Garden Coaching Blog

Guerrilla Marketing

Craigslist Is 3 for 3

by Billy Goodnick

Since this seems to be working, I thought I'd share.

I started posting my services at Craigslist a few months ago and left myself a monthly tickler on my calendar to update the posting. I use the Creative Services category and so far I've had three calls, each of which has generated a paying visit and one has lead to an additional word-of-mouth referral. At least two of the three connections will be long-term projects.

The Craigslist "blurb" starts with a pithy intro...

1) Billy Goodnick has been enhancing Santa Barbara....demystifying ... his philosophy is simple...

[There, I've set the hook, time to start reeling them in!]

2) Services include analysis, design diagrams, construction material selection, plant palettes, custom services for do-it-yourselfers, chimney sweeping (no, not really, just seeing if you're paying attention).

[WOW! Can't resist THAT!]

3) Resume: Billy landscape career spans...

[Ah, but can he fold towels and whistle at the same time?]

4) If they need more information, I have a link to my blog and to my web site.

Just enough to entice people to delve a bit deeper. I don't have a counter at my web site (yet) but will be adding that to figure out how many inquiries I get for how many site visitations.

As for the web site, it looks like a million bucks, but is the result of me spending about four hours using iWeb on my iMac and subscribing to .Mac services for about $100 per year. That gets me web hosting, a photo gallery I can send clients to, back-up storage and a bunch of other stuff. You don't have to have a Mac to use it, but why would you own a PC if you could have a Mac? (just a bit of Mac arrogance).

Hope this helps some. If you want more info, contact me via e-mail at billygoodnick@yahoo.com. To view the full Craigslist blurb, click here and find your way to Services > Creative.

Visit Billy's website at www.billygoodnick.com

"Only" experienced in vegetable gardening...

by Billy Goodnick
Yesterday, thanks to a connection to Gardenerd via this great new blog, I passed along some encouraging words to Christy Welhemi (Gardenerd). She was explaining that she'd like to eventually offer garden design services, but for now could "only" offer advice about growing food. My response was "what higher calling is there?"

Then I got to thinking about a fabulous project that a colleague of mine (Owen Dell) has undertaken here in Santa Barbara, CA and how it could grow into a marketing opportunity for coaches. (Owen and I cohost a local TV show called "Garden Wise Guys" about sustainable landscaping. Lots of good info buried in blatant silliness.)

Owen's brainchild is the Neighborhood Foodshare Project, and it's catching on locally. In a nutshell, neighbors within a reasonable walking distance, form a food sharing group for all the produce, eggs, herbs, etc. that they grow, then have a bi-weekly or monthly "mini farmers market" in a member's driveway to distribute they're goods. I accompanied him this weekend and was touched by the fabulous bond and sense of community that came from this gathering. Moms and dads and kids on their bikes bringing everything from end of summer giant zucchinis, to rare fruits, dried figs and prickly pear cactus fruits. Snacks and fresh lemonade abounded and new friendships were popping up. There's a PDF file at his site on how to create a Neighborhood Foodshed.

So what does this have to do with coaching opportunities? Well, I'm figuring that if one of you coaches out there with strong skills in growing food helps to nurture a few foodsheds in your area, you then have a command audience to assist them in expanding their gardening skills while learning even more from the free exchange of knowledge!

I'm tapped. Hope this gets your creative juices flowing.

Visit Billy's website at http://www.billygoodnick.com

Money-making advice from Michelle Derviss

by Susan Harris
San Francisco-area garden designer Michelle Derviss saw my announcement of this blog on GardenRant and wrote a comment SO chockful of helpful info, I'm repeating it here:

I just went to one of your links and read Jack"s home page . In it he describes what he will do for you as a garden coach. I never thought of myself as a garden coach but from his descriptive outline of what a garden coach will do for you , I have just learned that I have been a garden coach for the past 25 plus years. My term for that type of service has been 'horticultural consultant'.

To address some of your questions above, based on my past experience :

• What's the ultimate income-earning potential of coaching ? - - - In a good year and in a good affluent community it can be 55 to 65 K a year . I also offer landscape design services so I am guesstimating out design services and including only horticultural consultation.
• Time commitment ? - - - full time all the time if you really want it. I have always found as much work as I wanted and more than I needed in this field.
• "How about talking to those local nurseries about distributing your business cards or posting your flyer?" - - - err, umm, .. in my experience any good nursery that has half a buisness brain already offers garden consultation services so this may be a loss leader.  That 'may' be one market area to tap but I think one would do better by putting yourself out front and center in your community by offering short hort classes thru your local garden clubs and community centers, writing hort advice for the local paper, doing a high profile pro bono project and then market the crap out of it and encouraging your growing clientele to spread the word via personal referrals.
• A web presence is somewhat important in this day and age especially if you have taken the route to use the local print media to spread the word.

AND MORE GOOD IDEAS FROM MICHELLE
In an expansive mood on the subject, she then blogged about it herself right here on her own blog, provocatively entitled Garden Porn.

Garden Coach Shirley Bovshow on Martha Stewart's "Morning Living" Radio Show

by Shirley Bovshow
It's my pleasure to represent our profession as garden coaches on the Martha Stewart, "Morning Living" Radio Show, this Friday morning, October 12 at 8:45 AM (ET). The show airs on the SIrius Satellite Radio station, "Martha Stewart Living."  I'll be interviewed about my work as a garden designer and coach by hosts Cindy Dole and Betsy Karetnick - what a garden coach does, how much we charge and where you can find us.

Thanks to the leadership of Susan Harris, we now have a blog of our own and you can be sure I will be plugging it. Get ready for the calls! I'm excited about the Garden Coaching Blog and will be making it a daily internet destination. Susan tells me she will be having guest bloggers share their marketing ideas and gardening savvy and we will all have the opportunity to network with each other. Works for me!

Look for my upcoming post here about "Custom Gardening Manuals," laminated for outdoor wear and tear.  I've been providing maintenance manuals for my clients for a fee. I also tutor them, as well as their gardening crews, on the proper care and feeding of the gardens I design for them. There is much to learn from each other, I look forward to  our visits together. If you are interested in getting to know me better, please visit my web site and my blog.

Coaches can tap into the real estate world...

by Billy Goodnick, blogging at GardenWiseGuy.

I can't yet claim success, but I'm aggressively pursuing using the world of real estate to promote my coaching business. Here in Santa Barbara, CA the real estate market is still pretty lively, but mostly in the stratospheric realm of multimillion dollar homes.

Here's my thinking - there is a service called "staging" where a professional with interior design background takes an empty home that's going on the market and furnishes it to appeal to the targeted profile of potential buyers. It's about setting a mood and helping the buyer's imagination.

But there are very few stagers savvy enough to help create a facelift for the exterior - that's where landscape architects and designers can tap in. I've discussed this with a number of realtors and they indicate that I'm onto something. So, I've joined the local board of realtors as an affiliate member. That lets me market to the other members, attend mixers, receive their e-mail listings, etc. I also had some very slick tri-fold brochures printed up to help with the image and explain my general services.

The strategy is about creating curb appeal from the time the prospective buy stops their car, to coordinating the work of arborists, landscapers and gardeners to make the place presentable, appealing and expand the imagination to make the yard looks like a place you'd like to live.

I'll be tapping into my connections with garden centers to procure temporary fountains and patio furnishings, potted planting arrangements, create great focal point views that sparkle from inside the house, and dressing up the beds with fresh mulch. A few landscapers I've worked with are eager to jump in with me.

A less ambitious service will just include a visit and written recommendations for what the agent or owner can do to put a happier face on the landscape.

The other side of the coin is to develop a strong, trusting relationship with a few agents who will feel comfortable recommending me when a sale closes. My services could include an assessment and orientation for the new owner, especially if they're new to the area and don't know much about gardening in a new locale. I will link them to local services, classes, stores (and seek finders fees). I will also offer sustainability assessments to help them design and manage their new home in the greenest manner. I expect that some will also be seeking design ideas that can lead to a long-term coaching relationship.

I'm kinda running out of steam after taking a local realtor on a tour of a few of my projects this afternoon. She's very excited about using me on a consulting basis to help buyers realize the full potential of their intended purchase.

More to come...nighty night.

Big thanks to Susan Harris for creating this great forum!

Welcome to The Gardening Coach Blog

by Susan Harris

Hello, gardening coaches wherever you are, and homeowners interested in hiring a coach. And writers interested in this HOT new field, you've come to the right place. What you'll find here right now are articles I've written about coaching since over the last 3 years but SOON this blog will include coaching stories or how-to articles from garden coaches all over the world.

SO LET THE NETWORKING BEGIN
That's what it's all about.  Especially since we're almost all in different markets, let's share our successes, our horror stories, our tools of the trade, our marketing ideas.

Meanwhile, check out our Worldwide Directory of Coaches and our individual sites and blogs - all in the right column of this blog.

Will garden centers start offering coaching?

by Susan Harris, originally published on my blog September 14, 2007

Open Register is taking on the Coaching Challenge with some great ideas for their members, the indie nurseries.

And here in the DC area, writer/editor Kathy Jentz covered the coaching phenomenon in her gardening column in the Washington Examiner Newspaper.  Great article, Kath!  (But who are those people in the photos, anyway??)

Here it is in PDF: Download GardenCoach9-14-07.pdf

by Susan Harris, originally published on my blog September 14, 2007

Open Register is taking on the Coaching Challenge with some great ideas for their members, the indie nurseries.

And here in the DC area, writer/editor Kathy Jentz covered the coaching phenomenon in her gardening column in the Washington Examiner Newspaper.  Great article, Kath!  (But who are those people in the photos, anyway??)

Here it is in PDF: Download GardenCoach9-14-07.pdf

Tools of the Garden Coaching Trade

by Susan Harris, originally published September 5, 2007

First there was garden coaching, and now that it's been discovered, for me it's morphed into coaching garden coaches.  Mentoring, if you will.  It means compiling information about everyone for the Directory, answering emails and even some phone calls.  One very nice gardener in Montana called and asked some great questions, including: What do you take with you to see a new client?  This was my answer.

PRUNING TOOLS
I take with me my three main pruning tools.  That would be the Felco number 2s, (on the left in this photo), some loppers, and a folding pruning saw.  SO many people need instruction in pruning, and you just never know what tools they'll have.  More often than not if they have any pruning tool it's the dreaded shearers. 

MARKING PAINT
Oh, I made fun of this product once - remember the "marking paint" that turned out to be clear?  Well, I know now to look for not just the words "marking paint" but a can top that's an actual color, preferably a bright one.  But the point is to quickly draw some suggested new borders, and this stuff does the trick.  If people need assurance that the paint won't last forever I tell 'em 2 weeks, max.

BUSINESS CARDS
I've changed my business cards so many times over the last couple of years, it's a good thing they're free at Vista Print, just $5 for shipping.  The only catch is that there's a tiny advertisement for the Vista Print Company on the back of each card, but no one's ever seemed to notice it.  (Here's the design I chose.)

THE PLANT LIST BOOK 
This is such a fabulous idea - the New York/Mid-Atlantic Gardener's Book of Lists - and it was recommended to me by a garden designer, so I ordered it.  And the plant lists may be mostly correct, but I've crossed out some that I know perform really badly in my area, like rhododendrons and leucothoes.  And missing from the list of "Problem-Free Shrubs" are spirea, weigela, aucuba and nandina, beautybush and cherry laurels - literally the 6 easiest shrubs in my whole garden.  Yet the relatively thirsty hydrangea macrophylla IS on the list.  Oh, and guess what other list those hydranageas are on - deer-resistant plants.  Uh, not hardly! Still, after I marked up the lists to reflect reality, they're actually helpful.  And I think people like the assurance of something in print, don't you?

And through the recitation of these tricks of the trade, the Montana coach hung on every word, I tell ya, and was mighty appreciative.  I encouraged her to "return the favor" by writing a little story someday about her adventures as a gardening coach.  I might even nag her for that report.

by Susan Harris, originally published September 5, 2007

First there was garden coaching, and now that it's been discovered, for me it's morphed into coaching garden coaches.  Mentoring, if you will.  It means compiling information about everyone for the Directory, answering emails and even some phone calls.  One very nice gardener in Montana called and asked some great questions, including: What do you take with you to see a new client?  This was my answer.

PRUNING TOOLS
I take with me my three main pruning tools.  That would be the Felco number 2s, (on the left in this photo), some loppers, and a folding pruning saw.  SO many people need instruction in pruning, and you just never know what tools they'll have.  More often than not if they have any pruning tool it's the dreaded shearers. 

MARKING PAINT
Oh, I made fun of this product once - remember the "marking paint" that turned out to be clear?  Well, I know now to look for not just the words "marking paint" but a can top that's an actual color, preferably a bright one.  But the point is to quickly draw some suggested new borders, and this stuff does the trick.  If people need assurance that the paint won't last forever I tell 'em 2 weeks, max.

BUSINESS CARDS
I've changed my business cards so many times over the last couple of years, it's a good thing they're free at Vista Print, just $5 for shipping.  The only catch is that there's a tiny advertisement for the Vista Print Company on the back of each card, but no one's ever seemed to notice it.  (Here's the design I chose.)

THE PLANT LIST BOOK 
This is such a fabulous idea - the New York/Mid-Atlantic Gardener's Book of Lists - and it was recommended to me by a garden designer, so I ordered it.  And the plant lists may be mostly correct, but I've crossed out some that I know perform really badly in my area, like rhododendrons and leucothoes.  And missing from the list of "Problem-Free Shrubs" are spirea, weigela, aucuba and nandina, beautybush and cherry laurels - literally the 6 easiest shrubs in my whole garden.  Yet the relatively thirsty hydrangea macrophylla IS on the list.  Oh, and guess what other list those hydranageas are on - deer-resistant plants.  Uh, not hardly! Still, after I marked up the lists to reflect reality, they're actually helpful.  And I think people like the assurance of something in print, don't you?

And through the recitation of these tricks of the trade, the Montana coach hung on every word, I tell ya, and was mighty appreciative.  I encouraged her to "return the favor" by writing a little story someday about her adventures as a gardening coach.  I might even nag her for that report.

Full-Time Career as a Garden Coach?Fugeddaboutit!

by Susan Harris, originally published August 20, 2007

I've encouraged people to take up garden coaching and - yay! - they've responded.  My Worldwide Directory of Gardening Coaches now lists 23 coaches.  But before you quit the day job, here's a reality check.

It's hard enough for anyone to make a living in the gardening field generally but at least landscape architects and really successful designers get hired for BIG jobs, usually for a cut of the whole project. (And someone correct me if they're paid a flat fee.)  But coaches are hired on an hourly basis - and for very few hours, at that - so it's not like a lifetime of Freudian analysis.  Most of my clients need one or two hours and I never hear from them again.  If I reminded them of my gardening brilliance regularly, as my friends suggest, it might result in more call-backs but really, most of them are on their way and don't need regular visits.

So even at my recently increased fee of $75 an hour, how much money can there possibly be in it? Remember that the appointments have to be when the client is home on the weekends, and naturally during the gardening season.  And the kiss of death to career aspirations?  While the universe of people who need it is HUGE, the people who know such a service exists, seek it out and make it happen is tiny, tiny, tiny, even with all the recent publicity.

Despite the pitiful financial returns, here's why it's still a good idea for some people:

• The need is there and it's really fun to help people in this way.   Plus, the folks who hire garden coaches are a damn nice bunch. 
• Gardenwriters can use coaching to learn a lot and beef up their resumes, while earning some extra cash. 
• Landscape architects and designers can add coaching as one of the services they offer.
• Retirees and Master Gardeners?  Go for it!

But if you were thinking that coaching would ever pay your mortgage, sorry about bursting that bubble.

IS IT TOO LATE TO COACH SOMETHING ELSE?
Just the other day a DVD arrived from CBS of the personal coaching segment on "Sunday Morning" and I was surprised to see that the wardrobe or "image" consultant featured in the segment is someone I actually know - cool! Then I listened and heard Rita Braver say that this other kind of coach charges $250 an hour.  Crikey!  Where does she find clients who can pay that kind of money?  I'm afraid the answer is that she's rich and probably knows most of the rich people in D.C. (Her brother is Dan Glickman and their family seems to have made a fortune in scrap metal.)  So that $250 fee is another case of the rich getting richer, I'm afraid.

Garden Coaching on "CBS Sunday Morning" with the Lovely Rita Braver

by Susan Harris, originally published July 30, 2007

I've watched and loved this show since its debut over 20 years ago, so when a message appeared in my In Box with the all-caps subject "CBS SUNDAY MORNING CALLING" I was psyched. Would my client and I like to appear with Rita Braver in a segment about personal coaching?  You bet your Felcos we would!

And lucky me, the taping would be done at my client's garden so SHE'D have to make her garden perfect and clean the house.  Good deal! Except that after we'd finished up in her garden Rita says "Hey, let's all go shoot Susan's garden!"  Imagine if you will having your garden on national TV on the spur of the moment, having Rita and her crew descend on your home with no warning.  "But my house is dirty," I lamely protested, because Martha Stewart I'm SO NOT. 

But for all my kvetching, here's the result - Rita sitting on MY FRONT PORCH giving the show's opening come-on: "Coming up on CBS Sunday Morning, personal coaching is blooming."  I loved it! And the fact that before Rita could sit on my porch the crew had to remove my discarded toilet (charming!) only added a soupcon of cringe to this happy scene.  (Because she's a pro and SO NICE, she told me her own discarded-toilet-in-public-view story and I felt much better.)  I'm just glad it wasn't until later that day that I read in her bio about the many hugely famous people she's interviewed during her illustrious career, or my cringe level could have been crippling.

Many thanks to Kay Meek, who's been so generous with her garden and her time.  And thanks to the Sunday Morning team for a wonderful experience and for making me look not-terrible in the actual broadcast.  (Kay and I particularly enjoyed being miked by the charming storyteller kneeling in the photo, but enough said about that.) My only regret?  The story aired sooner than we expected and nobody saw it - well, not the hoards of family, friends and readers I'd planned on alerting.  I'm hoping their lawyers will consent to at least a snippet appearing on this humble blog.  Stay tuned.

UPDATE
Good news - a commenter on GardenRant gave us the video - thanks!  It's
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3108384n

Group photo by CatAnders Photography.

by Susan Harris, originally published July 30, 2007

I've watched and loved this show since its debut over 20 years ago, so when a message appeared in my In Box with the all-caps subject "CBS SUNDAY MORNING CALLING" I was psyched. Would my client and I like to appear with Rita Braver in a segment about personal coaching?  You bet your Felcos we would!

And lucky me, the taping would be done at my client's garden so SHE'D have to make her garden perfect and clean the house.  Good deal! Except that after we'd finished up in her garden Rita says "Hey, let's all go shoot Susan's garden!"  Imagine if you will having your garden on national TV on the spur of the moment, having Rita and her crew descend on your home with no warning.  "But my house is dirty," I lamely protested, because Martha Stewart I'm SO NOT. 

But for all my kvetching, here's the result - Rita sitting on MY FRONT PORCH giving the show's opening come-on: "Coming up on CBS Sunday Morning, personal coaching is blooming."  I loved it! And the fact that before Rita could sit on my porch the crew had to remove my discarded toilet (charming!) only added a soupcon of cringe to this happy scene.  (Because she's a pro and SO NICE, she told me her own discarded-toilet-in-public-view story and I felt much better.)  I'm just glad it wasn't until later that day that I read in her bio about the many hugely famous people she's interviewed during her illustrious career, or my cringe level could have been crippling.

Many thanks to Kay Meek, who's been so generous with her garden and her time.  And thanks to the Sunday Morning team for a wonderful experience and for making me look not-terrible in the actual broadcast.  (Kay and I particularly enjoyed being miked by the charming storyteller kneeling in the photo, but enough said about that.) My only regret?  The story aired sooner than we expected and nobody saw it - well, not the hoards of family, friends and readers I'd planned on alerting.  I'm hoping their lawyers will consent to at least a snippet appearing on this humble blog.  Stay tuned.

UPDATE
Good news - a commenter on GardenRant gave us the video - thanks!  It's
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3108384n

Group photo by CatAnders Photography.