For your reading pleasure this weekend I’ve got a few articles about snow, how Google works and some fantastic images of botanic gardens from around the world. Enjoy!

• Dust from Africa impacts snowfall in California. (via CLCA)
• Related: Thin snowpack out west points to summer drought.
• Tech’s best feature: the off switch. (h/t Warren Gorowitz)
• How Google works.
• Landscape designers have the best offices. (h/t Shayne Newman)
• The rise of the new sharing economy.
• Interesting Q&A with Travis Beck, NYBG’s Landscape and Gardens Project Manager and author of “Principles of Ecological Landscape Design.” (via NYBG)
• Above: Best botanic gardens in the world.

If your customers can’t find you, how are they going to hire you?

A couple of weeks ago, Chris Heiler put on a great webinar on how landscape contractors can improve their returns on local search. It’s a great overview of practical tips and a must-see for any company that wants to explore and improve their internet marketing efforts.

To read more about how local search works, read Chris’ article here.

Here’s our weekly digest of interesting stuff from the web. Have a great weekend!

• Google offers great benefits, including paying your family after you die.
• Weekend read: “The Art of the Sale.”
• Hipsters continue summer tradition of renting lawns.
• Landscape lighting as high art.
• How not to ask for customer feedback. (via @Bader_Rutter)
• Now this is a fifth room.
• Above: 5 ways to save fuel. (via Wright Mowers)

As someone who loves magazines, I read a lot. But one of my favorite issues all year is Businessweek’s annual How-To issue. The magazine dedicates much of its coverage to a series of small, as-told-to pieces that explain how to accomplish many practical (and not-so-practical) goals.

This year’s issue, which came out earlier this month, did not disappoint, and there’s lots of great stuff for any business owner. You can find all the stories online, but here are a few of my favorites:

• Orioles manager Buck Showalter (above) on how to fire someone (without resorting to the bat).
• Chicago mayor and well-known firebrand Rahm Emanuel on how to motivate people.
• How to run a board meeting.
• Howard Schutlz on how to make coffee (gasp) at home.
• Google VP Marissa Mayer on how to avoid burnout. Hint: it involves dinner and soccer games.
• And, in case your negotiations or motivation don’t go as planned,  Manny Pacquiao’s former trainer Freddie Roach teaches you how to take a punch.

PitchEngine: Create from PitchEngine on Vimeo.

Having a website is important, but so is ROI. If you’re going to spend the time to develop a site, you want to know what you’re getting in return.

One of the easiest ways to do that is to use Google Analytics. It’s a straightforward way to keep tabs on who’s visiting your site, what pages they like the most and what information they access.

And like most things Google, it’s free and provides you with reams of data.