Find Your Local Florist:Everything you want to know about flowers!
Did you know, if you are one of our great FSN members (woo!), you can save your favorite florists friends into your own network of preferred florists. You can save your favorite quality shops in places you frequently send orders too, or even your Facebook florist friends. Sure you might rarely send flowers to them, but at least they’re there just in case!
Building your network of preferred florists is easy with the Preferred Florist Program, a free tool for all FSN members. [Read more…]
Thanks to FSN member Tim, at Botaniq Floral Studio in Santa Rosa Beach, FL for giving us the tip about this new program!
The U.S. Post Office has come out with a brand new direct mail program that could be a huge benefit to local businesses. They call it Every Door Direct Mail.
Every Door Direct Mail enables you to extend your customer reach without the need for mailing lists, permits, and the associated fees. With Every Door Direct Mail, you create a direct mail without applying individual names and addresses to each mail-piece.
How Every Door Direct Mail Benefits youIf you’re one of our fantastic(!) FSN members, we offer a Direct Mail Template Generator for you in your FSNf2f dashboard. Simply log in to FSNf2f.com and scroll down to the Marketing section in the orange right menu. Click on Direct Marketing Templates and you will see the 3 template options available to you: Build A Marketing Piece, Build A Brochure, and Build A Statement Stuffer.
All of these are easy to use and will feature your shop’s information! The Build A Marketing Piece is the one you want to use to create your direct mailer. If you are using Every Door Direct Mail from the post office, you will not need to select bulk mail permit. If you need help creating your template, watch the Video Tutorial by clicking the green button. More on the USPS site on Every Door Direct Mail Requirements.
Be sure to contact YOUR local post office before hand to make sure the size and weight of your direct mailer is correct BEFORE mass printing them. You will also need to know how many addresses are on a specific route.
[Update] After talking to several post offices about this, we have found out that pages need to be legal size, which is 8½” × 14″. One post office said a standard paper size (8½” × 11″) would work, while another said no. So.. again CHECK WITH YOUR POST OFFICE!
For much more information about Every Door Direct Mail, visit the USPS Website.
After watching the Best Practices in Social Media discussion from SAF’s Growth Solution’s Conference, I realized how few florists are actually using Twitter, but also how many have complete misconceptions of what Twitter really is. (I would also like to add that, here at FSN, we’re really good at this kinda stuff, so if you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask! Use the comments on our blog, or ask on our Facebook Page)
A lot of people think Twitter is silly, and only for kids, CNN and people tweeting about going to the bathroom — this couldn’t be more wrong!
Let me walk you through how a person typically uses Twitter.
First of all, most Twitter users don’t even visit the website Twitter.com. Instead, they use some sort of desktop application to get their Twitter updates. That means, while they’re working at their computers, their Twitter feed is popping up on their screen without doing anything.
Before you say, why would anyone want that? Just think of the possibilities.
[Read more…]
The death of flowers are inevitable, and as florists, we deal with it a lot! There are, however, many creative ways to reuse these withered beauties to be enjoyed for many days, weeks or even months to come! We had a few ideas of our own, but we also asked our florist friends on Facebook for their input!
We have several florist friends who create short-lived flower arrangements out of their flowers that are about to expire. This is a great idea for florists who typically have a lot of extra flowers.
“Here at Gwinn’s Florist in Union, SC, we give our old flowers we wouldn’t send out to our local dialysis clinic right up the street from us, so their patients can enjoy them, even if it is for a day or two. :)” – Darlene
“We at Old Dominion Florist take our extra flowers that are still ok for a day to the Nursing Home right up the street. We did this 4th of July when we shut down the cooler for the weekend!!!” – Becky
“Extras are arranged in recycled vases and delivered to the local cancer center where they are given to patients undergoing chemo that day. Extras… never old or dead. We try to utilize extras for retirement centers, hospitals or the cancer center long before they are old. We love flowers and try to be good stewards of them.That is Spreading Sassy Sunshine!” – Linda, Sassy Floral & Design, St. Anthony ID
Although they have withered, some flowers can still be used in arrangements in creative ways. You can strip the petals and use only the centers if they still look nice, or use the stems of the flowers to create unique lines in your designs.
Janet Frye of The Enchanted Florist in Asheville NC recommends using sunflower centers in arrangements. “Love it when sunflowers get older, so I can justify plucking out the petals and featuring just that beautiful brown center” – Janet
Pressed flowers look beautiful on their own, however when arranged properly, they can be a true work of art. Just like creating arrangements, choose colors, sizes and textures that flow together and arrange them in unique ways on a flat piece of cardboard (such as the insert to a photo frame). Add a thin layer of acid-free glue to help the flowers stay in place. You can even cover the board in fabric or a nice paper (acid free works best and will make flowers last longer) to add to the look you’re going for.
Jamie from FSN had a great opportunity to interview Tim Huckabee, president of FloralStrategies at the 2011 SAF Growth Solutions Conference in Dallas. FloralStrategies is the only on-site training program in the entire floral industry that teaches critically important customer care skills. [Read more…]
“E-mail is the ‘original social media’ and it is the one platform that, pretty much, everyone still uses today.” explains Dan Zarrella, marketing specialist.
E-mail marketing is listed as one of the top three most effective marketing methods. E-mail marketing is the affordable way to keep your customers coming back.
By staying connected, you are building stronger customer relationships.Without a good e-mail address list, e-mail marketing can fall short.
Simply ask every person placing an order for their email address.Be a part of the youngest trend setting markets in the United States. U.S. Latinos tend to “adopt and adapt ” to customs and habits in the U.S. without shedding traditions and values.
Formar parte de los mercados más joven del ajusta del tenencia en los Estados Unidos. EE.UU. los Latinos tienden a ” adoptar y adaptar” a las costumbres y hábitos en los estados unidos sin derramamiento tradidiones y valores.
When asked about advertising effectiveness:
Cuando se le preguntó acerca de la eficacia publicitarios:
72% say they always read their mail, including direct marketing, yet 60% of direct mail sent to homes is in English. 52% respondents speak only Spanish in their homes.
72% dicen que siempre len su curreo, incluyendo el marketing directo. 60% de la publicidad directo enviada a los hogares se encuentra en inglés. 52% encuestados sólo hablan español en sus hogares.
If the time is now, What will you do?
Si el momento es ahora, ¿ Qué vas a hacer?
FSN is here to help:
Florists using FSN websites can have Spanish pages added to them.
Spanish-speaking customers can find florists through our Spanish website: es.flowershopnetwork.com.
Just got word from the Texas Funeral Directors Association of a new scam going around that is perhaps the most sinister scam we’ve seen since telephone and e-mail scams began over 5 years ago.
A family is contacted by an individual claiming to work for the funeral home, and rudely informs them that they have a balance due on their loved one’s funeral. They are asked to pay immediately by credit or debit card. Our guess is that they get the funeral home information from the obituary and the phone number from the telephone or internet phone directories because the funeral home would not release this information.
Please warn your families, when you are making arrangements, not to be taken in by this scam. The family who reported this had paid in full, but someone who did have a balance might actually pay. Not only do they get taken, but the funeral home gets a bad reputation.
This has started in West Texas, but we know that once a scam takes hold, it can quickly travel across the nation. FSN Funeral Homes has tips on handling and protecting yourself from funeral scams.
Florists, do you keep a roadside journal? What is that you ask?
A roadside journal is a little notebook you keep that documents local places where and when flowers grow naturally. Often times this might be near a field, around a fence, or growing at the end of a driveway. Of course, you can’t take flowers from just anywhere, but it can’t hurt to ask! Ask the owners of the property if you could collect their wild flowers in season. Give them a coupon for a free bouquet if they do!
Look for places with an over-abundance of flowers. Right now I am seeing lilies growing along roadsides, covering ditches — they are simply everywhere! Many people don’t realize how flowers will spread over time and grow more than they can possibly handle. There are houses near mine with more hydrangeas and roses than they could ever do anything with. There are several abandoned houses in our neighborhood with roses and other summer flowers that are all but forgotten. Even trees with interesting foliage, such as cedar or magnolias can be part of your mix.
It can’t hurt to ask their owners if you could buy or trade for them? This can be a great, and possibly inexpensive way to add some local flair to your product mix. You could even turn them into a special edition line for your shop.
Keep a journal of places where you get flowers, and when they were blooming for next year. The journal is a great source when looking for something NEW for the shop. Be sure to let your customers know their flowers are local. This is a way to reach out to your community and spread the word about your shop.
Grow your own! Starting a garden is easier than you think! Grow flowers you want to use! Add uniqueness, texture and fun to your flowers!
Things To Remember:
We’d LOVE to see pictures of your local flowers! Share them on our Facebook, or in the comments below!
