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15 Comments

Need advice with marketing

Good morning fellow indie hackers,

I have a landscaping side business that I am trying to get off the ground. I intend to start really small/niche doing only small scale fabrication; planter boxes, railings, living walls. I am aiming for a modern aesthetic and want the advertising/website to be indicative of that. I have a flyer that I made on Indesign but I have no marketing experience whatsoever lol. If anyone is willing to check it out and give me some feedback that would be greatly appreciated!

  1. 2

    Could you get on NextDoor and post some photos of recent projects or portfolio work? That's where I learn about a lot of the service oriented businesses that serve my local area.

    1. 1

      I'll do that, thank you!

  2. 1

    @elinspirado Hi, hope you are well. We are happy to help please email me on [email protected]

  3. 1

    I was thinking now about a few ways you can think about how to get this off the ground:

    • Create a portfolio, it can be as easy as a collection of pictures on your smartphone, just so you can show people around.
    • Put yourself on Google Maps so that people that search for the type of services you offer, can also find you.
    • You can also use Google Maps to search for gardens or people with gardens that might be interested in your services. You can then just put a flyer in their postal box (dunno if there are laws against this in some countries or not).
    • I'm personally not a big fan of physical marketing for bootstrapping (flyers, postcards) but they can still work.
    • You can also try and create a concept for a local park and show the pictures to the mayor/local authorities. You either get a contract to do that, or you gain some pictures for your portfolio.
    • You can start joining some gardening/landscaping Facebook Groups and just post some of your past work. Just be sure to check the rules of the group so you don't get banned for self-promotion.
    • You can also use an Instagram page as a portfolio, it's the perfect platform for pictures and it also has some organic reach (use all the hashtags).

    That's all I could think of at this point...

    1. 1

      Thank you for your response, this was really insightful! I am in the process of revisiting sites and collecting quality photos for a portfolio but you're right, I should probably just use the ones on my phone to get the website started. I also like the idea of a public display, I'll work on a list of places/people to contact as well as getting on several social media platforms.

      1. 1

        Don't focus too much on the website, you can use a platform like Carrd to get one up and running fast with very good visuals from the get-go.

        Your business might as well work without a website, to be honest.

  4. 1

    There are various way you can start small and grow your business. Firstly, get a website so that people can get to know about your business, what you do, what services you provide, previous projects done etc. You can choose Wordpress/ Wix/Square Space/Webflow etc. and make a good website. Go for the google listing and get reviews from previous customers to gain authority.

    Having a website is as important as having social media business accounts. Once you do this, people will start getting to know you. Save some money and start investing in marketing.

    1. 1

      I started designing my website on squarespace but was waiting to post until I had more quality pictures in my portfolio. Now i'm thinking I should drop the site how it is and update it as I go. Thank you for the tips

  5. 1

    are you present on google maps / google my business? I’ve heard it’s great for localized businesses like yours.

    Also feel free to share your flyer here for feedback!

    1. 1

      I will be soon! here is the flyer file:///Users/isabel/Documents/GLAD%20Flyer%20ih.pdf

  6. 1

    Post a link to the PDF here and I'm sure many people, including myself would be happy to give feedback.

    1. 1

      file:///Users/isabel/Documents/GLAD%20Flyer%20ih.pdf

      let me know if this works

      1. 1

        I think you have to upload it someplace like OneDrive or Google Drive and share the link to that.

          1. 1

            The flyer looks OK but it's not very compelling, at least to me. It might be worthwhile to show the wall used in the image in the full context, i.e. more of the house and the yard. It looks too isolated and disconnected. Also, it might be better to have more examples, maybe smaller screenshots (e.g. http://www.bcpronto.com/proofs/creative/flyer.jpg (not the text)). This way potential customers see a track record of your designs.
            I don't have much more to say but if you wanted me to take a look at the revised flyer, I'd be happy to give additional feedback.

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