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soilinmyeyes

Shrub/Perennial Care Sheets

soilinmyeyes
18 years ago

I am a landscape designer/installer, and have been brainstorming ways to make a little money over the winter. When I draw up a design and install, I give my clients care sheets that I have developed for all the plants/shrubs that they have in their new landscape. These are very thorough and people love them. My question is, can I spruce these caresheets up with nice photo's and additional helpful information and sell them on the internet?? I was thinking of trying to promote them as 'Personal caresheets' for everyones individual landscapes. People could send me a list and I could sell them laminated, very professional caresheets on the WEB. My problem is, I do not know the best way to sell them. Do I offer a website with them available on the site? If so, how to create a website, and what is the cost for keeping a website?? Maybe it could be a Ebay item?? (which I do not now much about either/costs etc?) Just looking for some of your suggestions. Thank you very much for your input! Tom

Comments (3)

  • poppa
    18 years ago

    "can I spruce these caresheets up with nice photo's and additional helpful information and sell them on the internet?"

    Yes, you can.

    "I do not know the best way to sell them"

    Need to identify your market. If you sell them on the web, you have to know that people will be searching for your product, will your product come up only if searching on "Personnal care"? Try some searches and see if you come up with similar products or not. Try some keywords like:

    "Shrub care" Feeding pruning planting instructions "insert plant name here"

    and see what you come up with. Do you offer something better than what appears in the results? If so then maybe that's where you focus. If not, what other markets are there? An obvious one might be other landscape businesses that would like to have them out. Nurseries? Greenhouses? Home Depot?

    A website is an option and is fairly cheap, you can find them @ ~5 bucks a month, maybe $20 if you want to buy a premade bussiness solution that allows you to add pictures and product summary alongside. May be some initialization fees. Search on "Business hosting" and you'll get all the contacts you could ever want.

    Your local ISP may already provide you with free pages, usually they restrict business content, but it's a place for you to play. You could also set up a free blog site if you're a bit handy or willing to learn.

    Ebay is always an alternative. Again, know your market. I am not sure that many people search there for plant care info, but i wouldn't have bet anyone would be interested in odd toast either.

    Good luck
    Poppa

  • trudi_d
    18 years ago

    I think they're best made by you, personalized for the individual and their plants, laminated and given on the last day of the job. I think they would be great for advertizing or for client freebies. The info you're sharing is very common--the owner may already have that in reference books, or can google it in ten seconds. Presenting the info, in its individualized manner, can work well in keeping your customers satisfied and, ultimately, produce referals.

  • trudi_d
    18 years ago

    There are several drop and drag applications that include templates. Making a website is not a no-brainer--shop around and look at programs to find one that does what you need. Start off with the concept that your website is NOT going to make money for you. With that in mind, don't PO your customers by signing up with a cheapo provider that's going to glare your pages with their popups and ads. Cough up the money and get a provider that allows you total control and NO FRICKIN ADS!

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