Do you notice anything different about the cover of the new Unilock product catalog? We did. There's people in the photo.

For years the landscape construction industry—perhaps more aptly referred to these days as the outdoor living industry—has been shelling out product catalogs filled with beautiful close-ups of concrete blocks and backyard projects that apparently weren't build for people to use. At least that's the way it seemed because there wasn't a human anywhere in site.

If I told you that I could deliver 20 prequalified leads directly to your cell phone every month, would you believe me? Probably not. You would probably believe me even less if I told you that in order to that, I would be using just your website and a few social media sites. That's right...I wouldn't tell you to pack up 5 pallets of stone and head off for the weekend to a home show that cost you $5k. And I wouldn't say turn your HomeAdvisor account on so you can drive around to visit tire kickers until 10 o'clock at night after working a 10 hour day in the field. Nah, just your website and the place where over 80% or homeowners will be looking for their next contractor to hire.  

Old habits die slowly, very slowly. We often hear landscapers and home builders/remodelers say that they've been doing home shows for 10, 15, and more years. And what we hear just as often is that generating business from a home show is nothing like it used to be. That's not a surprise and it shouldn't be because of one major reason: our global culture has created research junkies.

Your website is supposed to be your selling machine, right? If you find yourself often questioning why your site isn't bringing you enough calls, or when it does, it just lands you too many appointments for projects that don't drive enough revenue, then its time to look to your website. 

Home services professionals, such as architects and landscapers, aren't going to spend hundreds of hours on improving their site - they have a business to run. That's where the problem is - the website is a key part of business. 

Website analytics are not a-learn-it-overnight kind of topic. From selecting the right tools, to understanding how to use them - you can invest hundreds of hours and still be in the dark about truly understanding how well your website is doing online. There are a few that are more important than others and thankfully, we'll help you identify these top metrics to get you on the right track.

First, selecting the right tool isn't as important as always using the same tool. Every website tracking tool (e.g. Google Analytics is one) uses slightly different reasoning in their calculations. Some have more filters and some give you the raw data. So before you go on tracking a specific group of metrics, the first and most important thing you need to do is pick a source for your metrics and stick to it. 

The green industry, or as some prefer, the outdoor living industry, has exponentially grown over the last few years. Homeowners in the U.S. are seeing their outdoor living spaces as part of their homes. They're investing in their outdoor homes. As a result, and as everyone in this industry knows, this means that landscape design and build companies are popping out left and right. Regardless of where you are, your competition is endlessly growing. And rightfully so. After all, if you're going to start a business, you want to do it in an industry thats booming. 

This is good and bad news for landscape professionals. Increased competition means increased standards. This industry is on the uphill in quality and margins. The downside.. losing to bids to the wannabes.

Lets take a step back together. You've been hearing this acronym for years now. You know that you need to make sure your website is SEO'd and all that good stuff. Heck, everyone's paying a lot of money for this stuff. Maybe you're even thinking that its been a while since your website was redone so you need a new website to help with SEO. But what exactly is SEO? It's really not all that mysterious. 

SEO, Search Engine Optimization, is indeed something you need to make sure is at the top of your priority list, when it comes to driving leads. We'll help you understand why.

SEO is...

Content is king. Trust me—we eat, sleep, and breath content. Content is an amazing tool for creating meaningful connections between buyers and sellers. It is arguably the most efficient way to create emotional buy-in while simultaneously educating and influencing the reader. Enough said—we love content.

But content is only an element of the inbound marketing methodology; so be it a critical element. As a home services business, you can write amazing blogs all day everyday, resulting in a bazillion visitors every month to your company's website. Last time I checked, website traffic doesn't pay the bills for home builders, kitchen design firms, or landscape contractors. 

Email is good. Yes, we all receive a lot of it, and perhaps, we'd rather not get a lot of it. The reality is however that we do read our email. In fact, over 50% of respondents say they read most of their emails (source: HubSpot). That's a pretty good chance your note will be read. 

As a home remodeling contractor, landscape design/build owner, custom pool builder, or home builder - you have a lot that you can be sharing with your prospects, current clients, and past clients. The easiest - a blog recap. Some others include discounts, reading guides, holiday gatherings. In exchange, emails allow you to stay fresh on your prospects' minds (so that they remember to choose you when they're ready), help increase your referrals, and help you win a bid. All you have to do is make the emails are sent to the right people and with the right info. 

In the small world of home contracting and home services, strong businesses are still built on strong relationships. While a company's relationships with its clients, employees, and sub-contractors are all key, support and respect at the dealer/distributor level may just be the most important. This partnership can offer some hefty rewards if fostered properly—or some hard blows if not. 

Tens of hours (maybe hundreds) into talking, discovering, pitching, persuading, and pouring your heart and soul into bidding for the project of the year (or project that's good enough) and... you lost. Perhaps even to the new guy or a home contracting company that doesn't even normally do this kind of job.

Ever heard the expression that potential customers don't look for reason to buy from you - they look for reasons to not buy from you? Well, in today's buyer's world, this is exactly the case, almost 100% of the time.

Now you could've lost the bid because the world just sent you bad luck that day.

Looking to increase their digital presence, Harmony Hill engaged Halstead Media to design an integrated marketing plan that would bring their offline reputation to the online world. The construction marketing specialists at Halstead Media implemented their complete Contractor's Marketing System designed to increase website traffic, drive leads, increase close rates for new projects. 

If you ended with a possible yes from part one of our Home and Garden Show series,  Should Your Home Contracting Business Participate in the Next Home Show?, then you'll want to outline your budget details. A very important outcome of this will be determining your promotional budget - part three in the series. No one wants to build a beautiful and costly booth, and have no one see it. 
 

Today’s consumers have all the power. The sooner business owners realize that, the sooner they can begin to build lasting relationships with prospects and customers. The way to do that in today’s busy world is by providing useful content and helpful information to prospects throughout their journey. The buyer’s journey typically lasts over 100 days for large purchase like a custom home or remodel. That’s 100 days of online research, searching about potential companies to hire, how the process works, costs and budgets, and other related topics. And each year, that amount grows at a rate of almost 20%.  

Since the beginning of time, manufacturers in the hardscape and landscape industries have offered marketing support to their dealers and retailers via an advertising co-op program. Traditionally based on volume of sales, the hardscape dealer or product retailer receives funds—commonly around 50% of the cost—towards regionally-focused, co-branded advertising placements. 

From the beginning days of on-boarding to the years that proceed, inbound marketing isn't easy. Whether you've hired a marketing agency or writing your own content, it takes time, dedication, and patience. And it all pays off; the results it delivers don't compare to any other marketing approach. There is a lot that home service contractors can be thankful for with inbound marketing. So here is your list of things of the top ten reasons to say thank you to inbound marketing!

It’s no secret that across most segments of the home improvement industry—kitchen design, bathroom remodeling, and outdoor living design—it is the women who make the decisions and drive big purchases. The home construction market is no different. 

The most successful home builders today build homes with features that attract women buyers.Adapting the designs they build to include things like laundry rooms that are located next to the upstairs bathrooms and

Increase revenue, grow your business, more leads - are the three top goals we hear from landscape and general contractors all the time. Lets dig one step further. The reason is often to simply get more cash. But what if that means to just change your target client? It can be! Changing your customer base can mean improvement in sales close time, reduced overhead, and higher margins. It can result in more employees. Sometimes it results in increasing your average project size and less employees, less projects, higher margins, with a lot higher net profits. 

Changing your target customer isn't always the right answer; you can determine if it is for your business, in this related article, 5 Signs You Should Change Your Target Customer. If you meet the criteria, then we have your starting line. 

Good landscape contractors often find themselves in a situation where they are ready to grow their businesses and make the jump to a higher revenue level. These are not new companies. They are landscape construction companies that have earned enough project experience over the course of 3, 5, or even 10 years (depending on the revenue target sought) where they now know their level of quality is superb. Regular positive referrals, possibly an award or two, and increased project detail, size, and sale price. But how do you make the jump to selling and building high-end projects for most of the season? How do you cater to more affluent clientele who award these projects soring above the $100k mark?

Custom home builders, landscape contractors, its almost home and garden show season! In preparation for this annual chaotic time, we've lined up a series of topics to help you get the most out of your experience. After all, every marketing tactic must come with some kind of ROI! To get started in this series, lets make sure that your business should really participate in this year's show or two.

As you ask yourself the below questions, be honest with yourself - allow yourself to step outside of your comfort zone and really provide honest answers! 

If you end up with a yes or need more consideration, read part two in this series: How Much Does a Booth in a Home and Garden Show Really Cost?