Three things I would do if I were you ...

I have returned from the MANTS show (I know it sounds like the 'Man Show' with Jimmy Kimmel) in Baltimore. It is a green industry trade show that generally kicks off the winter trade show season on the east coast. Like many vendors and wholesale growers I was looking to take the temperature of the attendees.

Well, it wasn't that bad. The traffic was down, but the contacts were better and more focused on getting things done. Signage continues to top the list the to-do list for many retailers, but many that I talked with were interested in some of the more sophisticated selling strategies such as the 'We Plan, You Plant' (a DIY design service), the Perfect Patios & Dream Decks (a DIFM container garden design service) and the Grow Green marketing program.

The common denominator is that all agree that marketing is more important than ever. Unfortunately comments at winter trade shows are somewhat akin to New Year's resolutions, that is you know what you should do, but rarely do it. This year might be different because fear is a great motivator.

With that in mind, here are three things I would do if I were a retail garden center...

1 - I would take advantage of the fact that large scale landscaping projects might be downgraded to smaller projects and quite possibly more do-it-yourself (DIY) than do-it-for-me (DIFM). This means that garden centers will be able to compete with smaller landscapers on home landscape projects. The good news is that small landscapers rarely advertise (they even brag that they never had to), so the marketing you've done over the years should pay off. In a tight economy I think that homeowners are going to scrutinize their budget. Take a look at our We Plan, You Plant and Perfect Patios & Dream Deck programs. You can also see how we integrated these two items into our sample website - www.xyzgardencenter.com.

2 - Don't be surprised if you see a bump in lawn care products as people will look to do it themselves to save money. You should consider advertising more lawn care products. Stress that it is easy and will could save in excess of $100 over the course of a year. Push organic lawn care products and the fact that it is easy and you can help them with professional advice.

3 - This is probably the best year, and this is actually the best time to roll out a community fundraiser program. What with budget cuts and reduced services groups are looking everywhere for ideas that will help them raise money. The winter months are one of the few times you might have the time to sit down and actually sell something. It takes time and a commitment to the process. At Sunrise Marketing we created a 'turn-key' program that can help you hit the ground running.

The great thing about all of these ideas is that you can, and should start them NOW in order to generate pre-season sales while grabbing market share from those landscapers who don't advertise and the garden centers waiting to see what is going to happen (to them).

That's what I would do...