[Stonehenge]

How much of your gross revenue will be spent on marketing for the 2005 season?

Is this an increase or decrease from 2004?

[NC Lawnscapes]

Next season I am runnign 3 ads for new Maintenance work and 2 of those will be onn a month every day in local Newspapers Buisness card on back page (works Great) and one is 11 a week in a weekly penny pincher

[Dale Wiley]

My advertising budget will run about 2.5%.

Payment of any refferal fees may increase that a little bit, but the refferal jobs tend to be higher dollars and net margins.

[Bill Schwab]

We actually are reducing the advertising budget this year from 1.8%, to 1%. I also include lettering of trucks. Since I factor the cost of one aluminum silk screened yard sign into a job, that should not really go in the advertising budget because it is recovered from the customer as direct job costs.

[GLAN]

My advertising budget is less than 1%.

Although I have a marketing tool that I plan to begin with in a week or so.

I have been getting monthly new homes sold listings from them for the past year.....Not doing anything with them. Just checking it out. It's costing me about $50 a month. This is not factored into the above less than 1%......I had it.......then my advertising/marketing budget will be just slightly above 1%

[BJR]

I had to choose 0% because mine is about 1.2%. Closer to 0 than 5. I only advertise in the Yellow Pages, our area business phone book.

[justgardens]

Mine will be about 1%. I get a lot of my marketing at no cost to me with the placemats and Hand's On seminars. My mall space costs me next to nothing. I have to change the look each season but I already have most of the stuff to do it. Much of the material provided by my suppliers. Biggest expense is a phonebook ad for $1000.00.

[Terry D]

Is there a difference between marketing and advertising?

So example. every year I buy my guys these nice embroidered shirts & color coordinated pants, jackets, hats etc.

The purpose is many fold, but it goes along with marketing my product along with advertising.

Not positive of the difference or if ads are a subgroup of marketing.

Can somebody explain this to me?

[Stonehenge]

That's an interesting question, because I'm always had to argue a different point with marketers. All the marketers I've met seem to think that marketing and sales are the same thing. And in fact, a company I worked for in an unrelated industry for a few years had their VP of marketing and VP of sales as the same guy, and nothing I said to anyone in that department could change their minds.

To me, a guy who got a minor in marketing (which gives me a little credibility, but by no means makes me an expert), advertising is, as you say, a subset of marketing. I think any steps you take to put your company in a favorable light for your client base is marketing. This would include writing for the local paper, holding community events, outfitting guys with unis, spending money on YP or newspaper ad campaigns, lettering on trucks, distributing door hangers, brochures, business cards, etc.

(And for the record, I think sales is when you actually are in contact with a potential client, convincing them to spend money on your firm.)

[justgardens]

Terry- I believe marketing and advertising are one in the same. Anything you do from a phone book ad, which is the extent of many companies "marketing" right down to the shirts on the crews back are marketing or advertising your company. Anything that keeps your name out in front of the public accomplishes the same thing. Sales is a different issue. The marketing or advertsing only get you in the door, the sales are up to you once the door is open. I'm a firm believer that the work you leave behind will be the best marketing tool available to you. All the marketing and advertising in the world can't make up for bad results! It WILL catch up to you. All I want and what most landscapers want is "Just give our company a shot when you are choosing a landscape company" the rest is up to us. I've heard a lot of good ways to market here on this site. Some will work like yellow pages has for me as a part of my overall strategy, some could give a hoot about using yellow pages in their scheme of things. Much depends on your particular market. Experiment and see what works for your company. I've made many changes in the way I do or approach business based on ideas shared on this site.