The Green Industry's Resource Center

drobson · #41 03-09-2003, 11:29 PM

http://www.RobsonIndustries.net

Still in Snow Removal Mode for now, but need to make some updates soon.

Henry · #42 03-10-2003, 07:42 PM

Not finished yet, but let's hear it.

http://www.hrlandscaping.com

mdvaden · #43 03-14-2003, 05:49 PM

We are at www.mdvaden.com

Currently, we have no links page. Not until next June will we add reciprocal links any further.

And for lawn, we already have a local service we send lawn care to.

But if any of you - not in competition with us - would like to boost the informational sections of your website, regarding info links, feel free to add our URL in, captioning the Tree Care Advice nature our site provides.

All our advice topics are designed for self service home gardener application.

Outside of the debates in arborist forums, we have not seen a tree service site yet that offers tree care advice as consolidated as on our 2 advice pages.

Georgiehopper · #44 05-17-2003, 09:08 PM

Heres mine...we get 90% of our business from it. http://www.grasshoppergardenescapes.com

philjobe · #45 05-29-2003, 04:59 PM

Jobe Media Web Here is our web address. We design sites for various industries as well as lawn care. We live on the edge of the world in the U.P. of Michigan and don't have a long cutting season, so bide our time with indoor activity such as web design. Take a look at our portfolio, we are cheap not easy!!

mtdman · #46 06-08-2003, 12:21 PM

TJ's Lawn Care

I built if from scratch, besides the mower dude on the front page. I am rather proud of it, but I don't have a lot of traffic. Many of my customers don't have computers, being elderly folks.

ibowman · #47 06-08-2003, 11:43 PM

Hello All,

I am not a landscape professional - Instead, I help service businesses improve marketing and sales results.

I am currently researching THREE WEBSITE QUESTIONS and thought this forum might be a good place to start. I hope the answers are valuable for everyone:

1. What do you hope/know to be the main benefit of a website for your business?

Attracting leads
Converting prospects into clients (portfolio)
Reducing client service costs (posting terms of service, next cut date, etc.)

2. How can businesses that serve a relatively limited geography best promote their services via the internet?

Online Yellow pages?
Community sites?
Chamber of commerce links?

3. Given that good referrals are often the life-blood of most service businesses, have you been able to use the internet to help spread good "Word of Mouth"?

I am sure hard numbers would also be greatly appreciated by other members: (ie: "we usually get around 60 requests for estimates via the website in a year. That results in about 20 sales. Around 15 of them are for lawn care, the rest are for landscaping")

Regards,

M. Ian Bowman
Principal
Bowman Business Development
www.bowmanbusiness.com

mdvaden · #48 06-09-2003, 01:09 AM

Our main use for our website is as a multi-purpose tool. Maybe similar to a knife with many funtions.

We get about 40 visitors per day. I think that 8 are from Oregon here, and about 30 from out of state and out of country.

Our site is not designed to promote only our business. It is to promote our region.

How we list our site, and where we promote certain contents, we cannot disclose. For as the benefits increase, it becomes obvious that this is not an area to share most trade secrets.

Some benefits are:

1. SAVING TIME. Before, after installation, we would have to explain mulching and irrigation to customers, or give them a hand-out. Most have internet, so we direct them to the site's advice pages.

2. REFERENCES. Some of the better ones are listed at the site, so we don't even have to offer many.

3. PHOTOS. Working better and better all the time. It takes time to accumulate photos, and wait for projects to mature, but we're getting there. Before, people would say "can I see your work". Now, many call and say "I've seen samples, give me an estimate".

4. CREDIBILITY. Many people never even go to a website. But it sounds credible, and indicates the lack of fly by night business.

5. EXISTENCE. People see a picture of the real me, no guessing who is at the other end.

6. POSTING OF A FULL RESUME.

7. FLYERS NEED LESS INFORMATION. Cleaner, less cluttered flyers. People are directed to the site.

8. People that have "heard the name" can search easier for a name on the net, than for "heard the phone number".

mdvaden · #49 06-09-2003, 01:20 AM

Oh, forgot to add:

We constantly get emails from people that work on websites offering all kinds of great ways to design and redesign sites.

Could care less. Its our intention to exclude bells, whistles, gadgets and little cartoon mowing men, etc..

PICTURES SPEAK LOUDLY. We do not want anything that detracts from the photos that we put on our site.

Every page, even our contact page, will eventually have at least one photo, but a dozen or more on some pages, the ones that our counter shows to be the most popular.

We offer advice pages for self-service people. If we can't work for them, then we will let them tell people where they get sound advice. So every flyer lists that.

Before, maybe 1 person in 50 will call from a flyer. Since all the flyer could offer was work for cash. So I'd imagine 49 flyers got tossed.

But if every flyer offers free advice, many of the 49 can keep it or our name on hand.

So the advice is a subtle long-term name propagation method.