Trade shows can bring in hundreds, if not thousands, of like-industry individuals from vendors and publicists to influencers and general admission attendees, and everywhere in between.

And we know catching the eye of folks in the midst of the crazy trade show floor can be chaotic and sometimes impossible. So hosting dinners and after-parties are a great way to connect with specific folks you want to and get them to pay special attention to your brand or product. At Cultivate this year, we opted for a Breakfast with the Stars.

---Read on to see what we learned from hosting an intimate breakfast prior to the trade show and how it benefited our clients. ---

As a garden business or horticulture PR professional, you know that securing top-tier media placements can significantly boost your brand's visibility and credibility. Heck, why lese would you be reading our blog?

However, getting the attention of journalists amidst a sea of competing pitches can be challenging. Especially in today's market of freelancers and AI, it's hard for PR pro's and journalists alike to know who to trust.  

There is not one key to breaking through the noise, but it starts with finding the right person to pitch. Journalists are tired of PR pro's who don't do their research or understand what they write about, their beat. 

Once you find the right person, however, the magic lies in crafting compelling pitches that resonate with journalists and their audiences.

There are a few essential steps to land top-tier placements: determining a compelling angle and writing a pitch that stands out. 

Read on to learn How to Land Top Tier Placements with compelling pitches.

Meltwater, an online media monitoring company, recently launched a report that shared current trends in social media for 2023. 

The report offered findings from over 1,700 marketing and communications professionals globally. The short: paid and organic social media are expected to increase in 2023. Garden businesses must stay at the top of their game and adapt while also increasing their skillset. 

In the report, social media platforms were ranked by usage and popularity. Facebook is still holding the top ranking, followed by LinkedIn and Instagram. YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok remain relevant while being slightly less popular than the top three. Short-form video is hot right now on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. 

Read on to learn more about how social media has maintained and even gained importance during the current economic development. 

As we roll into our 33 year in business, we've worked with hundreds of garden brands and horticulture companies to improve marketing and growth plans. 

You know what we've noticed, many of you face similar issues. When it comes down to it, when you make three important shifts it impacts your brand beyond belief.

Read more to learn how to change your perspective in these three areas and magnify your brand's growth this year and beyond.

The world today is one of instant gratification. We want results, and we want them quickly.

The web gives us access to more information than our predecessors could have ever predicted, and because we can get results quickly, we make decisions quickly too. And that makes public relations measurement more important than ever.

The ROI of money invested in gardening public relations should be easy to see, but many question it. Analytics can be an important component of the work we do as PR professionals.

Read more to learn how to leverage analytics tools to serve our needs power of Google Analytics and how it can serve PR professionals.

We are halfway through a glorious 2018, so because we love trends, let’s take a minute to look at some of the hottest trends in public relations!

Trends are important because it gives everyone a look at the direction the industry is taking. They give a more or less accurate reading on what is working and what is not.

Trends are an outline of what is popular which can influence business decisions. Not to mention, trends are a major source of content for the industry. 

In case you’ve been missing out, read below for a quick guide to four of the latest and greatest PR trends.

TrendKite just released a fantastic article with tips to secure your PR budget for the new year.

While Garden Media Group handles this on a different end, we know some of our readers need to fight for every dollar in their company's marketing budget so we wanted to share tips on being the most effective you can be.

Companies often take the money that is budgeted for PR and put it into a different area of marketing. It is up to PR professionals to fight for their budget - and hopefully an increase.

Continue reading for tips on how to secure your PR budget for next year.

When I first started working in public relations, I had no idea that relationships were going to be such an important part of my career. After the first year of handling PR for a high-tech company, I quickly learned that earning media coverage requires strong working relationships with journalists.

Even after more than twenty years, I still keep in touch with many of the journalists I met early on in my career.

Now with even more platforms to cultivate media relationships, making these connections has become easier than ever.

Continue reading to learn how you can build strong relationships with journalists.

Hiring new team members can be an extensive process. After browsing countless resumes, making tons of phone calls and holding multiple interviews, you finally find the perfect fit for your team.

However, the work doesn’t stop there.

The next step – training. Properly training an employee can have a huge impact on the role they play in the company. A well trained employee will be more knowledgeable and motivated, as well as more comfortable in their new position. But, all training is not created equal.

Read more to learn how you can improve your training process.

With more than 6 billion people in the world, it’s pretty incredible to think that there are only 16 distinct major personality types. 

According to 16Personalities, an incredibly accurate (in our opinion) and free personality test website, there are a lot of factors that make up someone’s personality. 

So what do personalities have to do with PR? A lot!Understanding your clients, coworkers and even audiences’ personalities can have a huge impact on how we interact with others, achieve success and build meaningful connections.

After all, we’re all about making connections in this business, aren’t we?

Continue reading to learn more.