Pressure Washing Advertising with Yard Signs
Putting out as many yard signs as you legally can is going to be part of a winning advertising strategy if implemented correctly. Yard signs are different from Bandit Signs which are signs placed on easements. Yard signs are reserved for customer properties.
Sometimes customers don’t want to agree to putting a yard sign in their yard which can prevent you from scaling yard signs. Bandit signs don’t require sign off, so theoretically you can scale them more quickly. The downsides of bandit signs is that they are likely to get removed or potentially get you fined.
When you are just starting a pressure washing business and your marketing budget is limited, you need to find cost-effective advertising solutions. But what makes a yard sign so effective? It’s location.
The next question you should ask is, how can I get the best placements for my yard signs?
From my experience on Pressure Washing Forums, and speaking with other business owners, the typical process for getting yard signs onto customers’ property is the following:
Get a customer
Upon negotiating the service, ask if you can put a yard sign in their yard upon completion of the job for a week or 2
Complete the job and put out the yard sign
Nothing is inherently wrong with this, but what if the person’s yard is isolated from street traffic? What if they live on a busy street where people won’t even notice the sign as they fly by?
What if you can pick the locations of customers with ideal lots for a yard signs and reaching out to them only costs a stamp and an envelope?
Much like bandit signs, you want to find houses that have corner lots on busy streets or houses that are right at the entrance to neighborhoods that you would like to work in more.
Finding the Houses
You want to find houses that are:
On corner lots
By stop signs or red lights at street intersections so people are stopped and have more time to see the sign
Preferably a nicer-looking house
decent car traffic
decent foot traffic from people walking by
Use Google Maps to Help
Go to Google Maps and click on the layers view to change the view to satellite view.
This targeted house is at the intersection of 2 streets. I can have 2 signs placed on the lot, each sign placement would be facing another street. This house can collect leads from two separate streets, effectively doubling its lead capture potential.
This entire neighborhood only has 2 entrances. If we targeted the 2 houses located at the entrance to the subdivision then your yard sign would be seen by every single person entering and leaving this subdivision
Sending the Targeted Houses Your Proposal
You can get their address using Google. Your proposal should include a steep discount since you are mailing them unsolicited. I would normally send them 2 options for the service:
A house washing at 50% off
A free front walkway pressure washing
A lot of people might not be in-market for a house washing so even a 50% discount means they are still spending money. A free front walkway cleaning costs them nothing and should take you 15-25 minutes. If business is slow and you really need to put out more yard signs, you can always volunteer to do the house washing for free as well. Most homeowners would accept that offer if it looks like your business knows what it is doing. You need to think of this house as a stepping stone to get more leads and referrals for your pressure washing business.
What Should Your Proposal Include
Always include the price. Your job is to make it easy for them to say yes or no. You can price out a house washing service using Google Street View in many cases
I like to include a fridge magnet
Your contact information
A short bio about yourself, your business, and the local community
The agreement that after the job is done you put yard signs in their yard for 1-2 weeks
Side Note: Since these yard signs will be placed in neighborhoods with foot traffic, including a QR code on your yard signs might be beneficial.
Expected Results
As with most pressure washing advertising, you won’t get a customer with every letter you send. The first year that I utilized this targeted yard sign strategy, I sent out 123 letters offering 50% off house washing and only 9 people agreed. I managed to book quite a few jobs from those 9 yard signs I placed so I consider this advertising strategy to be successful.
After the Job
After you complete the job is a good time to let the homeowner know about your referral program. I never let them know about the referral program in the initial proposal I send because it crowds up the offer. You want to be concise with your initial message to not overwhelm the homeowner. Also, who wants to send business referrals when the b business hasn’t even done the job yet and they also contacted you unsolicited?
I have put out yard signs that have single-handedly landed my pressure washing company over $2500 in jobs. I will lose out on $175 for a job to make $2500 any day.