Dead of winter but not dead

Winter came to Cleveland early this year. Our first snow came in November the week before Thanksgiving; and the ground has had at least a light covering of snow almost every day since. We have not yet reached the midpoint of December and the area has seen over a foot of snow. For those landscape firms that do not offer snow removal or Christmas light hanging the season effectively ended when the first flakes of the season fell. All signs point to this being a pretty bad winter. What is a landscaper to do until March?

Before the weather turned, I set my sights on my winter income. Fortunately, while the Green Industry is my primary focus, I have acquired a level of proficiency in a secondary trade, painting. This craft provides me with a solid continual income stream to help carry my business through the winter. There is however, more to growing a business than sustain income. 

In addition to helping to create beautiful living spaces I have spent a great amount of time improving my brand and my skills. As happens every year around this time I have become an avid reader. This year I am focusing on materials that will enhance my aptitude as both a businessman and a landscaper. Over the past few weeks I have also been spending four to five hours a week networking via LinkedIn. 

This year I have also spent over 20 hours on improving my web presence. This includes updating my LinkedIn profile, the Leaf It To Us facebook page, reclaiming my twitter account, and setting up all of the features of my Google+ accounts. Some may wonder what this has to do with landscaping.

As the world becomes more ‘connected’, a businesses ability to link to the rest of the world through social media becomes more and more important. The days when people would spend 20 minutes thumbing through the yellow pages are a thing of the past. Consumers want fast, now, faster. They want complete information at their fingertips; they want pictures and video. They want to be relevant. So in the dead of winter I’m working even harder to insure that I can work consistently next summer.