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# The Garden Of Words

Email marketing for Horticulture by Horticulturists

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://thegardenofwords.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Blog](https://thegardenofwords.com/blog/)
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 - Episode 30: CANDLE PICKLE](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-30-candle-pickle/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 - Episode 30: CANDLE PICKLE A Question of Community What’s this podcast about? Amanda finds herself in a candle pickle. Her vendor has suddenly raised their order minimum without warning, leaving her unable to restock. Should she start making her own candles instead? Katie
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 29: BAG OF IDEAS](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-29-bag-of-ideas/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 29: BAG OF IDEAS Apocalypse Skills What’s this podcast about? Amanda kicks things off with stories from the local Keepataw Parade and how the event impacts her business. Both Katie and Amanda share their plans for fall yard work (think mountains of bulbs)
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 27: CHARCOAL MARSHMALLOWS](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-27-charcoal-marshmallows/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 27: CHARCOAL MARSHMALLOWS The Art of Community What’s this podcast about? The two-week podcast break is over, and Katie and Amanda are back! Amanda admits she spends a lot of time picking up plants for jobs, (maybe not the most efficient use of
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 28: BEYOND THE COUCH](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-28-beyond-the-couch/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 28: BEYOND THE COUCH The Evolving Why What’s this podcast about? Katie and Amanda go deep: on business, purpose, and the little things that make a big impact. Amanda’s so excited that shop sales are up and shares her $2-a-day Instagram ad experiment
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 26: BONE APPÉTIT](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-26-bone-appetit/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 26: BONE APPÉTIT Feeling it in Your Body What’s this podcast about? Amanda sold another one of Katie’s paintings! But before you ask, no, she’s not taking consignment. Amanda also talks about teaching a recent vinaigrette-making class and pitches the idea of a
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 25: LETTING GO](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-25-letting-go/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 25: LETTING GO Overcoming Overfunctioning What’s this podcast about? Katie and Amanda dive into significant business changes they've recently made that brought clarity and relief. Amanda shares the story of losing her courtyard due to her landlord's construction plans and the lessons she
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 24: KISSING FROGS](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-24-kissing-frogs/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 24: KISSING FROGS Mulch, Mayhem, and Mod Podge What’s this podcast about? In this lively episode, Katie and Amanda discuss their recent creative ventures and some challenging client interactions. Katie is prepping for a collage and watercolor class in Michigan, while Amanda grapples
- [Just Happy To See You](https://thegardenofwords.com/just-happy-to-see-you/) - “OMG HIIIIIIII! I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU IN SO LONG!!!! HOW ARE YOU?!?!? I HAVE REALLY BAD NEWWWWWWWS!” I had stepped into the Bevvy Mart in Wrightsville Beach after a really long and awful day involving the Municipal golf course and the accountant. (Want that story? Reply. I’ll tell you Monday.) To the Bevvy Mart people
- [Planning Email Campaigns for the Future](https://thegardenofwords.com/planning-email-campaigns-for-the-future/) - Katie and Heather co-wrote an article for Grower Talks August 2025 all about batching your emails ahead of spring. read more
- [The POS Saga Continues](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-pos-saga-continues/) - read more
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 23: HIRE THE EXPERT](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-23-hire-the-expert/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 23: HIRE THE EXPERT People Buy What They Understand What’s this podcast about? Katie shares her upcoming plans for a Chicago trip to visit clients. She and Amanda brainstorm about art classes they could co-host at Amanda’s shop. Amanda recounts a whirlwind week
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 22: SLUG PARTY](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-22-slug-party/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 22: SLUG PARTY Grouch on the Couch What’s this podcast about? This week, Katie and Amanda discuss their love of the Marco Polo app and scheming ways businesses could use it too. Katie’s hand-painted cards just landed in Amanda’s shop on a “MADE”
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 21: FINAL ANSWER](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-21-final-answer/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 21: FINAL ANSWER Go Away What’s this podcast about? Katie is considering a simple but symbolic change: swapping her Facebook cover photo from a picture of her family to one of her art supplies. Amanda reflects on her own process of “refocusing the
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 20: SOFT LIFE](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-20-soft-life/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 20: SOFT LIFE So many other things just listen to it What’s this podcast about? Katie shares her experience at a local "pick and paint" event at a cut flower farm, where customers picked their blooms and she painted them on the spot.
- [We Need To Talk About Helen](https://thegardenofwords.com/we-need-to-talk-about-helen/) - Helen, Georgia is a lot of things. One thing it is NOT: empty.(It looks empty because of my aesthetic™ shots, but trust me: it was packed.) When I detoured through Helen on my way home from Cultivate mid-July, the town was packed with happy tubers, hikers, families, couples, motorcycle riders, pickup truck drivers, day drinkers,
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 19: One Woman Collective](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-19-one-woman-collective/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 19: One Woman Collective Stop, Collaborate and Listen What’s this podcast about? Amanda is excited to get some help from an acquaintance starting an HR/operations consulting business. It’s coming at the perfect time! Amanda shares a story about her ideal client and how
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 18: NEVER AGAIN](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-18-never-again/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 18: NEVER AGAIN Every Kind of Tired What’s this podcast about? Katie shares the emotional weight of the past year and the recent loss of her father. A comforting message from Ben, “you don’t ever have to deal with that again,” gave her
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 17: BRING THE GONG ](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-17-bring-the-gong/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 17: BRING THE GONG Eventually We Get to the Point What’s this podcast about? Amanda is making dunce caps for Cultivate to stop people from calling their businesses small. The second gong has also arrived. The two discuss their love for roadside attractions and then
- [This will come as no surprise](https://thegardenofwords.com/this-will-come-as-no-surprise/) - On December 23, 2024 my family went to St. Elmo's steakhouse in downtown Indianapolis for dinner. Mom, Dad, Joe (my husband), me, Emily (my sister), Nathan (my brother-in-law), and Elzer, my niece. I could not help but think of it is a kind of "last supper" because I knew we would not all be there together
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 16: BELL OF SHAME](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-16-bell-of-shame/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 16: BELL OF SHAME Setting Expectations What’s this podcast about? In this episode, Katie and Amanda DIG into (see what we did there) what they really want for their business and what they’re ready to let go of. They discuss growth goals and have a
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 15: Camanda in Chief](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-15-camanda-in-chief/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 15: Camanda in Chief Have it Your Way What’s this podcast about? Amanda’s Zoom name is now “Camanda in Chief,” (HILARIOUS!). In this episode, Amanda and Katie talk newsletters, self-worth, and showing up as your authentic self in business. Katie’s latest newsletter inspired
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 14: MAKING SPACE](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-14-making-space/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 14: MAKING SPACE The Cost of Doing Business What’s this podcast about? Behind every small business is a human doing their best to hold it all together. Amanda and Katie talk about what it’s like to run a business
- [Open & Awkward - Business Highlights: WHAT ENTERTAINED US: Part 2](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-business-highlights-what-entertained-us-part-2/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Open & Awkward - Business Highlights: WHAT ENTERTAINED US: Part 2 Books, Signs and a Great Documentary What’s this podcast about? In this "Best Of" episode, Katie praises the book: The Tree Collectors written and illustrated by Amy Stewart. She also reads part of Amanda's Green Profit article on the
- [Open & Awkward - Business Highlights: Part 2](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-business-highlights-part-2/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Open & Awkward - Business Highlights: Part 2 Tips, Strategies, and Hidden Costs What’s this podcast about? In this "Best of" Business Highlights (Part 2) episode, Amanda and Katie share business insights and marketing strategies. Like, did you know if you boost a Facebook post on your iPhone
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 13: ACTUALLY USEFUL TIP™](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-13-actually-useful-tip/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 13: ACTUALLY USEFUL TIP™ Jaunty Electronica What’s this podcast about? Katie and Amanda discuss: what is your time worth? They share jobs they decided to take (or skip) and talk about their upcoming Stealth Workshop/Education Party at Cultivate … you should definitely come!
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 12: DITCH, PLEASE](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-12-ditch-please/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 12: DITCH, PLEASE Toxically Positive What’s this podcast about? In this episode, Katie shares her recent diagnosis of polymorphic light eruption (a sun allergy) that’s forced her to rethink her routines and how she moves through daily life. Amanda
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 11:  INSOMNIA](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-11-insomnia/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 11: INSOMNIA Lose the Filter What’s this podcast about? Amanda confesses to sending a marketing email in the middle of the night (hello, insomnia). Her results might just change the way you think about email timing! Katie brings two
- [This email could have been a Thread ](https://thegardenofwords.com/this-email-could-have-been-a-thread/) - This morning I was at the dermatologist for a follow up visit because shortly after I sent my last newsletter about GOING THROUGH IT I was diagnosed with Polymorphic Light Eruption. (PMLE.) What is that? It means I am ALLERGIC TO THE SUN. My dudes, I think I might be a real life cartoon character.
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 10:  CODE WORD](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-10-code-word/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 10: CODE WORD Pickles What’s this podcast about? Amanda brings an interesting customer situation to the table and asks Katie the all-important question: "Is this a pickle?" Meanwhile, Katie has updates on attending the Azalea Festival, her long-awaited newsletter,
- [Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 9: CALLING IN](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-9-calling-in/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Open & Awkward - Season 2 Episode 9: CALLING IN Not for Everyone What’s this podcast about? Amanda shares highlights from her recent trip to Dollywood: great food, fun coasters (though not quite Disney-level creative inspiration), and an awkward moment of being recognized in public. Katie
- [Open & Awkward: Season 2 Episode 8 - TEMPORARY OBSESSIONS](https://thegardenofwords.com/season-2-episode-8-temporary-obsessions/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Open & Awkward: Season 2 Episode 8 - TEMPORARY OBSESSIONS Finding a New Rhythm What’s this podcast about? In this episode, Amanda talks about her recent trip to Dollywood and the garden cleanup that didn’t happen. Plus a canceled visit with her friend Andrew that opened
- [Open & Awkward: BEST OF SEASON 1 - DON'T STOP, KEEP GOING](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-best-of-season-1-dont-stop-keep-going/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Open & Awkward: BEST OF SEASON 1 - DON'T STOP, KEEP GOING Our Most Open and Awkward Moments of 2024 What’s this podcast about? In this special best of episode, we dive deep into what it really means to be open and awkward, boldly taking up space, embracing
- [Going on a squeegee hunt?](https://thegardenofwords.com/going-on-a-squeegee-hunt/) - It went something like this: Going on a squeegee huntGOING ON A SQUEEGEE HUNT Gonna catch a big oneGONNA CATCH A BIG ONE I'm not afraidI'M NOT AFRAID But what's that up ahead?BUT WHAT'S THAT UP AHEAD? A big field of grassA BIG FIELD OF GRASS! Can't go over itCAN'T GO OVER IT Can't go
- [Open & Awkward: Season 2 Episode 7: Inbox Overload](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-7-inbox-overload/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Open & Awkward: Season 2 Episode 7: Inbox Overload Drunk Seed Shopping What’s this podcast about? Amanda prepares to close Aster Gardens for a short spring break to visit Dollywood with her family, right when there’s so much to do in the garden and at the
- [Open & Awkward: Season 2 Episode 6: MAKE IT MAKE SENSE](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-6-make-it-make-sense/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Open & Awkward: Season 2 Episode 6: MAKE IT MAKE SENSE Assumptions, Astrology and Adaptation What’s this podcast about? Big changes are coming near Aster Gardens! Amanda’s getting two new neighbors: a brow lounge and a boba & smoothie shop. She’s eager to see how they’ll impact
- [Open & Awkward: Season 2 Episode 5 - PUT ME IN, COACH](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-5-put-me-in-coach/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Open & Awkward: Season 2 Episode 5 - PUT ME IN, COACH Make a Moss Mosaic What’s this podcast about? Amanda is heading to iLandscape after recording, but first, she and Katie tackle a big question …do you have to respond to every message that lands in
- [Open & Awkward: BEST OF SEASON 1 - WHAT ENTERTAINED US](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-best-of-season-1-what-entertained-us/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda BEST OF SEASON 1 - WHAT ENTERTAINED US Our Favorite Finds of 2024 What’s this podcast about? In this special "Best of" episode of Open & Awkward, Amanda and Katie rehash the things that kept them entertained in 2024. They share their favorite books, original art, and
- [Open & Awkward: Best of Season 1 - Essential Tips](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-best-of-season-1-essential-tips/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Open & Awkward: Best of Season 1 - Essential Tips What’s this podcast about? If you haven't tuned in yet, this is the episode to start with! We’ve packed it with the best advice from Season 1. It's got everything from social media strategies to POS system insights
- [Open & Awkward: Season 2 Episode 4 - Imposter Syndrome is Dead](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-4-imposter-syndrome-is-dead/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 4 - Imposter Syndrome is Dead Looking for a Unicorn What’s this podcast about? Katie brings up how important it is to her to have a strong support system as a business owner and how that sets her up for success. Amanda shares
- [Open & Awkward: Season 2 Episode 3 - I’m FINE](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-3-im-fine/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 3 - I’m FINE Action Cures Fear What’s this podcast about? In this episode, Katie opens up about ignoring business fears in hopes they disappear (spoiler alert: they typically don’t). Amanda brings up her money hangups, including her habit of giving discounts to
- [Open & Awkward: Season 2 Episode 2 - COMMUNITY NOW](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-2-community-now/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 2 - COMMUNITY NOW Extra Awkward What’s this podcast about? In this episode, Amanda shares a rant about TikTok and how some content feels overly produced, while Katie points out that most garden center owners aren’t content creators, it’s just a means to
- [5 Simple Tech Fixes for 2025](https://thegardenofwords.com/5-simple-tech-fixes-for-2025/) - read more
- [Open & Awkward: Season 2 Episode 1 - SOUP HAPPENS](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-season-2-episode-1-soup-happens/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Season 2 Episode 1 - SOUP HAPPENS Show Up for Yourself What’s this podcast about? Welcome to Season 2 of Open & Awkward where Katie and Amanda are full of inspiration on taking action, embracing change, and nurturing your creative spark! Amanda talks about an experience with a
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 38 - EXTRA OPEN](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-38-extra-open/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 38 - EXTRA OPEN If you build it, they will come What’s this podcast about? In this season finale, Katie shares that she had her first customer service inquiry for her new business. (Do you want a Certified Shopify Online Garden Center? Contact Katie!) Amanda
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 37- MEETING OR FIST FIGHT?](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-37-meeting-or-fist-fight/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 37- MEETING OR FIST FIGHT? Concierge service What’s this podcast about? Amanda and Katie watched the new Martha Stewart documentary (have you seen it?) and shared their newfound admiration for the lifestyle icon. Amanda was inspired by Martha's pragmatic, common-sense approach, while Katie enjoyed learning
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 36 - LEAF IT](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-episode-36-leaf-it/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 36 - LEAF IT Cultivate Takeover What’s this podcast about? Katie and Amanda catch up on everything from tech upgrades to garden chores. Katie shares how she had her fall garden "chop & drop" cleanup with Tami, leading to a discussion on fall cleanup tips
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 35- Rocks, Rewards & Retro](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-35-rocks-rewards-retro/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 35- Rocks, Rewards & Retro The Vibe is Nostalgia What’s this podcast about? Do you like to get behind trends? Katie talks about her recent trip to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and how the resort there has a very specific vibe. She also observes the resurging
- [Looking for a Reasonable Price](https://thegardenofwords.com/looking-for-a-reasonable-price/) - I was sitting in my parents' house in Indianapolis watching Facebook lives of National Guard helicopters land in the mall parking lot. After Hurricane Florence blew through (or, rather, sat, dumping rain in one place for three days), Wilmington turned into an island. The group that sprouted up at that time has since morphed into
- [Cultivating Place: Embracing Rest, Reflection, and Growth with Katie Elzer-Peters](https://thegardenofwords.com/cultivating-place-embracing-rest-reflection-and-growth-with-katie-elzer-peters/) - The episode wrapped with a hopeful note about the future. Ben encouraged everyone to reflect on their personal growth over the past year and think about what lessons they’ll carry forward into 2025. And, just as plants take time to rest before blossoming, he reminded listeners that taking a pause is key to preparing for
- [Rockin’ Around the Garden Center](https://thegardenofwords.com/rockin-around-the-garden-center/) - read more
- [BREAKING: Consumers spent a record $10B on Black Friday this year.](https://thegardenofwords.com/breaking-consumers-spent-a-record-10b-on-black-friday-this-year/) - BREAKING: Consumers spent a record $10B on Black Friday this year.55% of transactions happened on mobile.Online sales rose 14.6% YOY compared to in-person rising only 0.7%.Garden centers MUST have a way to capture these sales. That's why my team and I built the Certified ShopifyPlus Online garden center system for you.It is built! It is
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 34- Small Talk](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-34-small-talk/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 34- Small Talk To Buy or Not to Buy What’s this podcast about? Katie and Amanda reflect on their experiences as listeners of their own podcast, realizing they are learning about themselves. They discuss the ongoing thorn in Amanda’s side: what to do when customers
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 33 –  Mad as a Bag of Cats](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-33-mad-as-a-bag-of-cats/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 33- Mad as a Bag of Cats Name it to Tame it What’s this podcast about? Amanda shares a great tip on how to self-regulate and stop intrusive thoughts that you won’t want to miss. They discuss how Aster Gardens launched a free seed library
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 32 –  Maybe We’re Clairvoyant](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-32-maybe-were-clairvoyant/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 32- Maybe We’re Clairvoyant Hell in a Handbasket What’s this podcast about? Katie shares a wild story—did she help someone in need, or was she almost carjacked? It’s hard to say! They discuss the recent hurricanes impacting North Carolina, where Katie resides, and talk about
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 31 –  Don't Spook the Horses](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-31-dont-spook-the-horses/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 31- Don't Spook the Horses Multitasking is a Joke What’s this podcast about? Amanda shares that she created a hilarious secret hiding nook behind the register, perfect for popping out to give customers a little scare! Meanwhile, Katie dishes that Harry Styles recently bought flowers
- [What Got You Here Won’t Get You There](https://thegardenofwords.com/what-got-you-here-wont-get-you-there/) - read more
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 30 –  A Banger](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-30-a-banger/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 30- A Banger Get Off my Lawn What’s this podcast about? Get ready for a lively episode as Amanda spills the tea on her latest email marketing adventure—spoiler alert: no one opened it! Katie, the email marketing queen, suggests that it might just be a
- [Whole Belly Clams](https://thegardenofwords.com/whole-belly-clams/) - I love a website that opens with the phrase, "Why did the clam strip?" (I'll give you a link to find out at the bottom.) Here's some more from that website: "For 5 years, we have always said that when we reach 11,109 requests for Fried Whole Belly Clams, we would start selling them. We reached that
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 29 –  SHENANIGAN-ABLE](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-29-shenanigan-able/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 29- SHENANIGAN-ABLE Everyone Needs a Couch What’s this podcast about? In this episode, Katie visits her friend and fellow horticulturist, Brie Arthur, in Raleigh, NC, where they stop by an art store—much to Brie’s confusion, as she knows plants but not art! Meanwhile, Amanda is
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 28 –  Wet Bulb Temperature](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-28-wet-bulb-temperature/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 28- Wet Bulb Temperature You Must be Really Fun at Parties What’s this podcast about? Katie shares her Room Portrait Club painting, and Amanda declares that Katie’s art is getting even better! They discuss the Locavore Guide, which is NYC-based, and how all small businesses
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 27 –  KITTED OUT](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-27-kitted-out/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 27- KITTED OUT What you allow will continue What’s this podcast about? In this episode, Katie and Amanda open up about their battle scars from some truly awful jobs—think PTSD, but with a side of trauma. Katie is bummed about not being more involved in
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 23: Send a shopping list!](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-23-send-a-shopping-list/) - "What goes with THIS?" "What goes with THAT?" "Do THESE go together?" Grower customers get those questions from THEIR customers at the garden center. So help them answer! Help them sell more! When you send your availability, send a "shopping list" to your customers!
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 21 or is it 22?: Have fun!](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-21-or-is-it-22-have-fun/) - Everyday tasks can become sooooooooooooo mundane. Who actually likes checking their email? NOBODY! But email marketing (aka sending an Availability + content email) can give your customers a little lift beyond transmitting info. The next time you put together your Avail email, try something like Intrinsic Perennial Gardens! Have a little fun! Do you do
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 20: Drop What's Not Doing Well](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-20-drop-whats-not-doing-well/) - Pass or SMASH?Which content do your customers look forward to and which could they do without?You can tell by looking at the click maps of your emails. Your email service provider should have reporting that tells you which content got the most clicks and what nobody was interested in.Now, content up top almost always gets
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 19:  Use Buttons](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-day-19-use-buttons/) - You know how kids just can't help themselves when they get on an elevator?They want to push allllllll the buttons.So do your customers! Make it easy to push YOUR buttons by, well, having buttons!Make your main email calls to action buttons and you'll get more action.
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 26 –  BUSINESS INCUBATOR](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-26-business-incubator/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 26- BUSINESS INCUBATOR You don’t have to be everything to everyone What’s this podcast about? Katie and Amanda are both enjoying “false fall” which is happening in both their states. Amanda discusses being unexpectedly recruited as a florist (no thanks), which she quickly turns down
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 18:  Render test Your Template](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-18-render-test-your-template/) - Do you know what your email looks like on an iPhone? How about in dark mode? Is it a mess in Outlook?(Probably.)Your customers can only order off your emails if they can READ your emails.That's why we use Litmus to render test every client's email template every time we make a change.Need help? Give us
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 25 –  STICKY](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-25-sticky/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 25- STICKY Don’t make your muse pay your mortgage What’s this podcast about? Amanda opens up about a potential diagnosis and her lack of anxiety about it. Katie gives a shout-out to Amy Stewart's latest book, The Tree Collectors (seriously, you need a copy!). Amanda
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 24 –  BEACH PLEASE](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-24-beach-please/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 24- BEACH PLEASE Don’t go to the second location What’s this podcast about? Katie makes a splash by going swimming at the beach for the first time in two years—despite living there! She discusses the joy of seeing how different people interact, unwind, and make
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 23 –  AMANDA GOES SHOPPING](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-23-amanda-goes-shopping/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 23- AMANDA GOES SHOPPING There’s more than one way to skin a cat. What’s this podcast about? Amanda goes shopping (which she RARELY does), and it literally changes her life. They discuss fun ways small businesses can set themselves apart from competitors, customers browsing without
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 17:  Get Help!](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-17-get-help/) - The fastest way to supercharge your emails? Have someone fix your template & your domain records.We handle ongoing email marketing and availability email setup for places like Bailey Nursery, Magnolia Gardens, Peace Tree Farms and more.But we ALSO have a one-and-done package for checking out your emails, giving you recommendations to optimize your template so
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 16:  Link your pictures!](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-16-link-your-pictures/) - Why. . . won't. . . this. . . link. . . open?!?I get so frustrated when I open emails with pictures that aren't linked.And so do your customers!When creating A+ Availability emails, make sure you link the pictures to the product's page on the website (if possible). If that's not possible, at LEAST link
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 15: Send by SMS!](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-15-send-by-sms/) - Is it time to talk SMS? YES!95% of SMS messages are opened within 5 minutes. Why not send it via text message?
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 9: Shoot Better Quality Video](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-9-shoot-better-quality-video/) - Just Say NO to shaky video! Make your Availability+ videos super profesh with these two tools.Why? Because high quality communications present competence in other areas. (Such as plant growing!
- [Push Button To Start](https://thegardenofwords.com/push-button-to-start/) - "Ok, here are the picture frames. I'm painting you a 9x12, so look for one that will fit it. I'm going to look at the paper." I went to visit my friend Brie. (Brie the Plant Lady!) After a super duper hot stroll around J.C. Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, we were headed to Wegmans to
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 12: Designate a company photo phone](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-12-designate-a-company-photo-phone/) - Tired of chasing down photos? Get a recent-ish model iPhone or Android or both and designate them as the "company photo phones."That way all of your pics won't be stuck on the phone of that employee that left last year.This is a great tip for anyone running a green industry business. Why not a camera?
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 14: Show Your Roots](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-14-show-your-roots/) - SHOW YOUR ROOTS! Say what? Well, if you're selling liners, people want to see the roots. When you send availability emails, make sure the pics represent the product. Pop that plug out of the tray. Get a beauty shot of the beautyberry the way it will look when it arrives at its destination. Show off
- [Retail-Ready & Future Tech, Green Profit, September 2024](https://thegardenofwords.com/retail-ready-future-tech-green-profit-september-2024/) - read more
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 13: Create a Call List](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-13-create-a-call-list/) - Who wants what?When you send an availability email (or any email) through an email service provider like MailChimp or Constant Contact, you can see who clicked what.Use that data to create call list for your sales team to follow up.
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 22  –  DIRTY LAUNDRY](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-22-dirty-laundry/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 22 - DIRTY LAUNDRY So you wanna write a book? What’s this podcast about? Amanda has an awkward encounter with the OTHER Garden Center in town, sparking a discussion about handling communication with people who have differing opinions. They dive into Amanda’s aversion to going
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 11: Send from a person](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-11-send-from-a-person/) - Want more people to open your availability emails? Send from a person. Katie at XYZ NurseryHeather at ABC GrowersWendy at QRS FarmsPeople buy from people! They also open communications from people. Try it and see what happens.
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 10: Upload videos to YouTube](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-10-upload-videos-to-youtube/) - How can you embed videos in your Availability+ emails? Throw them onto YouTube.In order to embed a video on a website or in an email, it has to live somewhere. That somewhere might as well be on YouTube: YouTube is part of Google, so you get some SEO juice. YouTube is free. Most web and
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 8: Use Your Stats!](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-8-use-your-stats/) - Did you know? There's stealthy info hiding in your Availability email reporting!Here's how to use your stats to get more oomph out of the Availability emails you send!
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 21 –  BUSINESS BESTIE](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-21-business-bestie/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 21- BUSINESS BESTIE All Roads Lead to Marketing What’s this podcast about? Katie and Amanda discuss how it's never a good idea to make people feel dumb. Amanda also shares her secrets for keeping audiences engaged during speaking engagements—spoiler alert: it involves SLUGS! They discuss
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 7: Fix Your Website](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-day-7-fix-your-website/) - "WHERE IS IT?"Restaurant websites need, at a minimum, 2 bits of info: the address and the hours.A menu is nice but not make or break. If I can't find where you are and I don't know if you're open, I won't come at all.Same with YOUR website. If you send out a great availability email,
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 20 –  Money Follows Pain](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-20-money-follows-pain/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 20- Money Follows Pain Chew on the Left Side of Your Mouth What’s this podcast about? Katie has a surprise road trip from Columbus, OH to Wilmington, NC! They discuss how you CAN learn to chew on the left side of your mouth (otherwise known
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 1: Connect Frequently Used Software Programs](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-1-connect-frequently-used-software-programs/) - Wholesale growers: want more repeat visits? Amp up your availability! We will be giving you surefire tips to increase opens, raise your average order value, and increase repeat visits! ⁠ Here is the first one: Connect frequently used software programs!⁠⁠ Why? So many reasons! One awesome feature is you can set up automatic emails to
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 2: Include Something In Addition To Availability Lists](https://thegardenofwords.com/day-2-include-something-in-addition-to-availability-lists/) - "People only open my Availability if they want to buy something." Well, maybe that's true right now because there's nothing else fun or useful in the email. Make sure they open EVERY availability email by adding additional content. Here what works well for our clients and industry friends!What works well for you?
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 3: Create Catchy Subject Lines](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-3-create-catchy-subject-lines/) - The number one thing that will make people open your availability email every time is your SUBJECT LINE! Take the time to write an engaging, informative subject line and watch your open rates rise.
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 4: Use an ESP](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-4-use-an-esp/) - Are you still sending your grower availability emails through Outlook? There's an easier, better way to get more sales! Here's what to do instead and why.
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 5: Help your Customers](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-5-help-your-customers/) - How do YOU sell more plants?By helping your CUSTOMERS sell more plants!If you're in their inbox weekly with Availability, why not share some tips and info to help them sell more?
- [30 Days To Amp Your Availability Day 6: Create Branded Templates](https://thegardenofwords.com/30-days-to-amp-your-availability-day-6-create-branded-templates/) - Is making your marketing emails a drag? Create templates so you can drag & drop! Add your brand colors and fonts to help build brand awareness. YES! It matters that when your customers see your email they know it is from you!When you use an email service provider like Mailchimp or Constant Contact, you can
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 19 –  House Rules](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-19-house-rules/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 19- House Rules Plot, Plan & Market What’s this podcast about? In this episode, Katie and Amanda chat about how Aster Gardens is more than just a store—it’s an experience and an inspiring adventure! They dive into the lessons learned from mistakes, the tricky art
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 18 –  THE SCENIC ROUTE](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-18-the-scenic-route/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 18- THE SCENIC ROUTE Kindred Spirits and Cockroaches What’s this podcast about? Join Amanda Thomsen from Aster Gardens and Katie Elzer-Peters of The Garden of Words in an informative and refreshingly candid episode of Open and Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie and Amanda. In this
- [The Salsa Won't Eat Itself?](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-salsa-wont-eat-itself/) - "HEY EVERYBODY DON'T FORGET THERE'S A SALSA BAR SET UP OVER THERE AND THE SALSA ISN'T GONNA EAT ITSELF!" "EVERYBODY GRAB YOUR DOLLARS!" "SHOUT OUT TO EVERYONE FROM ALABAMA AND COUSIN MARIA!" "SHOUT OUT TO CASSIE ON BAR" "SHOUT OUT TO JONATHAN." "PLEASE EAT THE CHURROS." (They are also not going to eat themselves.) I
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 17 –  CAPITALIZE?](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-17-capitalize/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 17- CAPITALIZE? Change is doable! What’s this podcast about? Join Amanda Thomsen from Aster Gardens and Katie Elzer-Peters of The Garden of Words in another hilariously unpredictable episode of "Open and Awkward Shop Talk." Katie and Amanda discuss ways of capturing new customers and audiences
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 16 –  ROBUST OUTLIERS](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-16-robust-outliers/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 16- ROBUST OUTLIERS Small, potent, amazing, dangerous changes What’s this podcast about? Join Amanda Thomsen from Aster Gardens and Katie Elzer-Peters of The Garden of Words in another hilariously unpredictable episode of "Open and Awkward Shop Talk." Katie and Amanda discuss hiring consultants vs. asking
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 15 –  EVERYONE DESERVES JOY](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-amp-awkward-episode-15-everyone-deserves-joy/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 15- EVERYONE DESERVES JOY Are you in the fold? You should be! What’s this podcast about? Join Amanda Thomsen from Aster Gardens and Katie Elzer Peters of The Garden of Words in another hilariously unpredictable episode of "Open and Awkward Shop Talk." Katie talks about
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 14 –  TOTAL ANARCHY](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-14-total-anarchy/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 14- TOTAL ANARCHY Fostering company culture What’s this podcast about? Join Amanda Thompson from Aster Gardens and Katie Elzer Peters of The Garden of Words in another hilariously unpredictable episode of "Open and Awkward Shop Talk." Brace yourself for candid discussions about setting expectations and
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 13 –  GUM IN THE MACHINE](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-13-gum-in-the-machine/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 13- GUM IN THE MACHINE When is it time to pivot? What’s this podcast about? Who is stuck in the sunk costs quagmire? Katie shares her $150K mistake and why you should still listen to her. Amanda reveals her new yard organization and why she
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 12 –  OH HAIL!](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-episode-12-oh-hail/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 12- OH HAIL! There is also some yodeling What’s this podcast about? Is intergenerational warfare really necessary? Katie and Amanda say, “No!” They discuss the opportunities they got when they were young lasses growing up and how they get to pass those along to their
- [THE TREE COLLECTORS](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-tree-collectors/) - Hey guys! It's Katie.I jumped at the chance to help my friend Amy Stewart share the word about her new book. As you know, she's been instrumental in helping me enjoy my art journey and I know her new book will be enjoyable and informative for you. Without further ado, here's Amy! About ten years ago,
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 11 –  COMMITTED](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-11-committed/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 11- COMMITTED What you say to yourself matters. What’s this podcast about? What would your May self tell your July self? (Especially in the green industry.) This was recorded during crunch time and is airing after the main rush of the season. Katie and Amanda
- [Gimme that! ](https://thegardenofwords.com/gimme-that/) - "Hey what's in that tin?" "Ok, give me one please." "Which chocolates are in here? Ok, I'll take one." "WAIT! Add this to the order please!" "OMG when you find these they're usually $100. I'll take it!" Welcome to summer shorts with GOW. Today's topic: Gimme that. I was listening to the Planet Money podcast
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 10 –  Big Dumb Vacuums](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-10-big-dumb-vacuums/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 10- Big Dumb Vacuums Imaginary gift certificates What’s this podcast about? Amanda gets herself into 437 initiatives. She says she’s not actually ambitious, she just sees big dumb vacuums. How much emotional labor is too much emotional labor in business? Also kind of a lot
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 9 – LOCAL COLOR](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-9-local-color/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 9- LOCAL COLOR LOOK AT THAT What’s this podcast about? Green chilis for everyone! Katie talks about lessons learned from her time in New Mexico, including bathrooms. Can you teach people to be creative? Highlights: Katie shows her giraffe birthday gifts from her mom Discussion
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 8 – SEROTONIN FOR MONEY](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-8-serotonin-for-money/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 8- SEROTONIN FOR MONEY Create a Garden Wonderland What’s this podcast about? Last in the episode but first in Katie's priority list: Check out the GORGEOUS new book "Garden Wonderland" by Leslie Bennett and Julie Chai. Katie gives a review. (And she's real picky about
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 7 – Cringe Mountain](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-7-cringe-mountain/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 7 - Cringe Mountain Make your art What’s this podcast about? A post-eclipse episode that will still be fun two months later. Katie and Amanda talk about why unscripted social media is important, how Amy Stewart is Katie's Beyonce, and how people who have already
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 6 – Adventureland!](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-6-adventureland/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 6 - Adventureland! Wired for Novelty What’s this podcast about? Katie shares her Harry Styles origin story. Amanda brings up the Apple Surcharge when boosting posts from the app and why you might or might not want to boost posts and why if you’re really
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 5 – SPACE](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-5-space/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 5 - SPACE There actually IS crying in business What’s this podcast about? During episode 5 Katie made Amanda cry, but it was a good cry. Katie discussed how she crawled out of her worst year (personally) of business, 2022, and why you might not
- [AI for Growers, Grower Talks, October 2023](https://thegardenofwords.com/ai-for-growers-grower-talks-october-2023/) - read more
- [I Saw the Sign, Green Profit, March 2024](https://thegardenofwords.com/i-saw-the-sign-green-profit-march-2024/) - read more
- [Tech List Checklist, Green Profit, March 2024](https://thegardenofwords.com/tech-list-checklist-green-profit-march-2024/) - read more
- [The Easiest Way to Increase Repeat Visit Frequency, Green Profit, January 2024](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-easiest-way-to-increase-repeat-visit-frequency-green-profit-january-2024/) - read more
- [Trendspotting: Is Silver the New White?, Green Profit, January 2024](https://thegardenofwords.com/trendspotting-is-silver-the-new-white-green-profit-january-2024/) - read more
- [Embracing the New, Green Profit, September 2023](https://thegardenofwords.com/embracing-the-new-green-profit-september-2023/) - read more
- [How AI Can Impact You, Green Profit, July 2023](https://thegardenofwords.com/how-ai-can-impact-you-green-profit-july-2023/) - read more
- [AI for Growers: Growing Plants Edition, Grower Talks, April 2024](https://thegardenofwords.com/ai-for-growers-growing-plants-edition-grower-talks-april-2024/) - Read more
- [Terrific Trade Show Prep & Follow-up, Grower Talks, March 2024](https://thegardenofwords.com/terrific-trade-show-prep-follow-up-grower-talks-march-2024/) - Read more
- [Service in Real Time, Grower Talks, September 2023](https://thegardenofwords.com/service-in-real-time-grower-talks-september-2023/) - read more
- [Wholesale to Retail, Grower Talks, March 2023](https://thegardenofwords.com/wholesale-to-retail-grower-talks-march-2023/) - read more
- [Getting a Handle on Your Data, Grower Talks, February 2023](https://thegardenofwords.com/getting-a-handle-on-your-data-grower-talks-february-2023/) - Read more
- [Resources to Share, Grower Talks, January 2023](https://thegardenofwords.com/resources-to-share-grower-talks-january-2023/) - Read more
- [Increase Sales With B2B Email Marketing, Grower Talks, December 2022](https://thegardenofwords.com/increase-sales-with-b2b-email-marketing-grower-talks-december-2022/) - read more
- [SMS for B2B, Grower Talks, November 2022](https://thegardenofwords.com/sms-for-b2b-grower-talks-november-2022/) - read more
- [Start Something Good, Grower Talks, March 2022](https://thegardenofwords.com/start-something-good-grower-talks-march-2022/) - read more
- [Four Ways The Garden Center at Johnson Nursery Delights Customers, Green Profit, May 2023](https://thegardenofwords.com/four-ways-the-garden-center-at-johnson-nursery-delights-customers-green-profit-may-2023/) - READ MORE
- [Making Room for Local Makers, Green Profit, April 2023](https://thegardenofwords.com/making-room-for-local-makers-green-profit-april-2023/) - read more
- [Care About SEO, Green Profit, December 2022](https://thegardenofwords.com/care-about-seo-green-profit-december-2022/) - read more
- [E-commerce to Enhance Brick-and-Mortar Retail, Green Profit, December 2022](https://thegardenofwords.com/e-commerce-to-enhance-brick-and-mortar-retail-green-profit-december-2022/) - reAD MORE
- [How to Deep Clean Your Website, Green Profit, November 2022](https://thegardenofwords.com/how-to-deep-clean-your-website-green-profit-november-2022/) - READ MORE
- [Trendspotting: Dry is the New Fresh, Green Profit, July 2022](https://thegardenofwords.com/trendspotting-dry-is-the-new-fresh-green-profit-july-2022/) - READ MORE
- [Make Room for Merch, Green Profit, June 2022](https://thegardenofwords.com/make-room-for-merch-green-profit-june-2022/) - READ MORE
- [Getting What You Want, Green Profit, March 2022](https://thegardenofwords.com/getting-what-you-want-green-profit-march-2022/) - READ MORE
- [Tips for Hiring Tech Professionals, Green Profit, January 2022](https://thegardenofwords.com/tips-for-hiring-tech-professionals-green-profit-january-2022/) - READ MORE
- [Moon Units ](https://thegardenofwords.com/moon-units/) - 36 hours in-state and I could see why New Mexico has a reputation for contact with alien life. You're SO HIGH UP (closer for space ships to land). There's NO COVER (lots of room for landing). It's . . . different. There's a musical highway*, for goodness sake. Before jaunting to NM, I was in
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 2 - I Do What I Want](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-2-i-do-what-i-want/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 2 – I Do What I want And customers should want that, too What’s this podcast about? It’s about owning a retail store and and taking up space and marketing and also whatever we want! Highlights: Amanda comes back from a trip to the Epcot
- [Open & Awkward: The Pilot - Let's Make a Podcast!](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-the-pilot-lets-make-a-podcast/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda The Pilot - Let's Make a Podcast! What's this podcast about? It’s about owning a retail store and and taking up space and marketing and also whatever we want! We’re calling this our “pilot episode” because we interrupt and talk over each other incessantly and we
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 4 – Bog Life](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-amp-awkward-episode-4-bog-life/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 4 - Bog Life Hoist the Sails (to boost your sales!) What’s this podcast about? When you plant magic beans, what do you reap? (That got super existential super fast. Well, what do you expect when Amanda is taking business advice from alien mediums? Today
- [Open & Awkward: Episode 3 – Flop Sweats](https://thegardenofwords.com/open-awkward-episode-3-flop-sweats/) - Open & Awkward: Shop Talk with Katie & Amanda Episode 3 - Flop Sweats And why things cost $75 What’s this podcast about? This one’s mostly about community: local community, community with other business owners, what it means to be a part of one’s community. It’s nearly impossible to summarize an episode, but that’s a
- [CULTIVATE' 24](https://thegardenofwords.com/cultivate-talks/) - Creating the BEST Branded Digital Content of Your Life – A Traveling Workshop Transform and revolutionize your brand's digital presence in this traveling workshop. You will learn insights, best practices, and editing secrets for immediate implementation from the industry’s leading content creators. We will analyze real-world examples before heading out into the field to dive
- [HUMP DAY QUICKIE](https://thegardenofwords.com/hump-day-quickie/) - We were at the end of my Q&A session at the Canadian Greenhouse Conference and I had asked the crowd: does anyone offer pre-ordering online? "I do," said someone near the front. "Who are you with?" I asked. "Deb's Greenhouse." I looked harder at her . . . "ARE YOU DEB?!?!" I shouted. She smiled.
- [HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?](https://thegardenofwords.com/how-did-this-happen/) - My headshot has been replaced with a genuine "Insert picture here" moment. I'll be back next month. I call my parents every morning while I'm taking Bogart to daycamp. One Friday after Thanksgiving Dad said he had something to discuss with me. Could I call him later? Here's what we had to discuss: The center
- [5 REASONS TO USE SMS](https://thegardenofwords.com/5-reasons-to-use-sms/) - SMS stands for Short Message Service, and can benefit your business in a multitude of ways. When you sign up to receive text alerts or promos from a business, that’s SMS — and smart businesses use it as a part of their overall marketing strategy to get and keep valuable customers. Let’s take a look
- [ANATOMY OF AN SMS](https://thegardenofwords.com/anatomy-of-an-sms/) - If SMS (short message service) isn’t a part of your overall marketing strategy, it really should be. SMS is a text messaging service and typically has over a 90% open rate, making it a super effective marketing strategy when done correctly. Emphasis on “done correctly.” In this blog post, we’re going to talk about what
- [Try the Soup](https://thegardenofwords.com/try-the-soup/) - "ORDER FOR KATIE!" I collected my ham biscuit from the counter of this bougie new place in Wilmington that's a coffee shop by day and a disco bar by night. It has the requisite mid century modern decor, a hipster name (The Ibis, cousin establishment to The Starling down the road) and a dedicated DJ
- [What Are You Going to Do With That?](https://thegardenofwords.com/what-are-you-going-to-do-with-that/) - "What are you going to do with that?" "Look at it occasionally." "Can I buy that?" "Uh, no. It's in my sketchbook." "You should sell those." During dinner after the first day of urban sketching workshops at MISA (Madeline Island School of Arts) on Madeline Island, Wisconsin, my fellow sketchers and I commiserated about how nice
- [Email Marketing Lunch and Learn](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-lunch-and-learn/) - Today's a shortie. (BRB with regular emails the week after next. I already have a story!) Dad and I were planting bulbs for my sister last weekend. "If I were doing this myself, it would have taken 2 hours," he said. "And I would still be sure that I did it wrong." It took us
- [Email Marketing Tips: Print The Mystery Flyer](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-print-the-mystery-flyer/) - I made you something to print and hang at your desk. You can even choose with or without Harry Styles. Day 30: Print the mystery flyer and hang it above your desk. No, you don't have to sign up for my emails to get it. No, it's not creepy. Yes, it will make a difference
- [Email Marketing Tips: Always Link Your Logo To Your Homepage](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-always-link-your-logo-to-your-homepage/) - Day 29: Link your pictures. "I'm all good," you might think, when in reality your logo has never been linked to your website. Your individual plant pictures don't go anywhere. You have beautiful event graphics that aren't clickable. And somewhere, I'm crying softly into my sequined Harry Styles pillow because people just. . . won't.
- [Email Marketing Tips: Thank Your Customer - For Real!](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-thank-your-customer-for-real/) - Day 28: Thank Your Customer - For Real! "Katie, you're the best!" That was the creepy personalization that accompanied a coupon for $5 off my order of $50 or more from my favorite clothing store. Y'all, that is NOT a thank you. A thank you is a GREAT offer or a free gift with purchase
- [Email Marketing Tip: Create A Template And Use It!](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tip-create-a-template-and-use-it/) - Day 27: Create a template and use it! Who is this from? That is NOT what you want customers to think when they open your email. So, create an email template with your brand colors and style of fonts. Work within that so that your communications are instantly recognizable. This might be a relief: you
- [Email Marketing Tips: Make a Splashy "Need Image" Placeholder](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-make-a-splashy-need-image-placeholder/) - Day 26: Make a Splashy "Need Image" Placeholder HORRORS! You sent an email and it has the wrong header image. Here's how to avoid that: Make a FLASHY "Need image" image to use wherever you need a placeholder. It should be something TOTALLY UNRELATED to what usually goes in your emails. That way it will
- [Email Marketing Tips: Always Be TESTING](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-always-be-testing/) - Day 25: ABT: Always Be TESTING Put a button there! Don't put a button there! Make it red! Make it blue! Put the offer in the subject line! Don't! How do you know what to do? A/B Test! Use your email program to test this versus that and see what works for you!
- [Email Marketing Tips: Reblast Successful Campaigns](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-reblast-successful-campaigns/) - Day 24: Reblast successful campaigns. (And important campaigns.) You might remember this one from earlier in the month, or not. See what I did there? Several people said "This is such a useful but underrated tip!" So I'm re-sharing it. To be honest, I'm inspired by Amanda Thomsen because she ALWAYS shares her hours in
- [Email Marketing Tips: Mobile- Friendly Design](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-mobile-friendly-design/) - 30 Days of Email Marketing Tips: Day 23 How to go mobile:Think THUMBS! Make every possible non text element clickable. It is much easier to tap a photo or button than linked text. Put side-by-side content in two columns so it will stack. (That allows it to be viewed larger.) Use call to action (CTA)
- [Email Marketing Tips: Make Emails Skimmable](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-make-emails-skimmable/) - Sales went up up up. . . Until they didn’t. Those were some of the words that I bolded in one of my newsletters this summer. If you get my newsletter, you know that I am an extremely longform writer. I tell a story, I digress, I share a lot of examples, and I always
- [Email Marketing Tips: Optimize For Mobile](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-optimize-for-mobile/) - I was intrigued by the headline … But when I opened the email, I couldn’t read it. That’s because I was on my phone. That’s where I read most of the emails that I go through that aren’t related to work correspondence. Which means if they are not optimized for mobile, I’m not going to
- [Email Marketing Tips: Celebrate Birthdays And Anniversaries!](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-celebrate-birthdays-and-anniversaries/) - Day 20: Celebrate birthdays and anniversaries! This tip is inspired by my wedding anniversary today! Happy 19 years Joe Peters, LCSW, APHSW-C ! I’m encouraging you to be in contact with customers at the point of their shopping anniversary or their birthday. Although collecting their wedding anniversary (if they want) is actually probably a good
- [Email Marketing Tips: Create A Perpetual Marketing Calendar](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-create-a-perpetual-marketing-calendar/) - Day 19: Create a perpetual Marketing Calendar Format a spreadsheet, with the months along the vertical access and categories such as events, what’s in bloom, deadlines, categories to promote on the horizontal axis. Then fill it in! If you know that you always have a seasonal clearance sale in August, then you’re not gonna have
- [Email Marketing Tips: Post Your Email Content On Your Blog](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-post-your-email-content-on-your-blog/) - Day 18: Post your email content on your blog! Why write it once and let it disappear?Chunk up the email sections into mini blogs.If you write super longform like me, post them as longform blog posts. Those are great for SEO!Everybody always says they’re going to do this but almost nobody ever does. It’s such
- [Email Marketing Tip: Take Tons Of Horizontal And Vertical Pictures](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tip-take-tons-of-horizontal-and-vertical-pictures/) - Day 17: Take Tons Of Horizontal And Vertical Pictures Here is my mantra: videos are popular, but photographs are necessary. Video is popular for social media but if you don’t take pictures while you shoot video as soon as you start working on your email marketing projects, you are going to wish you did. For
- [Email Marketing Tips: Add A Call To Action](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-add-a-call-to-action/) - Day 16: Add a call to action button to the hero image. Sometimes I get pushback on this. “It doesn’t look pretty.”And look, I get it! It’s not as pretty to have a big button right in the middle of an image. However, do you want your emails to look pretty, or do you want
- [Email Marketing Tips: Divide and Conquer](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-divide-and-conquer/) - Day 15: Divide and conquer! If your audience has wildly varying interests, allow them to tell you what they are and then create targeted emails.The emails don’t have to be long or even weekly.But if you constantly email somebody that is here for the plants about nothing but grills, or birds, or pets, they will
- [Email Marketing Tips: Show People!](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-show-people/) - Day 14: Show people! Because we all grow beautiful plants, we mostly show pictures of our beautiful plants! To give your emails extra oomph, add people to the picture. Literally. If you are promoting a class, show people doing that class! If you have a checklist where people can order plants from a display, show
- [Email Marketing Tips: Keep Your Signup Form Simple](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-keep-your-signup-form-simple/) - Day 13: Keep your signup form simple -Use minimal form fields - for every field you include, the number of sign ups will go down. And you don’t need to collect information that you are never going to use. On this example, Easy Elegance collects ZIP Codes because they email to people around the United
- [Email Marketing Tips: Include Business Hours](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-include-business-hours/) - Day 12: Include business hours. It’s really frustrating to have to hunt for business hours. And with so many places they can be listed, and wrong, an email that you send is an easy place to make sure that they are always correct. If your hours change with the seasons, make sure that you keep
- [Email Marketing Tips: Reblast To Opens](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-reblast-to-opens/) - Day 11: Reblast to opens. You spent all this time creating an email and scheduling an event and posting a sale. Let’s say you emailed people on Wednesday but the event is on a Saturday. Most email programs will allow you to see who opened the email. Go ahead and re-blast the email to the
- [ALT TAG TIPS For Plant Websites](https://thegardenofwords.com/alt-tag-tips-for-plant-websites/) - You’ve probably heard of alt tags, right? Alt tags or “alternative tags” serve a few vital purposes on your website: 1) They provide descriptive text in case your image doesn’t load 2) They provide descriptive text for the vision impaired 3) They strengthen your site’s SEO for people searching for what you are offering. 🍀That
- [Email Marketing Tips: Weird Numbers Work](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-weird-numbers-work/) - Day 10: Weird numbers work! Whether it’s a percentage off, a piece of data, or an announcement, using non-round numbers in your email subject line will get you more opens! (DON’T LIE. But embrace the unusual.)
- [Email Marketing Tips: Restate The Hero Image Copy](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-provide-quick-wins-2/) - Day 9: Restate the hero image copy in the body copy. If the images don’t load, or you forget the alt text or if there is a lot going on in/on the image, readers might miss the text on the image.It’s not repetitive to restate the offer or other info. It’s a service to your
- [Email Marketing Tips: Provide Quick Wins](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-provide-quick-wins/) - Day 8: Provide quick wins. It is absolutely OK to have people click to your website to get more information on things. However, it is also super important to immediately reward their attention and their open. Give them a complete thought or a complete experience in at least one area of your email. These can
- [Email Marketing Tips: Segment Your List For Better Results](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-segment-your-list-for-better-results/) - Day 6: Segment your list to improve results and reduce churn! Segmenting often seems like something mysterious and complicated that only super professionals can do but that is not the case anymore. Most email service providers like Mailchimp or Klaviyo or Constant Contact make it easy to create segments. By segmenting your list and sending
- [Email Marketing Tips: One Color For Links](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-one-color-for-links/) - Day 5: choose one color to use for links and buttons and don’t use that color for anything else in the email. Ideally, that color will be one of your brand colors.Doing that will help give people a visual cue that this part of the email is meant to be clicked.Which is why you don’t
- [Email Marketing Tips: Learn The Lingo](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-learn-the-lingo/) - (Why? Because I like a challenge and I don’t want to give up caffeine.) Day 4: Learn the Lingo It’s much easier to get a service provider to give you the help that you need when you can speak their language. Two words will help you a lot when understanding what your email marketing team
- [Email Marketing Tips: Add a "View in Browser" Link](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-add-a-view-in-browser-link/) - (Why? I like challenges, but I don’t want to drink apple cider vinegar every day.) Day 3: Add a “view in browser” link! Preferably at the top of the email. If your email gets clipped by the email client like Gmail or Outlook, or if somebody wants to share the email with someone else, or
- [Email Marketing Tips: Link Your Logo To Your Homepage](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-link-your-logo-to-your-homepage/) - (Why? I like a challenge and don't want to do 30 days of pushups.) Day 2: Link your logo to your website homepage. It's basically the "easy button" to your website. Not linking it almost guarantees that some people who would have visited your site from your email won't bother.Do I mention this a lot?
- [Email Marketing Tips: Accessibility Matters](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tips-accessibility-matters/) - (Why? I like a challenge and don't want to do 30 days of pushups. And we're approaching *HOLIDAY* season, so let's crush it!) Day 1. Accessibility Matters. Want people to buy from you? They have to be able to READ your content. Please follow these tips and not the example image with the big X
- [Do you see what I see?](https://thegardenofwords.com/do-you-see-what-i-see/) - "In a few months you'll drive by a building and you won't think 'yellow building', you'll think 'Cadmium yellow'," Amy said to me. "You'll look at something on Instagram and think, 'I wonder how they did that?' and then you'll try to figure out how to do it yourself. Well, a few years in, I can say
- [7 TIPS TO CREATING TRUST WITH YOUR AUDIENCE](https://thegardenofwords.com/7-tips-to-creating-trust-with-your-audience/) - As digital marketers, it goes without saying that our work is done online, typically with people we haven’t met in person. We carefully craft emails, send newsletters, let them know when we have a sale or promotion, highlight how they can work with us. We pay attention to social media and set up SMS communication.
- [WHY DID THE PRINCIPAL CROSS THE ROAD?](https://thegardenofwords.com/why-did-the-principal-cross-the-road/) - WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT PARKING! DO NOT PARK DOWNTOWN! WE HAVE PLENTY OF SPACES FOR YOU! THOSE SPACES ARE AT THE CARMEL FOOTBALL STADIUM! DO PARK HERE: DO NOT PARK HERE: *sound of crosswalk button being pushed* "I love this place." If you watch this video you'll get to see the Carmel High School Principal
- [Lego my Spaceship](https://thegardenofwords.com/lego-my-spaceship/) - "There are actually a high percentage of wholesale orders that come in off of your consumer emails." "Really?" "I'd say, this year it's probably 80% but we'll run the numbers." "Really?!?!" "Yeah. And I'm pretty sure I know why." Part of this conversation made me understand I need to add a few more people to
- [5 WAYS TO CAPTURE MORE REVENUE FROM ONLINE GARDEN TALKS](https://thegardenofwords.com/5-ways-to-capture-more-revenue-from-online-garden-talks/) - If you’ve created an online garden talk (or several!) — congratulations! While we’ve mostly focused on in-person garden presentations in the past, online talks are simply another way to connect with your audience and expand your business. (And, in the time of COVID, offering online talks is an essential part of any speaker’s business model.)
- [No pictures, please!](https://thegardenofwords.com/no-pictures-please/) - I've only been to this store once. It's a shame, really, because it's on what my friend would call my "Saturday Circuit." Here's what's got my knickers in a twist. This sign: "No Photos" "No Videos" (They're moving locations and currently closed, so I snapped that pic through the window one night while walking to
- [HOW TO CREATE A BRAND KIT IN CANVA](https://thegardenofwords.com/how-to-create-a-brand-kit-in-canva/) - If you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll already know that we have a love affair going with Canva, and in this blog post, we’re going to tell you why. And we’re pretty sure you’re going to join the Canva Fan Club (if there is one) when you’re done reading. Specifically, today we’re talking
- [8 THINGS TO INCLUDE IN EVERY EMAIL OR NEWSLETTER](https://thegardenofwords.com/8-things-to-include-in-every-email-or-newsletter/) - We love that you are sending your list emails and/or a regular newsletter! To help your digital marketing be the most successful, each time you send out a correspondence to your list, these 8 things should be included. Every time. Miss one, and you’re missing opportunities to connect, communicate, educate, and sell. 8 Things to
- [7 SIGNS THAT YOU NEED TO REBRAND YOUR BUSINESS](https://thegardenofwords.com/7-signs-that-you-need-to-rebrand-your-business/) - Argghhhh! Whenever you think of rebranding your business, it might feel overwhelming to you. After all, you spent so much time branding it in the first place, right? It’s like moving —anyone who has sold a house and moved is usually in no hurry to do it again anytime soon. But, sometimes rebranding is necessary,
- [Millennials also killed sea glass](https://thegardenofwords.com/millennials-also-killed-sea-glass/) - "You can power walk or beach comb but you can't do both." My friend Susan's wise words came back to me yesterday while I was at the beach for a WALK. Every time I started to slow down to look for teeth, I muttered to myself, "Eyes on the prize. EYES. ON. THE. PRIZE." Some
- [We are transparent about what we charge for our services!](https://thegardenofwords.com/we-are-transparent-about-what-we-charge-for-our-services/) - You know you need some help to grow your business, and you've been thinking about hiring someone or a team to get things done. That's smart of you! But you need to budget for it, of course, and that's why we're transparent about what we charge for our services.⁠🌺⁠When you work with us, you know
- [What was your favorite memory as a kid?⁠](https://thegardenofwords.com/what-was-your-favorite-memory-as-a-kid/) - We can't wait to hear your answers to this one! What was your favorite memory as a kid?⁠🌸⁠Jenny here: I grew up in the late 60s/early 70s (yep, I'm old), and every Saturday morning my sister and a few neighborhood friends and I would pack sack lunches and go exploring in the woods around our
- [Grow your audience!](https://thegardenofwords.com/grow-your-audience/) - Do you have your social media accounts posted on your website and in your emails and newsletters? It's a great way to grow your audience! Let's say someone signs up for your emails; that's wonderful. But then they see you're on, say, Instagram, and they think, "Oh, I'll follow them there, that'll be fun!" And
- [We don’t rest on our laurels!](https://thegardenofwords.com/we-dont-rest-on-our-laurels/) - Oh, we couldn't begin to count the times we tried something and it didn't work. Or at least, it didn't work the way we thought it would. Guess what? It didn't kill us. ⁠🌟⁠And our clients didn't kill us. We quickly regrouped, figured out another way, came up with a different idea, implemented it, and
- [Team Tips: Proofreading](https://thegardenofwords.com/team-tips-proofreading/) - We can't do without our Claire! While we're all pretty good writers, we depend upon Claire's ninja skill of proofreading before the copy gets drafted and sent out the door. ⁠🌺⁠Claire recommends proofing first with your eyes, then reading the copy out loud — it's amazing what will jump out at you that your eyes
- [Preferred email marketing platforms to choose from!](https://thegardenofwords.com/preferred-email-marketing-platforms-to-choose-from/) - There are lots of email marketing platforms to choose from, and while we will work with any one our clients already have up and running, Mailchimp and Klaviyo are our preferred programs. Here's why:⁠🌟⁠Mailchimp: It's great for smaller monthly or bi-monthly newsletters, has free options to get started, and has the basic elements you need
- [HOW TO CREATE A WELCOME SERIES OF EMAILS](https://thegardenofwords.com/how-to-create-a-welcome-series-of-emails/) - You’re building your email list — hooray! You’ve taken time to create an amazing lead magnet (“freebie” that entices people to sign up for your newsletter) and you’re looking actively at ways to grow that list to support your business. But if you haven’t set up your Welcome Email series yet, now’s the time. In
- [DOES MY BUSINESS NEED A BLOG?](https://thegardenofwords.com/does-my-business-need-a-blog/) - In a word, no. But let’s dive into this, because as with everything in your business, it depends upon your overall strategy and goals. Reasons to Blog Back when blogging was brand new, if you weren’t blogging, you weren’t very current. Everyone had a blog. Everyone. People obsessed over creating 3 new blog posts per
- [THE BEST TIMES TO SEND YOUR NEWSLETTER](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-best-times-to-send-your-newsletter/) - You put so much time and effort into creating a valuable newsletter for your audience, from the timely tips and inspiring images to carefully curated links and tutorials. The entire goal is to get as many eyes on that newsletter as possible, so choosing when to send it is a vital step in this process.
- [In the checkout line](https://thegardenofwords.com/in-the-checkout-line/) - John D. Duff of P. Duff and Sons applied for the first boxed cake mix patent on December 10, 1930. His mix required bakers to add only water. The mixes became popular during the Great Depression because they allowed families to have a treat when money for eggs and milk was scarce. "Betty Crocker," our
- [Two (or 6) heads are better than one!](https://thegardenofwords.com/two-or-6-heads-are-better-than-one/) - Can we get an amen on this quote? We've steadily grown our teammates over the years here at GOW and we've learned a thing or two as a result.⁠💜⁠Two (or 6) heads are better than one. Mind melds are vital. Everyone's voice is important. At the end of the day, usually one person is responsible/accountable
- [Use an online calendar in Google Sheets to plan out your social media content!](https://thegardenofwords.com/use-an-online-in-google-sheets-to-plan-out-your-social-media-content/) - If you're in charge of social media for your company, or you do your own social media, it can be a challenge to plan out your content, can't it? And if you have more than one person involved in that planning, you both need to be on the same page so there's a clear strategy
- [Embrace trends and have fun!](https://thegardenofwords.com/embrace-trends-and-have-fun/) - This week's #TeamTip comes from Heather, our email marketing department manager! Heather encourages us to embrace trends in your work — while you don't need to jump on every single bandwagon, selectively participating in some trends tells your audience you're plugged in and connected, and that you pay attention.⁠🌺⁠Some trends for our industry include:⁠Houseplants⁠Pantone Color of the
- [YOU are your own boss!](https://thegardenofwords.com/you-are-your-own-boss/) - Whether you're your own boss, have teammates, clients, customers, or subcontractors, it's the same. YOU are your own boss and YOU get to decide what is okay and not okay. (We're gonna talk more, but read Katie's blog "You're the Boss of You" through link in bio!)⁠🌟⁠Yes, you may have a boss, but you're still
- [Did you know that Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday?" ](https://thegardenofwords.com/did-you-know-that-mardi-gras-means-fat-tuesday/) - Well, we're always in support of a good party around here, and coincidentally love that Mardi Gras aligns with our brand colors so well. Fat Tuesday is apparently about all manner of excess and merrymaking - using up all of the "fats" in the kitchen in anticipation of upcoming weeks of fasting and deprivation.⁠💜⁠For the
- [Use proofreading tools to perfect your writing!](https://thegardenofwords.com/use-proofreading-tools-to-perfect-your-writing/) - When you're sending out a newsletter, an email, or publishing a blog post or web page, it really does pay to proofread your work. At The Garden of Words, we have a proofreader on our team (Claire) who catches all of our weird mistakes, but you can also use a free tool like @grammarly.⁠ Now, this
- [Building a Bench + Being the Bench](https://thegardenofwords.com/building-a-bench-being-the-bench-2/) - We've been having fun lately going through some older blog posts that Katie wrote before some of the other team members starting writing blog posts for The Garden of Words. This was before GOW was an agency and Katie had to do all the work herself.⁠ Building a Bench + Being the Bench is about
- [Real or not real?](https://thegardenofwords.com/real-or-not-real/) - Have you seen the video floating around Instagram and TikTok featuring a large American Airlines plane with audio of the co-captain talking to the tower about landing because the captain in training had died in the chair next to him? Here's what the audio says, to begin: "Eh Tower Envoy 3356 we need to return." Envoy
- [Does your business have SMS marketing set up? ](https://thegardenofwords.com/does-your-business-have-sms-marketing-set-up/) - Marketing messages sent by text message are 🔥--with most people receiving content on their smart phones rather than their computers, it's a super-smart way to market quickly and effectively.⁠ If you are wondering if it's worth it, we'll just say that in the last 12 months, we've helped our clients make up to $200k through
- [Does your website have your business' hours clearly stated?](https://thegardenofwords.com/does-your-website-have-your-business-hours-clearly-stated/) - Does your website have your business' hours clearly stated? Whether you're a brick-and-mortar shop or an online business, your customers and clients should have a clear expectation of when they can work with you. 🪴⁠ It not only helps people connect with you efficiently, it creates great boundaries for your business as well.⁠ 🪴⁠ You'll
- [TEAM TIPS: Email Marketing](https://thegardenofwords.com/team-tips-email-marketing/) - When you send out an email or newsletter, link your logo back to your website! This is an easy way for your customers or clients to order or book you — make it as easy for them as possible to find you and your services.⁠🌺⁠Plus, you know human nature. People just start clicking on everything,
- [Champagne Problems and Trader Joe's Dreams](https://thegardenofwords.com/champagne-problems-and-trader-joes-dreams/) - KATIE ELZER PLEASE PICK UP A RED COURTESY PHONE. KATIE ELZER PLEASE PICK UP A RED COURTESY PHONE. Not what you want to hear at the airport 971 miles from home. I found a courtesy phone. "I uh have a message saying 'Please call your parents.'" REALLY NOT WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR AT THE
- [Email Marketing Tip](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-tip/) - Remember to link your logo to your website homepage in your marketing emails. You would be AMAZED at the number of marketing emails or newsletters that don't do this. It's an easy fix that can make a big difference in sending customers to your website. ⁠ If I want to get to your website quickly,
- [Responsible vs Accountable](https://thegardenofwords.com/responsible-vs-accountable/) - If you're a one-person company, then the buck stops with you. If you have teammates, however, then it's crucial to determine who is doing what.⁠ A few years ago, our teammates had some training with leadership & business coach @theresaloe, and she explained the difference between being responsible for something and being accountable for it —
- [What's a Bucket List Item for you?](https://thegardenofwords.com/whats-a-bucket-list-item-for-you/) - It's the Wednesday get-to-know-you question! Close your eyes and imagine that money is no object, time is a mere suggestion, and your creativity is in overflow. What is ONE THING you'd like to do, experience, or achieve?⁠ Drop a comment with your ultimate Bucket List item! Some of ours?⁠Katie - to take a river cruise
- [I forced a bot to watch 1,000 hours of zoom meetings...](https://thegardenofwords.com/i-forced-a-bot-to-watch-1000-hours-of-zoom-meetings/) - When I was in 12th grade, my flute teacher Mrs. Contino told me that when she was in school (roughly 1957) her teachers told her that a big problem in the future would be the over-abundance of leisure time and the failure of humankind to use it well. I'm not sure about you . . . But I'm
- [Free 15-Minute Discovery Call](https://thegardenofwords.com/free-15-minute-discovery-call/) - Ever wonder what happens after these free 15-minute discovery calls with Katie? Well, there's a few things!⁠ After she discovers what you need:⁠1. If it's not in our wheelhouse, we'll refer you out to someone we trust.⁠⁠2. We'll send you a quote that day if what you need is in our regular offerings.⁠⁠3. If it's
- [5 Must-Haves For a Mobile Friendly Website](https://thegardenofwords.com/5-must-haves-for-a-mobile-friendly-website-2/) - Is your website mobile-friendly? Most people use their phone to access the internet if they are not sitting and working at a desk, so you want to be sure your website is a good experience for them.⁠ Our blog post gives you 5 things to work on to make sure your readers have that great
- [TEAM TIPS: Copywriting](https://thegardenofwords.com/team-tips-copywriting/) - The best way to get people to read your emails and blog posts? Create snappy titles that people won't forget. Copywriter Rachel says that intriguing titles make people want to read more.⁠ Use alliteration, puns, action verbs, interesting adjectives, or even oddball phrases (we'll get to that in a minute). However you structure your titles,
- [Does SEO Make You Swirl or Swoon?!](https://thegardenofwords.com/does-seo-make-you-swirl-or-swoon/) - Does SEO (search engine optimization) make your head swirl and give you the swoons? It doesn't need to! In the December issue of @growertalksgreenprofit, Katie explains what SEO is, why it matters, and how to use it to grow your business.On Google, the first non-ad link will get 39% of the clicks of people searching that
- [SMS Tips](https://thegardenofwords.com/sms-tips/) - Getting into SMS marketing this year? Two quick tips:⁠1. Include a picture if you're selling something visual. ⁠2. ALWAYS include a link to encourage further action. ⁠
- [What, like it's hard?](https://thegardenofwords.com/what-like-its-hard-pausing-before-reacting/) - "Is it difficult to get fingerprints?" The question was innocent enough. It was just. . . the wording. Took me a minute to realize that, though. So instead I replied something like this: I DON'T KNOW, DAD. I GUESS SO BUT THEN HERE'S THE THING AFTER YOU PAY THE MONEY AND THEN YOU GET AN
- [Team Tips](https://thegardenofwords.com/team-tips/) - Jenny does a lot of things at The Garden of Words. She does social media, writes blog posts, creates graphics, and pens email content. Her tip for today? Don't stress out about trying to make something perfect!⁠ We pride ourselves with putting out really excellent content. We want it to be the best it can
- [Katie's On The Road!](https://thegardenofwords.com/katies-on-the-road/) - There's no holding Katie back! As much as she loves writing and scheming at work, she also loves speaking, traveling, and meeting people — which is fortunate, considering her upcoming Jan./Feb. speaking schedule!⁠ Northern Green: Trade show and conference for green industry professionals. Jan. 10-12 in Minneapolis, MN.⁠ TPIE: The Tropical Plant International Expo (TPIE)
- [That's All, Folks!](https://thegardenofwords.com/thats-all-folks/) - "Here are my keys. Here's my phone. "I might pack my desk." What I thought was going to be my routine evaluation was actually a write-up. You are suspended for one week without pay. When you return, your staff will not be under your supervision anymore. When you return, your office is moving from the garden
- [Team Tips: Email Marketing](https://thegardenofwords.com/team-tips-email-marketing-alt-tags/) - Use alt tags for all images! Heather is the manager of our email marketing department, and her tip today touches on something that is all too easy to overlook: Alt tags for your images. ⁠WHY: Because they appear in place of an image in case it fails to load. They also are used by screen-reading
- [Our tip: Start at the finish line and work backwards.⁠](https://thegardenofwords.com/our-tip-start-at-the-finish-line-and-work-backwards-⁠/) - Got a big project coming up? Maybe it's an email campaign, an important newsletter, a webinar, a presentation. Anything you're creating that is delivered to an audience. Our tip: Start at the finish line and work backwards.⁠ That may sound counterintuitive, but it's actually pretty genius. We didn't make it up, but we do use
- [BATCHING YOUR CONTENT](https://thegardenofwords.com/batching-your-content/) - Have you ever proudly stated that you are an amazing multitasker? We used to, too! But did you know that multitasking — switching back and forth between multiple tasks — takes up to 40% more time to get these tasks done, and can reduce your short-term IQ by 15 points? Multitasking takes an unnecessary toll
- [FINDING THE SWEET SPOT BETWEEN FREE AND PAID OFFERINGS](https://thegardenofwords.com/finding-the-sweet-spot-between-free-and-paid-offerings/) - If your business has an online presence where you provide your audience with any kind of content, at some point you’ll wonder how to make the leap into offering a product or content for sale. As in, actual money. This should be a part of your overall marketing strategy, and it literally pays to think
- [Fall Lunch and Learn](https://thegardenofwords.com/fall-lunch-and-learn/) - Learn 5 quick things to fix on your website to make it easier for customers to navigate. Jump into the hot seat for a free website evaluation. Ask Katie alllllll your questions to get ready for 2023. ⁠Link to register!⁠
- [Why Hire a Specialist](https://thegardenofwords.com/why-hire-a-specialist/) - It doesn’t matter whether you can read the text on this graphic while viewing it on Instagram. (It was made for viewing at a much larger size. The important part is noticing the difference between Katie’s chicken scratch tearsheet (messy example) and the nice graphic that our graphic artist @hightowergraphics turned it into!🎨That’s what a specialist can
- [Sparkling Liquid Death](https://thegardenofwords.com/sparkling-liquid-death/) - I'd like a sparkling Liquid Death and a box of popcorn, please. That'll be $12.47. That's it. That's the newsletter. No, really. I wanted to do a deep dive into a company that supplies canned water that looks like a tallboy (tall beer) to Live Nation concert venues so that everyone in attendance can carry around a
- [Fall Lunch & Learn](https://thegardenofwords.com/fall-lunch-learn/) - Say yes to SMS!Free lunch & learn Tuesday, Sept 27 noon EDT.Bring your friends!No sales pitch!Just info on doing SMS marketing correctly! Join Katie Elzer-Peters, CEO of The Garden of Words for free Marketing Lunch* & Learns this fall & winter. *Breakfast & learn if you're in California or Australia. Dinner and learn if you're
- [A powerful reminder of how to claim personal agency](https://thegardenofwords.com/a-powerful-reminder-of-how-to-claim-personal-agency/) - “Between stimulus and response lies a space. In that space lie our freedom and power to choose a response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness.”- Attributed to Viktor Frankl✍️This is such a powerful reminder of how to claim personal agency.✍️It is one that I (Katie) definitely struggle with frequently.✍️One of the most
- [9 TIPS FOR WRITING READABLE NEWSLETTERS](https://thegardenofwords.com/8-tips-for-writing-readable-newsletters/) - You can have the best content in the world, but if your newsletters are hard to read, you haven’t done your job as a communicator. Okay, sorry to start out on a negative, but sometimes you’ve just gotta rip that Band-Aid off, folks. It’s not just what you write, it’s how you write it,
- [Website Tip: Update Your Hours!⁠](https://thegardenofwords.com/website-tip-update-your-hours⁠/) - If your business is closed, has shorter hours, summer Fridays, whatever, update your hours wherever your customers will look for them. ⁠ ⏰ Social media profiles⁠⏰ Website ⁠⏰ Marketing emails⁠It's an easy thing to do to make life easier for your customers. ⁠
- [What <em>do</em> we do at The Garden of Words, exactly? ⁠](https://thegardenofwords.com/what-do-we-do-at-the-garden-of-words-exactly/) - 🌻⁠ We are horticulturists that do marketing strategy and marketing deliverables FOR horticultural companies. ⁠ 🌻⁠ That means we develop and run email marketing programs, we build and manage websites (ecommerce and non-ecommerce), create marketing strategies, develop SMS (text) marketing programs, and more.⁠ 🌻⁠ If you have been struggling to get marketing help that actually
- [Make QR Codes Work For You](https://thegardenofwords.com/make-qr-codes-work-for-you/) - Swipe for 5 tips to get more out of these funky little images. Then click the link in our bio for even more tips from @clthegardenlady. ⁠ 🌿🌿⁠ But wait, there's more!⁠ QR codes have had one of the biggest comebacks we've ever seen. They're now a must-have in ads, on billboards, on signage, basically anything
- [Guac Is Extra](https://thegardenofwords.com/guac-is-extra/) - "May I add cilantro?" "Yes, that will be your fourth topping." "Ok but what about sour cream?" "That would be extra." "Gotcha." (I had read the rules.) "Would you like a drink?" "Yes!" (I had, after all, read the rules.) The Rules: "That will be $27.99." "I'm sorry, what?" (We were at dollar taco night. The
- [Careers Can Be As Accidental As Car Wrecks](https://thegardenofwords.com/careers-can-be-as-accidental-as-car-wrecks/) - I (Katie) meant to manage botanical gardens. ⁠ Vi grew native plants. ⁠ Jenny went to seminary and was a landscape designer. ⁠ Rachel taught yoga. ⁠ Heather was a magazine editor and a garden center manager. ⁠ Gabriela served in the Air Force Reserve. ⁠ None of us *planned* to provide digital marketing and
- [WHAT DO I WRITE ABOUT?](https://thegardenofwords.com/what-do-i-write-about/) - If you’re just now starting a regular email or newsletter to your audience, you may wonder what on earth to write about. Sounds funny, since we’re garden communicators, right? But trust us; we’ve been there, too, staring at that blank screen. Your newsletters don’t have to be long, but they do need to add value
- [SMS for B2B](https://thegardenofwords.com/sms-for-b2b/) - Is there anything that you might not have forgotten to do lately if you had received a text reminder about it? I was talking to Jamie from @midwestgroundcovers for a story that will run in @growertalksgreenprofit later this year and she was remarking how we can all sign up for text alerts in our personal lives. We can get
- [What does ice cream have to do with selling plants?](https://thegardenofwords.com/what-does-ice-cream-have-to-do-with-selling-plants-2/) - 🍦⁠ Many thanks to Wes @boombalattis for sharing his secrets. (I was not at all sad to have to visit their shop to get pictures for the article.)⁠ 🍦⁠ Wes is fantastic at marketing via social media. I recommend following Boom to see how they do it. ⁠ 🍦⁠ One thing I LOVE is that they are
- [Meet team GOW](https://thegardenofwords.com/meet-team-gow/) - “Here’s the story Of a gal named Katie Who really wanted To do marketing. She knew she would be Stronger with others So she built this amazing team!” Meet team GOW! We’re at your service. Gabriela: Web & Operations Manager Heather: Email Marketing Manager Lovelyn: Web and Operations Assistant Jenny: Writer & @greatgardenspeakers Marketing Manager Katie: Owner,
- [5 Must-haves For A Mobile-friendly Website](https://thegardenofwords.com/5-must-haves-for-a-mobile-friendly-website/) - Everybody’s website is a work in progress, including ours. No really, we are smack in the middle of tweaking and optimizing everything mentioned here. So don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t done some of these things. Just schedule a little bit of time every day to work on them or send us a message
- [Three ways running a business is like riding a Ferris Wheel](https://thegardenofwords.com/three-ways-running-a-business-is-like-riding-a-ferris-wheel/) - 🎡: It’s inevitable that somebody else has been in the same position that you now find yourself in. That’s actually pretty great because then you can talk to them about how they dealt with whatever it is you’re dealing with, whether it’s a sudden influx of customers or a big price increase from a supplier.
- [ Just one!](https://thegardenofwords.com/just-one/) - Let’s face it: the world is pretty overwhelming these days. As a business owner it can be difficult to whack all the moles that pop up. 🔨 What helps me is to declare ONE main focus of the week and do at least ONE thing each morning in that focus area before I check my
- [SOURCING IMAGES FOR CONTENT](https://thegardenofwords.com/sourcing-images-for-content/) - Whether you’re a blog writer, social media user, public speaker, or have an image-heavy website, you’ll need high-quality images to support your project. Garden communicators rely heavily on those images—they need to be clear, high resolution, and beautiful. If you’re also a photographer, you’ve got it made. But even then, you may not have the
- [ASSESSING OPEN AND CLICK-THROUGH RATES: HOW DOES YOUR NEWSLETTER STACK UP?](https://thegardenofwords.com/assessing-open-and-click-through-rates-how-does-your-newsletter-stack-up/) - One of the things we love about email marketing is that email platforms like Mailchimp, Klaviyo, and Convertkit make it very easy to see how your readers are enjoying your newsletters. And while there are several ways to check this, we’re going to focus on the two biggies: open rates and click-through rates. These two
- [MEME ME UP](https://thegardenofwords.com/meme-me-up/) - It was pouring rain and my dad and I were waiting for mom to come out of the grocery. I must have been about 10. He was shaking with laughter. This was on the radio: "Who is on first" "WHY ARE YOU ASKIN' ME?" "Who is on first, Lou." "WHAT'S ON SECOND." "That's what I said"
- [UNDERSTANDING INSTAGRAM ANALYTICS](https://thegardenofwords.com/gow-march-1-blog-postunderstanding-instagram-analytics/) - If you’re on Instagram and aren’t getting the results you want, one of the first things you want to do is dive into your analytics. Now, we get it—that sounds a bit technical and daunting. We’re garden communicators, not analysts, right? But Instagram makes this fairly easy, and while there are a million different “metrics”
- [Name it... PLACING AN ORDER](https://thegardenofwords.com/name-it-placing-an-order/) - When you go out to eat, you place an order for your food and then. . . you get what you want! Ideally, that is. ⁠ It's no different when working with a marketing company, or with your team members. ⁠ When you say, "Ok, I'm placing my order," it sounds oddly formal, but it
- [What Email Marketing Can Do For You?](https://thegardenofwords.com/what-email-marketing-can-do-for-you/) - We get asked all the time, "What should I put in my customer emails?" ⁠ A good rule of thumb is always to teach them how to do something. ⁠ We call this a "Quick Win" and it's a way to reward someone for taking the time to open your email. ⁠ What are your
- [DOT cast offs into giant "Whirligigs"](https://thegardenofwords.com/dot-cast-offs-into-giant-whirligigs/) - Where most people saw junk (old street signs), North Carolina resident-turned-artist Vollis Simpson saw art supplies. He turned these DOT cast offs into giant "Whirligigs", kinetic sculptures installed on telephone poles around his yard. ⁠ 🎡⁠To learn more, tap this pic at the link in our bio.⁠ 🎡⁠To grow more, think about what you've been
- [Learn the Lingo: Email Marketing Edition ⁠](https://thegardenofwords.com/learn-the-lingo-email-marketing-edition-⁠/) - 📫 ESP: Email service provider. This is your marketing email service such as MailChimp or Klaviyo.⁠ 📫⁠ Cart Recovery Series: An email or a series of emails automatically sent to shoppers that started checkout but didn't finish. Usually results in high dollars per recipient.⁠ 📫⁠ Dollars per recipient: The amount of money an email makes
- [WHAT’S MY VOICE? 10 WAYS TO HELP YOU HONE IT](https://thegardenofwords.com/whats-my-voice-10-ways-to-help-you-hone-it/) - Whether you’re speaking, writing a blog post, or planning social media captions, you have a “voice.” And if you do any of the above for a company, the company also has a “voice,” and you need to know what it is to effectively communicate your (or the company’s) brand. So, what is the voice and
- [BYOMVP](https://thegardenofwords.com/byomvp/) - SCREECHBYKATIE™ "IDEAS ARE GREAT!" Red Phone Service CILANTROSPEECHBYKATIE™ "My next tattoo will say 'Raise your prices'" "My next tattoo will say '3 Pixels to the Left'" STAND BY FOR TECHNOLOGY "Done is the engine of more." This image: The longer you work with someone the more you develop your own secret language. Inside jokes and
- [By the jelly, by the nuts... by the canned vegetables...?](https://thegardenofwords.com/by-the-jelly-by-the-nuts-by-the-canned-vegetables/) - Does your website have what we like to call a "pickles in the diaper aisle" situation? Let's say you go to the store to pick up a quick jar of pickles. You aren't SUPER sure where they are at this grocery store... but you're an adult. You've purchased pickles before... you can do this. You
- [Website tip: Avoid dead ends](https://thegardenofwords.com/website-tip-avoid-dead-ends/) - Always include call to action (CTA) buttons or links on pages for people to read more, learn more, email you, book a call, contact you, or buy now. ⁠⁠Website visitors WANT you to lead them through the website to help them get what they need. These calls to action help. Not sure what to add
- [We Didn't Start the Fire!](https://thegardenofwords.com/we-didnt-start-the-fire/) - "Einstein, James DeanBrooklyn's got a winning teamDavy Crockett, Peter PanElvis Presley, DisneylandBardot, Budapest, Alabama, KhrushchevPrincess Grace, Peyton PlaceTrouble in the Suez" When I was in seventh grade I could have gotten extra credit if I learned all of the words to "We Didn't Start the Fire." I, however, was much more concerned with making my
- [Name it! Business in Writing](https://thegardenofwords.com/name-it-business-in-writing/) - How much do you love it when you get a receipt for a purchase you made? It's pretty great right? How much more amazing would it be if you could get a receipt that showed everything you discussed and agreed to in a conversation? Pretty rad, we think. Like having a court report for all
- [Email Program Upgrade?](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-program-upgrade/) - Every company has a specialty and ours is big, beautiful, lucrative email marketing campaigns. Regardless of your audience, we are here to support your business by keeping your email marketing list healthy and engaged. If you haven't been paying too much attention to your emails lately, we can help you get back on track... or
- [Limit Text on Pictures](https://thegardenofwords.com/limit-text-on-pictures/) - Our email marketing tip of the week is to limit the amount of text on graphics. Using text on images is complicated for a few reasons: 1. Text in the body of your posts scales with different screen sizes, so the text is always as BIG as it can possibly be. This is especially important
- [IDENTIFYING YOUR AUDIENCE & CREATING YOUR IDEAL AVATAR](https://thegardenofwords.com/identifying-your-audience-creating-your-ideal-avatar/) - Whether you’re a writer, author, speaker, or blogger, everything you put out there is intended to appeal to a specific audience. Maybe you know exactly who your audience is, but maybe you don’t…or it may need updating or revisiting. Since most of us are in the garden/landscape industry, you might be thinking, “Well, my target
- [Do You Need A "Launch" Or A Closeout?](https://thegardenofwords.com/do-you-need-a-launch-or-a-closeout/) - They say closure is a beautiful thing but getting the kind of closure that you need from a marketing agency can be a major challenge if you don't know what to ask for, which is why we made you this handy graphic! But basically it boils down to two important terms: Launch and Closeout. Launch
- [Let's talk about TEXT, Baby!](https://thegardenofwords.com/lets-talk-about-text-baby/) - ACK! Why would anyone give you their cell phone number?⁠ Because they LIKE YOU and they want to hear what you have to say.⁠They're not going to give you their number unless they REALLY want to hear from you.⁠ SMS marketing or text marketing is "permission based marketing." That means you can't text someone unless
- [TEXT BLOCKS⁠](https://thegardenofwords.com/text-blocks⁠/) - A blank sheet of paper is the worst, right? ⁠ You sit down to write and. . . ⁠ Yeah, we know the feeling. Jenny, Katie, Heather, Vi all spend our entire days writing for GOW and for clients. Here's a way we make it easier to get going AND to make sure we're hitting
- [Don't Forget to ALT](https://thegardenofwords.com/dont-forget-to-alt/) - If you have access to the back of your website, you probably swap photos in and out all day long. But if you aren't taking an extra ten seconds and to add ALT text to your photos, you aren't getting as much out of those beautiful images as you could. That's because Google is watching
- [Stack It Up](https://thegardenofwords.com/stack-it-up/) - Ice skating & Running & Surfing & Stand up paddle surfing & Paddleboarding & Prone paddleboarding & Reading & Gardening & Metalsmithing & Knitting & Flute playing & Horseback riding & Pickleball & Rug hooking & Needle felting & Drawing & Watercoloring & Floral Design & Hiking & Brunch & Embroidery & Cooking & Harry
- [Offer Location- Specific Services?](https://thegardenofwords.com/offer-location-specific-services/) - Quick tip: Do you offer location-based services, such as lawn care, professional gardening, workshops, etc.? Make sure to include your service area on your website and/or in your social media profiles. You'd be AMAZED at how many businesses forget to share this crucial bit of info in prominent places in their marketing materials. Shout out
- [That, friends, is a CTA!](https://thegardenofwords.com/that-friends-is-a-cta/) - Some people think too many "shop now" "click here" "learn more" buttons look screamy. In fact, they feel downright weird about putting any "buy now" buttons anywhere in their emails or on their website. Here's the thing: Your website visitors want to find information from you and take action. Those Call To Action buttons and
- [LIVE VIDEO ON FACEBOOK](https://thegardenofwords.com/live-video-on-facebook/) - We’ve long known the power of video—while social media posts with great images command much better engagement than simple text posts, video tops them all. And live video is even more engaging! If this is something that scares the pants off of you, for heaven’s sake, pull up your pants and read our tips. It’s
- [LIVE VIDEO ON INSTAGRAM](https://thegardenofwords.com/live-video-on-instagram/) - If you read our blog post about creating live video for Facebook, now’s your chance to learn about how to do the same thing over on Instagram. Although some tips will be the same, Instagram and Facebook have different features and best practices to keep in mind so that your live video is effective, so
- [5 Reasons to keep marketing when you're busy](https://thegardenofwords.com/5-reasons-to-keep-marketing-when-youre-busy/) - Why keep marketing if you're already busy? Here are 5 reasons why now is the BEST time to keep your foot on the gas. Keep Marketing When You're Busy Because: 1. When you're busy you have more eyes on your business marketing emails, social media, and website. It's your best time to add new subscribers
- [Marketing Munchies with Dr. Bridget Behe](https://thegardenofwords.com/marketing-munchies-with-dr-bridget-behe/) - Literally what IS the all the fuss about Harry Styles gracing the June cover of Better Homes & Gardens magazine? Dr. Bridget Behe and Katie talk about it in episode 184 of the Marketing Munchies podcast. ⁠ Spoiler: Your customers aren't just gardeners. ⁠ They're gardeners AND cooks.⁠ Gardeners AND Harry Styles fans.⁠ Gardeners AND
- [TRENDING: DIY DRY](https://thegardenofwords.com/trending-diy-dry/) - If you've been out and about shopping in home goods stores or paying attention beauty influencers, wedding florists, anyone under the age of 25, and makers, you've probably seen dried flowers. . . everywhere. ⁠ Like almost all things '70s, from disco to macrame. dried flowers are back. They're increasingly becoming staples wherever fresh or
- [Last Mile Services](https://thegardenofwords.com/last-mile-services/) - Are you great at starting projects but have a rough time finishing? Maybe you're afraid to hit "send" on that marketing email. Perhaps you can write content all day, but when it comes to MailChimp, you're stuck. Maybe you have your website copy and pictures pulled together but don't know what to do next. Maybe
- [I Think You'll Want To See This](https://thegardenofwords.com/i-think-youll-want-to-see-this/) - Kevin Coffey, Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Washington Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and his team have spent years of their lives listening to mice and rat squeaks to investigate disorders of the nervous system" Whatever your job is, it isn't that. It appears Kevin wanted it to be "not that," as well. At least, not
- [WHAT’S A BRAND KIT—AND WHY DO I NEED ONE?](https://thegardenofwords.com/whats-a-brand-kit-and-why-do-i-need-one/) - We talk a lot about building your “brand” here at The Garden of Words, and one tool that can help you maintain your branding consistently is a “brand kit.” Whether you work on your own or have a team behind you, a brand kit includes the tools and information you or anyone working for you
- [SMS or SOS?](https://thegardenofwords.com/sms-or-sos/) - Did you know that SMS marketing (text marketing) can have 10 times the conversion rate of email? ⁠Beyond sales, though, SMS has TONS of applications in the garden world. ⁠ 🌳 New plant alerts⁠🌳 Plant care alerts and info⁠🌳 Weekly specials or discounts⁠🌳 Special event reminders⁠🌳 Pre-order deadlines⁠🌳 Availability⁠🌳 Transactional updates (order shipped, delivery incoming)⁠
- [What does ice cream have to do with selling plants?](https://thegardenofwords.com/what-does-ice-cream-have-to-do-with-selling-plants/) - What does ice cream have to do with selling plants? Click the link in our bio to learn more. ⁠ 🍦⁠Many thanks to Wes @boombalattis for sharing his secrets. (I was not at all sad to have to visit their shop to get pictures for the article.)⁠ 🍦⁠Wes is fantastic at marketing via social media. I recommend
- [Want to plant 100 BULBS?](https://thegardenofwords.com/want-this-plant-100-bulbs-not-10/) - This week's newsletter is all about showing, not telling, or how to help people picture abstract concepts. ⁠ 🌷⁠For instance: If people want big bulb displays they need to plant a LOT of bulbs. They don't know what "a lot" is. So you gotta show them. ⁠ 🌷⁠There's a reason why people say "A picture
- [Women in Horticulture](https://thegardenofwords.com/women-in-horticulture/) - It's "Women in Horticulture" week! These are just a few of the fantastic women we work with and are friends with and get to call colleagues. ⁠ In our world, it's "Women in Horticulture" week, every week. ⁠ Tag an amazing Woman in Hort we should get to know!
- [Who I spend it with, working for, working with? ⁠](https://thegardenofwords.com/who-i-spend-it-with-working-for-working-with/) - From Katie:⁠ I read this quote from Elizabeth Lawrence, "There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place, where colors are brighter, the air is softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.” during my remarks opening the garden party to benefit the King's Garden at Fort Ticonderoga. 🌻⁠It was my first job
- [There's SO. MUCH. DATA.](https://thegardenofwords.com/theres-so-much-data/) - There's SO. MUCH. DATA. available now, and it's tempting to take it all in, but as @sethgodin says in his May 14th blog post, if the data isn't going to be used to make decisions, it's not helpful, and can actually produce resistance or friction. The entire (short) blog post is definitely worth a read and think.
- [E-commerce Website - Organicmechanicsoil.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/e-commerce-website-organicmechanicsoil-com/) - let's chat Hort Website – WooCommerce KATIE ELZER-PETERS / APRIL 2, 2019 / WEBSITE CLIENTorganicmechanicsoil.com PROJECT DETAILSThis project was an E-commerce WordPress website build for a soil website using WooCommerce. It's built on the StudioPress theme Infinity Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. We also integrated Google Maps for a simple, search by location directory
- [Ecommerce Website Before & After - Organicmechanicsoil.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/ecommerce-website-organicmechanicsoil-com/) - See Website Details
- [The Designer Magazine – Summer 2016](https://thegardenofwords.com/designer-magazine-summer-2016/) - The Designer Magazine – Summer 2016 KATIE ELZER-PETERS / JUNE 14, 2016 / EDITORIAL CLIENT Association of Professional Landscape Designers PROJECT DETAILS The second issue of The Designer. I’m incredibly fortunate to work with an amazing Art Director, Marti Golon, who turns our words and pictures into a cohesive and beautiful publication. Click below to read
- [Potted and Pruned: Living A Garden Life](https://thegardenofwords.com/potted-pruned-living-garden-life/) - Potted And Pruned: Living A Gardening Life CAROL J. MICHEL / FEBRUARY 23, 2017 / BOOKS CLIENT Carol J. Michel PROJECT DETAILS The Garden of Words, LLC packaged this book for Carol Michel of Gardenangelist Books. We received the manuscript already content-edited and handled project managing, copy editing, cover design, interior layout, proofreading, and manipulating the
- [Beginners Illustrated Guide To Gardening](https://thegardenofwords.com/beginners-illustrated-guide-gardening/) - Beginners Illustrated Guide To Gardening KATIE ELZER-PETERS / / BOOKS CLIENT Cool Springs Press PROJECT DETAILS This book is my baby. It was my first book, and for some unfathomable reason, my publisher and I decided that my team would package this book. We did everything–all writing, photography, design & layout, copy editing, proof reading, and
- [Author/Speaker Brand Collateral Development](https://thegardenofwords.com/author-speaker-brand-collateral-development/) - Author/Speaker Brand Collateral Development KATIE ELZER-PETERS / / MARKETING CLIENT Various PROJECT DETAILS We help authors and speakers develop marketing materials for mailing, emailing, and use on social media.
- [Marketing for Succulent Gardens](https://thegardenofwords.com/marketing-for-succulent-gardens/) - Marketing For Succulent Gardens KATIE ELZER-PETERS // MARKETING CLIENT Succulent Gardens PROJECT DETAILS Succulent Gardens, a wholesale and retail nursery in the Monterey Bay area of California, uses post cards as their primary print marketing pieces. We have produced a variety of cards, from eye-catching photo cards to “plant recipe” cards. Of course, with such great
- [One Sheets & Flyers](https://thegardenofwords.com/one-sheets-flyers/) - One Sheets & Flyers KATIE ELZER-PETERS // MARKETING CLIENT Various PROJECT DETAILS Digital marketing is key for any brand, but a sharp flyer for printing or emailing is still a useful tool in the green industry. We develop one sheets, sell sheets, order forms, and catalog pages starting from scratch or blending in with existing branding.
- [Move That Plant!](https://thegardenofwords.com/move-that-plant-2/) - Move That Plant! KATIE ELZER-PETERS // BOOKS CLIENT Green Profit PROJECT DETAILS I love to study what other businesses are doing. I’m constantly taking pictures and notes while traveling. I implement some of the ideas -with a twist- for my clients. Others end up in magazine and web articles. #AlwaysBeExpensing #LifeOfAnEntrepreneur
- [Landing Page Copy](https://thegardenofwords.com/landing-page-copy-2/) - Landing Page Copy KATIE ELZER-PETERS / ARTICLES CLIENT Monrovia PROJECT DETAILS Under the guidance of a fantastic new web editor, Monrovia has been revamping their website. I’ve enjoyed writing long-form articles and landing page copy for various plant collections. They developed a template for the pages and specific word counts for sections, and I work within
- [Cover Story for Green Profit](https://thegardenofwords.com/cover-story-for-green-profit/) - Cover Story For Green Profit KATIE ELZER-PETERS / / ARTICLES CLIENT Green Profit PROJECT DETAILS I frequently write feature articles for Green Profit, including business profiles, case studies, trend reports, and business how-to articles.
- [Going Native](https://thegardenofwords.com/going-native-2/) - Going Native KATIE ELZER-PETERS // ARTICLES CLIENT Wrightsville Beach Magazine PROJECT DETAILS Most of my work is producing brochures, websites, emails, and other marketing pieces for clients, but I do enjoy writing feature stories from time to time!
- [Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Gardening](https://thegardenofwords.com/mid-atlantic-fruit-vegetable-gardening-2/) - Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Gardening KATIE ELZER-PETERS / / KATIE’S BOOKS CLIENT Cool Springs Press PROJECT DETAILS Part of the vegetable gardening book series I wrote for Cool Springs Press. Geared toward the beginner and intermediate audience. Take a look inside! Launch Project SEE IT LIVE!
- [Northwest Fruit & Vegetable Gardening](https://thegardenofwords.com/northwest-fruit-vegetable-gardening-2/) - Northwest Fruit & Vegetable Gardening KATIE ELZER-PETERS / / KATIE’S BOOKS CLIENT Cool Springs Press PROJECT DETAILS Part of the vegetable gardening book series I wrote for Cool Springs Press. Geared toward the beginner and intermediate audience. Take a look inside! Launch Project SEE IT LIVE!
- [Southern Fruit Vegetable Gardening](https://thegardenofwords.com/southern-fruit-vegetable-gardening-2/) - Southern Fruit & Vegetable Gardening KATIE ELZER-PETERS // KATIE’S BOOKS CLIENT Cool Springs Press PROJECT DETAILS Part of the vegetable gardening book series I wrote for Cool Springs Press. Take a look inside! Launch Project SEE IT LIVE!
- [Why I need Fifteen Pencil Cups](https://thegardenofwords.com/why-i-need-fifteen-pencil-cups/) - When I was 8 years old I wouldn't leave home without a briefcase (yes, an actual briefcase that clicked open and had pockets for things like calculators and pencils and legal pads) filled with pens and pencils and paper. I probably had a stapler. What 8-year-old leaves home without a stapler? I mean, COME ON.
- [Don't Be Afraid of Contracts](https://thegardenofwords.com/dont-be-afraid-of-contracts/) - I used to be afraid of contracts. "Oh if they have to do too much paperwork they won't want to hire me." "Oh what if the contracts upset them." "What's the point anyway? It's not like we're going to sue each other." And THEN I had a client not return phone calls or emails for
- [Running Saved Me](https://thegardenofwords.com/running-saved-me/) - OH MY GOODNESS! SUCH DRAMA FOR A WEDNESDAY MORNING. Is that a clickbaity headline? Well, YES, probably. Is it true? Sorta. Like most clickbaity headlines, there's more to the story than just running. My BIG TRANSFORMATION as evident in the featured photo is the result of a combination of things. Here's the umbrella they all
- [Gardening Complete](https://thegardenofwords.com/gardening-complete/) - Gardening Complete KATIE ELZER-PETERS // KATIE'S BOOKS CLIENT Cool Springs Press PROJECT DETAILS I had all kinds of fun writing and contributing to this Gardening Complete book. Check it out on Amazon & take a look inside! Launch Project SEE IT LIVE!
- [Two Hour Rule](https://thegardenofwords.com/two-hour-rule/) - What's the first thing you do when you sit down at your desk? Do you check your email? Probably. That's what most people do. If there is ONE THING I could tell you to do that would help you get ahead with your business it would be to stop checking your email at the start
- [Success with Hydrangeas](https://thegardenofwords.com/success-with-hydrangeas/) - Success with Hydrangeas KATIE ELZER-PETERS / BOOKS CLIENT Lorraine Ballato PROJECT DETAILS The Garden of Words Team helped Susan Betz publish her second book, Neighboring With Nature: 21 Native Herbs for Purpose & Pleasure from start to finish. We handled all content editing, copy editing, design, layout, and uploading to the printer. We designed the
- [American Meadows](https://thegardenofwords.com/american-meadows/) - American Meadows KATIE ELZER-PETERS / ARTICLES CLIENT American Meadows PROJECT DETAILS I write SEO-friendly plant profiles and general plant interest articles for American Meadows. Take a look inside! Launch Project SEE IT LIVE!
- [Neigboring with Nature](https://thegardenofwords.com/neighboring-with-nature/) - Neighboring With Nature KATIE ELZER-PETERS / / BOOKS CLIENT Susan Betz PROJECT DETAILS The Garden of Words Team helped Susan Betz publish her second book, Neighboring With Nature: 21 Native Herbs for Purpose & Pleasure from start to finish. We handled all content editing, copy editing, design, layout, and uploading to the printer. We designed the
- [Carolinas Fruit & Vegetable Gardening](https://thegardenofwords.com/carolinas-fruit-vegetable-gardening-2/) - Carolina Fruit & Vegetable Gardening KATIE ELZER-PETERS // KATIE'S BOOKS CLIENT Cool Springs Press PROJECT DETAILS Part of the vegetable gardening book series I wrote for Cool Springs Press. Geared toward the beginner and intermediate audience. Take take look inside! Launch Project SEE IT LIVE!
- [Miniature Gardens](https://thegardenofwords.com/miniature-gardens-3/) - Miniature Gardens KATIE ELZER-PETERS // KATIE'S BOOKS CLIENT Cool Springs Press PROJECT DETAILS I had all kinds of fun writing and photographing my Miniature Gardens book. I absolutely hate the cover and don’t think it’s representative of what the book has inside, but, hey, I don’t make the rules. Check it out on Amazon &
- [Midwest Fruit and Vegetable Gardening](https://thegardenofwords.com/midwest-fruit-and-vegetable-gardening-2/) - Midwest Fruit and Vegetable Gardening KATIE ELZER-PETERS // KATIE'S BOOKS CLIENT Cool Springs Press PROJECT DETAILS Part of the vegetable gardening book series I wrote for Cool Springs Press. Geared toward the beginner and intermediate audience. Take look inside! Launch Project SEE IT LIVE!
- [Mid-Atlantic Gardener’s Handbook](https://thegardenofwords.com/mid-atlantic-gardeners-handbook-2/) - Mid-Atlantic Gardener’s Handbook KATIE ELZER-PETERS // KATIE’S BOOKS CLIENT Cool Springs Press PROJECT DETAILS A good getting-started gardening book for beginning and intermediate gardeners in the Mid Atlantic. Launch Project SEE IT LIVE!
- [Behind the Variety for Green Profit](https://thegardenofwords.com/behind-the-variety-for-green-profit/) - Behind The Variety For Green Profit Behind The Variety For Green Profit CLIENT Green Profit Magazine PROJECT DETAILS One of my favorite projects is my monthly “Behind the Variety” column for Green Profit magazine. Green Profit is one of the leading green industry publications serving independent garden centers and the businesses connected to them. Each
- [The Designer Magazine – Spring 2016](https://thegardenofwords.com/designer-magazine-summer-2016-2/) - The Designer Magazine – Spring 2016 KATIE ELZER-PETERS / MARCH 15, 2016 / EDITORIAL CLIENT Association of Professional Landscape Designers PROJECT DETAILS I assumed the role of Editor in Chief of the APLD journal, The Designer, in Spring 2016. I have been tasked with growing the magazine to have broader appeal to the general public while
- [Of Naked Ladies And Forget Me Nots](https://thegardenofwords.com/naked-ladies-forget-nots/) - Of Naked Ladies & Forget-Me-Nots ALLAN M. ARMITAGE / MARCH 10, 2017 / BOOKS CLIENT On behalf of UpShoot, LLC for Allan Armitage PROJECT DETAILS The Garden of Words team packaged this book for Upshoot, LLC for author Allan Armitage. An artist friend of the author created the cover illustration, and then the team used elements
- [Email Marketing for Easy-to-Grow Bulbs](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-for-easy-to-grow-bulbs/) - Email Marketing For Easy-To-Grow Bulbs KATIE ELZER-PETERS / / MARKETING CLIENT Various Clients PROJECT DETAILS Is there anything I love more than email marketing? Probably not! I’m thrilled to handle email marketing for California-based Easy-to-Grow Bulbs. We have worked with them for three years and are now generating 10x the revenue they were when we were
- [The Designer Magazine - Summer 2017](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-designer-magazine-summer-2017/) - The Designer Magazine – Summer 2017 KATIE ELZER-PETERS / SUMMER 2017 / EDITORIAL CLIENT Association of Professional Landscape Designers PROJECT DETAILS I continue to serve as Editor-in-Chief of The Designer for APLD and very much enjoy building each issue around a theme or design concept. Take a look inside! Launch Project SEE IT LIVE!
- [Field Report](https://thegardenofwords.com/field-report/) - TL:DR: Feelings are contagious, even in business. Especially in business. Here's how to use that to your advantage. "Oh, these are my Zoom googles. Mallary got them for me." From the peanut gallery: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAHHHHAAAAAHAHA. Doesn't everyone discuss 7 figure email programs in their steampunk costumes? And then there were the eco-cats. The word of the year
- [Fold the Cheese](https://thegardenofwords.com/fold-the-cheese/) - Quick note: You receive my newsletter because you downloaded handouts from one of my talks (and maybe missed the opt in language), asked to be added, or added yourself. Decided the newsletter is not useful or relevant? You can click here to unsubscribe from this list right this very minute. No hard feelings. Have you watched
- [Beginner Friendly Do It Yourself Website Audit](https://thegardenofwords.com/beginner-friendly-do-it-yourself-website-audit/) - In the April issue of Green Profit, Katie Elzer-Peters talks about some of the most popular tips from her three-part e-commerce mastery series that she led for AmericanHort. This collection of excellent advice for setting up your website for success is perfect for spring cleaning but GOW recommends a thorough review of your web content
- [The Rainbow Connection](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-rainbow-connection/) - Why are there so manySongs about rainbowsAnd what's on the other side? When I hear those words I think of my knit pink outfit. A skirt and a cardigan. Some tights. The scent of a sweaty horse. . . WHAT WHAT? I think of 6th grad cotillion with Mrs. Kinnear. She had a white bun
- [Get a Website Review Video!](https://thegardenofwords.com/get-a-website-review-video/) - Ever wanted a professional to tell you what's great and what's not so hot about your website? Website reviews don't cost a thing and watching someone pretend to be a potential customer is invaluable to business owners! Use the form below to request a website review. We just need your name, the URL of the
- [Scoot 'n Fruity](https://thegardenofwords.com/scoot-n-fruity/) - TL:DR summary: How can you help your customers or clients place complete orders? How can you help them choose the right online talk, landscape design, haircut, jewelry, commissioned painting, container planting, etc. and be happy with it? "Do they have hot lobster?" my Mom asked. In Wilmington, NC lobster rolls are currently a thing, and we have at least
- [Newton's First Law of Motion](https://thegardenofwords.com/newtons-first-law-of-motion/) - While I was typing the subject line for this newsletter I accidentally typed "Newton's First Law of Business." Then I was like, "Eh, let's go with it." It's really the "Newton's First Law of Motion," which featured prominently in some yogurt commercials a few years ago. Here's the law: "A body in motion stays in motion.
- [Stay in Your Lane](https://thegardenofwords.com/stay-in-your-lane/) - TL:DR: It's fine to hire a "yes man." It's better for everyone if we all understand we're looking for a "yes man" going in. "I'm going to text the client right now," I said."Why?" asked Vi.*I pause. Think.* "Yeah, you're right. We should finish what we are doing. "I think I should call Steph into this
- [The Hoosier Gardener](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-hoosier-gardener/) - The Hoosier Gardener If you don’t know “The Hoosier Gardener,” you are missing out. Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp is an Indiana-born and raised gardener who loves to help and educate others about what it means to be a gardener in Indiana. Jo Ellen provides a monthly email to her subscribers that she writes herself. Her
- [Clesen](https://thegardenofwords.com/clesen/) - Clesen Wholesale Clesen Wholesale came to The Garden of Words looking for an outside agency to replace the in-house marketing department that, unfortunately, was not going to plan. Tim Clesen, the owner, was busy running a flourishing wholesale plant business and didn’t have time to run his own email department. And that’s where The Garden
- [Dip a Toe into E-commerce With a Gift Shop](https://thegardenofwords.com/dip-a-toe-into-e-commerce-with-a-gift-shop/) - In the August 2021 issue of Green Profit, Katie invites everyone who is interested in opening up a full-service e-commerce store to start with a gift shop. Opening up an online storefront for your brick and mortar business is not only a HUGE commitment, but it can also be expensive, time-consuming, and incredibly daunting -
- [I'd like a word](https://thegardenofwords.com/id-like-a-word/) - Listening on repeat (I promise it is not Harry Styles) I need someone to choreograph me dance to this song, STAT. Screencast Extension LinksVidyard Extension (What I use)Loom HTML Editing Tool The best Instagram desktop scheduling program to help actually drive traffic to your website - Make sure you take advantage of the LinkInBio feature. The BUZZ from Ball Publishing.
- [Beginning Product Forecasting](https://thegardenofwords.com/beginning-product-forecasting/) - In the October 2021 edition of Green Profit, Katie sits down with product forecasting genius Ken Lane, owner of Hathaway & Lane, to talk about the dos and don'ts of product forecasting. Far from being something that only million-dollar-a-year companies need to worry about, every company (yes! even yours!) would benefit from a solid product
- [Craft Services + Noodles](https://thegardenofwords.com/craft-services-noodles/) - The Internet has spoken and it is displeased. ***** A garden writer with whom I'm acquainted posted in an industry forum, "The latest thing in 'writing' seems to be a push for using AI instead of doing it yourself. Thoughts?" There was a little bit of discussion about who likes to read what, where, and what The Internet is
- [Sounds Familiar](https://thegardenofwords.com/sounds-familiar/) - "Should we do the Sweeney Todd number I accidentally cut from earlier in the show?" "Nah, let's do Loggins." It was the right call. Within seconds, the (small) crowd was singing along. "People smile and tell me I'm the lucky one. . . " It was the end of a cabaret-style performance by a violinist
- [Hiring Outside of Your Comfort Zone](https://thegardenofwords.com/hiring-outside-of-your-comfort-zone/) - In the January 2022 issue of Green Profit, marketing mastermind Katie Elzer-Peters shares her anxieties and experiences with hiring professionals outside of her wheelhouse. Everybody needs somebody sometimes and when you are running your own business, the people you will need most are the ones who have skills that you don't have - Often that
- [Bring Your Blank to Work Day](https://thegardenofwords.com/bring-your-blank-to-workday/) - "Kate Bosworth I Ain't"That's the title of my first blog post about learning to surf. Because, as I said in the post, "Up until today, everything I ever knew about surfing, I learned from watching the movie Blue Crush." Turns out, a lot of people enjoyed reading about someone learning something new while making fun of
- [Prediction: Neon is on its Way Back in](https://thegardenofwords.com/prediction-neon-is-on-its-way-back-in/) - In the February 2022 edition of Green Profit, Jen Polanz interviewed Katie Elzer-Peters to find out what was up and coming in the horticulture retail space. Katie shared with Jen her predictions that the neon signs of old were due for a renaissance. Read More Here
- [Copy of a Copy of a Copy](https://thegardenofwords.com/copy-of-a-copy-of-a-copy/) - It's emo February. I have this on repeat. "You won't be the first or be the last to bleed. Every broken heart as far as the eye can see is a copy of a copy of a copy." Sometimes you just need to write some email copy and, like, cry. "Katie, oh my gosh calm
- [What Can I Ask My Digital Marketing Agency to Do for Me? (And What Should I Do Myself…) – Email Marketing Edition](https://thegardenofwords.com/what-can-i-ask-my-digital-marketing-agency-to-do-for-me/) - In the business world, part of a good business plan always includes areas that you, the business owners, will want to own and put your hands on and other areas that make more sense for you to pass off into other hands. Email marketing is no different, but if you are new to the marketing
- [About Katie](https://thegardenofwords.com/about-katie/) - How did I get here? Either you found me while searching, saw my link in an article or someone told you I could help you, right? That’s how a lot of people end up here. It has been a long and winding road for me, too! I opened up The Garden of Words in December
- [Engine Failure](https://thegardenofwords.com/engine-failure/) - It was lap 180 of 200 in the 1987 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race and Mario Andretti, who had led 170 of the first 177 laps, heard his engine backfire so bad he said "the sound almost blew my brains out." Nobody else was on the lead lap with him. He would have won the race, had he finished. Instead, Al
- [12 WAYS TO BUILD YOUR EMAIL LIST](https://thegardenofwords.com/12-ways-to-build-your-email-list/) - You’ve likely heard it before, but it’s so important that it bears repeating. One of the most crucial things you can do for your business is to build your email list, and we’re going to tell you why. Why Do I Need an Email List Anyway? Because you will own it and all the information
- [Green Social Media: How to Grow Your Garden-Industry Business with these Basic Social Media Strategies](https://thegardenofwords.com/green-social-media/) - As a business owner, you know that you should be on social media. But what does being “on” social media mean? Or rather, what should it mean for your business? If thinking all of that makes you dizzy and a little angry, that’s because it really depends on a lot of factors. Let’s explore, shall
- [“I Don’t Need SEO"... And Other Lies You Tell Yourself](https://thegardenofwords.com/i-dont-need-seo-and-other-lies-you-tell-yourself/) - In the olden days before the internet was bigger than prime time TV, if you wanted to advertise your shiny new business you would put an ad in a magazine or slap your face on a billboard on the side of a highway. But times change and so does business. In our high-tech modern age,
- [GETTING THE MOST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK: REPURPOSING CONTENT](https://thegardenofwords.com/getting-the-most-bang-for-your-buck-repurposing-content/) - You know how content providers (that’s you) get stuck? They try to reinvent the wheel every time they sit down to create content, and wind up exhausted and burned out. Look, you want to get regular, valuable content out there to your followers, but that doesn’t mean that Every. Single. Piece. Has to be totally
- [Last Year Is Old News: Important Website Updates for 2022](https://thegardenofwords.com/last-year-is-old-news-important-website-updates-for-2022/) - Is your website ready to power your business through the new year? You may be thinking “If it was ready in December, it's ready in March” but the truth is, if it has been a few months since you’ve thoroughly reviewed your site, then it’s time for some website spring cleaning! Here’s your website update
- [Get a Couch: Garden Center Marketing](https://thegardenofwords.com/garden-center-marketing-green-profit/) - In the November 2021 issue of Green Profit magazine, Katie Elzer-Peters, garden marketing expert, offers up a serious discussion about the merits of bringing a couch onto your garden center sales floor. You might think that you don't have room for that, however Katie explains why you can't afford NOT to make room. She also
- [New Builds](https://thegardenofwords.com/new-builds/) - View more details Website New Builds Whether you’re opening a new business, expanding your existing business, or changing platforms from proprietary to open source for increased control and flexibility, the Garden of Words web development team is here for you! We listen to your needs to create beautiful and functional websites to support your business
- [Service Website - gardencult.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/service-website-garden-cult/) - SEE IT LIVE! CLIENT Garden Cult PROJECT DETAILS Carmen De Vito’s first stop when planning the online face of her new garden consulting business was at The Garden of Words’ web dev department. Carmen had wonderful ideas for what her site should be. The team was able to take those ideas and weave them into
- [Service Website - hoosiergardener.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/service-website-hoosiergardener-com/) - SEE IT LIVE! Service Website – No Ecommerce CLIENT hoosiergardener.com PROJECT DETAILS This project was a WordPress website build for a garden speaker/author/coach in Indiana. It’s built on the StudioPress theme Brunch Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. We also integrated a paid social sharing plugin and an event calendar. The focus was on helping the client
- [Ecommerce Website - thegardenersworkshop.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/ecommerce-website-thegardenersworkshop-com/) - SEE IT LIVE! Ecommerce Website CLIENT Gardener’s Workshop PROJECT DETAILS This project was an E-commerce, WordPress website with WooCommerce build for a cut flower grower who also offers online classes, books, seeds, and seed starting equipment. It’s built on the StudioPress theme Essence Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. We also integrated highly customized search, header, and
- [Tell Me What you Want](https://thegardenofwords.com/tell-me-what-you-want/) - I had a really great day last Saturday. Why? I saw a sign pointing to a fish fry and I followed it. Arriving onsite was like finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. At least, it was for this girl who misses people and new experiences. And, let's be real, for
- [Best If Used By ...](https://thegardenofwords.com/best-if-used-by/) - This morning I woke up thinking about cleaning out fridges. You have to do that before you move, so the next occupant can start fresh. You have to do that before a hurricane so that the contents don’t go bad when the power goes out, and then, by going bad and rotting in a warm house, ruining
- [Service Website - yard-doc.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/service-website-yard-doc-com/) - Service Website – No Ecommerce CLIENT yard-doc.com PROJECT DETAILS Build Time: 3 MonthsPlatform: WordPressTheme: Refined ProMobile Friendly/Responsive: YesSEO: YesGoogle Analytics & Search Console Integration: YesE-Commerce: NoEmail Marketing Integration: Yes – MailChimpCalendar Integration: NoMembership integration: No
- [Good Grief](https://thegardenofwords.com/good-grief/) - “I think I have to leaveeeeeeeeeeee” sniff snort loud wail “Katie. Katie. WHAT IS WRONG?” My therapist on the other end of the phone was very concerned. Obviously. “Dr. X do you have an appointment? I need to come see you today.” *hiccuping sobs* “Katie, yes, you can come in, but just a second, what is going on?”
- [I'll Stop the World and Melt with You](https://thegardenofwords.com/ill-stop-the-world-and-melt-with-you/) - How it started: “I’m putting chihuahua sweaters on my baby goats!” How it’s going: “I’m burning my desk to make charcoal so I can filter my water.” Those are the actual text messages from Jenny and Steph this week. They’re two of my main team members. (That’s woo-speak for “staff” but they’re so much more than staff.)
- [Good Housekeeping](https://thegardenofwords.com/good-housekeeping/) - Over it? click here to unsubscribe from this list right this very minute. IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT We are switching the gardenofwords.com email provider and domain managing on Friday, April 9. Prep work is happening Thursday, April 8. That means that emails sent to katie@thegardenofwords.com between April 8 and April 11 will disappear onto the internet. It means thegardenofwords.com website
- [Service Website - acookandherbooks.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/service-website-acookandherbooks-com/) - SEE IT LIVE! Author Website – No Ecommerce CLIENT Lucy Mercer PROJECT DETAILS Lucy Mercer of A Cook and Her Books came to The Garden of Words needing a new online home for her Blogspot blog that was more personalizable and expandable. The GOW Web Dev team set Lucy up with a WordPress site on
- [E-Commerce Website - groshslawnservice.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/e-commerce-website-groshslawnservice-com/) - SEE IT LIVE! Hort Website – Ecommerce CLIENT Grosh’s Lawn Service PROJECT DETAILS Tom Grosh of Grosh’s Lawn service came to The Garden of Words looking for an SEO-optimized website that was updated, functional, and most of all: Easy to use! His previous website had a clunky payment gateway and plugins that crashed every time
- [Why'd you do that?](https://thegardenofwords.com/whyd-you-do-that/) - "I'm here to pick up for Katie." *Confusion and bag rustling ensues.* "I'm Katie. Do you have any questions about the order?" "Yeah - why'd you order through GrubHub?" It was POURING rain, I mean, I had to CHANGE MY PANTS when I got home rain, I couldn't see because I was wearing a mask
- [Fish in a Barrel](https://thegardenofwords.com/fish-in-a-barrel/) - After finding our new Email Marketing Department Manager, Heather Prince, I felt like I had been fly fishing and caught a "life list" fish. (Do fishing people have life lists? I know birding people do.) "You'll never find one." I received those encouraging words from several people when I sent out my job description. It was this
- [They Say The Neon Lights Are Bright](https://thegardenofwords.com/they-say-neon-lights-are-bright/) - I do take lots of pictures. I do look at them, for various reasons: to remember, as reference pictures so I can draw a view later, for enjoyment.I draw mostly in order to see, to record, and to be present in a moment in time than I do to hang something on the wall. (Unless I'm specifically
- [Newsletters & Writing Services](https://thegardenofwords.com/newsletters-writing-services/) - Garden Writing Big Menu Decisions, decisions! Every single business consultant I’ve ever read would tell me I’m not supposed to have a Chinese menu for my services list. Too much choice! Too confusing! Well, the short answer to, "What can Katie do for you?" is this: garden writing. All kinds, all formats. It's my superpower.
- [Website Services](https://thegardenofwords.com/website-services-2/) - Keep It Simple! Websites can get complicated FAST, so I have created a streamlined process to keep my horticulture clients growing on time and on budget. I keep it simple by adhering to these five rules: Plan, plan, plan! - After I send you a website review video that showcases three themes I think would
- [Business Development for the Green Industry](https://thegardenofwords.com/business-development-branding/) - Welcome to the super secret clubhouse of services provided by The Garden of Words. (The "secret garden," if you will.) We don't talk a whole lot about these services because we have very limited availability to provide them. Why? Because they involve one or more GOW experts to roll up their sleeves and dig in
- [Email Marketing Services](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-services-2/) - Sell, Inspire, Grow How does email marketing help grow your business? If you asked me what I love doing the MOST, when it comes to business, it would be email marketing. That's because email marketing remains the best dollar for dollar investment. Here's why email is great! Permission based - your list wants to hear
- [02-15-2022](https://thegardenofwords.com/02-15-2022/)
- [Two Tooths and a Checklist](https://thegardenofwords.com/two-tooths-and-a-checklist/) - "WB? Dang!! I never find squat there beyond dead fish." A comment from my friend under an Instagram picture of my beach combing finds from Sunday. It was a two hour session with Susan (my fossil expert - and more) at Wrightsville Beach from Lot 4 to Shell Island. It's pretty prime fossil- finding grounds. That day
- [Redesign](https://thegardenofwords.com/redesign/) - View More Details Website Redesigns There are many reasons why you might want to update your existing website rather than start over from scratch, and our team is ready to make it happen for you! We refresh your website to reflect a new look after rebranding, we update themes to be optimized and mobile, we
- [Articles](https://thegardenofwords.com/articles/) - ARTICLES While Katie Elzer-Peters is an extraordinary editor and CEO of The Garden of Words, she started out as a horticulturalist and writer. Her love of the written word continues today, and she still enjoys crafting inspiring feature articles, business how-to articles, case studies, trend reports, business profiles, and general plant-interest articles for various publications.
- [Editorial](https://thegardenofwords.com/editorial/) - Read Full Issue Editorial CLIENT: Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD)PROJECT: Quarterly Journal The Designer PROJECT DETAILSKatie assumed the role of Editor in Chief of the APLD journal,The Designer, in Spring 2016, and has since produced more than 20 inspiring and high-quality issues. With her powerhouse team of designers, proofreaders, and associate editor, Katie creates
- [Blog Content](https://thegardenofwords.com/blog-content/) - Blog Content CLIENT: Various Katie and her team of copywriters love to create seasonal content for their clients’ blogs. From timely DIY projects, plant profiles, planting guidelines, and general gardening information, The Garden of Words team pays close attention to each client’s brand profile and voice to produce seamless and valuable content for their audience.
- [Email Content](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-content/) - Newsletters Whether it’s a large quarterly newsletter or a shorter monthly newsletter, The Garden of Words has you covered. Our team of graphic designers, copy writers, email marketing specialists, and account reps make sure that communication to your audience is professional, eye-catching, on-brand, and impressive. ABOUT THIS PROJECT CLIENTThe Square Foot Gardening Foundation PROJECT DETAILSWe
- [Design](https://thegardenofwords.com/design/) - One Sheets Flyers Digital Graphics Digital graphics are key for any brand, but don’t forget about sharp flyers for your print material as well! We develop promotional website banners, digital graphics, one sheets, order forms, sell sheets, and catalog pages — either starting from scratch or blending in with your existing branding.
- [Author/Speaker Brand Development](https://thegardenofwords.com/author-speaker-brand-development/) - Author / Speaker Brand Development Whether you’re an author, a speaker, or both, we help you polish your introduction to your audience. Your marketing material should let the public know at a glance who you are, what you do, and how to contact you — but in a stylish and engaging way! These powerful graphics
- [Email Marketing](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-2/) - Promotional Emails Drip Campaigns From promotional emails to holiday offers, flash sales, and more, Katie and her team love helping their clients grow their companies through email marketing. We use a/b testing and segmenting to achieve the best results with higher sales and lower unsubscribe rates. With the Garden of Words team behind your business
- [Kind of a Big Deal](https://thegardenofwords.com/kind-of-a-big-deal/) - Four years ago today I fired off some snarly text messages to my friend Kim in the middle of dinner. I was eating what would become my traditional pre running race dinner: a moderately sized plate of spaghetti and meatballs.And I was bricking it. The cause of my angst? I was running the 5K Turkey
- [How'd You Guess?](https://thegardenofwords.com/howd-you-guess/) - I've been reading a lot about how election polling works. Because I'm a nerd. And I'm interested in how organizations try to predict the outcome of elections. It seems like it would be a real shot in the dark. What I found is that the accuracy of a prediction (from a poll) depends entirely on your
- [My Favorite Four Words to Say](https://thegardenofwords.com/my-favorite-four-words-to-say/) - "Send me the bill. (If you read my subject line as "My favorite four [LETTER] words," my apologies. I have plenty of those for sure. But my favorite four words to hear and to say: Send me the bill. Why I like saying "send me the bill." It allows me to set a boundary. "Send
- [Planning and Adapting Your Business in Uncertain Times](https://thegardenofwords.com/planning-and-adapting-your-business-in-uncertain-times/) - In the October 2020 edition of Green Profit, Katie Elzer-Peters helps all of us prepare for an uncertain year ahead by providing actionable steps business owners can take to be prepared. Katie made the rounds and spoke to several members of the horticulture community to see what changes they made in their own standard operating
- [The Day After](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-day-after/) - Last time we talked, I was finishing up a 13 hour day. I try not to do those on the regular, but I was providing Red Phone Service. It was my responsibility, as the business owner, to do that. The next morning I went to the beach. On a Tuesday. I went swimming. I walked.
- [The Designer Magazine – Summer 2020](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-designer-magazine-summer-2020/)
- [The Designer Magazine – Spring 2020](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-designer-magazine-spring-2020/)
- [The Designer Magazine – Winter 2019](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-designer-magazine-winter-2019/)
- [The Designer Magazine – Fall 2019](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-designer-magazine-fall-2019/)
- [The Red Phone Service](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-red-phone-service/) - It's 8:49 on Monday night. Steph's gonna kill me. I should already be in bed. Tomorrow is probably gonna be a little rough. (I promise to attempt cheer.) I'm the 911 Operator for my clients. Basically, if one of them has an emergency, ultimately, the buck stops with me. If they need help when everyone
- [Inside the Line](https://thegardenofwords.com/inside-the-line-2/) - We know each other by our lines. That seemingly "throwaway line" spoken by one character near the end of a novel I absolutely loved (scroll down for link), has continued to stick with me for weeks. Maybe because that line helped another character resolve the main mystery of the book. We know each other by
- [The Reset I Didn't See Coming](https://thegardenofwords.com/forward-is-a-pace/) - "Forward is a pace." I woke up this morning and started doomscrolling Facebook. Tangent: Every time I think "THAT is the word of the year," I read a new one starting to take hold. In addition to studies about virus, I expect studies about the pace of the change of language in 2020. Back to
- [Prove You're Human](https://thegardenofwords.com/prove-youre-human/) - "UpWork has determined you are a bot. Please complete the CAPTCHA to prove you're a human." Ok, so that set off quite the cascade of thoughts at 6:17 pm on a Tuesday. I was hunting around for a job description that we wrote so I could share it with a client. If only clicking a
- [E-Commerce Website - Squarefootgardening.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/e-commerce-website-squarefootgardening-com/) - SEE IT LIVE! Website – Ecommerce CLIENTSquarefootgardening.com PROJECT DETAILSThis project was an E-commerce WordPress website build for a gardening education course website using WooCommerce and Lifter LMS (Learning Management Software). It's built on the StudioPress theme Course Maker Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. We developed a robust FAQ section, changelog and integrated a ticketing
- [Ecommerce Website - Squarefootgardening.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/ecommerce-website-squarefootgardening-com/) - See Website Details
- [Ecommerce Website Before & After - Diggingingathering.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/ecommerce-website-diggingingathering-com/) - Before After See Website Details
- [E-Commerce Website - Diggingingathering.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/e-commerce-website-diggingingathering-com/) - SEE IT LIVE! Hort Website – Ecommerce CLIENTDiggingingathering.com PROJECT DETAILSThis project was an e-commerce WordPress website build for a horticulture customer. It's built on the StudioPress theme Navigation Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. The focus was on helping potential container gardener customers find a good designer using a locator map and to invite professional
- [Getting Started With E-Commerce](https://thegardenofwords.com/getting-started-with-e-commerce/) - In the June 2020 edition of Green Profit, Katie dives deep into getting started the right way with e-commerce. As with anything, there are a million ways to start a project but there is only on Katie Way™ and for e-commerce, this is the way. In this article, you will learn: How to evaluate your
- [Something in Return](https://thegardenofwords.com/something-in-return/) - For the last two weeks I've helped my Mom get into her Zoom exercise classes. On Tuesday or so she said, "This week is the last week they're doing classes. They can't keep paying their instructors without collecting membership fees." I asked her, "Did they even ASK you guys if you would pay for classes
- [What Now?](https://thegardenofwords.com/what-now/) - Hi! It's Friday, and if you're reading this, you've made it through a challenging week. (I think the only person not experiencing an entire life upheaval is probably one living on a no-contact island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.) I'm not even gonna pretend that anything's normal or use "new normal." Nothing's normal.
- [We've Been Training for This](https://thegardenofwords.com/weve-been-training-for-this-2/) - Is it the end of the world as we know it? Probably. What's happened in the United States (not to mention, the world) over the last 7 days is, as the news anchors incessantly say, "unprecedented." Mainly because the last time there was a pandemic (well, I'm talking about 1918), we didn't have the NBA
- [Service Website  -                          discoverscgardens.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/service-website-before-after-discoverscgardens/) - These pictures are all of the new website as there was no pre-existing website to do before and after shots. See Website Details
- [Service Website -                     discoverscgardens.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/service-website-discoverscgardens-com/) - SEE IT LIVE! Hort Website – No Ecommerce CLIENTDiscoverscgardens.com PROJECT DETAILSThis project was a service WordPress website build for a horticulture customer. It's built on the StudioPress theme Elegant Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. The focus was on helping generate tourism for the state of South Carolina as well as showcase the beautiful historical
- [The Trump Card](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-trump-card/) - "So if clubs are trump (the winning suit), then the jack of spades becomes a jack of clubs." My best friend from first grade lives a block from my parents and while I've been awaiting home renovation to be complete, we've been hanging out. One gray Saturday, she, her boyfriend, and her cat Mimi taught
- [Change or [REDACTED]](https://thegardenofwords.com/change-or-redacted/) - A friend of mine shared something on Facebook that read like a punch in the face. Well, that's not new! Plenty of Facebook reads like a punch in the face. But this was one of those little phrases — callouts, quotes, motivational mantras — that made me gasp. Once I absorbed it (but let's be
- [Can't Live Without It](https://thegardenofwords.com/cant-live-without-it/) - Hey there! It's time for Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for a lot. Harry Styles. Tree. A warm coat . Wonderful clients. Fantastic team members. Loving family. Books. Books. Books. Chocolate peanut butter ice cream. I mean really, I could go on forever. I'm a lucky gal! If I were to pick something in my business
- [Who's Your Caddy?](https://thegardenofwords.com/whos-your-caddy/) - "When your golfer asks if he should use a 3 iron or a 4 iron, you'd better have the right answer." You'd really only enjoy the movie, "Loopers," about the history of golf and golf caddies if you have a) played golf, b) are into sports documentaries, or c) like to go deep on
- [Hiring an Agency Without Anxiety](https://thegardenofwords.com/hiring-an-agency-without-anxiety/) - In the November 2019 edition of Green Profit, agency-owner Katie Elzer-Peters addresses the elephant that is in the corner of every room when she meets a client for the first time: fear of getting "agencied." Every business owner at one time or another has been approached by a huge, shiny marketing agency that promises them
- [Service Website -                     garden-choice.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/service-website-garden-choice-com/) - SEE IT LIVE! Hort Website – No Ecommerce KATIE ELZER-PETERS / SEP 12, 2019 / WEBSITE CLIENTGarden-choice.com PROJECT DETAILSThis project was a WordPress website build for a horticulture website. It's built on the StudioPress theme Infinity Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. The focus was on getting people to fall in love with Dahlightful® Dahlias
- [Service Website  -                          garden-choice.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/service-website-before-after-garden-choice/) - These pictures are all of the new website as there was no pre-existing website to do before and after shots. See Website Details
- [Something Smells](https://thegardenofwords.com/something-smells/) - Mold was the first thing that came to mind. My living room smelled like a wet towel left on the bathroom floor. So I started to determine the cause of the smell and what to do about it. "This is not normal," I thought. I did one test and the results came back within acceptable
- [Service Website - Caroljmichel.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/e-commerce-website-carol-michel/) - SEE IT LIVE! Author Website – No Ecommerce CLIENTCarol Michel PROJECT DETAILSThis project was a WordPress website build for a horticulture author website. It's built on the StudioPress theme Author Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. The focus was on getting people to purchase Carol's books. We made the website clean and easy to navigate
- [Service Website  - Caroljmichel.Com](https://thegardenofwords.com/ecommerce-website-before-after-carol-michel-com/) - These pictures are all of the new website as there was no pre-existing website to do before and after shots. See Website Details
- [Service Website  - Gardentrellisandfence.Com](https://thegardenofwords.com/service-website-before-after-garden-trellis-fence-com/) - These pictures are all of the new website as there was no pre-existing website to do before and after shots. See Website Details
- [Service Website - Gardentrellisandfence.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/service-website-gardentrellisandfence-com/) - SEE IT LIVE! Hort Website – No Ecommerce CLIENTGardentrellisandfence.com PROJECT DETAILSThis project was a WordPress website build for a horticulture supply website. It's built on the StudioPress theme Smart Passive Income Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. The focus was on getting people to understand their products quickly and easily, then direct them to the
- [Service Website – Lightsofmagnolia.Com](https://thegardenofwords.com/service-website-lightsofmagnolia-com-2/) - SEE IT LIVE! Event Website – No Ecommerce KATIE ELZER-PETERS / JULY 15, 2019 / WEBSITE CLIENTMagnoliaplantation.com PROJECT DETAILSThis project was a WordPress website build for an event website. It's built on the StudioPress theme Kickstart and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. The focus was on getting people to the event information they needed quickly and
- [Earworm Inside](https://thegardenofwords.com/earworm-inside/) - You could feel the collective intake of breath as the music swelled. From the very back of the Disneyland Hyperion theater to the front row, the audience prepared to belt out the words along with the cast. Let it gooooooooooooo! Let it gooooooooooooooo... Obviously the song was in my head the rest of the day and
- [#Cancelled](https://thegardenofwords.com/cancelled/) - "Canyoucomepickmeupinralighateightoclocktonightokthanksloveyoubye." I got the dreaded text message while enroute from Rhode Island to the Bronx. "I can get you out of LGA today but I can't get you into Wilmington," my rep in Phoenix said. (I know where she lived because while she rebooked my ticket we discussed her meteorological hobbies, including the fact that
- [Must Consume Within 4 Days](https://thegardenofwords.com/must-consume-within-4-days/) - We were floating along a canal somewhere around Kloosterznde when my dad's phone beeped. "Notre Dame on Fire," the alert from CNN said. The spire had already toppled. Sixteen year old me standing in the middle of Rome, asking a guard with a machine gun "Where are the street signs?" (missing the fact that they're actually
- [Grab The Windex](https://thegardenofwords.com/grab-the-windex/) - If soccer practice is Saturday where will you buy fish food on Monday? When you were a kid, did you ever do those logic puzzles? There would be a whole grid with boxes and you had to decide which task happened when and by whom with what supplies or some variation. Then there were the
- [Service Website - Herbncowgirl.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/service-website-herbncowgirl-com/) - SEE IT LIVE! Hort Blog Website – No Ecommerce CLIENTHerbncowgirl.com PROJECT DETAILSThis project was a WordPress website build for a horticulture blog website all about herbs. It's built on the StudioPress theme Essence Pro and has a custom taxonomy to separate Ann's recipe index from her general blog. The focus was on getting people to
- [Service Website Before & After - Herbncowgirl.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/service-website-before-after-herbncowgirl-com/) - See Website Details
- [Leap And The](https://thegardenofwords.com/leap-and-the/) - I could not breathe the entire time I was watching the movie. I was in the Imax theater where my friends' parents and I watched Dunkirk (because Harry Styles was in the movie). Apparently Imax worthy movies require viewers to bring extra oxygen. I mean, there we were, clinging to the edge of one of the
- [Why Does This Always Happen?](https://thegardenofwords.com/why-does-this-always-happen/) - I have my best business thoughts while drying my hair in the morning. Obviously I don't plan that. Who wants to think about email segments or product descriptions at 7:30 in the morning before breakfast? Not me. It happens all. the. time. though. Recently I found out why. During my drive to Charleston I checked
- [No-Waste Kitchen Gardening](https://thegardenofwords.com/miniature-gardens-2-2/) - No-Waste Kitchen Gardening KATIE ELZER-PETERS / DECEMBER 18, 2018 KATIE'S BOOKS CLIENT Cool Springs Press PROJECT DETAILS Stop throwing away all of those lettuce heads and onion roots and get more out of your kitchen ingredients. All kinds of fun projects for re-growing pineapple tops, celery, lettuce heads, carrot tops, and more! Launch Project SEE
- [Back That Thing Up](https://thegardenofwords.com/back-that-thing-up/) - I looked at my to-do list and immediately had a panic attack. No really. I did. Just ask Steph. Then I got on the phone. Luckily I was home and not sitting across from a client thinking I had the flu. (I didn't and I don't think she knew that while I was smiling, I
- [In The Dark Ages](https://thegardenofwords.com/in-the-dark-ages/) - I used to be the pursuer. For years and years if I found someone I wanted to date, I went after him. I never EVER let anyone come to me of his own volition. This is not a new "rules" book for women. Don't freak out. I met my husband on Match.com in 2003, the
- [Room Temperature](https://thegardenofwords.com/room-temperature/) - "Oh. Oh no." It was my annual walk around for the Azalea Garden Tour. The publicity chair for the tour would drive me around and, in about three hours, we'd see all 11 gardens on the upcoming tour. I'd write a preview, hitting all the high points and telling attendees what they could expect, and hand it into my
- [Dirt On The Carpet](https://thegardenofwords.com/dirt-on-the-carpet/) - "Would you consider a $30,000 gift to support rehanging the historic gates at the end of the garden allee?" I asked the question and then I stopped talking. You could hear a pin drop over the phone. I couldn't ask in person because the donor was in Japan or Quebec or maybe Spain. I'd been working
- [The Easiest Thing In The World](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-easiest-thing-in-the-world/) - "The decision to stay or to go was a private agony that will be publicly judged." This is a dispatch from Indianapolis, Indiana. I fled Hurricane Florence ahead of the storm, expecting my house to be a total loss. It's a mile from the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway as the crow flies. What was forecast to
- [The More Times You Say Something](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-more-times-you-say-something/) - It's 4 p.m. on a Thursday and the client won't make a decision. We're two weeks out from an event and the deadline to order awards is about to pass. I've been trying to get an answer for weeks. "I need your decision by noon tomorrow so I can place the order," I say. "Oh,
- [Well THAT Was A Good Decision!](https://thegardenofwords.com/well-that-was-a-good-decision/) - Last week I wrote about fancy purses. There has got to a psychological reason why I will pay 10 times what someone else will pay for a handbag. I would say maybe it is a status thing but it kind of isn't because while everyone else is hauling around the Louis Vuitton Neverfull Tote (which is,
- [Price Available Upon Request](https://thegardenofwords.com/price-available-upon-request/) - I mostly dress like I just crawled out of bed even though I shower every day before work. I just don't get out that much except to go running. The dogs and I sit in my office where I bang out emails for clients and write product descriptions that sell plants. If you looked at me
- [I Almost Didn't Send This Email](https://thegardenofwords.com/i-almost-didnt-send-this-email/) - I almost didn't send this email. I'm getting ready to go to the GWA: The Association of Garden Communicators annual conference and the IGC show (Independent Garden Centers) and I am FLAT OUT getting ready to not work on client work for 5 days. (And this hasn't been through my copy editor, so she's gonna
- [One Thing I Do Every Day](https://thegardenofwords.com/one-thing-i-do-every-day/) - Back in May I stopped running for two weeks. I visited my family and did a race at the beginning of my stay, but then it was hot and I was busy trying to juggle work and family time and rest time. I went to New York City (*heart eyes emoji*) and we walked 7-9
- [Maths](https://thegardenofwords.com/maths/) - My least favorite part of buying a car is when they "run the numbers." My least favorite part of buying a car is when they "run the numbers." Primarily because I always feel like I have NO IDEA what those numbers should be, and what they should include. Added on to that, cars that used to cost eighteen thousand
- [I Drive A Tow Truck](https://thegardenofwords.com/i-drive-a-tow-truck/) - It was close to the last day at my first job out of school and I had to tell my staff I was leaving. It was so hard to do that because I loved them and I loved that garden. I explained where I was going and what I hoped to do at the new
- [Where's The Bar?](https://thegardenofwords.com/wheres-the-bar/) - I spent my whole life planning to manage botanical gardens. I was a 17 year old going on vacation with my parents taking pictures of interpretative signage at Disney World. So when, at age 27 or so I had an abrupt career change, I felt like my whole life went up in flames. For a
- [Pricing: Setting your Maximum](https://thegardenofwords.com/pricing-setting-your-maximum/) - What is the maximum amount of money you'll let a new client spend with you? "Oh, but there IS no maximum," you might say. "I'll take all $20,000 from someone if they offer it." For me, the maximum is different. Book projects start between $4500-$6500 with me. I will take a new client on and
- [I Saw The Sign](https://thegardenofwords.com/i-saw-the-sign/) - We pulled up to the hotel in downtown Miami after dark. The hotel was recommended by the standup paddle race we were attending the next day. The sign was spray painted on the side of the painted concrete wall. Spray. Painted. There's a first time for everything, I guess. Perhaps it was good that the
- [](https://thegardenofwords.com/quarterly-newsletter-for-the-square-foot-gardening-foundation/) - Quarterly newsletter for the Square Foot Gardening Foundation KATIE ELZER-PETERS / SUMMER 2018 / MARKETING CLIENTThe Square Foot Gardening Foundation PROJECT DETAILSWe worked with The Square Foot Gardening Foundation to create a brand new quarterly newsletter for the Foundation. We took an existing branding element, the logo, and used it to create a look and
- [](https://thegardenofwords.com/seed-grow-love-write/) - Seed, Grow, Love, Write KATIE ELZER-PETERS / May 23, 2018 / BOOKS CLIENT A humorous look at life by John Markowski PROJECT DETAILS The Garden of Words worked with John Markowski to handle publishing for his second book. We managed copy editing, proof reading, full cover design for front, back, and spine hardcover and paperback
- [](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-mother-tree-2-2/) - The Mother Tree KATIE ELZER-PETERS / May 26, 2018 / BOOKS CLIENT a Novel by Heather W. Cobham PROJECT DETAILS The Garden of Words team helped Heather Cobham publish her second novel, The Mother Tree, in June 2018. We handled all aspects of copy editing (we have a specialized fiction copy editor as part of
- [Min And Max](https://thegardenofwords.com/min-and-max/) - There are two numbers I didn't spend much time thinking about until I starter working on my pricing. Those two numbers are: The minimum amount of money a new client can spend with me, andThe maximum amount of money a new client can spend with me. But shouldn't we take any amount of money someone
- [Selling without the Squick](https://thegardenofwords.com/selling-without-the-squick/) - I went to see Oceans 8 last weekend and I loved it. Maybe a little too much. I was ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED to watch those 8 women problem solve, plan, and execute a massive heist at the Met Gala. A big time heist movie with diamonds and dresses. The setting was phenomenal. What really got me,
- [Pricing: Setting a Minimum](https://thegardenofwords.com/pricing-setting-a-minimum/) - It is SO VERY TEMPTING when you're a freelancer to take whatever job someone wants to give you or to start up a new client for a very small project. SOMEBODY WANTS TO PAAAAAYYYYYYY MEEEEEEE! (Oprah voice.) At the beginning that's cool because you gotta have jobs. I have spent TEN. LONG. YEARS moving the
- [Maybe It's Me](https://thegardenofwords.com/maybe-its-me/) - I was sitting on the airplane banging my head against the window. The pilot had just come on the loudspeaker and said, "Well, we have to take a different flight path, so we need more fuel. Problem is, it's lightning. So the fuel trucks can't be out. BE NICE TO THE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS. THIS ISN'T
- [Brought to you By](https://thegardenofwords.com/brought-to-you-by/) - The most exciting two minutes in sports happens every year on the first Saturday in May. I went to watch the ponies run at Churchill Downs when I was 14 or 15, the trip a birthday gift from my parents to their horse-crazy daughter. Because I was underage, my dad only let me eat the
- [Brought To You By](https://thegardenofwords.com/brought-to-you-by-2/) - The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports happens every year on the first Saturday in May. I went to watch the ponies run at Churchill Downs when I was 14 or 15, the trip a birthday gift from my parents to their horse-crazy daughter. Because I was underage, my dad only let me eat the
- [Building Something People Beg You To Participate In](https://thegardenofwords.com/building-something-people-beg-you-to-participate-in/) - The ChattaJack 31: It's really 32. The year I did it we had the "Hell Fog." That's what happens when the water is maybe 60 or 70 degrees and the air is more like 30 degrees. One year it was kind of warm and there was no current on the river because that's what happens
- [The Chattajack](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-chattajack/) - It's really 32. The year I did it we had the "Hell Fog." That's what happens when the water is maybe 60 or 70 degrees and the air is more like 30 degrees. One year it was kind of warm and there was no current on the river because that's what happens when the good
- [Internet Proclamations](https://thegardenofwords.com/internet-proclamations/) - It has become customary if someone is leaving a Facebook group to announce in the group: "I'm OUT!" We don't really do that at parties. We don't stand on a chair, bringing the party to a complete standstill, making everyone stop talking, and holler, "GOODNIGHT I'M LEAVING. TRY TO HAVE FUN WITHOUT ME!" Because that's what we're
- [Easy Actions to Increase Revenue](https://thegardenofwords.com/easy-actions-to-increase-revenue/) - I had to save 12 months worth of taxes in 6 months because of disorganization! (Lest you think I always have my act together.) It happens to all of us. BUT in order to do that, I had to implement some revenue-related actions. And it seems like they worked well, so I'm keepin''em and sharin'
- [The Ad Blocker & Modern Marketing](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-ad-blocker-modern-marketing/) - I've been legitimately obsessed with Seth Godin's Akimbo podcast. Seth is the real deal. He has been around forever. Written tons of books. Created and sold companies. He is amazingly perceptive about culture, media, and marketing, and he's capitalized on it. He is also amazingly generous with his time and talent in the form of a blog,
- [What if you don't?](https://thegardenofwords.com/what-if-you-dont/) - I focus a lot on the "What if you do?" If you do XXX, then YYY will happen. It's REALLY easy to let my thoughts go to the negative when I think of "well what if I do this?" If I raise my prices, my clients will fire me.If I pitch myself or my writing,
- [What if you do?](https://thegardenofwords.com/what-if-you-do/) - What if you don't? I focus a lot on the "What if you do?" If you do XXX, then YYY will happen. It's REALLY easy to let my thoughts go to the negative when I think of "well what if I do this?" If I raise my prices, my clients will fire me. If I
- [People Like Us](https://thegardenofwords.com/people-like-us/) - Sunday I went for a run, and because I was by myself I got to listen to podcasts. Until October I NEVER listened to podcasts. I don't even know what happened to me. I must have gotten tired of my running playlist. I started listening to Seth Godin's new Akimbo podcast, and my favorite episode
- [How I Conserve Energy](https://thegardenofwords.com/how-i-conserve-energy/) - At home during the day, I leave the dishes in the sink, the laundry in the dryer, mail on the counter, etc. and so forth. I clean up NOTHING. I leave a mess in my wake. (I clean it up at the end of the workday.) I used to feel bad about it. Then, today,
- [Pound The Alarm](https://thegardenofwords.com/pound-the-alarm/) - Well, I never exactly know when I'm going to have something I feel the need to share with you rightthisverysecond and right now is the very second I need to share. I've talked to a lot of you about my supercalifragilisticexpalidocious business coach. She helped me go from shy, cowering, stand behind the curtain "getting things
- [You Say TomAYto, I say TomAHto](https://thegardenofwords.com/you-say-tomayto-i-say-tomahto/) - If there's one thing every self-employed person has to be constantly doing, it's selling. Our selling is often one-to-one, singular proposals to different people with different (though possibly related or in-the-same-industry) businesses. We might be pitching SIMILAR services to different businesses. For example, I loooooooove doing email marketing, so I pitch email marketing all of
- [Why I Worked With a Business Coach](https://thegardenofwords.com/why-i-worked-with-a-business-coach/) - I've talked about being in the right place at the right time before, and that's kind of how I ended up with my own business coach, Theresa Loe. She has done phenomenal things with her business, and last summer she started offering group coaching so that it was affordable to more people. I was at
- [I DID IT!](https://thegardenofwords.com/i-did-it/) - I FINISHED MY HALF MARATHON! And it was not as terrible as I had expected. WOOT! I thought of you while I was running because I was like, "I do NOT want to have to tell my colleagues that I quit at mile 10.5, but I really wanted to go eat pralines at the candy
- [VACATION! (6 Days No Email)](https://thegardenofwords.com/vacation-day/) - Hi y'all! Well, I made it through my half marathon. There was a lot of mind over matter happening. More importantly, I took a VACATION (VACATION requires all caps!) with my husband and I got to ENJOY it because I wasn't looking at email and potentially getting stressed or worried or aggravated. I did not
- [It's All In Your Head](https://thegardenofwords.com/its-all-in-your-head/) - I'm getting ready to run a half marathon in New Orleans this weekend. (WHY DO I PERSIST IN TELLING YOU THAT I'M ABOUT TO DO SOMETHING THAT COULD GO COLOSSALLY WRONG before I do it?) I've run two other half marathons which means: a) I know that, save breaking a bone mid-run, I can probably finish
- [Building a Bench + Being the Bench](https://thegardenofwords.com/building-a-bench-being-the-bench/) - Let’s talk about benches. Not garden benches, though I’m super pumped I can finally use this squirrel picture I took at Newfields in 2014. We’re talking about a bench of people to help you and back you up. Like a sports team bench! A basketball team doesn’t only have the players on the court at
- [Sunk Costs](https://thegardenofwords.com/sunk-costs/) - Today's blog will be very super simple. I want to talk about sunk costs This is a really annoying topic, so here, have a puppy with a puppy first: I literally JUST re-did my main service website. That's because it was super duper confusing and overwhelming. I had redone it about 1.5 years ago. It was new-ish.
- [When It's Time to Quit Something](https://thegardenofwords.com/when-its-time-to-quit-something/) - Sometimes you just have to quit something. Give it the heave ho. Say uncle. Cut your losses. Ignore sunk costs. Move on. Today I'm quitting my website. Specifically my Garden of Words website. It was only 2 years old but it DID. NOT. WORK. the way I needed it to. "Oh but it was pretty."
- [I Quit](https://thegardenofwords.com/i-quit/) - I QUIT! Sometimes you just have to quit something. Give it the heave ho. Say uncle. Cut your losses. Ignore sunk costs. Move on. Today I'm quitting my website. Specifically my Garden of Words website. It was only 2 years old but it DID. NOT. WORK. the way I needed it to. "Oh but it was pretty."
- [Time for some Time Off!](https://thegardenofwords.com/time-for-some-time-off/) - Hey there fellow freelancer! A quick note to say that I'm about three hours from shutting it down for an entire luxurious end-of-year week off and I'm pumped! I have six books I want to read. Prolly not gonna happen. I'm with my family and getting ready to just spend some time with them. I
- [Freelancing and Identity](https://thegardenofwords.com/freelancing-and-identity/) - PART 1: TURNING YOUR HOBBY INTO YOUR CAREER I’ve done it twice. I won’t do it again. First with gardening and with paddleboarding. I always loved plants. Have gardened since I could walk. At each of my parents’ houses I had a flowerbed that I could call my own. I dug up half the yard
- [List it!](https://thegardenofwords.com/list-it/) - Hello! Are the holidays slowing your business down? Trying to frantically get everything done? No time for planning? SHUT UP KATIE I CAN'T SQUEEZE ANYTHING ELSE ON MY PLATE. Sure you can. If Susan can eat 4 plates at Thanksgiving Dinner (Susan is my tiniest friend. Thanksgiving is like an olympic sport to her and
- [Freelancer: Make an offer - any offer!](https://thegardenofwords.com/freelancer-make-an-offer-any-offer/) - The ONE thing I sometimes miss about a clock punching job is paid time off. However, the tradeoff is flexibility and basically I WOULD NOT GIVE THAT UP FOR ANYTHING. I'm getting ready to go visit my parents for a whopping 10 DAYS (INCOMING MOMMA) and I'll do work during the non holiday part of
- [Small Business Saturday](https://thegardenofwords.com/small-business-saturday/) - I know I said I wasn't going to email you until after Thanksgiving. Go ahead and throw tomatoes at me! (Or turkey necks. You probably have one of those sitting around. Ew.)You're busy making pies or avoiding making pies, so Imma be fast: I'm emailing because I made you a Small Business Saturday package. There are only
- [You're the Boss of You](https://thegardenofwords.com/youre-the-boss-of-you/) - Have you ever said any of these things to yourself? "Well, I never know when I'll get XX thing from XX client." "I can't turn off notifications because XX expects me to email back immediately." "I hate it when XX doesn't do XX what I ask of them." "I always have to follow behind XX
- [Warming Oven](https://thegardenofwords.com/warming-oven/) - Guys, I made you something! But first: it's Katie from MakeMeaFreelancer. It has been a super busy month, thanks to all of you. I hope you're catching all of my Facebook Live videos. A new one is about to start in a few minutes over here. Did you see this AMAZINGLY AWESOME promo video a freelancer
- [Why I Hang My Running Medals Above My Desk](https://thegardenofwords.com/why-i-hang-my-running-medals-above-my-desk/) - One of my best good friends, Susan, told me one time, "Everyone needs to do something that makes them feel good about themselves." Not something that they're good at. Something that makes them feel proud, happy, good. Something that makes them feel these things inside, regardless of what the outside world thinks about their efforts.
- [Time Management for Freelancers](https://thegardenofwords.com/time-management-for-freelancers/) - My Facebook Live this week is about time management for Freelancers. Everyone's favorite topic! You can watch the replay here. I will do blog post transcript eventually that you can look at if you're more of a reader than a watcher. However, in the meantime, I mention a few tips and things in the video
- [What the HECK is a One Sheet?](https://thegardenofwords.com/what-the-heck-is-a-one-sheet/) - That up there is a one sheet that my team made for Ellen Zachos, a.k.a. The Backyard Forager. She wrote a fantastic book called Wildcrafted Cocktails and she is on the road to promote it. (We also made her FREE cookbooklet, so you're gonna want to click the link and grab a copy because it is
- [Focus & Messaging for Freelancers](https://thegardenofwords.com/focus-messaging-for-freelancers/) - I did a Facebook live video about this topic, so if you're a video watcher, check it out on the replay here. If you prefer to read (which I MUCH PREFER TO DO OVER WATCHING VIDEO) here's the skinny. WHY TO CHOOSE A FOCUS When I started freelance I would write anything for anyone as long
- [Self Promotion for Freelancers: Live](https://thegardenofwords.com/self-promotion-for-freelancers-live/) - In case the previous blog post didn't drive the point home, here's my Facebook Live video with a bit more about why you need to self-promote if you're a freelancer and how to do it. Watch the replay here!
- [Taking a Break & Re-Entry: Zach from Heart, Soul & Hustle](https://thegardenofwords.com/taking-a-break-re-entry-zach-from-heart-soul-hustle/) - If you've sauntered over here thinking "Oh yeah, I'm getting tips for getting more freelance work," and then you've noticed I have talked a lot about taking time OFF lately, you might be confused. "What does time off have to do with freelance work?" you're probably asking. You're thinking, "I NEED WORK I CANNOT TAKE
- [Getting Over It](https://thegardenofwords.com/getting-over-it/) - If you search for "get over it" on wikimedia commons you see a lot of different images, including the one of the space shuttle being ferried back to home port (Home runway?) on the top of a 747. There are a bunch of other images, too. Campaign posters, human rights, how to pick up girls, drought
- [Well THAT Wasn't In The Plan](https://thegardenofwords.com/well-that-wasnt-in-the-plan/) - Over the last year I lost 75 pounds. I did it mainly by changing the way I eat, and I've done pretty well sticking to it. I need to lose some more pounds but I'm currently living in my current body trying to to take care of it before I go for more. WHAT DOES
- [Meet the Human Behind MakeMeAFreelancer.com](https://thegardenofwords.com/meet-the-human-behind-makemeafreelancer-com/) - Freelancing is a lot about doing things that you've never done before and they might be kind of scary but you do them ANYWAY! Today was my first MakeMeAFreelancer.com LIVE VIDEO on Facebook. I have done this one time before. While I was on my paddleboard escorting a swimmer during Swim the Loop at Wrightsville
- [How to Qualify Clients](https://thegardenofwords.com/how-to-qualify-clients/) - When I first started freelancing I hunted for jobs on Elance. Elance merged with Odesk and now it is called Upwork. In some ways, finding work through a job board like this is not ideal: price can be a major factor. There are thousands and thousands of people competing for jobs. You can end up dealing
- [Ladew Topiary Gardens, Monkton, Maryland](https://thegardenofwords.com/ladew-topiary-gardens-monkton-maryland/) - The gardening world is firmly divided over the question of topiary. Should you prune a tree or shrub into a shape to resemble another object or shape, or should you leave the pruning shears safely in the shed? This type of garden decoration has gone in and out of fashion many times in gardening history,
- [RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2014](https://thegardenofwords.com/644-2/) - At the RHS Chelsea Flower Show - a 'selfie' taken as a reflection in the in the polished steel garden arches of the "Positively Stoke-on-Trent" exhibit. To the right is a Moorcroft Pottery sphere featuring images of plants in the show garden. Great exhibit!

## Pages

- [LET'S GET GROWING!](https://thegardenofwords.com/) - Horticultural Marketing For green industry businesses by green industry specialists. Have you tried to get help with your email marketing, website development, SMS marketing, SEO, and blogging from a local agency or big name agency and, over and over, they just miss the mark? It's because they're not gardeners. We are. AND we're web developers,
- [Speaking](https://thegardenofwords.com/media/) - Katie is available to speak at garden industry conferences, as a podcast guest, to present webinars, and lunch-and-learns. Kate [the host] had such a wonderful time with you. We couldn’t say enough at our morning editorial meeting about how amazing you were on-air. Our entire team appreciated you letting your fun personality shine. We felt
- [About](https://thegardenofwords.com/about/) - Welcome to The Garden of Words! We used to grow plants Katie managed botanical gardens. Heather, garden centers. Jenny had a landscape design firm Vi grew native plants. Now we grow businesses These days, we pair our horticulture knowledge with our web design, email marketing, SEO, and writing skills with our clients' amazing plants, products,
- [Pricing](https://thegardenofwords.com/pricing/) - How much does all this cost? The short answer? It depends. Here's a longer answer so you can ballpark it. After 17 years of providing marketing for the garden industry, these are the rates and minimums we know we need to start with to give you the best outcome. Would you like to know what's
- [Services](https://thegardenofwords.com/services/) - The Garden of Words specializes in developing email marketing programs for landscapers, garden centers, growers, designers, and other green industry businesses. Our other favorite thing to do is work with clients to evaluate their digital marketing programs. We also offer business consulting, SMS marketing, blogging, SEO, and website design. Learn more about the services that
- [Project Design](https://thegardenofwords.com/project-design/) - Ready to take your marketing strategy to the next level, but not sure where to begin? Initial Discovery: We kick off by gathering key details through intake forms, questionnaires, and discovery meetings to get a clear picture of your goals and vision. Evaluation of Current Assets: We dive into your existing marketing materials and systems
- [SEO Services](https://thegardenofwords.com/seo-services/) - Getting basic SEO right is key. Before you spend $$ on advanced SEO, consider having someone evaluate your basic page setup. You wouldn't build a mountain on sand right? Starting with fresh Keyword research and setting up a Google Business Profile is the BEST foundation you can have. For brick and mortar retail garden businesses,
- [Pick My Brain Service](https://thegardenofwords.com/pick-my-brain-service/) - Not ready for a full blown project? Grab a "pick my brain" session with Katie! We can discuss anything marketing, e-commerce, web design, paid media, email marketing, SEO, writing, industry trends and more on our call. When you are ready to chat, Acuity booking will request $650 at the time of scheduling. You'll send along
- [Business Consulting Services](https://thegardenofwords.com/business-consulting-services/) - Does running your business feel like wrestling an octopus? When it comes to communicating, projects with lots to do can seem impossible to wrangle. We're experts at taming the runaway project. Whether you want to step back from managing your project or just need to bounce ideas off people who have been there before, we
- [Portfolio](https://thegardenofwords.com/portfolio-3/) - Email Marketing Schedule a discovery call with us! Content Services Schedule a discovery call with us! Websites Schedule a discovery call with us!
- [New to The Garden of Words? Start Here!](https://thegardenofwords.com/customer-journey/) - What's it like to work with us? Here's a quick run-through of our customer journey. If you're not sure how or if we can help you, we'd love to chat! You can schedule a free 15-minute discovery call and go from there. It's NOT a high pressure sales call. It's truly a "What do you
- [](https://thegardenofwords.com/82265-2/) - https://manage.kmail-lists.com/subscriptions/subscribe?a=VeTxu2&g=TjZMbu
- [The Garden of Words AI Policy](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-garden-of-words-ai-policy/) - Updated 6/22/23 Generative AI technologies are rapidly emerging and becoming standard components of Saas (Software as a Service, such as email marketing providers), built into image editing programs, such as Canva or Photoshop, and are available as stand-alone LLMs (Large Language Models) such as Google Bard or ChatGPT. IP (Intellectual Property) laws and business ethics
- [Contact](https://thegardenofwords.com/contact-us/) - Ready to talk? Click Here to Schedule a 15 Minute Call Send US An Email – Click here We return emails and phone calls within 48 hours Monday-Thursday. The Garden of Words is closed on all U.S. federal holidays. New Year's Day | Martin Luther King Jr. Day | Presidents' Day | Memorial Day | Juneteenth
- [Garden Cult Portfolio Details](https://thegardenofwords.com/garden-cult-portfolio-details/) - Hort Website – Service CLIENT gardencult.com PROJECT DETAILS Carmen De Vito’s first stop when planning the online face of her new garden consulting business was at The Garden of Words’ web dev department. Carmen had wonderful ideas for what her site should be. The team was able to take those ideas and weave them into
- [Discover SC Gardens Portfolio Details](https://thegardenofwords.com/discover-sc-gardens-portfolio-details/) - Let's Chat Hort Website – Service CLIENT discoverscgardens.com PROJECT DETAILS This project was a service WordPress website build for a horticulture customer. It’s built on the StudioPress theme Elegant Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. The focus was on helping generate tourism for the state of South Carolina as well as showcase the beautiful historical
- [Email Marketing Services](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-services/) - Can't find the time to keep up with email marketing? Let's change that. Email marketing is the best dollar for dollar investment a business owner can make. One of the key metrics used in business valuation is email list size and activity, making each email address worth actual money. Whether you want to step back
- [Email Marketing Portfolio](https://thegardenofwords.com/email-marketing-portfolio/) - Promotional EmailsDrip Campaigns PROJECT DETAILS From promotional emails to holiday offers, flash sales, and more, Katie and her team love helping their clients grow their companies through email marketing. We use a/b testing and segmenting to achieve the best results with higher sales and lower unsubscribe rates. With the Garden of Words team behind your
- [Content Services - Blog](https://thegardenofwords.com/content-services-blog/) - Blog Content Katie and her team of copywriters love to create seasonal content for their clients’ blogs. From timely DIY projects, plant profiles, planting guidelines, and general gardening information, The Garden of Words team pays close attention to each client’s brand profile and voice to produce seamless and valuable content for their audience. Well-written blog
- [Content Services - Email](https://thegardenofwords.com/content-services-email/) - Newsletters Whether it’s a large quarterly newsletter or a shorter monthly newsletter, The Garden of Words has you covered. Our team of graphic designers, copy writers, email marketing specialists, and account reps make sure that communication to your audience is professional, eye-catching, on-brand, and impressive. ABOUT THIS PROJECT CLIENTThe Square Foot Gardening Foundation PROJECT DETAILSWe
- [Content Services - Editorial](https://thegardenofwords.com/content-services-editorial/) - Editorial CLIENT: Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD)PROJECT: Quarterly Journal The Designer PROJECT DETAILSKatie assumed the role of Editor in Chief of the APLD journal,The Designer, in Spring 2016, and has since produced more than 20 inspiring and high-quality issues. With her powerhouse team of designers, proofreaders, and associate editor, Katie creates each issue around a central
- [Content Services - Articles](https://thegardenofwords.com/content-services-articles/) - ARTICLES While Katie Elzer-Peters is an extraordinary editor and CEO of The Garden of Words, she started out as a horticulturalist and writer. Her love of the written word continues today, and she still enjoys crafting inspiring feature articles, business how-to articles, case studies, trend reports, business profiles, and general plant-interest articles for various publications.
- [Clesen Wholesale Nursery Email Marketing](https://thegardenofwords.com/clesen/) - Bringing in B2B Business When thoughtfully executed, email marketing for B2B businesses can have a big impact on the bottom line. Marketing - E-Commerce Client Clesen Wholesale Nursery Project Details Clesen Wholesale is a wholesale grower in the Chicago region that wanted to focus on serving their loyal customer base. We built their email program
- [Brand Marketing](https://thegardenofwords.com/brand-marketing/) - Author/ Speaker Brand Development PROJECT DETAILS Whether you’re an author, a speaker, or both, we help you polish your introduction to your audience. Your marketing material should let the public know at a glance who you are, what you do, and how to contact you — but in a stylish and engaging way! These powerful
- [Design Portfolio](https://thegardenofwords.com/design-portfolio/) - One SheetsFlyersDigital Graphics PROJECT DETAILS This project was a WordPress website build for a horticulture author website. It’s Digital graphics are key for any brand, but don’t forget about sharp flyers for your print material as well! We develop promotional website banners, digital graphics, one sheets, order forms, sell sheets, and catalog pages — either
- [Bluestone Perennials Email Marketing](https://thegardenofwords.com/bluestone/) - From Catalog to Email We help translate the much-loved Bluestone catalog into B2C garden industry email marketing that converts into sales. Marketing E-Commerce Client Bluestone Perennials Nursery Project Details Bluestone Perennials came to us with an already existing email marking program asking us to take it to the next level. We created an email marketing
- [Carol J Michael Portfolio Details](https://thegardenofwords.com/carol-j-michael-portfolio-details/) - Let's Chat Hort Website – WooCommerce CLIENT caroljmichael.com PROJECT DETAILS This project was a WordPress website build for a horticulture author website. It’s built on the StudioPress theme Author Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. The focus was on getting people to purchase Carol’s books. We made the website clean and easy to navigate with
- [Digging In Gathering Portfolio Details](https://thegardenofwords.com/digging-in-gathering-portfolio-details/) - Let's Chat! Before & After Gallery Back To Portfolio Ready to get started? Book a time to chat with me for 15 minutes to see if we are a good fit! Book A Call
- [A+ Garden Center Email Marketing](https://thegardenofwords.com/aplus/) - Driving Traffic to Retail Locations through fun, useful, and inspiring newsletters. Marketing - E-Commerce Client A+ Garden Center Project Details This email program was built from scratch on Klavyio for a greenhouse/garden center. We designed the emails to be colorful and informational while tying in promotions like flash sales and their membership program. Once a
- [A Cook and Her Books Portfolio Details](https://thegardenofwords.com/a-cook-and-her-books-portfolio-details/) - Hort Website – Service CLIENT acookandherbooks.com PROJECT DETAILS Lucy Mercer of A Cook and Her Books came to The Garden of Words needing a new online home for her Blogspot blog that was more personalisable and expandable. The GOW Web Dev team set Lucy up with a WordPress site on a theme that was designed
- [Web Services](https://thegardenofwords.com/web-services/) - What makes a good website? It answers the three main questions every customer has: Who are you?What do you sell?How can I get it? Questions answered, a good website is set up for search engines to find it, is accessible, and, most importantly, routes customers to you, whether you want them to visit you in
- [Sitemap](https://thegardenofwords.com/sitemap/)
- [Landscaping Professionals](https://thegardenofwords.com/landscaping-professionals/) - Stand out online as a Professional Landscape Company with a new website design today. Your Landscaping business needs to sell YOU and the best way to show your community why they need to hire YOU instead of your competition is through a website designed with your customers in mind. Experts in Horticulture, Experts in Web
- [The Gardener's Workshop Portfolio Details](https://thegardenofwords.com/the-gardeners-workshop-portfolio-details/) - Let's Chat Hort Website – E-Commerce with WooCommerce CLIENT thegardenersworkshop.com PROJECT DETAILS This project was an E-commerce, WordPress website rebuild with WooCommerce for a cut flower grower who also offers online classes, books, seeds, and seed starting equipment. It’s built on the StudioPress theme Essence Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. We also integrated highly customized search,
- [Hoosier Gardener Portfolio Details](https://thegardenofwords.com/hoosier-gardener-portfolio-details/) - Let's Chat Service Website – No E-commerce CLIENT hoosiergardener.com PROJECT DETAILS This project was a WordPress website build for a garden speaker/author/coach in Indiana. It’s built on the StudioPress theme Brunch Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. We also integrated a paid social sharing plugin and an event calendar. The focus was on helping the client sell
- [Privacy Policy](https://thegardenofwords.com/privacy-policy/) - PRIVACY POLICY BY VISITING TheGardenofWords.com, YOU ARE CONSENTING TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY. OverviewTheGardenOfWords.comis committed to protecting your privacy online. This Privacy Policy describes the personal information we collect through this website at http://www.TheGardenOfWords.com (the “Site”), and how we collect and use that information. The terms “we”, “us” and “our” and TheGardenOfWords.com refer to TheGardenofWords.com. The term “user,”
- [Grosh Lawn Service Portfolio Details](https://thegardenofwords.com/grosh-lawn-service-portfolio-details/) - Let's Chat Hort Website – E-commerce with WooCommerce CLIENT groshlawnservice.com PROJECT DETAILS This project was an e-commerce WordPress website build for a horticulture customer. It’s built on the StudioPress theme Navigation Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. Client needed an SEO-optimized website that was updated, functional, and most of all: Easy to use! His previous
- [Garden Trellis & Fence Portfolio Details](https://thegardenofwords.com/garden-trellis-fence-portfolio-details/) - Hort Website – Service CLIENT gardentrellisandfence.com PROJECT DETAILS This project was a WordPress website build for a horticulture supply website. It’s built on the StudioPress theme Smart Passive Income Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. The focus was on getting people to understand their products quickly and easily, then direct them to the correct supplier
- [Herb'n Cowgirl Portfolio Details](https://thegardenofwords.com/herbn-cowgirls-portfolio-details/) - Hort Website – Service CLIENT herbncowgirl.com PROJECT DETAILS This project was a WordPress website build for a horticulture blog website all about herbs. It’s built on the StudioPress theme Essence Pro and has a custom taxonomy to separate Ann’s recipe index from her general blog. The focus was on getting people to the best articles
- [Square Foot Gardens Portfolio Details](https://thegardenofwords.com/square-foot-gardens-portfolio-details/) - Let's Chat Hort Website – E-commerce with WooCommerce CLIENT squarefootgardening.com PROJECT DETAILS This project was a native E-commerce WordPress website build for a gardening education course website using WooCommerce and Lifter LMS (Learning Management Software). It’s built on the StudioPress theme Course Maker Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. We developed a robust FAQ section,
- [Yard Doc Portfolio Details](https://thegardenofwords.com/yard-doc-portfolio-details/) - Let's Chat Hort Website – Service CLIENT yard-doc.com PROJECT DETAILS This was a redesign project to update the look and feel, as well as some functionality. We added a third-party paid booking system called Acuity. We also integrated Mailchimp to collect newsletter subscribers and added a blog category where the newsletter archive could be posted.
- [Organic Mechanic Soil Portfolio Details](https://thegardenofwords.com/organic-mechanic-soil-portfolio-details/) - Let's Chat Hort Website – E-Commerce with WooCommerce KATIE ELZER-PETERS / APRIL 2, 2019 / WEBSITE CLIENT Organicmechanicsoil.com PROJECT DETAILS This project was an E-commerce WordPress website rebuild for a soil website using WooCommerce. It’s built on the StudioPress theme Infinity Pro and uses WPEngine.com for hosting. We also integrated Google Maps for a simple, search
- [Nurseries](https://thegardenofwords.com/nurseries/) - Stand out online as a Nursery or Garden Center with a new website design today. Your Nursery or Garden Center needs to sell YOU and the best way to show your community why they need to hire YOU instead of your competition is through a website designed with your customers in mind. Experts in Horticulture,

## Categories

- [Uncategorized](https://thegardenofwords.com/category/uncategorized/)
- [Announcements](https://thegardenofwords.com/category/announcements/)
- [Blog](https://thegardenofwords.com/category/blog/)
- [featured](https://thegardenofwords.com/category/featured/)
- [NEWSLETTER](https://thegardenofwords.com/category/gow-goodies/newsletter/)
- [All Websites](https://thegardenofwords.com/category/all-websites/)
- [Service Websites](https://thegardenofwords.com/category/all-websites/service-websites/)
- [Editorial](https://thegardenofwords.com/category/portfolio/editorial/)
- [Portfolio](https://thegardenofwords.com/category/portfolio/)
- [Marketing](https://thegardenofwords.com/category/portfolio/marketing/)
- [Green Profit Articles](https://thegardenofwords.com/category/gow-goodies/green-profit-articles/)
- [Services](https://thegardenofwords.com/category/services/)
- [Books](https://thegardenofwords.com/category/portfolio/books/)
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