This early bird got her worm!

My schedule has been very busy, both work wise and socially, so I enjoy every moment I get to spend in my gardens. Last Saturday I carved out some time between rainfalls to plant my annuals. I was inspired by our garden club workshop on hanging baskets, and couldn't wait any longer to plant! So early Saturday morning my mom and I headed over to Graf Growers (not just a plug for our clients - it's seriously the best!). Though I didn't make it for their 7am opening, I still made it in time to take advantage of their early bird offer. Saturday mornings (7-10am) in May you receive a worm from the Early Bird for $10 OFF your $50+ purchase - great deal!

I'm usually very grateful for my ability to visualize pretty much anything, but standing in front of so many beautiful flowers can be overwhelming because i can think of things to do with all of them. If you know me, you know I'm not a fan of the color orange, well they had an orange coleus next to a purple plant and it was amazing! Though bringing in that much orange would through everything off so I held back, my mom helped me focus and with the help of the Graf's staff we loaded up two very full carts. Since we shopped so early, I still had the whole day to plant, which i did! Now I just have to remember to keep watering...

Time to start working on the vegetable gardens...

Email Makeovers!

So you’ve been sending out your own email blasts or newsletters and they’ve been doing okay for you, right? Each one gets a couple hits to your website or brings a few customers to the store but you feel like something just isn’t right or that your customers just aren’t getting the message that you are trying to communicate to them. It’s possible that it’s time for an email blast makeover!! Getting people interested and excited to see YOUR email blast in their inbox is the hardest part of email marketing.

I don’t know about you but I am a very visual learner, HOWEVER, the information behind the visual must be as strong as the visual itself. There’s nothing worse than receiving a really well designed email blast and clicking through to the website and finding the same old message and information as you read the last time you received the email. You have to keep your message current, I know this can be time consuming but you will be able to pat yourself on the back when your sales are increasing and the traffic on your website is doubling.

One really good example of how we implement this is Graf Growers Garden Center. We started designing and sending email blasts for them late in 2006. Every season, about 4-5 times a year, we reinvent or ‘makeover’ the look of their email blast. We keep the same style each season so that people will know where and how to find the information but the visual aspect will change to match the season. This keeps people interested and really looking forward to the changes each season. As for the information that Graf Growers provides, it changes weekly. Lisa Graf, who is the owner of Graf Growers, personally writes information each week to post on her online blog. This is the most clicked option on their email blast because people really like to see what’s new in the world of gardening and to read Lisa’s opinion on everything from fertilizer to upcoming gardening shows. As I said, we started this in late 2006 and it just so happens that every year since they have increased sales in the store! A good makeover can take your business a long way!

NiNA

Going to market...

Saturday morning I visited one of my favorite places in the area, Cleveland's West Side Market. In reading various magazines I have come across multiple articles on making jam. I swear I'm not a 60 year old country housewife! Anyhow, after visiting some of my favorite spots in the main hall, like the Pierogi Palace, I picked up some great veggies and finally some lovely blackberries. Yesterday my friend and I took to the stove to begin our jam creation. The recipe was really simple it just took a while to get the right consistency. It looks good, haven't tried it yet - but, I did make a couple of potato and horseradish pierogies for dinner, with a side of steamed asparagus, yum!



I always get excited by a trip to the market, you never know what new thing you may discover. It also reminds me of travelling in Europe, loving the fresh air markets, the different lifestyle of buying fresh, local food daily for dinner. Unfortunately the West Side Market is a ways away, but maybe something cool will go into Highland Square, at the very least we'll have the farmer's markets in the spring...

Mmmm, Galley Boys!

Our latest project has our tummies rumbling! We are currently working on a new Swensons website, with all the bells and whistles. As Swensons is an Akron staple, it does have me reminiscing about the good old days. What do you think of, when you think Swensons?

It was always a thrill when I was little and my grandpa would take us to their drive in in his big black cadillac and then we'd go to Two Turtles to buy new Black Mollies for my grandma's pond. Many years later, it became one of our favorite "hang outs" (wow I felt old saying that) in high school, especially in my convertible -- you had to be sure to park on the cool side!

Well, back to work...keep dreaming about the deliciously sweet burgers, yum!

-Liz

A Laugh for While You're Away

Well Nina has escaped the pseudo nice weather of Akron for the sunny beaches of Miami! In her absence, I decided to post a funny photo of us (more like ridiculous of me) at her Halloween party this year. She already had her costume off (an awesome robot), but Cruela was still cackling!

Enjoy,

-Liz

Tips for a Greener Workplace!

I received an email blast the other day and it provided some very interesting information about making your workplace 'green'. We all know the typical things...recycle your ink and toner cartriges, get a few plants for the office, and print on recycled paper BUT that's not all you could be doing to make your office a greener place! Here a few fun things that I found:

-By relaxing the dress code in the office to casual you will reduce the cost of dry cleaning for your employees and also allow for a higher temperature in the office during summer months by allowing a lighter clothing to be worn.

-Letting your employees work a more flexible schedule by either working 4- 10 hour days or simply working from home one day a week will reduce their gas consumption by 20% for their work week! "Telecommuting works for 44 million Americans"!

-If you work with a computer at work or even at home you might consider switching to a laptop next time you upgrade your computer. Laptops consume 80% LESS energy than your average desktop computer! But even if you do still rely on your trusty desktop, setting it to sleep mode when you aren't using it will reduce your computers energy use by 70%. That's a lot of energy saved by just being aware of what your computer is up to while you're away!

Here is a link for further reading: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/green-work/

Planet Green gives you tons of tips on a greener workplace!

Here is my contribution to the plants in the office - my beautiful orchid. I bought it from Ikea last year and really didn't think it was going to make it through the summer but it came back with twice as many blooms!

Hope this helps!

-Nina

Wednesday Wonders

The sun is shining, and I can think of is: "could this be it, is it melting for good, for spring?" I almost don't want to look at the weather report, for fear more snow might be coming. I love snow, especially with a winter birthday I was forced to like it as a child, no pool parties for me - but, I'm ready to start enjoying the outdoors again. I never had a chance to check out the extended towpath that runs by our office, that will be first on my list. Well, I guess I will be brave and check the weather channel...Hurray! 52 for tomorrow...but of course, back down to the 20s and snow for the weekend. Oh well, not a great forecast and not a great blog post, maybe better on both accounts next week?!
-Liz