By the end of 2011, there were over 181 million blogs all around the world! Blogging does not get talked about nearly as much as social media, but boy, it should!

Blogging leads to new business, expands brand awareness, increases organic serach traffic, provides a foundation for all social media, and allows you to become a credible, reliable, and creative business in the eye of your consumers.

But, how can you compete with 181 million blogs? To put it simply, your garden business cannot get blogged down.

Blogging with a purpose is key, but promoting your blog is the other half the battle. It isn’t about blogging more, but instead, blogging better.

Below our ways to successfully blog with a purpose and get your blog seen.

What is it with monstrous storms near Halloween?! Last year, our only snow storm of the season fell on Halloween, and now, we’re getting a hybrid wind, rain, and maybe snow storm.  “Sandy Frankenstorm” (gotta love that name!) appears to be getting worse by the hour. This whirlwind storm is estimated to cause one billion dollars in damage and could be the worst storm to hit the northeast in 100 years!!

Being on top of (and in front of) upcoming trends will ensure your garden and lawn business will be a success.

At Garden Media Group, we began doing annual trends report in 2001. Since then, we’ve predicted the rise of container gardening, vegetable gardening, and the buy local movement—all before they happened.

Garden trends allow you and your garden business to stay to stay afoot of customer demand. Customers will begin to see you as a trendsetter in the industry and will come to your website to see the next, newest hot item.

Yet, to truly become a trend setter, you also need to know the upcoming PR trends as well. The digital world is evolving at a faster speed than ever before! 

Keep ahead of PR trends with our helpful insights below, and then, download our 2013 Garden Trends Report: Finding Your Bliss!

You've perhaps seen this French flower promotion on Acres Online or on Facebook, “Hello madame, which is your preferred flower?”  It worked getting my attention! Yet that is so rare in today's advertising climate. 

When trying to get your garden business and brand exposure, you can’t rely exclusively on the tried and true methods. Yes, they work, but they’re also over done.

To be a true leader in the lawn and garden industry, you’ve got to be leading the pack—that means you’ve got to stay afoot of PR trends and garden trends. Luckily, we can help you out on both fronts!

Induated by e-mails and cold phone calls, reporters and editors at the local and national level are looking for new ways to find stories. 

Take hold of social media, and make it work for you! Using a fresh, new approach to pitching stories may be just what you need.

Below are easy ways you can bring your pitching strategies into the 21^st century.

Way back when, Facebook used to just be a tool for connecting with friends, but the social media mogul is branching out in new direction: e-commerce. Presently, a few large companies (Pottery Barn, Victoria’s Secret, and Neiman Marcus) are testing out the new “want” button.

Right now, it’s only being tested, but if the want button is adopted, the effect on your garden business could be huge!

Read on to find out just what the want button is and its potential effects on your garden business.

Recently, our fearless leader was interviewed by CEOIntroNet at ABC6 studios in Philadelphia.  Last week we shared the video, here is the Q&A. 

Introducing the new Garden Media!!

Tonight we will roll out a new visual identity, including a new logo and enhanced website, at a private party held at the 64th GWA Annual Symposium in Tucson, AZ.

October is finally here. The brisk air and shorter days give way not only to the fall season, but also, to the Garden Writers Association (GWA) Symposium and the introduction of new garden products and plants for 2013.

The GWA Symposium is the most highly anticipated event of the year for professional communicators in the lawn and garden industry. This year the 64^th annual Symposium, held in Tucson, Arizona from October 12^th -16^th, will be attended by some 600 print and broadcast garden communicators and bloggers from around the world.

As if the media didn’t have enough political coverage, KitchenAid wiggled their way into the spotlight as well. During the first Presidential debate, the appliance maker tweeted,

“Obamas gma even knew it was going 2 b bad! She died 3 days b4 he became president.”

The tasteless, offensive “joke” was broadcast to the company’s 25,000 Twitter followers.  Before the tweet was deleted, a few of their followers were able to retweet it.

KitchenAid needed crisis communication—and fast! Their tweet was all over the news, so they had to take action quickly. The head of the company apologized and contacted various media sources to discuss the debacle, but despite their profuse apologizes, many customers on their Facebook page have vowed to never again use KitchenAid products! If only KitchenAid had a concise public relations media plan, the crisis could have been avoided!

Ensure you and your garden business don’t make a mistake like this by creating a fool proof public relations media plan!

Below are five tips to prevent (or recover) from a social media crisis.