What is the best way to increase business when starting out? the two phone books we have offer the listing of animal control and removal or pest control for my business listing. I went with the first one due to having mice/termite and other insect calls (which i don't handle) Everyone calls you about stray dogs or Mal-nourished horses because they think you are city animal control. Anyone have any advice on the subject? pm/call me 870.942.6944 (Robb, yes I know the best thing is a website. I am currently trying to decide how to spend my money the most beneficially at this time and may very well be giving you a call to get one started.) Thanks for your time.

Dust'n

Put it in pest control.

What Animals Only said. Another way to greatly increase business is to make plans for a vacation day. The phone will ring off the wall.

What Paul said

who does websites, I tried making myself one on Weebly, Im not real good with computers, well I aint much good with any gadget I cant hit with a hammer

Well you need to look at what time of the year they come out , when I ran adds in three different books the book that just came out was the one I got most of my calls from , it also will take a few years before people even keep the new book , much more easy to just pitch the new one then dig out the old one . Also if the print is to small in the book this older common sense generation will just pitch it anyway , weather it's under pest or animal placement is every thing if you don't get on that first page . Three years ago I paid for a add that was 270 a month and never got much back the place ment was on the next page and they decide to make the book half the size that year and called it a green book because it saved paper , you could hardly see it , they never bothered to tell me , as fare as the website thing everybody has a web site , if you go there it better have more pages than the company you plan to compeat with , add words pay per call OMG running adds I'm sure drives all nuts , It could be compleatly different in your area , every single pest control company in my area all decided to do animals now ,there just your basic I only set a live trap type service but it has drove the price down , theres 62 company's in my area that will do animals , two off the biggest wildlife control company have just went under this spring

Also it takes months for a new website to show up

word of mouth is the best... websites in my area dont do squat. yellow book, dog pounds, sheriff depts, and put business cards EVERYWHERE!!! get your name out there... if they cant find you... they dont call you

Word of mouth is everything in my area as well , over half of my bat jobs come this way , I've done whole family's and there friends you never know when that one bat job will turn to ten .

You should definitely try craigslist. Also try placing a classified ad in your local paper. Very cheap and you would be surprised how many people look at those things. What about bulletin boards and pin a card up, the local feed store or Tractor Supply would be a good place. There is probably a local free online classified site, good place to post another ad.

Another thing to investigate might be a bulk mailing of a post card to a housing development. It might cost you from several hundred to over a grand but if your card is designed right it will make the phone ring.

The first two responses are great advice, the rest invites too many save the bunny, come pick up dead cats from the road and you charge ?!! calls .

Craigs list got me all sorts of SEO sales people calling. I guess you should not put your website in the add?

None of that stuff work for me , tried them all ,it cost money and lots of it , 2 thousands a month to get you started if you plan to go full time in my area . Friend of mine was spending close to three grand a month , he has down sized now , this add thing is not cheap , bill boards I have not tried and that's 5 grand a month I hear

You need to do a little of everything...

Shotgun advertising is a big investment and a bigger gamble. Forget about how to advertise, think about who to advertise towards, first. Who do you want to work for? Let them know you are available, it is that simple. If you want anything and everything than go for it advertise everywhere in every way. Focus on your customer base,i.e. local newspaper. Focus on a neighborhood, drive around and put flyer on locations where you see damage, moles in yard, hole in roof, etc. If you are just starting out do what you are good at first, if you know Raccoons in structures that advertise that and market to the area you want to work in. Do good work on each job and that alone will grow your business.

What is your budget?

ive ran newspaper ads for the last 2 years during our "busy tourist" season up here and never had a call from them. im not doing that this year. my mole flags are all bright green with my bus. name and phone number on them. they have brought me business. go cheap.. you dont need a $2000 a month yellow page ad. last year i ran an expensive ad in yellow book, and it didnt pan out. this year i just wanted to be listed under pest control etc. cut that price way down doing this.

Neat idea on mole flags. Where did you find custom flags?

Looks like they start at about a nickel per.

http://www.blackburnflag.com/store/

http://www.amcflags.com/products.aspx?category=2&subcategory=13

http://www.seton.com/custom-printed-marking-flags-21879.html

I advertise in the development newspapers down here in Florida. But my best success, by far, has been putting on my best uniform and bringing some bagels(if there are a lot of ladies in the office) or doughnuts to your local pest control companies. I can get 10k a month in exclusion work alone from just one of the big companies. Explain to them how you catch animals but you can't do your job if they don't get rid of the bugs. The snakes and armadillos will keep coming for the bugs and grubs. You can tell them that you use their service and hope they don't check? They all do rats and bugs but not exclusion work usually. Then I give them a kickback to seal the deal. They do all the advertising and they get the majority of our calls first. Now you just give them a reason to refer you. Works like a charm. Within a few months it will be like someone flipped a switch and the calls pour in.

The only reason I said bagels if there are ladies is because I've been scolded before on how they are watching their waist line. Haven't had a guy yet turn down a doughnut!