Mark Chaffin, owner of Earthworks, Inc., in Lillian, Texas, admits to being a rather low-profile individual who runs a low-profile company. He shies away from the spotlight and his company does very little advertising. In fact, until two years ago, the Earthworks’ name wasn’t even on the sides of its trucks. This may not seem all that unusual until you learn that Earthworks, in business since 1979, employs 200 people, has more than 200 commercial clients, owns 52 trucks, and operates 33 Walker Mowers. 

Name an industry other than farming where the cost of doing business is going up while the dollar-value of the product is going down? The answer, of course, is landscape maintenance, and just like good farmers, successful landscape maintenance contractors have to carry a sharp pencil, produce an excellent product, and be as efficient as possible on the job. Enter the Stott brothers.

Driving down the road, 20- year-old Jason Fawcett cradles two cell phones. In between calls he talks about his life as an owner of a very successful lawn maintenance company and full-time fire fighter.

About ten years after starting the Walker Mower marketing program, I had been thinking about publishing a newsletter or some other customer communication piece. There was advice from marketers from several directions that pointed to the effectiveness of staying in touch with customers and prospective customers.

One of my enjoyments is music and songs. I find that great music and words go deep inside me and send profound messages and pleasures that go beyond mere communication and the mechanics of sound and rhythm. I enjoy the great classics (not too much long-hair), country, gospel, hymns, Dixieland, German-Swiss folk music, Hawaiian to name a few styles and sounds. Although maybe not the perfect analogy, I believe we have been singing a “song” with the publication of 25 issues of Walker Talk.

After logging a couple of hundred thousand miles in the air and on the ground and visiting with nearly a hundred Walker operators, I have a confession to make. I have not been writing about a mower. Instead, I have been writing about the people who do the mowing. But if you’ve been a Walker Talk reader over the years, you know that.