Social Media is the New Village Square

While at the ANLA Clinic in Louisville a thought occurred to me. The younger generation get's social media and seem's wired to be involved. It's guy's and gals in my age group (go ahead and guess) that may feel a bit overwhelmed. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, You Tube, etc. Which one do I use? Do I need all of them? Is one better than the other? I just don't know what to say? I am not suppose to sell or advertise on there? Why am I doing this? Maybe it would help to think of social media as the modern day version of the village square.We use to meet on Main St., or the village square and talk with our neighbors, and fellow business people. Well, the village square in most communities no longer exists. People hang inside and don't get out to socialize in person much. Yes, it's a shame. There are lot's of things that are gone, and we are poorer for it. It's just they way it is and wishing it wasn't won't do any good.

Social media is the electronic village square. What do I talk about? Whatever you would have said to the butcher, baker, or candlestick maker in the old village square. People want to connect, not be sold a bill of goods. Pick one of the social media platforms and work with it for awhile. Like Twitter? Stick with it for a time, and if you decide to try another platform you will feel more comfortable.  You don't have to do all of them at first. You wouldn't go running into the village square and start yelling at the top of your lungs at everyone.  Start slow and get known by the other villagers. Ask how their day is going. Ask that bakery when they are making more of those delicious muffins. Mention the stuff your grandkids are doing. Just don't go running through the village square yelling about your "buy 2 get the third free" sale. Nobody like's to be yelled at. By just getting to know people you show you care about the community. They know your the "village nursery person". When the time comes for them to get gardening stuff they will remember you, and the fact that you weren't always trying to sell them something.

I'm back from the ANLA Management Clinic

Wow, what a great time I had at the clinic. It was fantastic to meet many of the people I have only known from the virtual world. So much happened my head is spinning. There is much to discuss, but it's going to take some time for me to get all my thoughts together. Since this was the first time I had gone, there was nothing for me to relate it to. I asked lot's of people who told me the clinic had dramatically changed from prior years. The ANLA took a look around and realized the world had changed, and they felt it was time for them to change.That was the theme of the clinic, Managing Change. Here is the problem, you cannot manage change, you can only manage your response to change. Change happens no matter what we do. The question is, how quickly can you change? The ANLA (American Nursery & Landscpe Association) is a huge association. It's like the battleship of nursery associations. When it's time to make a turn it takes a bit to get the big ship turned around. These day's what we need is to be more like a PT boat. Small and turning on a dime. Things change so quickly these days if you don't move quickly someone else will. The ANLA asked me to give some reports about my experience at the clinic. I intend to honor their request, because I respect the people who asked me to attend. They would not have asked me to go if they wanted a watered down, don't offend anyone type of report. I have no axes to grind with The Association, and they we're gracious hosts. As a matter of fact I came away with a new respect for the organization and the people behind it. The organization finds itself in a new world and desperately want's to help it's membership to adjust and prosper in this new world.

The problem is the time to have talked about this new medium was five years ago (the links at that old post don't work anymore). We waited until the economy tanked and nurseries are dropping like flies before we realized it was a viable medium. Oh well, that's the past and it looks like some in The Association have seen the light. I want to thank Kellee Magee who was the person at the ANLA who reached out, and took a chance on inviting me. One would imagine she and some others in The Association saw that the old ways were not working, and bold action was need to keep our trade relevant in the publics mind. Not sure when I'll do the posting, but over the upcoming days and weeks I hope to touch on some of the stuff I saw at the clinic.  That's what the asked me to do.  Somethings I saw there don't sit well with me. I also saw stuff that indicates The Association may be "getting it". There was also stuff that "blew me away" in a positive way! Can't wait to tell you.

Monrovia, Home Depot, and pay at scan.

I forgot to mention in the last post something important. Bob Smiland, Chief Of  Sales and Marketing told me that Monrovia Nursery will not operate with pay at scan. Home Depot and the rest will have to pay upfront, or with some type of dating. I think it's important, as many small retailers find the whole pay at scan process distasteful.

A discussion with Bob Smiland, head of sales and marketing for Monrovia Nurseries

I meet with Bob Smiland, who is the Chief Sales & Marketing Officer for Monrovia Nurseries.  Bob was nice enough to sit down with me today, and chat about some of the rumors flying around Monrovia. If you remember, Monrovia sent a letter to all of their retail customers asking them to book and additional $20 million dollars in spring bookings. This was on top of the spring bookings the retailers had already placed. If the retail customers could not come up with the additional money the bank asked for, then the bank wanted Monrovia to move more plants through the box store chain. Bob say's that they did not meet their goal of raising an additional $20 million dollars. You will see Monrovia plants in the box stores. They will be in plain black containers, delivered by independent trucking companies. They will not use their own branded Monrovia trucks. Bob tell's me that the box stores will not receive any discounts above what any independent garden center would receive. Naturally, with the volume the box stores do they will likely receive the maximum discount, but no more than what would be offered to their best independent customers. Bob also say's that none of the exclusive varieties that Monrovia grows will be sold at the box stores. It's clear that Monrovia never thought they would find themselves in this situation, and it does pain them. They grew just too many plants a few years ago when the world was their oyster. With the downturn in the economy, they found themselves with too many plants. By opening up the distribution channels to the box stores, they hope to reduce the amount of stock on the ground. Bob also mentioned they have reduced their production substantially this past and current year.

We had been doing business with Monrovia for well over 20 years, and always felt they we're a top notch nursery supplier. I think, and Bob agrees that Monrovia was a company that had a lot of pride, bordering on invincibility when it came to what was possible in years past. No one is immune to the giddy feeling that enveloped the nursery trades a few years ago. An attitude of anything is possible, and no one is going to tell us how to run our company prevailed. It must be painful to be told what to do by the bank, but these are the days we live in. Situations none of us would have ever thought possible a few years ago have now come to fruition.

One area Bob say's he would like to address was the poor outreach Monrovia has had over this event. We talked here at this blog on how Monrovia had already hired Mike Trebbing, who is their box store specialist, before they sent out the letter. It left a sour taste in many of their customers mouths, and he said the company should have done things differently. My guess is Monrovia is an old school company. They assumed when they sent the letter to their customers the confidentiality they requested in the letter would be honored. The nature of the new world is there are no secrets anymore, and once the letter was leaked by a industry blog, the cat was out of the bag.

Bob reads this blog, and mentioned he is also given updates by staff. So comment's made at this blog are noticed and read at Monrovia, which is a good thing. I invited Bob to comment here next time. Perhaps in the past they should have addressed the comments or post's that have appeared here before. Like a lot of companies that are here at the ANLA Clinic, they are use to doing things they way they had always been done in the past. Press release goes out, give interview to trade publications, stir, and wait. Like we have said before, that doesn't fly in this new world. One person banging away at their computer in their pajama's at home, can potentially have as much impact as traditional media had in the past. Perhaps we will see a new interactive Monrovia in the future.

So what's up with Monrovia Nursery?

I am looking for some answers on Monrovia Nurseries recent actions. Tried to find the executives from Monrovia here at the ANLA Clinic, but couldn't. We'll try again tomorrow. Have heard from a couple of sources an un-confirmed rumor that Monrovia got the extra 20 million dollars that they said they needed so as to stay in business.  Has anyone heard if this is true? I also heard that Monrovia sent out an e-mail the other day that said they are going into the box stores. What do you think of this, if it's true? Just a business doing what it has to so as to stay in business, or a slap in the face of the independents that have supported them all this time, or something in between? Does any one have more info?

The ANLA Management Clinic is off and running.

Today is the first full day at the ANLA Management clinic here in Louisville, KY. Stayed up way too late last night talking to people. Get a bunch of nursery people together and next thing you know it's midnight, and you have to get up early the next day. We'll see just how soon I get out of this bed,  and down to the events.  They have quite a schedule here. The theme is change, and how to manage it. There is no doubt The American Nursery and Landscape Association see's the need for change within the "industry". We'll find out today how many of the folks attending feel the same way, and have an idea how to proceed. Very cool to see Jodee Scott-Fyfe of Westwood Gardens Nursery and Garden Art wearing a IGC&N Independent Garden Centers & Nurseries sticker on her name tag. We are working on getting people to join the group, yet I feel one of the strengths of our group is we found each other! That means we have a shared interest that caused us to find one another on The Internet. When you here in person it's a bit more difficult, since many are unaware how to get involved with Facebook or even if social media is worthwhile. I heard somewhere that only 30% attending thought social media worthwhile? As the old saying goes "you can lead a horse to the water, but you can't make 'em drink."

Interested in joining with other forward think nursery people on our Facebook group, but don't know how to get involved with us? Shoot me an e-mail at trey@thegoldengecko,com, and I'll walk you through it. There are lot's of people interested here, but they just don't know where to start.

I'll be at The ANLA Clinic in Louisville, Kentucky

I'll be heading to Louisville, Kentucky for the ANLA (American Nursery and Landscape Association) Clinic this week. Haven't been to an association event in years, so this will be fun. It's a chance to meet in person many of the people I only know from the web. They want me to report on what happens, and enjoy the learning experience.The ANLA and other nursery organizations are looking out on the nursery "industry" and seeing great change and wondering what's next. I can't speak for the ANLA, but local chapters of nursery trade organizations have seen a drop off of interest and attendance. Meanwhile it seems the gardening public has changed it's habits to the detriment of many garden centers and nurseries.So we find our trade in the midst of great change, without a clear outlook ahead. What worked in the past doesn't seem to work now. So what do we do? I'm not sure. The only thing I am sure of is there are a lot of other nursery people out there who feel the same way. A naturally optimistic group we are all sailing on a ship with no destination mapped in. We are literally building the destination as we speak.

What is the future of the nursery trade? There is a real possibility that our businesses will become irrelevant to the gardening public. Don't think so? Who, just a few years ago could imagine a time when bookstores would become a dying breed? Books will still be sold, but Amazon.com and mass distributors like Walmart and Costco have just about run most independents, as well as places like Border's out of business. It could happen to the local nursery or garden center, too.

Most still want things to be the way they use to be. They wait for "the economy" to "turn around" and everything to be like it was before. Not so fast! Even when the economy does turn around there is something different in the air. Things likely won't be the way they we're before. Fortunately for our trade there are people who see what's happening and want to make a positive change. Some people at the ANLA are forward thinking enough to take a chance on doing things different this time around. My job is to take part in the clinic and report on the happenings. They wouldn't have asked me to attend if they didn't want an honest reporting of the event. That's a huge thing. Being honest about what needs to be done, is exactly what our trade needs most right now. I'll give my review's of the events right here, and on my Facebook page. 

The Fear of Success.

I wanted to address a comment at my last post, Social Media, Fear Holds Us Back! Carolyn commented, “I am a nursery owner who has started a blog to communicate with my customers. People keep telling me I need to be on FB, and I am investigating it. I don’t currently use FB myself so it’s a bit of a learning curve. The biggest thing holding me back from doing it is not fear of new things (I didn’t even know what a blog was before I started mine in November) but time management issues. I have no employee to delegate social media to: if someone’s going to manage FB, it will be me. And I don’t have very much excess capacity. It’s hard to judge what kind of work a business FB page would generate, and I don’t want to be overwhelmed with comments/questions from my customers that I can’t answer.” We need to re-think what it means to be a retail nurseryperson, and small business owner. We have to focus on the important stuff, and focus less on the noise. If our customers want to ask us questions via one of the social media platforms then we need to be there answering those questions. Most people know the answers are on The Internet. They just don’t know where to find them. There are a million sites all claiming to have the answers. It’s like walking into the Library of Congress and trying to find one book. You have to know where to start looking, or know someone that knows where to start looking. When potential customers have found your website or Facebook page while searching the web it means you have succeeded. Succeeded big-time! Out of all the different places they could have ended up at they ended up with you. Once you establish that you are a trusted resource, it’s much more likely they will want to do business with you in the future.

The future of the retail nursery trade is less oriented towards new things as it is towards new ideas. The idea that every small garden center now has the power to become much larger in the eyes of the community than its physical location might suggest. By becoming the go to source for all things horticultural you become an indispensible resource in the community. Every garden center should have an idea what they want as their sphere of influence. If you’re going to be the best in the world, you have to decide how big your world is. Is it the neighborhood, town, city, county, region, state, etc.? Once you have chosen your sphere of influence, you’ll have a better idea of how you can become the go to source for all things horticultural in that world. You’re the expert, right? You just need to help people find you. If they find you then yes, you will have to spend more time on Facebook, or the blog. But that's success! How you will find the time to deal with all the new customers is up to you.

Social media, fear holds us back

Was asked the other day why more nurseries and garden centers don't use social media. This question was from someone in Silicon Valley. Yup, the high tech capitol of the world (or at least it use to be). You would think the garden centers there would be all over Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. They are no more connected than other garden centers in the country. I believe the reason more of them are not in social media is because of fear. Fear at the loss of control that comes with opening yourself up to customers and others. Unlike the old days (a couple of years ago) we controlled the message through finely crafted ad campaigns that ran in the local paper, radio, or magazine.Social media turns that on its head. Now it's not just what you want to talk about, but it's about what your customers and friends want to talk about. "How am I going to sell anything when people just want to talk about themselves?" That's where the fear comes in. Your right! People don't want to hear about that great new fertilizer, plant, or other goodie you want to sell. They want to hear how being involved with you will make their lives richer and more fulfilling. Do you have a good answer? If not, I would be afraid too.

We are all fearful.Social media is about putting aside some of those fears and opening up about yourself, and business. I don’t want to hear about your new petunia variety. I want to hear about Susie, that cool lady that works there. How did that workshop she put on go? Sorry I couldn’t make it, maybe next time. What’s that? Susie is out back propagating some new petunia variety. I wonder if she will show it to us in the next workshop on hanging baskets? She is so hip. I want my garden to be like I imagine hers is.The small businesses that are able to put aside some of the fear, and interact with the people “out there” will be the ones that succeed in the future. The businesses that allow their social media person to take some chances, make some mistakes, and create relationships, will be better off than the fear based businesses that do nothing.

Who do you get your gardening info from?

Interesting post at Garden Rant from Amy Stewart, titled, "Dear eHow: Please Go Away". The post is how site's like "ehow, Suite 101, Ask, LoveToKNow, HowStuffWorks, InfoPlease, About, Examiner, GardenGuides, AllExperts, Mahalo, Answers, Life123, ezinearticles, essortment", etc., are "increasingly crowding out real, useful information written by people who actually know how to do something.  The developers--and the algorhythms--behind these sites are so good at making them climb to the top of search results that, for many topics, especially in a how-to, service-y area like gardening, they're practically all you get." Apparently "a computer determines what search terms people are searching for, and how much advertisers will pay for particular keywords, and then it proposes a list of topics for which it needs articles written." The Internet has become very crowded with information on just about every subject.  It's becoming harder for people to separate the really useful information from information just designed to sell you something. It's like finding that needle in the haystack. You know it's there somewhere, but do you have the time or energy to find it? As this trend continues people will have to find their own "trusted" sources of information. With gardening, that trusted source of information may become the garden center down the road. They have their own blog, Facebook page, and maybe even a Twittter account. You know the folks writing the blog at that garden center, and have learned to trust them over the years. Now when it's time to find information on gardening, where better to turn? Of course this only works if the garden center or nursery has a social media presence. This has huge potential for the forward thinking garden center, as well as garden writers and others interested in making a living in gardening.Trust is the new currency on The Internet. Who are you getting that information from? Do they know what they are talking about? Are they there for you if have follow up question?

It's like finding an honest mechanic. Once you do, you hold on for dear life. Once you find that trusted source of garden wisdom, you'll hold on and tell your friends about that amazing place. I would think that it now becomes imperative to have someone on staff that is in charge of your social media efforts. That person will become the face of the garden center and it's chief information officer. That person will become one of the most important people on staff. Think about it. You use to have to react to the information that was being presented through various media channels. Now you present the information through your own media channel. You become the trusted source of garden information. You have your own "garden writer" on staff, your own garden magazine, and maybe even your own garden TV channel. The garden center now becomes more than just a place to buy plants. It becomes it's own gardening network. It's going to happen, it's just a matter of who's first in your neck of the woods.

Facebook, the beginning of the end?

I love the interaction that is Facebook. No doubt this platform has changed social media in way's we still haven't fathomed. Now we hear that, "we are witnessing the beginning of the end of Facebook". This is according to Douglas Rushkoff, in a recent CNN article. Remember MySpace? According to Rushkoff, "this week's news that Goldman Sachs has chosen to invest in Facebook while entreating others to do the same should inspire about as much confidence as their investment in mortgage securities did in 2008." He continues, "...social media is itself as temporary as any social gathering, nightclub or party. It's the people that matter, not the venue. So when the trend leaders of one social niche or another decide the place everyone is socializing has lost its luster or, more important, its exclusivity, they move on to the next one, taking their followers with them." So what's the point of putting your business, or yourself on Facebook if it's all going to end up like MySpace? The important thing is not that you finally got that Facebook page up and running,  but that you jumped in and learned how to do it. You have met with and interacted with hundreds if not thousands of new and interesting people. We learned a new technology and a way of interacting. I can just hear the garden center people out there saying, "we just learned how to use Facebook, and now your saying it's over? Geeeze" Yup, that's the world we live in. May not like the pace of change, but what are we going to do about it? Should you have a Facebook page for yourself or business? Yes! Get out there and put one up. Get involved and meet new people. When the time comes we will pick up and move somewhere else. For now Facebook is the ship we are sailing on. The more we get involved, the better able we'll be to work with the next social platform that comes along. When we do get to that new social platform we we'll have plenty of friends to help us navigate it.

What are you planning to WOW your customers with this spring?

That question comes from a member of our Independent Garden Center Group. Many garden centers and nurseries close down for the winter, only to re-emerge come spring. One member in Virginia say's, "since I work 7 days a week from March to December...I need a vacation which is what I am on right now. But I am also working on 'stuff' for spring and what our plans are." Did you hear that? Seven days a week from March to December! Talk about a well deserved break. Yet spring is right around the corner and now is the time to get those ducks in some semblance of a row. So we wonder, what is the one thing we can do WOW our customers on opening day?This year something is different in the horticultural world. That something is smaller garden centers connecting with other garden centers and nurseries around the world. In the past that function was taken by regional trade shows, nursery association meetings, and trade publications. Now we are able to have a direct conversation with other nurserymen and women in real time. Wonder what winter hours your peers keep? Ask and by the end of the day you have answers from all over the country and world.  What's your policy on Invasive plants? 35 answers to your questions, all within a day.This is hugely beneficial to the smaller garden center business who at times may feel they are the only ones dealing with theses issues.So how do we intend to WOW the customer this year? Rather than with a new plant, new fertilizer, or new line of bird baths, I think this year I'll WOW the customer with a whole new attitude. A more positive, upbeat attitude that comes from the knowledge that many in the garden center businesses also get it. Social media is really made for smaller business that can truly connect with it's customers. Really, just how connected can you be with an orange box? This year we will work more efficiently on connecting with our customers using the social media tools at our disposal. Not because it has to be done, but because we want to do it. That's really why we got in this business, to connect with and help people garden, and make enough money to do it again next year.I love the diversity that is the smaller garden center's and nurseries. The really fun and crazy ideas are always coming from the edges. When you start to put the most forward thinking nursery men and women in contact with one another it is bound to have repercussions.I liken it to the coffee houses of Europe in the 17th century. Then people gathered to drink and share in the wild and crazy ideas that changed the world. It's only natural when your surrounded by this kind of energy to feel more positive and excited by the future. That's the WOW I intend to supply this year. My customers are going to love it.

Gardening news is going local

The Renagade Gardener came to my attention some years ago through Garden Rant.  Don Engebretson, who is The Renegade Gardener hails from Minnesota and every year he puts out his "High Spot/Black Spot" awards in which names what he feels are the high and low points in the world of horticulture. One of Don's Black Spot awards is for the "Most Careless Magazine Gardening Article: 'Collector’s Choice' by Daniel J. Hinkley Horticulture magazine, August/September 2010." Don say's "Southern fur was flying after a recent issue of Horticulture hit the mailboxes and newsstands. Globetrotting plantsman Dan Hinkley had contributed an article on large-leaved plants and their use in the landscape. Among his recommendations: Paulownia tomentosa, commonly known as the empress tree, native to central and western China." Beautiful flowers, fast growth, and giant leaves. It really sounds lovely until Don tells us, "one small problem: The plant (also known as the princess tree) has proven to be terribly invasive and is deemed as such by the U.S. Government, as well as the departments of natural resources in over a dozen states, from the east coast to the deep south to Texas. It is a self-seeding monster – a single tree is capable of producing an estimated twenty million seeds that are easily transported long distances by wind and water. All the more menacing when you consider that each seed can grow into a 50-foot tree."

In gardening all things are local. What is an invasive pest in one region may not be elsewhere. This leads to Don's question, "Are national gardening magazines even necessary anymore?" To which both he and I would say, no. They are on the way out and they know it. Some may be able to survive, if they make some changes that account for the way we gather information theses days.

Horticulture Magazine is making an attempt to stay relevant by starting a new online column, "Best Garden Blogs, with Anna Looper who is also known as "Flowergardengirl" and writes a blog by that name. Her job, according to Horticulture will be to "introduce you to blogs that she and we have selected as one of Horticulture’s Best Garden Blogs for 2011..." Horticulture is smart to make this move. Anna is well known and well liked in the garden blog community. Horticulture will get eyeballs it never would have gotten before. Frankly, now I have a reason to visit their web page. Garden Blogs and other social media are taking over as the information portal's for horticultural subjects. This is huge news for those of us in the business of horticulture. It means more effort can be applied to social media and less to TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines. At our Independent Garden Center Group the consensus was Yellow Page advertising was a waste of time! What was a necessity just a few years ago is now seen as a dead platform.

If your in the business, being aware of the online community is important. What are the local garden blogs saying about you? Are the saying anything? Don't discount a garden blog that may appear to have a small audience. We don't want a huge audience, we want a focused audience. The people who are reading garden blogs are more likely to come into your business. As business owners we tend to try and please the largest number of people lest we loose a sale. Sometimes those attempts end up creating a dull and uninviting web presence. Nowadays it might be better to have more passion for your business, and willingly express that online. Who knows, that local garden blogger might just end up having a much larger audience and would love to tell them your story.

An interview with Miles Rosedale, CEO of Monrovia Nursery

Here is an interview that Ken Druse of Real Dirt had with Miles Rosedale, CEO of Monrovia. The interview really does not tell us anything new. Miles says they would not sell the branded plants to the box stores, but the quality would be equal to what is in the branded containers. So the box stores would have equal quality, but in plain black containers. As Ken say's, it sounds like they are going to sell to the box stores. I still don't see how this can  be anything but bad news for the independents that have supported Monrovia.

Social Media and the Garden Center. Do you get it?

If your involved in some type of social media it's easy to assume that everyone else is too. Yes, the use of social media is growing rapidly. There are still plenty of people who want to be involved, but don't know where to start. In the garden center world it's the same way. Lot's of people in  the garden center business seem to know it would be a good thing, but still ask what the benefit will be. There are plenty of benefit's for the store and the customers, and we will discuss those in later posts. Today I would like to discuss the benefits for the person doing the social media for the company. Maybe it's the owner, manager, or someone else, but who ever it is, once they dive into social media they will be changed. We started a secret Facebook page for Independent Garden Centers and Nurseries a week ago. As of right now we have 102 of the most forward thinking people in the garden center businesses.  They know there is something to this and are already reaping the benefits.  They get it. They understand that to progress we need to step out of our self imposed boundaries, and see the world.

Traveling to new and unusual places is always exciting and eye opening. While we may not be physically traveling, virtually we are being exposed to new way's of doing things, as well as people who are changing the face of garden center retail. It's about having your eyes wide open and taking in all there is out there. Many of us are stuck at our work, and are unable to travel to far off places. Gardeners will tell you some of their favorite places to visit are famous and not so famous gardens around the world. As a nurseryman one of my favorite things when traveling is visiting cool and unusual garden center's. I love to see what they are doing that makes them so special. Take in the atmosphere and check out the vibe.

Suddenly we have 100 plus nursery people interacting in way's I would never have imagined. It's like we have been holding in questions and the answers for years. Who else could we talk too? Our life partners sometime get into it, but often get tired of listening to us talk about "work".  Now there is a place for nursery geeks to meet and share ideas. We can visit that cool miniature nursery, and see someone who has carved a niche out for themselves. The best part of all the owner of that business can share with us, and visit other cool garden centers along with us.

Author Doug Green asked today how his blog fit's into his business model. Those of us who have been blogging for awhile have those thoughts. Sometimes the blog is no longer useful, and other means of communications take over. Certainly, I have had those thought from time to time. My blog does little for the day to day operations of my garden center, as Doug would be the first to tell me. Facebook,  e-news, and the web page do that now. I write my blog out of passion for the business of gardening. Now after five years of writing I am starting to see where it is all leading. It may not be a money maker, but it excites me, which in  the end benefits my business .

After just one week of our new group the changes are obvious. It's not just me but the other members who are speaking up. A new or renewed sense of pride in who we are, nursery men and women. Our profession is really very cool. It's just that in the past we have been beaten down by the box store mentality, or the nursery industry mentality. Let's face it, our industry was, and still is mired in old world thinking. We are just now cracking through, and seeing a different way forward. Best part of all it doesn't take a lot money or time. Just the willingness to step out and "see what's up."

If you are a independent garden center owner, manager, or that employee that keeps harping on management to "get with it" concerning social media, join us. I have a box on the side bar of this blog that tells you how to get involved. Once you dive in nothing will be the same after. You are not alone! We get it, too.