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The landscaper who quoted me $180 a month taught me more about marketing than any book
So I was getting quotes to have my yard cleaned up last month, and this older guy comes out, walks the property for maybe 10 minutes, and just stands there quiet. Then he goes, 'I'm not gonna give you a number today.' I'm thinking great, waste of my morning. But then he pulls out this little notebook, real beat up, and flips to a page where he'd written down what every house on my street paid him and what they actually got for it. He'd been servicing 6 houses within two blocks of mine for 4 years. He says he doesn't advertise anywhere, not even a truck wrap. Every single client came from a neighbor walking over while he was working. That hit me because I spend $400 a month on boosted posts for my concrete business and half the leads ghost me. This guy built a route so tight he's basically printing money with zero ad spend. What he really sold me was watching him work, not a pitch. I signed up on the spot and paid him for 3 months up front. So my real question is, has anyone here tried leaning hard into referrals and just ditching paid ads completely? I'm curious if it scales past a certain point or if you eventually have to go back to spending.
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murray.cora18d ago
That notebook detail really got me. My old electrician did something close to that, knew every panel on his street and never once ran a yellow pages ad back when those still cost money. It worked for him for almost 20 years but he capped out around 40 regulars and stayed there on purpose, because he didn't want to hire or chase new jobs. So yeah it scales, but only as far as you're willing to keep showing up yourself, and the second you want someone else doing the work the referrals slow down because people are really buying you, not the company name.
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