Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in the ”Passport to Prizes” program at MAHTS. Various exhibitors have sponsored door prizes. This program gives you the chance to meet exhibitors and learn about their products.

Door Prizes as of January 30^th include:

• Alliance Gator Base 231.6 sponsored by Alliance Designer Products
• American Express Gift Card sponsored by Anchor Wall Systems
• Toba Tranquility Fountain sponsored by Aquarius Supply
• 12” Color Changing Color Falls sponsored by Atlantic Water Gardens
• 6 watt Color Changing Spotlight sponsored by Atlantic Water Gardens
• 6-Piece Screed Board Set (#24-125) sponsored by Bon Tool
• Paver & Brick Buster (11-590) sponsored by Bon Tool
• 300W Transformer sponsored by CAST Lighting
• Spa Finder Gift Cards sponsored by Comcast Spotlight
• Nike Gift Cards sponsored by Comcast Spotlight
• 1 pallet of Fusion Melt-Ice Melt sponsored by GoPro Distribution
• Husqvarna 125 BUX Handheld Blower w/Vac sponsored by Peach Country Tractor
• Tanaka Pro Handheld Blower sponsored by Peach Country Tractor
• Carton of Black Heavy Duty Trench Drain sponsored by Polylok
• Apple I-Pad Mini sponsored by Roman Outdoor Ovens
• Free Oil Changes sponsored by Route 1 Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram
• Deck Coating System sponsored by Scorpion Coatings
• Residential/Commercial Window Film Installation & Tool Kit sponsored by Scorpion Coatings
• Leather Messenger Bags sponsored by Signature Specialties
• One pallet Pavermate Polymeric Sand (tan or granite) sponsored by SRW Products
• Samsung Tablet sponsored by TES
• Asus Tablet sponsored by TES

Featuring 

• Dedicated face time with exhibitors
• Learn about new products
• Attend “how to” segments
• Q & A session with exhibitors

Short sessions will be offered in the exhibit hall between 11:15am – 1:00 pm and on Tuesday and Wednesday and 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.  on Tuesday.

Impactful and Effective Advertising Techniques

• Presented by Comcast Spotlight

Jules and Larry will answer questions on how advertising on cable networks like HGTV & DIY can help you reach potential home improvement customers!

How to Use Accu-Tamper

• Presented by W. W. Manufacturing Co. Inc.

Show use and advantages of Accu-Tamper with various parts and handle.

Paver Edging Spikes by EdgeTite™

• Presented by MCP Supply

I will describe the New 10” Paver Edging Spike and answer questions

Quick-E-Tools + Systems = Success

• Presented by Pave Tool Innovations

A live demo of how Quick-E0Tools can save you time, money and back labor. See how enforcing the right systems can increase profits. Learn from the inventor of these tools who has been hardscaping for over 30 years.

“No Geogrid” Build Walls 8 to 10 Feet Tall

• Presented by Stone Wall Retaining Walls

Block-bridge uses standard retaining wall block to bridge standard concrete block to build a crypt. This gravity wall system saves 55 to 33% on excavation and is hand stackable.

Gator Base – Evolution in base technology

• Presented by Alliance Designer Products
• Save Time, Save, labor, Save Money
  • For Pedestrian use only
  • Save 5 inches of needless excavation
  • Save 5 inches of crushed stone
  • Save cost of truck and driver on the road
  • Save on costly dumping fees
  • Save wear and tear on machinery
  • Save on labor costs
  • Save overall installation time
  • Increase profit

Outdoor Kitchens

• Presented by Aquarius Supply

How to design and build an outdoor kitchen using Bull products. We will discuss key points in providing options to customers for complete kitchens, including the individual components and their usage.

The course selection at MAHTS 2015® is tailored to the needs you have in your business, from Hardscape skill development to sales and marketing tools to hands-on training, it is our goal to strengthen our Hardscaping™ partner companies in all aspects of the business.

To that end, we will be sharing insights from our presenters into some of the courses that will be available as part of the education track this year.

In a recent interview, Tom Gardocki of Interstate Landscape Co., Inc. offers his expertise in the area of YouTube Marketing to MAHTS® attendees.

According to Gardocki, the course is intended to educate attendees about how using YouTube and videoing projects is a powerful selling tool.

Gardocki notes that his company has used the video platform for their marketing efforts for several years, enjoying “a lot of success”.

YouTube Marketing Benefits

YouTube video marketing offers a slew of benefits to their client channel owners, including incredible audience reach, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), affordability, easy analytics tracking and enhanced engagement with your target market by adding a human face to your marketing efforts.

• Based on the recent statistics, more than 1 billion users visit YouTube monthly. Combine that reach with the share button on your YouTube video, and you compound the potential for eyes on your videos exponentially.
• 70% of the top 100 search listings on Google are video results.
• Creating a YouTube Channel is free. You can promote your product with a high quality video via YouTube for virtually nothing. When compared to the costs of TV advertising, the opportunity for smaller companies with lower marketing budgets is incredible.
• YouTube’s analytics allow you to see, in real-time, the number of viewers, length of time each video was watched and any video sharing to gain awareness of the viability of your video content.
• Adding a human touch, a voiceover, video of your staff or yourself to a video lets the personality of your business come through and gives your viewers a chance to get comfortable with you and your work before they call for an estimate. This comfort level could easily be the difference between their calling your offices or that of your competition.

For his business, Gardocki notes that they employ a lot of “before, during and after” video’s on their YouTube channel. It is his philosophy – which seems to be confirmed by the traffic he receives - that ‘customers like to see the steps in a project, from start to finish.” The engagement that his viewers gain from watching the entire Hardscaping™ process educates prospective customers about what they can expect, and builds trust with the quality of the work they can expect at their site.

If you haven’t already implemented a successful YouTube Marketing campaign for your business, be sure to attend YouTube Your Next Hardscape Project and get the visual tools you need to increase your return of investment with your marketing, build trust with your potential customers and close more jobs.

No matter the size of your business, every company needs a website to educate and engage potential customers online these days. With more than 70 percent of U.S. households now use the Internet when shopping locally for products and services, 66% of small businesses are maintaining or increasing spend on digital marketing. That includes your competition.

The Social Media & Internet Marketing track at MAHTS 2015 offers five classes that speak to internet marketing for small to mid-sized businesses and how they can implement SEO and Social Media strategies to get their website ranked ahead of their competitors on Google and convert more site visitors to sales.

We spoke with Bill Cormier of Track your Advertising who will be presenting all four courses in this education track at the show including:

• Internet Marketing - Getting New Clients for Your Business
• Simplifying SEO - What You Can Do To Improve Your Position Online
• Advanced Search Engine Marketing
• Social Media - How to Build Business Socially

Four Courses to Cover All Levels of Internet Marketing Experience

• Internet Marketing - Getting New Clients for Your Business
  • According to Cormier, “If your website is not coded properly, it’s not gonna rank.” This course covers the details of developing a stable, marketable website and the tricks you can use to save money in the process. How the keys to conversions are the website’s home and about us pages and what kind of content will help turn site visitors into prospective customers.
• Simplifying SEO - What You Can Do To Improve Your Position Online
  • The key to this course is that SEO is an ongoing process. Company’s need to be able to invest time and money to gain the results they desire. ”If you want to hire somebody for SEO”, says Cormier, “I want to give you the information you need to protect yourselves so you don’t waste your money.”
• Advanced Search Engine Marketing
  • Link building, article writing and online PR are all subjects of this course. It also covers search algorithms and how they affect your website’s rank and using Google Analytics to track your website’s performance.
• Social Media - How to Build Business Socially
  • Did you know that seven out of ten consumers are more likely to use a local business if it has information available on a social media site*? This course covers how to set up your social media network effectively, which ones will work best for your business and how to use each site for marketing.

Internet marketing is not an option; it’s a necessary investment for every business. Take control of your company’s web presence and online lead potential with the Internet Marketing and SEO track at MAHTS®.

The Business Owners Roundtable Series is a new feature at MAHTS. We developed the Roundtables in response to the feedback we get from business owners. Many owners of Hardscaping and landscaping businesses face common challenges and have the same questions relating to those challenges. They’ve expressed to us interest in being able to meet and have a frank and honest discussion with their peers, airing their concerns and getting input from others.

The rollout for the Roundtable Series will be located on the show floor in a private setting that accommodates up to eighteen people. They are intended for business owners only and the topics that have been chosen are themes common to most contractors. Each two hour round table will be facilitated by a moderator with experience in the chosen topic.

This year’s Series of topics are:

• Employee Compensation and How do you add Employees Profitably?
  • Jarod Hynson, Earth, Turf and Wood, Inc.
• Can You Charge for Your Designs in a Competitive Market?
  • Joe Palimeno, Ledden-Palimeno
• Is the Low-Ball Bid Here to Stay?
  • Bill Gardocki, Interstate Hardscaping
• Social Media – Does it Promote Business and Generate Profits?
  • Jody Shilan, FromDesign2Build

This Series has limited seating and will sell out early. Register for MAHTS today and insure yourself a seat at the table…

Some hardscape manufacturers try giving you their version of the future with a traveling roadshow. Others feel a couple of hours at your local dealer is sufficient. Some make the effort to put together a vaguely defined meeting at a rented reception hall. In reality they are all just warmed-over marketing messages intended to help the manufacturer and leave the contractor at best with a new piece of attire and a catalog.

EP Henry does things differently, a lot differently.

Our version of the Future involves engaging over twenty people, including some of the industry’s most talented installers, and building the future over the course of two days in a specially designed theatrical arena. The Future of Hardscaping Arena will combine all the elements of design – lighting, fire, water, sound and visual – as part of the build of an outdoor oasis that is both visually stimulating and instructive. Our expert presenters will give you their insight into not just how you manage each aspect of the build, but why you should do it that way (hint: think profit).

At this point we’ve been working on the design and new products for the Future of Hardscaping Arena for months and it all comes together over two days at MAHTS™. We could take the easy way out like our competitors, but that provides little for our contractors. EP Henry knows that The Future of Hardscaping lies with our contractors, so we’ll spend the time and put in the effort for your benefit. Our goal in the Arena is to be judged by the value we provide and the relationships we build.

Get a taste of the future. Sign up for MAHTS and The Future of Hardscaping Arena 2.0 now. Help us help you turn cool ideas and cutting edge products into future profits.

Every company’s biggest asset or potentially their biggest liability is their employees. The old saying “You’re only as good as your people” is certainly as true today as it has always been. In a seasonal business that requires you to compress twelve months of overhead into a nine month work year, employee development and training is difficult to achieve in a hectic business environment.

EP Henry is pleased to partner this year at MAHTS with the renowned industry consultant, Marcus vandeVliet, by offering a four-track course targeted toward developing your key personnel turning them into valuable, productive employees. Each two hour course will provide information and define key performance indicators that will help your employees better lay out and manage jobs, understand field production and its relation to profits and make them better communicators with your crews and customers. The course list is as follows:

• Leadership & Management
• Communicating & Training Effectively
• Project Management and Logistics
• Developing Project Plans

Building a future in Hardscaping™ for your company isn’t possible without good employees. Make a smart investment and sign up your employees for two days with Marcus.

As a landscape contractor, your schedule is hectic through most of the spring and summer, and if the weather cooperates, into the fall months. We understand how hard it is to run a business while also working to drum up leads, and we know it’s a burden that many of our landscape contractor partners have to bear.

For MAHTS® 2015, it is one of our main goals to focus on getting you more business and improve your overall profitability. To that end, we interviewed Alison Blobner, License Sales Manager of LandOpt, LLC. LandOpt is a sponsor of the show and Alison will be presenting two courses as part of the education series.

Take Action to Build Your Business

In the course, “Proactive Sales:  You Can’t Wait for the Phone to Ring”, Blobner addresses the standard and industry-wide practice of client acquisition.

“If you look at traditional paths through which contractors find clients, it’s primarily reactive – they are waiting for the phone to ring or a bid request to come through their web site.  This course will explain how a proactive approach to sales that focuses on value and not price can help to ‘increases sales margins’.  Moreover, an emphasis on securing long-term, recurring service contracts will lead to consistent cash flow and more predictability within a contractor’s business on a month-to-month basis.”

As any business owner knows, a stable company is supported by repeat business. In her second course “Attracting and Retaining Profitable Customers:  The Key to Success!” Blobner looks beyond the proactive side of landscape sales and shares how effective account management can lead to long-term client retention.

“Retaining customers – and being able to grow those accounts – is vital to the success of an organization”, says Blobner. “This course discusses the critical role an account manager plays in building, developing and maintaining customer relationships. “

LandOpt’s goal is to raise business performance. Said Blobner, “The green industry is maturing and just beginning to hit its stride.  We approach change from a high level, business perspective with the goal of increasing profitability, professionalism and performance of the organizations within our Network.  In doing so, our hope is that we can raise the bar industry-wide and ultimately improve how landscape contractors do business. “

Join them for their 4 classes as part of the Business Management Operations and Technology Track at MAHTS® 2015 and raise the bar on your business’ potential for the coming year.

There will be over 4,800 square feet of new product exhibited in this year's Future of Hardscaping Product Showcasee located in the center of the Exhibit Hall. We'll be featuring our next generation of pavers with new dimensions, color blends and profiles. We'll also be showcasing our revolutionary new Cast Stone Wall System (patent pending) that combines the look of natural stone with the ease of retaining wall installation. 

There will be new wall and column caps and additional architectural details on display that will give you the ability to put a new finishing touch on your next project.

The Product Showcase will whet your appetite further by incorporating the elements of fire and water and the mediums of sound and theatre in design studios that not only show off our products but create outdoor areas that can stand-alone or be merged together to sell jobs and build profits.

We will also be displaying potential products of the future. Our contractors are our most valuable resource in helping to determine EP Henry’s products of the future and it’s important we get your input and feedback to ensure we are headed in the right direction.

Register now for MAHTS and enjoy some great food and drink while you “talk shop” with the EP Henry Team at the Product Showcase.

CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS:                             

There’s a great line I heard years ago that succinctly sums up business – “Business is like a shark. It has to keep moving forward or die.” Unless you consider dying an option, the only logical path is to Keep Moving Forward.

But what’s on the path forward?

Moving Forward entails becoming better business people and understanding not just what it is you do but how you can do it better. Moving Forward means taking the products you handle daily - and probably take for granted - and applying them to profitable new concepts and designs.

Moving Forward also demands new sales and marketing strategies to compete in a rapidly changing market. Most importantly, Moving Forward requires vision and commitment – the vision to see the Future of Hardscaping and the commitment to complete the hard work it will take to get there.

MAHTS provides all the tools and resources you need to Keep Moving Forward. EP Henry will build and exhibit our vision of the Future of Hardscaping. The only thing missing is your commitment. We’re committed. Are you?

Make the commitment and sign up now for MAHTS. Your future is in your hands.

MAHTS® is the original and largest educational forum + trade show dedicated to the Hardscaping™ industry. With course offerings aimed at strengthening every aspect of your business, from installation to business skills, and everything in between, we at EP Henry go to the greatest lengths to ensure we serve up the highest quality courses and subject matter for our attendees, presented by experts in their fields.

With the rise of stormwater management legislation and impervious surface restrictions in municipalities around the region, the use of permeable pavers has become more prevalent in both residential and commercial settings. This increase in PICP work requires Hardscaping™ contractors to not only understand the ins and outs of the installation methodology itself, but also to be able to speak in an informed manner to homeowners who are looking to have a project completed and who may need – or wish – to incorporate PICP into their plans.

In a recent interview with Ross Causey of Garden Square Landscaping Design, we discussed the courses he will be presenting at MAHTS® 2015, Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavements (PICP) - EP Henry’s ECO™ Line and Hands-On Training Zone: Permeable Paver.  

In his Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavements (PICP) - EP Henry ECO™ Line course, the goal is to teach contractors the A-Z of the PICP process. From theory to installation, in one day, they will understand the 3 steps of the PICP process and the importance of each. “The fact is”, says Causey, “PICP regulations differ from municipality to municipality so contractors need to learn how to stay on top of current legislation to know where job opportunities exist.” To be sure that their company is getting the benefit of this work, it’s crucial that contractors be able to educate the consumer and be aware of the current stormwater regulations and legislation in their area.

An EP Henry-specific test for permeable pavement installation is available the end of the course, which leads to EP Henry Authorized Hardscaping Contractor® approval for PICP installation.

For the “Hands-On Training Zone: Permeable Paver” course, which Causey describes as “a natural extension of the classroom presentation”, attendees will experience a real-time hands-on PICP project build in an arena setting. This interactive experience will help guide contractors through the differences and potential pitfalls of permeable paver vs. typical paver installation.

Ross Causey has served as an ICPI committee chairman and has found, through his cross- country education efforts, that Hardscaping™ contractors are hungry for information on PICP installation and relative legislation.  Be sure your company is prepared to answer the needs of stormwater management and impervious coverage legislation in your region, and capitalize on this growing market segment.   

Even though many of you are just getting into fall projects, MAHTS® 2015 is fast approaching and plans are underway to bring more education, training and exposure to the resources your company needs to succeed going forward than ever before.

We’re excited to offer an ongoing blog series meant to introduce you to our MAHTS® sponsors, exhibitors and presenters which will give you some insight as to what you can expect to see at the show and experience in the presentations and classrooms.

Presenting two courses at MAHTS, “I Know What Must Be Done, But How Do I Make It Happen” and “Remove the Emotion! Using Data to Drive Decision Making and Growth”, David Gallagher, Director of Success at LandOpt, LLC is excited to share proven tools and services with landscape professionals who are looking to take their businesses to the next level.

A Little Background on LandOpt

According to Gallagher, LandOpt is a licensor that focuses on whole-business improvement for contractors in the Green Industry. “We work with existing businesses that have achieved a certain level of success and offer solutions to take them to the next level of professionalism, and overall business success”, he says. “The focus of our tools is on how the business works with customers, with a specific emphasis on profitability by streamlining sales and business processes.”

Advice to Landscape Professionals

“The sales approach of our industry at-large is reactive. It’s based on the customer coming to you as a contractor with a specific request. Instead of a conversation between the customer and the contractor where the contractor can position himself as the industry expert and guide the homeowner to the best solution, he’s merely taking orders and filling requests,” says Gallagher.

How the LandOpt System Works

The two courses Gallagher will be presenting at MAHTS discuss a lot about the LandOpt approach:

“I Know What Must Be Done, But How Do I Make It Happen” speaks to the coaching that LandOpt offers its client contractors via their Success Coach and how the tools we offer allow you to make improvements in your business.

“Remove the Emotion!  Using Data to Drive Decision Making and Growth” is based on the pressures that small business owners feel during their day to day work schedules. The course focuses on how to take the emotion out of business decisions in order to leverage the power of data to develop business strategy and focused goals.

Your business is your livelihood. If there’s any investment you make for 2015, it needs to be focused on increasing profitability. Join David Gallagher and LandOpt to drive your business forward in 2015.