Of all the things Pat and I have had to do in our landscape lighting business, one of the hardest has been to let people go. I can’t think of a more uncomfortable responsibility we have as leaders, and I think it’s one of the biggest issues that business owners struggle with. Since 2014, our thoughts on firing have been shaped by the training we’ve received through Infusionsoft’s Elite Forum. If you’ve spent any time around me, you know I talk about them a lot.  They’ve helped us learn how to integrate our purpose and core values into every aspect of how we run our landscape lighting busi ..read more

Marketing is a tough game. In my own outdoor lighting design and installation company, Enlightened Lighting, I’ve tried everything from ValPak to Home Mag to radio ads. I’ve tried Google Adwords, targeted remarketing, Facebook Ads, Houzz, Home Advisor, and other online marketing campaigns. I’ve tried selling lighting bundles and good/better/best packages. But after 18 years of trial and error—with a heavy emphasis on error—I finally learned the “secret” to marketing. It’s simple, but it transformed my marketing: I needed to learn who my real customers are. As you surely know, there are a lot o ..read more

As a business owner, you’ve probably been told that you “wear a lot of hats.” As the owner of an outdoor lighting company, I never really thought about what it meant until the other day when I was heading from a design consultation to a job site. Once I arrived on site, I wanted to change out of my nice dress shoes so they wouldn’t get ruined by the mud. As I reached into the backseat to grab a pair of work boots, I realized they weren’t the only pair of shoes I had on hand. All in all, I had five pairs of shoes in my truck: a pair of dirty New Balance shoes, a pair of nice running shoes, two ..read more

Of all the lessons I’ve learned from running a lighting installation company, one of the most useful has been to keep things simple. From selection to landscape lighting design, I’ve found that the more choices you offer, the more complicated a project can get. By simplifying what my company offers, I’ve made things exponentially easier for myself—and for my customers. Keep Your Selections Simple Everyone loves having choices. Walk into any department store and you’ll be met with a couple dozen different options for anything from toothpaste to pillowcases. And with the internet, your options a ..read more