HOW WE DO IT: Landscapes Unlimited Secures Sales with Blogs

Most people doing business in the landscape community realize the potential inherent on the Internet. And at this point, the savvy owner of a successful landscaping outfit fully utilizes an interactive Web site and e-mail to connect with clients and strengthen his marketing message.
 
Besides my company’s Web site (www.landscapingunlimited.com), I’ve  had success with a facet of the Internet know as “blogs,” or personal Web logs. While not a new concept, the format has only recently begun to gain modest interest from the landscape community. As an added bonus for me, outside of the time spent creating content, is that I’ve developed the blogs at no cost.

5 KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL ONLINE BLOG

1. Set goals. What do you want to accomplish with this online forum? Should it be a place for tips and ideas, an industry-only site for area colleagues to discuss busi- ness issues or a combination of both? 2. Spread the word. Make sure your clients know you have an active blog. Work the topic into conversation, have a link to the blog from your business Web site and include its Web address on your company stationary, business cards and e-mail signature file. 3. Choose content wisely. People frequenting your blog will have various interests, so keep the content varied with various landscape topics. 4. Remember to link. When applicable and appropriate, link to other online forums, industry-related Web sites and online directors to drive traffic to your blog. 5. Keep it current. Give clients a reason to check out your blog on a regular basis. Provide valuable information, such as practical helpful tips, and updates to your service offering. In addition, use the blog to advertise special seasonal offers.

For me, this online initiative began a year ago when I signed on for Yahoo’s web-hosting services. As part of my service package, I could create a blog for free. At the time, though, I had no idea what blogs were all about. So I did some research and learned that blogs are no longer a non-traditional marketing method. In fact, they’ve become a mainstream marketing tool.

While I did not contract with a Web development firm to assist in creating my blogs, I consulted a friend, who is a green-industry consultant, who advised me on the correct way to build success through the content on both my Web sites and my developing blogs.
 
My first step was to name my blogs. After some research I discovered there were no landscape-oriented blogs listed on the Internet for my geographic market, which is the Suffolk County/Long Island, N.Y. region. I wanted to achieve the same name recognition and marketing results with the blog that I’ve generated with my Web site. To do this I created two blogs, Suffolk County Landscaping Blog and Long Island Landscaping Blog.
 
Next, I developed the online content for the blogs, which involved very few setbacks or problems. Essentially, if you are proficient with a word processor you can create a blog. For a blog to be effective it must hold the reader’s interest. Because the people frequenting my blogs have various interests, it’s important to maintain up-to-date online content that covers a variety of landscape topics and issues. I also added a number of photos along with payment options to purchase software directly from the blogs.
 
Once the blogs went live I informed my clients of their existence through e-mail, regular mail and direct phone calls. I also promote my  blogs on my landscape company’s Web site.
 
Next, I added a number of links to my site and to other blogs, which increased my page ranking with various online search engines.
 
With blogs, it’s all about linking to one another. Other bloggers love the practice, as do search engine spiders, or online programs that automatically fetch Web pages for search engines based on specific content. My landscape blog is linked to my software forum/message board for customers to use and support. Likewise, my software site is linked to that blog and visa versa.
 
My customers like the blogs and they appreciate receiving updates on special offers and new services via my blogs. Likewise, I was surprised by the amount of new business the blogs have generated. My landscape business only provides design/build services. Last season, my landscape blog (http//landscapingunlimited.com/blog/) resulted in signing 15 design/build projects and six pond and waterfall systems. The software blog (http//landscapedesignimagingsoftware.com/blog/) was responsible for four software sales within the first week it was active.
 
At this time, I don’t specifically track blog traffic. However, user traffic to the blog has grown considerably over the last year because of the number of inquires I’ve received from people asking how to subscribe to my blogs.
 
My blogs have one purpose, and that is to generate new business. In the future, I plan to use both the blogs and my Web sites as my only means of marketing. 
 
Landscape contractors, regardless of their specialty, should take full advantage of any medium that, other than the time it takes to develop and update content, is as productive as online blogs.

The author is president of Landscape Unlimited, based in Long Island, N.Y. He can be reached at 631/732-1368 or landscapingunlimited@yahoo.com.