July / August 2017

Marketing and Business Converge at the Contractor’s Sales Academy

POND Trade was invited to the Mountain Top Marketing Mastermind seminar, and I took them up on it. After all, a trip to Colorado in April? Sure, I can do that. The seminar was run by the nice folks at the Contractor’s Sales Academy (CSA). The day was loaded with useful information about how to …

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Pond Construction | The Do-It-Yourself, Desert Trout Pond

Two years ago, I was contacted by a retired couple about helping them design a pond at their home. Having never built a pond before, Bruce wanted to build it himself. He had grand ideas but said he needed advice, equipment and a lot of guidance. The home was in Mountain Springs, a summit area …

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Language of Koi | Optimizing Water Quality for Your Koi

One of the most important yet overlooked aspects to maintaining healthy koi is optimizing water quality. Although testing the water may be viewed as too expensive or time-consuming, it is still a necessary task to ensure healthy koi. Could you imagine living in a place where the air you breathe is so contaminated to the …

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Hand grabbing money bag

Small-Business Tax Tips: Reasonable Compensation

Since 2010, small-business owners have seen a significant uptick in reasonable compensation challenges, as the IRS has increasingly trained its tax examiners to examine payroll tax issues — among them, reasonable compensation. After all, the payment of a salary in excess of what the IRS considers “reasonable,” the payment of personal expenses by the business, …

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Fountain Maintenance: Tools and Techniques from the City of Fountains

Kansas City is known as the City of Fountains. With 200 registered city fountains and many more residential and commercial features in a centralized location, our customers’ expectations are elevated. The techniques, tools and tricks in fountain maintenance used here can be adapted to most regions and can provide a steady stream of income for …

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Spillways and Patio Ponds Make a Splash in the Garden

In 1997, I talked my mom into letting me build a pond for her. I didn’t know anything about what I was doing at the time. We bought a pre-formed plastic tub, pumps and even a plastic waterfall and integrated them all into my first “pond.” It was a fun experience, but needless to say, …

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Pond Showcase Model Connects with Customers

Being in the business of installing ponds, we’ve done all types, shapes and sizes over the years. It has been a thriving part of the business for us for a long time. But with more and more landscape contractors installing “ponds,” we’ve got to continue to set ourselves apart from the rest. Thinking outside the …

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pond lighting gazebo

Waterscape Designing to the Next Level

I love small water features! The simplicity of a patio pond or disappearing waterfall makes it easy for a crew to replicate a systematic process day after day, keeping your operation profitable while still delivering a custom product to your happy customer. Managing your all-important profit margin with a small water feature installation is a …

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