$30 Mow Made Me $28,812.91(READ THE DESCRIPTION)

I practically BEGGED viewers to read the description in the first 8 seconds of the last video. Frustratingly, many didn't, so here you go. This is a real time version of a time-lapse video I published a month or so ago.

DOZENS of commentators discussed how foolish I was to perform the work shown for $30, despite my early request and several paragraphs of justification in the description (which I am pasting below, as it pertains to this video as well).

While my common response turned into "please watch the first 8 seconds or read the description" I thought it would be much more effective to link to this video in future replies.

The $28,812.91 figure is the amount of ad revenue generated by both videos from YouTube as of 7/8/21. As I anticipated, the 'virality' potential of this yard far outweighed any desire I had to make a few more bucks off the HOA.

Copied description from the first video:

"First things first, why did I only charge $30 for this absolute mess of a property?

1) To feed my hungry, hungry Bobcat mower (https://bit.ly/BCBrad) Also, for you guys. You think I would pass up a lawn like this? No way, I will get this tall grass, overgrown edging, unruly shrubs, and everything else on camera, even if it means doing it for peanuts.

2) This property is an abandoned pre-forclosure property in the neighborhood of the HOA (Home Owner's Association) for which I have an annual contract to maintain the common areas. Since the home owner is out of the picture, tacking on fines to the house wouldn't work, which means the HOA is paying for this out of the community account. They apparently had some budget constraints, so my choices were A) tell them I don't even do weekly lawn care maintenance for $30, let alone an overgrown hot mess like this and they can go kick rocks or B) chalk it up to a show of good will and a thank-you for the business they have given me so far. I chose B).

3) This is tangentially related to 1), but think about this. If you LOVED making videos, and in fact could produce TWO videos from ONE job (a real time and quick time version), and EACH of those videos had the potential to passively earn more in just a few months than you could make mowing a client's lawn for an entire year, AND if those videos would continue to generate revenue indefinitely, would you insist on getting an extra $20, $50, $100, or even $200 to do the job or else you would walk away? Put in that perspective, hopefully you can see why I had no issues taking barely enough money to cover expenses and overall a loss on this job (once labor/profits/savings are taken into account).

Q&A: Most common answers are addressed in the video, see the timestamps towards the end for the Q&A. Other common questions:

Q: Why are you re-uploading this? You are a greedy scammer!
A: I have always made two versions of my projects, a quick and real time version. They are very different experiences and folks almost always have a preference, so I make both available.

Q: Why aren't you mowing this or that way? Why are you mowing the way you do?
A: Because over the past 3 years I have learned what makes good YouTube videos and frequent camera/angle changes are what get the views., and that means cutting the yard into tiny boxes or sections. Generally speaking, videos of mine (and other lawn care channels) where the camera only stays in one spot do poorly.

Q: How could you work for that little? You are ruining the industry!
A: See #3 above. A job like this is an investment in my eyes, and if my skills in story telling, videography, editing, and production are up to snuff, I can make many times over the investment I spent in under-paid time and energy to complete this yard.

Q: How much would you normally charge for a yard like that?
A: If I won't film it, between 2 and 3 times the weekly maintenance price, but you really shouldn't look to me for how to price lawns. Develop your own cost per man hour to cover YOUR expenses/profits/savings/etc and then multiply that times how long you think it will take to complete the job, plus any additional fees you may want to add on for 'headache' yards or clients. If you line up 100 lawn care guys to bid on an overgrown lawn like this, I am willing to bet more often than not I will be in the lower third or even quarter of bid amounts because I am wanting to make a video on the property (which again, can generate much more revenue than a one time clean up ever would. Many times I bid to get the job, not cover my expenses."

0:00 READ THE DESCRIPTION
0:07 Scope Of Work
0:31 Starting To Edge
1:00 Edging Grass AND Dirt!
1:31 Explaining A Change In Plans
13:30 Scraping, & Raking
14:00 Look at that sod!
21:55 Feeling it
22:22 Hedge Trimming Leggy Bushes
29:30 Bobcat Mower Cutting At 3.5"
33:15 The Chute Blocker Comes Off
34:47 Ye Ol Box Cut To Tick Off Viewers
38:29 STIHL BR800 Blowing Off
39:09 Q&A, Before/During/Afters

Contact me: [email protected]