Want your events to last longer? The power is in your hands. In this intro-to-the-topic video, we introduce spreading the wildfire event approach with widgets that encourage people to take photos, using branded items, and share them on their social media. The return? People are posting images of themselves, happy, with your brand. Magic. Watch for more and tell us how you've done it!

Familiar with design software? If you are a high-end design/build, you most likely are very familiar with design software from your 3D designs! And if you're a manufacturer, maybe you've used design design software if you're in the marketing department. Regardless of how you've used it, design software and website design are VERY different things. You have graphic design in both but you have user experience in website design (some would argue that user experience is more important that graphic design). Website design includes designing for various platforms (mobile, ipad, desktop). Design software is a stable platform. When you're designing in something like a 3D design software, you're not concerned about button actions or how that plan will look on mobile. Watch for more.

Just stop it already with the wet pavers in your project pictures! A couple of summer rain drops on select pavers and natural stone - yes, that can be beautiful. But a hosed down paver patio or paver walkway? NO!!! Stop it. It's not stylish. It doesn't look good. Let them dry and then take your phone or camera out to snap a pic. 

No matter how much you're investing in advertising - online or offline, every business gets the best leads via referrals. There is no denying that. So how do you - as a landscape design/build company - get more referrals in the digital world? Anna shares her 5.5 ways to help you take some huge steps in growing your referrals - tomorrow.

In this video, Corey talks about the collision of experience driven purchasing and video marketing = drone. Team them up with still shots for an immersive experience . And remember - Buying a camera doesn’t make you a professional photographer. Buying a drone doesn’t make you a professional videographer. 

What happens when you begin to look at your landscape projects through the lens of a camera? You start to see things you know the camera will capture. In this video, Corey talks about the four basic steps of getting winning photography - all by yourself! 

Using Blackwood Group's inspiration website, Halstead created a highly image driven website. The new look placed each project into a separate case study - into what developed to be a true, high-end elegant digital portfolio. The projects are all accessible via the homepage - but city as well as by category. Awards and about the company are accessible via the menu.

Done with poor quality leads from home and garden shows and increasingly getting more leads from word of mouth and through their old website, Hummel's Landscape in Harrisburg, PA was ready for a new, sophisticated website that reflected their extremely high-end landscape work.

Nature's Accents, based out of Hamburg, PA wanted a new website for brand awareness and SEO. They were developing a strong following on their Facebook page and reaching a higher-end clientele - but their unresponsive, outdated website didn't align to their new presence. 

Grandscapes, based out of Rhode Island, came to Halstead Media with an outdated website that was difficult to view on mobile and desktop. The text was small and the images were tough to see. In such a visual industry, they struggled showing the quality of their work with an unresponsive website.

Capturing elements that were important to Gary Duff Designs in their new website and making sure the new website represented the brand, the new website offers a perfect combination of classic sophistication and company info.

As long as landscapers have been landscaping and hardscapers have been hardscaping, we have also been, in our own ways, marketing. Over the last score of years, however, the introduction into the “age of technology” has vastly warped design-build marketing. Businesses, regardless of industry, can barely function on simple word-of-mouth anymore. To show our design-build pros just how far we’ve come in the last decade-and-a-half, and our predictions of the next few years, we’ve developed an “evolution of design-build marketing” timeline.

Why are you going to your hosting company for a website design? Why is your computer technician your website design guy? IT and design are not one in the same. And website design isn't a skill that comes from IT. Stop mixing the two up! In this episode #3 of HalsteadTV, Corey shares his thoughts on this frustrating mix-up that produces websites that look like they're from 1995.

In this episode 2, Anna talks about the four action items that design/build professionals need to take (online) in order to take advantage of the biggest opportunity this industry has ever had! Go!

Lehigh Lawns & Landscaping, based out of Wappingers Falls, NY, has spent the last 30 years providing landscape design, fertilization, maintenance, and commercial snow management services. As one of the largest landscaping companies in the area, Lehigh needed a way to better attract and communicate with the many different types of target customers. Their previous SEO and website limited their ability to attract these potential opportunities.

The new website came with the bells and whistles needed to promote this now Christmas destination Christmas Tree Farm. Starting with the overall look and feel, the fonts, colors, and overall style all represent the farm's brand: classic, cheerful, celebratory, and elegant. And since the company had limited images, we used all stock images that looked local and relevant to the area as well as the business type. Everything really spoke to and resonated with Cockburn Farm's target customer.

Halstead Media transitioned The Gorilla Hook to an ecommerce friendly platform using Squarespace. From shipping to inventory, the new platform gives endless flexibility to managing pricing and orders. 

D.L. Hickman & Son, based out of the Newport Beach, CA area, is a high-end, landscape construction company. Hickman relies on landscape architects to create the design for the very complex landscape installations that their staff completes.

Above All had an existing SEO strategy that involved content marketing. They had a Facebook account, Houzz profile, good looking website, and they had new monthly content pages built on their website, some were even blog pages (and for anyone that knows us here at Halstead Media, you'll know we stand behind content as SEO). They were doing many of the essential puzzle pieces that you would expect to see in a successful landscaping company. So what exactly was wrong? 

Home services lead referral websites such as Angie's List, Home Advisor, Yelp, and now, Amazon Home Services, have become the unfortunate norm in contractor "marketing" today.  Turn on the service and the inexpensive leads come flooding in right to your iPhone. Trust me, I understand. I remember receiving leads from HomeAdvisor— called ServiceMagic.com back then—while I was in a sales/project management role. And once the service was turned on, my calendar would almost instantly book up with late evening appointments with homeowners that were less than ready to buy. That is if the meeting even took place.