Landscape Live!

Tom Canete shares his knowledge, background and experience in the snow fighting industry. From his humble beginnings working out of his basement to how he manages storms from just his laptop and cell phone to how he just landed one of his biggest accounts. Tom condenses 36 years of experience into about 45 minutes.Backed by a fleet of 75 plows, salters and trucks, Canete Snow Management was chosen as one of the Top 50 snow removal companies in America by Snow magazine. Few contractors know the business of snow and ice management better than Tom Canete and is so willing to share his own snow trade secrets with his competitors.Canete started mowing lawns at the age of 9 with 8 weekly maintenance customers. He attended William Paterson University, as well as Rutgers University and has degrees in both horticulture and business. Canete owns and manages 3 separate companies--Canete Landscape, Canete Snow Management and Canete Garden Centers. Currently Canete services Northern and Central New Jersey but has his eye

Although the potential profits are highly lucrative in snow and ice management, the risks are much greater. This is one of the important topics that Kevin Gilbride, Executive Director of Accredited Snow Contractors Association and publisher of Snow magazine, discusses in this podcast and one of the reasons that ASCA was formed.ASCA is a trade association dedicated to the advancement of the professional snow and ice management industry and to promoting its role in performing high-risk services to society.Gilbride began his career with GIE Media in 1996 and rose through the sales ranks to National Accounts Sales, National Sales Manager, and eventually Group Publisher.During his tenure as Group Publisher, Gilbride was part of the team that created Snow Magazine and Commercial Dealer. In August 2011, GIE Media announced the creation of the Accredited Snow Contractors Association, with Gilbride being named Executive Director, the position he holds today. Within a year of the association's inception, the ASCA estab

John Allin, the Godfather of Snow & Ice Management, begins a 3-part series on what landscapers call "the white industry," those dedicated to helping customers in the winter months. Allin was the 2010 winner of the GIE "Pioneer Award" and is founder of the Snowfighters Institute, which pursues research and training for the snow industry. He helps snow contractors market their businesses, streamline their operations and develop exit strategies. For more information visit http://www.johnallin.com.

Cindy Code, Executive Director of Project Evergreen, discusses why Project EverGreen is good for the entire green industry. In addition, we will talk about GreenCare for Troops/SnowCare for Troops and how the programs work. Code explains recent projects, including the renovation of blighted areas, building the Imaginarium outdoor exhibit and Hurricane Sandy efforts.Code is the Executive Director of Project EverGreen, a national non-profit group that proactively promotes the positive benefits of yard, parks and green spaces. Code's tenure in the green industry spans twenty plus years as an award-winning journalist with Lawn & Landscape magazine and as an advocate for the green industry through board and committee positions with PLANET, RISE, OTF and TOCA.For more information, visit http://projectevergreen.org/.

Award winning designer Susan Olinger, President of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD), discusses the importance of being a certified landscape designer and the value of joining an organization like the APLD. From starting as a local member to taking over at the national level, Susan has seen her association, and the industry itself, grow dramatically over the years (although she won't say how many).We will also talk about her passion for landscape design, and how the APLD has helped her throughout her career, as well as the challenges that she has faced.Find out what she sees as the future for landscape design and landscape designers ... and maybe learn a few of her trade secrets.Olinger is the 2012 president of the APLD, founder of the APLD's N.J. chapter and has served on their International Board of Directors since 2008. She is a landscape and garden designer with Sterling Horticultural Services, in Flanders, N.J., where since 1996 she has been creating custom landscape designs, and

According to Marisa Palmieri, editor in chief of Landscape Management Magazine, it's not as hard as you think it might be to get free advertising in magazines and newspapers.Every single day, magazine and newspaper editors are on the prowl for the newest, latest and greatest to create unique content. So why shouldn't they write about you or one of your projects? While other companies are spending “ad” dollars like crazy, you can have a feature article written about you, your business or latest landscaping project for all of your customers and competitors to see.Palmieri gives you the inside scoop about what editors are looking for to help you get your company featured in the local newspaper, regional lifestyle magazine or industry trade journal. An experienced Green Industry editor, Palmieri has won many awards for her coverage of the landscape and golf course markets from the Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA), the Press Club of Cleveland and the American Society of Business Publication

Kevin Kehoe of Three Point Group talks about how his company helps landscape contractors with strategic planning, profit improvement, valuation services and business exit strategies. Kehoe is a leading authority on these topics who artfully explains what you need to think about in order to grow your business and/or prepare it for sale. It doesn't matter if your exit strategy is in 1, 3, 5, or 10 years. It's never too soon to get your ducks in a row.Plus, he'll answer you questions on whether you should buy, sell or hold.In addition to 27 years of consulting and training experience, Kehoe has 9 years of general management experience. He has worked with more than 150 companies in the Green Industry helping them increase growth and profits, as well as setting up succession plans, helping them grow by acquiring other companies, and assisting them in the valuation and sell of their businesses when it comes time to cash out. He is a regular speaker for state associations and PLANET.Kehoe is an author whose books i

Marcus vandeVliet of MV Enterprises discusses job costing, including why you need to job cost, how to set up your estimating system for job costing, the major risk involved with job costing, types of info you can obtain through job costing, and much more!VandeVliet is the founder of a design build company in New Jersey that he re-directed into a niche business specializing in project management of high-end projects for the residential marketplace. He developed and improved accounting and information transfer systems to help maximize profitability of a large landscaping company with 400 employees and $23 million in revenues. He was president of a residential design build firm, improving profitability from 6 percent to 19 percent while maintaining the company's $7 million in revenues. Marcus is recognized as an expert in bidding and estimating in the construction industry who worked with Vander Kooi and Associates and delivered presentations and conducted workshops throughout the United States. He has put his

As all of us know, it is oftentimes difficult for homeowners to understand two dimensional landscape plans. That's where John Porco, Founder and CEO of VisionScape, comes in. VisionScape allows designers and contractors to show their clients a drawing that allows them to not only look at, but walk though, their landscape before it is ever built.Porco discusses how landscape professionals can use 3D landscape design and visualization software to create an incredible customer experience helping you lock in the install, and he will provide some of his own "trade secrets" for landing upscale clients and getting back to them quicker.Porco is Founder and CEO of VisionScape Interactive, LLC. By nature, Porco is a serial entrepreneur with more than 20 years of professional design experience. Early in his career Porco built and sold several successful design businesses before setting his sights on the landscape and outdoor living industry. His frustrations as a homeowner embarking on a landscape project for his backya

It seems like every day you read about another town trying to ban the use of outdoor power equipment used by professional landscape contractors. If it's not a restriction on what hours of the day we can operate, it's decibels and emissions.Now before you grab your bamboo rake and hand trimmer, listen, Roger Phelps, Promotional Communications Manager at Stihl, Inc., discusses what manufacturers are doing to minimize the "operational impact" of handheld power equipment by utilizing new technologies that can reduce emissions and noise, while improving efficiencies.Phelps is a Navy veteran who joined STIHL in 2001 with a background in events production. He is responsible for STIHL's sponsorships, public relations, social media, event marketing and trade shows. He oversees the production of the STIHL® TIMBERSPORTS® Series seen on the Outdoor Channel and ESPNU and STIHL's event marketing and PR relationships like the STIHL Tour des Trees, National FFA Foundation, and the American Farm Bureau. He also oversees STIHL

As the old saying goes, "what gets measured gets managed, and what get's managed gets improved."Ed Laflamme of The Harvest Group Business Consulting will show you how to set gross margin goals and how to set up a system to track these goals. Tracking your gross margin is so important for the success of your landscape business. By doing this you will not only know if you are making money but also be alerted to potential problems in your estimating process, including markups and installation issues.Laflamme is the author of the nationally acclaimed book, "GREEN SIDE UP, Straight talk on growing and operating a profitable landscaping business." He started his own business with $700 that he borrowed from his mother, bought two lawn mowers and began by working out of the trunk of his car. Nine years later he sold the residential segment of his business and concentrated on commercial and industrial maintenance. Always a "big thinker" Laflamme set his sites on the mother of all commercial contracts: General Electri

If your business growth has slowed dramatically or stalled, the new economy may not be to blame! There's a very good chance that you're just stuck at one of the natural plateaus that plagues most landscape contractors.How you decide to manage your business right now can make the difference between propelling your business to the next level or remaining in neutral with a frustrating, slow growing, inefficient business.Bill Silverman of Springboard Business Coaching discusses the reasons why small businesses stop growing and what you can easily do to not be one of them.Silverman is a business coach who coaches contractors to help them propel their businesses to the next level of consistent growth and profit while dramatically improving their quality of life. He specializes in helping business owners tackle difficult growth challenges and is known for his ability to pinpoint and solve the real problems that hold businesses back and for helping owners achieve more than they ever thought possible in both their bus

Chris Heiler, of Landscape Leadership, is the "Inbound Marketing Guru” of the landscape industry and will show you how to turn your existing website into a lead generation machine!He compares outdated and ineffective, lead generating methods such as the phone book (remember that big yellow thing?), unqualified referrals and random cold calling to the high quality leads that you can develop from inbound marketing.Chris will show you how to combine social media, content marketing and search marketing into an integrated and measurable campaign that will help you sell more work.Chris Heiler is the founder and president of Landscape Leadership, an inbound marketing agency that combines social media, content marketing, and search marketing into integrated and measurable campaigns for green industry clients ranging from landscape design/build firms and landscape management companies to garden centers, growers and specialty manufacturers.Chris regularly speaks at green industry events across the country, writes for i