Eisenhower once said ‘Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.’ To be a profitable company, you need to become a planning company. With the end of the year quickly approaching, now is the time to set a profitable budget and plan for a successful 2011. With the right planning now, you’ll be on the way to boosting your productivity and sales, with minimal cost increases.

The home improvement sector is up five percent from last year and, according to experts, the industry is continuing on the rise. Find out what it means for the landscaping industry and how you can benefit.

Google has launched a new search feature called “Instant Previews” that allows viewers to see a “mini version” of a website when they hover their mouse over the link. Find out what it means for your website’s marketability and how you can design your website for Google Previews.

Networking not only helps us find new jobs, but it helps business owners and managers, like yourself, recruit new talent, win new customers and discover qualified professionals who, in addition to providing their invaluable mentorship, are willing to support your ideas. Here’s why you need to start networking and how you can start.

How do you begin to differentiate yourself? Start by taking advantage of something your competition doesn’t have – the opportunity to bring value! You can’t compete with their price and they can’t compete with your quality, so you need to convince your customers that the value of your service is better than your competition’s price. Here are our tips for differentiating yourself from your competition.

Because your website has a direct impact on your sales, it needs to send the right message about your business. To target the right customers, expand your business and make more sales, your website should be professional-looking and easy to use, but it should also accurately capture the essence of your business. Here are our tips for optimizing your website.

Learn the advantages of using Facebook ads to target your customers.

As the temperature continues to drop, your customers are looking for ways to combat whatever nasty weather Mother Nature has in store this winter. Naturally, the thought of never having to shovel the driveway again, is quite appealing, which is why heated driveways are growing increasingly popular among homeowners and businesses. But aside from their obvious appeal, heated driveways are also touted for improving safety, eliminating the need to buy expensive, time consuming snow removal equipment and increasing the value of a home or property. They’re also noted as being more environmentally conscious – which aside from being extremely time appropriate – is a surefire way to prevent the deterioration of your driveway due to salt and harsh snowmelt chemicals.

To start successfully targeting bigger customers, you need to start determining the specific fears they have about your service. Here are some common fears and what you can do to alleviate them so you can score bigger, better contracts.

There are plenty of opportunities for landscape contractors to offer their services. Here are some decorating trends and tips to use in your customers’ holiday landscape.