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Founded in 2008. The Landscape Juice Network (LJN) is the largest and fastest growing professional landscaping and horticultural association in the United Kingdom.

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Thought I should introduce myself.

Hi Guys / Girls.

As the title really. I thought I should take the opportunity to introduce myself. Not sure if this is the right place to do it, so apologies if not.

Anyway, I'll get to the point. I have been lurking around here observing what topics are discussed that relate to the running and marketing of your businesses.

I'm a marketing consultant who specialises in marketing and business development for service based businesses. I'm currently writing a book on the subject, and I am using a fencing contractor and a landscaper as subjects for a couple of 'case studies'; That's why I'm lurking here.

It's also important for me to 'keep my finger on the pulse' as it were, with relation to what's going on in the landscape industries, and also ascertain the basic level of marketing understanding, and any misconceptions that those in the industry may have.

Anyway, that's it. I'm going to try to become an active member of the forum, so if anyone has any marketing related questions, I'd be more than happy to help.

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Replies

  • what is most firms/sectors marketing spend or budget ?

  • PRO Supplier

    Hello Stuart,

    I am sure that many people will have questions for you Stuart!

    How is the best way to promote your landscaping business and which ways are most effective to move your business forward promptly?

  • Hi Gardens4u.

    You'd need to be a little more specific with your question if you wanted a meaningful answer. What do you mean by most firms / sectors? Knowing an 'average' marketing spend will be of no value.

    The marketing budget of a landscaper with a transit tipper and a couple of lads can be next to £0.00, where as a firm with many staff, a fleet of trucks, a yard, and non fee generating admin staff to pay, can be spending many thousands.

    If you give me more of an idea of what it is you want to know, Ill try to give you a more useful reply.

  • Hi Roy,

    That's a tricky question, and one that I will sound a bit like a politician avoiding a question whilst answering, if i'm not careful.

    The best way to move a business forward from a marketing perspective is to find some kind of advantage that you can then leverage, by tailoring every single part of your business to gain maximum benefit from this advantage, if that makes sense. Marketing advantages are usually found by tailoring the operations of your business to best meet the needs of the target market you have selected as the most profitable.

    If anyone wants me to explain any of the above, or provide examples I'm happy to. It really doesn't need to be complicated, it's just hard to summarise in a concise way.

    As far as promoting your landscaping business goes, my marketing consultant answer is to use the method which your marketing strategy has selected as the most efficient, effective and persuasive means of communicating with your most profitable target market. This technique, when actioned properly will be hugely effective.

    If you want a more human answer, I would say that building relationships with similar but non-competing businesses in your area is hard to beat. As an example, several of my landscaper clients have built relationships with cabin and summerhouse dealers. Now not everyone wants to spend their days laying concrete bases for such structures, so you don't necessarily want to aim to become an 'installer' for them, but these dealers are often asked to recommend someone who can landscape their garden, or put decking around the cabin once it's up. I would say (on average) my clients get work worth probably 50 grand a year from these relationships. For one man bands, and small teams, that a decent bit of work. You can scale this approach up, to what we call strategic alliances, but that's a topic for another thread. The most important thing of all, is that when using these techniques, you need to tailor your business to them.

  • what is the average small firms marketing budget with 2 total inc staff ? in the UK

    not sure what your post is requiring , i just thought id reply as no one did for 2 days..
    -and im trained in marketing.
    rob


    Stuart said:

    Hi Gardens4u.

    You'd need to be a little more specific with your question if you wanted a meaningful answer. What do you mean by most firms / sectors? Knowing an 'average' marketing spend will be of no value.

    The marketing budget of a landscaper with a transit tipper and a couple of lads can be next to £0.00, where as a firm with many staff, a fleet of trucks, a yard, and non fee generating admin staff to pay, can be spending many thousands.

    If you give me more of an idea of what it is you want to know, Ill try to give you a more useful reply.

  • Hi Rob.


    I don't know what the average spend is for such a business, I've never had need to research such data. As far as businesses that I am familiar with go, I would say their average annual spend very much depends on the kind of work they want to do. If they are happy to do a bit of whatever comes their way, then a few hundred quid (up to £1k) per year should see them busy. If on the other hand there is a business looking to up their profits and specialise in a certain service, they would probably be requiring a spend of £2-3K per year. I hope that helps.

    That's interesting, what marketing training have you had? Was it promotional marketing based, or something more strategic?


    Gardens4u.co.uk said:
    what is the average small firms marketing budget with 2 total inc staff ? in the UK

    not sure what your post is requiring , i just thought id reply as no one did for 2 days..
    -and im trained in marketing.
    rob


    Stuart said:

    Hi Gardens4u.

    You'd need to be a little more specific with your question if you wanted a meaningful answer. What do you mean by most firms / sectors? Knowing an 'average' marketing spend will be of no value.

    The marketing budget of a landscaper with a transit tipper and a couple of lads can be next to £0.00, where as a firm with many staff, a fleet of trucks, a yard, and non fee generating admin staff to pay, can be spending many thousands.

    If you give me more of an idea of what it is you want to know, Ill try to give you a more useful reply.

  • PRO Supplier


    Stuart said:

    Hi Roy,

    That's a tricky question, and one that I will sound a bit like a politician avoiding a question whilst answering, if i'm not careful.

    The best way to move a business forward from a marketing perspective is to find some kind of advantage that you can then leverage, by tailoring every single part of your business to gain maximum benefit from this advantage, if that makes sense. Marketing advantages are usually found by tailoring the operations of your business to best meet the needs of the target market you have selected as the most profitable.

    If anyone wants me to explain any of the above, or provide examples I'm happy to. It really doesn't need to be complicated, it's just hard to summarise in a concise way.

    As far as promoting your landscaping business goes, my marketing consultant answer is to use the method which your marketing strategy has selected as the most efficient, effective and persuasive means of communicating with your most profitable target market. This technique, when actioned properly will be hugely effective.

    If you want a more human answer, I would say that building relationships with similar but non-competing businesses in your area is hard to beat. As an example, several of my landscaper clients have built relationships with cabin and summerhouse dealers. Now not everyone wants to spend their days laying concrete bases for such structures, so you don't necessarily want to aim to become an 'installer' for them, but these dealers are often asked to recommend someone who can landscape their garden, or put decking around the cabin once it's up. I would say (on average) my clients get work worth probably 50 grand a year from these relationships. For one man bands, and small teams, that a decent bit of work. You can scale this approach up, to what we call strategic alliances, but that's a topic for another thread. The most important thing of all, is that when using these techniques, you need to tailor your business to them.

    Hello Stuart,

    Thank you for your reply regarding my question, I'm sure that many people will have questions for you on this site!
  • Hi Stuart,

    Welcome and nice to meet you!

  • Thanks Simon. Is your website down at the moment?
  • Simon. Disregard my previous comment, it's back up now.
This reply was deleted.

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