[leadarrows]

I found a real deal on a program that works better...... well...for me anyway....than the Punch program I had... for a fraction of the price. I paid forty dollars for Punch and hated it. I couldn't make it work at all. So I took it back and ask on here what should I get. Well Pro Landscape was recommended and I like it a lot and it is still the program I want to get someday. I just can't afford it yet. But in the mean time I need something that will get me by and I think I have found it. NothingButSoftware.com has a Program on sale called Beautiful Land & Garden by Data Becker for just $2.95 Now I just got it yesterday and I have only been playing with it for about twenty minuets and I filled the yard with stuff at random just to see what it would do.
Heres a picture of what it can do. The wavy lines on the siding of the house happens when I down size a picture to post here for some reason I don't understand but you should still be able to get an Idea of how well it works for the price. Not all of us can afford to start out with the best programs. I know Pro Landscape is night and day better then this program but I just can't afford it yet. I thought some of you might share that problem and appreciate knowing about this one.

[P-Train]

As long as it works for you and your customers can tell what is what and it sells jobs then super!

I've probably spent enough money in getting "okay" software to get an $800-$1500 program but heh...what I have works well for me now.

[leadarrows]

When I get a chance next week end maybe I'll take a more serious stab at it and post the results. One thing I don't like already is not being able to rotate the plants and objects. But this is just to get me by until I can afford Pro Landscape. I can't draw a stick figure for nothing so I need something like this. LOL

[jwholden]

Most of the design imaging programs tout that if you get their program you will pay for it with the work you win. Most also boast a 30 day money back guarantee. If you can't justify buying the program after a thirty day trial I see two conclusions. Either you need to charge more for your work or you don't need the program. I know contractors who love computer imaged landscaping and others who despise it.

[leadarrows]

Originally posted by jwholden
Most of the design imaging programs tout that if you get their program you will pay for it with the work you win. Most also boast a 30 day money back guarantee. If you can't justify buying the program after a thirty day trial I see two conclusions. Either you need to charge more for your work or you don't need the program. I know contractors who love computer imaged landscaping and others who despise it.

This is true I'M sure but so far my company is mostly a construction clean-up service. I have a few customers that I mow for and I have done one small retaining wall project. So $1200.00 for software like Pro Landscape would be a little premature at this stage of the game for me.
My company has an extremely good reputation and I intend to keep it that way. I know I'M not ready for any large projects yet. But you have too start some were. I'M hoping this software might help me get that start. If I had any drawing talent at all I might feel different. As it is this will at least give me something to help show my ideas for a project. I can't escape what you said though. Especially about it paying for it self ....mabey I'M just chicken. $1200.00 dollars is a lot of money to me.

[Terry D]

Leadarrows;

A great way to get your feet really wet on elaborate landscapes is to work off of professionally designed drawings!

Get your name out there and people will approach you to bid their plans ... follow them to a "T" and you should be rocking and rollin' after just a couple of jobs.

P.S. Don't make too many alterations to the design of others even if you know you could do better ... many take offense to that and it leaves a bad impression.

On the other hand, following their work, and then cointacting them to show off how well you could follow the plans is a god way to win favor with the designers and this will lead to tons of more work!

[leadarrows]

Thanks Terry D sounds like great advise and that sure would take some of the pressure off of me. So how do I go about contacting designers? Start with the yellow pages.... or is there another organization they belong to that I could contact?

[Terry D]

There are many ways to find work.

New developements are a main source. At least out here in CA, new tracts requires board approved landscape plans! So you could target those areas with some door to door flyers.

Contacting designers / architects out of the phone book is another simply method. Tell them you'd be interested in getting on your bid list, suggest for starters you'd be interested in a few simple jobs (build a relationship) that they might have ... these guys ALWAYS have work!

Another place to find these type designers is by going to a high end retail nursery. They camp out at these places and usually work in conjunction with the store owners... "let me leave my cards here for leads, we'll use your store to buy the plants etc."

There are other ways, but let me know what your situation is, types of developements etc. and I'll give you other ideas to penetrating those designers.

[WELandscape]

Saw your info on the landscape program. We are in the same boat as you, where we need Pro Landscape, but cannot afford it as of yet. Since you have posted this message, how do you feel about the program now? Do you still use it, and how well has it worked for you? Tks,
Nate & Amber

[Bill Schwab]

Until software manufacturers can make the import plants more real looking, you really don't need the added agravation of making a drawing. The CLCA gave all members Designware simply for taking a training class showing us how to use it. I used it on 4 sales presentations earlier last year. Did not get one of those jobs, and two of them were installed by the homeowner using illegal alien labor he found on the corner by Smart and Final.

In the time those designs took, I could have had a set of blueprints drawn and 4 copies made for the HOA and field personel.

Then there are the legal issues. If you present a design on paper, it can easily be used as a point of reference for someone to say that what you installed, did not look like what you drew. So, you need to emphysize that what you present is a color rendering and not to be interpreted as what you will install.

I have said this over and over, so I'll say it again. Smaller companies can easily get by with little to no techological gagetry. You need a software that you can watch your money and do your banking, and you need something to review your records so you know how to bid for similar jobs. That's it. I read over and over how many smaller companies struggle with scheduling programs, design programs, they even have some program that tells you what is where in your company. There are companies with 2 employees I have seen with over $7,000.00 in technological junk used to run the show, when a $20.00 white board and some route cards in a 3 ring binder would do the job better with 90% less greif. The thing that really costs is the focus it takes off learning and grasping what you really have to do to make your business work.

Little by little we are adding pieces of technology that we feel will help the performance of our company. Whe some hot shot sales person is quick to tell me how much time or money I am going to save, I usually ask if he would care to demonstrate that...I'll use my paper, he can use his program. Unfortunately, I have not had any takers. As I compare back to paper and pencil, I'm just not seeing the advantage that alot of this stuff brings you. Then there are some things like the little PDA that I use alomost every day to do things that pen and paper took more time for.

So, before you enter into a world of high dollar goodies that do more to extend egos than they do to give you more time, make sure your focus is where it needs to be first, and that purchase is in the interest of saving time and money, and in this case gaining sales rather than some neat thing added to your desk top.

My three cents worth.

[kazland]

Hi. I want to add my 2 cents worth on this subject of computerized design. I've been using Visual Impact for about 6 years or so. Have to admit, the learning curve can be difficult. It was when I realized that all the bells and whistles that came w/ the program were just wasting my time and concentrated on just the graphics segment. I have found it is by far the best slaes tool ever. How many times have you set a blueprint in front of a customer and watched their eyes roll back into their head. They have no concept of what they are looking at, all the lines and circles mean virtually nothing to the normal homeowner. But when I can put a picture of their house in front of them with the new stone walls and walks, the Pagoda Dogwood and RiverBirch and the perennials you see their faces light up as they say Oh Yeah, that's what I was thinking about. And if it isn't, just boot up the laptop, open their file and edit away. Oh, you want a Redbud there instead of the Riverbirch? No problem. By the way, here's what it'll look like when newly installed, here's what it'll look like in five years. Make's my job of selling so much easier. In fact, as I'm tiring of running the crew, doing the designs, the sales, the books, etc. that all of us small businessmen have to do, I'm really seriously considering just hiring out to landscapers to do the graphics for them. So anyway, I believe that you all should begin setting back some cash for the programs and time to learn during the long boring winter. Forget about the cad design part of the programs and learn first how to shhot the pictures of the before. Keep the areas small, 10-20 foot wide at the max. Take your tallest step ladder to shoot from as you need depth to be able to show the layers from foreground to the backround.
Then take along your portfolio showing your work and close up details of the plants that you're proposing to install (the libraries are limited, have to fake it sometimes, substitute a Rhodo for an Oakleaf, etc). There are ways to instert your own plant photos into the library but I have mastered this yet. But I will...
Good luck! Have fun learning, and grow with the technologies, don't fight it!

[DynaSCAPEr]

WELandscape and others - when you do get to the point where you think you'd like to try professional grade software, check us out at www.gardengraphics.com. You've mentioned Pro Landscape, so I have an idea of what you're looking for. Our products compare very favorably with Pro Landscape and others. We offer several different versions of our software at varying price points, and we even have an AutoCAD based edition. We offer training and trial programs as well.

F.