Online Contents

News with tunes

L&L’s parent company, GIE Media, has a new horticulture news app that was recently approved by iTunes. The app will channel breaking news, industry updates and great new feature stories. It will also feature the latest products and the hottest videos from our market and all of the other ornamental and turf markets we serve. If you have an iPhone or iPad and you want to stay connected, download it now by visiting bit.ly/hortnewsapp. Look for the Droid version soon.

Propane made easier

If you’re interested in switching to propane, or already have, here is something to make the transition a little simpler. The Propane Education & Research Council has put together a guide that lists propane-fueled mower manufacturers and their 2012 models, including: mower model name, mower type, deck sizes and engine model. Visit www.lawnandlandscape.com and search “walk-behind mowers” to find this information.

From the archives

While the economy has changed from five years ago, basic business lessons haven’t. And our March 2007 cover story, which featured Jonathan Tucker and Matt Hubbard of Team Turf Landscape, highlighted an important lesson. The duo started mowing lawns when they were nine years of age, and when they officially started the business in 1996 in their 30s, they had some of the same customers they had as kids. The pair stressed customer attention as a priority, and that type of a thought process led them to new customers. They didn’t even budget for marketing because their referral program worked so well … a little too well. “Some clients really take advantage of this program and end up earning a half-year of maintenance for free,” Tucker says in the article. “We may end up operating at a loss for that one client, but it’s worth it because we make it up in new clients.” Visit www.lawnandlandscape.com and click on our current issue tab on the left side of the page to find this article, and more back issues.

On the road, again

We’re only a quarter through the year, but we’ve already been to Atlanta, the Bahamas, Los Angeles, Chicago and cities in Ohio and Florida. Throughout our travels we shot video asking contractors and industry suppliers what is happening in their markets. Type in the links below to access a few of the videos, and visit our multimedia page at bit.ly/llmultimedia to see all of the videos.

High-end out West Steve Jacobs of Nature Designs talks at LIS about working with high-end clients and the state of the industry in California. bit.ly/highendclients	Now hiring Daniel McClure from LKM Mowing & Landscaping spoke with us at Mid-Am in Chicago about his company’s growth. bit.ly/mcclurelkm	New year, new show Kevin Thompson outlines changes to CENTS for 2012, and gives an update on the Ohio market. bit.ly/cents2012

Popular posts

Here are some links our followers and friends found the most intriguing across our social media platforms.

Sick-time rules revisited
More governments look to require small businesses to provide time-off benefits for worker illnesses.
bit.ly/sicktimerules 
 
A numbers game
This Indiana contractor doubled down on design/build and came out on top.
bit.ly/anumbersgame 

New landscape lighting webinar series announced
Learn more about this growing and profitable segment with four webinars from Kichler Lighting and Lawn & Landscape.
bit.ly/lightwebinar 
 
Toro catalog features new product line
The 2012 Commercial Landscape Equipment Lineup Catalog highlights the new Z Master Commercial 2000 Series mowers.
bit.ly/torocatalog
 
No snow days
Landscaping businesses are hurting because of the snowless season.
bit.ly/nosnowdays