How to make a business card
Do you think it is a good idea to sign up for Thumbtack, Angie, or yelp? My honest opinion is that you should not. I believe, as a new home service trade profession, you should have a good plan with a basic business card.
Lets get after it you home service professional! My name is Ryan and I want to show you how you can get your business card. And how to use it. We are also going to talk about how to pass out your business card so that it works for you. Much better than a lead generator will.
Who I am to be telling you this
My name is Ryan and I have spent my entire life living here in Arizona. I originally wanted to become a police officer, but after the real estate market crash of 2008 departments went on a hiring freeze, preventing me from testing. Being young and newly married I had to come up with a plan to support my new wife and I. My plan was to continue working in the security department until I could test. I did not know it then, but I would never test or become a police officer.
During my wait for the police departments to open back up, I was asked by my parents neighbor if I would be interested in cleaning pools for him. I knew Bryan, my parents neighbor, for as long as we lived there next to him and I knew that he operated his own pool service business. Up until him asking if I wanted to help, I had never even considered servicing pools, none the less starting my own business.
Fast forward, I stopped working for him and after we realized we were not going to get along, I quit my security job and started my own pool service and repair business. I bought a small service truck, a 1995 toyota tacoma single cab 5 speed 2 wheel drive truck with the money my wife and I received from our wedding, and I was ready to go. I opened an account at the local pool supply distributer, purchased $500 worth of equipment and the rest is history.
How to create your business card
Sit down and listen to what I’m telling you. You need a business card and I’m going to show you how to make them. It won’t take long and its not that difficult to do. You do not need to be an artist or a graphic designer. So don’t make an excuse on why you shouldn’t do this, Just do it.
Here is the link to VISTAPRINT. Click it and follow along with me….
This is vistaprints landing page. You’ll see “business cards” at the top left.
Click “browse design,” and let the creativity begin.
I am going to pick a simple design with a black background.
Delete everything on the card to start fresh. On the left side you’ll see the tool bar. Here you can add text and even upload your logo.
Here I have added my logo to my business card, and the front is done. Simple and perfect.
Now I want to work on the back and to do that all that you need to do is click “back” on the right side of your screen.
I’m going to to keep the back white. Back to the left side for the tool bar, click the text and add what you would like. I suggest keeping things short. Make sure that you include your name, some services that you offer, as well as your contact info. Email, website, or phone number works great!
Finish and pay. You will need to add your shipping address during check out. Have a credit card ready. At the time of this video I was about to get 100 business cards for $37 after shipping.
Now what?
That is a great question. Before we get started on what to do next, I’d like to congratulate you on completing the steps of designing your business card. Even though we are in 2023, I still believe that business cards can be more effective than any lead generator out there. Websites such as Thumbtack, Angies List, or even Yelp can not compete with customer to customer referrals. During an interview, the owner of Thumbtack, Marco Zappacosta says, “The biggest threat to thumbtack are referrals.” So take advantage of that and get to work.
There are two main ways to get work to start flowing in. No matter what home service trade you are getting involved with, these two hacks can get you work in no time. The first one is using your business cards, and the second is working as a 1099 contractor. Lets break them both down so that you can get out there and get started.
Using your business cards
When vistaprint gets you your cards, hit the ground running. Become obsessed with talking to people about your business and talk about it constantly. During the begining of your business you are going to be doing two thingss.
- Learning everything you can about your trade
- Trying to get business.
Embrace this time of your business. Before you know it, you are going to be so busy that you’ll look back to these times and wish you could go back. This is going to be some of the best times of your business. The saying is, “Enjoy the journey.” Stop focusing on the destination.
Take those business cards and put yourself in positions where you can talk to people about what you are doing. Knock on your neighbors doors and force the conversations. This is going to be hard for you to start doing, you’ll for sure be nervous. Especially when the first couple doors are slammed on your face. The focus on this is to dial in your “pitch.” If you want to know what a pitch is, go to google and search service providers in your area. Tell them you are looking for their services. Actively listen to what they say. Then go mold your own.
It goes without say, make sure that you give the neighbor your business card so that, even if they don’t need your services now, they will have your contact info for when they do.
You scared?
I know you are! Knocking doors is one of the scariest things that you will do in advertising your business. That being said, it can be the most effective way of acquiring customers. Some of the highest paid, most successful salesmen, are those who can knock doors. If you can not knock doors, or want to try something less scary, then try getting involved with community events. As a home service provider, customers are constantly looking for what you have to offer. Try being in front of them as much as possible.
You can go to community events such as farmer markets, sporting events, anything! The objective is to be creative and find ways to get in front of your potential clients. Get those business cards out there. You are not going to be able to get your cards out there by sitting on your couch. Get started!
Other ways to get business
So if for whatever reason you don’t want to get after it, or you are the one new business owner that the above advice doesn’t work for, then go get some 1099 work. Lets break down what a 1099 contractor is.
Simply put, you do work for other companies. The most common form of this work would be a service provider working for a property management company. They have work that needs to be done, but more often than not, they do not offer trade services in house. So the property management companies find quality service providers such as yourself.
Property Management companies
Getting started with property management companies can be tricky. The great part about approaching property management companies is that their information is on line. You can spend a full day contacting these companies by simply googling “property management companies.” Include the city you are looking to target and get started.
Make sure to take notes on what ones you have called. Follow up when you see fit. It is important to know that when you are told, “we will add you to our vendor list,” you and your business will be lost in their scrolls. Push harder. Insist on a meeting. If you have to, let them know you will be stopping by to drop off your cards. Then, follow through and go shake some hands. Better hope your “pitch” is on point. If its not, go knock on your neighbors door and practice it.
Work for other business
A lot of service providers such as yourself, are unaware of this strategy to get business, so listen up. You can use this tactic at any time during your business venture. During your early years, during slow times of your business, or you can even choose to only offer your services to other companies and make this your way of doing business entirely.
If there is one thing that is not in short supply, it is business’s putting their information everywhere. This makes it extremely easy for you to find businesses that offer the same services you offer. For example, if you are going to offer house cleaning, start calling house cleaners in your area. Let them know that you offer house cleaning as well, and that if they have any overflow work, you’d love to come in and do the work for them.
Note! Know that the companies that you are doing the work for are going to want to make a profit on top of you. So this may mean that you have to lower your prices in order for them to make a cut. This is also referred to as sub work. You are the subcontractor.
The perfect B2B relationship
For those of you who don’t know what B2B means, it means business to business. Not all business to business relationships are treated equally. In the beginning of providing your business to other business owners, you may be ok with doing to jobs for sub market prices. This is normal. As you start learning the trick to the trade and become better at what you provide, you may feel the need to raise your prices on your businesses. As well you should.
The bad business owners will want to keep you at discount prices for as long as they can. At that point, you are going to have to make a decision. Do you like the work or even the amount of work they are giving you? If you can’t get by without these jobs, you may feel stuck.
Back to business cards
I understand we may have got a little off topic. You googles “how to make a business card,” and here I am giving you business advice. So in conclusion, when you first start your business get yourself a business card. Take those cards and purposly start conversations about what you are doing. Be honest with who you are talking to and let them know you are just starting off. A lot of people out there will allow you to do work for them, knowing you are just starting off. Even if they are doing it for the discounted prices. So get your business cards and get obsessed with talking to people about it!
Start Your Home Service Business
IF you are wanting to get into the home service business, please check out my “future pro starter course.” In this course you will find out to:
- File your LLC
- Get a free EIN
- Set up insurance
- Make a logo
- Create a business card
- Order work shirts
- Get on Google
- Start your Quickbooks
