Hey everyone. I was a lurker around here for a long time but decided to make an account and maybe get in some discussions. My first one though is a question.

I am trying to decide from a marketing standpoint what the majority of central Oklahoma's call weed control and fertilizer services. As someone in the business I refer to it as what it is "weed control and fertilization" but I want to make sure that our marketing is clear and easy to understand at a glance. Some people refer to these services as "lawn care", but to me that also includes mowing, etc.

Lawn care?
Weed control?
Lawn health?

If you were looking for a company to spray weeds and fertilize your lawn what would you type into Google or what words would stand out to you?

Thanks everyone for any and all responses!

If you're looking to learn more about lawns and enjoy lurking on message boards, everything you'll ever want to know to create an amazing lawn can be found here:
https://aroundtheyard.com/

*WARNING* - The boards aren't exactly like they are here. If you ask questions that are answered in the articles, prepare to be told to read the articles. Lotta older guys from the NE US that appear to generally be grumpy and tired of answering the same questions. 100% of posts must be approved before they're visible to the public.

I used to pay TruGreen to apply spring & fall treatments, but once I learned the basics, I determined they were way too expensive and did a generally average-below average job.

I'll assume you're growing a Bermudagrass lawn, so I would start with this article:
https://aroundtheyard.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71:bestlawn-bermuda-guide&catid=9&Itemid=117

Weeds are likely a problem at this time of year, so this is a great start:
https://aroundtheyard.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161:weed-control-the-qtriangle-approachq&catid=9&Itemid=117

As I've learned more about lawn care from being on those boards, I'm amazed at how much really bad information gets spread around by people regarding lawn care. If you have questions, or want to confirm a lawn care "tip" that somebody has given you, just let me know and I'll be happy to share knowledge.

I swear some local places do those services but call themselves Pest Control or Pesticide service.

Rather than try to catch all.. be verbose if you can. "Weed control and lawn fertilizing"

i removed several off topic posts... let's stick to topic instead of finding creative ways to get offended.

I like simple. Call it weed control and fertilization service.

If I am looking for a company to come spray....I would google lawn care or residential lawn care. If I was looking for the chemicals to do it myself, I would google weed killer or weed control

Thanks Martin.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Helps me get an idea of what terms folks outside the business are familiar with. I would welcome more feedback as well.

Thanks Martin.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Helps me get an idea of what terms folks outside the business are familiar with. I would welcome more feedback as well.
I second Jeep's post.

Thanks Martin.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Helps me get an idea of what terms folks outside the business are familiar with. I would welcome more feedback as well.

I think a great example to look to inspiration for is Mosquito Joe. Granted, I know you aren't spraying for Mosquitoes, however what they've done with the name of the business is great in that you don't have to guess what service they perform, it is easy to say out loud, and it has a nice "ring".

To answer your original question, I would say that it is common for central OK to refer to the services your business offers as simply "Weed killer & fertilizer".

Looking at how national companies have named their business: TruGreen/Chemlawn, Scott's "Turfbuilder", it seems that they aim to evoke a sense of what their services will accomplish: A truly green lawn, chemicals for the lawn, a product that will build your turf.

Now, I'm not very creative when it comes to actually making good names, but as a business name I feel the key is to be easy to say and visibly communicate. You'll want something you can have monogramed on a shirt, or that easily fits on the invoice header. You want to get the name, logo, and slogan plastered as many places as possible!

Look no further than how effective the "Trump" brand has been at getting national name recognition that eventually put a political outsider in the White House.

You certainly wouldn't want something like "Wasa's Pre-emergent/Post-emergent, Fertilization, & Subterranean Lawn Pest Management Service".

The company name and slogan should play well together. Maybe something along the lines of "Wasa: The Weed Warrior" - "Everything but the mow!". This particular example may be dumb, but you can have an alliteration or rhyme for the name that will help it "stick" in your client's memory, but a slogan that provides more detail.

Ultimately, the business name & slogan will serve as a sales funnel to help capture more clients. If your truck is branded well at a job site, you can bet that 3-4 neighbors are going to see it and maybe ask about how much your services cost & what you provide.

Visually speaking, you'll probably want to brand things with deep Fescue green colors that evoke a sense of a well kept lawn. (Seems to be a common theme among all services & products)

The good news is that there are plenty of DIY types in OK that are willing to put in the effort to mow their own lawn, but often get confused with fertilization and weed control because of the application rates, timing of applications, and what exactly is needed for their situation. You'll certainly have a market for your services.

A somewhat off topic tip - when I used Trugreen, they always wanted to sell me their year round package for "1 easy payment of $ReallyHighPrice!". It was like $600-$700 or something way too high to make in a single payment. Instead, I always thought an annual service billed in 12 monthly payments would be easier. You can offer to sign people up for the annual subscription service for a reasonable monthly payment - $20-$30 (or whatever, based on their lawn size). The good thing about this for you, as the business owner, is that it'll allow you to have some cash flow in the winter months where your income may otherwise be close to nothing. From the client's perspective, an auto-recurring debt is generally less likely to be noticed, they don't "feel" like they're spending money. Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, Pandora, and XM Radio don't make me feel like I've spent money - I don't even notice the debts coming out of my account. Perhaps a similar strategy would work well for your services.

And finally, I leave you with I feel is perhaps my most important tip. If you're going to do yard signs, please don't put them in lawns that look awful. When I walk my dog and see some of the yards with signs advertising your competitors, I see lawns that have dirt patches everywhere, weeds still thriving, and I often think to myself: "Wow, I know to never call that company! Even if you're able to perform a miraculous transformation of a lawn in one season - snap a "before" picture, but hold off on putting the sign in the lawn until the lawn actually looks good! Then you can post a before/after comparison on social media/your website to demonstrate what you company is capable of doing.

Question - do you offer fall over-seeding for clients that have cool season (Fescue/KBG) grass? Or rye seeding for clients that wish to have turf growing in fall/winter/spring on their Bermudagrass?

Weed and feed. FTW