Jonthepain's new business venture! www.CarolinaOrganicLawns.com

[DarkSkies]

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com)


Hey people, many of ya's know Jonthepain here, fisherman, hunter, Dad, and entrepeneur. He just started a company http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com)

He's been a contributing member to this community for a while now, and I thought we could give him a small hand if it's not too much trouble.

I'll do a write-up of how this happened, Jon if you read this please correct any details I left out or inaccuracies. :HappyWave:

Background -
Jon is a "jack of all trades" with many talents. He's been a house painter, housing remodeler to an extent, among several other jobs to keep food on his family's table.

I believe he has formal training as an architect, with CAD experience.
He was working in that industry for a while, but new construction and building permits went down the tubes in this recent recession, so he was forced to find other ways of making money.

He started an online book/training manual publishing company.
He does websites and SEO for people, and acts as a network service provider for anyone with a small business who needs cheap server space.


Recently he came to me asking advice about a lawn care franchise that did organic lawn care. The one he was looking at wanted a fee of about $85k to cover start-up, plus franchise fees with each transaction.

I looked at some of the numbers, and thought the financial outlay was way too high, and that he might not break even. He agreed. As resourceful as he is, he put together an organic lawn service company on his own, with much less of an investment. :thumbsup:

The only thing, is that without a lot of franchise marketing muscle going on, he's been getting one customer at a time.

Winter is a slow season, so he was thinking of ways to increase his Google position with the website.

I thought of this forum, and maybe we can help him increase his rankings. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon3.png

[DarkSkies]

About http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com)


He started the business about 6 months ago.

Here are some links to his web page, and company info:



Home Page:
http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/index.html

What's good about organic?
A lot of you have heard about the organic fertilizers and the damage they do to the bays and rivers. Here in NJ Gov Christie recently signed legislation limiting that.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?7393-Christie-Signs-3-Laws-to-protect-Barnegat-Bay

I agree, something has to be done. Homeowners are not going to change their way of thinking unless forced to do it. And the phosphates from fertilizers are truly damaging to our fish and their nursery environments.


A little about how www.carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://www.carolinaorganiclawns.com) alleviates that problem:

What's Wrong with Chemical Fertilizers?

Synthetic High Nitrogen Fertilizers boost the risk of insect and disease infestations, weed problems and cause immense stress on your plants or seedlings. It's clear, synthetic fertilizers induce a quick growing rush by making excess nutrients available for a short time. The plant absorbs the chemicals quickly and uses the excess energy for very rapid growth above the soil in lieu of of storing carbohydrates. The excessive nitrogen also leaches through the soil or easily washes away (polluting ground and surface water) leaving the salt to toxify the soil which reduces the microbe and earthworm populations. This consequently reduces nutrient cycling, noticeably reduces organic matter (inhibits thatch composting), and the resulting soil compaction promotes weeds and further soil damage.




The Organic Solution
Our Natural Fertilizer, Soil Conditioner, and Compost Tea solution immediately reverses this process. Many of it's nutrients are in chelated form which holds them in reserve until they are needed.
Our Solution is a total supply of nutrients as organic compounds such as carbohydrates and proteins which are held in the soil until the microbes and other organisms in our Compost Tea digest them. This starts and fuels the "self sustaining" process leading to increased nutrient cycles and naturally aerated soil structures.

You cannot find a more potent combination of hydrolyzed fish extracts, kelp, sulfate of potash, microbiology and other proprietary ingredients than we have in our lawn solution.
Please call or email us today for a free quote!

jon@carolinaorganiclawns.com (%20jon@carolinaorganiclawns.com)

[DarkSkies]

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com



A standard marketing theory is:

"An educated consumer is your best customer!"

Jon has learned that theory well. On his site he has a page detailing numerous links talking about regular VS organic lawn care....

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/resources.html

[DarkSkies]

A business will not grow without testimonials from satisfied customers, or word of mouth feedback showing your product or service will live up to your claims.

Here's a gallery of homes that he has as clients...

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/gallery.html

[DarkSkies]

As I noted, Jon has given a lot to this site, and I want to try to help him by giving something back. We're trying for better SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to position his site higher in the Google searches. Every little bit helps. :thumbsup:


How you can help?
I realize we may not have a lot of members living in his area who would need these services. However you can still help out, if you feel like it.

1. Just post comments on this thread. Your posts can be 2 or 3 words, as simple as
"Good luck!" They don't have to be the half-page diatribes like I'm known to write. :laugh:

2. Ideally, if you also included the link EACH time you made a comment, that would be awesome as well. Remember, I'm not pushing any one person to do this, but if you have enjoyed his posts here, I think a post here and there in this thread could help him.

So, thanks for any posting you folks could do here, and if you can, remember to include:

3.

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/

(Note: Clicking on the above site will help him as well.) :thumbsup:

in any post you put up in this thread.
Thanks again, guys and girls! :HappyWave:

[rockhopper]

Good luck with it!
http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/ (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/)

[williehookem]

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/)

Best wishes

[plugcrazy]

I don't know if you heard of this guy gopher. He does a series of info videos about simple subjects. It frankly seems kind of lame, but if you look at his views, he has a lot. So somehow he has tapped into what it takes out there. I'm not telling you what to do, but I went to the site http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/ (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/) and I thought you did a good job of putting it together.
If you put some of that on video, maybe you could increase your exposure. Hope this helps.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT3uTvJ46OU

[surferman]

Good idea above Hey this is fun!
http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/)

[dogfish]

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/)
Best of luck. I wouldn't go to dark for business advice. He's a little warped at times.:rolleyes: :HappyWave:

[jonthepain]

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/)
Best of luck. I wouldn't go to dark for business advice. He's a little warped at times.:rolleyes: :HappyWave:

At times??? rofl gimme a break!

you guys are really humbling me here.

yah i know there's no way this ex jersey guy is gonna come up from north carolina to work on people's lawns, so i really appreciate you guys just helping me out with my google ranking. that's above and beyond the call of duty.

i've got a couple of other things in the pipeline right now, that you all might be interested in come springtime.

and oh yeah, Rich, you are the bomb!
one is, i'm going to start offering the juice that i use on peoples lawns down here, online. it's a concentrate; you just mix it up with agua. now what i use is not quite that simple; i make compost tea along with the organic fertilizer, but just the fertilizer itself is fantastic stuff.

i was in walmart yesterday, and my pharmacist (you cant beat $3.99 prescriptions), who's lawn i do, called me over to his pharmacy and asked me what's up with that kelp stuff i put on his lawn last fall. he said that he's got the only green lawn in the neighborhood. one neighbor uses chemlawn, another uses scott's, and yet another uses EPM, and he said their lawns all look like ****.

now you gotta understand this guy is super anal about his lawn, and he's used all the other lawn services. he took a chance on me because i'm a customer of his.

so now he's sold on my juice.

if dark will let me, i'd like to let you guys know when i get it all set up to sell the stuff thru my website. the company dropships it, and i get a small commission. when i order it, it comes the next day with only normal ups shipping! it's a pretty amazing company.

well anyway that's my next project.

the other one is a book that a friend of mine wrote - she's like the country's leading expert on garage sales. she's been on good morning america and the today show, and writes a garage sale column for a bunch of newpapers. and is about the biggest yenta ever, but that's another story. :D

anyway she's given me the rights to sell her book online, as a downloadable ebook. so i've been busy scanning it into my computer and getting all the websites and autoresponders and marketing etc etc for the last 3 months. it's 179 pages of great info on how to make more money at your garage sale.

she wrote the book, i'm gonna do all the marketing, and we'll split the proceeds 50/50.

i don't know beans about garage saling, but i do know a little bit about marketing, and it seems to me that there are probably a lot of people that are gonna try to get some scratch together this coming spring, considering the economy and all.

so i'm kinda excited about that opportunity too.

so thanks everybody for supporting me! i really appreciate the clicks, i really do. you guys are awesome.

meanwhile i'm looking forward to getting back working outdoors. i love doing lawns, and especially since my (21) yr old middle son is my partner in this. i got surgery coming up (inguinal hernia, not a big deal,) but i gotta get it done before next season cuz i can't go another year like this.

thanks again!
jon (the pain)

ps great idea about doing some videos for my web site. i do know gopher; boy if his mug don't scare 'em off, then i should be ok :scared:

and oh yeah, Rich, you are the bomb! :HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

Best of luck. I wouldn't go to dark for business advice. He's a little warped at times.:rolleyes: :HappyWave:
Dogfish, I am what I am, no sense sugar coating it. I'm ok with it, effumall to those who ain't. :moon: :HappyWave: Are ya freezin yet up there or what? No bass till May for you guys, that's gotta suck. :scared:




http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com)
Jon, your business deserves a push. You're welcome, wish I could do more. :thumbsup:

It's actually a positive thing to be involved in. A few years ago when I was doing some research on the ups and downs of the bunker cycles, an old salt told me about the Abemarle Sound down by you. He claimed the bunker are breeding less effectively because of the nitrogen runoff from the lawn fertilizers and feces runoff from some of the chicken plants they have down there near the water.

I don't know if it's true, but the way he explained it, it sounded plausible. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon3.png

So best of luck. People are slow to adapt to new ideas when the old ones seem to work as well. Getting more people to think about fertilizer runoff won't be easy. It's absolutely necessary to address it as more people move to bay areas to be near the water. Not everyone can afford oceanfront. There are still pockets in major metropolitan estuaries that are waiting to be developed. More development brings more runoff and pollutants.

You definitely made a step in the right direction, and I hope you are able to ride that curve as more people become educated. I'll do whatever I can to help, bro. :HappyWave:

[cowherder]

Cool, I'll help!

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com)

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com)

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com)


http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com)

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com)


http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/)
Best of luck!

[jonthepain]

People are slow to adapt to new ideas when the old ones seem to work as well.

i think what i'm shooting for are the people who are already concerned about the safety of their kids and pets as they play in the yard. there are some communities around here that have banned or severely curtailed chemical lawn treatments, and as that trend continues, i hope to see growth in my business, and also healthier wetlands (and thus bunker and STRIPERS!)

thanks again you all.

[vpass]

i'm going to start offering the juice that i use on peoples lawns down here, online. it's a concentrate; you just mix it up with agua. now what i use is not quite that simple; i make compost tea along with the organic fertilizer, but just the fertilizer itself is fantastic stuff.

Jon, I want to wish lots of luck on your ventures. Sound like a great Idea. Timing is right.:clapping::clapping:

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/

[strikezone31]

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/ (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/)
Good luck, guy!

[jonthepain]

thanks!

well since you guys have been helping, i've hit the first page on google for the search terms "organic lawn care."

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e248/jonthepain/COLonFirstPageGoogle1-9-2010.jpg

can't beat that!

have also published an article:

http://www.uberarticles.com/articles/artsubmit/upreview.php?article_id=602469

[DarkSkies]

Outstanding, Jon! :clapping::clapping::clapping: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
I read that article, nicely written. :cool:

http://www.uberarticles.com/articles...icle_id=602469 (http://www.uberarticles.com/articles/artsubmit/upreview.php?article_id=602469)

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/ (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/)

[voyager35]

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/ (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/)

Good luck, looks like you are on your way.

[Pebbles]

Jon the site looks great. Looks like you have a good thing going. I wish you much success.

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com/)

[jonthepain]

Thanks! i still need to put a lot of work into it, but at least i've got something up and running.

a couple more places published my article today! - http://www.organichomegardening.org/?p=2351 and http://ecology-articles.info/the-use-of-compost-tea-in-the-organic-lawn-care-movement/ and http://www.gardeningguru.1stforgen.com/the-use-of-compost-tea-in-the-organic-lawn-care-movement

ha ha i be jammin'!

i had a lady email me from georgia, wanted to know if i had a distributor down there, or a lawn company that would treat her lawn with my compost tea - i wish! so i put a link on my website so people can buy the ingredients and make their own tea, but it's not something that you can ship, cuz the beneficial microbes and bacteria and such only survive for a bout 8 hours in there. use it or lose it.

[bababooey]

http://carolinaorganiclawns.com (http://carolinaorganiclawns.com)
You got the momentum going now, roll with it!:thumbsup:

[DarkSkies]

Just checked out this thread again....and see you got the business through the first critical year, Jon.....congrats on your idea and persistence...it's not easy starting a business from scratch, yet these are the types of businesses that gave America a solid foundation, and IMO we need more of them.

Keep up the good work! :clapping: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :HappyWave: