5 Must-Have Plug-ins for Your WordPress Landscape Business Blog

December 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Not at all what I meant

I’m a huge advocate of using a blog to help grow your business. There are a few plugins that are readily available, free to use, and can be incredibly helpful in getting the most from your blog. Here are five of my favorites:

  • Akismet - this is a spam catcher that is generally installed on your WordPress blog, but you’ll have to activate it. Trust me, it works!
  • WordPress Editorial Calendar – When I first started using it, I realized that this. Is. EPIC. To get the most benefit from a blog, you have to post regularly and fairly frequently. The best way to achieve this is to sit down and crank out as many posts as you can, and then schedule each one for a different day. The editorial calendar plugin allows you to drag and drop posts wherever you want them, and see at a glance what’s coming up. It’s pretty amazing.
  • WPTouch- this is what I use to automatically create a mobile version of my site. Given the number of people who may land on your blog via a mobile device, you want them to have a good experience. WPMS Mobile Edition is another winner that I use on a different blog.
  • WP-Stats-Dashboard- Do you want data on your visitors, as well as how well you’re integrated with social media. This is your plugin.
  • Find Me On- this creates a sidebar widget with icons linking to whatever social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc) you’re using. You do use social media, right?

This list is obviously not exhaustive; there are plenty of other useful and important plugins out there. You may also find another plugin that does the same thing as one of the five I listed, but you like it better. The important thing is knowing that plugins that do these things exist!

If you use another platform like Blogger and you feel left out, well… sorry. Way back when I started blogging I tried several, and I liked WordPress the best. I think it’s easy, reliable, and incredibly customizable. But, some folks drive Fords, some drive Chevys.

Filed Under: Blogging, Sales Tagged With:

How Unanswered Questions Cost You Sales

December 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

One of the smartest things I ever heard was that a good landscape designer removes the uncertainty from the process. When I present to a client, I generally provide the following:

  • A scaled, plan-view drawing with all plants and materials called out.
  • Elevation drawings or sketches, if I feel they’re needed to communicate what I want to do.
  • If it’s not a job they’re building immediately, I provide estimated price ranges for the work for budgeting purposes.
  • A booklet showing photos of whatever plants, light fixtures, sculptures, fountains, stone veneers, or anything else that’s part of the job. I’ll also include manufacturer cut sheets, if available.

It probably sounds like a lot of extra work. It is. I never used to provide the booklet until I worked for a design-build firm that did them for each project. Previously I’d bring a big ol’ plant book out with me with appropriate pages bookmarked, and I’d flip around as needed. I would never create and print the booklet unless I was working with someone who paid for the design, but that’s a whole other post.

Having all these materials with me at the presentation allows me to answer almost every question they have about the project. If your prospect is worried that they won’t like the finished product, or they worry that you’ve overlooked something important, they won’t buy. Sure you can high-pressure-close them into buying, but let me know how warm and fuzzy that client is when they think of you as Joe Isuzu for the whole job.

Uncertainty kills sales. Does all that information overwhelm the homeowner? Done right, absolutely! But it reinforces that yes, this is a big decision but you know what you’re doing, you’ve thought of everything, and my gosh you are thorough. They’d be nuts not to sign.

This is how you differentiate your company. And yes, Landscape Design Lab can provide all those materials for you.

Filed Under: Landscape Design, Sales

Stay Grateful, Stay Focused

November 29, 2010 by Leave a Comment

As business owners, we all face struggles at some point. This blog post from Peter Shallard provides a great way of overcoming those obstacles. Go. Read. It’s totally worth it!

Filed Under: Sales

Horticopia Sale Pricing!

November 24, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I mentioned in a prior post that I really like Horticopia’s software. The email blast went out today – 10% off from Nov 22 through Dec 3, and 5% off Dec 6 through the 17th. If you were on the fence, this is a great time to buy.

Two things: first, their customer service and phone support is great. We had a bug issue a few years ago and they were phenomenally responsive. Second, just to be clear, I have no financial stake in whether or not you purchase Horticopia. I just think it’s a great tool to have. There is enough crap out there being sold by people looking to turn a quick buck that I think it’s important to promote those who are doing it right.

Filed Under: Horticopia, Landscape Design

Who Owns Your Time?

November 24, 2010 by Leave a Comment

“…most people don’t schedule their work. They schedule the interruptions that prevent their work from happening” – Mike Monteiro, Mule Design

The Vancouver Block clock tower (Flickr) / CC BY 3.0

It comes down to who owns your time – is it you? Your employees? Your clients? Where are you losing minutes and hours every day? A couple thoughts:

  • Do you have phone hours? A business here in Virginia only lets people leave messages – you’ll never get a live person – and they only return calls during certain hours on Mondays and Wednesdays. That’s insane. We’re in a service business. That said, you are allowed to shut the phone off if you’re in the middle of a big project, and odds are there’s no need to answer when someone calls at 9 am on a Sunday (unless  you’re an irrigation contractor).
  • Are you the narrow part of the funnel? Where I used to work, we were never given any training, and we were backcharged for any mistake. One designer was backcharged $4000 on a job where his commission was $1500. Needless to say, we were all terrified to make a decision and wouldn’t do anything without getting the boss to initial it. This meant that all day long, every day, there was a line of 4-5 designers and project managers waiting outside his door. The only way he ever accomplished anything was to come in early and stay late. Are you making decisions because your employees are afraid to?

An exercise that I have to do every few months is writing down how I spend my day, tracking my activities in fifteen-minute increments. Start there, see where you’re bleeding off time (watching guys load trucks? trying to get your mojo back after five interrupting calls? watching trebuchet videos on YouTube?), and start fixing it.

If you’re like me, you hate the administrative side of the business, but it has to happen. My trick? I bought a $4 kitchen timer at Target. When I have to do contracts, billing, etc., I set the timer for an hour and that’s it – I’m not allowed to do anything else for that hour. The bell dings, and I can either set it for another hour if need be, or I can move on to something else.

We only have so many minutes. Make them count.

Filed Under: Time Management

5 Simple Networking Tips

November 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I resent spending a lot of money on advertising. If you’re a past Landscape Design Lab client, you may have found me thanks to a postcard mailing that I did. Man, that mailing irritated me! A couple hundred bucks to design a really nice one, another couple hundred to have them printed, then another couple hundred for postage… pretty soon you’re talking about real money. And that was with me printing and affixing all my own labels. End result was a 2% rate of return, which is actually pretty awesome (they say) for direct mail. Another way of looking at that is a 98% failure rate is good.

Photo credit: laffy4k (click to go to laffy4k's flickr stream)

Obviously you need to get your name out there. If you play well with others and like meeting people, networking can be a good way to grow your business. It can also be a way to come off looking like a clown. I made a number of mistakes, and I see other people making mistakes, and you know what? They’re pretty basic mistakes; I just hadn’t been warned. Here are 5 networking tips I’ve picked up.

  1. Don’t sell. Yes, we network to grow our businesses. However, a networking event is not a sales opportunity for you. It’s a chance to meet people who (hopefully) will later give you the opportunity to sell. It may be selling to them, or one of their clients, or their boss, but you’re not going to get that chance if you come on stronger than a drunk fifteen year old crashing a sorority party the first time you meet. The strength of networking is getting people to want to sell YOU.
  2. Become a regular. If you want people to know you and become part of your network, they need to see you. BNI is very strict about this in their attendance requirements because it’s an important way to build trust. The more I see you, the more I have a chance to learn about you. If you’re just a name in the chamber of commerce directory and I may have met you at that one mixer last summer – great, I know you as well as some guy in the yellow pages whose business name starts with “AAAAAA”.
  3. Be helpful. Again, it’s all about building trust. Sometimes you’ll meet someone and they mention a problem they’re having, and you know the answer. That’s a great way to get an in with them, but just be sure to email or call if you tell them you will. You can also show your commitment by volunteering on a committee; just be sure you have the time for it.
  4. Pick your groups wisely. Is the group in your ideal geographic area? Do they serve your market? And most importantly, do they share your values and goals? This last point is important. I’m in a BNI group now that is absolutely phenomenal and has a powerful home services team. We have a residential design-build firm, an interior designer with an amazing client list, and several other great professionals. They all want to be #1, so we all help push each other. If you want to be #1, and the majority of the people in your group are okay with #8 or #11 because it’s easier, you’re wasting time and money.
  5. Make networking a part of your routine. This is the hardest part by far for any busy professional, but the payoffs are huge. Relationships are built on what happens between events, so don’t just stick that stack of 30 cards in a drawer. If there are people you want in your network, stay in touch. See if you can get together for coffee and talk shop. Offer to introduce them to someone who could be of use to them. The important thing is to give them a reason to think of you before the next time you’re at a networking event together.

The bottom line is that there is no better way to get yourself out there than to get yourself out there!

One last tip: if you’re shy or unsure, find that one person (every crowd has one) who has a great personality and feels like it’s his or her responsibility to introduce everyone.

Filed Under: BNI, Networking, Sales Tagged With: , , ,

Best Landscape Design Software Recommendations

November 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I’m reasonably active on a number of landscape-related forums, and there’s one question that constantly pops up: what is the best landscape design software? The answer is always “it depends on what you want it to do.” There are programs out there that will do a lot of the work for you, from color rendering to counting plants to inserting photos and plant information. There are also some that are pretty bare-bones and just get the job done. Rather than do in-depth reviews and comparisons, here is what I use.

AutoCAD

I just use a plain vanilla version of AutoCAD, no fancy plugins or anything. I use it for several reasons:

  • It’s what I learned first in my design classes, so I’m really, really fast with it.
  • AutoCAD is used by architects and interior designers, so we can share files easily. I did some design work for a client who started everything with a landscape-specific program that he then exported to .dwg, and it was a mess. Layers and blocks didn’t come through at all, and I had to spend an hour or more on every drawing just fixing things.
  • Engineers and surveyors can export files as .dwg, which means a huge shortcut for me when I’m basemapping a project.
  • Because it’s a common file format, I can get a lot of blocks already made. Like I mentioned in a prior post, I inserted a Mazda Miata in a drawing for a client who loved his car, and it helped sell the job.
  • Because AutoCAD is essentially just a powerful electronic drafting table, I can customize it as much as I want. I have complete control over layers, lineweights, colors, blocks, fonts, leaders, and every other variable in my drawings – so they look exactly how *I* want them to look, not some software engineer.

SketchUp

I started using SketchUp with version 5, way back before Google took it over. Say what you will about Google, they’ve added some amazing functionality and SketchUp can do a lot:

  • 3D modeling is a whole other post, but it’s a great tool for helping clients visualize what they’re getting AND helping the installers get a good sense of what it’s supposed to look like.
  • When I work out the construction details in the computer, it’s way easier (and cheaper) than letting a carpenter and an assistant figure it out in the field.
  • SketchUp is a program that plays well with AutoCAD. I can import my 2D CAD drawings into SketchUp and start from there.
  • I can accurately set the project’s north orientation and location on the globe, meaning that when I’m designing a pergola (I design a lot of pergolas) I can show what the shade will look like at various times of day throughout the summer. That helps the client buy in.
  • I can choose how much detail to show by doing everything from using a sketchy pen style to creating a photo-realistic rendering. I personally lean towards a “looser” sketchy style, for reasons I’ll discuss in another post.
  • Some people use SketchUp for 2D drafting. I’ve tried, but it makes me nuts – again, I can fly in AutoCAD, so why crawl in anything else?

Horticopia

I actually don’t use this anymore, not because I don’t like it (Horticopia is actually an amazing piece of software) but because I primarily use Photoshop to do my plant layouts. However, if you’re still learning your plants and you want a great database of info – consider Horticopia. If you want a really easy tool for creating layouts of plant photos to show clients – consider Horticopia.

Adobe Photoshop Elements

At some point I’ll probably move to the full Adobe Creative Suite, but for right now PS Elements does everything I need:

  • Create booklets of photographs of all the plant materials, hardscape finishes, site furnishings, and lighting fixtures I’m proposing.
  • Edit photos for my websites.
  • Mock up marketing materials (that I’ll then send to my graphic designer to perfect).
  • Tweak images I’ve exported from SketchUp.
  • Easily convert .pdf files to .jpegs that I can import into AutoCAD.
  • Fix stupid mistakes, like the time I took an amazing photo of a job I loved doing two hours from the house, and when I got home I realized there was a hose running right across the patio. There’s a tool to fix that!

PDF Printers

I use two programs for creating PDF files from other document types. I use a free one called CutePDF Writer for converting Word and Excel documents to PDFs. I use a paid program called BluebeamPDF Revue for converting AutoCAD drawings to PDF. Bluebeam is great because it accurately “plots” to scale, so I can send the pdf file to my print shop and they can get me a scaled document (since most print shops can’t do a darn thing with .dwg files). I can also set the security settings on my pdf files so the recipient can’t print it. Why would I want to create an unprintable pdf? Sometimes I’m doing a really quick concept sketch prior to actually landing the job; or, I could be sending a concept sketch as part of the design development process but I want to make sure that once we make a decision, there will never exist a hard copy of this drawing to screw things up at install.

I hope this short list helps you at least think through what features might help you in your search for the “perfect” software suite. If you decide to have the Landscape Design Lab do your drawings for you, I’d still highly recommend BluebeamPDF. The Revue part of the software allows you to make notes and markups on the pdf plans I send you, and your clients can do the same thing. I’ve been doing this for quite a while – I’ve got a system that works great!

Filed Under: Landscape Design, Sales Tagged With: , ,

Too Many Notes

November 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

We’ve all had clients like this, right? “I love it, but… we need to change <insert crucial element of the design that was already perfect here> before I can move forward.” What’s the problem? Can’t they see that it’s perfect just the way it is? That all depends on how you’re selling it.

I took a few years away from the landscape industry and worked for a uniform company. It was possibly the worst job I’ve ever had, but at the same time I learned more about sales and account management than I could have hoped to do. We were in a commodity business, selling a product that was viewed at best as a necessary evil to people who didn’t want to be bothered. It was a numbers game, and you could lose an account if the competition was willing to rent a shirt for $0.65 a week when you were getting $0.71. Seriously.

And yet, I learned that successfully selling uniforms, shop towels, mats, and all the other commodity products was about more than just a bottom-line number. The secret was in successfully telling the prospect a story, based on what they needed. In that industry, the story could involve clean, professionally dressed employees, a meticulously maintained locker room, or even just a system that allowed the owner to transfer management of the day to day problems to us. It’s the old sales cliche that “you’re not selling a drill bit, you’re selling a hole.”

It’s the same with a landscape client. They may think there are “too many notes” because they a) can’t see why they’re needed and b) can’t see how their situation would suffer if there were fewer notes. You need to tell a story about how they are going to use that space. Sometimes I’ll use plan graphics to help. I had a client who loved his Mazda Miata; I made sure his plan showed one parked on the new driveway apron. Similarly, I had a client with a really bizarre garden ornament. He was thrilled to see “six foot concrete dinosaur” called out on plan. By taking elements that they already had and making them part of the presentation, I helped personalize the project.

Don’t sell the client on Brand X of pavers because they have a higher PSI concrete. Sell how they’re going to move through and enjoy the space. What story are you telling?

Filed Under: Landscape Design, Sales, Story selling Tagged With: , ,

5 Easy Tips for Better Landscape Plans

November 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I used to work for a large firm where I was one of 28 designers on staff. A handful of us had industry experience, but the vast majority of my co-workers were there just to make sales numbers. As a result, we put our heads together and came up with 5 simple ways that even someone with the barest artistic abilities could produce a decent-looking drawing:

  1. USE INK. Ink looks way more professional than pencil, and creates a crisper drawing. It’s also a better choice if you’re going to end up photocopying the drawing(s) for your records. When I’m sitting down with a client to do a quick plan sketch, I keep two things with me: a Sharpie for doing thick lines, and a Pilot Precise V7 black pen for finer lines and text.
  2. Use circle templates and straightedges. Look, I’ve been doing this a long time, and I can’t freehand a perfect circle or line. I don’t have to, because for ten bucks I can buy a Staedtler Combo Circle Template, 45 Circles to 2.25 Inches, 7.25 x 8.25 Inches, Green (977110) * that allows me to whip out a variety of sizes to represent different plants.
  3. Keep it to scale. If you aren’t comfortable using an architectural scale, graph paper is a simple cheat that will make your drawings look better and accurately represent what’s going on.
  4. Leader everything! That’s the fancypants designer way of saying to identify everything on the plan with a label and an arrow. Just remember that the goal is to communicate clearly, so always print slowly and legibly, and never let your leaders (arrows) cross.
  5. Use paper with a titleblock on it. Landscape Design Lab provides all our clients with a pdf file they can print onto letter-sized paper, that has proper borders, their company logo and contact information, and space for the client information on it. This makes you look a lot more professional, and if you’re in a situation where you’re competing for business, it’s immediately apparent who did that great-looking concept.

The end result of this process is a quick and dirty concept drawing that can help you sell a job on the spot. Look, I would love to do every single drawing you’ll ever need, but sometimes you can knock out a quick sale on the spot – especially with the right tools. If you label everything on the drawing you can get by without fancy graphics, but if you want to start upping your game, check out Landscape Graphics by Grant Reid*.

Here’s a sample of a quick drawing I did using the five pointers:

*all text links are Amazon affiliate links, and I receive a portion of each transaction.

Filed Under: Landscape Design

Welcome!

November 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The Landscape Design Lab’s mission is to provide landscape design, drafting, and rendering services to landscape contractors around the country. We’re based in Culpeper, Virginia, but we have designers who are familiar with a wide range of planting zones. I have personally provided landscape design services for clients in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, Arizona, and California. My focus has been primarily custom residential and homebuilder work; I work closely with a Registered Landscape Architect who has over a decade of experience in large-scale commercial site planning. There truly is no project we can’t take on.

Our prices are competitive and our turnaround time is quick. We accept all major credit cards via PayPal. Contact us at dave@ld-lab.com today to get started!

Filed Under: Landscape Design Tagged With: