Online Contents

Underdog leadership

Make your employees feel like the odds are stacked against them.

By Dan Coughlin

Successful underdogs don’t focus on what they don’t have. They also don’t give in to the temptation to say they don’t have a chance against overwhelming odds. Instead they look for a tiny bit of leverage they can turn to their advantage.

Apple couldn’t beat out IBM in the 1970s, until it did. IBM, the fallen king of hardware, could never become a dominant global services company, until it did.

Wal-Mart couldn’t replace the successful retailers of the 1960s so it just kept trying harder and harder at adding value to the people who were attracted to them.

Bill Marriott couldn’t take his company from root beer stands to a successful hotel business, until he did.

Successful underdogs focus on their current reality and they leverage what they can leverage to improve a little bit at a time.

And that is part of their key to success. Individuals and organizations who hang on to the underdog mindset keep on keeping on. They never feel like they’ve arrived or completed their journey.

Visit bit.ly/llunderdog for the complete article, and learn how you can lead like an underdog.
 

Take it to the bank, web rankings and keys to growth

If you’ve missed any of our recent podcasts from our Lawn Care Radio Network, then you’ve missed a lot. Check out a few of them below. You can find more podcasts on our website at bit.ly/medialawn, or by subscribing for free on iTunes at bit.ly/lawnandlandscapeapp.
 

Skeletons in the closet: blunders and banks
Industry consultant Jason Cupp talks with Editor and Associate Publisher Chuck Bowen on a regular basis about the challenges Cupp hears from his clients, and how he helps them move past those obstacles.

In this podcast, Cupp goes in depth about how his client’s bank made a major mistake, how the contractor responded and what everyone learned in the process. bit.ly/cuppbank

How to improve your local search rankings
The local search landscape is always changing. Those who are able to keep up and adapt to the changes put themselves in a highly visible position, ready to be found by consumers searching for their services.

In this special webinar, Chris Heiler covers the most itactics you need to know to ensure your business appears higher in local search rankings. bit.ly/llsearch

3 keys to grow your business in 2014
L&L columnist Marty Grunder is an award-winning landscaper who runs one of the Midwest’s most successful landscaping companies.

He has also helped hundreds of other landscapers grow their own businesses as a consultant and adviser. Grunder hosted a free webinar with L&L that revealed three key things any landscaper can do to grow and beat their competition in 2014. bit.ly/grundergrow
 

Your favorite hashtag

We (@lawnlandscape) now host #landscapechat the first Wednesday of each month on Twitter with Corona Tools (@CoronaTools). All you have to do is search #landscape chat at 2 p.m. EST on the first Wednesday of every month and you’ll be able to join the conversation.

We will be questioning experts in the green industry on different topics every month. Last month, we interviewed McKay Lighting (@McKayLighting) about landscape lighting.

Below are some of the takeways from the conversation.

• More and more people are expanding their indoor living spaces outside like outdoor kitchens, fire features, dining and living areas. They want those spaces well lit for nighttime enjoyment.
• McKay has seen a stronger focus on security lighting in the last ten years.
• Solar has not been developed enough on the low-voltage market to be a great option for systems.
• You can have system turn lights on/off to control specific types of lights to different areas in the landscape. You can go as far as controlling your lights to different audio for different areas of the yard.

So, if you’re looking for advice and insight from different aspects of the green industry, join us at the next #landscapechat.