Public relations pros are always looking for ways to prove the effectiveness of their strategies.

There are a number of ways to do this, but because businesses are chiefly concerned with the bottom line, finding ways to measure the monetary impact of gardening PR efforts is typically most effective.

However, assigning dollar values with measurement metrics can be complicated.

Communicating positive results is great, but the way those numbers are calculated is just as important!        

Keep reading to learn how to take the complex issue of measuring gardening communication success and make it a bit simpler.

With PR firms, bigger isn't always better.

In fact, a big PR firm may be more of a negative than a positive, but we'll talk about that in a bit!

When hiring a public relations firm, whether you're a big or small garden business, PR is a big investment and there are many factors to consider.

To discover the nitty-gritty details on hiring a public relations firm, read the step by step process here.

Then, learn 4 reasons why a small PR firm can rock your socks off--and may even be better than that big ol' firm and an even bigger investment.

This year-end checklist offers several suggestions to enable you to take control of your garden marketing and PR before 2014. 

Here are 6 actions to consider to jump-start your marketing in 2014.

We've talked to countless small garden businesses and start-ups looking to attract new customers and get the word out about their product. Most are inventors, creative and driven, but marketing is not their background. They feel overwhelmed trying to promote a new product or service.  

We offer free 30 minute consultations to such companies and try to keep marketing simple and straightforward for them. We listen to their goals and challenges and break down a few key things they can do to jump start a start-up.

Today, we wanted to share those tips with you, in the hopes that you, too, will feel a little less overwhelmed and have success launching your new product.

When deciding to partner with a PR firm, your garden business is making a big investment.

Signing a yearly or multi-year contract is the most common practice for PR firms, which means you need to be completely ready for the commitment.

One way to make sure you maximize your partnership with your PR firm is to prep and ask tough questions about communication, price, and expectations before you begin.

Get the most out of your partnership with a PR firm by using these 4 tips to get the biggest bang for your buck.

That's right: on the 25th of September, Garden Media celebrates 25 years in business!

A quarter of a century ago in September 1988, Suzi McCoy put her daughter Katie on the bus for first grade and opened the doors of IMPACT Marketing & PR.

The firm would expand and eventually become known in the horticulture industry as Garden Media Group. 

Now, Katie has returned home to roost and is the Creative Officer at Garden Media Group.

Below, Suzi McCoy dishes on the full story of how Garden Media became the leading PR firm in the lawn and garden industry over the last 25 years.

Don't forget to wish Suzi and Garden Media a happy anniversary!

Branding is a compilation of the choices your business makes. There's no magic formula to crafting an impeccable brand.

In order to build your business's brand, you've first got to establish three words that really encapsulates who your brand is. How are you different than the million of other garden businesses out there?

Once you've established a solid, branding foundation, then it's time to build your brand!

Best way to build your green, garden brand? Read and use these tips below to make your brand UNFORGETTABLE. 

I recycle everything. Why should an item be used only once? One of my favorite necklaces was made with old soda tabs. Recycling is only one aspect of sustainable living, but it is certainly the aspect that translates to public relations best.

We work hard to create thoughtful copy that will be of interest to multiple audiences, so why would we only use it as a press release? Exactly, we wouldn’t; it's just as wasteful as trashing a plastic bottle.

As an innovative company, we’ve got to keep moving forward.

One way to do this is by repurposing content. With oodles of outlets, recycling content looks just as chic as ever.

All your garden business has to do is implement these tips to ensure your content doesn’t look stale.

Happy New Year and cheers to 2013!  Let's make the year a BIG and successful one.  And let's start with the press release. 

We often hear, “Anyone can write a press release!”  And that may be true, writing a press release that is picked up by the lawn and garden media and shared by bloggers is another story. Here at Garden Media we try to make our news releases “news worthy” by following these 6 golden rules.