Medical Marijuana: The Three Issues To Consider

I didn't think I was a conservative, but all this talk about medical marijuana, grow lights and garden centers has me squirming in my chair. I've probably been to more Dave Matthews Band concerts than the average person, but I'm still nervous Googling "medical marijuana" on my work computer. What will the IT department think?

You've probably heard by now that Scotts wants to target the pot market, This news, combined with all the talk about hydroponic production has generated a lot of discussion at our office. Should we cover hydroponics?

Our readers have shared their opinions with us. A few retailers say they sell supplies on the downlow. One said that when customers ask for grow lights, staff is told to say, "According to federal law, we cannot sell supplies related to or give advice related to the production of marijuana. We do carry a variety of equipment and supplies that can be used for indoor gardening, which I would be happy to show you."

Growers responses have been more varied, positive to negative, everything from the gateway drug argument to the other uses of marijuana (hemp) and the extremely lucrative nature of the marijuana business.

It seems to me that there are three issues with selling marijuana supplies or marketing to that niche:

1. The legal issue. Some states and the federal government are still at odds over legalization, and I can't imagine I'd want my business tangled up in it. 

2. The moral issue. You may consider this the first issue, actually, whether you think marijuana use is a bad idea or a relief for chemotherapy, glaucoma and AIDS patients.

3. The business issue. If you stock these products, is it a good business for you? A commenter on our site says it actually brings buyers into the store. What I do like about the stance that Scotts CEO Jim Hagedorn has taken is that he's thinking differently -- about new products, new markets, evolution. In the Wall Street Journal article, Hagedorn said:

In the past, Scotts wouldn't have considered pursuing businesses or product lines that generated less than $10 million a year in revenue. But, Mr. Hagedorn said, "We can't operate our business like that anymore."

Here's a question for you: If it wasn't possible to grow your own medical marijuana, would this whole situation be different? It will never be a controlled substance, not that controlled substances ever truly are. If you could grow oxycodone in your backyard, it might be illegal instead of controlled.

I don't know where I stand on this issue. The older I get, the bigger the gray area of the world gets. What would happen if marijuana was made legal? Amsterdam still hasn't burned to the ground. And while I know that Europeans and Americans are very different, it's another good question to ask yourself. What would America be like if marijuana were legalized? If this were a cut and dry issue, it wouldn't be controversial. Your thoughts in the comments.

Why Costa Farms Is On Twitter

Why do consumers need to know what's going on in the greenhouse/garden center? The question was posed by me by Bren (@BG_garden). This is such a fascinating question, because it seems that some greenhouses and garden centers have the same question but in reverse. Do they need to communicate with consumers? And if so, what do they need to communicate? What do you think?

There is such a huge wealth of knowledge that greenhouses/garden centers can share with the people that ultimately enjoy their products. Here's a bunch of questions they can answer for gardeners:
- I think I know what Rudbeckia hirta is, but can you confirm?
- I got this plant without and/or lost its tag. What is it?
- My plant has this weird spot/discoloring/holes - what should I do?
- There are so many petunias/geraniums/groundcovers out there - which one is for me?
- Where can I buy the plants you grow?
- Is this plant/pest control/fertilizer poisonous to my kids/pets? 

The disconnect between growers and consumers is just a shame. There are so many brilliant plantspeople in the horticulture industry with so much information to share about plants. I think it would be so awesome to connect those people with consumers. USDA Zones, media recommendations, sun/shade - imagine if all their years of experience in your region were at your fingertips. There's already a ton of information online about gardening, a lot of it is conflicting reports. How great would it be to have a personal garden concierge, willing to help you maintain success in the garden?

And on the other side, what benefit do greenhouses/garden centers enjoy when they communicate at a deeper level with their customers? So I asked one of the greenhouse operations I see reaching way out to consumers, @CostaFarms. Costa Farms is on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr - everywhere. And these services are front and center of the operation's website. So I asked Costa's Melissa Marti why.

"Through social media, you build relationships, trust, and a position of expertise," she says. "People always prefer to work with people that they know, trust and like. And even though social media is very time intenstive in the beginning, as you get up to speed, it becomes an extremely efficient use of time with regards to informing your fans, followers, etc."

And while the garden center is there to talk to and interface with the consumer, Costa says we are in a new age in which the consumer demands more from the manufacturer, in our case, the grower.

"In the age of social media, the rules have changed radically, and people today demand a more honest and direct relationship with companies with which they do business," Marti says. "To engage with our consumers, it its no longer enough to have an eMail address and customer service number on our website. Today, plant lovers want to interact with and engage with us via their chosen means of communication, whether that is Twitter, Facebook, discussion forums or blogs."

Roses Wrapped In Chocolate - Genius

I found 4-inch miniature roses wrapped in four bars of Hershey's chocolate at my local grocery store. Bound with a rubber band. $15.99 each. Yes, please.

Don't Stop Expanding Your Business

The floriculture market has matured, and there are no new sales out there to be had. Growers who expand their operations are simply taking market share from each other.

I read this a few weeks ago from grower, and his response to this situation is to focus on current customers and not worry about finding new ones. I can understand this point of view; you should take care of current customers fully, and work at what works. But something about these comments didn't sit right with me.

Then at Short Course last week, I heard Stan Pohmer speak, painting the same picture of the industry, but said that this mentality is a self-fulfilling prophesy, and is exactly why the market has slowed down.

Maybe you're happy with the size of your business and your revenue, but you can't keep all your customers forever. You'll have to replace that business somehow. And if you want to grow and be more successful than you are now, you need to find ways to fight, don't you?

This industry has matured -- does that assume that there's only one way to go now? Is the industry just going to decline without a fight? Most of the houses in my neighborhood aren't landscaped with color at all. Isn't there room to expand the market there?

Reaching the consumer can't only be the responsibility of the retailer, I believe. What about partnering with your retailers for in-store education? Or better, what about going out into your community? Earlier this summer, a group of California growers opened their doors to the public. Even a non-gardener would be amazed at what they'd find behind the walls of a greenhouse during the height of production.

It's easier than ever for a grower to reach through directly to the consumer. I love what Ball and Proven Winners are doing with the free tools of social media. Check out the Wave and Proven Winners Facebook pages when you have a minute.

And if you think only the big brands can reach people through social, check out Rocket Farms' Facebook following. The more demand there is out there for plants at the consumer level, the more market there will be for growers.

Have you seen what Bob's Market is doing with smart tags? Other growers/retailers are testing them out, including Hort Couture, and more are thinking about it.

Please don't stop thinking about ways you can help create new gardeners!

OFA Short Course: All My Photos

Just back from OFA Short Course...that show gets more fun every year. I think this is every single photo I took at Short Course 2010.

It was so cool to see the Twitter and Facebook logos popping up everywhere around the show -- on signs and catalogs. It's the ultimate in opt-in digital marketing, and I can't wait to see more of you there.

If you'd like to hear more about the show, read Greenhouse Grower's Short Course coverage and Today's Garden Center's Short Course coverage. Enjoy!

Flowers Versus Food: A Tale Of Two Surveys

We received the 2009 Floriculture Crop Summary, which again paints a mildly sad picture of the industry -- the wholesale value of floriculture crops was down 7 percent from the '08 numbers, California down 12 percent, Florida down 9 percent. Number of producers down 13 percent.

But if you look at numbers from the National Gardening Association's 2009 Impact of Home and Community Gardening in America survey, you'll see a very different picture. Food gardening was UP 19 percent over the year before. And 21 percent of food gardening households in 2009 will be new to gardening. Here are a few more stats from that survey on why people reported that they garden:

To grow better tasting food ....58

To save money on food bills ....54

To grow better quality food....51

To grow food I know is safe ....48

To feel more productive .....40

To spend more time outdoors ....35

To get back to basics ....25

To have food to share with others....23

To live more locally ....22

To have a family activity.....21

To teach my kids about gardening ....30

These aren't all about food! 35 percent of respondents just wanted to spend more time outside. Outside! In a white-collar, computer-centric world, people still want to be outside.

Maybe we need to stick the Floriculture Crop Summary in a drawer for a little bit and take a look at what's working, not how we're failing. A few suggestions:

Cross-merchandising. Do you market flowers with vegetable plants? Get that impulse buy going. How about six packs or flats mixed with strawberries and white petunias? Strawberries and cream! Tomatoes and torenia.

Continue to market vegetables in a big way. If people aren't in the garden center, they're not going to buy any kind of plant. If the veggies get them in the door, so be it. Some people are saying they're not sure how long the veggie trend will last. I think it might have more legs than we think. After all, I've already put all this sweat equity into building a raised bed. I should keep using it.

Don't forget about the kids. Direct from the NGA survey: "Nineteen percent of all U.S. households were aware of gardening activities for students at their local school. That contrasts with a majority of households (55 percent) that said gardening activities should be implemented whenever possible (35 percent), or should be implemented in every school (20 percent)."

This is your future consumer. Is there anything you can do to get a plant in a school near you?

What else? It doesn't have to be flowers versus food? How can they work together?

Creating An Online Events Calendar

Want to put together a web calendar that's easy to update? Try Google Calendar.

Bob's Market & Greenhouses put together a calendar for events, which includes community events like the Tour de Ohio and local car shows. It's free and super easy to update.

Here's a Google Calendar support page that will help you get started.

Social For Marketing: It's Not About Me, It's About You

Attended the Online Marketing Summit in Cleveland yesterday. Social media people are fun and when it comes to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs, this gathering brings together people who know what they're talking about.

Here's what stuck out in my mind, or thoughts I had while I was sitting at the conference:

• "We need to be in a perpetual state of Beta." Meaning you need to constantly ask yourself these questions about your digital content: Do people like what you've created online? What needs to be added?
  - Kip Edwardson (@kedwardson), manager of interactive marketing of Scotts Miracle Gro, who, by the way, has 8 people on his team. Can you afford one? Half a person?

• Some thoughts from John Heaney (@johnheaney): You don't get to mandate how people receive your message. Be where your fans are, and they'll hear what you're saying. But don't forget to give them what they're looking for: "If everything is me, me, me, I guarantee no one is listening."

• We probably need a social media policy, even though I've been resisting it. You probably do, too.
  
  
• The key to content success? It's not about what you want. It's about what your readers want.

• Increase your content that is link worthy, that people will want to link to, and you'll increase site traffic. Blogs are an easy and great way to do it. Schedule out keywords and topics you want to cover. And the first four words of your headlines are most important as far as indexing for search. Make them count. Thanks, Dominic. (@DJLitten)
  
  
• What are people willing to do for five dollars? Fiverr.com

• Having trouble selling social at your business? Bring examples of other companies you wouldn't expect to see on Twitter. How about the Pentagon? @pentagonchannel

Six Tips For Better Social Media

So you've set up your Facebook and Twitter pages. Now what?

I spoke at ANLA Management Clinic about social media in January. You can find my presentation below. It contains a bunch of examples of how garden centers and national brands are using social media to communicate with customers.

Thanks to the panelists for the session, Melodie McDanal of Gardenhood in Atlanta (@melodiegardens) and Larry Grossman of Grossmans Garden & Home in Penfield, NY (@grossmansgarden). They also shared some great ideas and you should check them out.

Here are six tips from my presentation on how to enhance your brand using social media.

1. Don't forget the "social" in social media. Talk with people, not at people. Interact.

2. Post things that your customers will want to share with their friends/fans. This can include local information, links to stories (on your site or others), fun stuff.

3. Post photos and events on Facebook. Photos kill and events can be viral. And if I know my friends are attending your event, I'll want to attend, too.

4. Put your name (or the contributor's name) on your Twitter account. I like to know who I'm talking to on Twitter. I think Twitter represents less of a corporate identity and more of a personal conversation.

5. Integrate your social media. Ping.fm, HootSuite and Tweet Deck allow you to post once to multiple types of social media like Twitter and Facebook.

6. Also cross promote your social media. Post links to your Facebook page on Twitter, and vice versa.

Bonus Facebook Photos Tip: If you want other people to tag themselves in your Facebook photos, you need to change a default setting behind the scenes. Under your Fan page profile pic, click on Edit Page, then on Edit under Applications -> Photos. Edit Settings -> Allow all fans to tag photos.

See the presentation below for even more ideas.

Proven Methods To Enhance Your Brand Using Social Media

View more presentations from Sara Tambascio.

Why This Spring Is Different For Retail

Next week will be my first ANLA Management Clinic. Who's going to be at Clinic? I think this is a critical time for all types of retailers to look at their practices to take advantage of a few key elements of business this spring:

- We're tired of being depressed. As a shopper myself, I'm tired of being thrifty. I want to spend. Even if I can't spend a lot, I want to have fun shopping. Are you ready for me? I loved what I was seeing at Atltanta's Mart this year -- lots of fun, vibrant

colors that made me feel ready for spring.

- New spins on last year's trends. Fresh and local veggies are going to be hot again this year, but they're going to need a new spin this year. Because the economy is starting to turn around, the need-based vegetable gardener may be going away, but the Food Network-watching demographic isn't. What can you do to get the budding chef to buy your herbs, veggies, or maybe gourmet foods?

- Talk to your customers for free! A year ago, what was your social media profile? What is it now? If the picture's about the same, it's time to supercharge your Facebook page and get rolling on some YouTube videos. These services multiply your reach exponentially, and cost nothing but time. There are several sessions at Clinic this year on social media. Please check out at least one, maybe the roundtable session I'm hosting on Tuesday, February 2 at 1p.m., on using social media to enhance your brand.

- Gardening needs a hero. If your reach isn't national, be the gardening hero in your region. Get your face out there. Answer some questions. Is there a local radio show that needs hosting? And be entertaining. Now that America is entertained by the viral video, the bar has been raised. Entertaining isn't just for Super Bowl commercials anymore.

Hope to see you at Clinic, but until then, what will you do to make this spring different at retail?