“Wait a minute!” I shrieked after we decided to go to Wegmans.

“Wegmans is right next to Jerry’s Artarama! We’ll go to Jerry’s!” (Never mind that I told my husband I was NOT going to Jerry’s because I didn’t need anything.)

Hmmm. Here’s how that went:

“She went to Jerry’s!”

I can ALWAYS find something at the art supply store, whether I “need” anything or not.

And many of the funniest gardening memes I see are about just that thing, but with plants. In fact, I literally cannot stop watching this video from Heidi of Garden Crossings back in spring. You have GOT to have the sound on when you watch it. It’s 10X funnier. 

Heck, I’m susceptible to “just looking” but then buying, too. 

PSA TO MY HUSBAND JOE: I ordered 9 asters from Bluestone Perennials off of their SMS campaign last weekend and they’re probably going to arrive while I’m out of town because that’s when the 30 perennial mums I ordered from them off a DIFFERENT SMS campaign arrived. 

(It can’t be worse than the succulents. If you would like the succulents story, hit reply. I gotta get back on topic.)

What about the non-fanatics? The newbies?

Let’s pick up with Ms. Brie on her hunt for photo frames at Jerry’s Artarama. 

It was a short-lived hunt. 

She wandered, empty-basketed over to me in the paper aisle.

“No frame, Brie?”

“KATIE I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ANYTHING IS IN HERE! THIS MUST BE WHAT PEOPLE WHO DON’T KNOW ABOUT GARDENING FEEL LIKE WHEN THEY GO TO GARDEN CENTERS!”

Oh. 

OH. 

YES! 

THIS IS SO TRUE! 

And it’s true for anyone looking at getting into a new hobby, or hiring help for a new service, or trying to evaluate software or heavy equipment, or, or, or. 

If someone knows almost nothing about something, how do they start? More importantly, how do they get started well? 

This conversation happened about two weeks ago, but it took me this long to get the newsletter out because I needed to get my own house in order. I needed a “Start here” page on my website. 

Almost every person who comes to us at the Garden of Words knows they need *gestures vaguely* help.

But what kind of help? 

How do they get help? 

We have a link that says “schedule a discovery call.” But what if that feels nerve-wracking? To go straight to a call.  What happens at a discovery call? What happens after a discovery call? 

Are you going to wake up missing a kidney? (No. I promise you’re not.)

Not just for kids

My trip to Raleigh was in service of a client, first and foremost. Fairview Garden Center in Holly Springs is my client’s client and we wanted to get some testimonial footage.

Right inside the front door there’s a scavenger hunt for kiddos.  How do kids get started? RIGHT THERE. 

What about the grownups? 

Right next to the kids’ kiosk, there’s this:

It’s mostly a “start here” board. There’s a map, some social links, info about services. A little “orientation” so to speak. 

Lots of people don’t really like to ask for help, especially not right off the bat. By providing them with a “start here” option, a new customer or new client can begin to orient themselves.

Instead of just turning around and leaving.

“Start Here” Button Ideas

RETAIL-BRICK AND MORTAR

• Hang a map at the front door. Make it fun! Make it silly! Make it USEFUL!
• Get staff T-Shirts or buttons that say “Ask me about:”
• Create visual directions that serve as a glossary
• Create a visual glossary.

For example: Instead of just a sign that says “Hanging Baskets >” hang a basket from the sign or have the sign say “Looking for Hanging Baskets like this? >>>”

Repeat with houseplants, shrubs, annuals, edibles. Make a living directional display! A living glossary!

BUT KATIE, THE MAINTENANCE! You know what, just give it a try. 

Extend this display out to the floor. In each section, explain what the thing is, or where to start.

Houseplants: NEW TO HOUSEPLANTS? LOOK FOR THE SIGNS WITH THE STAR FOR GOOD BEGINNER PLANTS! BTW: you should also grab a moisture meter, some rice hulls to put on top for fungus gnats, and this fertilzer.

Shrubs: WHAT IS A SHRUB?  It is a Blah blah balah. 

BUT KATIE! WE’RE NOT A MUSEUM! 

Maybe my public horticulture roots are showing, but for reals: people like to understand what they’re getting themselves into. Give it a whirl! 

Here’s an example that my friend Jenn did with her shop. She offers classes, so in the display windows, she set up some super cool displays that show what goes into the class!

RETAIL-ONLINE

• Make a “start here” page or “New to _________, START HERE!”
• Create a simple email sequence and invite signups: New to XYZ? Click here for our starter info!
• Divide up your home page to let people orient themselves and navigate around “choose your own adventure style.” RETAILERS: CLICK HERE, HOME GARDENERS: CLICK HERE”

SERVICE BUSINESSES

• Make a “start here” page or “New to _________, START HERE!” for the website
• Create a “How’s it Work?” Sign for near the front entrance (if there’s a front entrance)
• Divide up your home page to let people orient themselves and navigate around “choose your own adventure style.” RETAILERS: CLICK HERE, HOME GARDENERS: CLICK HERE”

No, you’re not a museum, neither am I. 

However, in order to help people work with you, buy from you, and hire you, you will probably need to teach new customers enough for them to feel comfortable making a purchase from you. 

Is this exhausting? It sure can be. Ask me how I know. 

Is it worth it? It sure is. If it weren’t, I’d have given up long ago. 

You can ask me about that, too.

Pricing Sidebar

While we’re on the topic of customers needing to see a bit of the lay of the land before engaging with you, I want to encourage you to put your prices on your website in SOME WAY. 

This could be a:

• Price range: Email marketing is between $500-$2,500 a month
   
• Budget range question on a form: What is your budget for installation? $50K-$100K, $100K-$250K, $250K+ (That’s a sneaky way to say “If your budget is less than $50K for your project, look elsewhere.)
   
• Hourly Rate: This service is billed at $75/hour and most people need XXX hours, This service is billed at $200/hour and requires a minimum purchase of 5 hours. 

Why do this? 

LISTEN, I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL. Here’s why:

If you don’t have any prices on your website people will think your items or services are too expensive and they will go away without even asking.

That’s the rule. Have you ever looked in a magazine and saw “Price upon request” listed next to a thing? That’s code for “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.” 

Let your potential customers decide for themselves if you’re out of their budget. Don’t let them assume. 

And if you sell THINGS: PRICE THE THINGS. For many people, asking how much something costs and then finding out it is way out of their budget is too embarrassing, so they will just not ask. They’ll go away. 

Price your things! Please!

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Dirty Laundry, Cussing, and “OMG I JUST KEEP SCREAMING YES!”

So, Amanda and I are still podcasting! Episode 23 drops tomorrow.

You can find the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more!
There is a fair amount of swearing, so not a good “kids in the car” listen. You’ve been warned!

THANK YOU to everyone who has sent us nice notes! 

There’s a fair amount of swearing in our fan mail, too, so we also won’t post those here. Give us a listen though. 

And, importantly, if you like the podcast, rate us 5 stars! All you have to do is click on your app. 

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Hook Up on the Hook Up

“I want one software to run everything.” 

I hear that a lot. 

What you really want is one UNIFIED SYSTEM of 2-4 pieces of software that connect to each other easily to run everything. That way, you have a smoothly running business where each piece of tech does what it is good at instead of 1 piece of software that does 2 things well and 10 things poor to middling.

Some software connects “automagically” because the two different companies have already built integrations. What happens when they don’t? All is not lost! Don’t throw out a good choice for your system, instead investigate MIDDLEWARE! 

Don’t know much about it? 

START HERE!

(See what I did there?)

Handy Links

Each newsletter always has a mix of fun and functional links.  Here they are! Have a link to share? Send it to me!

Retail-Ready & Future Tech
What’s coming when it comes to retail tech? Here’s a preview.

Great Industry Email Example
Take a look at the Carolina Native Nursery email to see a lovely layout that is easy to read, renders well on mobile and uses centered header text with LEFT ALIGNED BODY COPY. It’s great!

Connect Your Tech
Check out Zapier!

Need Signage?
Talk to the folks at Garden Center Marketing (We help with their marketing) and they have LOTS of great sign options. Not the least of which is their sign subscription program so that you can PRICE EVERYTHING!

She never sends a bad newsletter
But this one is especially good. Total Anarchy! It’s not just on our podcast. 

Time to share this again!
What color IS THAT in an image/banner/etc? Stop trying to guess. Use the color picker!

HOUSEKEEPING
How in the sam hill are we almost at the end of the year?  Whelp! We are. 
GOW is closed Wednesday-Friday over Thanksgiving and most of us are gone between at least December 24-January 1. That means if you want to START HERE with GOW and explore having us help you with anything in 2025, we need to talk with you NOW. Please take a look at this page and grab a discovery call slot.

So, did Brie ever get a frame? She did! And I added a picture of the picture I painted for her in the Art PS below. If you ever want some Katie artwork, you can also get it from Jenn at the Art Sea Shop. Just send her a message on Instagram and see what she has in stock.

ART PS! The first one is the painting I did for Brie. It’s using Gouache. Following are a few Room Portrait Club challenges and a few paintings of friends’ gardens. (I was inspired by their instagram photos.)