Free Webinar:
Elements of A Successful Arboricultural Consulting Practice

Presenters:

Jim Clark, Ph.D., RCA #357
Barb Neal, RCA #428
Cabot Cameron, Druid Tree Service, Inc.

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This free pre-recorded webinar explores some of the major issues you need to address as you build a successful consulting practice. During the session, our presenters share their experiences and advice in starting up an arboricultural consulting practice, whether it be part-time or full-time. Elements of A Successful Arboricultural Consulting Practice will examine some of the major issues you need to think about.

You'll learn:

• what insurance you need
• how to determine your fees
• what you need to know about contracts
• how to determine what services to offer
• what types of clients to work with
• how to get clients
• what role business development skills and marketing play in achieving success

A Tour of 10 Invasive Species Around the Nation: EAB, ALB, GAB, HWA, TCD, JCLB, LW, GSOB, JCLB, JMS

Presenter: Michael Raupp

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During this pre-recorded webinar, you will learn about such invasive species as:

• Emerald Ash Borer
• Asian Longhorned Beetle
• Granulate Ambrosia Beetle
• Hemlock Woody Adelgid
• Thousand Canker Disease
• Japanese Cedar Longhorned Beetle
• Laurel Wilt
• Golden Spotted Oak Borer
• Japanese Maple Scale

Price: $70

CEUs
ASCA has approved this webinar for 1 CEU towards fulfilling ASCA's Continuing Education Program. ISA has approved this webinar for CEUs. Please contact ASCA about CEU credits.

Business Development 201: Turning Contacts Into Clients and Clients Into Raving Fans

Presenter: Michael T. Buell, FSMPS, CPSM

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Developing a thriving consulting practice takes time and dedication. Even the most highly qualified Consulting Arborists can have difficulty staying afloat if they don't develop strong business development skills. Most small business owners have the basics down, but they're unsure how to take it to the next level.

Learning Objectives:

• Marketing vs. Business Development—Define, compare and contrast; Evaluating your current efforts—because if you're not being honest with yourself about your efforts success, you're not doing yourself any favors; Questions to ask yourself Benchmarks to measure your success
• Connecting with your clients:
  • Knowing what clients what/need
  • Defining your unique value proposition (UVP)
  • Feature vs. benefit marketing
  • How to start a relationship
  • How to build a relationship
• How to stay connected with your clients:
  • Developing trust with clients
  • What three things must resonate
  • Client management rules to live by
  • Utilizing a client loyalty process
• Benefits of being “well connected":
  • Positive impacts of networking
  • Being a connector
  • Donating your time and experience
  • Positive information flow

CEUs
ASCA has approved this webinar for 1 CEU towards fulfilling ASCA's Continuing Education Program. ISA has approved this webinar for CEUs. Please contact ASCA about CEU credits.

Business Insurance: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You!

Presenter: Mike McCartin, Joseph W. McCartin Insurance, Inc.

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Today, it's more difficult than ever to properly ensure that you are protected from a lawsuit. Laws and regulation are constantly changing and some clients can be quick to sue. And, as a consultant, there are additional insurance coverages that you need to have. But, the question becomes - which types of insurance and how much do you need?

Join Mike McCartin, from Joseph W. McCartin Insurance, Inc., as he helps you begin to make sense of the complicating world of business insurance and dispel some urban legends along the way.

Who Should Attend
Anyone considering starting a consulting arborist practice. Those who currently have their own consulting practice and want a refresher on liability insurance. Companies that have separate consulting divisions but are not certain they are fully covered

Learning Objectives
At the end of this webinar, attendees should be better equipped to assess their professional insurance needs and liability exposure. Our expert presenter will:

• Illustrate the need for insuring your consulting practice
• Debunk some common misconceptions regarding insurance
• Explore the differences between general liability and professional liability insurance
• Outline how to determine the correct types and amounts of insurance to purchase

CEUs
ASCA has approved this webinar for 1 CEU towards fulfilling ASCA's Continuing Education Program. ISA has approved this webinar for CEUs. Please contact ASCA about CEU credits.

Calculating Your Expenses to Manage Budgets and Determine Customer Fee Structures

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The most successful consultants understand and measure their true costs. Understanding how all of your costs – fixed, variable, and overhead – affect your profitability will allow you to predict profitability, identify waste, react to problems, and produce the information needed to run your business.

It's only when you truly understand all your costs that you'll be able to successfully set your fees and manage your consulting practice.

Learning Objectives

1. Learn how to accurately measure how your company resources are being utilized
2. Improve your ability to track trends and pinpoint waste that may adversely affect the cost of your services
3. Understand how to create a budget based on relevant financial data
4. Learn how to develop a fee structure and confidently submit proposals based on a more accurate account of your costs.

CEUs
ASCA has approved this webinar for 1 CEU towards fulfilling ASCA's Continuing Education Program. ISA has approved this webinar for CEUs. Please contact ASCA about CEU credits.

Consulting Arborist Insurance Needs

Presenter: Chris Van Dusen, IOA Insurance Services Insurance Office of America

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This webinar will enlighten participants on the insurance needs of a consulting arborist, explain possible claims scenarios and highlight terminology and concepts all consulting arborist should know and understanding when selecting their insurance.

Learning Objectives

• Learn the difference between general liability and professional liability
• Understand different claims scenarios
• Develop an understanding of the difference between groups of coverage
• Increase understanding of insurance terminology

CEUs
ASCA has approved this webinar for 1 CEU towards fulfilling ASCA's Continuing Education Program. ISA has approved this webinar for CEUs. Please contact ASCA about CEU credits.

Differentiating Yourself In The Market

Presenter: Michael Wollner, WollnerStudios, Inc.

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There's a nugget that exists in every company, the thing that truly makes it different. This session discusses how you can use this nugget to create an identity and message designed to standout, and choose communication channels that are based on any budget.

Learning Objectives


• Understand what a brand is, and why it is important
  
• How to be more efficient in marketing your brand
  
• Brand building on the internet, inc. social media tips
  
• How to start the branding process on your own

CEUs
ASCA has approved this webinar for 1 CEU towards fulfilling ASCA's Continuing Education Program. ISA has approved this webinar for CEUs. Please contact ASCA about CEU credits.

Introduction to Engineering and Architectural Plans (A Two-Part Series)

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As a Consulting Arborist, do you know what pertinent information you need from your clients—and what questions to ask—in order to accurately and authoritatively analyze the impact of your projects? Do you know which plans are critical to your understanding of a development project and its impact on trees? Do you understand the difference among the plans and know which ones you need to review to assess all the potential impacts to trees?

This two-part webinar is designed to be your primer on the plans typically used by engineers, land planners, developers, builders, and architects for development projects—large and small.

Objectives

• Learn about the various types of plans.
• Know which plans you need to request.
• Understand who prepares those plans.

Additionally, you will understand

• What the plans are used for in the planning/development process.
• The stages of development, so you don't ask for something that has yet to be prepared in the usual progression of planning and development.
• How to read the plans!
• What to look for.
• Basic engineering and planning language.

CEUs
ASCA has approved this two-part webinar for CEU towards fulfilling ASCA's Continuing Education Program. ISA has approved this webinar for CEUs. Please contact ASCA about CEU credits.

Soil Rehab and Protection: What's the Payback?

Presenter: Dr. Susan Downing Day, Virginia Tech Urban Forestry Program

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During this pre-recorded webinar, you'll learn:

• What are the issues for trees and people?
  
• What do we lose when soil is degraded?
  
• Protection is ideal, but what are our other options?
  
• Soil replacement (just a brief note!)
  
• Deep soil rehabilitation (the focus of this webinar)
  
• What is the payback in terms of soil function and quality?
  
• What is the payback in tree growth?
  
• Soil Profile Rebuilding (a Spec you can use—it goes deep!)

CEUs
ASCA has approved this webinar for 1 CEU towards fulfilling ASCA's Continuing Education Program. ISA has approved this webinar for CEUs. Please contact ASCA about CEU credits.

Soils and Management During Tree-Related Activity

Presenter: Dr. Jason Grabosky, Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources

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This pre-recorded webinar will help you move beyond basic soil science by focusing on:


• Biotic capacity
  
• Viable soil volumes
  
• Soil density
  
• Soil compaction and mediation
  
• The impact of construction on soils and trees
  
• Soil preservation techniques
  

CEUs
ASCA has approved this webinar for 1 CEU towards fulfilling ASCA's Continuing Education Program. ISA has approved this webinar for CEUs. Please contact ASCA about CEU credits.

Technical Aspects of Tree Appraisal (A Four-Part Series)

Presenters:
Dr. James Clark, RCA #357, HortScience, Inc.
Brian Gilles, RCA #418, Gilles Consulting
Lisa Hammer, RCA #333, Urban Horticulture

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A 4-part Online Course that Demystifies the Cost Approach!

Tree appraisals are part of the bread and butter of any arborist's or Consulting Arborist's livelihood. They play an important role in tree inventories, real-estate transactions, plant condemnation actions, insurance claims, and more. But, what exactly is involved in establishing a correct appraisal?

This 4-part online course explores the technical aspects of replacement cost and trunk formula methods—size, species, condition, and location—providing you with the tools to perform any appraisal with confidence. The skills and concepts you'll learn are based on the Guide for Plant Appraisal, 9th edition and will inform implementation of any changes associated with the 10th edition.

Session One - Overview & The Basics
This session introduces the webinar series, plant appraisal, and the cost approach. It describes the trunk formula and replacement cost methods, the factors important in their use, and the techniques employed for establishing unit cost and basic price. The session discusses the importance of Regional Appraisal Committees and introduces the basics of data collection and field procedures.

Session Two - Assessing Size & Species
This session is an in depth exploration of the Size and Species factors. For Size, it reviews the location and approach to measuring trunk diameter, as well as the variations commonly encountered in the field. It reviews the key elements used in establishing the Species factor and the regional variation that occurs. The session describes use of Regional Species Ratings.

Session Three - Assessing Condition & Location
This session explores the Condition and Location factors. It reviews common methods used in assessing tree health and structure, and the treatment of correctable problems. The elements used in establishing the Location, site, contribution and placement, are introduced and discussed. A conceptual approach to establishing Location ratings is provided.

Session Four - Summary & the Future
The final session in this four-part series looks at the current status of the 10th Edition of the Guide for Plant Appraisal. This session reviews the important technical issues that need to be addressed when using the Cost Approach and how those elements may change with the 10th Edition. The session discusses how the iTree software suite employs Cost Methods as well as its use of the Market Approach to establishing tree value.


CEUs
ASCA has approved this 4-part webinar for 4 CEUs towards fulfilling ASCA's Continuing Education Program. ISA has approved this 4-part online course for CEUs. Please contact ASCA about CEU credits.

Tree Risk Assessment Reporting

Presenter: Barb Neal, RCA #428, Green Legacy Tree Consultants, Inc.

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This webinar details what should be included in a Tree Risk Assessment Report according to the A300 Standards for Tree Risk Assessment and the ISA BMP for Tree Risk Assessment.

Learn how the three levels of tree risk assessment impact the communication of the findings to your client. Understand the differences and pros and cons of using:

• A verbal report
• A videographic report
• The ISA BMP Form Report
• A letter report
• A booklet report

This webinar will help you match your client's needs to your report format. Mitigate your own risk by understanding what should be included in your report and how to best communicate your recommendations and conclusions so that your client understands what they must do now and their need for follow-up.

CEUs

ASCA has approved this webinar for 1 CEU towards fulfilling ASCA's Continuing Education Program. ISA has approved this webinar for CEUs. Please contact ASCA about CEU credits.

Understanding Professional Service Contracts: Protecting Yourself and Your Clients

Presenter: Andrew J. (Josh) Markus, Carlton Fields, P.A.

→ Read the full description.

To be a successful Consulting Arborist there are many skills you need to possess—report writing, the ability to conduct forensic investigations, and more. But, you also need to be well versed in business skills. For example, how do you create a contract that will safeguard your and your clients all at the same time.

Join ASCA for our next webinar, Understanding Professional Service Contracts: Protecting Yourself and Your Clients. During this session, Andrew (Josh) Markus, shareholder at Carlton Fields, P.A. will walk you through the components of a sound professional service contract.

You'll Learn About


• The importance of having and using contracts
  
• How to define the scope of work
  
• Limiting liability
  
• Insurance provisions
  
• Dispute resolution/remedies
  
• Use of intellectual property
  
• Idemnification
  
• Boiler plate provisions & so much more.
  

CEUs

ASCA has approved this webinar for 1 CEU towards fulfilling ASCA's Continuing Education Program. ISA has approved this webinar for CEUs. Please contact ASCA about CEU credits.