As we watch our governments flail about trying to govern, we the people take care of business. It's like minded people gathering together that will make a difference in the future. Sure it's important to vote and have your say, but if you really want to make a difference then you have to do more. Just becoming involved can make the difference between feeling helpless or empowered. By taking action you set in motion events that will change things in your life and your world. In the horticultural world we can often seem like small cogs in a giant wheel that just keeps grinding away. Wholesale nurseries going out of business left and right. Chain store, and home store competition. People having less money to spend on our offerings, etc. If your like us, a small garden center, it's sometimes amazing we can traverse all the obstacles that seem to pop up. It's comforting to know that our fellow garden business members are dealing with the same issues no mater where they reside in the world. It's nice to have a place where one can go and meet to discuss where we are, and where we want to go.
Anyone involved in new media will realize that it's not so much how many hits you get on your website, or how many friends you have on Facebook that's important. What's important is the quality of those friends, or hits. We want to know that our time and effort is appreciated by those we would call friends. We want honest feedback, not just platitudes. We want to connect with the people who "get it" and help us all become more successful in our efforts.
To that end we started a group a few years back called Garden Centers, Nurseries, and New Media at LinkedIn. From it's humble beginnings it has grown to over 960 members. These are 960 of the most forward thinking people in our field, and you can have access to their wisdom. More important, we want your feedback! Yea, I know you don't think like anyone else. Your ideas are just to crazy to be implemented. Your just a small player in a big industry. Wait, that sounds like me, and many in the group. If that sounds like you, then your just the person we are looking for. Join us by becoming a member of LinkedIn, and then joining our group here. Once you jump in you'll feel great.