Planting Acorns

06/17/2024

How much should landscaping businesses generating less than $3M in annual revenue spend on digital marketing each year?

We will be sharing the formula in an upcoming edition of the weekly Planting Acorns email. Sign up via the link in bio to receive it. It’s free.

Ensuring your budget matches realistic expectations is critical for reaching actual long-term results.

Unfortunately, the thing is most agencies overpromise and underdeliver. They promise the world just to get you to sign up. It happens more times than not. It sucks because once landscapers are burned a few times, they often fault “marketing” overall. They lose trust, rightfully so. I believe it’s one of the major reasons less than 5% or so of companies break the $2M mark in the landscape industry. Marketing is essential to growth.

Firing on some Google Ads for 2 months a year is not marketing. It’s not going to revolutionize your business. Oh and also, no one is going to “get you to the first page of Google for 9000 keywords” for $300/month.

One of the major goals at Planting Acorns is to address the large mismatch between expectations and budgets. To really uncover and educate contractors how this whole marketing game really works. Like most good things, it’s about the long game. No quick fix, no magic pill. It’s about steady, consistent, effective marketing - month and month, year after year.

05/08/2024

Chart your course with intention. Gradually implement the building blocks of the system. Watch good things happen.

05/01/2024

When it comes to marketing, what it took to drive measurable results in the landscape industry 10 years ago couldn’t be more different from what it takes today. The competition is fierce, the platforms diverse and confusing. Knowing what to prioritize when and how much budget to allocate towards each effort is critical. Like most things when it comes to business, it’s about the refinement of systems.

So excited to be sharing the exact marketing strategies, processes, and procedures we’ve proven and refined over a decade of working with the top 10% of the landscape industry. In addition to the actual operating procedures we call MarketingManuals, we work to explain the “why” behind each move.

The result? Landscape business pros who truly understand how marketing works, allowing for better control, better conversations with marketing partners or staff members, and better results.

Sign up for the free weekly newsletter at plantingacorns.com

02/20/2024

Marketing is confusing. Agencies that actually deliver results are out of budget for smaller landscaping companies. Affordable agencies over-promise and under-deliver. Marketing gurus don’t understand the landscape industry. Enter Planting Acorns. Marketing education, training, and coaching designed for landscaping businesses looking to grow to $3M in annual revenue.

05/29/2023

You’ve built your lawn or from the ground up to where it is today. You design and build killer spaces, maintain residential properties for difficult customers, and you work to earn the trust of your customers through sweat, blood, and sometimes, let’s face it, tears. Thing is, as your business grows, managing appointments and scheduling becomes a full time job. There are not enough hours in the day it seems. So what do you do?

Businesses that ultimately scale to $3M and beyond find solutions. They find hacks and workarounds. They build processes. They leverage technology.

https://www.plantingacorns.com/operations/acuity-online-scheduling-lawn-landscape-contractors

05/28/2023

How are you doing with managing cash flow? While the this topic alone can be a 500 page article to capture all the details, how are you doing with these foundational pieces? Read this article to do a quick check on your cash flow management practices:

https://www.plantingacorns.com/hiring-recruiting/why-is-hiring-landscaping-employees-hard-lawn-care

05/27/2023

We all know firsthand how tough it can be to find and retain good workers, but have you ever wondered what's behind this frustrating problem? As in, why is this happening to you? Let's break it down in simple terms…

https://www.plantingacorns.com/hiring-recruiting/why-is-hiring-landscaping-employees-hard-lawn-care

05/26/2023

As the owner of a growing landscape/hardscape company or lawn care business, effectively communicating with your customers is crucial for building and maintaining strong relationships. You're likely texting customers, and prospects, but are you doing it right? Read this quick article to check this one off.

https://www.plantingacorns.com/operations/texting-etiquette-customers-lawn-landscape-contractors

05/25/2023

It’s time to say goodbye to the [email protected] email if you are serious about scaling your business to $3M.

Here is how!:
https://www.plantingacorns.com/marketing/google-workplace-email-for-landscapers

05/24/2023

Does this sound familiar?:
✍️ Spending time in manually sending reminders and confirming appointments.
🧠 Accidentally double-booking or scheduling conflicts
🕰️ Wasted time with no-shows
🫥 Missing messages on delays/miscommunication about appts

Read this article for help in stopping this madness!

Are missed appointments and manual reminders causing frustration? Embrace the power of automation for your lawn or landscape business. This article looks at how you can streamline your scheduling process easily and affordably.