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were developing a strong following on their Facebook page and reaching a higher-end clientele - but their unresponsive, outdated website didn't align to their new presence. 

Grandscapes, based out of Rhode Island, came to Halstead Media with an outdated website that was difficult to view on mobile and desktop.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.

A customer telling you they told your office manager something that you are now contradicting? Forgot what you promised Mrs Smith? Always looking for random sheets of paper in your trucks, office, and who knows elsewhere? Stop wasting time being disorganized with your daily conversations. While yes, it takes time to organize yourself and start you and your office team to use a CRM - it will save you more time down the road. And help you keep more customers! Watch this video to learn what is a CRM and 5 ways to know it's time for your design/build to get this magical CRM!

As a design build professional, there is probably a specific skill set or passion you had that led you to start a business around it. But along the way, we know it’s easy to get swept up in all the other aspects of the business – probably the aspects you don’t know how to manage and aren’t very interested in. STOP TRYING TO DO IT ALL. Outsourcing is a great way to free up your time and produce quality work. Here's a list of some position that are totally worth it to outsource. 

Put that thing down! Don't do it! Don't you please still use the analytics from five - or even three years ago! People over the age of 50 aren't as non-web savvy as you think. Almost 3 out of 4 of them are on Facebook. That's just Facebook - think about how many of them search online (even on their smartphones!). Things have REALLY changed with marketing effectively to this age group. So don't get suckered into outdated traditional marketing techniques and then wonder why they're not working!

It's long past due for the hardscape industry at the showroom level. The kitchen/bath industry has been doing it for years with a ton of success. There are few hardscape dealers jumping on board and killing it. So how do you do it? How do use your concrete paver and natural stone showroom to bring more people in the door?

Have you ever met anyone who was amazing at everything? Someone who could paint like a pro, prepare architectural drawings, cut pavers, install pavers, run a training workshop, design a brochure, photograph the best angles of a project, write hundreds of words on a specific topic, run social media campaigns, manage a calendar, run interviews, prepare taxes...? I think you're getting the point here. You can't be great everything. It's impossible. But yet you might be doing (almost) everything. What would happen if you delegated what you suck at and did more of what you're amazing at? How would that impact your design/build business?

Mrs. Jones saw a Unilock .. or a Techo .. or some kind of natural stone outdoor living pic in a magazine or catalogue. You (Mr. Landscape Designer, Landscaper, or Landscape Architect - whatever it is you call yourself) promised her she was getting that. It's the same patio - same materials. Same paver patterns. Pretty much the same size. You might even have the similar planting and fence installed. Yet, she's not quite thrilled. Something is missing. Maybe she's telling you that "it's close - you did a good job," or maybe she's hiding it and you're left wondering "is she happy?" Why did this happen? Why isn't she in love with this new outdoor space? After several weeks (or months) of design and landscape construction - what's the missing piece? DESIGN! Interior design is the missing piece to every beautiful home design and remodel - why would you leave it out for the exteriors?

…you need to read this. Cutting-edge web design, excellent SEO, and an active social media presence will do very little for your business if there is no foundation for these strategies to build upon. You need professional etiquette, marketing basics, and conceptual ideas before you can dive into digital marketing.

In any business, regardless of the industry, companies need to be where there potential customers are. Would a toy company be at a local home show? I sure hope not! And while on that topic, not many people should be at a home show ;-). Back to digital marketing, should design/builds be on Snapchat? Is all the hype about it really better than Facebook for the design/build industry? Find out.

Getting the most out of everything you do requires looking at the entire puzzle - not just each piece. So step back - look at those core foundational elements - customer service, logo, sales process, and everything else that keeps your business running everyday... before you spend a s*** ton of money of marketing.

Anna talks about how to apply the still-very-true approach of growing your design/build business with referrals - except this means to expand your definition of what a referral really is today. And it's not just people sharing your info with one another while they're visiting someone's home. Referrals are indeed - online reviews! So stop skipping this part. ASK FOR REVIEWS!

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.

Online reviews are one of the more subtle arts of inbound marketing. Business owners are often confused and disappointed about the lack of reviews they receive from happy clients. Many times the initial reaction is simply to just shrug and move on, assuming that there isn’t anything that can be done to bolster their online reviews.But it’s not true! We've compiled some useful rules to help you understand why you need to work on getting online reviews and who are the best customers to ask.

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!

Consumers (that includes you) absorb and retain any given content 3X better when communicated in visual form. It's no wonder virtual and augmented reality devices are really starting to peek interest from a marketing standpoint. This blog includes an infographic that perfectly describes why VR and AR tech are gaining so much traction as business marketing tools.

It’s not only what you say but how you say it. We’re talking about tone of voice (ToV), and in content marketing, tone can have a big influence on users’ perception of your brand. It may not seem like it, but there’s quite a difference between “Hello.” and “Howdy!”. It’s the difference between formal and casual voice, and it could be the difference between losing and making a sale.

Professional email signatures are concise passages that include promotional information, like contact details, and are automatically included in your emails as footers. An effective professional email signature is essential in order to leave a lasting impression on your audience. Although email signatures should be as unique and personalized as ordinary signatures, there are certain properties that can make them more desirable and others that should be avoided at all costs. Consider the following tips if you're looking to create an impactful email signature from scratch.