Change In location!

Hey everybody. I just wanted to let you know that this blog has moved for the time being.

I am now located at  http://socialshortage55.wordpress.com/  . I hope that everyone is able to find it and that I have your continued support. Email me if you have a problem at mday55@gmail.com . Also be sure to keep an eye on the Facebook page for the new movement http://www.facebook.com/NextGenHorticulture. See you all at Wordpress!

Real People and Fake Friends

When you think about your social media strategy what is the first thing that comes to mind? Do you think about connecting with your customers (or the customers of your customers)? Is it about spreading a message and championing causes? Or is it simply about getting as much publicity as possible to help generate profits from your products and services?

Let’s be honest everyone who owns a business and uses any form of Social Media in their marketing strategy is hoping to see a boost in profits because of it. This is completely understandable. However, lately in the news we have been hearing about instances on Facebook and Twitter where users have generated thousands of “followers” or “likes” that are now turning out to be fakes. Also every time you go on any type of Social Media information site on the web, ads pop up telling you that they can get you thousands of followers overnight, but does simply appearing to have a large following really help when it comes to marketing your products and services? I would say it’s about as good as having a thousand invisible friends. Sure you can look at yourself and think you’re doing big things and make up stories about how you know all these people, but when other people find out you’re talking about individuals that don’t exist they are going to call you out on being a liar (and in the case of invisible friends, probably just plain crazy)!

The problem goes deeper than that though. Yes, it’s wrong that businesses are lying to their consumers and trying to seem more influential than they actually are, but the real problem here is that these businesses and individuals have lost sight of the true importance of Social Media and perhaps marketing in general. When you are creating a marketing strategy, specifically a Social Media Marketing strategy the first thing to remember is that marketing is not simply about selling. In order for marketing to be successful it has to be informative and truthful. If you aren’t truthful eventually people will begin to sniff through all the lies. In Social Media this even goes a step further. Here people really expect you to be transparent and open. You are trying to get into their personal surroundings, and if they are going to let you into that personal environment then you have to give them a personal feel as well.

The notion of fake followers also disturbs me for another reason. Social Media Marketing is about connecting to people and showing them that what you’re doing is important and can benefit them as well. It’s about connecting to REAL people. What good can 10,000 fake followers do? Sure it might make you more noticeable, but how many real people does that really bring to your page? Are those even the people that you truly want to connect with? I know that if I produced a product that I really thought was something great and marketed through Social Media, I wouldn’t simply be looking for fans that liked me because I simply had thousands of fans already. Also when it comes down to it, what is the true point of these fake followers? You can’t market a product to a fake person. Well, I suppose you can but I doubt they’ll end up buying anything from you. Bottom line here is that only real people lead to real sales that lead to real money.

The real message here is that we as an industry shouldn’t fall prey to these deceptive strategies that other industries have begun to use. The people who we want to reach are real hardworking people, and so are we. If we show this in our Social Media efforts it will be appreciated and will lead to better business. This should be the goal of any marketing strategy: connect with your customer and prove that you can offer them the best product/service at the best price. Let your “popularity” speak for itself.

On another note, I am thinking of moving this blog to Wordpress. If that would be a problem for any readers out there please let me know. If there are a number of people who would prefer me to stay on Blogger, I will gladly do so. I am even thinking about simply doubling up and posting the same posts on both sites. Please let me know what you prefer/think.

In case you need to contact me for any reason my contact information is:

Email mday55@gmail.com

Twitter @mday55

Or search for me on Google +, LinkedIn, or on Klout. 

Keeping the Connection and some Sesame Street too!

Recently I moved back into my college residence. Yes, I’m still in college; I hope I didn’t lose any readers who didn’t know this previously! Things have been pretty hectic around here signing up for classes and looking for jobs (as I’ll be graduating in December). At the same time I am coming into this last semester with my eyes and ears open. I am looking at things differently. I am trying to pick up on the subtleties of my generation that I may have never even noticed before. If I can gain knowledge about a generation by being vigilant I can then turn around and share my findings with you and then as an industry we can move forward and adjust our marketing strategies accordingly.

The last few days something has become really apparent to me that we as an industry need to take note of if we want to make gardening “cool” to Generation Y.  Being on a college campus again reminded me that Generation Y is more connected than any other generation before. Students no longer have to walk to other students residences to see what they are doing later – they just send a text. Students no longer have to call multiple people when they want to hold any sort of event – they just send an invite on Facebook. Even when students go to a football game or concert and want to know what other students thought about it they no longer have to ask each individual person – they simply look up a hash-tag on Twitter.

The bottom line is that Generation Y is used to being connected at the touch of a button. Through Social Media, millennials can access millions of members in their generation in a matter of seconds. Here in lies the problem that our industry faces. How can we start a movement to create a spark for a generation wide movement to make gardening something of interest? I understand that there are various movements on the big social media sites. However we as an industry need to get it out there. I can tell you that there are very few people on most college campuses that think about gardening on a weekly basis.

This is something we have to change.  The reason why other industries are so successful is that they introduce products to people at a young age. Lately gardening isn’t reaching the younger people in this nation. When we think about marketing we can’t think merely about selling a product. We also have to think about selling the future of our industry. If our industry can somehow make gardening cool to kids in elementary school, middle school, and high school we have embedded gardening into the minds of young people.

I think that this is the main problem with our industry. We are too reactive and not proactive. By establishing kid friendly garden centers and sponsoring kid events or even starting gardening websites for kids we have made it easier on the future of our industry. Currently we are trying to market to a group of people that are already set in their ways.

Some people will say that marketing to children is wrong, but believe me companies out there who are doing these same things are offering a lot worse. We are offering a healthy lifestyle to the future of the world.

Today was really a 2 for 1 post. I’ve had two topics burning me lately and needed to get them out there.  In the coming weeks I’ll be diving back more into the logistics of Social Media yet again. I just needed some time to set up my new “office” and get set to continue my research.

Please feel free to contact me for questions or comments. I return all emails and Twitter mentions.

Email: mday55@gmail.com

Twitter: @mday55

Or find me by searching LinkedIn or Klout!

Also I’ll make a shameless plug that I am currently a gun for hire. I’ll be graduating this semester (a semester early) so if you know of or have a job available please feel free to let me know! Thank You!

Take the "Off" Out of Your Offseason!

August is quickly coming to an end and Labor Day is just around the corner. For people in the industry (especially in the Midwestern and Northern states) this means one of two things. Mum season is about to start or that the selling season is pretty much dead for the year. Sure there might be poinsettias and other special crops to worry about from now until April, but without the need for herbaceous plant material the market is reasonably shut for the year.

As anyone in the industry knows, once one season ends the next begins. Today’s post deals with staying connected to your customer even when things aren’t in season. Trust me, if you can keep the name of your business relevant in the minds of your customers through the winter, you’ll be the first place they look to next spring. How do you stay connected? You already know what I am going to say, but I’ll say it anyway: through Social Media!

Through the use of Social Media pages and blogs your business can keep people up to date on interesting things that are happening in the industry and new products that will be available next spring. Also this time of year can prove to be a great time to boost trust with clients of businesses that sell perennials. For example: the main concern of anyone growing any sort of perennial is its hardiness. If your business does a lot of perennial business why not make a name for yourself and make some helpful videos for consumers displaying proper techniques and tips for making sure that their perennials will reappear next spring? Or in January and February why not make some videos displaying how to protect early emerging perennials from damage? Videos like this provide value to the end consumer and can help establish a relationship of trust. They are valuable to any company in that market channel because they can help establish pull through.

Another easy way to stay in the mind of your customer is to put your product listing for the spring onto one or more of your Social Media pages. Highlight a product or two each month and post a couple different pictures about it each week. For growers this allows retailers to see through interaction what products are going to be hot next spring. If you are a grower and throw up a picture of a brand new Begonia variety that you’ll be offering and it gets hundreds of likes and shares retailers will know this is a product with a lot of interest and will be more likely to try it and order your product next spring or later this fall.

Also the winter is a time for the 2 H’s: Holidays and Humor. Stay relevant by posting cute holiday images involving plants or your products. From my experience these posts ALWAYS get lots of attention. You may not think people are going on Facebook on Christmas, but for Generation Y, Facebook is one of the only ways they send holiday wishes. So if they are on Facebook posting and so are you there is a great chance they will see your post and again be reminded of your products/services. As for the other “H”, we all know that in a lot of places January and February can be cold and depressing. People need to be cheered up. That’s why if you can make people smile with a cute garden joke or photo then you are only getting further ahead of your competition. Research says that the greatest impressions come not from how you look, but how you make people feel, so make your customers happy!

I know this post is a little preemptive, but it’s better to start thinking about this stuff now ahead of time. If you get to January and just start thinking about this kind of stuff, you’re probably too late. As we get deeper into the fall and winter we will undoubtedly be talking about more of this kind of stuff. For now however enjoy the sun and have a great Labor Day weekend!

You can always find me all over the internet! Email: mday55@gmail.com ; Twitter @mday55 ; LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233 ; and shoot me some +K on Klout if you think this was/is worthwhile!

Mobile Movement

Whew! I’m back! It has been a crazy week of moving and getting things straightened out, but anyways I’m back and ready to put my brain out there and let you know what’s going on in the realm of Social Media, Generation Y, and Horticulture in general.

Last week I touched on the topic of music and how the youth have always been “in tune” with music and how we need to find a way to tap into that. A day after I wrote that piece Nielsen released a study stating that YouTube is the number one way in which the youth listen to music. YouTube has surpassed internet radio and I-tunes. This got me thinking about a few things.

My first thought was that the horticulture industry needs to tap into this. We need to find a way to get our products connected with the music scene on YouTube. How do we do it? I guess an easy answer would be to start advertising on YouTube before music videos, etc. However, I think one of the overall goals should be to somehow get musicians to promote gardening in general on YouTube. If we can get Blake Shelton or Adam Levine to do a one minute piece on their YouTube channel about how they love to relax in their garden, I think we could see them have some influence over the youth. I don’t know how the industry could do this but there has to be a way we can come together and send out the message that gardening is “cool”.

Generation Y wasn’t raised in the garden. They feel out of place there. We have to show them why they should be gardening.

The other thing this YouTube trend got me thinking about was how it could be possible that a website was the most popular place to listen to music. It wasn’t that hard actually. On my morning walk today I saw five people listening to music – all of them on their cell phones. Cell phones have revolutionized the music industry and made new music available to anyone at any time. I’m guilty of it I’ll admit! If I want to know what a song is called or just hear a song I haven’t heard in a while, I’ll just look it up on YouTube on my phone.

But how does this apply to our industry you ask? Well clearly YouTube has catered to this mobile revolution of having a “computer” in your pocket wherever you go. Have you? Does your company’s website have a mobile version that is easy to use on an Android or I-Phone? If not you might want to consider making one or hiring a company to make one for you. Take a look at your Google Analytics page (If you aren’t using this already you need to start), and see how many of your visitors are coming from mobile operating systems. My bet is that number is higher than you think it would be.

Think about it: if you are getting a significant amount of traffic from mobile devices, and your website is not easy to navigate on a small screen scale, isn’t it worth the change. It even makes it easier on yourself if you are out and about and want to show a client something online. You don’t have to fumble through a clumsy webpage if you have a clear cut and easy to use mobile page.

In this instance it’s not about creating new content, it’s about making the content that you have easier to find in the palm of your hand.

Again I apologize for my absence this last week. I’ll try to get back to posting in a more regular fashion. I would love to hear your thoughts on these subjects or any other related topics. Leave a comment!

You can email me at mday55@gmail.com , find me on Twitter @mday55, find me on Klout here: http://klout.com/#/mday55 , or find me on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233

Getting into the Rhythm

Today’s post takes a slightly different twist then most of my past posts. Today I want to talk about an idea that has been rolling around in my head for a while now. I get all kinds of ideas some of them are good others of them are worthless, but tonight I need to get this idea/string of thoughts out there so that I don’t go nuts!

When I started this blog a couple months ago, I was working on projects to create better marketing strategies that catered to Generation Y.  I came up with what I thought was some good stuff, and Social Media played a large role in a lot of those strategies. However, one thing really stood out to me when it came to how to cater to Millennials (Gen Y): Music. In horticulture it’s almost the one element of culture we don’t mess with all too often. We talk about food, self-expression, art, and even fashion. We have done a great job of being connected with those areas of human lifestyle as an industry, but the one area we hardly even touch is music.

In the last few months there has been a lot of buzz around the topic of marketing to younger people. Our industry has been trying to come up with ways to make gardening hip and cool. I say we find a way to tie plants and gardening into music. Music is something that all young people love. Music is the basis for almost every subculture in our society. It helps people relax. It gives people a status. It even helps people form opinions. Music ties into the youthful lifestyle in almost every way. So why haven’t we found a way to break into this scene.

For a long time I couldn’t really think of anyways to do this, hence why I haven’t told anybody about this concept (an idea without a spark for integration is about as useful as a busted pair of headphones). However, today while driving, and yes listening to music, I came up with a few different ideas in which different areas of the marketing chain could get plugged in to the music world.

The first thing I thought of is how come big companies that control brand advertising aren’t advertising on internet radio. Millions of people listen to Pandora radio everyday so how come Proven Winners or Wave Petunias hasn’t started advertising on there? Of course I don’t know the pricing of an advertisement like that but I think they would be surprised by the return.

For the smaller venues like IGCs, I thought why not have local bands come in on the weekends and play a couple sets on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. People want to experience something when they come to your business. If you have live music you take your garden center from “a place to buy plants” to “a rockin’ garden experience”.

These are just a couple tipping points to get our industry thinking about incorporating music into our marketing strategies. If we are trying to market to Millennials we have to try to meet them and express that our industry fits in with a hip music culture.  Again this is something that our industry has yet to dabble into, and I would love to hear from anybody with any kind of idea on how to incorporate the two concepts.

Reach me here:

Email – mday55@gmail.com

Twitter - @mday55

LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233

Rev(iew) Your Engines!

When it comes to being successful in the business world, everyone knows you have to make a profit, and you can only make a profit if you have customers to buy your products/services. In today’s society it is extremely easy for customers to share information. One of the biggest ways customers get information about businesses and the things they provide is through reviews. Now with certain sites reviews are easier to write/find than ever. Today’s post is about finding these reviews and what to do with a couple sites to ensure that people are writing the right reviews in the right place for your business.

It used to be when you wanted to find something out about a business you would ask around about it or try to find a magazine in which a review was written. However, nowadays people turn to the internet, specifically to Yelp. Yelp is a Social Media (sort of) site that allows people to write reviews about pretty much any business out there. It has a vast array of reviews on all sorts of businesses. Chances are if you log on and type in the name of your business something will pop up. There might not necessarily be a review there, but there will most likely be a page for your business and the ability for someone to write a review about it. If nothing pops up in Yelp, add your business! People can’t tell you what you’re doing right or wrong if they don’t have an outlet!

One thing Yelp allows you to do is to “claim” the business. For example if your business pops up in the search you can “claim” it and add a description to your business. This is highly recommended so that people better understand your business goals and can write a better review. Also, it might help to attract new customers if people are browsing a certain category for a certain area. If someone is looking at garden centers in their area and come across yours with a full description they will be enticed to go to your business over another one whose profile is nonexistent.

Reviews online can be tricky. As most business owners know, people only tend to write reviews if they have something to complain about (which can be bad for business). This is a fixable problem! Why not simply put a flyer at the checkout of your building or a note on the receipt that reminds customers if they liked the experience that you would appreciate the feedback on Yelp. Also, a link to your company’s page on Yelp on Facebook or your webpage could promote a spontaneous goodwill review.

Yelp isn’t the only place to find reviews. People can also write reviews on Google + or even e-commerce sites that may be selling your products (hint: Seed Companies). Finding these reviews could be as easy as throwing your product/business name into Google and the word review along with it.

Reviews aren’t always going to be positive, but that’s ok. They allow you to fix what’s wrong and get your business better catered to the customer. Reviews are a source of constructive criticism. Some may be misinformed, and perhaps you can reply in a comment or email and solve a problem.  

People like knowing what other people have to say before buying. Third party information is the most reliable information to a customer. They know something is good when somebody outside of the business recommends it.  Check out Yelp and see what people are saying about your business. If things are looking pretty rough, try to make some changes and shake things up. See if you can get some better reviews.

Nothing tells you to change your business strategy like a slap in the face from your customer!

Contact me for more information/comments/questions.

Email: mday55@gmail.com

Twitter @mday55

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233

Also find me on www.klout.com and throw some +k my way if you like what I’m doing! 

Don't Let the Numbers Win!!!

Lately I have been seeing a lot of skepticism cross my desk. There is a big debate going on about whether or not “business to business” companies should be investing in Social Media. Looking at the numbers it might seem like a fruitless effort for a B2B business to be on things like Facebook and Twitter. However, I’m here to tell you numbers can be deceiving. Today I want to take a deeper look into what it might mean for you to be active in Social Media even if you are a B2B business, or wholesaler.

A lot of talk I have been seeing in the last few days regarding B2B companies has been saying that B2Bs simply can’t drum up enough interest to make Social Media efforts worthwhile. They said that B2Bs didn’t get enough followers or likes on Twitter and Facebook to create a good following. They even tried to discount competitors being on Social Media saying that it doesn’t matter if your competitors are Facebook if they only have 30 “likes”. After reading this I started thinking about B2B businesses and I got a different view of things. There was something that this skeptic in particular was clearly missing.

I started thinking of the marketing channel as a food chain. The higher up you get, the fewer players there are.  When you think about it some businesses that cater to other businesses may only have 60 customers in total, but each customer is highly valued and worth a lot to that business. When that business then gets 30 followers on Facebook it means that either a good percentage of his customers have connected with him or that people interested in doing business with that company have established contact.

In businesses like this it doesn’t mean that Social Media isn’t worthwhile, it means that Social Media could be worth more to you than a B2C business because every customer in that B2B business is worth a great deal more than the average consumer. If your competitors are out there and scoop up just five customers from Social Media just because you aren’t out there could mean the loss of say $100,000 if each one of those B2B customers buys just $20,000 worth of products/services. Whereas in the consumer market if a competitor attracts five more customers it could be a difference of a mere $25.

Being a B2B business on Social Media also provides a source for customers to provide their customers with a story. They can say this product is good because it came from this company. This in turn can create pull. A consumer who comes across your B2B Facebook page may go to a retailer and demand a product that you produced.

Social Media can be a great marketing tool for any business, not just consumer facing ones. It can help create pull through. It can help to answer questions, and it can bring customers. It can even help you find new talent to bring into your business. Businesses should always be looking for good, young talent. They are out there on Social Media trying to connect. Why shouldn’t you be out there too?

Even though the sheer volume of people coming to your page may not rival B2C businesses you have to look at the money behind your customers and attribute that to the followers you get and the chance you may obtain a new account from your efforts.

Email: mday55@gmail.com
Twitter @mday55
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233


Perennials last the longest because they " know how to get back to their roots"
Yeah the jokes don't get any worse.

TV Commercials Aren't Free Either

In the last couple of weeks, I have been making presentations and talking to people in the industry about how easy Social Media can be if you set up an organized plan. For some larger companies I often bring up the thought of hiring a Social Media Manager to take care of various pages and constantly be updating content and working with other web based tasks as well. Most of the businesses I talk to seem interested in the concept of Social Media, but when it comes to talking about taking time and money out of their schedule, people start to become very skeptical. Now, this is understandable for any business venture that varies from what a business is currently doing. You have to scrutinize opportunities so you don’t fall into any traps. The number one thing people say to me about Social Media is that it is nothing more than a passing fad.

Today I’m going to tell you why Social Media and web analytics aren’t just a fad for this industry or for any industry. I’ll explain why it is vital for any business large or small to pay attention to what is happening out there on the internet.

The first reason that you need to be constantly monitoring what is going on out there is because your competitors are doing the same things and working toward advancements. I will say this; at any level in this industry all of your competitors are online somehow. In today’s world if something isn’t online then it doesn’t exist.  I will also say that most of your competitors are involved in Social Media in some way. That poses a problem for your business. If your competitors are out there getting their name out there and you are not, what is that doing for your market share? Sure, maybe Social Media pages still aren’t as great an advertising tool as something like a TV commercial spot, but things are changing and more people turn to a computer rather than a TV every day. Bottom Line: your competitors are using Social Media to gain a following, and whether you like it or not you should be using SM to do the same just to say at an even level with your competition.

The second reason that Social Media is a must right now is to get ahead of the changes that are about to occur. Right now we still see Boomers and Generation X holding all the money in the economy. However, this is about to change in the next 5 to 10 years. Millennials (Gen Y) are getting older, and getting better jobs as Boomers move along. Along with this we will begin to see freedom from debt and monetary gain. Millennials will become the top consumer, and you know where Millennials go for information? Well here’s a hint: currently roughly a quarter of Millennials check their Facebook before rolling out of bed. It’s the first thing they do after they wake up. Think about how that percentage increases as the day goes on. Think of how many Millennials would have checked their Facebook by noon? If you aren’t on Facebook then there is no chance that they see you by checking their Facebook page. Also like any other ad campaign there is no cure-all. It would be impossible to reach every member of your target audience in any kind of ad. We need to think of Social Media just like that. You can’t reach everyone, but if you aren’t out there you won’t reach anyone.

The last reason (that I’ll list to keep today’s post from taking up five pages) that Social Media is worth the time and money is that it’s free/cheap. As I’ve said over and over again in these blog posts, if your business isn’t already on Facebook and Twitter something is wrong. Setting up a profile is free and takes under ten minutes. For big companies who are wary of hiring someone to a Social Media Manager role or having someone keep the content on their SM pages up to date; I ask: Are you paying for print ads? Are you paying to print sell sheets? Are you paying for TV spots? Of course you are, so why not work it in your budget to possibly get away from some forms of media that you are seeing a decline on and take a chance on Social Media. Heck for most companies that do print ads, there is a creative person, a designer, and an editor. Therefore not only does the company pay for the ad but they have to pay the people who are making the ad! With Social Media you pay someone to do a job and it’s done! You don’t pay by post on Facebook, and you don’t pay by minute on YouTube!

I know today’s post was a little bold. I just hear people tell me that Social Media is just a passing fad, so they don’t want to get involved, and I honestly feel bad. In a couple of years a new generation will be controlling the market place and the companies who didn’t get a head start on this Social/Web based marketing are going to be left in the dust. This is one of those points where the older generations in the Horticulture industry really need to listen to the Millennials breaking into the industry and try to figure out what is TRULY best for the future.

I would really love to hear any questions, comments, or even if you would like more reasons of why you need to be involved in Social Media please contact me. Email : mday55@gmail.com , Twitter : @mday55 , LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233

Share Your Story!

Up and at ‘em bright and early. That’s how it’s done in this business, and just because I spend more of my days behind a computer than behind a tractor doesn’t mean that I’ve lost that mentality. Alright so this morning I want to go over another great way to provide content online to your customers/consumers. That way being: blogs! Yep I’m talking about creating something exactly like what you’re reading just now – well but with different content of course. Blogs let you expand on things. They let you tell a story. In a way, think of a blog as a way to get a lot of content to your target audience. Facebook and Twitter are great ways to get snippets of information to your followers, but on these sites nobody wants to read a page worth of text. However, there are a lot of times in this industry where things can’t be explained in a simple paragraph. That’s why you should start and build a base for a blog(s).

The first thing that you might be thinking is “But I don’t have any content that could fill up a blog”, but I say, sure you do! The one thing I’ve found at every level of the industry is that no matter what the company, there is always some sort of information that a business is trying to relay to a customer, but they just aren’t getting it. Because there is “no recommended length” for a blog post you can take as long as you want to explain what you are trying to show your audience.

I have no idea what your individual businesses are but here are just a few of the ideas I have for blogs for numerous levels within the industry. For instance as a local garden center, why not set up a blog with the story of your business. Show your customers how you started. Tell them how long you have been in the area, and how your business has changed with time. Post old newspaper clippings and say what your business was like at that time. For garden centers with less of a history, why not use a blog to detail the building process of your business (which you are currently experiencing), or show the hard work it takes to get started in this industry. Personal stories like this are great for blogs and help attract customers to garden centers because people feel like they know the business better and prefer to shop there.

If you are a breeding company, why not set up a blog and discuss a different variety in each post?  You could show how the variety came about. It might be a great way to showcase someone’s hard work. Often the breeder himself gets very little credit in the scheme of things but this way you could show your appreciation. Along with that you could show what the process is for breeding new varieties (obviously without showing your secrets)! Growers and consumers are always interested in “where something comes from” so why don’t you show them. It might even help generate interest in new plant varieties if customers see how cool the breeding history is.

Landscapers, a blog could do great things for you as well. Why do a post for each job that you have and show before and after pictures of the site. Along with the pictures tell everyone how your crew was able to get from the previous to the latter. Emphasize the labor and hard work you put in! This way, customers can see that you do great work and that you really get the job done.

No matter what the case, I’m sure your horticultural business could find use for a blog. To get started it’s probably easiest to use something like Blogger or Wordpress, but if you know of another site that hosts blogs feel free to use that. Then post links to your blog in your other Social Media pages and websites. Tell your customers about it.

Don’t worry about time either. I know that in this industry people are always stretched for time. You may think that it isn’t worth having a blog because you won’t be able to post on a regular schedule, but people who read your blog will only be used to the way you post. So if you post at irregular intervals then they will be used to you posting at irregular intervals. Besides, content on blogs doesn’t go away. It isn’t like Facebook or Twitter where things you said an hour ago get washed away by the millions of posts people are creating. Things you post on a blog stay there and people can easily search for the content and come back as often as they want to reread old posts.

Blogs are a slower paced way to really tell your story online. It puts you more on your audience’s level. They are one of the only low-stress endeavors in today’s marketing infrastructure.

I hope you found today’s post interesting as always. I’d be interested to hear from you if you start/have a blog. I’d love to check it out. For this and all other questions or comments: Email mday55@gmail.com , Twitter @mday55 , or find me here on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233

What Did You Say? (Part 3)

As promised, today I plan to finish my discussion on getting involved in conversations on the internet.  What I have to say here today is merely a grouping of suggestions and ideas. When thinking about what to say in any conversation in person or on the internet there is no cure-all. Sometimes staying out of a conversation completely is the best way to handle a situation.

In the last few posts, I have been talking about how to locate conversations about your business on the internet. I hope that by now people have taken advantage of these resources and have found something being said about their businesses. Finding all of this information is the easiest part of the conversation.  Now we move onto the next step: Getting into the conversation.

Often times on the internet you will find people saying good things about your business. Maybe they love your product, or maybe they loved the service they got at your store. They post something online (perhaps a picture) and say how great your product is. Well, why not say thank you? These praising conversations are the easiest to get involved in. If somebody says something nice about you a little “thank you” can go a long way. This unexpected engagement shows people that you are listening to what they are saying, and that you care about what they have to say. Also if you are posting as a brand it could add a celebrity feel to your comments. Think of it this way: If you posted a picture on Twitter and said, “I really love my Nike shoes”, and Nike replied to your tweet, wouldn’t you feel pretty important? The fact that a big company takes time out of their day and gets on a consumer’s level means a lot. Even though your company is ant-like compared to something like Nike it still generates the same type of goodwill.

The next type of conversation that happens out there is the one that involves a person or group asking questions about your product or business. The first thought might be to jump right in and answer the question; however, I recommend sitting back, waiting, and responding smartly. For example if a person asks about “plant x” and its growing habits, perhaps it would be useful to wait and see what others have to say. In some cases consumers may feel that you are being too pushy if you jump right in and give them the grower facts. My overall recommendation for situations like this would be to wait a little bit, and if an answer does not appear then post a little piece on where to find more information (a link to your website). This way you aren’t pushing an answer, but if the consumer trusts you then they will follow the link and obtain the answer.

The last type of conversation that can occur is of course the negative kind. What do you do if somebody is online bashing your business or product? This is often the toughest situation to deal with. As a human you undoubtedly will have the urge to jump in and justify your motives. To that I say “WAIT!” You don’t want to start a fight. That will damage your reputation far worse than one small comment of negativity will. The first thing you want to do is to analyze the conversation. Do the people have their facts straight? If they do and the person simply doesn’t like your product or business for x,y, or z, I suggest you just leave the conversation alone. People are going to dislike your business. It’s how the world works. You can’t please everybody. However if the person is lying about your business, then maybe an option would be to post a link to the facts. Don’t engage the attacker, but rather just simply copy and paste the link to where people can find out the true information on the topic. Also if you can find a source for information that was not generated by your company perhaps it would be best to post that.

No matter what people are bound to say things about your business. People talk, it’s the way the world works. If people aren’t talking about you then you don’t exist. Believe me it is better that one person post something that they don’t like about your business, than if no one posts anything about your business. Remember that negatives can lead to positives. If someone doesn’t like your product(s) ask them why, and use their answers to help make your business better.

My biggest advice when joining conversations is be respectful, grateful, and speak the truth. If you do those three things people will trust what you say. Also don’t be so defensive. There are products that you undoubtedly don’t like. The same goes for everybody else.

As I said earlier thee are just simple suggestions and every situation is different. If you have any further questions find me here: Email mday55@gmail.com , Twitter @mday55, or LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233 .

What Did You Say? (Part 2)

After yesterday’s post, I hope a lot of you got a chance to see some of the things people are saying about your business out there on the web. I also hope that the information you found was helpful. Even if some of it seems very critical, it allows you to improve upon what people said they didn’t like. Today I want to finish this discussion by taking a look at another major source of conversation on the web: Social Media. I wanted to split the topic up because the amount of conversing you are likely to find on Social Media sites is probably double that of what you found by searching the entire rest of the internet.

In our assessment of finding conversations on Social Media sites I am going to stick with Twitter and Facebook for today. Sure there are plenty of other sites on which people may be talking about your business/product, but these two sites should provide you with enough information to get started.

I know what you’re probably thinking, “I already know what people are saying about me. I read what they post to my pages.” To this I say well that’s good, but wouldn’t you like to know what people are saying behind your back? On Twitter this is actually as simple as a search. Because Twitter is a lot more open, the whole world can see what most people are tweeting if they know where to go. So at the top where you would normally search for terms you were interested in or people you were looking to follow, I suggest you put something else in that search.  If you want to know what people are saying about “Plant X”, throw that into the search tab and you can search tweets for anytime the words “Plant X” are used. Note: when you first search it only the popular tweets will appear, you have to select the tab in the results for all tweets to dig even deeper. This allows you to see what people are saying even without tweeting it at you, and even if you are not following them. Then, from there because Twitter is so public, you can join the conversation by simply replying to a tweet. For instance if someone posts a picture of a plant they bought at your greenhouse you can reply something like “Thanks for your support. Your garden looks great!”

Facebook on the other hand is a little trickier. Facebook likes to keep their users information a little more private. There is a way around this however. By using the online Social Media management tools offered by HootSuite you can essentially search terms as in the above described Twitter situation. You won’t be able to see everything people are saying as some people have heightened security settings on their profiles, but believe me the majority of people don’t.  Here’s how you can find your information. After adding your Social Media profiles/accounts to HootSuite you can create streams for those pages. From here you select the "create a new stream" tab and instead of selecting the tab for a profile select the tab that says search. From there all you have to do is select Facebook as the site (profile) you want to search and throw in the term(s) you want to search for. It will continue to refresh as the day goes on so you don’t have to worry about the information getting old.

These methods are great for searching other things besides your product/business. I recommend searching for competitors as well to see how they are faring. It might be useful to search for industry buzz words as well.

I was also going to discuss how to get into these conversations and relay facts to participants, but I think I’ll hold off on that until next time. Until then, try searching on Twitter and setting up a HootSuite account.  Next time we discuss how to jump into conversations and when to stay out.

I am constantly looking to other members of the industry for Social Media ideas and inspirations. I know it may sound crazy but to many of us Millennials, Social Media is an art form. It’s how we express ourselves. We are always interested in seeing creative profiles. I am always looking for the next big thing!

If you have a Social Media profile that you think is really cool (or could use some help) let me know. I’d love to take a look and let you know what I think. Comment it, Email It: mday55@gmail.com, Tweet it: @mday55, or Connect with me on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233 .

I read yesterday that “There are no Social Media experts yet”. I firmly believe that. I just want to keep our industry on a level playing field.

What did you say? (Part 1)

Person One: “Hey did you hear that Day Farms Greenhouse is running a sale on hanging baskets this week?”  

Person Two: “Yeah, but I heard it was just on begonia baskets.”

Day Farms Greenhouse employee: “Actually this week we are doing 10% off of ALL hanging baskets.”

I know you’re probably thinking that’s not a very good way to open a post, and you’re probably right. However it is the best way to illustrate a problem that we are facing at every level of the industry. There are people out there talking about our businesses, but unlike the above situation, there is often no one listening to the conversations and therefore no one there to give the people the facts about the situation.

Today I want to take a look at some simple strategies that you can use to find these conversations and join them if need be. These strategies will give you a basic understanding of how much content consumers put on the internet. Some of it is probably truthful albeit some of it is probably skewed. I will also note that the strategies I talk about today are much simpler than many of the things I have talked about in this blog thus far.

The first thing to do when you want to find out what people are saying about your business is to find the actual conversations. This is the rather easy part. Have you heard of Google? Yep that’s the big tool for today. However, it’s not as simple as typing in the name of your business and seeing what pops up (although that is undoubtedly the first thing you should do). If you are really trying to gain a sense of what people are saying about your business or the products and services you offer, you have to dig a little deeper.  You have to think about possible things people could be saying. When there is a conversation or debate human emotions are always brought into the mix. Therefore if I was looking for conversations about a certain variety of plant “plant x”, I would search for things like “plant x love” or “plant x hate”. These two searches alone can yield you interesting results. This strategy can yield a lot of results depending on the amount of adjectives and verbs you search with your business or product.

Another great way to search the web to find out what people are saying about your business or product is to search for your business or product with the word forum added to the search. People use a wide variety of forums to discuss an even wider variety of topics. Also people generally think forums are a consumer only thing so they feel free to express themselves in any way they see fit.

After performing both of the previous types of searches, I then recommend that you type in your business or product along with review. This will bring up an array of sites that allow for customer ratings and reviews and will give you a general feeling of how people view your company. It is also a good method to compare yourself to your competitors and evaluate what you are doing.

These are just some very simple tips and tricks at finding out what people are saying about your business or product. Google really is a great tool in this sense because without shelling out any money you can find out a lot of basic information for free. You just have to know what to type into that search bar.

I will admit that today’s post is quite basic, but sometimes it’s easy for a business to overlook the little things like this. I will also say that there are plenty of companies out there that for the right price will compile all of this data for you and probably dig even a little bit deeper.

Next time we will continue our discussion about finding these conversations. I will take a look at finding conversations on Social Media sites. I will also touch a little bit on how to enter into these conversations once you have found them. This is often the trickiest part of the situation.

Sometimes the simplest questions can provide the biggest answers.

I can always be reached at mday55@gmail.com for questions, comments, or suggestions. Also please follow me on Twitter if you are interested in this kind of stuff @mday55. You can find me on Linked In too! http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233?trk=shareTw .

Who Tube?

The old saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words”.  If this is true think of what a video must be worth.  Integrating YouTube videos into your online marketing strategy can be very beneficial. Today we look at some methods to do this and why putting content on the site is a good idea in the first place.

Today people go on YouTube for everything. Some use it for creative ideas, some use it for entertainment, and some even use YouTube to host educational tools; so why aren’t you tapping into this free resource? For a lot of people out there the reason can be that they don’t think that they have anything worthy to post to YouTube. People think because they are talking about gardening or plant varieties that they wouldn’t be seen on YouTube.

This is where those people are wrong. Speaking for the Millennial generation, there are two predominant ways we get our information. The first way we get information is we “Google” it. This is usually performed to locate basic facts or research something we have recently heard about. However, when it comes to taking on in depth projects or learning how to do something, we use YouTube. If Google is the dictionary of the internet, YouTube is the encyclopedia.

“But how does that affect my business?” Think about it like this: If you were a garden center trying to cater to the younger generation and their interest in container gardening wouldn’t you want to show them that your business carries the perfect supplies to make it easy to garden in a limited space?  That’s when you break out the camcorder and a tri-pod (both of which you can now get at a very reasonable price) and film you or one of your employees making a mixed container or demonstrating the growth habits of certain compact varieties of plants. Then you publish that video to your YouTube channel (which is similar to a profile on other Social Media sites) and add tag words like “container gardening” or “compact plants”, and then lastly throw a link onto your Twitter or post the link in the caption of a picture on Facebook. 

By creating these sorts of how-to videos you can really engage your customer. The videos act as a security blanket for the consumer. Now they know that when they go home to plant they are not truly alone. If they get lost in the process or don’t feel confident in what they are doing, they can click open the YouTube video and check with the instructions there. Those five minute videos you make about products in your business add value to your products. Even if the value may be small and the video is only viewed by 40 or 50 people, you didn’t lose anything. You lost 10 minutes of time it took to film. The risk is definitely worth the reward.

However, YouTube isn’t just great for retailers; it can be great for growers and other members of the channel as well. For instance if you are a grower why not make a five to seven minute video displaying new variety offerings or highlighted plants that you carry. Give a video tour of your production facility. Then send these YouTube links to your customers. From there they can see what is new and gain a sense of trust in your company because they can see how plants are being grown, and that what you are selling to them is a quality product. You might even get new customers depending on who accidentally comes across your video.

These are just a couple quick examples of how YouTube can be incorporated into your horticultural business. There are plenty of other reasons that YouTube is valuable.  For one it gives a face and a name to your business. It puts you on a personal level with your customers, and who doesn’t want that in this industry?

Well, that’s all for today on YouTube, but I’m sure we will discuss intricacies of the site in later posts as well. Today I just wanted to bring the topic up to get you thinking about it. It’s Monday so if you find yourself or your employees with a break in the action why not give this video thing a shot. Don’t worry if you don’t have the greatest camera in the world, it’s ok. A home video feel might even add the grassroots touch your consumer is looking for.

Any questions on today’s post? Please email me at mday55@gmail.com comment here or tweet at me on Twitter @mday55. I hope that the post today was helpful. Just like you I am always looking for suggestions. Thanks!

For lack of a joke today I recommend checking out #hortfilms  on Twitter for some laughs.

Power Posting

Happy Friday! It’s that time of the week again; everybody is thinking about their weekend plans and counting down the seconds until they can go home from work. Believe it or not these kinds of thoughts tie heavily in to social media and the reception certain posts receive. Today we take a look at two things. We discuss when to post, and we discuss a little bit of what to post.

Despite what you might read on the internet or hear from an “expert” in Social Media, there is no perfect day or time to post. There is no secret formula, and no scientific algorithm that says if you post on Tuesday’s at 3:46pm your post will go viral. When so much of virality depends on people and their emotions and feelings at any given point, nothing can ever be perfect. However, there are better times than others to post. I know that this kind of information is all over the web, but I want to explain it a little more so that you understand why certain times are better than others.

From my research with hands on data here is in order from best to worst the days of the week to post: Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Monday, and Saturday. Knowing this was simply not enough for me. I wanted to create a theory as to why certain posts go more activity than others.  Tuesday in the afternoon is the single best time to post on a Social Media site if you want something to be seen and engaged with by lots of people.  Here’s the scoop on why. Tuesday afternoon is when you get the most attention because it’s the first time people who are at work really get to twiddle their thumbs if you will. When people get back to work on Monday, they have work to catch up on so they easily stay busy all day, yet when they come in on Tuesday they finish what they need to in the morning and in the afternoon they sit and wait to be told what needs to get done the rest of the week. They get bored at work around 3:00 and start looking to Facebook and Twitter to stay preoccupied.

Thursday afternoon is the same way for a different reason. Thursday afternoon starts the wind down. People are finishing up the really challenging stuff they needed to finish by Friday. They have been stressed so they take a break, and where do they turn for a source of quick entertainment? Your garden center’s Facebook page to see what kind of deals you are having this weekend.

The next best time to post is tricky. I know I said that Wednesday is better than Friday, but that is only when you compare the data on a daily basis, but if you split the data into morning and afternoon, you find something shocking. I found that after Tuesday afternoon, Friday morning is the second best time to post, but why? Look at it this way. When people wake up on Friday what do they say? “Ahh it’s Friday!” Right? Well when they go to work with the same mentality. They think it’s Friday, and that they are almost done for the week. They float off into a kind of daydream and start surfing the web for anything that might interest them like gardening or how to plant mixed containers. This quickly changes at about noon however, when everyone begins realizing there is much more to be done before they can leave their work for the week.

As far as what to post that ultimately depends on your Social Media strategy, but I will give you my advice. We in the horticultural industry have something very unique to offer the public. Horticulture can often be a creative art-form. That is how the general public likes to think of flower industry (what we call Horticulture). They see plants as a way to express themselves and be creative and ecofriendly all at the same time. So when people go on your Facebook and all of your posts are merely links to some article about growing habits, some might be interested but you are losing a great deal of interested viewers.

Above and beyond pictures generate the largest amount of buzz on Facebook. The internet is becoming a culture of visuals. So my suggestion would be if you have an idea or link that you really want people to see; simply post it in the caption part of a picture and then post it to Facebook. I will tell you this for every link you post to Facebook you should post at least three picture posts in ratio.

Content also matters. When thinking about what kind of content to post remember people like creative content. For example you could post a picture of an innovative way to do something or a cool display, or a beautiful mixed container. Those are the things that generate the most attention on Facebook. As far as Twitter goes, links are great. It’s a popularity contest of coolness. Some of my older posts discus this.

Well folks that’s it for this week. I’ll be around all weekend if you have any questions so you can reach me by email at mday55@gmail.com or comment or follow me on Twitter @mday55. Put me in your circles on Google +!

I am always looking to hear your thoughts and questions!

I leave you with a question: For those of you who went to OFA what was the coolest new plant variety you saw?

Mind Control

As I mentioned earlier this week in my brief recap of OFA, catering to the younger generations was a giant theme of the show. Everything was about trying to be hip and innovative. I also stressed that Social Media was a big part of this forward push. It’s becoming one of the main mediums for companies to market to Generation Y. However, one thing that has been lacking in all of this discussion about Y-ers or Millennials as they are often referred to; why are they so interested in Social Media? It is clear now that the internet and sites like Facebook are more than a passing fad. Companies that took a gamble on marketing in these channels early are now seeing great results, and companies who hung back waiting for the craze to end are now realizing it isn’t a trend or a craze but rather a completely new lifestyle. So in today’s post I want to take a look at why Social Media appeals to Millennials. Looking into these kinds of motives can help us as an industry better understand the best ways to market to them and how to do so on the right channels.

What do Millennials care about? Their whole lives Millennials have grown up with technology. Technology has changed about as fast as they have while growing up. They have seen computers go from the dinosaur of Windows 95 to the upcoming release of Windows 8 this fall. They are true consumers, always finding some way to buy the coolest new products. It still amazes me how people express such a need to get the newest I-Phone model when the one they currently have was purchased less than a year ago. It is through this consumption and the huge costs of college education that Millennials have accumulated lots of debt.

They are also community oriented and have a stronger global presence than any other generation. It has become extremely easy to take an idea and spread it around the world in seconds. For example the first week my blog launched I had views from people in Russia, Spain, The Netherlands, Brazil, The United States, Hong Kong, Japan, and Egypt. I had expected to have a couple page views, but now I am in the thousands. Millennials also care about the environment. They care about the future of the human race but more importantly the future of the planet.  To them knowledge has always been at their fingertips. They can use Google to find the answer to almost any question.

So where does this tie in with Social Media? How does Social Media fill these needs?  For some of these questions the answer is obvious, but let’s thinks about it. Social Media is technology, and is also changing as well. Millennials love it because it doesn’t stay the same. Something is always changing and they have to work to keep up. It’s a challenge that Millennials often complain about; however, they are always waiting for the next big change or the next big social network.

Another reason why both Millennials love Social Media and why you should love it as well is: It’s FREE! There are no sign up fees, no monthly sign up fees, no costs what so ever.  It’s the one thing that they can spend hours a day toying with and customizing that doesn’t cost them any money. It’s a free source of entertainment to them.

Social Media also allows Millennials to access the world. People can now have Facebook friends from any country on the planet. This way every time you log in you see what is happening all around the world. It has allowed for global campaigns and movements. At the same time though it keeps Millennials in touch with what is going on in their own community. It allows them to think global and still buy local.

It caters to their need to be stewards of the environment. Who would have thought computers might be the biggest tools in the green movement. It allows the youth to discuss their green passions. They can discuss best practices, set up organization, and gain thousands of followers in a matter of hours.  Social Media lets Millennials believe they can make a difference in the world. Whether the difference actually happens I question if Millennials would stop. To them the fun is in the fighting for their beliefs.

So when you are developing a strategy to cater to Millennials here are some things to remember. They value new things. They like being trendsetters maybe this means getting new plants or creating new garden designs. They like technology, so how do you incorporate that into your strategy? Maybe a mobile app or a cool software program would be valuable. They want the best value for not only their money but also their time. What is cheap and easy to do? They aren’t a “do it yourself” generation and they aren’t a “do it for me” generation they are a “do it with me” generation. Then think about how you can make your business environmentally friendly. You have to think globally and act locally. Social Media can help you achieve all of these goals if you sit down and plan out a strategy. The consumer generation is coming and we have to be ready for it.

I hope this helps and I hope to hear from you!

Email: mday55@gmail.com

Twitter: @mday55

“If the winds of change are coming, I hope it’s mostly dimes. Because quarters would hurt too much.”

Precooked Meals

Hello again everyone! Today I plan to get back into my routine of discussing Social Media tactics and strategies in the Horticulture and Agricultural industries. In the beginning of last week I took a look at how sometimes we often find ourselves in a rut of missed postings and at points it almost seems worthless to get back into the routine. I emphasized that whatever you do, just make sure you keep getting your content to people in some way.

Now I understand that in this kind of industry there are often very hectic and stressful periods. It may be hard to remember to maintain your posting schedule if you have elected to post more than once a week. However, there are tools out there to help you with this problem! Currently there are all sorts of sites out there that allow you to create posts for Facebook and Twitter ahead of time, and then through your permission it then posts the content at the specific date and time that you distinguish. Some of these sites are: LaterBro, TweetDeck, SocialTomorrow, and HootSuite.

Though I have dabbled in and looked at all of these sites, I must say that I prefer to use www.hootsuite.com  the most. After creating a profile on the site it allows you to sign in with your Social Media profiles. HootSuite is a double awesome tool because not only can you schedule posts, updates, and tweets easily, but you can also view all of your profiles at once. This can be a great tool for a garden center that perhaps wants to be invested in Social Media, but just doesn’t have the time to do so. There is also a wide array of different filters you can set up for your different streams of information you want to view. For example if you  want to see if anyone is posting anything about your nursery named “Jim’s Garden”, then you can set up a filter to search for who is posting about you perhaps without you even knowing it. This is almost a must for Facebook because unlike Twitter it is not as easy to search for words within posts without HootSuite or another site like it. HootSuite is a great tool also if you want to see what people are saying about your competition. It takes social listening to a new level.

For the second part of this post I wanted to discuss something I have been receiving some feedback and questions about. Why is it not a good idea to just link my Twitter to my other sites and use it simply as a tool to get people onto my other Social Media pages? Well for one if you are using Twitter simply as a free advertising service for your other sites you are wasting an outlet to spread your message. Sure if you have created something extremely interesting on Facebook and you want your Twitter followers to see it go ahead and link it, but if you are just trying to strike up some visits something is wrong. You shouldn’t have to really advertise your Facebook page (note saying to people find/like us on Facebook is completely acceptable and encouraged), your Social Media pages are there for people to find you when they want to. You want people to go there but “advertising” on Twitter won’t help you.

Also with regards to the above dilemma, people have said to me they don’t think people really pay attention to Twitter posts. I’m here to say believe me they do – just in a different way. As I have said before, keep the links out of your Facebook posts. That isn’t the kind of content people want to see on there. However with Twitter it’s a different ball game. Think of Twitter as a grade school social scene. It is a giant popularity contest. In which everyone is trying to send out links to the coolest pictures and content on the web. You don’t even need to generate the content for people to think you are “cool” and follow you. Twitter is all about finding interesting things and letting your followers know about it. Through this you gain popularity that may translate into the real world. However, linking to your own Facebook and Pinterest posts gets boring and people will begin to care less about what you post on Twitter.  Just remember Twitter is light, fast, and often humor and creativity are two of the most successful techniques. People are looking and listening to Twitter. Believe me.

I hope this helps everybody out there that has been asking me questions about Twitter. Twitter is an odd and giant place, but if you want the trendiest of the youth to see you it is a must. Plus it’s very easy to use and requires hardly anytime at all.

Once again feel free to email me at mday55@gmail.com, follow me on Twitter @mday55, or comment on the post if you would like me to address something or if you have any questions.

“To Beet or not to Beet, that is the vegetable”