get some price shoppers trying to find the cheapest but I pre-qualify them threw the phone or when they contact me threw my website, if they dont like my minimum price they wont like my actual price. I also mention that I only serve the southern part of my valley to work on my route density for only $60 per post.

[@jrcxley]

The concept hes talking about is the key to owning an area. Work out your budget and try and hit those homes at least every month, for as long as you can. Plus split test and measure your message and offers.

[@allphaselandscape]

Excellent point regarding targeting current buyers of the service. That is true! I still think you definitely have to speak to the benefits of working with you. Probably the best thing to do is target current buyers but express why you are different than the competition. This is our exact focus for 2020...... Conveying our unique selling proposition!!!

[@JS-lc5ck]

This is genius!!

[@ocalalawnpros1953]

Great video, as always. Any chance you will show us the other side of the latest postcard?

[@mikejones412]

Question. What mailing rates (postage only, not including flyer price) are you seeing for the direct mail? I'm looking at $0.27 for each piece if we are mailing to 92% or more of the carriers route, or $0.40 for each piece if we are under 92%. Eddm is $0.18 for each piece (i believe you were including printing when you stated $0.38 in the video), so it is actually alot cheaper to send to the entire neighborhood than to do the 92% direct mail rate. Most eddm routes here are roughly 400-800 homes that include 2-3 very similar neighborhoods. So if we take the average of that, 600 homes, you're looking at Eddm costing $108. Say you want to target 1 out of 3 neighborhoods, roughly 200 homes. 200 homes costs $80 for direct mail. It is only a $38 difference, why not market to the other 2 similar neighborhoods as well? Distance isnt an issue because mail routes operate on the same density aspect as we do. How many homes do you typically target within one postal route when using direct mail? Using it as a substitute for "5/7/9 arounds" I can see as a good thing, but for anything else the math doesnt work out with the rates I've seen. Also, obviously you would have to use direct mail on eddm routes that include apartments or similar.

[@AlbertoGonzalez-yu3pe]

Good video and info I do door to door post cards with my kids and they like it be because they get paid and I like it because my family is the beneficiary and not the mailing company also have a good family day out with ice cream. Also I get the targeted neighborhood and customers

[@robertjamesss]

I agreed with your advice, smaller group with more touches

[@julius.150]

This works super duper

[@congruentthree3142]

Nice video. Appreicte the advise.

[@BILLYBOB923]

Jonathan - great video as always. Repetition can seem boring at times but so effective to build route density. In the future I would love to see more about your process of wrapping your truck (designing, finding company, etc). The deeper I get into building my business the more I realize the mower setup is important but marketing & drilling down into particular subdivisions is crucial and wrapping my truck seems to be the next step. Keep up the good work.

[@amybedwell5240]

THANK YOU!!!!! Getting address' through the appraiser's office. Finally! So helpful!

[@Floorguy1985]

Already subscribed. Great video. Will use this information for my Floor waxing business. Thumbs up.

[@moneymagnetmedia]

I love postcard marketing!

[@cyrusmcclinton2265]

thanks

[@josephkilleen7807]

Great info. I was hoping to direct mail this year, but some of the mail routes include massive apartment complexes, which would only be a waste of my business's money.

[@FloridaTurfPros]

Ya, apartment complexes would be a no go obviously lol... Focused approach to specific neighborhoods is much better.

[@TELLMEWHOYAGOT]

You can check off apartments and only do homes when you order.

[@vegas9440]

@@TELLMEWHOYAGOT it wouldn’t give me the option to do houses only

[@TELLMEWHOYAGOT]

@@vegas9440 maybe they took that option off. Probably was a hassle for them.

[@sabu422]

Thanks

[@anonymousf454]

Good idea, as long as the kids dont distribute to a few houses and toss the rest into the trash...lol

[@FloridaTurfPros]

Haha, that would be horrible.

[@jamesmitchell6288]

This guy is #BOSS

[@michaelperry4398]

What is a property appraisal website?

[@jeremywilson8334]

Great question

[@d3n4c3]

It would be really great if you gave people some kind of idea on how to send the mail after they have the list.

[@duncanjulio2555]

I dont mean to be offtopic but does anyone know of a method to log back into an Instagram account?? I stupidly forgot my password. I love any help you can give me

[@santiagochad3309]

@Duncan Julio instablaster ;)

[@duncanjulio2555]

@Santiago Chad i really appreciate your reply. I found the site through google and im in the hacking process atm. Takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@duncanjulio2555]

@Santiago Chad it worked and I finally got access to my account again. Im so happy! Thank you so much you saved my account!

[@santiagochad3309]

@Duncan Julio Glad I could help =)

[@searchbug]

Love this, John! Totally agree with your strategy. We also suggest to look up a certain neighborhood in a USPS Address Lookup tool to know whether the area you would love to target has the audience you want (whether residential or businesses). The fact that direct mail marketing is not as competitive now as it was before can work to your advantage as the competition is less. Might as well as take this path. 😊

[@darrenkpohl]

Hello Johnathan, How often would you recommend to hit the same area once a week, every other week, or once a month?

[@jamestruss]

Great Video!

[@johnwiggins3950]

Can you use specific address in eddm instead of a route or is that a different method you are using

[@maestroolsen390]

Thanks for the great info!! Very helpful 🤙

[@silascompton2281]

Thank you so much for all the information please keep it coming

[@Contendforthefaith1]

Bro! This is golden👍🏼 but a question I have if you do send material multiple times, do you send the same one or change things up?

[@NewImageLawCare830]

I would like to buy one of your post cards.

[@mrgpro9149]

Great info! I will apply some of these ideas asap. Just a note. The camera moving in and out and sideways is a bit of a distraction. Nothing personal. Thanks.

[@guyfreddy5431]

But how do you know they are already using that service you want to market them?

[@memyselfi5907]

Johnathan, another good vid. Thanks for sharing. I've done bulk mailing in the past. It is a waste of money. Grace to you!

[@kiraleswei5934]

Thank you!

[@amberscott4262]

How did you find out who’s already buying landscaping?

[@anthonyrude]

So how do you get a list of buyers?

[@mikegriffin2904]

Always first class content! Very useful

[@eldnah2]

I'd like to know your mailing frequency

[@ruthogunro2746]

Love your channel. Thanks for sharing. A quick question. How do you find out if they are already using a similar service?

[@frangarcia5280]

Could you share the link to where I can find the addresses list? I can't find it. Value information, thx...

[@ExarVaughn]

Enter into Google: (your county) property appraisal website and it should take you to your searched county's tax appraisal website. Once there, type in a subdivision name (or whatever it sorts by) and hit "enter" to get your list

[@lvlv8948]

ExarVaughn Hi, I am having a hard time Finding the correct website to exact the address. Please help. I am in Orange County, it took a me to the site but then I do not see any where I can input my business address.

[@excellinkmotors6093]

What is the name of the website to get addresses??

[@danielremple6417]

AWESOME video! We use a local Lawn care company that also hands out flyers to get are Marketing material out! Do you invest in Google adds, Facebook adds? If so let me know. Thanks!

[@tuff47]

Repitition is the key. The other side of that argument is that your cost of mailing is now increased times the number of times you mail that same direct mail piece. 2% ROI on direct mail advertising.

[@SafeguardControlsLLC]

Awesome job!

[@gamerx30]

So how many times a month should I advertise to a particular zip code. I do Television hanging/mounting and handyman services. I live in Palm Bay Florida and want to keep a 5 mile radius. I already have customers in that radius and just want to stay there.

[@keke2296]

Good info :)

[@curtisg3880]

Almost video keep them coming.

[@coreystakes4398]

Thank you John, for the direct mail video it sounds much better than putting out flyers I greatly appreciate it. I would have never thought about using that method. One time I did use flyers and business cards but it only got me so far. Again thank you for putting up this video, I will be using this method.

[@RavensHardCore]

Great tips! Thank you!

[@SouthernDesignAgency]

What if your service is new to the area? Still a service but not lawncare etc...

[@T0XICMASCULINITY]

I know this might be a dumb question, but what are some good ways to go about learning the office side of things such as HOW to do payroll, accounting, hire employees, hire subcontractors if need be, etc. I have no issues performing any of the services offered, but the actual running of the business is where all my confidence fades, and most youtube videos either don't show you need to know things like that, or are so vague or general that it's barely applicable. Any guidance you could offer would be extremely appreciated.

[@TCM3273]

Sure but how do you identify those people who already use your service aside from identifying a specific demographic? With that in mind if you're traveling a demographic can't you still do that by targeting a specific zip code that mainly has your target demographic. Do you have a unique way beyond target demographics to identify your target market?

[@stephaniesands4249]

How do you find Property Appraisers?

[@HB-kp6rl]

Again. This is awesome. Thanks

[@robertpaidprice]

Thanks, Johnathan!

[@robertpaidprice]

I will be revealing my welcome packet soon. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@30yanuel]

How often do you recomend to send the postcards out and do you send out the same design everytime or do you swich it out?. Thank you, in advance, amazing content, 👍🏼I am so greatfull.

[@LawnscapesAmerica]

Excellent video. As far as targeting customers who already have a lawn guy goes, not everyone is ok with that. Not sure why, lol. I actually target the customers of the largest lawn care company in the US ( not sure if it’s ok to post their name) for aeration. All you have to do is follow the flags to generate your own list. But hey, that’s just me.

[@mkgunter]

I love trubrown, they give me so many accounts!

[@johnhubbard6262]

Old School Gorilla marketing at its best right there.

[@brentbanks8314]

Do you have any personal experience with sending out several times vs once? Can you break down the data?

[@tennesseeturfpros528]

Great stuff, Bud!

[@stevenclark5450]

Johnathon, it seems many of us are not able to find the Property Appraisers website that you are referring to. Can you provide some direction? Also, after you've compiled your mailing list, does the Post Office understand what you're doing versus using their Routes and Zip codes??

[@positivevibes7131]

If I hire someone temporarily like you, to flood my market with my flyers, would it be safe to say I need to 1099 them end of year? Or just pull out personal cash? Seems like pulling out personal cash would be the best bet. Any advise?

[@riyapatel4729]

You said you had kids to deliver it to you, can I used to deliver it myself but I was told that I need the USA paid label from the post office to do that. So what do I do?

[@davidg5629]

Property appraiser's website, meaning county assessor? What search does one do to put together a list? Thanks.

[@FloridaTurfPros]

You can do a search on the property appraisers website for all new home sales for the month.

[@kscarpetcare]

I need support my little cousins business in TJ Tijuana Mexico but wondering how I get EDDM for him to make my flyers with EDDM thanks

[@insanetrain7]

How do i generate a list for free? You mentioned property appraisers website but i have to pay for a subscription right? Thank you for the content.

[@hairstonpropertymanagement2937]

This may sound dumb but what is a Property Appraiser website?

[@FloridaTurfPros]

Hairston Property Management, LLC Your county has a property appraiser website. It lists all the homes, home owners, sell prices, etc. It’s usually a .org address. Just google your county property appraiser

[@hairstonpropertymanagement2937]

@@FloridaTurfPros thank you. Just needed some clarification

[@robson5017]

Great topic Johnathan. We appreciate it! I went to my county Mecklenburg (Charlotte, NC) and I can't find the option to search and acquire the names and addresses.

[@trailmommatravel]

What size mailers are the most effective? What printing company and quality do you like to use?

[@jameslawnservices3903]

Hey Johnathon, what is a property appraiser website? I cant find a list of address'

[@vickroid]

Jonathan, first time commenter long time follower here. As always great information, especially for someone in the very initial stages of this journey. I was actually curious if you stamp and mail out each mailer there at your house or is there a bulk rate that you get through your local post office there?

[@Jbarrettize]

I was wondering the same thing!! Thanks.

[@alfirst9087]

@@Jbarrettize Get Bulk Rate postage that you print onto your fliers and the post office bills you for the mail you drop, no stamps to lick.

[@hairstonpropertymanagement2937]

I just watched this again! 💥💥💥

[@joelatshaw828]

Do you have to add a mailing label on your postcard in Florida?? I’m in indiana and I printed 5000 postcards without the mailing label (indicia). I’m seeing what they say tomorrow morning about it. They never said anything about it on the website until after I paid for my route and it said make sure it’s on there. Live and ya learn

[@Jamminyea]

so do the kids that you hired simply walk up to the front door of someone's home and put the post card through the door? i suppose im confused on how you go about delivering the post cards.

[@rosenstoynev77]

I just watched this video. Twice.. Great info! Thank you. I only couldn't figure out how to find the list of addresses. Do you mind walking us step by step, where exactly to go, and what to search for? Thank you.

[@banagan4604]

How much did you pay the kids? Half?

[@QuietLawn]

Hey Jonathan, Thanks as always for the great info. You mentioned you use an alternative to EDDM now and eluded to making a list of each neighborhood. How do you use that list to mail the postcards and how much is the cost per piece for mailing like that? Thanks in advance.

[@mikejones412]

He is talking about using Direct Mail instead of Eddm. Most larger design companies offer Direct Mail, Eddm, and Blank Postcards. You can also go through the post office yourself and do Direct Mail, but it is easier to let the graphic company add the addresses and logistics. Direct mail is cheaper than using stamps, but higher than Eddm. You'll have to play with numbers and see if Direct Mail is better than Eddm for you. For me, the way our mail routes are setup it only makes sense to use Direct Mail for 9around type marketing.

[@QuietLawn]

@@mikejones412 Awesome! Thanks Mike. That's what I figured, but I wasn't sure exactly the easiest way. Do you just upload a list and then take the postcards to the post office like with EDDM?

[@mikejones412]

@@QuietLawn with Direct Mail the addresses have to be on the card, the post office doesnt do it for you. That's why I mentioned it is usually easier to let your graphic design/printing company handle all of it. So when they print the cards they either print different addresses on each card or print address labels and have a machine that applies the labels. Theyll ship them for you as well, you'll just need to count the transit time from their location to where the card is going. I made a comment that has the pricing I've seen for this with some other details. But the pricing I get changes depending on how much you saturate a particular mail route. For this reason in my area eddm makes more sense when trying to reach over 100 homes on one particular mail route.

[@QuietLawn]

@@mikejones412 That's great info Mike. Thanks for taking the time to explain it. I'll definitely use a service if we go this route. Using EDDM, half of the addresses on most of the routes I target aren't customers I would service anyways. This can be much more targeted.

[@Jeffdisalvio]

Awesome video! Going to start implementing this in 2020! Where do you design your postcards?

[@FloridaTurfPros]

I design them myself through editing software on VistaPrint.

[@gregchakar2966]

Jeffrey DiSalvio hi Jeff

[@Twilson19]

Jeffrey DiSalvio hi 👋🏻

[@JsCrazyCutzLLC]

This makes perfect since 🤷‍♂️😀

[@stevenclark5450]

Johnathon, are you mailing these through the Post office or are you hiring some kids to put them out for you?

[@chrisdoerr7063]

Thanks for this info!!! You just saved me a lot of time and money. If I was not so far up the east coast I would buy you dinner. Haha I was just about to do the direct mail but was reluctant because it's so much like a shot gun. I am just starting out and so I am really trying to keep my route density and my target yard in mind. Thanks for your time, it makes a difference. I have watched all your videos about 3 or 4 times and it has put me ahead of the curve in my area for sure.

[@55Maxxy]

Hello John, What do you suggest is the best repetition schedule for a route? Every 3 to 4 weeks if possible or once every other month?

[@FloridaTurfPros]

Once a month is what I have seen best results with.

[@yurisinclair4160]

What kind of response rate were you getting on the 2nd postcard?

[@FloridaTurfPros]

Last 3 years have fallen between 1.7 and 1.9.

[@Gambit8121-i7v]

I can't read the writing underneath double money back guaranteed very curious what it says

[@schaeferlawncarepropertyma4898]

If for any reason, You are unhappy with the service provided, Simply let us know and we will come back and fix it no questions asked. If for whatever reason you are still unsatisfied, We will pay a competitor of your choosing to fix it.

[@Gambit8121-i7v]

@@schaeferlawncarepropertyma4898 that's super confident and shows that they care about the quality of work but I would worry about the 1 to 2% of people that you/ nobody can really please or scammers trying to free load and get a free cut. I dont do contracts so I realy try to weed out people thar are not my ideal customers I feel like that will attract the wrong customer base I'm looking for....I like the rest of the door hanger though. It's not too busy but it has enough info and gets the point across.

[@qualcunningham8808]

When creating a post card and using eddm with the post office do I leave a place for address because it’s using a lot of unused space

[@ArbitraryLifestyle]

Sounds like a great idea compared to EDDM, I’m just not sure where I’m going to find foot soldiers to put this shit out.

[@jackbinkerd]

Lol “gotta go find some kids”

[@1203productions]

@@jackbinkerd yeah...about that...." Hey little kid, you want to make some money?" Mom!!!!!!!!!!

[@Skeldinglawncare]

Thank you for the tips and information. So do you still use business cards too with sending out post cards flyers? Do you use yardbook to get paid and schedule jobs?

[@urbanrootslandscaping3874]

Thanks so much for the great videos. I saw another video where you shared other marketing materials, like a referral packet. Do you use a local or national printing company? I’m shopping around for a print company, but I live in Washington State. Thanks!