Marketing

In early August, I interviewed Grant Boyle from Fig Landscapes on Zoom. I invited my clients to attend the meeting and ask Grant questions about the way he runs his business. We are all fans of his work and loved his humble, open and honest chat with us. Here is a summary. John: What do you attribute your success to? Grant: "Having passion for this industry, and for designing and building gardens. I live and breathe landscaping. I am always researching materials, designs, trends. I find it hard

A Profit Share System for key employees? Why didn’t I think of that?! Thankfully many of us have some great employees working with us at the moment, which is why employee retention and job satisfaction probably continue to remain high on our list of priorities. One employee retention strategy that I like is the Profit Share System (PSS). I developed a system for the landscape industry years ago, after using one for years in my previous business. When you get a PSS right, it contributes significantly to

You may have noticed that enquiries and sales have slowed a little this year compared to last year. It’s not surprising considering we have experienced a Federal election, a State election in NSW, the banking royal commission and a downturn in the property market. However, enquiries and sales have definitely spiked a little since the election result was decided on May 18,  but what can you do to give your business the boost it may require? Get Proactive It all begins with your attitude and approach. Nothing will change

We have seen over the last 15 years, how some companies use educational marketing to position themselves as an authority in their industry gaining the trust and respect of their database and audience.  But generally, these companies don’t state they are an authority, this loose label is bestowed on them over time if their information is sound. People will always listen or read marketing pieces by companies or contractors who know what they’re going through and have solved similar issues. So an obvious way to

The 80: 20 rule is a guiding principle in business that states that 80% of the results come from 20% of the causes. In other words 80%, of your sales comes from 20% of your clients or 80% of your complaints come from 20% of your customers and so on. 3 jobs produced nearly three quarters of his overall profit Years ago I was analysing a client’s business income over a year. They operated a landscape construction business and had completed many projects throughout the year. So

The most significant and powerful change in small business marketing in the last 12 years has been the introduction of Social Media. As the online world continues to grow and evolve, new social media sites tempt us to use them to market our services and products. With many social media sites to choose from, three sites continue to be the most effective for small business – Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. So how do you utilise these sites for your benefit? The Benefits of using Instagram Instagram was bought by

Often, when I ask a client that question, they say, ‘it’s the great service we offer or the quality of our work’. My response is, they are common answers and don’t differentiate your business. So how do we describe our point of difference so it becomes a powerful distinction and a unique selling point and sets us apart from our competition? Here are 7 tips to help you create your point or points of difference. 1. Define your target market and create an Avatar Define your best client and

When was the last time you looked objectively at your business to see where you could make some simple changes to be more competitive. Truth is; most guys are so busy working in their business they forget to look where they can simply improve, so they stop struggling to be competitive. Let’s have a look at a few areas: Your Website: Your potential clients will always look at your website to develop an impression of your business. They form an impression of your business within in the

You will have experienced most clients delaying projects, getting more comparative quotes, being more price conscious and shaving their budgets in 2012. And according to many economists, 2013 will probably be similar to 2012. So how can you outsmart and out-price your competitors so you win more jobs without decreasing your profit margin? Quote Properly After working with 60 Landscape contractors around Australia, I know that the majority of landscape contractors don’t know their numbers well enough to be able to quote to make a profit. What

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