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ours on every night now. 100% beech!

Rob, I've texted you.

Obviously this only works for loading timber, but could you not just cut them logs in half and dolly them up the ramps?

treequip, if you guys want to do it I don't think anyone would have a problem with that.

yep. nice one. end of. "Vehicle uses where you don’t need Driver CPC You don’t need Driver CPC if the vehicle you drive is: used to carry material or equipment you use for your job - but driving the vehicle can’t be the main part of your job."

looks like it knocked the cutter off the ladder and then hit the bloke walking in the bushes. like a cannon in snooker? great canon by mark williams - YouTube

I had a look on the website link in your signature but couldn't see any examples of a quality reduction. If you could maybe show pictures of some quality reductions on your website then your local church wardens could see what it should have ended up looking like.

my risk assessment says wear shorts. but on spikey trees ask another climber to do it. stick your head under garden tap whenever you get a chance. if there's a sprinkler available get that set up between the drop zone and chipper. listen out for any lolly vans playing match of the day theme tune.

manchester unfortunately. ..unfortunately coz it's far for you not coz it's not the best place in the world! if you do all that stuff already jeanesy freelancing will be great for you.

...and don't charge less than £150.

a good climber should be able to find 3 days a week easy. add some extra useful stuff to what you offer and you'll be booked up solid. as an owner who uses subby climbers here's what appeals to me: ability to tow a trailer back to the yard full of logs and cleanup, ability to quote and win jobs effectively when needed, ability to deal with customers and troublesome neighbours and turn them into clients, ability and willingness to sharpen my saws to box-fresh standard. Go for it!

Skyhuck's right... you can't beat a bit of climbing rope for tree work.

Honestly, that is nothing to worry about. I once had around 150 clicks in one day. Google only charged me for 8 that day. Google are bright enough not to let their customers get abused by muppets.

Google Adwords will get you to the top quickest. You can use ad extensions too, to expand your ad. The ad above Bartletts' is Adwords... Costs some money but near enough instant. The one below is a regular listing... Free but takes time to get it top.

Your first and last name Tree Surgeons. Your Town. (Don't use initials.. bit pretentious / corporate.) Customers can see straight away what your business does and who runs it and who to ask for. "Where are you based?" must be the most FAQ ever. This business name answers all those initial questions straight up front.

Do you get money or something with Facebook "Likes"? What's the point of it?

I'd say it is. You need to concentrate on running the business so it makes good money. I know how tempting it is to climb but you can't do it all. Just share the climbing. He'll also know people. That's valuable when you need extra workers and need access to a truck and chipper etc. for bigger jobs. If you get good at attracting customers you'll be busy enough so you can both climb and have 2/3 groundies. Without customers you've got nothing. Make that your number 1 priority.

Hi Louis, my advice would be this: Register yourself as self employed with HMRC Get insured to carry out tree work. With a tiny turnover this should be affordable. Get your climbing and rigging kit lolered. Have you got a truck and chipper? If not, get a pick-up and a 10ft tipping trailer. Find a freelance climber that is top notch and with experience of how an efficient crew should be operating. Make sure he's got all his own saws and fuel. He'll teach you loads you might not even be aware of. Pay him £150 a day and always pay promptly. Take pictures of every reduction he does for you and put them on your website. Phone customers back straight away. Always turn up for quotes and jobs on time. Always. Ignore what everyone else is charging and get £600 a day for your 2-man team. Make a booklet version of your website (ours is 16 pages) and hand this out to everyone you quote for and put a handful out through their neighbours'. Give 3 more to each customer if they're happy to recommend you. Don't pay anything on advertising other than Google pay per click. Learn about pay per click CTR, CPC and ad extensions. Improve your website over and over. Join something like Checkatrade or Trustpilot and start collecting reviews. Once you've got thirty, advertise this fact clearly on your website. Get a proper blower and tidy up every job as if the Queen was about to visit. Every bit of garden, not just where you were working. Only go for domestic type work. Forget about council contracts, railway work waterways etc. Never work for construction firms. Collect payment as soon as job done. Let the customer know when you quote that this is how it's done. Good luck!!

I used to live that life for way too many years. I'm lucky to have changed things now. I get on site for 8 in my car and we're usually done by 3. Don't have to drive the truck anymore which saves me about 90 mins a day. Only work saturdays if we really have to. Don't do any quotes. Don't take or make any calls. My only job is to climb and make sure the phone keeps ringing. You need great guys to help you and I am most grateful!

Yes, it is mostly common sense. Sloth, this is what he'd probably say about your own website: It's not clear straightaway what you even do. There's nothing that makes a customer think you're any better than the next firm. It's hard to navigate on a mobile. The pictures in portfolio don't show without more clicking and closing. The links to facebook and twitter don't seem to lead anywhere. You're not really giving out much personality. It doesn't even give a surname let alone your first name. It's trying to be corporate looking and looks like a million other similar websites. He'd also say that making a few changes could massively increase the amount of work that site could bring you.

Yea, really interesting. Hard to summarise the whole lot in one arbtalk post but the gist of it was this: get your website found easily for every search term you want. Don't waste time on SEO, go with Adwords. Make sure the website answers everything the customer wants to know. Make it crystal clear that you are their best bet by eliminating any risk they feel in hiring you. Use pictures, video, reviews, awards and celebrity testimonials. Charge as much as possible. Don't entertain any customers looking for cheap prices. Ignore everyone who's gonna waste your time. Use this extra income to pay higher wages to get the best people to help you. Email your customers once a month about anything you want. If they don't like it they can unsubscribe. Don't listen to anyone's advice about business who's not minted. Trying to get Facebook 'likes' and spending all day tweeting to try and find customers is a waste of your time. Don't use stock photos on websites or arty pictures or snazzy graphics. Only write text black on white.

I'll let you know how it goes. Best thing he taught me though is that customers only buy on price if you don't give them any good reasons not to. Does that make sense? Took me a while to my head round that but it is so true.

ha. hi ben. still in manchester. how's it going? you still in new york?

nice vid reg. great stuff!

Ha! Exactly. I went to his 3-day event in London a few years ago. The stuff I learnt then has paid me back the cost of going many times over. Look at this way, if you could charge more than any other tree firm in your area and still get nearly every quote, would £195 +vat for that information seem pricey?