LCR Nailer Taliaferro (2:31)

Then once you do that now, you're hopefully in the right area that you Want. Now you start branding, you make sure that you have some brand recognition. I started with just a magnet to put on my truck door. Magnets on my truck. So at least people saw my logo, my contact information, you know, and I was in the neighborhood and now they see me, they can contact me and we can grow that way. Of course you can. Then, since then, since then I've grown and you know, got decals, my trailer, enclosed trailer, huge logo lettered up and everything. So now it's like a billboard. I'm driving around, people think I've got all these trucks. And you know, it's just because we have such good branding and brand awareness. You know, the, the, the shirts match with the logos, the business cards, the flyers, postcards, door hangers, Facebook posts. Everything is all aligned. It's all the same. It all matches. The branding, the colors, the logos, it all matches. So this way when people are seeing you everywhere, it's all resonating your business. Boom, boom, boom. So when they do need a service, they think of you and they also are more attract. Again, it's another way of attracting and repelling people because when you pull up with a nice looking, it doesn't have to be brand new, but you have a nice clean setup that's branded in some way. It doesn't have to be some crazy epic rap. It could just be something nice and clean and simple that has your logo and content information, Nice uniform shirt that's not falling apart and doesn't look like it's five years old and faded. You could barely read the logo. I mean, these things, these things are professional and they attract the right people, right? And repel the wrong people. But if you show up with a cigarette hanging out your mouth and you got whatever random outfit looking like who knows where you came from under a bridge or something and you pull up your truck smoking, gosh knows what emissions out of it and you can't get the mower started. Like that's going to attract the wrong people, if anyone at all. And it's definitely going to repel the people that don't want you in front of their yard because they're going to be embarrassed. They want to keep up with the Joneses. Right? Branding actually becomes a part of the perception, the perceived value. Like look at, I have this brand servicing my yard. Look at them, they look amazing and they do an amazing job.

Unidentified Guest (4:41)

That is so good.

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (4:42)

Yeah, well, thank you. But that's the important. I've lived it. Like that's perception is reality. Their perception is your reality. And that's what you have to live by, especially when you're in business. You could say, I don't care what people think, but if you're trying to sell something, you should care what people think, because otherwise you might have a hard time selling as much. So branding is huge for that. And then. And then the last thing is marketing, right? Like actually being intentional to market your brand and your business, your services, Whether that's. It should be all of the things. Right. I was gonna say whether that's Facebook, whether that's print, you know, like sending flyers or post. I mean, sending postcards or physically putting up door hangers, if you're allowed to in that neighborhood, handing out business cards at different places around the community, you should be kind of doing all the above, right? Everything's linking back to your website. Your social media should be linked everywhere. You should be doing social media if and only to promote your business. You don't have to be a big influencer or something, but you do, when you do a good job, tend to attract other contractors to learn from you, which is not a bad thing. So getting on social media is huge. And your brand is there as well. You're showing your truck, you're showing your equipment, you're showing your work. Maybe you're showing your team, you know, and then people. That's more touch points for people to connect with you and remember you. And then also the last. The final thing about marketing, kind of one of my secret discoveries is interacting with the community and supporting the community. Whether that's supporting, like some of your customers, kids, soccer team or softball team, getting your sign up there, your logo on a sign in the outfield. Now all the moms and dads are seeing that. Now they're thinking about contacting you in your general service area. Right, because it's all localized, these different teams. Or you go to the swim team, a swim meet in the summer at the hoa, the homeowner association clubhouse, where they've got the pool and the swim teams, and they've got tables up and food trucks, and you can see if you can set up a table there and put all your logos and your business cards, information. That's what Charles does. The neighborhood that I sold him with 26 properties. Him and his wife set up a table at the swim meets every Saturday or whenever it is. And they're there, and they're talking to all the moms and dads, and they've got a big tablecloth. Yeah, big tablecloth on their table. Doesn't cost that much for a tablecloth that they use over and over and over again. They've got some flyers and they're beautiful smiles, right? They got their polos on him and his wife, Family operation, big company, but still feels family. And they're right there at the swim. Swim. Swim team, swim meets, right. Promoting their business. And they're already in the neighborhood, so, like, oh, you guys do a good job. You know, I've been wanting to contact you, and it just strikes up the connection and the conversation. Conversation. It's, it's. It's just. It's a game changer. So. And think of other ways that you can do stuff like that. Like one time I was at an event and I could see like a. My HOA where I live, an event, and we were somewhere and we had like, food and drinks and we had these plastic disposable, like these cheap cups you can buy. And it had logos on it, and it was logos of the local brand. Like a real estate agent and a big landscape company that only does the commercial stuff.

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (7:48)

Right.

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (7:48)

So they do our. Our common areas. Yeah, things like that. So, you know, it had their logos on there. But I'm like, man, I'm looking around and there's like a hundred of us and we're just sitting there drinking these cups, and I'm like, that's. That's genius. Like, you just look at the cup and here's these logos on there. You contact that real estate agent or you, you, you know, I don't know what the commercial landscaper, I guess they're just supporting, you know, the. The community. But maybe, maybe there'll be another HOA management person there and they'll be like, oh, that's good. Let me contact them. So, so anyway, just a lot of interesting ways that I discovered and have all been successful for me, and I told you some stories of how some. Some other friends of mine have done similar things and they've. They realize how important route density is. So if nothing else, if you don't do any, even if you don't raise your prices yet, you're not really sure how to. You want to consult with John Pajak, Prophets of Pajak Podcast or whatever, you know, you. You should at least do whatever you can from the four steps I talked about route density and get started today so that you can have a better tomorrow.

Sponsor Representative (8:54)

Today's episode is sponsored by Toro, and they're helping contractors take control of their business with Horizon360. This software wasn't built in a boardroom. It was Shaped with real input from real contractors so the tools actually match

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (9:09)

the way you work.

Sponsor Representative (9:10)

From scheduling and crew tracking to understanding job profitability. It's for your day to day reality. LCR listeners get a seven month free trial with promo code lcr. Click the link in the episode description and start working smarter with Horizon360 today.

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (9:27)

Hey, just real quick, if you haven't heard, I have a new event coming up this summer right here in Richmond, Virginia on June 26th and 27th.

Sponsor Representative (9:35)

It's called the Profit Accelerator Live. Special guests, what you're going to learn there. So you're going to learn how to stop underpricing your jobs, improve your route density, close more bids and fill your schedule with more profitable jobs. So stop sacrificing so much of your time for a little bit of money and join us at the Profit Accelerator Live link is in the episode description.

Unidentified Guest (9:57)

Well, speaking of pay, Jack, he's going to be, you guys are going to be doing an in person event to talk more about this. Can you tell us more?

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (10:05)

Yeah. So yeah, speaking of paycheck, right, he's, he's, we, we know him as the numbers guy. He's all about profits and we're putting together a special event. So I've had the LCR Summit for a few years now and that is kind of like all the foundational principles to build your business. And we talk about marketing, employees, hiring, training, profits, all of the, all of the, all of the main pillars for your business at the LCR Summit and

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (10:32)

a lot of different speakers.

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (10:33)

But I wanted to extract the profits part of that because it's so critical because I just keep, like I said in the beginning of this episode, I talked to so many of you that are struggling with pricing, route density, just profits in general. And you think by, you think working more is going to get you more. Well, that's true. It's going to get you more trouble, more headaches, it's going to get you more exhausted, it's going to get you more broke. Because if you don't have your profits set up properly, like if you don't have your numbers, you don't even know your numbers. You don't have budgets, you don't have things set up in a way where you're actually profitable. You're really just working for nothing. You really end up having the lowest paid job you've ever had and working the most you've ever had for it. So don't be that, don't do that. And if that's you, I'm here for you. And I get it. I was almost like that in the beginning, but I quickly learned and focused and got connected, right? And there wasn't even really any events back then. So I've been creating these different events so that we can all learn and grow together. And the profit accelerator Live is going to be focused on just that. It's two days right here in Richmond, Virginia, my hometown, June 26th and 27th. And so it's two days gonna be me, John Pajac, and Eric Triplett, the pond digger, who's also a good friend of ours, who is a $2 million plus pond construction, design, build maintain company over in California. And he's a lifelong contractor. Asked him the other day, how long have you been doing this? He's like 40 something year. I forgot what it was, but it was over 40 years. The man has been around. He, he, he, he has a lot of experience and he actually kind of like had like a reboot of his business. He had one business and then he fell ill and had to take, take, take a step back. And then he ramped his b, kind of redid his business and ramped it back up, made it bigger and better and more profitable the second time around. So he's crushing it. And he's coaching and sharing on social media all the time because he also connects with contractors who are literally like on the verge of a mental breakdown, like on the verge of a divorce, on the verge of all the above because of what we're talking about, because they don't have their numbers dialed in because they don't understand what they don't understand because they don't know what they don't know. But they're connected with triplet or you're connected with us, or they heard something on a podcast or read a book or whatever that hopefully got them one step, you know, closer to a change in the right, you know, in the right direction. So triplet is great at selling and pricing as well and knowing what to say and how to say it to the right people, to your customers.

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (13:11)

He's very good at that.

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (13:12)

So the three of us are going to be together for two days. You're going to have all three of us for two days. And we're going to be coaching you on how to increase the profits in your business in two days. So at the end of it, you're going to know more than route density, right? You're going to know all the things and you're going to be able to dial it in. So it's in June, so you can kind of regroup. Like, how was my spring rush before the second half of the summer? And the burnout happens. You can salvage something like, okay, we're halfway through the year. What do we look like? Come with your challenges. Let's fix some stuff so you can finish the year strong instead of waiting until the end of the year when the LCR Summit is to be like, well, that was a bummer. Better luck next year, you know, so we'll still have that too. But it's great to have a nice check, a checkpoint in the middle of the year so you can really get that dialed in. So Profit Accelerator Live, you go to profit acceleratorlive.com and then you can register for that. So I'm looking forward to it.

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (14:07)

It's going to be a good time.

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (14:08)

The three of us have done a lot of great things for a lot of people at the LCR Summit as well as outside of that social media. We have our different communities. I've got my inner circle and we've just been serving everyone at the highest level. So it's been fun.

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (14:22)

Well, I hope this was insightful for you. This is just one of many ways you can increase the profits in your business, be more efficient and just, just,

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (14:32)

you know, do the right thing and

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (14:34)

build a business that, that serves you instead of you serving it. So I've been having a lot of these conversations recently. So look, be on the lookout for more of that kind of content on my social media as well as the podcast and all the other podcasts that I'm on. Like the Green Industry podcast. I was on Profits with Paycheck podcast recently. I was on the Attack with Mac podcast recently. So if you haven't already heard those snippets or the full podcast episodes, go ahead and check those out. Links are always in the episode descriptions for the relevant podcasts and or episodes, so. And again, the link to the Profit Accelerator Live is in the episode description if you are interested in leveling up and attending so that you can be more profitable in your business fast, meaning in two days so that you can finish the second half of the year stronger than you started. So love to see you all there and thank you for listening either way. And thank you to Toro Company for sponsoring the LCR Media podcast. And until the next episode, this is Naylor Tali Ferro signing off.

LCR Nailer Taliaferro (15:40)

This has been an lcr media and Mr. Producer production.