Here are the questions:

1) Based on weather conditions from 2009 are there are pests or diseases you think are more likely to be an issue this year?

2) What are the top 5 trees and shrubs to keep a close eye on this spring?

3) There’s been a strong movement towards green and organic solutions. What ways can a homeowner manage plant problems in a “green” way?

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.

1. Installing Wordpress
   1. Creating a database, username and password
   2. Downloading the latest version of wordpress and uploading the files to your webhost
   3. Installing the software
2. First tasks
   1. Changing the admin password from the autogenerated password
   2. Setting the name you want displayed on your posts instead of “admin”
   3. Setting the date and time to your zone
   4. Changing permalinks from landscapestartup.com/?p=1 to landscapestartup.com/about
   5. Deleting the “Hello World” post
   6. Deleting default blogroll
3. Pages
   1. Standard pages that every landscaping blog should have
   2. Answer questionnaire  to make the best copywriting possible for each page
4. Setting up the posts
   1. Add general categories for organizing blog posts
   2. Talk about tags
   3. Demonstrate uploading and inserting images, video and audio to a blog post
   4. Formatting blog posts. What do all these buttons do?
5. Adding new themes
   1. Where to get themes
   2. Free vs Premium
   3. Tweaking a theme
6. Adding plugins
   1. What is a plugin?
   2. Essential plugins
   3. Can you really have too many plugins?
7. Search Engine Optimization
8. Lead Generation
   1. Landing pages
   2. Contact forms
   3. Email subscriptions
   4. Phone calls
9. Advertising online
   1. Search engine marketing
   2. Facebook
   3. Local blogs and websites
   4. Craigslist
   5. Forums

Please leave a comment with any suggestions or topics you’d like to see. Videos will start uploading on Monday.

I’d like to invite you to test out gardenobserver.com as a place to publish news about what’s going on landscapingwise in your area. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions.

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.

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.

• Weeding–what to do when you have a big problem with overgrown weeds Plants that will make you stand out from your neighbors but are easy to maintain Green products for the lawn-the most environmentally safe fertilizers and treatments
• Projects that you’re working on with pictures of your work. Different stores you like to work with. Tools or techniques you would recommend.
• 1. Weekly timetable of what do to to treat the lawn/grass/flowers during the su mmer. 2. Environmentally friendly ways to take care of the lawn without harmful chemicals. 3. A comparative review of different types of mulch, including which is best and why.
• 1. In the summer, the landscaper should blog about how to maintain a healthy lawn. When and how much water is required? What type of fertilizer and when it should be applied. 2. Many people have summer vegetable gardens. Although it is not technically a landscaping function, clients would appreciate gardening tips. A landscaper can also give advice on fruit tree spraying and pruning. 3. What plants are drought resistant and keep looking great in the heat?
• I live in Florida – it’s so hot and there’s been no rain and we can only water once a week. Is my grass going to die? It’s so brown !! Make a list of what plants / flowers / bushes can take direct sun, should be in the shade etc. Does a landscaper charge different prices depending on what time of the year it is? Give some ball-park figures. People might be surprised at the number

Do you want more great blogging ideas like this one? Subscribe below. Every month you’ll get dozens of great ideas to write about that will help sell more services and get you new business.

1.Weekly timetable of what do to to treat the lawn/grass/flowers during the su mmer. 2. Environmentally friendly ways to take care of the lawn without harmful chemicals. 3. A comparative review of different types of mulch, including which is best and why.

  I work for a large (for Indianapolis) landscape company.  We have 4 designers and 2 assistants.  In the summer there are approx. 100 employees.  We are a full service company with design and installation, irragation, maintenance and a garden center.  There are many laborers that are kept over for the winter.  Management thinks this helps keep good employees around.  At previous jobs there has been plenty to do because everyone is laid off except the salary positions.  Here, on the other hand, the winter days are long and hard.  There is some design work to do but not near enough to keep everyone busy.  Plowing is out of the question because the laborers want this time because of the great pay.  What do you do to try to keep busy and make money for the company when everyone else thinks its OK to just sit back and relax for the winter.  

  With today’s economy I want to show my employer that I am trying to make a difference in this “down” time.  Who knows what is going to come with spring.  Will the economy pick back up and everything be fine?  What are we going to have to change to keep our business thriving?  The landscape industry will always make it through a recession, I just want to make sure my job does too.  What can we do now to ensure work for early spring.  What are optional services we could provide?  What can we do to make money with the people we have instead of eliminating cost by eliminating positions.

Clearly, their yard desperately needed a fall cleanup, had no seasonal plantings in the beds and could use some dormant pruning in a couple of months.

In these hard economic times, it’s the businesses that distinguish themselves from the competition who will survive and come out thriving.

So in your flyers, highlight the benifits of what you’re offering and make sure to sell the services people are thinking about and ready to sign up for today.

Here’s a cutesy headline to get you started: “Fall in love with our Fall Cleanup Special!” Then you can say something along the lines of, “Call now, it’s not too late to fill your garden with our beautiful mums, ornamental cabbage and Spring bulbs.” Finishing your flyer off with a picture of a spotless garden filled with fall flowers and a way for them to contact you and then flyer the neighborhood. Make sure to include your website and email. Busy people don’t always have time to play phone tag.

If you don’t already have a website for you business, take a few hours this fall to get started. I’m available for help by phone and email. Just contact me and we’ll get you set up in minutes.

1. If you don’t already have a website, get a domain name and web hosting.
2. Submit your business listing to directories such as google.com/local and Yahoo! Sponsored Search.
3. Print up new business cards and flyers with a seasonal gardening tip on the back. Use this link for discounted business cards. 75% Off Premium “Custom” Business Cards at VistaPrint.com!
4. Start a blog and write a complete gardening guide for your area including information about botanical gardens, parks, nurseries and plants that thrive in your climate.
5. Drive people to your landscaping website by advertising on search engines. Yahoo! Sponsored Search connects businesses and customers online. Sign up and get a $25 credit.

What’s your favorite way to advertise?