Business idea for everyone

[ponderosatree]

Business idea for everyone (Trees Together)

I've been working on this idea for a while now but wanted to throw it out there. I'm developing a newsletter program called Trees Together which is basically a tree care newsletter that companies can distribute to their customers. The idea is that each arborist will contribute their own articles which will be featured in their own regional newsletter. Everyone's articles will be collected on the website (www.treestogether.org) but each newsletter will be customized to their region and will feature only their articles. I've developed a nice looking template that would make it easy to do so everyone would have a professional looking newsletter. I printed some already and can mail copies to anyone interested in joining.

Members will have exclusive rights to their region but must contribute regularly (2 or 3 articles a quarter), maintain their ISA certification and all other business credentials (insurance, licensing, etc.). I want this to be a club of elite tree care professionals. No hacks.

I originally started this idea as a way for my company to showcase our knowledge in an unbiased forum. My sales people have found that it's great supplemental material to provide when doing bids. It's also an effective way to keep your name in front of your clients with material they'd actually read instead of postcards they'd discard. I've found already that I'm getting calls from people months after I've mailed them out.

If the program takes off and we get a significant amount of members and material we could leverage the Trees Together brand and have it featured in national stores, magazines or whatever. I want to create something which will be of value to our clients and will bring us in new business. Ultimately, when people read the newsletter or view the website I want them to realize that membership is reserved for only the best in the tree care industry. We could develop a special logo for members which could be displayed on advertising, proposals, etc. but I think that should wait until there's some significant material on the website.

With business down across the board you can put your spare time to good use. The templates are ready to go but I just need some qualified people who'd be interested in helping. There's no charge for this but each member would be responsible for the printing costs of their newsletter. It's usually just a few hundred dollars. I know a printing place out of Florida that does good work for cheap.

If anyone is interested let me know! I can mail copies of what our newsletter looks like now. I haven't really developed the website yet (treestogether.org) but I plan I do some pretty extensive redesigns on it and create a blog with member profiles. I want this to be a first rate operation but I need to know if anyone else would like to get on board.

If you're interested or want to learn more drop me a PM or just post in this thread.

 

[TheLumberJack]

interesting and potentially valuable.

how do you plan to make money, or at the very least, cover your cost? advertising sales?

 

[Toddppm]

Does sound pretty interesting. I have a hard time sitting down and writing articles for my newsletters when I do them. Not bad doing the actual writing just getting started is the hard part.

Would there be general articles already written and then space for the person thats mailing to add their own?

Also how would judge who the hacks are? Even alot of the hacks think they are professionals and will tell you they are all day long.....

 

[ponderosatree]

interesting and potentially valuable.

how do you plan to make money, or at the very least, cover your cost? advertising sales?

Initial costs will be minimal and I'd be volunteering my time to get this off the ground. I have a background in design and web site development so much of the design grunt work will be done by me. Newsletter/mailing costs would have to be covered by each company themselves. Printing costs for a few thousand brochures is less than $300. Mailing costs are additional but standard mailing rates are like $0.25 or something each.

I'm not looking to really "advertise" this. I view this as a grassroots organization comprised of certified arborists. The idea is that each newsletter would showcase the respective members tree care knowledge. The benefit to each member would be immediate but as the Trees Together brand name grows it will only become more valuable as it begins to generate leads and eventually becomes a symbol of quality and knowledge. Once established we can see what else can be done with the Trees Together brand name. There's lots of potential but the first order of business is to build the brand name.

For now making money is secondary to getting this off the ground. I want to get other qualified arborists on board. Maybe 4 or 5 people in different regions. I want people who are knowledge and can write intelligently about tree care matters. Topics can range from specific tree health care matters to tree maintenance advice, etc. Eventually, as this expands and requires more of my time I'd probably have to charge a membership fee but I would probably only require that of new members and would grandfather in existing members. I'm certainly not looking to get rich off this but I see a lot of potential.

I only want qualified people on board. I think minimal requirements would be active ISA certification, an oath to practice ethical standards in tree care, proper licensing/insurance with whatever company you're with and maybe a requirement about having a clean BBB records (as hokum as the BBB is). I'd be open to ideas about what other requirements would be needed for membership.

 

[ponderosatree]

Does sound pretty interesting. I have a hard time sitting down and writing articles for my newsletters when I do them. Not bad doing the actual writing just getting started is the hard part.

Would there be general articles already written and then space for the person thats mailing to add their own?

Each member would have exclusive rights to their territory and their newsletter would feature THEIR articles. Each newsletter showcases YOUR knowledge, not someone elses. You are, afterall, trying to promote YOUR business. Everyone's article would be collected on the website. As the website grows we'd had more features like a Q&A section, discussion forum, etc.

Instead of creating your own newsletter you'd be part of a community of tree care experts. The idea being that membership will add legitimacy to your articles since it's coming from an unbiased tree care organization who has vetted you.

If you're busy or a procrastinator I'll certainly bug you enough to get you moving. Trust me, I realize that writing copy is time consuming and difficult to do if you're running around all day doing bids and/or climbing trees.

Also how would judge who the hacks are? Even alot of the hacks think they are professionals and will tell you they are all day long.....

There would have to be minimal requirements to become a member which I addressed in the post above. I'm open to ideas on how to weed out the hacks. Maybe require new members submit a list of their last 100 clients and we'll do a survey of their experience. I think weeding out hacks will be easy since most don't even carry insurance.

 

[ponderosatree]

BTW, I include a checklist in each newsletter which educates consumer on how to recognize a hack. Here's a summary of questions they've supposed to ask-

1. Do you have a certified arborist on staff?
2. Are you licensed and bonded?
3. Do you have workers compensation insurance?
4. Do you have general liability insurance?
5. Can I verify your insurance?
6. How many years experience do you have?
7. Can you provide references?

 

[TheLumberJack]

Each member would have exclusive rights to their territory

I'd think this would be a problem.

 

[ponderosatree]

I'd think this would be a problem.

I don't see why. There's a lot of programs which impose similar restrictions. It would increase the value to the arborist and encourage them to maintain their membership if they have exclusive rights to their region (or county, however we decide to mark territories). They will, of course, have to show some proof that they're actually servicing the areas they claim and perhaps we'll have to include a buffer around said region to insure there's minimal overlap. It's hardly a deal killer.

 

[TheLumberJack]

It's hardly a deal killer.

agreed, but i stick with it would be problematic.

 

[ponderosatree]

agreed, but i stick with it would be problematic.

Perhaps but that's something I'd have to handle. We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. In the beginning I doubt they're be much conflict.

So is anyone interested in trying this out? I just need some qualified arborists who are willing to write up some copy. I'll prepare the newsletter and we can send it to print.

If anyone wants copies of our current newsletter drop me a private message and I'll mail you some copies and you can see what it's like.

 

[treemandan]

from berkeley huh?

 

[treesandsurf]

What ever happened with this?

jp

 

[defensiblespace]

I didn't realize this thread was started so long ago. What did happen to this? Could be valuable if it got off the ground.

 

[David1]

Great idea !! you provide a great information for business to unknown person. We are grateful to you. Because with out Business idea no one can run business in any bit.

 

[berani]

I have to agree, this should be something that brews with a lot of potential but I am not quite sure what to make of it in terms of the ability to get the returns and cover the cost of what is going to be utilized.

But as it for some related projects, they have always made use of getting it back through the merchandise that they have roaming around for people to actually take part on. Just to make things really go around and raise awareness.

 

[jason020]

Hey.. Your idea for business is awesome and I think anyone who wants to start his/her business with less investment than he/she would have awesome business idea of you .. According to me , He/She have to first look upon your idea.. I am also planning to start my own business and now I get a great idea by your post.,. I am very thankful to you..