About the Landscape Juice Network

Founded in 2008. The Landscape Juice Network (LJN) is the largest and fastest growing professional landscaping and horticultural association in the United Kingdom.

LJN's professional business forum is unrivalled and open to anyone within within the UK landscape industry

LJN's Business Objectives Group (BOG) is for any Pro serious about building their business.

For the researching visitor there's a wealth of landscaping ideas, garden design ideas, lawn advice tips and advice about garden maintenance.

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LJN member review of 2014 - looking forward to 2015

Looking back over the previous year, what have been your highs and lows?

What positives have you gained over the year and what do you feel has been negative? What will you bee looking forward to see the back of most?

Looking forward to next year: what are you looking forward to most? What are your aims and aspirations?

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  • PRO
    Right now I'm looking forward to some frost to stop the grass which is still creeping slowly upward !
    Lots to do over the next couple of months just won my first regular large contract for a local council. So lots to organise for that.
    N
    Another one in the pipeline, and a really successful and busy year, will be needing to employ someone at least part time next year.
    No real downside to the year this time!
  • PRO

    2014, was, for us - a productive and financially rewarding year, with a grass cutting season that went on well beyond the norm (last cuts only done this week). Customers both old and new all happy with the work and some new and pleasant sites added to work on this season.

    Next year, we do need to go down the avenue of employing a new member of staff, as the effort of trying to be in so many places at once and still maintain and drive high standards has taken its toll at times.

    Also recent weeks have seen the final bits put in place for our new division 'South Lincs Grass Care' (a trading name of ANP Services Spalding). This takes part of the business off in a slightly different direction, focusing on domestic lawn, commercial, amenity and equestrian (paddock) grassland maintenance and improvement (both for clients and 'trade'). Final few bits of equipment will soon be ready and set up for the new season.

    Negatives - ever present mild stress and mud - after a mild winter last year and this year, we just seem to have so much mud everywhere at the moment.

  • PRO

    2014 has seen LJN pass the 4,000th member milestone (this is despite the removal of over 1,100 dormant accounts since June 2012).

    Over 500 new members joined LJN in 2014 giving the site an average of c700 new members every single year since its inception - or 855 if you include the deleted accounts.

    Bearing in mind that this is organic growth - we don't buy database or copy anyone' memberships lists - from practitioners and related landscape businesses who've found LJN whilst searching for business information online.

    LJN  v.3.00

    The launch of the much more powerful LJN v3.00 has been quite a milestone. v3.00 gives us so much more flexibility. The old v2.00 software we used - soon to be phased out - was clunky and outdated.

    It's testament to LJN and its members that we've managed to grow our information database so strongly year-on-year in a market place so full of the next new social media thing.

    We are social media - why dilute it?

    The key to growth is the concentration of content publishing within LJN itself.

    Whilst I send some headlines to Twitter and LinkedIn, I've resisted trying to create content for the myriad of social platforms. For one it's very difficult to maintain any kind of consistent output and it dilutes the LJN brand.

    Every single LJN member has an opportunity to send content they like to Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

    Although I will review our practices going forward I don't see this strategy changing a great deal going forward.

    Whilst a great deal of content is generated (or linked to) by Craig and Myself, I'm very pleased that the vast majority of content generation is member led.

    We consistently smash the general 90-9-1 rule.

    Newsletter

    The growth of the Saturday morning newsletter has been phenomenal.

    Compiled by Craig and contributed to by me,  each week we bring members the very best of what's been happening on the site in the previous week.

    Last week, for example, 1,221 recipients viewed the LJN newsletter. That massively bucks the trend of landscape industry newsletter stats of c21%.

    606 people have already viewed yesterday's newsletter, in what is, traditionally, a quiet period for the site as the majority people break away from work activities for the Christmas period.

    What's in store for 2015?

    I'm often asked what the future holds for LJN and where it's going next.

    If I'm completely honest I'd be tickled pink if we just continue doing what we do best...and that's supporting the majority of landscape practitioners in our industry - for anyone who's confused....yes, the landscape industry is MY industry and I contribute to its evolution on a daily basis:)

    LJN has proven to be a lifeline  to so many so LJN will remain doing good things all the time our peers need it.

    Practical Pesticides roadshow

    One unique event I am looking forward to this coming February is the Progreen/LJN Practical Pesticides roadshow.

    An informal huddle of landscape industry practitioners will be meeting up at five different locations throughout the UK to learn about and discuss practical information and techniques concerning the use of pesticides. This event is designed to blow away some of the myths and arm attendees with practical information.

    Supported by Progreen and LJN, this event is FREE to all who attend.

     

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