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Pondspectives with Mike
Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 3 p.m. EDT
Roar Through the Recession with Diversification, Website Upgrades
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Test and photo by Mike Garcia
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| The pond and water garden contractors experiencing a thriving business offer maintenance services and help ease the pain of high water prices. | As I write this, the headlines -- recession, no more money, national debt in the trillions, and more -- are seriously scaring people. While the headlines are terrible, this does not mean your pond and water garden business must be terrible.
While networking with pond and water garden contractors across the United States, I discovered a common theme running through those contractors who are going out of business, surviving or thriving. That’s right; some pond and water garden contractors are thriving. What is their secret to their success?
The pond and water garden contractors who are going out of business have remained installation-only contractors and choose not to think outside the box. The surviving pond and water garden contractors added maintenance to their businesses. They can pay their bills, but they are not making any money to save. The thriving pond and water garden contractors not only do maintenance, but they help ease the pain of high water prices.
A recent New York Times article reported that the drought crisis is affecting 14 states, primarily in the southern states from Florida to California. Drought means higher water prices; this means pain. Our clients seek to reduce and eliminate the pain of higher water prices.
Are you adding drip irrigation and rainwater harvesting to your client base? How do you reach your clients? By mail or email is fine, but all of us lose clients through attrition, so we must continue to pick up new clients.
What is the best way to pick up new clients?
Build a website and get to the fist page of search engines. The cost to build the website might cause you some pain, but the pain of losing your house will be much greater.
About six months ago I invested in having a monster website built, and the gamble is paying off. This is one of the best business decisions I have ever made.
A great website is no good to anyone if it is not on the first page of the search engines, which is why you need to hire a web pro. Check their references. Are current clients happy?
To keep my website on the front page, we constantly change it to keep up with the latest information and elements that people want. A great web designer will get you to the front page of Google for your area. From where are you seeing work come from?
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Roar Through the Recession with Diversification, Website Upgrades
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