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Author: Landscape Management

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Josh Ferguson, Esq.

The best defense is a good offense, according to attorney Josh Ferguson of the law offices of Kent/McBride in Philadelphia. What he means is that the best way for a landscape contractor to protect himself is by having good, solid contracts and proper documentation. As exciting as the courtroom scenes are on television shows like […]

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Jay Murray

One of the best ways to find and retain good employees while minimizing employee turnover at your company is to create standard operating procedures that allow both new and existing employees to be successful, according to Jay Murray, president of LS Training Systems. Compare this concept to what many companies do, which is hire somebody […]

Horticulture’s healing powers

In Florida, the healing power of plants and ornamentals is taking the spotlight. In a recent Miami Herald article, reporter Patricia Borns writes of “horticulture therapy” and the healing power gardens have on the elderly, the sick and the disadvantaged.In the article, Borns features Robert Bornstein, who runs a gardening program to help people struggling with […]

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Shayne Newman

Shayne Newman, president and silverback of YardApes, always has had a passion for both nature and giving. Although his desire to pay it forward is altruistic, he’s noticed that the more he gives, the luckier he seems to get. In other words, his involvement in community service projects has been good for his karma and […]

The four myths behind incentives

By Jeffrey Scott Incentives—rewards meant to encourage and motivate employees to be more productive—all too often backfire and create unintended consequences: internal squabbles, cynicism, distraction, and diminished performance. The trick with incentives is avoiding the pitfalls and common myths.  Following are the four most common myths regarding incentives: MYTH 1: Incentives should be focused only […]

Show ’em some love

Happy Valentine’s Day. Don’t forget to show some love and appreciation to your clients, employees and community. Here’s a round-up of a few ways you can do so:Have a heart: 7 things you can do to have an impact. via Bruce WilsonPlan an Earth Day service project. via PLANETWant more loyal customers? Show them from […]

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Valerie Hufnagel

Valerie Hufnagel is president and CEO of Hufnagel Landscape Design & Construction Group. It’s not just a family business, it’s a woman-owned family business. That’s a big deal because the federal government awards specific landscape maintenance and landscape construction contracts to woman-owned and minority-owned companies. Because of her company’s status as a woman-owned company, Hufnagle […]

CLCA member talks about immigration reform

Last week a member of the landscape industry was interviewed on NPR’s Talk of the Nation about the new immigration reform proposal announced by a bipartisan group of senators.  “It’s high time that something gets done on a comprehensive basis,” said Richard Cohen, president and owner of Richard Cohen Landscape and Construction Inc. in Lake […]

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Wendi Caplan-Carroll

–> While you may have heard the terms email marketing, social media marketing and engagement marketing, you’ve probably never heard of “mensch marketing.“ Yes, mensch marketing. We can’t promise you the name’s going to catch on or that you’ll hear it mentioned anywhere else except on FD2B Talk Radio and at Wendi Caplan-Carroll’s live presentations. […]

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Bill Arman

One of the biggest complaints of landscape contractors is the inability to find good help.  Although there‘s no “magic bullet,” on last night’s show, Bill Arman of The Harvest Group, provided some valuable tips on how you can solve this problem. Arman says you need to interview employees by using your EAR (no, not the […]

Feel Good Friday: CLCA awards four for outstanding service

California is at it again, dishing out awards for hard work. The California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA) jumped into the fray this time, honoring on January 9 four of its members for their outstanding contributions.Here’s just a short shout out to the honorees, Member of the Year Robert Wade, a past president of the CLCA […]

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Kevin McLaughlin

Home shows and flower shows are a great opportunity for landscape contractors to “touch” their customers and promote their businesses, but they can get expensive. Between the cost of the booth itself, the materials and labor necessary to build the display and the time required to man the booth during the show, expenses can rise […]

Feel Good Friday: California town gets environmental grant

Good news for the town of Los Altos Hills, Calif. The town recently was awarded more than $83,000 from the Santa Clara Valley Water District. The grant is being used to provide educational outreach to local students and foster native habitat in a local creek that’s been impacted by invasive species.  By removing invasive species and adding […]

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Mike Lysecki

We all know it’s important to have a great estimating process, but what do you do with that information once the job is sold? According to Mike Lysecki of the Landscape Management Network, “A great estimate is also a plan for the job.” In other words, 50 percent of the value of an estimate is […]

Pay for production

Case Study: An Incentive System that Empowers Employees to Think Like Owners By Jeffrey Scott, Consultant The Problem John’s labor rates were too high. John, a member of one of the Leader’s Edge peer groups (for landscape business owners), had just bought a company in in the mid-west. His labor costs were hurting profits, and […]

Are robots the future?

In the nursery market, new robot technology is solving some labor woes. Could a similar solution be the future in the landscape market? As Marketplace reported last month, Harvest Automation sells small, battery-powered robots that move potted trees and shrubs around in a plant nursery. This work is typically done by migrant workers. Considering the […]

New year, new enews format

The new year is a good time for change, isn’t it? That’s why so many of us make resolutions. It feels right to start fresh or change course after a month of eating, drinking and spending our way through the holidays. Here at Landscape Management, we resolved halfway through last year to cut down on the […]

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Jack Ferrell

Last night on FD2B Talk Radio, Jack Ferrell of Florasearch shared Green Industry recruitment and job search tips.  Ferrell says the best way to keep your top personnel from looking for a job elsewhere or becoming “recruitable” is by investing time and energy in them. The biggest reasons that key people leave are because they […]

Top 5 Landscape Management blog posts of 2012

Are you sick of all the “best of” 2012 lists yet? I’m not (you can find one of my favorite lists here!). And I hope you’re not, because today we bring you our top 5 Landscape Management blog posts of 2012, measured by page views. Here we go: 1). A son’s plea for safe driving […]

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Brad Groff

This week on FD2B Talk Radio Brad Groff, co-owner of River Valley Landscape and Pools in Wrightsville, Pa., shared how he uses technology in several different ways to keep his clients involved and engaged in the design process, while minimizing the amount of time that he wastes driving back and forth to their home. Depending […]

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Tom Canete

Editor’s note: As part of a new partnership between Landscape Management and FD2B Talk Radio, we’ll be posting an “Insight of the Night” every Thursday from the previous night’s radio show. FD2B Talk Radio is a Green Industry radio show that broadcasts live every Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern. Its host and founder is LM […]

Heartbreak and hope

Today we’re thinking about all those impacted by the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The shooting will no doubt  make parents go home and hug their kids a little more tightly today. At a time of year fabled to be full of cheer and good will to men, it’s all the more heartbreaking to […]

Lawn Care Forum launches at Reunion!

This week we’re at beautiful Reunion Resort near Orlando for our inaugural Lawn Care Forum. So far, it’s been a great meeting. Thanks to our first round of attendees for taking time away from their businesses to join us and thanks to our sponsors for their support. The Lawn Care Forum is a new concept […]

Are you pinning? Consider a business account

Did you know Pinterest added a new feature: business accounts? I just read about it today. I’ll have to investigate whether it’s the right move to convert Landscape Management’s account, but I’m leaning toward yes, based on what I’ve seen so far and based on the fact that it offers analytics. I encourage you to […]

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