Announcing OPE+
The outdoor power equipment industry is evolving; so are we. Announcing OPE+, the information source for outdoor power equipment and landscape professionals. OPE+ mixes education, data analysis, journalism and marketing to serve changing industries and help businesses grow. This updated business-info source is brought to you by the pros behind OPEBusiness.com and LandscapeBusiness.com – now merged into OPE+.
What? So what? Now what?
I use this three-question exercise to work through the planning of ideas, and I employed it here to think about the evolution of our business and yours. Try it next time you start something.
- What is the problem, issue or opportunity?
- So what? Why does that matter?
- Now what? What am I going to do about it?
What?
While the outdoor power equipment and landscape industries have solid historical foundations, they are changing drastically as products evolve, service needs grow and user habits shift. New retailing methods, automation and robotics, electrification; shifts in sales, marketing and distribution channels; property owner desires; regulatory changes and more – as both industries face these shifts, they come together in interesting ways. We see ever-closer associations between outdoor power equipment and landscape professionals when it comes to sales, marketing and product use.
So what?
If the business of power equipment and landscape contracting is closer than ever, shouldn’t a single and focused communication identity serve that? OPE+ is a merger of the editorial and marketing teams of OPE Business and Landscape Business. These two brands have served their respective industries for decades, and will now report on the even stronger alliance between these two industries.
Now what?
Starting now, OPE Business and Landscape Business together equal OPE+. In print, online, in podcasts and beyond. As we plan and create stories, we’ll consider the larger green industry – encompassing outdoor power equipment and the pros who use it. Yes, there will still be focused reporting on individuals and specific markets, but it will happen from a broader viewpoint.
OPE+ helps answer one more question I’ve been asking: What is an OPE dealer? The answer? An OPE dealer is an independent retailer of power equipment, and also a hardware store, and an ag dealer, and a rental operation, and a powersports shop, and a big box store, and a small-engine repair shop and an online retailer. I understand that some people don’t like all the options in that answer, but the reality is there. Landscape professionals – also a highly diverse group of businesses and service offerings – interact with all those OPE dealers, as do the equipment manufacturers and distributors and other service providers.
Our job in all this is to be respected journalists, creative storytellers, business stewards and connected marketers for these evolving industries. We know we need to “create content” that helps green industry businesses do better. We are here to deliver words, audio and video that expand opportunities and add up to business success.
This is OPE+.
I would like to hear your thoughts and ideas. Contact me anytime.
Glenn Hansen, Editor – ghansen@epgacceleration.com
