Concerns About The H-2B Visa: How The Landscape Industry Is Handling It
For the 2018 FY, the cap for the first half was met on December 15, 2017 and the cap for the second half was met on February 28, 2018. This is the earliest these caps have ever been reached by a significant number of days, demonstrating the high demand for seasonal laborers. Prior to 2016, workers who had previously been employed via the H-2B Visa were exempt from this cap, but when the federal budget bill recently expired, the cap exemption expired as well.
What is "Email Open Rate" & How Can You Increase Yours?
Despite the fears of spam and annoying ads, email marketing is alive and well. But how do marketers determine their email marketing strategies? One of the most important stats we look at is the “email open rate”. You may not know what this means, or worse, you may think you know what it means. Whatever the case, we’re going to let you in on all the knowledge to perfect your email marketing tactics and increase your open rates.
Case Study: New Portfolio Driven Website for PA Interior Design and Landscape Company
Using Blackwood Group's inspiration website, Halstead created a highly image driven website. The new look placed each project into a separate case study - into what developed to be a true, high-end elegant digital portfolio. The projects are all accessible via the homepage - but city as well as by category. Awards and about the company are accessible via the menu.
HalsteadTV Episode 12: Is It Time For Your Design/Build To Get a CRM?
A customer telling you they told your office manager something that you are now contradicting? Forgot what you promised Mrs Smith? Always looking for random sheets of paper in your trucks, office, and who knows elsewhere? Stop wasting time being disorganized with your daily conversations. While yes, it takes time to organize yourself and start you and your office team to use a CRM - it will save you more time down the road. And help you keep more customers! Watch this video to learn what is a CRM and 5 ways to know it's time for your design/build to get this magical CRM!
HalsteadTVEp10: Reaching a customer audience over age 50 (hint: not with that yellow book!)
Put that thing down! Don't do it! Don't you please still use the analytics from five - or even three years ago! People over the age of 50 aren't as non-web savvy as you think. Almost 3 out of 4 of them are on Facebook. That's just Facebook - think about how many of them search online (even on their smartphones!). Things have REALLY changed with marketing effectively to this age group. So don't get suckered into outdated traditional marketing techniques and then wonder why they're not working!
HalsteadTVEp8: Stop doing what you're not great at!
Have you ever met anyone who was amazing at everything? Someone who could paint like a pro, prepare architectural drawings, cut pavers, install pavers, run a training workshop, design a brochure, photograph the best angles of a project, write hundreds of words on a specific topic, run social media campaigns, manage a calendar, run interviews, prepare taxes...? I think you're getting the point here. You can't be great everything. It's impossible. But yet you might be doing (almost) everything. What would happen if you delegated what you suck at and did more of what you're amazing at? How would that impact your design/build business?
HalsteadTVEp6: Snapchat or Facebook for a Design/Build?
In any business, regardless of the industry, companies need to be where there potential customers are. Would a toy company be at a local home show? I sure hope not! And while on that topic, not many people should be at a home show ;-). Back to digital marketing, should design/builds be on Snapchat? Is all the hype about it really better than Facebook for the design/build industry? Find out.
HalsteadTVEp5: Don't bring people to the party unless the house is clean!
Getting the most out of everything you do requires looking at the entire puzzle - not just each piece. So step back - look at those core foundational elements - customer service, logo, sales process, and everything else that keeps your business running everyday... before you spend a s*** ton of money of marketing.
HalsteadTVEp2:How to get more people to know about your design/build business
In this episode 2, Anna talks about the four action items that design/build professionals need to take (online) in order to take advantage of the biggest opportunity this industry has ever had! Go!
Case Study: Website Design and Content Marketing for Landscape Construction Company in Newport Beach, CA
D.L. Hickman & Son, based out of the Newport Beach, CA area, is a high-end, landscape construction company. Hickman relies on landscape architects to create the design for the very complex landscape installations that their staff completes.
How Often Should You Be Blogging?
No matter the size or market of your landscaping, design, or construction business, you should be updating your company blog to help with your website traffic and leads. But with numerous variables in play, it can be difficult to determine the frequency with which you should be blogging. We're here to help provide some clarity!
Angie's List: What You Need To Know
Since service review websites like Yelp and Amazon have developed a large consumer base by offering their basic services for free, Angie’s List has had to up the ante by promising in March that it would join its competitors in the realm of free basic reviews. On July 1, 2016 Angie’s List came through on that promise. While this development gives clear advantages to homeowners, will business owners reap the same benefits? Here is what you need to know.
Google Home Services Ads: Right for your company?
While websites such as Thumbtack.com and homeadvisor.com have been known to work for connecting consumers and services, the high volume of inquiries versus low close rate has many of our clients wondering if there is a better option. With its beta release in the summer of 2015, Google Home Services hopes to provide a streamlined platform for business/consumer interfacing. We're here to give you the scoop on this platform, still in the early stages of its development.
Step 1 (of 5) in Getting More Home Improvement Job Referrals
In the past, referrals were considered the best way to get leads for a home improvement business. Whether your company relies on referrals as a primary or secondary source of leads, referrals are a critical part of maintaining a sustainable landscaping, remodeling, or general contractor business. But what happens when the referrals stop coming in? What went wrong? Are your customers unhappy? Perhaps disappointed in the quality or service? Or maybe, just maybe, they're incredibly happy but just forgot to recommend your company to their neighbor during a conversation about a service you do.
Word of Mouth Referrals Don’t Work Like They Used To
Let's be honest. The world has changed a lot from the days when relying solely on word of mouth referrals was a safe strategy for home remodelers, landscaping companies, and other home improvement contractors. That’s not to say that referrals aren't still the most qualified leads to get. But today, when a customer gets a referral from a coworker, they don't simply pick up the phone and schedule a time for you to come out and provide an estimate. No, no. They thank Susie for the recommendation and then they go online to learn more—a lot more.
“How do I get more home improvement leads”
Many contractors rely on pay-per-lead services to deliver the construction leads they need. but are services like thumbtack the best option? here we take a look at the best ways to drive home improvement leads today.
Squarespace or Wordpress?: Design/Build, Landscape Contractor's Guide to the Best Website Design Platform
Spoiler alert: Squarespace wins, hands down. There is a ton of misinformation out there about website design building sites - including platforms like Wordpress. So to help get our home improvement contractors up to speed on what is best for them in terms of design, responsiveness, style options, seo friendliness, and more, we are breaking down the difference between Wordpress and Squarespace.
The SEO Game Plan for Landscapers and Home Builders [Infographic]
Thinking back to decades ago, when a storefront business needed more foot traffic, they looked to traditional advertising to increase awareness of their store. The store owners would make sure they are trying to bring in the right buyers and advertise to them in place those buyers would be in and use advertising material that would grab their attention. Well, today's online marketing is not much different.
What is SEO Today? [infographic]
SEO isn't mysterious; it's not witchcraft. There is a formula that works and factors that don't. What makes SEO complex is that the formula includes hundreds of variables. In our previous blog post, we mentioned that Google's algorithm includes 200+ factors. Some are foundational (such as high-quality content) which will severely impact your rankings and some are complementing (like image descriptions). And since there are so many SEO factors, it's easy to lose track of what is still relevant and what's not. We believe (and hope) this is the reason for using outdate SEO tactics. To check your knowledge (or quiz your SEO person), check out this incredible infographic on what SEO used to be versus what it is now.
4 SEO Tips For Your Home Construction Website
We here at Halstead Media are obsessed with understanding how today's SEO works. We say today because SEO techniques change almost everyday; its a constant flow of change. And with Google's 200+ ranking factors (source: Google) in their algorithm to rank web pages, we keep busy with our obsession of SEO learning. Equally as obsessed, are home remodeling and landscaping business owners in getting more revenue, more leads, and more traffic. There is nothing that drives that more than first page (top of page) ranking in search results for keywords relevant to your services. If you're looking for ways to boost your rankings, we have a million ideas, but here are a few to get you started.