FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Mark Chisholm

Many of you may know that “girdling” may cause a tree to fail over time. Girdling occurs when a tree root wraps itself around the trunk of the tree, literally choking it to death. The typical cause of girdling, according to Mark Chisholm of Aspen Tree Expert Co., is too much organic material, such as topsoil and/or mulch, covering the root flair of the tree.

This can occur naturally, but in the suburban landscape it's Green Industry professionals that often cause the problem. This is due to the homeowner’s addiction to mulch and our own annual spring process of over mulching, which creates what's commonly referred to as mulch “volcanoes.”

Although improper planting techniques and “mulch madness” are part of the problem, the plants that you, the landscape contractor, purchase from growers and re-wholesalers are often already in distress. As Chisholm points out, the trees may be planted too low in the container or when they're balled and burlapped.

Show: Why Should I Care About Tree Care

Guest: Mark Chisholm, Aspen Tree Expert Co., Freehold, N.J. 

Date: May 1, 2013

To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE.  

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Jon Goldman

One of the many insights Brand Launcher's Jon Goldman discussed was the concept of looking at your business as a boat with you as the captain. The front of your boat is sales and marketing, the back end is teams and systems and in the middle is you, steering the boat with your belief structure.

As he aptly points out, if you spend too much time on marketing, growing sales beyond your capacity to produce, your boat will be top heavy and sink. If you invest too much time and energy into your teams and systems but don’t have enough sales to support them, your boat will be bottom heavy and sink.

Finally, as the captain, if you don’t have a clear MVP (mission, value, purpose) one of two things will happen. Either you’ll aimlessly drift in the water until you’re lost at sea or you’ll be tossed around until your boat is smashed on the shore.

No matter how you slice it, if you don’t properly manage all three parts of your business boat, ultimately, you will sink.

Show: Brandscaping – How to Create Your Own Brand 
Guest: Jon Goldman, Brand Launcher, Baltimore
Date: May 1st, 2013
To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE. 

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Chris Davitt

Although most business owners and top management personnel want to be able to spend time every day to make sure their employees are recognized and supported for their hard work, the daily grind of business makes it difficult, especially when you have 750 employees.

Ruppert Landscape recognized this fact and created what President Chris Davitt calls additional “structure.” Instead of just wanting to show their support to employees, company leaders added structure to their weekly, monthly and annual calendar to make sure they actually do provide their employees with both the thanks and appreciation that employees need to be successful and continue to strive to be better employees and better people.

Show: Developing an Employee-Focused Organization
Guest: Chris Davitt, Ruppert Cos., Laytonsville, Md
Date: Wednesday, April 24th, 2013 
To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE.

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Richard Heller

There's a common misconception that “green roof” and “rooftop garden” are one and the same. Although there are some similarities, there are significant differences, explains Richard Heller, CEO/CFO of Greener by Design in Pelham, N.Y.

Green roofs are intended to reduce energy costs by helping regulate temperatures within the building, keeping them cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. In addition, they're designed to absorb as much as 80 percent of the rainfall that lands on the roof, significantly reducing the amount of water that flows into the city’s sewer systems and treatment plants.

Many times green roofs are as simple as a drainage membrane that's laid upon the existing roof and then covered with “trays” of a groundcover like sedum, which requires very little maintenance once it's established. They may or may not be accessible.

Rooftop gardens, on the other hand, are designed to create useable and functional space for the building owner and its occupants and may or may not take on the qualities of a green roof. 

Show: Go To Heller For Green Roofs
Guest: Richard Heller, Greener By Design, Pelham N.Y.
Date: April 17, 2013
To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE.

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Mike Rorie

Even at a young age Mike Rorie, former CEO of GroundMasters, realized the best way for him to be successful was to choose a specific segment of the landscape market and build a business to serve it. He saw an incredible opportunity in the commercial maintenance market in the Cincinnati area, which is where he grew his company to be one of the most prestigious and successful landscape maintenance companies in the area, eventually selling to The Brickman Group in 2006 after 27 years in business.

Rorie attributes much of his success to focusing on his target market and not trying to be “all things to all people.” While many businesses did and still do fight to be the lowest price service provider, he preferred his brand to be known for its quality of service, which was offered at a higher price point than his competitors'.

Listen to this week's show to gain even more insight as Rorie explains how he grew his landscape business from an $11,000 residential maintenance service company to a $30 million commercial maintenance dynasty.

Show: Go Mike Rorie
Guest: Mike Rorie, Go iLawn/GIS Dynamics, Cincinnati, Ohio
Date: April 4, 2013 
To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE.

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Rich Arlington

After being discharged from the Marine Corps for medical reasons, Rich Arlington of Rich Arlington & Associates, Erie, Pa., struggled with trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. He sought help from a Marine physician who listened to his concerns and then gave him some good solid advice that still drives him to this day. He said, “Suck it up Marine. Overcome, adapt, improvise and make it happen.” And that’s exactly what he did.

According to Arlington, anybody can complain. That’s easy. When adversity does hit you, in business or in life, you need to remember that there's always is a way to overcome it, there's always someone who's had the same experience and pushed through it and there are always people willing to help you, if you just ask.

The bottom line: That which does not kill you makes you stronger.

If you don’t believe this, just listen to the entire interview or read Arlington's book, “Why Not You?" Proceeds from the sale of the book are used to help veterans throughout the U.S. 

Listeners are also eligible to win a free autographed copy of “Why Not You?” or the student version of DynaSCAPE Software.

Show: "Why Not You?" with Rich Arlington
Guest: Rich Arlington, Rich Arlington and Associates, Erie, Pa.
Date: March 27, 2013
To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE.

Editor's note: As part of a 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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com.     

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Jeff Korhan

According to consultant and author Jeff Korhan, you need to look at social media marketing as a three-legged stool. The first leg is attraction, the second is engagement and the third leg is conversion. If you have all three, your stool will remain perfectly balanced. If not, it will tip and wobble and be completely ineffective.

As Korhan explains, people go to the internet for two reasons: to be entertained and to solve problems.

If you're providing original content online that does both of these things well, then search engines like Google are going to quickly find you and significantly raise your rankings.

Korhan demystifies social media marketing and breaks it down into a simple process that's similar to what you're doing right now with your traditional marketing efforts, such as developing new leads through recommendations and referrals. His new book, Built-In Social, is due out next month from Wiley.

Show: Converting social marketing practices into everyday profits
Guest: Jeff Korhan, True Nature, Naperville, Ill.
Date: March 20, 2013
To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE.

Editor's note: As part of a 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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com.    

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Joe Salemi

The easiest and probably best way to develop relationships with community and industry influencers is by getting involved. Influencers don’t sit around waiting for things to happen; they make things happen. They also align themselves with others who make things happen and get things done. 

According to DynaSCAPE's Joe Salemi, two great ways to reach these people are by volunteering your time to a community or charity project and getting involved with landscape associations. Volunteering for a worthwhile project is a great way to do something positive and get your name and your company's name out there. Not only will you get you noticed, you’ll get noticed by the right people. The decision makers.

Participating and getting involved in landscape associations does the same thing. It raises awareness to you and your business and shows that you’re active in your industry. Influential people, both inside and outside the industry, put a high value on this activity because they themselves are the same way. They volunteer and get involved and are attracted to those that do the same.

For a chance to win a free student version of DynaSCAPE, listen to the entire interview.

Show: Developing strategic relationships with industry influencers
Guest: Joe Salemi, DynaSCAPE, Ontario Canada
Date: March 13, 2013 
To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE.

Editor's note: As part of a 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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com.   

FD2B Talk Radio Insight of the Night: Daniel Tal

You may have heard of Ruby Shoes, Ruby Foo's and Ruby Tuesday, but how about Ruby Scripts? While discussing Google SketchUp with Daniel Tal and the very active FD2B Talk Radio chat room, it became quite apparent that Ruby Scripts is a necessity when working with SketchUp. 

Ruby is a programming language anyone can use to write plugins (aka scripts) for SketchUp. Once installed, Ruby Scripts can add tools, simplify multistep operations and otherwise improve the way you work with SketchUp. Along with Ruby Scripts, Tal recommends purchasing Google SketchUp 8 for Dummies, watching YouTube videos by its author Aidan Chopra and utilizing a few of his favorite SketchUp apps.

Listeners of the show, both live and recorded, can win either an autographed copy of Tal's book Google SketchUp for Site Design or a student version of DynaSCAPE for free. You just need to listen to the show by April 6 to learn Tal's favorite ice cream and follow the directions to enter the giveaway.

Show: 3D modeling with Daniel Tal and Google SketchUp
Guest: Daniel Tal, Ambit-3D, Denver
Date: March 6, 2013 
To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE.  

Editor's note: As part of a 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. (Sorry this week's is late!) 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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com.  

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 Law & Order, most landscape contractors would rather stay out of the system and not get involved in litigation  for obvious reasons. It's not only expensive and time consuming; it's also bad for business. Ferguson recommends that contractors develop a relationship with an attorney long before there's ever a problem. 

Since the goal of any good attorney is to protect his or her clients, he prefers to be proactive and not reactive by crossing his Ts and dotting his Is beforehand instead of waiting for a problem to occur, only then to realize that some “language” in a contract was missing, exposing you and your business to significant risk. This approach allows his clients to stay out of court and making money.

Show: Free legal advice that might just save your business
Guest: Josh Ferguson, Kent/McBride, Philadelphia Pa
Date: Feb. 27, 2013
To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE. 

Editor's note: As part of a 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. (Sorry this week's is late!) 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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com. 

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 on Friday, start them on Monday and then have to fire them or watch them quit by the end of the week and then start the cycle all over again next Friday.

Employees learn best, Murray says, by “hearing, seeing, doing and then discussing.” Instead of putting a new hire out in the field and letting him learn (or more likely fail) by trail and error, take the time to properly train him. He suggests doing this by first explaining what the task is, then showing them exactly what they're supposed to do. Next, let them perform the tasks themselves and then, finally, allow them to talk about what they’ve done so they can confirm any concerns or questions.

Show: Landscape performance enhancement training
Guest: Jay Murray, president of LS Training Systems, London, Ontario
Date: Feb. 20, 2013
To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE. 

Editor's note: As part of a 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. (Sorry this week's is late!) 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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com. 

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 good for his business.

While other companies have to drag their employees kicking and screaming to participate in volunteer work, Newman actually uses these community service projects as team-building opportunities. Like most companies, YardApes employees typically work in two- and three-man crews, rarely spending time with other employees. By bringing the entire company together for a one-day project, providing coffee and donuts in the morning and hot wings and soda in the afternoon, Newman creates such a positive atmosphere that his employees look forward to volunteering and giving back to the community.

Show: Mother Nature+Community Service = Good Karma 
Guest: Shayne Newman, YardApes, New Milford, Conn.
Date: Feb. 13, 2013 
To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE.

Editor's note: As part of a 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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com. 

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 says she has many opportunities to bid on government work in a minimally competitive environment. Sometimes she's bidding on work against one or two other companies and many times she has no competition at all.  Sure sounds a lot better than bidding against 10-12 other contractors.

Show: All in the landscape family

Guest: Valerie Hufnagel, Hufnagel Landscape Design & Construction Group, North Bergen, N.J.

Date: Feb. 6, 2013

To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE.

Editor's note: As part of a 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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com. 

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

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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. However, the concept is very important, especially when it comes to growing your relationships with your customers.

Mensch is a Yiddish term that refers to a person with integrity and honor and is someone to emulate and admire. One of your marketing goals should be to act in a way that gets people to see your business like this.

What could be better than having a list of customers and prospects who all admire and respect you? Who do you think they’re going to call when it’s time to make a purchase? The guy with integrity and honor or junk mailing “Spammy Sammy?”

Show: The power of email marketing

Guest: Wendi Caplan-Carroll, Constant Contact

Date: Jan. 30, 2013

To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE. 

Editor's note: As part of a 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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com. 

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 ones on the side of your head). EAR is the acronym for Example, Action and Results. Instead of having prospective employees submit a resume, Arman suggests asking them to answer open-ended questions, requiring well-thought-out answers, about a specific experience.

Interviewing candidates this way will provide you with valuable insight into how they think and deal with specific situations. You’re not going to get that kind of info from a piece of paper with their credentials listed on it.

Show: My pain is your gain
Guest: Bill Arman, The Harvest Group, Southern California
Date: Jan. 23, 2013
To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE.

Editor's note: As part of a 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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com. 

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 very quickly—regardless of whether you have a 10-ft.-by-10-ft. booth or a 3,000-sq.-ft. living landscape display.

To help minimize these costs, Kevin McLaughlin of Mac Events suggests asking your vendors to “participate” in the costs when building your display. In other words, ask your most frequented vendors to supply you with the materials you'll need to create your display.

Naturally you’ll promote the products they donated as a way of thanking them and promoting their businesses.

Don't forget to ask them to deliver the products right to your booth at the show, saving you even more time and money. While you’re at it, see if you can keep the stuff, too.

 

Show: Trade shows and home shows—an insider's look

Guest: Kevin McLaughlin, Mac Events, Spring Lake, N.J.

Date: Jan. 16, 2013

To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE. 

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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com. 

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 about determining the price (labor, materials, overhead and profit) but the other 50 percent is about job execution.  

For his crews to properly execute the installation, Lysecki provides them with what he calls a “job planner.” This job planner provides the production team with the information they need to install the job successfully and profitably. The landscape design shows them what to build, and the job planner is the breakdown or “recipe” of what they will need to actually build it, including number of man hours that are task-specific, material lists with estimated purchase prices and a list of the equipment needed to install the work.

Show: Stop “guesstimating” once and for all

Guest: Mike Lysecki, Landscape Management Network, Toronto
Date: January 9, 2013
 To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE. 

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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com. 

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 feel undervalued, not respected or unappreciated. It’s not because of money.

One way to retain employees is by providing them education and training. Some owners and managers fear that helping their employees better themselves and develop valuable skills is expensive--and there's no guarantee that employees won’t leave. That's true, Ferrell says, but he points out the alternative: Not educating or training employees and having them stay. 

Show: Find the perfect Green Industry job or employee
Guest: Jack Ferrell, Green Industry recruiter, Florasearch, Sanford, Fla.
Date: Jan. 2, 2013
To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE.

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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com.

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 on the project, Groff will create a 2D concept plan in DynaSCAPE and/or a 3D model in Google SketchUp to make sure he's going in the right direction and to get some initial feedback on the design. However, instead of doing a presentation in person as most contractors do, he schedules an appointment with the homeowners using GoToMeeting and conducts an online presentation to review the drawings. Not only does this save him travel time but he can "meet" with both the husband and wife even if they're at two different locations. Another big benefit is he can schedule his meetings during regular business hours and not at night or on the weekends.

Show: It's all in the details. Or is it?
Guest: Brad Groff, co-owner of River Valley Landscape and Pools, Wrightsville, Pa.
Date: Dec. 26, 2012
To listen to the full show, CLICK HERE.

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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com.

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 columnist Jody Shilan, who's also the editor and founder of FromDesign2Build.com.

Just like an investment portfolio, snow contractors need to have a diversified portfolio that fits your business' short-term and long-term goals and objectives, according to Tom Canete, CEO of Canete Snow Management. He says you should not only have a proper mix of residential and commercial accounts but also a proper mix of contract types. Canete recommends against having just one type of contract in favor of a mixture of contracts that are per push, per event and per season, so you can better manage your risk. This way, no matter what type of winter you have, above average, below average or average, you will be generating revenue.

In addition, Canete suggests having a diversified mix of clients. Not just residential vs commercial but a portfolio of clients with properties that need to be open 24/7, others that might be able to wait a few days (i.e churches) and everything in between.
Show: Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
Guest: Tom Canete, CEO of Canete Snow Management, Wayne, N.J.
Date: Dec. 19, 2012
To listen to the full show, click here.