New Operators

Hi Mick, Welcome aboard.
First tip I could give you is...Don't sell yourself OR your machine short. I'm sure you already know what it's capable of.

Contact other operators in your area, let them know that you are available to HELP them service THEIR customers, if required. That includes ops of larger machinery as well. Try to work in WITH them, not against.

Keep your eyes and ears open to new customers everywhere, in everyday situations. My 2 biggest customers came from fellow players at my local Indoor Cricket centre. There may even be customers through your other business.

Lastly.....Details!!! You may only be working in dirt, but if you look after the little details, then the customer is usually happier. Clean up after you've finished. Get on the shovel and tidy those bits the machine can't get to. Return phone calls when you say you will.....The little details that make YOUR business stand out from the rest.

No problems Wannabe. Happy to help!

I am in Ipswich mate, Not presently running a "dog" ..although would like to be I have another brand I originally bought for our property, and no esky, I have other interests for work also, but would like to move into this full time, but lets not get ahead of ourselves... I am only advertised on the net at the moment, and have had a reasonable response to that in the first week.

Last edited by Wannabe (2010-06-07 22:43:50)

Hehehe, yes its a Bo..Allright yellow....4/1 spreader and am in the market for PHD/augers and trencher..Know someone?  , I also have a brother that manages a hydraulic hoses shop so had him make up some couplers to attatch either genuine or dingo hydraulics.. have a hire mob close by who is for the moment happy for me to scavenge attatchments for day hire at the drop of a hat.

Presently towing on dual axle box, have to offload another vehicle to get some cash.

Mate I am presently adding to any and all free websites I can find.. quite easy.  Best performer by far is True Local, next in line is Home Improvement Pages (169 for 14 months) but it gives you a virtual mini website, Also keeping in mind Ive only added them a week ago so very early days yet. 5 enquiries. 1 Immediate Job (arse), 5 enquiries, 3 possible jobs and about 150 hits on the ad on Hi pages

Links...Im not sure if its ok to post them up so, Ill hold off there..If youd like to have a look send me a message and I'll send you a link to them.

Last edited by Wannabe (2010-06-08 18:06:00)

OK, web marketing....while I'm here I'll add a bit for anyone interested.
What Wannabe is doing is spot on.  Get onto as many online free trade directories, local business directories as possible.  You don't even need a website, just add your contact details and your territory/area.  Be aware that many of them will give you a basic listing for free but will then hound you to upgrade to a "premium" service for $$$.  For some, the extra service may help but in my view, you want customers to go to your own website. 
Having your own proper website does cost a bit to set up.  To do it properly you should have your own domain name that you can then place on your business cards, vehicles etc.  It should be memorable so that people can type in www.yourwebsite.com.au (for eg.) and find you easily.  You should try and use a domain name that is a .com or .com.au as it signifies a business......got to go.....dinner....!!!Be back soon.

Domain names are cheap - you can go to any domain name search tool and type in your ideas to see if their available and what they will cost.  For example....www.brisbanedingo.com or www.brisbanedingo.com.au are currently available and be be purchased for as little as $22.50 for two years.

You then need to build a website or simple webpage and load it up to the domain name.  This can cost anywhere from virtually nothing, up to several thousand dollars.  For a simple business like dingo hire, I'd suggest you don't need much more than a single page. 

One of the main things is to have important keywords in your page so that search engines like google will give it a high priority.  For example, if you lived in Browns Plains, you would have in your first paragraph, words like "Dingo" "Hire" "Browns Plains" "Trenching" "Post Holes" "Landscaping" etc. 

Try to imagine what your customers would type into a search engine to find you.  You first paragraph might read something like,

"ABC Dingo Hire provides earthmoving, trenching, Post Holes and Landscaping services in the Browns Plains, Crestmead, Calamvale and Greenbank areas."

You can then repeat key words like "dingo" and add words like "brisbane" further down in your text. 

You could add some pictures, and make sure they are called "dingo.jpg" or "trenching.jpg" etc.  You don't need to create a fancy logo but you could if you wanted to.  Remember that websites and search engines rely mainly on text, so it is the text content that matters.

Another thing is that if you are not big on web creation, you will not want to have to pay someone, everytime you decide to change something on your website, so make it simple and leave it so that it doesn't need changing.  List all your services, make sure your contact details and everything is correct and won't need changing for as long as possible.

I'll talk about publishing sites and submitting sites to search engines another time.  Cheers.

Last edited by Macca (2010-06-08 19:58:56)

Hi Neil,
Good to see you've found the new forum. Recently upgraded too I see. Selling off the excess and the old. Must be doing OK too judging by hours clocked on the ol girl. Good luck with the sales, look forward to your input on here.

Hi Guys..
          Just heard on the grapvine Universal augers have been sold to Digga.??

Slow down Mick!!!! You keep this up, you will have to change your name to WannaIS!!!