I know not this Grey Barn you speak of but my difference from the larger indies and the chain stores is: much smaller, more intimate (you can and DO talk to the owner), serviceserviceservice - from free advice to hauling larger orders to your car or truck for you, an emphasis on organics (I'm in Fremont - big selling point - I know you're local-ish and you know what I mean) and an emphasis on offbeat varieties that even the big guys don't sell. Also display gardens (working on that) to demo what that 6" perennial does when it gets big and well-vetted referrals for related services like landscape design, installation and maintenance. A "frequent flyer" card for earned discounts. Probably a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting...the brain's gotten slippery lately. :)
Yep, you get it. Happy to say I'm already there with most of it but I've let two things slide in the frenzy of set-up:
1. My website - Emerald City Gardens, FWIW - remains a mere front page with NO content. I have several more pages with actual content nearly ready, but they're not up yet. I hope to remedy that this week. 2. We have a blog as well but again, I've been disappointed in my ability to update it often (also, I want to figure out how to embed it in my primary website).
So far as loyalty goes, I'm in a wonderful position that way. Our nursery occupies the site of the former Fremont Gardens which built up monumentally AWESOME customer loyalty over its 13 years in business. Four of the five of us, owners and staff, are former FG employees - and we're benefitting greatly from the goodwill and good reputation of our former employer.
What interested me most in your reply, though, was -
Create an online forum for your customers to talk amongst themselves.Hmmmmmmm. This had never occurred to me. Not sure exactly how to
( ... )
LOL...'cause I got nothin' but time. ;) Thanks for the info, though. My web skilz represent the finest technology of 1997, I'm afraid, but I'll figure it out.
Good to know about radio. One of our vendors recommended the local Air America station, given the extreme liberal bias of most of our customer base. I'll look into it.
You need a lot more content on your website as well as some SEO done. The blog should also be on the same network, not on blogspot. Since you have many years in this industry, you should write useful reports about house plants, then run pay-per-click ads on Google's Content Network (less expensive), and land visitors on a squeeze page and ask for their info as a exchange for the report. Then you can start marketing to the list over time with useful tips and occasional offers.
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1. My website - Emerald City Gardens, FWIW - remains a mere front page with NO content. I have several more pages with actual content nearly ready, but they're not up yet. I hope to remedy that this week.
2. We have a blog as well but again, I've been disappointed in my ability to update it often (also, I want to figure out how to embed it in my primary website).
So far as loyalty goes, I'm in a wonderful position that way. Our nursery occupies the site of the former Fremont Gardens which built up monumentally AWESOME customer loyalty over its 13 years in business. Four of the five of us, owners and staff, are former FG employees - and we're benefitting greatly from the goodwill and good reputation of our former employer.
What interested me most in your reply, though, was -
Create an online forum for your customers to talk amongst themselves.Hmmmmmmm. This had never occurred to me. Not sure exactly how to ( ... )
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
LOL...'cause I got nothin' but time. ;) Thanks for the info, though. My web skilz represent the finest technology of 1997, I'm afraid, but I'll figure it out.
Good to know about radio. One of our vendors recommended the local Air America station, given the extreme liberal bias of most of our customer base. I'll look into it.
Reply
Reply
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
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The blog should also be on the same network, not on blogspot.
Since you have many years in this industry, you should write useful reports about house plants, then run pay-per-click ads on Google's Content Network (less expensive), and land visitors on a squeeze page and ask for their info as a exchange for the report. Then you can start marketing to the list over time with useful tips and occasional offers.
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