By Susan Harris|2021-01-27T17:36:17-05:00May 5, 2017|3 Comments
Laura LeBoutillier was working at her parents’ garden center in Eastern Oregon, and husband Aaron was working at the local cable company. Their lives changed when Aaron bought a new camera that happened to also take video and a relative suggested he use it to make instructional ones with Laura as the on-camera expert.
So in June of 2014 the couple launched a YouTube channel called Garden Answerand decided to give it a while to succeed. Then just before their trial period was over someone recommended the videos to the folks at Proven Winners, who liked what they saw and decided to hire Laura and Aaron to do videos for them.
As PW’s Director of Marketing Marshall Dirks told Greenhouse Grower, the couple “had a half million followers on their Garden Answer Facebook page and more than 32 million views on their videosin the two years they had been making these videos.” So he traveled to meet them and “made them an offer they couldn’t refuse: being paid to make these same videos, full time.”
And you’ll be happy to learn that they’re not commercials, or even infomercials. Many don’t mention PW plants at all. The couple controls the content of the videos and their focus seems to be simply promoting and teaching gardening, based on Laura’s knowledge and experience.
So welcome to video marketing! The strategy of creating valuable content that people will share through social media is red-hot. With garden shows on television either cancelled or converted to outdoor decorating, instructional videos by gardening companies could go a long way toward filling the void.
Laura with a border make-over in her own garden.
With the success of Garden Answer, Aaron was able to quit his job with the cable company and focus exclusively on making videos. Laura continues to write and perform in the videos, but keeps her hand in the gardening biz through her work at the family garden center. They make two or three videos a week for PW and their other clients,a growing roster that now includesEspoma, Gardener’s Supply, My Fairy GardensandThe Succulent Source.
Laura planting a hydrangea in a difficult location in her parents’ garden.
Favorites
Traffic stats don’t lie, and viewers LOVE Laura’s video about identifying hydrangeas – actually, any video about hydrangeas – and “DIY Bird Seed Wreath.”And her new “5 Best” series on various topics, like this one about tools,has been an instant hit.
As a curator of videos I’ve watched a bunch of Laura’s and selected16 of themto include in the Good Gardening collection – the most of any source. That’s because she really knows gardening,and as an on-camera teacher, the girl’s got talent!
What it Takes
So what does it take to earn a living today making instructional gardening videos, besides knowing our stuff and being great on camera? Apparently, some serious gear – check out Aaron’s. He’s come a long way since that first point-and-shoot experiment.
By Susan Harris|2021-01-27T17:36:17-05:00May 5, 2017|3 Comments
About the Author: Susan Harris
Susan co-founded GardenRant and also wrote for national gardening magazines and independent garden centers before retiring in 2014. Now she has time for these projects:
– Creating and editing the nonprofit website Greenbelt Online to serve her adopted town of Greenbelt, Maryland (a “New Deal Utopia” founded in 1937); and managing the Greenbelt, Maryland YouTube Channel. She’s also on the Board of Greenbelt Access TV.
– Founding two resource websites: Good Gardening Videos that recommends science-based gardening videos on YouTube; and DC Gardens, the nonprofit campaign to promote thepublic gardens of the Washington, D.C. area, and gardening by locals.
Here Susan rants about anything that misinforms or discourages gardeners – from old-school quacks to mistaken do-gooders to local laws that mandate conformity – and reports on news from the world of gardening.
Contact Susanvia email or by leaving a comment on one of her articles.
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3 Comments
Pam/DiggingMay 5, 2017 at 8:40 am
Interesting to learn about Laura and Aaron, Susan. Thanks for sharing this. Now to go watch a couple of their videos.
LeeMay 5, 2017 at 2:54 pm
I’ll check them out, but can we please retire the “garden guru” references? It’s so overused and meaningless, and actually triggers the exact opposite belief: anyone who calls themselves one, or is called one by someone else, most definitely is not. Rant over.
AlitaMay 18, 2017 at 3:21 am
Good work
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