"User experience website design" sounds fancy, right? It's really not. It's part of every beautiful, functional website design. What are some basic elements? What exactly is user experience website design. Whether you're a manufacturer or a design/build, think about the story - beyond the "scroll down" message. Without further ado, scroll down and watch the video. Hahah

What happens when you take something that seems (ok, it is) so complex and apply it towards your specific business? Or perhaps even towards your line of work? Today, Corey will talk about predictive analytics - to deeply understand your current and potential customers. How does it fit in? 

Want your events to last longer? The power is in your hands. In this intro-to-the-topic video, we introduce spreading the wildfire event approach with widgets that encourage people to take photos, using branded items, and share them on their social media. The return? People are posting images of themselves, happy, with your brand. Magic. Watch for more and tell us how you've done it!

Familiar with design software? If you are a high-end design/build, you most likely are very familiar with design software from your 3D designs! And if you're a manufacturer, maybe you've used design design software if you're in the marketing department. Regardless of how you've used it, design software and website design are VERY different things. You have graphic design in both but you have user experience in website design (some would argue that user experience is more important that graphic design). Website design includes designing for various platforms (mobile, ipad, desktop). Design software is a stable platform. When you're designing in something like a 3D design software, you're not concerned about button actions or how that plan will look on mobile. Watch for more.

Everyone knows that you can choose location, age, family, income - and other demographics when it comes to creating a Facebook audience for targeting your posts and dark ads. But what about interests and behaviors? Does every high income wife with children that is age 42 want a service you install or a product you sell?! NO!! So don't stop there. Make sure your Facebook audiences include interests and/or behaviors. Watch here for more:

Just stop it already with the wet pavers in your project pictures! A couple of summer rain drops on select pavers and natural stone - yes, that can be beautiful. But a hosed down paver patio or paver walkway? NO!!! Stop it. It's not stylish. It doesn't look good. Let them dry and then take your phone or camera out to snap a pic. 

No matter how much you're investing in advertising - online or offline, every business gets the best leads via referrals. There is no denying that. So how do you - as a landscape design/build company - get more referrals in the digital world? Anna shares her 5.5 ways to help you take some huge steps in growing your referrals - tomorrow.

In this video, Corey talks about the collision of experience driven purchasing and video marketing = drone. Team them up with still shots for an immersive experience . And remember - Buying a camera doesn’t make you a professional photographer. Buying a drone doesn’t make you a professional videographer. 

Yelp is a powerful website and app. As the 10th most popular website - it gets a lot of action from visitors. Surely, you've used it to read reviews and maybe you have your free profile setup on there. Does this mean you should be spending money on this platform - as a landscape design build company (or anyone really!)? Watch now.

What happens when you begin to look at your landscape projects through the lens of a camera? You start to see things you know the camera will capture. In this video, Corey talks about the four basic steps of getting winning photography - all by yourself! 

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!

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!

It's long past due for the hardscape industry at the showroom level. The kitchen/bath industry has been doing it for years with a ton of success. There are few hardscape dealers jumping on board and killing it. So how do you do it? How do use your concrete paver and natural stone showroom to bring more people in the door?

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?

Mrs. Jones saw a Unilock .. or a Techo .. or some kind of natural stone outdoor living pic in a magazine or catalogue. You (Mr. Landscape Designer, Landscaper, or Landscape Architect - whatever it is you call yourself) promised her she was getting that. It's the same patio - same materials. Same paver patterns. Pretty much the same size. You might even have the similar planting and fence installed. Yet, she's not quite thrilled. Something is missing. Maybe she's telling you that "it's close - you did a good job," or maybe she's hiding it and you're left wondering "is she happy?" Why did this happen? Why isn't she in love with this new outdoor space? After several weeks (or months) of design and landscape construction - what's the missing piece? DESIGN! Interior design is the missing piece to every beautiful home design and remodel - why would you leave it out for the exteriors?

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.

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.

Anna talks about how to apply the still-very-true approach of growing your design/build business with referrals - except this means to expand your definition of what a referral really is today. And it's not just people sharing your info with one another while they're visiting someone's home. Referrals are indeed - online reviews! So stop skipping this part. ASK FOR REVIEWS!

Why are you going to your hosting company for a website design? Why is your computer technician your website design guy? IT and design are not one in the same. And website design isn't a skill that comes from IT. Stop mixing the two up! In this episode #3 of HalsteadTV, Corey shares his thoughts on this frustrating mix-up that produces websites that look like they're from 1995.

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!