There is a very old saying that goes "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about".
The creation of Premium membership has certainly caused a lot of discussion and how pleased I am that it has.
First of all this confirms to me that there is a great passion within this unique community. Secondly there is the confirmation that there is a growing group of people who really do want to continue the struggle to push this great industry up to where it belongs: into the nation's conciseness.
Before any LJN premium options existed there were many reasons people joined LJN.
Here are just some of the common complaints industry practitioners had about being in the wilderness:
- Loneliness - nobody in the industry to share worries and concerns with
- Lack of support - no industry-wide support system for those working in the industry
- Snobbiness and exclusivity - existing industry groups unfairly excluded others
- Information vacuum - the only way to get answers to simple questions was to pay for it
- Absence of a voice - editors' letters to magazines just didn't cut it
- Lack of identity - no cohesive group
Landscape Juice ripped up the existing protocols and made the industry start again.
Pressure from this once fledgling group has given landscape industry practitioners the Voice and the tools to make changes. Others have no choice but to listen.
No longer can small groups try to dictate how the industry is run. No longer do industry practitioners have to rely on biased and one-sided trade reporting whose only aim is to make money.
The fact that these industry groups are either failing to expand or, as evidence testifies, churn high percentages of members, that Landscape Juice's penetrative model is working and continues to aid its practitioners.
Why pay?
It doesn't matter if you work part-time or full time. To pay bills one has to make an income. It's pure businesses economics.
To continue to provide The Place, Landscape Juice just had to start paying its own way: it's pure economics.
The £40.00 & £80.00 fees respectively, will help ensure Landscape Juice's existence and maintain its role as the place for landscape industry practitioners.
Your reasons to justify the need to pay may be varied across our membership.
Some of you will join because it gives you the security to know you really are not alone. Others will join purely because of the SEO benefits the site brings. The vast majority may be happy to pay because of the wealth of collective knowledge that exists amongst you within this amazing community.
The word Pro itself, can have many connotations. It may merely mean professional to some.
But being Pro means so much more:
- An argument or consideration in favour of something
- One who supports a proposal or takes the affirmative side in a debate
- In favour of a motion, issue, course of action, etc
In just a few weeks we have 120 members in the throws of joining or who have already signed-up to Premium membership.
Premium membership won't suit everyone but there's already a good chance that for those who haven't considered LJNs benefits are already inactive and have long since lost all sense of what LJN can do (or has done) for them?
About 680 members, on average, have opened their LJN Saturday newsletter since Christmas. Over 2,000 people have been visiting the site daily since Christmas too.
Landscape Juice will continue to lead and evolve. Our initiatives are regularly ripped-off by others but that only has to be seen as a major positive. Firstly because they have no fresh ideas themselves and two they think ours are worthy;-0))
It's over to you:-)
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This place has certainly helped me, i think the fee is a bargin :)
I support Landscape Juice and what is stands for. However I am an employee of a horticultural nursery, so I use Landscape Juice to keep up with the issues affecting the wider industry, even though few of them affect me personally. If I was a landscaper with a business I would gladly pay the fees for this website, but for the use and relevance to me personally it makes sense for me to remain with the non-pro option.
I hope that the Landscape Juice website doesn't end up being another elitist closed network in the months and years to come. What horticulture generally needs is cooperation and understanding between growers, suppliers and the public; Landscape Juice seems to be the place where that should happen.
Loving your work, Phil. :)
I hope that the Landscape Juice website doesn't end up being another elitist closed network in the months and years to come. What horticulture generally needs is cooperation and understanding between growers, suppliers and the public; Landscape Juice seems to be the place where that should happen.
Totally agree with these sentiments Phil
£40 ( or £80 is you are a supplier looking to benefit your sales ) is relatively small business cost in the scheme of things.
The collective information available and thus be gained by an individual is HUGE and would cost 000's if you had to go get it on the open market.
I quite understand every penny counts when you are a startup / struggling business, so I am excluding those from this comment, but have we grown up a 'generation' who expect everything for nothing and don't see the value of things?
I'm not begrudging passing on anything I could on LJN, whether it be my opinion, my advice or my documents to benefit someone.
Somewhere down the line that experience, that document 'cost' me as a business to produce. I do not expect financial reward or a slap on the back BUT I do expect the recipient to 'repay' the gratitude by helping out others on LJN and/or supporting LJN financially to survive and continue.
Many do, and that is why LJN grows, But recently I have simply seen to much selfish ..gimme....gimme...gimme
As to some of the sour grapes.. Get a grip, get positive and focus on your business.
Why not be part of the solution, not part of the problem?
A great point made there as an employee.
Perhaps we could encourage businesses to join, with their staff being included as "associates" of the main account? That would be a way for employees of all types of business to contribute to LJN, learn from it to theirs' and their employer's benefit, and hopefully move on in the industry to either higher positions, or even their own companies in the future?
BensBotanics said:
Paul McNulty said:
If I had my own business then the Landscape Juice Pro membership would be a very sensible expenditure. Much of Landscape Juice's content is (as the name suggests) aimed at those of you running landscaping and garden maintenance businesses, so there is a lot about practical issues (eg paving and other hard landscaping) that do not apply to the horticultural work that I do, as well as a lot of stuff relating to running a business.
This content is interesting to read as an outsider but is seldom relevant to me. If there is anything that I can contribute then I will gladly join a discussion. I guess my viewpoint here boils down to simple economics; if I paid to 'go pro' would that deliver value for money given that I do not have a business? I'm on low nursery wages, live alone (so pay all my outgoings myself) and need to keep an eye on money. For what Landscape Juice's Pro membership would offer me as a private individual I would not get value for money, but nonetheless I support the aims and objectives of this fantastic network.
If Landscape Juice asks for donations then I will chip in what I can afford, but my point is that the Landscape Juice Pro membership would not be of benefit to me, but I do value what it is doing for horticulture. I don't see this as a "gimme gimme gimme" attitude, but more of a cost/benefit analysis. I quite agree that the "collective information available and thus be gained by an individual is HUGE and would cost 000's if you had to go get it on the open market," but for my particular position most of that information is more of interest than necessity, and I would not be looking for that information if I didn't need it.
Gary RK said:
LJN does and should support all branches of our industry, including horticulture - I went to find the original definition of LJN, here it is:
""The Landscape Juice Network (LJN)
What is it?
LJN is an open association of individuals and companies involved in landscaping, garden maintenance, horticulture and garden design.""
Help make it so ?
My post was aimed generally at those businesses who come on to LJN and just ask, ask for something ( ie a document, some help etc ) and are never to be seen again nor any thanks made or support given - that was the 'gimme gimme gimme' culture I was talking about.
You saw my support for the concept of an Associate type level for employees etc that want to use LJN to help improve themselves and/or their employers ( who would hopefully also support LJN).
Of course many other members and visitor readers digest the threads in LJN and use what they can, hopefully coming on when they can contributing. I see that as a normal use of an open forum.
I did caveat my comments quite carefully, support of LJN is needed financially but also in contributing, where relevant, with views and experience as you have done and will do in the future.
I am just frustrated by some I see on forums ( not just LJN I hasten to add).... but learning its probably par for course and reflects society...
I see what you mean, but felt that clarification was worthwhile. I think the associate membership idea is a great one, and if that is feasible within Landscape Juice then it might be an excellent next step.
I will be honest, I do sometimes feel frustrated that I can't get involved more, but my expertise is much more in plant based issues, and I'm glad to help with them whenever I can. I hope that businesses who take without giving are forced by the Pro membership option to cough up for what, to most people here, is a very worthwhile resource.
I feel that Landscape Juice has rapidly become a major organisation in horticulture, and that nurseries should be paying attention to, if not joining in with, what is happening here. As the older trade organisations are seeming to find it difficult to keep up with the demands of modern professional horticulture so Landscape Juice is becoming increasingly important.
I'm just glad to be here! :)
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