<b>2010 Technology Guide:</b> 5 ways to become remarkable and attract more clients

Editor’s note: the following is an excerpt from Chris Heiler’s book “The Little Green Book of Big Marketing Tips and Tactics for Landscape Professionals.” You can download a free electronic version at his website www.landscapeleadership.com. 

“If you have no successful example to follow in whatever endeavor you choose, you may simply look at what everyone else around you is doing and do the opposite, because – the majority is always wrong!”

Earl Nightingale, a pioneer of the personal development industry, spoke these words more than 50 years ago. More recently, author and marketing expert Dan S. Kennedy coined the term mediocre majority succinctly describing the vast, undistinguished middle of any industry or profession. And, yes, dare I say, the green industry has its very own mediocre majority.

So, how can you escape the vast undistinguished middle of the green industry? I aim to show you by highlighting a handful of green industry professionals who have embraced change and who are using technology in their marketing efforts to set them apart from their competition. I call these professionals the remarkables. The remarkables are different – and that is what sets them apart from the mediocre majority.

Let’s explore five ways these remarkables are leveraging technology to effectively market their landscape services.

1. Prospecting with the power of the internet
It is more difficult than ever to get your marketing message to stick in today’s crowded marketplace. You can cut through the noise by applying the new rules of advertising. First, your advertising must be more targeted, and second, it must be more personalized. I’m not talking about blanketing an entire ZIP code or neighborhood with generic post cards and door hangers. Third, your marketing message needs to be delivered at an opportune time – when consumers may actually be interested in your services.

When Jason Cupp was the CEO of Highland Outdoor in Kansas City, Kan., his company stressed the importance of marketing their services while on a job site.

Although yard signs and door hangers had worked in the past, he wanted to make his company’s on-site marketing much more personalized to generate more interest within the neighborhoods they worked.

Highland Outdoor accomplished this by creating a direct mail piece (what they refer to as an introduction letter) that was sent to every homeowner in the neighborhoods where they worked.

These introduction letters included the company’s “elevator pitch” and outlined the details of the landscaping project they would be coordinating. Each letter was personalized and mailed a week prior to the project start date, which built anticipation.

The trick, of course, is getting the names and addresses of homeowners in each neighborhood where you work.

Jason and Highland Outdoor used a combination of online resources including WhitePages.com and Google Maps to extract this data.

This strategy was effective for Highland Outdoor because the direct mail piece was highly targeted and personalized. It was also delivered at a time when interest would be high in the neighborhood.

You can view a full video tutorial of Jason explaining the process here: http://bit.ly/90oJHY.

2. Become your own publisher
Each time landscape designer Susan Cohan (Susan Cohan Gardens, Chatham, N.J.) visits with a potential client she gives them a copy of her portfolio published on CD. Why is this such a powerful strategy? First, the CD enables the prospect to look at Susan’s portfolio in depth after the initial meeting. Susan doesn’t waste valuable consultation time promoting herself, instead, she spends the time providing valuable information to her potential client (what a concept, right?). The CD actually sells her services a second time – after she’s gone! Many of Susan’s clients even share the CD with their friends.

As Susan can attest, there is nothing quite like a client who passes around your portfolio. Let’s go one step further: How would you like a client to proudly display your portfolio on their coffee table for all their friends to see? Anyone can publish a book – I’m living proof.

You can easily and inexpensively turn your portfolio into a hardcover, coffee table-style book that your clients will be thrilled to display for all to see. Toss your brochures – this is how you differentiate yourself!

You can design and self-publish your masterpiece using Blurb.com. Prices range from $22.95 for a 7-inch square hardcover to $59.95 for a 12-inch square hardcover of 20 to 40 pages. You can give your book to clients as gifts, tote it around as your portfolio and even display it at garden centers and nurseries that refer your services.

What is more impressive: A stack of business cards or a full color, hard cover book showcasing your work?


3. The future is now
Most green industry companies have at least a minimal presence online today. So, how can you ensure that your website or blog stands out from your competition? Add video! Not only will using video differentiate you from your competition, adding video to your site actually improves your placement in search rankings. This means more people will find and visit your site. Most importantly, video enhances communication. Instead of reading standard text, your prospects can see and hear you deliver your marketing message. Video will grab and hold a prospect’s attention longer enabling you to pull them further into your marketing and sales process. Putting yourself front and center also adds a personal touch – prospects can put a voice and face with your company.

There are numerous ways in which you can use video to market your services online. Landscape designer and contractor Steve Griggs (Steve Griggs Design, Blauvelt, N.Y.) uses video to capture and present testimonials from his clients. Nothing can beat the emotion in the voice and on the face of a client telling everyone how great you are.

Landscaper Genevieve Schmidt (Genevieve Schmidt Landscape Design, Arcata, Calif.) shoots “how to” maintenance  videos for her NorthCoastGardening.com blog.

Video allows her to talk directly to her readers and potential clients and tell them about herself in a way that feels natural to her. Video allows Gen to form a connection with potential clients before they even pick up the telephone.

You can view a video testimonial from one of Steve’s clients here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBKEJ1dcV0U.

4. Your personal  platform.
More and more green industry professionals are moving away from traditional, static websites and moving toward blogging. The benefits of blogging are many. First, setting up a blog is fairly simple and inexpensive compared to a traditional website. A blog also gives you the opportunity to interact with your readers unlike a static website which allows visitors to get to know you on a more personal, intimate level. That’s a good thing, folks!

If you blog consistently, you will rank higher in search results compared to traditional, static websites – meaning more people will find you. There are three main reasons for this. First, search engines reward sites that are updated more frequently. A traditional green industry company website may have five to ten static pages that may be indexed and ranked by search engines like Google and Bing. In contrast, a blog that is updated once each week for an entire year will have more than 50 pages that can appear in the search results. On top of that, each post can be optimized for the different keywords that are important to your business. The third reason blogs typically rank higher than static websites is because more people (usually other bloggers) link to blogs than they do static websites. The more relevant links you have pointing back to you the higher you will rank.

5. The real you in 140 characters or less.
Would you be interested in knowing how you could get one new client each month at no cost by just being yourself?
That’s exactly what landscape designer Katie Ketelsen has done. How does she do it? Would you believe Twitter? I want to point out that Katie is an employee, not the owner of Timber Pine in Earlham, Iowa. Katie tweets under her personal account (@ketelsen) as well as under a Timber Pine account (@timberpine), but the majority of her new clients come from the interaction within her personal Twitter account. The truth is Katie spends about 90 percent of her time tweeting about things that most people would consider too personal. This is why she has had such great success with Twitter – people meet Katie on Twitter, enjoy interacting with her, then eventually do business with her. Here’s the lesson: Be personable, not boring!

Not all of us have a personality or zest for Twitter like Katie, but that’s OK. I find that the biggest benefit and payoff from Twitter comes indirectly from the relationships you forge with other like-minded professionals. Landscape designer Andrew Keys (Oak Leaf Green Landscape Design, Topsfield, Mass.) befriended Fine Gardening associate editor Michelle Gervais and, as a result, their Twitter relationship has led to him writing three articles for the popular magazine.

Follow Katie and Timber Pine at @ketelsen and @timberpine.

Conclusion 
These remarkables, from Jason Cupp to Katie Ketelesen, have demonstrated what it takes to escape the mediocre majority in our industry. By embracing technology as a part of your marketing efforts, you too can differentiate yourself from your competition and stand out in your crowded marketplace.