People often ask me; “Mike, how can you sell plants that don’t even have leaves on them? They look dead.” And the answer is, we use point of sale signs, often called bench cards.
Point of sale plant sign advertising the virtues of Gold Flame Spirea.
These point of sale signs really help the customer make buying decisions. They want to know what the plant looks like when it’s in bloom, what it looks like in the fall if it has an interesting fall color and how to care for the plants, where and how to plant them and how to use them in their landscape.
Point of sale signs allow the customers to shop for plants on their own. The signs keep them shopping longer and pique their interest in plants that normally would not catch their attention.
Point of sale plant signs really help the customers.
Growers always ask me; “How do I make the signs? Do you have a template I can use?”
Making the signs is super easy to do and you do not need, nor do you want a template. Computer software is to finicky. My template probably won’t work for you. So the best thing is to just make the signs on your own computer in the word processing program that you are most familiar with.
Four different daylily varieties on one sign.
Here’s a video we did showing off our point of sale signs along with some tips for making them and how we display them with our plants.
This is important. Don’t copy plant descriptions word for word from the Internet. Those descriptions are dry, boring and often suggest only the largest mature size of the plant. In other words, they make the plant sound terrible. Plants can be, need to be, and should be pruned once or twice a year. So with regular pruning the plant that you are selling will work perfectly where your customer wants to use it.
Make your plant descriptions sexy!
I’ve got one more, really important plant sign to show you, but first, I have to deal with a bit of a “Mike’s Plant Farm” issue. Finnegan insisted that I take his picture and put it online. He’s such a ham! So Finnegan buddy, this is for you!
Finnegan sticking his schnaz through the fence.
That’s it buddy, smile for the camera!
Thank you for indulging us both. He gets his way far too often! (He thinks he’s going to be famous. More pics here.)
Point of sale sign for the Lavender Twist Redbud Tree.
This particular sign sold dozens and dozens of Lavender Twist Redbud trees for us last spring. It really takes a big imagination to really be able to see what a small Lavender Twist can look like. This sign with both a spring and summer photo of the Lavender Twist in my front yard really makes people fall in love with this photo.
We print up extra copies, about half this size and let people take them with them so they can see how to prune the tree. Others take the small cards home to show a family member, then come back and buy a tree.
How to Make $93.60 in One Square Foot in Your Backyard.
Questions or comments? Post them below.
How do I get images for bench cards that are not copyrighted? I don’t have mature plants of my own to photograph.
Suzanne,
This comes up in the members area all the time. There are a few places online that offer public domain photos, our members often share photos with others, photos that they themselves have taken, and most take photos constantly when out and about. I’ve knocked on doors and asked permission to snap a photo or two of something in bloom. The members area is open to new members for a few more days. http://backyardgrowers.com/join
Ref.air lay using the splite ball sys. and discs.
Can U propagate Various Japnese Maples in legths not exceedng 2fts with the balls for persunally collectoin,paying in avance whit my Master C/C.Reason is I am living At Makka,Saudi Arabia with Harsh Aride weather & we are only allowed to import Pllants in arficial sols as compopost,coco &alik
which is components of the Sys.discs.The address i have at USA is the address of the agent of Saudi Post(i-Parcel) who is allawed to ship to door my parcels,but unfortubaly they a,nt allawed to ship plants & liquids.Kinly recommend a hotel ner the UR farm & date to be the commitee date so that I can plan it IN my next visit to USA & prepre questions for U & the committee.I shall be waiting UR Confirmation.
Mike, Have a question.I bought quite a few packets of perennial flower seeds. Have gotten small pots for them to start out. My problem is when I transplant them to pots that they will winter in, I need a video showing how you protect them. I live in zone 4 so have lots of cold winter and snow.
I haven’t found a video from you showing how you protect your potted plants. Plan on selling them in 2015
Hey Mike! You really helped me with this video. Once again, being part of the Backyard Growers Community has been worth every penny!
Just a little question. I’m having trouble with the photo issue. Most are copywrited. I do not have my own pics, and I want to have a sale this spring. What to do??
I used to enjoy your newsletters until I changed internet carriers after that I’ve only gotten a few can I get this corrected? thanks Gary
Gary,
Make sure you are subscribed under the correct Email address then make sure you white list [email protected] in your Email program so they don’t get filtered out as spam.
Great on the bench cards Mike, but where do you get the pictures? Thanks.
Duane, It looks like he took the photos he used on his bench cards. Or someone else there. It isn’t hard to do – though getting good photos may take a few tries. Good luck with your photos and your plant sales!
Hi Mike, I have a post card program and can make smaller bench cards on it.
Do you think they might be too small?
The card blanks are from Avery number 3381 and would be easy to make if they are not to small if anyone might like to try them.
Happy Springtime!
Gary,
Postcard size is okay, but 5.5″ by 8.5″ gives you more room for a photo and a description.