When I started my small landscaping business I never thought that posting pictures and videos on social media would have a huge impact on other people and that one day brands would make me their brand advocate, brand ambassador, or even create a partnership opportunity for me. I was just posting things to share my experience with equipment I used in my business to support my family. As my business has grown and changed over the years, I continued to post on social media. Today I can proudly say that I have become a social media influencer. I have been asked the question, how did your company become this well-known on social media? Well, it was mostly due to the creation of our logo that is memorable for a cartoon character version of me sitting on a Gravely mower. I am not telling anyone create a logo of yourself to get noticed, but create a logo of something that you want to be remembered for.
My fascination with being successful on social media also got me noticed by Echo outdoor power equipment. It pays to show your pride in your work. This past March they reached out to me and to a select group of other companies/social media influencers to help them launch a new User Advisory Group (UAG) as well as a new website to bring together professional landscapers and professional arborists. With this group they plan to have us help with marketing ideas and to do product reviews for new equipment they are releasing.
To launch the new UAG memberships and website, a group of social media influencers were flown into Chicago, Illinois to tour the headquarters of Echo outdoor power equipment, located in Lake Zurich. My company is based out of McKinney, Texas. I had to drive to the Dallas/Forth Worth airport where I boarded the plane to go to Chicago. After arriving in Chicago, I was picked up by a first class car service and was then taken to the hotel to stay for a night. Upon arrival, I ran into several personas from social media. It was exciting to meet and see their faces in person. We shook hands and sat together and talk about hand held power equipment and mowers ‘til dinner. We had dinner in a conference room at the hotel where we met with the Echo Marketing team. During dinner we spoke a little about the equipment we use in our businesses and a little about how Echo wants to market more towards professional users versus the traditional homeowner as before. After dinner, a few of us stayed up talking more about social media and our preferred equipment.
The next morning, we took a bus to Echo headquarters. Upon arriving, we were all in awe with the display of first generation handhelds as well as the gold Echo letters at the front desk. We came together in a large conference room where we were greeted by the marketing team. Each of us were given a swag bag with our name tags and desk name tags. What an honor this opportunity is that Echo extended to us. After getting settled, we walked down to the Echo plant where we saw firsthand all types of hand held power equipment being put together. What a sight it was to see parts being molded, pressed, drilled together, tested and later packaged in boxes. My favorite thing to see was them putting together the line trimmers and hedge trimmers. It was really cool seeing all the equipment before they become a tool in your hand.
Following that part of the day, we ate lunch that was catered for us. While we ate lunch we listened to their marketing team talk to us about the history of Echo outdoor power equipment and the Professional focus of OPE back to the pros. The marketing team showed us some new videos they put together to attract pros. Later, a social media strategist spoke with us about how we should be using social media to get more jobs to be more successful in our businesses. We then packed up our items we were given and were then transported in a limo to the airport. It was neat to sit next to such powerful influencers in the industry and to be considered one of them. We are hoping to make the industry proud.
Watch the video here!
We would love to hear your story about how the SureCan has helped make your life a little bit easier. Each month we will feature a new SureCan Story, please submit yours by emailing us at Info@sureCanUSA.com and don't forget to include pictures!
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