How to Host a Design Seminar and Bring Experienced Professionals Together for Client Benefit

From software to industrial design, seminars are often used as an opportunity to bring together many experts in one location. They often have a theme and everyone focuses on developing solutions to particular problems that are related by that theme. As a landscaper or nursery owner, you host a seminar at a local level by bringing together a group of well-respected professionals to solve problems in your region or community. Hosting such a seminar is a great way to get your name out to the community (both to other professionals and potential clients) and allows you to learn about industry trends and new innovations. Here is an overview of how to set up a seminar.

 

Pick a Theme

Most seminars revolve around a theme like sustainable landscape design or native gardening. Your theme should relate to the needs of your particular region, city, or town and should attempt to address a specific concern. Once you have a theme, you can begin to flesh out topics as they relate to that theme. For example, if your theme is sustainable landscape design, you may want think about topics like water conservation, permitting, solar energy, sustainable plant installations, and more. Knowing your theme allows you to develop topics and knowing topics is necessary for picking experts to attend your seminar.

 

Find Experts

Once you know what topics you are going to cover at your seminar, you can start looking for experts to offer insight and learning. Experts can include other landscape contractors, nursery owners, local business people, political leaders, administrative personnel from local government, and advocates from non-profits and other interest groups. Don't just ask these people to put on lectures, but look to them to provide hands-on demonstrations, workshops, and other in-depth activities. If they can bring their own resources, that's great, but plan on providing resources too.

 

Set a Date

Once you have most of your experts lined up, you can pick a date that works for everyone. Make sure you set the date far enough in the future that you can prepare adequately and so that attendees can plan ahead. As soon as you have a date set, start advertising your seminar to your target audience. You may plan on charging for the event or you may simply offer it for free (at your cost). If you invite vendors to the event, they may help to cover all or part of the costs.

 

Logistics

After you have set a date, it is time to consider logistics. You should already know what size audience you are expecting and that will allow you to plan things like food, restrooms, beverages, and venue. You may want to consider hiring an event coordinator to help make sure that things go smoothly or you may want to do the work yourself. Just know that doing the work yourself usually means putting out fires on the day of the event rather than participating in the event itself.

 

Why Do It?

 

You may be wondering why you would go to all of the trouble and expense to put on a design seminar. The answer, it turns out, is multi-faceted. Benefits of hosting a seminar include:

.   Promoting your business

.   Gaining potential clients

.   Making industry and political connections

.   Increase the prestige of your brand

.   Solving a local problem

.   Boosting awareness

.   Generating positive word of mouth

.   Creating connections with vendors

.   Learning about new technologies

You should not underestimate the good will such an event will generate either. Demonstrating a willingness to push your industry forward and include peers in your business is a great way to generate good will that will pay dividends in ways you may not be able to imagine. You may even get a contract out of the event if you plan a seminar that is designed to solve something like a local municipal or civil problem.

 

Resources

http://hwd.com/free-landscape-design-seminar/

Building Your Business: 3 Great Ways to Present at an Expo

Attending an expo is a great way to learn about your industry and about other businesses. Presenting at an expo is an even better idea, however, if you want to spread the word about your business, educate others, and share ideas. By presenting at an expo, you become the center of attention and get to showcase exactly what makes your company unique. Here are three great ways to promote your business at an expo.

 

Introduce a New Product or Service

The best way to dominate a trade show is offer something that people have never seen before. It may be a new product, a new service, or simply a new way of doing the same old thing. Never underestimate the value of education. If you are good at something, offer to show others how to do it. Chances of creating competitors are actually quite small, but the chances of developing leads and generating positive word-of-mouth are quite high. After all, if people in your industry come to see you as the expert in a particular niche, they are likely to call you when they (or their customers) need your expertise.

 

Make a Presentation

Trades shows often get media coverage, so making a presentation is a great way to get your company in front of an audience. Of course, that means you really have to put some thought and time into your presentation. Think about what you want people to know about your company and what you can offer that others cannot. The more "sharable" the presentation is on social media and the internet, the better.

 

Strengthen Your Brand

Branding is a major aspect of any business. Apple is a great example of how brand is just as important as the products and services a company offers. In an industry that depends heavily on trust and reputation, like landscaping and nursery, there is nothing more important than brand recognition. Use an expo to tell the industry how serious, reliable, professional, and dedicated your company is.

If you can, get a booth next to other top companies to gain prestige by association and help people make the connection between you and established brands. Offering education to anyone who visits your booth is a great way to demonstrate your industrial prowess. Be sure to have a clear message to offer visitors and focus your efforts on making connections. Collect business cards, names, emails, and social media information so that you can follow up with contacts and keep the momentum going after the expo is over.

 

Getting It Right

Getting an expo right is no easy task. You need to prepare well ahead of time and consider every possible angle to ensure your work is a success. To make trade shows work for you, make certain that you attend the right ones (you can't go to them all, so go to the expos that offer the most return for the time you are investing). Don't get lost in the hubbub. Develop a clear message, a clear way to brand your company, and stay calm. Every lead you generate is a potential bonus and even if things don't go perfectly, you've learned a great deal for the next go around.

Why Everyone Landscaper and Nursery Needs a Tree Spade

Tree spades are specialized tools that few landscapers own. After all, tree spades are large, expensive, and it seems like they wouldn't get used all that often. In truth, tree spades can be an invaluable asset to any landscaping business. They expand the size and scope of jobs that you can tackle and improve customer relations. Here is why you might want to consider a tree spade for your landscaping business and why owning one may keep you busier than you ever imagined.

Boost Job Scope

Some trees are simply too large to move by hand. You can probably physically move a large tree with wagons and hand spades, but it would take you so long that you could never turn a profit. With a tree spade, however, you can move everything from large bushes to medium-sized trees with ease. If you have access to a tree spade and know how to use it, your services will be in demand and residential, commercial, and municipal customers will see your business as offering something that few others can.

Better Customer Relationships

Moving big trees may not seem like a big deal, but the only other alternative is to cut them down. Most of your customers do not want to cut down trees if they can help it. People are making every effort to plant new trees and save existing trees in an effort to protect the environment, so being able to move a tree can be very appealing. Remember that it can take decades for a tree to even reach a moderate height, so being able to move a large tree can have a huge impact on aesthetics and how customers feel about their landscape. You can create mature landscape quickly with a tree spade.

Create Inroads

If you own a tree spade, chances are good that other landscapers will come to you when they have a job they can't handle. Simply owning this piece of equipment is a great way to not only get your name out to potential customers, but to potential business partners as well. The landscaping industry is well-suited to collaboration. By owning a tree spade, you can ensure that your company is the "go-to" for other contractors who need your specialized services.

The Bottom Line

Tree spades make it possible to preserve trees and prevent loss when roadways are being expanded, the tree has outgrown its location, the design of a landscape is being altered, or the tree itself needs a better site. Transplanting large trees may seem like it is costlier than simply purchasing container stock, but you must consider the long-term value that large trees provide. Juvenile trees not only require more maintenance than their mature counterparts, they are also more prone to disease and damage (e.g. from mowers) and they simply don't offer the same aesthetic. It is hard to get shade from a 10-foot-tall tree after all.

Purchasing Decisions

Buying a tree spade is a big decision. You will need to consider not only the cost and what you can charge when using the spade, but also how it will impact less tangible aspects of business. Will it boost your status within the industry? Will it improve how customers see you (e.g. more professional, more capable)? Will it expand the scope of jobs you can bid on? When thinking about how a tree spade can benefit your business, take the time to consider multiple angles so that you can make a good decision not only about whether or not to purchase a spade, but which size you ought to purchase as well.

Resources

http://www.extension.umn.edu

How A Professional Landscape Designer Can Benefit Your Business

Having a professional landscape designer on your staff can set you apart for your competition, particularly when it comes time to bid high-value projects for residential and commercial landscapes. You don't have to have a landscape designer working for you fulltime, but you should at least have a go-to person that you can promote as working with you. Offering the services of a professional landscape designer can launch your business into a new league. Here is how to choose the right person for your business.

The Business Benefits of Offering Tree Removal

Tree removal is no longer as difficult as it once was. In the past, you had to have the skills and equipment to not only climb a tree, but to remove the debris once you were done. Today, trucks with buckets and massive portable chippers that can handle just about anything you throw at them have made tree removal a more routine job. If you run a landscaping or lawn care business, you may want to consider adding tree removal to your list of available services. Here is why.

When Evergreens Turn Brown

The beauty of the evergreen is that it provides a hint of springtime even in the dead of winter. There are few things that warm the soul more than the sight of a brilliant green tree against a backdrop of winter majesty. Unfortunately, evergreens seem to be under attack and everywhere you look they are turning brown or losing their needles. What are the causes of browning in evergreens and what can you do about it? More importantly, how can you help your customers do something about it?

Providing a Sustainable Landscape Design

Parks and other green spaces play a vital role in the health of cities and in the health of the people who inhabit them. The trouble with city green spaces, however, is that they can be expensive to maintain and install. Landscapers are trying to figure out a cheaper way to maintain and install these designs. With cities growing at an ever faster rate, the need for green spaces is growing as well. Sustainable green spaces may be the answer for cities on a tight budget looking to improve their parks and recreation. READ MORE....

Pollinator-Friendly Practices in the Landscape

Awareness of the benefits of pollinators is at an all-time high. Bees are no longer thought of as potentially painful nuisances, but as integral parts of the food chain. Landscapers need to know how to install pollinator-friendly features in landscaping and how to avoid anything that could harm pollinators. Homeowners and businesses want landscaping that brings pollinators to their yards, a trend that is expected to grow. Here are just a few examples of pollinator-friendly landscaping practices.READ MORE...

What's Hot with Mulch?

Mulch sales have increased slowly but steadily over the last decade, particularly as home improvement and DIY landscaping have become more popular. The industry is slow to change and trends move at a glacial pace for the most part. Still, landscapers should keep on top of new developments in order to offer their clients a full range of options. Here are some new trends in mulch as well as some ongoing trends that continue to get stronger. READ MORE....

Do You Have Pet-Friendly Plants for Your Customers?

According to the ASPCA, just under half of all households in the United States have a dog and roughly one third have a cat. Overall, there are nearly 200 million pets sharing our homes, yards, and communities with us. When it comes to landscaping, pets have unique needs. To meet the needs of pets and their owners, landscaping  and nursery businesses can carve out a segment for supplying and installing pet-friendly plants. READ MORE....

Don't Let Your Orchard Fall Prey to Leaf-Footed Bugs

With year of experience in the field growing trees, Heritage Oak Farm has experienced its share of pests, viruses, and fungus. When we find information that we think might be helpful to you, our tree farms and nursery owners, we bring it to you. This little pests is a huge problem for many orchards and tree farms. Knowledge is power. Fight the bug!! READ MORE....

How Does Investing in Your Community Grow Your Landscape Business?

It is a fact that socially responsible companies get more business. Whether they operate on a global scale or a local scale, companies that give back to their communities tend to grow faster and remain stable longer than the competition. If you run a landscape business, you are in a unique position to give back to your community. Chances are good that you want to invest in your community because you care about your neighbors and the place in which you live, but that doesn't mean there can't be secondary financial gain for your business. Here is why it is good for your bottom line when you invest in your local community. READ MORE...

Increase Nursery Sales Through Weekend Workshops

In the fall of 2008, the UC Davis Arboretum upgraded and expanded its teaching nursery. This particular nursery is not aimed at educating students, however. It is designed to make UC Davis expertise available to the public because people want to know how to care for their property and, by extension, the environments they live in. Commercial nurseries can adapt the UC Davis model to serve the needs of their customers and generate sales in the process. Here are a few reasons why offering educational workshops is a great way to improve customer relations and boost sales. READ MORE...

10 Things Your Landscape Customers Need to Know About El Nino

El Nino is a weather event that changes precipitation and temperature patterns across the globe. It has more impact in some areas than others, so understanding how El Nino affects your particular region is important to being able to guide your customers in plant and landscape care. Here are ten tips for you to share with your customers about this interesting weather event. READ MORE...

Don't Let Your Landscape Business Dry Up: Provide Drought Tolerant Landscapes

If predictions hold true, water will become an ever scarcer resource as the climate becomes drier for many people. For landscape businesses, offering drought tolerate solutions makes sense regardless of how climate predictions pan out. After all, most people want their yards and businesses to look great without having to put forth too much effort or dig too deep into their pockets for maintenance. Drought tolerant plants make sense for a landscape business for number of reasons, here are just a few. READ MORE...

Top Trends for Backyard Projects

Back yards are increasingly becoming extensions of indoor living spaces. Homeowners are more than willing to invest in, indeed indulge in, a sumptuous outdoor living space so long as it is eco-friendly. In fact, the average deck addition now costs more than $10,000. For garden centers and nurseries, this turn toward the extravagant can lead to higher profits and better business, but only if they offer their customers the right materials and options. Here are few of the most popular trends in backyard projects and the materials that make them possible. READ MORE...

Why Landscapers Should Bid Refurbishing Jobs

Old and aging landscape areas can be a major eyesore for homeowners and businesses. Often, people have tried to do the rehab work themselves and have found it too demanding of both their time and energy. The results are overgrown beds, rampant weeds, and deteriorating curb appeal. Fortunately, good landscapers can turn these nightmares around using very few resources and for very little money. This is a great way to pick up new customers, impress them, and pave the way for future work. Here are a few reasons why refurbishing landscape can really boost business. READ MORE...

Why Do You Want to Become a Certified Landscaper?

While you don’t need a certification to be an outstanding landscaper, having a certification can be of huge benefit. Not only does certification provide you with education and a basis for making great landscape decisions, it offers a credential that consumers can appreciate as well as access to insider resources that can take your business to the next level. Here is what it takes to become a certified landscaper along with a few reasons it makes sense to pursue credentials. READ MORE...