Ramblin Jackson - July 2022

Ramblin Jackson - July 2022

The Landscaper's Guide To Modern Sales and Marketing Newsletter

JULY 2022

Business Ownership = Independence? THE TRUTH NO ONE TALKS ABOUT

Give yourself a point for every one of these lines you’ve heard before:

my day of family plans to get online and dispute the chargeback with merchant services. The process took hours . Luckily, I had documentation proving the person who issued the chargeback had authorized the charge — but my entire holiday was ruined. In hindsight, I really regret spending my Fourth of July in the office. It was a terrible way to celebrate the values of freedom and independence that America stands for. Plus, I missed out on valuable time with my family and friends. I should have been out celebrating, seeing fireworks, or even taking my kids back home to Chicago where I grew up. Since then, I’ve learned a lot about creating freedom in my business, and I’ve gotten a handle on my schedule. You can do the same thing — with help from better marketing. Marketing can free up your time and energy by qualifying customers for you automatically. Your website is an important tool for adding freedom to your business. A well-designed website …

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Includes an automated scheduling system that adds meetings to your calendar without the hassle of emailing back and forth

1. “Being an entrepreneur is worth it — you get to be your own boss!” 2. “As a business owner, you can set your own schedule and take as much time off as you want.” 3. “Owning a business gives you financial independence and total freedom.”

These are just three ways a good website design can create more freedom for you, and my team can help you find more. All you need to do is request a Free Website Review (turn to Page 2 to find out how). In 2019, after I optimized Ramblin Jackson’s marketing and sales processes to create more freedom, I did what I should have done years ago: I took my sons home to Chicago. We spent the holiday at the Frontier Days festival riding the same rides I threw up on many years before, and we even watched the Jesse White Tumblers do their acrobatics during the parade. Today, I’m grateful to run my own business. I appreciate all of the opportunities for independence it represents, even if some of them are a little misleading. As entrepreneurs, we have the freedom to pick our employees, choose our clients, and solve people’s problems. That freedom is a key part of being an American. This Fourth of July, you won’t see me in the office. I’ll be watching the fireworks with my wife and kids. I hope you will, too!

All of these things are true — to a degree. They’re also totally misleading.

As every landscape entrepreneur knows, striking out on your own doesn’t mean you can suddenly go to all of your daughter’s dance recitals or take a day off when you don’t feel like working. In fact, owning a business can add MORE stress to your life than it takes away, especially in the beginning. Not only does your family depend on you, but your employees and their families do, too. It took me about 12 years to get to the point where I could set my own schedule. Before that, I was pretty much chained to my desk working more than 40 hours a week. I used to work weekends and holidays, too, like the Fourth of July and even Christmas. I thought I was getting ahead because other people weren’t working. One year, someone issued a chargeback to our company credit card, and I got the notice on the Fourth of July. I dropped

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Includes price ranges, timelines, and a list of services to pre-qualify your customers, weeding out bad fits until only the Hell Yes Customers remain Has an online scheduling tool that lets prospects book meetings without wasting your team’s time on the phone

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JACK JOSTES, CEO RAMBLIN JACKSON

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Read It in Your Truck on a Rainy Day

Business Is a Never-Ending Game “The Infinite Game” by Simon Sinek is among the greatest motivational books you can get your hands on. He gives readers an inside scoop on the importance of adopting an “infinite mindset” while “playing the game” of business. Let’s look at some of the chapters that can help you and your business. that embody all five of these principles: Victorinox, the creator of the Swiss Army knife, Bill Gates and Microsoft, and the GPS company Garmin. Chapter 5: Building a Culture of Trust A healthy work culture is based on trust. If your workers sense a lack of trust, that affects efficiency, HOW DO YOU PLAY THIS INFINITE GAME?

Chapter 1: Business Isn’t a Finite Game The first chapter discusses why running a business isn’t a finite game. It focuses on how profit and income aren’t the only ways to measure success. Profit means nothing if you’re unable to survive current and future difficulties. This is why business is an infinite game — you don’t want to create something to “win” (finite); you want to build a foundation that will remain for future generations (infinite). Chapter 2: Essential Practices Sinek explains the strategies you need to play the infinite game. These skills include developing a “just cause,” creating trusting teams, studying your rivals, preparing for flexibility, and showing courage to lead. He follows up with examples of companies

since no one will feel comfortable voicing their concerns or mistakes. Ford Motor Company is a perfect example. Before 2006, the now-former CEO would reprimand and penalize workers who brought him bad information. This caused an unhealthy work environment and led to lower productivity. Sinek offers tips on how to create a culture where your employees are comfortable and confident. “The Infinite Game” teaches you that business is an endless game where you have to overcome many challenges. Successful businesses play the infinite game, constantly improving the business to become better. Sinek provides tips, solutions, and examples of how your business can thrive while playing the game. To get your hands on “The Infinite Game,” visit your local bookstore or online retailer.

Get Free, Expert Feedback on Your Website

When you look at your website, you can only see it from your own perspective. It’s impossible to be impartial. You don’t just see a homepage — you see the hours of work that went into creating your logo and crafting your brand. You don’t just see SEO keywords — you see the blog posts and employee bios you and your team slaved over. We get it. It’s frustrating to try and put yourself in clients’ shoes — nevermind the shoes of a professional marketer who has mastered SEO for service-area businesses. That’s why we offer a FREE Website Review to landscapers that gives you a fresh, impartial eye from the perspective of your customers; provides answers to your SEO questions; and frees up your time. Robert Felton, our senior landscape marketing strategist and SEO expert, conducts every review. All you have to do is request one, and Robert will film himself

going over your website and giving you expert feedback at no cost.

specific digital marketing and SEO advice, you can book a 15-minute marketing brainstorm with Robert after watching your review. He’ll chat with you about your specific goals and give individual feedback. When you’re ready to get an expert’s perspective on your site, request your Free Website Review at RamblinJackson.com.

“Each review is a crash course in digital marketing for landscapers,” Robert says. “Here at Ramblin Jackson, we get calls all the time about SEO and how it works. Your review gives you the basics for how local SEO works for a service-area business.”

The reviews are completely personalized.

“I walk through your website, point out opportunities and things that might be holding you back, then give you feedback on how to make things better. Requesting a review is kind of like booking a consultation with a gardener or landscaper. Even if you don’t end up purchasing anything, you get to have me out to point out, ‘Hey, that’s not going to grow there,’” Robert says. Robert has worked with landscapers across the U.S. for more than five years, and all of his suggestions are based on what has worked for past clients. If you want more

Scan to request your Free Website Review

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Read It in Your Tru

In Case You Missed It ... Our Commercial Sales and Marketing Virtual Workshop Is Back! Back in April, we hosted our first “The Landscaper’s Guide to Commercial Sales and Marketing” virtual workshop — and it was a huge hit! In fact, so many of the landscapers who attended found it valuable that we decided to offer it again this month on Thursday, July 28, at 9 a.m. Mountain Time. Just like last time, you’ll get to enjoy a live workshop with Ramblin Jackson CEO Jack Jostes. You can go to LandscapersGuide.com/ Commercial-Sales-and-Marketing right now to sign up for the virtual workshop and get two full hours of content for just $47. This virtual workshop will help you take control of your sales process and find more Hell Yes Customers to fill your commercial landscape pipeline without lowering your prices. Here are just three of the 11 game-changing tips you’ll learn in the workshop.

TAKE A BREAK

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How to create your Dream 100 Client List: Once you have this list, you can send “lumpy mail” that will wow them into becoming customers. (Here at Ramblin Jackson, we like stuffing our envelopes with helpful books and beef jerky.) How to build relationships with prospects through direct message conversations: You’ll never make the mistake of going straight for the appointment or sending your pricing right away again.

AIRPLANE BEACHBALL

FOURTH GRILL HIKING REVOLUTION

RUBY SCOOPS SPARKLER TUBING

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BONFIRE FESTIVAL

• How to leverage the power of Differentiator Videos: These videos help prospects understand why they should hire your company for a higher price than your lowball competitors — and they really work.

Those three secrets are just the tip of the iceberg. You’ll learn much more on July 28!

We recommend watching “The Landscaper’s Guide to Commercial Sales and Marketing” with your sales and marketing teams for maximum impact. Think of it as the most affordable training you’ve ever invested in.

Ready to get started? Visit LandscapersGuide.com/Commercial-Sales- and-Marketing and register before it’s too late. We’ll see you on July 28!

VIRTUAL WORKSHOP WITH JACK JOSTES LandscapersGuide.com/Commercial-Sales-and-Marketing The Landscaper’s Guide to Commercial Sales & Marketing

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uck on a Rainy Day

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PO Box 1429 • Lyons, CO 80540 (303) 544-2125 • ramblinjackson.com

1 How to Really Get Independence 2 Don’t Rely on Profit to Measure Success 2 The Answers to Your Website SEO Questions 3 A Second Chance at Our Popular Virtual Workshop 3 Take a Break 4 What Exactly Is the Rosetta Stone? INSIDE

THE HISTORY BEHIND THE REAL ROSETTA STONE Rosetta Stone is one of the world’s most popular and well-known language-learning softwares, but many users have wondered about where its name came from. The original Rosetta Stone was once the most enigmatic Egyptian artifact that confounded scholars for a number of years. When they finally cracked the code, one of the lost secrets of ancient Egypt was revealed. strengthen the floors of the museum to support its incredible weight. Various scientists NOT JUST A LANGUAGE TOOL

studied the artifact with no success, and it was ultimately deciphered by French linguist Jean- Francois Champollion.

The Rosetta Stone is a slab of granite that has inscriptions of a decree issued in 196 B.C. by Egypt’s ruler at the time, Ptolemy V, and a group of Egyptian clergy members. The decree was written in hieroglyphics, ancient Greek, and Demotic, which was a script used by the common people. Experts estimate the stone’s creation was over 2,000 years ago. The slab was discovered in July 1799 by a group of French army engineers who were operating under Napoleon Bonaparte’s orders near the Egyptian town of Rosetta. The British Army would go on to defeat France in Egypt during the French Revolutionary Wars in 1801. Under the terms of the Treaty of Alexandria, the British claimed the Rosetta Stone, along with other Egyptian artifacts found by the French.

Champollion discovered that hieroglyphics were a combination of phonetic and ideographic signs. Earlier scientists had falsely inferred that hieroglyphics were simply symbolic picture writing and nothing more. For his discovery, Champollion was named the founding father of Egyptology. If you’re interested in viewing the Rosetta Stone, it is still on display at the British Museum in London where it’s been displayed for 220 years, with the exception of a temporary relocation during World War I. While the Rosetta Stone has called London home for hundreds of years, there have been recent requests to return it to its homeland in Egypt.

The British relocated the stone to the British Museum in London, where it was stored in a temporary structure until they could

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