Once you've begun interviewing public relations firms for your garden business, you're getting serious.

Your garden business should be whittling down a list of goals and objectives and honing in on potential public relations firms.

But before you go any further in the process of hiring a public relations firm, be sure you know what not to do. You don't want to be left ripping up your contract in vein like the poor souls on the right.

Below are 3 mistakes to avoid when hiring a public relations.

Building brand recognition to many small companies means slapping their logo and tagline on absolutely every item that leaves their office.

While logos are certainly one of the most important aspects of creating brand recognition, what happens when people already recognize your brand?

Unbranding is the newest public relations and marketing trend in 2013. It's essentially going beyond the logo and relying exclusively on an image of your product for marketing.

For unbranding to be successful, your garden business first needs to have a winning logo.

Below are our tips for creating a stellar logo to last for the long haul--and tips to go beyond it once your brand has national awareness.

Reddit is one of the most powerful websites and social communities on the internet--though you wouldn't guess it by looking at their website design.

Last month alone, there were over 55 million unique visitors. Pretty impressive. 

Making it on the home page of Reddit is the new equalivalent of making it on the front page of The Washington Post. Plus, Redditt fame will very often translate into even more stories in traditional media sources. 

Read on to discover the power of Reddit for your garden business--and the best practices for marketing on the platform.

Once you feel like you really, truly know what public relations is, it's time begin looking for the right firm to hire.

The search for the perfect public relations firm can be a bit daunting all on your own, so we're here to help.

Just searching "public relations firms" in Google is not going to cut it. Plus, 20% of the Google firms will only show up because they're close in location to you--not because they're the best overall fit for your business.

To find the public relations firm that is just the right fit, be sure to examine the following criteria.

Facebook Hashtags are already declared dead.

The release of hashtags on Facebook was not initially well-received as millions across the country made their status update, "This isn't #Twitter Facebook."

A new study proves that users aren't searching for companies by their hashtag, nor do posts with hashtags drive engagement. 

But, we're declaring #Facebook hashtags aren't dead. Instead, marketers and companies simply have not been using the #hashtag feature to its fullest advantage... yet.

Below are our effective tips and tricks to keep the #Facebook hashtag alive and well on your garden business Facebook page.

7 out of 10 customers in the garden industry trust online reviews just as much as word of mouth recommendations.

Online reviews now need to be part of a comprehensive marketing plan.

One way to garner online reviews is by creating sampling programs and sending them to key influencers in different mediums.  

Below, the correlation between online reviews and profitability will be examined, and garden businesses will get insider tips to make their next online review stellar.

Public Relations, you know your garden business needs it, but you're not 100% sure why.

Yes, stories will inevitably result from public relations. And, if your business is ever in a crunch, they're there to help you work through a crisis. But, what about the other 95% of the time?

In a nutshell, a public relations firm spends their time building your brand to make your customers fall in love with your company and become loyal consumers who ask for your product by name.

Each Wednesday in August the GROW! Blog will be delving into all your garden business needs to know before hiring a PR firm.

To see if your business is truly ready for a public relations firm, first see what the function of a PR firm is in your business plan--and learn a bit more about the services offered, which go far beyond securing stories.

Real time marketing is springing up all over the world.

Two weeks ago, it was the heat wave that dominated social media. This week, the royal baby was all anyone was talking about.

Brands across the globe tried to capitalize on the birth of Will and Kate's baby by posting on social media. Some worked, and others were a tragic flop.

Below, we've taken the best and worst real-time marketing stunts. We'll detail what real time marketing is while also focusing on the do's and don'ts of real time marketing using images and posts from brands on the #royalbaby.

While Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and the like all fall under the umbrella of social media, using each platform requires an individualized set of tricks and tips.

A new study recently found the most effective tips and guidelines for posting on different social media outlets.

Implementing these tips will allow your garden business to see a higher number of likes, retweets, views, and most importantly, engagement.

For these secrets to have a larger impact, your social media manager has to closely analyze your analytics. Facebook's new insights will help break down who your audience is and what type of posts have been most effective.

Below, we're dishing on universal tips for creating alluring, yet highly effective posts on all the social media platforms.

Garden Media Group has launched a multitude of products over the years.

To help streamline the process, we created a 3 year plan that ensures success. 

During Year 3 of a product launch, your garden business finally gets to run full speed ahead.

Year 3 allows you to hone in on mass media, and reap the benefits of success. 

When launching a product in the garden industry, year three has a dichotomy unlike any other: you're reaping mass media success for your current product, but you have to begin to switch the spotlight to a new, exciting product as well to maintain momentum.