How do I know when it’s winter?

Traffic starts increasing on this blog and it’s all from landscapers looking for find ways to advertise their business. Isn’t that why you’re here?

I just went through the entire list of landscapers licensed in New York state to apply pesticides and found that only 30% of them have websites. Have you ever wondered why the next guy has tons of business and you don’t?

It’s because they’ve made it easy for the new generation of homeowners to find them. Only little old ladies go through the phone book and trust me, you don’t want them calling you.

You want people who have just bought their first house thanks to the $8000 tax credit and are ready to make it their own with new and personalized landscaping. You want their rich parents who moved in nearby to be near their grandchildren. You want to get in with a new community and work their network.

Make it easy for them to find you online. Have a website that’s frequently updated, start a facebook fan page for your business, go twitter.

I’ve been online and making websites for so many years that I didn’t understand why everyone else doesn’t also make their own websites until I talked to my first boss.

He’s a guy in his mid 40’s, runs a comfortable, small design/build firm with a single crew. Ten months out of the year he’s working like a maniac meeting with customers, buying supplies and setting up his crew on the job site. He doesn’t have the time to learn web design, manage a site, write blog posts every week, upload pictures, analyze advertising campaigns on google and other search engines.

That’s where I come in. While he’s out taking care of business I take care and actively manage his website and online presence. Want to get some work spraying dormant oil or do some winter pruning? I write a new sales page all about it and get the word out to people in the target area. He pays me a small monthly retainer plus a commission for every lead/sale he get and I free him up to run his business and bring in the money.

I still have room for a limited number of new clients. Here’s how get started today:

Email or call me now. We’ll have a brief chat about your business so I can bring out your strongest points when writing sales copy for your new site and familiarize myself with your target market. Then, I’ll set up the site and begin writing and adding in images. You don’t have to have a domain name already or even pictures of your work. We can choose a name together and there are 1000’s of great stock images you use if you don’t have your own portfolio. Once the site is up (usually in 24-72 hours) we’ll begin advertising and marketing your business online. In no time leads will start coming in and it will be up to you to work your magic and close them.

Over at Garden Observer I’ve put together a section where users can ask any gardening or landscaping question to be answered by an expert or other knowledgeable users.

When potential landscaping customers come to your site, they aren’t always dying to hire you and only you. Driving around town they see dozens of landscapers. Online there are even more itching to get their business.

Imaging if they came to your site, found you’ve offered tons and tons of help to people needing advice and found that you are truly an expert who loves what he’s doing. Who’s going to get the landscaping job once it gets bid out?

So start offering great advice on your site. Someone else already is.

P.S. Do you want a free business account on gardenobserver.com? I’m giving them out for a limited time.

Have you ever had to break the news to a client about a plant they found online or tv, but doesn’t grow anywhere near to where they live?

It’s hard finding good landscaping information online that can be used reliably. State Cooperative extensions have lots of great information, but they don’t always deal with what you are selling commercially.

I’m launching a new site this month called Garden Observer. The idea is to organize gardening and landscaping information on a local basis so where ever you are, you’ll easily find just what you need.

For landscape business owners like yourself, I’ve set up a special type of user account which lets you post articles, showcase your best work and reach out to prospective clients in your area. You’ll be able to setup a profile for your business, get listed in our directory and receive leads based on the services you provide. We handle all the hard work of setting up web servers and driving traffic to your pages. Sign up now and you’ll even get a free guide to writing landscaping articles for the web including the top topics people are searching for right now.

If you need additional help with marketing and advertising ideas (not just limited to the web) I’m always available for help. Just ask.