So you’ve got started with your lawn care business, and now you are looking to snag some new clients.  What is the best way of doing that?

There are lots of different ways to promote yourself to a new clientele. But one of the best ways of all is to have proof of the work you have already done for someone else.

Let’s look at a situation from two different angles to illustrate this point. Let’s suppose a lawn care expert arrives at your home and offers to take care of your lawn for you.  They tell you all about what they have done in the past and offer you a great deal on future services.

Now let’s look at the same situation again, except this time they have brought a portfolio with them, displaying before and after pictures of other gardens and lawns they have worked on in the past.  I’m betting this will persuade you to sign up for their services more so than the first example would.

This is why you should work on building up a portfolio that you can show people.  Ideally you actually want two of them – one to put on your website and one to have in a folder which you can take round to show potential clients.

If you are just starting out and you don’t yet have any evidence of your skills, ask your friends and relatives if you can tackle their lawns for them and take photos of the results.  Remember the ‘before’ photos as well though, otherwise you will have nothing to compare it to.

Whenever you meet a new client – particularly one whose lawn needs a lot of work – ask them for permission to take some pictures.  You can then add these to your portfolio too.

Having an online portfolio is a good idea because not everyone will find you as you are out and about working.  Similarly some people are more likely to find you online than they are by looking through local adverts.  If you take your pictures with a digital camera it is easy to print them out for your hard copy portfolio and also to download them onto your computer and then upload them to your website.  Make sure you have a specific section on your site for your portfolio, and add your contact telephone number or email address (or both) to that same page.  This will make it much easier for people to contact you when they want a quotation.

In a sense your portfolio works for you, encouraging people to sign up for your services.  But more than this, you should also view it as a living thing that can be developed and updated as time goes on.  Keep it current and up to date and fill it with as many before and after scenarios as you can.

Try and add different styles and types of gardens as well, so you can illustrate that no job is too big for you and your business to tackle.

Interested in starting a Lawn Care Business? Click here to learn more about our Lawn Care Business Guide.