So.... Now where are we?

Fairfield

Fairfield

Participating member
Location
Bucks County pa USA
So back in 07 I made a post about starting a business MySpace page to market to my customers and future customers. I have to say I got the responce that at the time I thought I would had got from it with the "Bad idea" type remarks. Not that it changed my mind to not do it. In the end I recall getting a ton of work from it and it was a reason I was able to make a really good jump start to a business that was and still is saturated with competition in my area. Years later MySpace is gone and replaced by FaceBook, Instagram, Youtube, and such. I am now looking to start a new project in the next four years and have started working on it now to gain attention with ZERO want to do a single job or have a single paying customer ( until four years from now). I have noticed a lack of business' having a presence in certain media platforms that are not "popular" at the moment and plan on jumping all over that now to have leverage in the future.
So, my question to you all that run your own thing is this..... What are you looking at right now that you see others doing that you deem " a bad idea"? And why the hell are you not doing it?

Here is a link to that post in 07' http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/threads/my-space.6477/
 
I plan on branching out into casket repurposing and unicorn hunting lessons. Been trying to get into beer quality assurance and dead hooker disposal but the market is pretty saturated here.

Best of luck for your future plans, any hints as to what? Web-based?
 
Tr33Climb3r said:
I'm confused on what you're asking. I started running my dad's business in 2012. We are at 11 people now.


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It was a bad idea using social media platforms in 07 according to a huge amount of people. Turns out that was not the case. So what are you seeing as a bad idea now that is comparable and why are you not doing it?
 
I was told 6 years ago that an “About Us” page was useless for a website (by an internet marketer). I made that the main focus of our website and it became a lead machine.

I know that this is past. I am working on some things presently, but want to see results before saying too much.

I like where you’re at with this, Tom. I heard once that great ideas are polarizing. If you’re met with both great acceptance and great naysaying, you’re probably on to something.
 
I'd say the only thing I can think of that polarized people is the treemek stuff. We are heading towards a more mechanized future. It's just a question of when.

The other thing I see taking off in 5 years is drones. Both for the obvious seeing access lines and canopy inspections. But also for the bigger stuff like targeted herbicide application, Urban tree inventory and risk assessment, mapping, invasive pest tracking, bidding, utility/row work etc, crew safety inspections, etc

Me personally whenever I'm out of town doing storm we always end with circuit sweeps looking for hazards. If I can inspect all the off road, rear lot stuff without ever leaving the truck if be very very happy
 
Organic and biorational phc only. Obviously gaining ground but really has to be combined with plant selection so the landscape and nursery industry has to get involved.

Or does it?

How about more arborists offer tree planting and landscape installation with proper plant selection and avoid all the rest of the green industry? How many of us have seen a plan by landscape architects and have literally laughed at it? I have been for years now.
 
Fairfield said:
It was a bad idea using social media platforms in 07 according to a huge amount of people. Turns out that was not the case. So what are you seeing as a bad idea now that is comparable and why are you not doing it?
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Ah ok. I graduated high school that year. I didn't realize social media was looked at that way.
Honestly now because of recent events social media could be seen as less trustworthy. We don't put much into it.
Is social media now a bad idea. No but it lost a step in importance.
I agree to true arborists being more apart of Planting. We have seen an increase in planting each year.
Treemek stuff is scary from the side of removal being simple. Trees I fear are written off too quickly. If we get a Treemek I'll stick to EAB and dead or compromised trees. That being trees that already are falling apart. But that still makes me nervous.


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theatertech87 said:
I'd say the only thing I can think of that polarized people is the treemek stuff. We are heading towards a more mechanized future. It's just a question of when.

The other thing I see taking off in 5 years is drones. Both for the obvious seeing access lines and canopy inspections. But also for the bigger stuff like targeted herbicide application, Urban tree inventory and risk assessment, mapping, invasive pest tracking, bidding, utility/row work etc, crew safety inspections, etc

Me personally whenever I'm out of town doing storm we always end with circuit sweeps looking for hazards. If I can inspect all the off road, rear lot stuff without ever leaving the truck if be very very happy
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I looked but could not find the vid someone posted here awhile back with the "future arb" battery backpack powered- rope ascender, telescoping chainsaw, line setting and spotting drone. Fighter pilot style helmet with read outs n shit. Interesting conceptual vid, would be interested to watch again if anyone has the link!
 
JD3000 said:
Organic and biorational phc only. Obviously gaining ground but really has to be combined with plant selection so the landscape and nursery industry has to get involved.

Or does it?

How about more arborists offer tree planting and landscape installation with proper plant selection and avoid all the rest of the green industry? How many of us have seen a plan by landscape architects and have literally laughed at it? I have been for years now.
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I want to get into more of this but not sure where to start with no formal training I feel I may overlook some things... I'm sure if we wing it we could do some sweet installs.. just gotta wait for next time someone asks and see what goes down. We plant trees and do simple mulch beds often but I'd like to get a little more intimate!
 
I've gone to solo removals with a dog trained to patrol for people getting too close. The dog is a border collie so as smart as dogs come and she has super skills to detect the sneaky types. If they're hiding and watching they'll get barked at. I trained her from the tree top and I know nothing about dog handleing so it could be better. She still prefers squirrel chasing and has to do dog things but she can indicate a trouble maker coming from over 100 yards away and starts growling or barking. If my dog doesn't like you I don't like you and she's never been wrong. With normal people walking by she just casually approaches them which still gets my attention. If they head towards my work area she'll get more and more excited and kind of howl. It's fairly amazing to see. Better than a new ground op busy trying to firgure out how to do their job for sure. I work quiet yards with rare traffic so that helps and I do alot with the handsaw and all climbing no bucket so we keep it kinda stealthy. If she's getting too close herself she knows what look out means and where to go and for felling I'll say get in the truck because she likes to attack the tree as soon as it hits the ground. Just pretensioning rigging lines drives her wild the rope fibers must squeak and she even trys to chew up branches during clean up. I see alot of potential for a well trained dog but it wouldn't work in a city probably. There's also been a few roses peed on and issues but definately better than the average ground worker for patrolling the perimmiter.
 
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boreality said:
I've gone to solo removals with a dog trained to patrol for people getting too close. The dog is a border collie so as smart as dogs come and she has super skills to detect the sneaky types. If they're hiding and watching they'll get barked at. I trained her from the tree top and I know nothing about dog handleing so it could be better. She still prefers squirrel chasing and has to do dog things but she can indicate a trouble maker coming from over 100 yards away and starts growling or barking. If my dog doesn't like you I don't like you and she's never been wrong. With normal people walking by she just casually approaches them which still gets my attention. If they head towards my work area she'll get more and more excited and kind of howl. It's fairly amazing to see. Better than a new ground op busy trying to firgure out how to do their job for sure. I work quiet yards with rare traffic so that helps and I do alot with the handsaw and all climbing no bucket so we keep it kinda stealthy. If she's getting too close herself she knows what look out means and where to go and for felling I'll say get in the truck because she likes to attack the tree as soon as it hits the ground. Just pretensioning rigging lines drives her wild the rope fibers must squeak and she even trys to chew up branches during clean up. I see alot of potential for a well trained dog but it wouldn't work in a city probably. There's also been a few roses peed on and issues but definately better than the average ground worker for patrolling the perimmiter.
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Cool post. I retain a lying cat.
 
I think the biggest advancement on the horizon is a double-armed mek. Bluestone is starting to experiment with it, but is using two grapples - seems like a hydro bust in the making... Being able to tip tie/grapple and base cut would be an advantage.

I think that mini skids have a lot of room for improvement as well. They need less ground pressure, more tip weight, more stability, higher hinge pins, and faster speed. I can think of many ways to achieve these goals, and the engineers would laugh a bit before gerting to it!
 
I'm gonna go a different direction here. Not about the tree work itself but the marketing aspect of it. Society progresses into an ultimate state of couch potato. People don't want to read or research. My website as well as others on here have several pages of information written with care and consideration to the target audience. Well I believe nobody reads it. The attention span is gone. We have progressed to a point where we hate tv commercials. We want uninterrupted drivel. No on the flip side, nobody wants to read a website. They want a 2 to 3 minute commercial with shock and awe, catchy jingle, and instant gratification. I would venture to guess they don't even want to write a phone number down. I predict the most successful sales platforms are a short video with a click to text or click to call button at the end of the video. I can see a website being a single page with one video and 1 button on it. The consumer is a lazy slob. I'm talking basic service. Specialized services will always need data for the intellect doing research but other than them, make it simple and flashy.
 
colb said:
I think the biggest advancement on the horizon is a double-armed mek. Bluestone is starting to experiment with it, but is using two grapples - seems like a hydro bust in the making... Being able to tip tie/grapple and base cut would be an advantage.

I think that mini skids have a lot of room for improvement as well. They need less ground pressure, more tip weight, more stability, higher hinge pins, and faster speed. I can think of many ways to achieve these goals, and the engineers would laugh a bit before gerting to it!
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I spent a whole winter working on a better mini material handler. Even looked at driving it on a dyson ball for ultimate mobility. One thing at a time I hope to prototype a rigging idea soon. I wonder though if persueing an invention is worth it. With the risk and legal challenges, production issues, costs it might just be easier to put it out there and let someone else have the hassle. That question probably deservers it's own post.
 
It’s not social media of itself that is problematic it’s our understanding of who the users are. Each generation, which I believe are being subdivided into late and early groups adopt different media tools, MySpace then FB then Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, it’s not which tool it’s what life stage is the demographic in that uses the specific tool? Are they at the stage where we would see them as prospective clients?

What tools do they use that would connect us to them? The kids that grew up using drones would see them as an immediate solution to our work and wonder if we weren’t using them.

Demographics are still a lead driver in business. Understand that and you’ll find the tools that make the most sense.

As for pages of text on websites or any literature, that is outdated. We can call them lazy or just see it as a time trap and a tool they no longer encounter in their work life or decision making process. I wouldn’t call my customers lazy given the hectic schedule or work and life they live but one of multiple demands on their attention. They need to make a first decision quickly as to the amount of time to devote to a given task and also the value of it in terms of the money available. Once that is determined then they’ll choose to allocate more time investigating or to invest in expertise to delegate the task to.

Tree planting, arrrrgggghhhhh. Two commercial planting jobs have just been completed that I drive past several times a day. What a shit show. Species selection to planting method it’s bad. I go by and wonder if I really should stop and talk to the developers or would it just end up in more frustration?
 
Steve Connally said:
I'm gonna go a different direction here. Not about the tree work itself but the marketing aspect of it. Society progresses into an ultimate state of couch potato. People don't want to read or research. My website as well as others on here have several pages of information written with care and consideration to the target audience. Well I believe nobody reads it. The attention span is gone. We have progressed to a point where we hate tv commercials. We want uninterrupted drivel. No on the flip side, nobody wants to read a website. They want a 2 to 3 minute commercial with shock and awe, catchy jingle, and instant gratification. I would venture to guess they don't even want to write a phone number down. I predict the most successful sales platforms are a short video with a click to text or click to call button at the end of the video. I can see a website being a single page with one video and 1 button on it. The consumer is a lazy slob. I'm talking basic service. Specialized services will always need data for the intellect doing research but other than them, make it simple and flashy.
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An old post I felt compelled to respond to- maybe we are few but we're out here. My major frustration with Google lately is lack of options when searching for deeper information. I believe it's more paying websites who naturally get first hits, and repeated hits ad infinitum. I'm one who reads here for hours on end because of the wealth of free (rare in our capitalist economy,)information available to the general public. Inquiring minds will find you, eventually. I agree with the dumbing down of society in general, it's a concerted campaign by the man to sell to us and keep us docile at the same time. Well it's not working on everyone. So I want to say a big thank you for being a light in the darkness. (As for basic advertising I have no idea- I'm as drawn to shiny baubles as the next person, but that's never been enough for me. And I only read your post in this thread, so pardon if I'm way off base.......)
 
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