Trellis Coaching - Trellis News Garden Design Newsletter & Attraction Marketing Coaching

Trellis News
The newsletter for Garden Designers

Autumn seems to have well and truly arrived - I did a survey a while back about what garden designers liked best and least about their chosen profession, and a common dislike was planting in the rain and the wind. So, sympathies if you've spent the day ankle deep in cold mud!

Do read on - you'll find several requests for your wisdom, and some heartfelt advice about safety, as well as another article related to Effortless Living - "Making Marketing Easy on Yourself".

Spread the word! If you like this newsletter, then please share it with your friends and colleagues, and invite them to subscribe by emailing me, .

Letters Page -
Your opportunity to have your say, to ask questions, look for resources.

Judith Parkhurst offers the following valuable advice:
To-day I began to think about the risk I took by frequently going to visit clients or working in gardens without leaving any message as to my whereabouts. I remembered the estate agent Sue Lampetor. I am actually arranging to have a diary call in check with a telephone answering agency. If I do not log in on my mobile, a family member is automatically contacted. It is very sad to feel this type of arrangement is needed and I would much prefer to trust everyone !
Remember everyone, always tell someone where you are !

And now I would like your advice about plants:
Is it true that viburnum davidii is prone to blackspot? I was planning to plant a block of two male, two females in an open sunny spot but one nurseryman has warned me off this because of the disease problem. I can't find any other reference to this and wondered if I could draw on your experiences with this plant. Thanks.

Sarah Frith would welcome your comments on her sculptures:
I have recently set up my own business called hocombe designs selling stainless steel obelisks for the garden. The idea started when we had our own garden designed and planted by a local garden designer (Patricia Worby). We wanted a fairly modern theme so Patricia suggested we have two stainless steel obelisks in opposite corners of the garden. This was no problem for us because my husband spends his working day designing and crafting products made of stainless steel. I decided to carry out some research on the Internet to find out how many companies were out there making obelisks. I managed to find a few but the prices were often very high, in some cases the amount you would expect to pay for a bespoke piece. This I felt would deter many clients from considering a sculpture in their garden. We have designed and created an obelisk called "The Kalyx" which is 3 feet high, made of mirror stainless steel and would suit many garden styles. To have a look at The Kalyx, visit the website, http://mysite.freeserve.com/hocombedesigns.

I have two questions I would welcome your comments on -
1) we had intending selling the obelisks for £205.00 plus delivery - does this seem a reasonable amount of money to pay?
2) where do you look for new sources of garden ornaments or structures, if you want something unusual yet affordable?

To respond to Sarah's questions or to mine about the viburnum, please reply by email to . Your answers and any other comments or questions you have will be published in the November edition of Trellis News.

Article

Making Marketing Easy on Yourself
It's a fact - if you want to build a sustainable practice, marketing has got to form part of your regular business activities. Marketing is about making yourself visible to your target audience (you have worked out who your target audience is?). Marketing is not about sales or selling, or about advertising (although that can form part of your marketing strategy) but it is about letting the people you want to work for know what you can do for them and telling them over and over and over again.

There are many different ways of marketing your services, and many books around that will give you lists of different methods. Which to choose and how many to do at any one time? I would encourage you to concentrate on no more than three marketing activities or projects at one time - any more than this leads to a breaking up of your energies and makes each of the approaches less effective.

Marketing is about building up relationships, which takes time, so you will need to keep trying with your chosen method for some time before you get results. Statistics on the response to advertising show that on average people need to have seen an advert seven times before they are likely to respond to it (which is one reason why advertising is the least effective marketing activity).

You'll need to have a method of monitoring the results of your marketing, perhaps by always asking enquirers where they got your name from. It's surprising how long it can take for a client to respond to something they've seen or read about you - I get enquiries in response to magazine articles I wrote several years ago or to handouts from workshops I've long forgotten about giving. How many people have got a picture of one of your gardens cut out from a magazine article pinned up on their notice boards, waiting for the moment to be right for them to contact you?

So which marketing methods to choose?

I believe that life is supposed to be enjoyable, and that success can flow effortlessly to all of us - it's not supposed to be a struggle, although we do have to take responsibility for our own futures and take action. As the title of this article suggests, I would encourage you to go for those marketing activities which seem easiest to you.

If the thought of public speaking makes you want to curl up and die, don't go there! If the thought of phoning people up leaves you cold, don't do it. If essay writing at school filled you with dread, forget about writing as a marketing activity. There are plenty of other ways....

What activities do you enjoy and find easy? How can you use the talents you take for granted in these activities to form the basis for your successful marketing? For example, if you find writing easy, if you have always kept a diary, you might consider writing articles for magazines, or establishing yourself as an expert by writing a book. If you find chatting to strangers easy, your best avenue might be attending networking events with house developers or interior designers. If you love public speaking, how about approaching groups attended by your target market to give them an illustrated talk. If what you really love to do is create beautiful gardens, can your own be your showroom? Could you offer to host charity gala evenings in your garden?

Whichever three marketing approaches you choose to try, the secret of success is to take consistent, persistent action, so that you can attract a flow of suitable clients to your practice.

End Piece

Just to follow up on the progress of the Portugese house renovation - it's not progressing at all at the moment because the builder has hurt his back. And I'm sure there's a good reason why that's okay, why that will work out perfectly, although I'm not quite clear what it is at the moment!

Thanks to those people who contacted me for their complementary coaching session; if the marketing article has got you thinking and if I could help expand that thinking for you, do email me to arrange your complementary session.

Best Wishes

Annie Meachem, ACC

Trellis Coaching
0845 456 9382
+44 (0) 1243 545010 (from outside UK)
email

"I help designers and entrepreneurs grow their success - who do you know who's serious about being effortlessly successful, and is willing to invest in themselves to achieve their dreams?"

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Copyright © Annie Meachem 2003/4. Copyright in this document is owned by Annie Meachem. All rights are reserved. This document may not be copied or distributed without the prior written consent of the Copyright owner.