Posts by josh

Have May Day Flowers Wilted Away?

April 24th, 2019 Posted by Blog, events, Floral Design, Floral Holiday Tips, Florist Profits, Florist Resources, Flower Fun, Flower History 0 thoughts on “Have May Day Flowers Wilted Away?”

The unique and beautiful traditions of May Day have sadly become lost and wilted over time—is it time to bring them back?

Spring is finally here! This time of year is often associated with floral holidays like Easter and Mother’s Day, but years ago, the season used to start in earnest with May Day.

When Did May Day Start?

The earliest known history of May celebrations began with the Floralia, the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers. This festival was typically held on April 27th. The Floralia opened with theatrical performances, including a ritual called the Florifertum that was performed on either the 27th or May 3rd, where a bundle of wheat was carried into a shrine for the devotion of Flora.

In the 18th century many Catholics observed May Day with various devotions to the Virgin Mary. In works of art, school skits and other performances, Mary’s head would be depicted adorned with flowers.

Today, the most commonly-known May Day traditions are the maypole, crowning the Queen of May, and the giving of May baskets. dancing around a painted maypole decorated with flowers. People dance around the maypole holding long ribbons attached to the top of the pole. Crowning the Queen of May, and the tradition of anonymously leaving neighbors, family, and friends May baskets of flowers and sweets on their doorsteps.

Image via Shutterstock

What is a May basket?

In the 19th and 20th century, children and young adults would start the spring off by gathering flowers and arranging them in a paper cone along with candies and small trinkets. These were then hung on the door of a friend’s or neighbor’s home to welcome them into spring.

As time progressed, baskets were then used along with paper cones in the May Day tradition, and a new meaning was formed. The holiday started to become a second Valentine’s Day, it was a way of letting a romantic prospect know your feelings.

So what happened to this joyous holiday—was it a spread of “stay off my lawn” mentality? Nowadays, only certain parts of the US, Canada, and European countries still observe May Day.

Image via Shutterstock

Can May Day Be Brought Back?

Why not?? As florists we handle and arrange beautiful flowers each day, why not bring back the May Day series of traditions to put a smile back on someones face.

It’s all about informing the customer and piquing their interest. Write a blog or post on social media, offer discounts or specials on May Day.

As a business owner, there is a potential in obtaining a new and younger generation of customers by offering May Day baskets or cones. One way is to offer May Day baskets or cones to your customers, explain the tradition and see if they would like to purchase to distribute the basket or cone themselves or for you to deliver to a local nursing home or hospital.

Everything is potential and why not start with a holiday that was created for flowers!

 

Florists, do you try and keep the May Day tradition alive at your shop, and would you be interested in bringing it back? Please share your thoughts and comments below!

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Floranext offers great florist software, florist POS, florist websites and florist wedding proposal software. Our florist technology products are built by florists, for florists. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

Delivery.Manager.Launch.2019

Floranext’s New Floral Delivery Manager For Florists

April 5th, 2019 Posted by Blog, floral system, floral systems, Florist Operations, Florist Point of Sale, Florist POS, Florist Profits, Florist Resources, florist technology, florist-software 0 thoughts on “Floranext’s New Floral Delivery Manager For Florists”

 

Delivery-Manager-Launch-2019

Delivering Flowers Faster. Easier.

Floranext’s New Florist Delivery Manager is the new solution to let your floral delivery blossom! 

 

 

Route with Map - Florist Delivery Routing

Route With Map – Speed up Florist Route Creation

 Easily re-route delivery stops by choosing which stops should come first before any others.

Click here to learn more >>

 

Florist Software - Delivery App

Delivery Driver App – For Faster Floral Deliveries

Your flower shop’s delivery drivers can use a smartphone to use the benefits of the delivery routing features like live status updates, turn by turn directions, and more. 

Click here to learn more >>

 

 

Instant-Address Search – Faster Floral Order Taking

Enter in the business/home address and the field will begin to populate with information.

Click here to learn more >>

 

 


Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

 

The Importance of Upselling

March 13th, 2019 Posted by Become A Floral Designer, Blog, Floral Design, Floral Supplies, floral systems, Florist Marketing, Florist Operations, Florist Point of Sale, Florist POS, Florist Profits, Florist Resources 1 thought on “The Importance of Upselling”

Upselling isn’t just a sales tactic—it’s a way to improve your customer’s experience.

The objective of customer service is to satisfy the needs and wants of your customers. With that principle as your guide, no sale will feel forced but will make you feel accomplished that you have pleased your customers by providing what they actually need. The key is to successfully identify the needs and wants for each person that purchases through your flower shop.

One of the ways you can deliver a quality sales experience is with upselling. 

 

upselling-florist-flowers

What is Upselling?

Upselling is a sales technique aimed at getting a customer to spend more by upgrading their arrangement, or by adding another item to their order.

A good example is when you offer the customer a custom-arranged bouquet rather than one in the cooler or offering a box of chocolates to go with their dozen red roses.  Trying to properly gauge the right service for your customer can open up opportunities to upsell.

Existing customers are easier to upsell to because you may already know their purchasing habits, have a somewhat personable relationship and have a good idea of what they might need. However, new customers can be skeptical, which could mean you’re not upselling right.

 

How to Upsell To Your Floral Customers

The key is to accurately identify the customer’s needs. Find a product that satisfies that need, and give them a sense of urgency of the offer. Whether it may be a promo price on certain flowers or a limited-time offer, you should try to open such a possibility to the customer as soon as possible.

Avoid pushing too hard, or they might shy away from the offer. Offering too much can also confuse the customer. Try not to make the customer panic, but rather make them feel that the offer is compelling.

 

When to Upsell Floral Products

Well, it could be at any time! When you feel confident, you can try upselling to regular customers and see how it goes.

During a shop-wide sale, all your products have a higher perceived value because of the price slash. Customers new and old will flock to your flower shop to take advantage of that. This time is a very critical time to upsell! Sales don’t last long, giving that sense of urgency to the customers. All your products will look like perfect grabs, making them more likely to be picked up.

 

 

The key here is to offer better-value products to your customers. Upsell products in line with the customer’s purchase that is still part of the sales promotion, presenting just enough choices that they can consider. If done well, the chances for a successful upsell are higher than normal!

You should also incentivize upsells by offering more discounts and freebies, adding more value to the customer’s purchase, at the same time maximizes your profit.

The advantages of upselling during a sale can be numerous, but it all boils to two things: you maximize your profit, and your customer gets home with a satisfactory purchase. With that purchase, they see you as a brand to be trusted, making more likely to come back to you. Other than increasing customer stickiness, upselling is much easier and costs less. A win-win situation!

 

Sales experiences are not just about how much you earn, but how valuable of experience you can give your customer. When you put your customer first, your profit margin consequently improves, given the advantages of doing such things. However, don’t just stop on upselling, there are so many ways to improve each sales experience. Don’t be afraid to take all the opportunities presented to you!

 

Florists, what are some upselling tactics you use in your flower shop?

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Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

A Florist’s Guide to Edible Flowers

March 6th, 2019 Posted by Blog, Floral Supplies, Florist Marketing, Florist Operations, Florist Profits, Florist Resources, Florists' Thoughts, Flower Fun, Flower Trends 4 thoughts on “A Florist’s Guide to Edible Flowers”

Flowers can be tasteful to the palate, not just the eyes!

Anyone in the food industry recognizes that the human palate is an ever-changing thing, and we are always more than ready to take a bite out of anything remotely edible. Delicious food is more than just delicious on the tongue, it can be tasty to the eye.

Restaurant-quality food is more than the taste, the way it’s presented is part of the experience. Now, the flower industry has something food fanatics might consider to enhance that experience: edible flowers.

 

Chef-flowers-edible

Edible Flower Trend

Ripped from the pages of the Great British Bake Off recipe books—which once featured a botanicals week—and Michelin five-star chefs, edible flowers have gained a lot of traction because they still do what they do best even when paired with food: looking pretty and dainty.

Social media platforms, especially Instagram and Pinterest, have also bolstered the trend, spreading awareness to all food fanatics all over the world. Who can resist such beauty and delicacy served right in front of you?

 

edible-flowers-looks


Edible Flowers Not Just For Looks

Edible flowers are about more than just the looks, they actually add a subtle taste to the food, much like herbs. Each flower has its own taste too, and the variety of flavors rivals that of herbs. This characteristic also complements the current trend of people preferring subtler flavors. What makes this deal even better is that edible flowers go well with food and drink both.

These floral edibles are also healthy, organic, and sophisticated. Plus, just like any other plant or flower, you can also grow them right in your backyard or purchased as stems from a florist.

 

edible-flowers-salad

Types of Edible Flowers

For a quick start on the world of edible flowers, we’ll be listing five notable ones and their flavors, as well as other characteristics you might find interesting. Remember, it’s important to check whether chemical preservatives or pesticides have been used on your flowers before using them in cooking.

  1. Chamomile: A common tea flavor, you can eat this flower raw, or dry it to brew tea
  2. Japanese honeysuckle: The only edible part is the flower, not its toxic berries, and it has a sweet nectar-like flavor
  3. Marigold (calendula): Its peppery flavor goes well with almost anything, and it looks beautiful when garnished on salads
  4. Nasturtium: One of the more popular edible flowers, nasturtium have a sweet, floral flavor with a peppery finish, and its bright blooms would stand out well as garnishes
  5. Violets: Another garnish favorite, their sweet taste goes well with salads, desserts, and even drinks

For more of a complete listing of edible flowers, Click here!

 

cake-edible-flowers

Explore Your Floral Palate

At the end of the day, we need food for energy and to get the nutrients we need. However, that doesn’t mean we should just settle for the bare minimum—try out combinations of all things edible. Edible flowers add more variety to your choices and more. Beauty and delicacy come together to satisfy more than just your stomach and eyes, but the entirety of the experience.

Explore your palate and see where it takes you. You never know, the better-tasting ones might be lying right there at your garden or at your local florist, waiting to be garnished on your next meal!

 

Florists, have you tried edible flowers or seen the trend pick up around your area? Share your comments below!

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Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

unknown-florist-quote

Florist Quotes and Puns for Valentine’s Day

February 13th, 2019 Posted by Blog, florals for Valentines, Florist Marketing, Florist Resources, Florists' Thoughts, Flower Fun, Valentine's Day 2 thoughts on “Florist Quotes and Puns for Valentine’s Day”

florist-quotes-&-puns

With the overwhelming amount of orders and questions that build up before Valentine’s Day, this time of year can be quite stressful for florists. Sometimes we just have to stop and smell the roses before continuing to work hard and provide the best quality service we can to our customers.

Sometimes you just need to read something that is inspirational or just to put a smile on your face. Remember, laughter is the best medicine.

We wanted to give you a little stress reliever and offer some inspirational quotes and funny puns to keep you entertained during this Valentine’s Day. Who knows, maybe you can provide these as suggestions to your customers as a card message!

Inspirational Flower Quotes

 

john-lennon-flower-quote

  • “Where flowers bloom, so does hope” –Lady Bird Johnson
  • “The rose is the flower and handmaiden of love—the lily, her fair associate, is the emblem of beauty and purity.” –Dorothea Dix
  • “Flowers… are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities in the world.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • “Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food, and medicine for the soul.” –Luther Burbank
  • “If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden.” –Claudia Adrienne Grandi
  • “Love is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same.” –Helen Keller

 

buddah-florist-quote

  • “Minds are like flowers; they open only when the time is right.” –Stephen Richards
  • “Flowers… are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities in the world.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • “A rose can never be a sunflower, and a sunflower can never be a rose. All flowers are beautiful in their own way, and that’s like women too.” –Miranda Kerr
  • “Love is flower like; Friendship is like a sheltering tree.” –Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  • “A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love.” –Max  
  • “Life is the flower for which love is the honey.” –Victor Hugo

unknown-florist-quote

  • “Earth laughs in flowers.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • “Flowers don’t tell, they show.” –Stephanie Skeem
  • The butterfly is a flying flower, the flower, a tethered butterfly.” –Ecouchard Le Brun
  • “Flowers don’t worry about how they’re going to bloom. They just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful.” –Jim Carrey
  • “The flower that follows the sun does so even in cloudy days.” –Robert Leighton
  • “Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Funny Flower Puns

iris-pun

  • I hope thistle show you how much I love you!
  • Hey bud, how’s it growing?
  • You’re my best bud!
  • I will love you till the end of thyme.
  • I love you mum, you’re the best!
  • You had me at aloe.

 

what-in-carnation

  • We should put our tulips together this Valentine’s day.
  • What’s up, buttercup?
  • I love you tulip much!
  • I really lilac you.
  • We’re mint to be.
  • Not a daisy goes by where I don’t think about you.

oh-snap! valentine's day

  • I can’t wait to see our love grow and grow and grow.
  • Just wanted to say aloe!
  • I love you a lily more each day.
  • My love for you blossoms every day.
  • Life would succ without you.
  • Don’t stop beleafing.

 

Florists, what are some inspirational quotes or funny flower puns that make you feel inspired or laugh? Please share your comments below.

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Floranext Logo

Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

Dried-Flower-Bouquets

2019 Unexpected Floral Trend – Dried Flowers

February 6th, 2019 Posted by Blog, Floral Design, Floral Instagram, Florist Resources, Flower Fun, Flower History, Flower Trends, Stunning Photo Galleries 5 thoughts on “2019 Unexpected Floral Trend – Dried Flowers”

2019-trends-dried-flowers

A 4,000-year-old trend is making its rounds again!

That’s right—preserving or drying flowers date back 4,000 years ago to the Egyptians. These dried flowers were presented in funeral ceremonies, with each flower being chosen for a symbolic meaning within their religion.

From Ancient Egypt to Victorian England, dried flowers are making their way back in 2019. The growing DIY movement and popularity of natural products is allowing dried florals to see a new light.

This is a great opportunity to let customers know after receiving or purchasing a fresh arrangement, they can hang and dry their flowers to give them more time to appreciate the arrangement.

So where can we expect to see these dried florals in 2019?

Dried-Flower-Bouquets

2019 Dried Floral Trends

Stunning Dried Arrangements/Bouquets: This trend is becoming more popular in weddings. Arrangements and bouquets can be made completely out of dried flowers, or fresh flowers with dried incorporated into the arrangement. Dried seed pods and lavender are also a popular choice.
big-stem-dried-flowers

image via pexels.com

Preserved Stems and Greens: Preserving larger stems and greens like eucalyptus is a great way to add to a vase and make it a focal point in a room such as a living room or bathroom.

framed-pressed-flowers

Pressed Flowers and Greens: Beside floral arrangements, pressed flowers and greens are preserved in frames or shadow boxes. If you love the idea of having dried flowers a part of your decor but do not have space, this is a perfect solution for you.

Not only can you keep pressed flowers in a frame or shadow box, there are now clear phone cases that can display pressed flowers, putting a modern spin on the trend. This is becoming especially popular among Millennials.

Dried-Wreath

Image via @tarrnationflowers at photoramium.com

Wreaths: Ideally these wreaths are for indoors, as the flowers need to be stored or kept in dry place. Try adding simple dried flowers that have a fragrance, like lavender or oregano.

hanging-dried-flowers

Types of Preservation of Flowers

Drying and Hanging: This is one of the earliest-known methods of preserving flowers. The simplest way to dry most flowers is to remove all leaves, tie them in small bundles and hang them upside down, out of direct sunlight and in a warm and well-ventilated place.

Each bunch should only contain one type of flower with larger bloomed flowers are to be dried individually by the stem. Stems may need to be re-tied during the process as they tend to shrink. The drying process can take anywhere from one week to several weeks depending on the flower, humidity, and where the flower is being store.

Silica Gel Drying: Ever wonder what those little packets are that come in shoe boxes? That’s a small amount of silica gel, a substance that helps remove moisture in the box so the shoes’ leather and foam stay in crisp good condition. It is white, but some types contain blue crystals that act as an indicator of the amount of moisture that has been absorbed.

Silica gel dries florals very quickly. To dry flowers using silica gel, spread on open pans a layer ½ to ¾ inch thick, place the flowers on top and bake in the oven. Once crystals show moisture removed, flowers must be placed in airtight containers.

pressed-dried-flowers

image via @wildlinggirl via Instagram

Pressed: This floral preservation method started in the Victorian era. Pressing flowers involves using one of many different types of presses, depending on the flower type. The art is then framed in a flat frame, to hang on the wall.

Other Methods: Of course, there are other methods of preserving methods like freeze drying, but we recommend choosing the best and cost-effective method for you and your floral business.

Dried-Flowers-Twine

Image via Pexels.com

With most customers viewing social media and online for inspiration and references, We can guarantee customers will start asking about dried florals in your flower shop.

Florists, do you sell or use dried florals in your business? If so what are other ways you incorporate dried florals? Please share your comments below!

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Floranext Logo

Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

Florists and Millennials: Marketing to New Generations

January 30th, 2019 Posted by Blog, events, Floral Design, Floral Instagram, Florist Marketing, Florist Operations, Florist Profits, Florist Resources, florist technology, Florist Websites, Florists' Thoughts, Flower Trends, Opening a Flower Shop, Search Engine Optimization, seo 1 thought on “Florists and Millennials: Marketing to New Generations”

Florists, are you marketing to the younger generations?

These days it may seem as though flowers are becoming a vintage luxury that only older generations seem to care about or can afford.

Currently, the trend among Millennials seems to be houseplants. Their charm is that they require little maintenance to thrive, a tempting proposition for people who live busy and fast-paced lives. 

The virtual spaces that we now inhabit changes the landscape of living, requiring businesses of all kinds to quickly adapt their products and marketing strategies. If you haven’t, it’s time to begin thinking of ways for your business to reach young people.

Image via Shutterstock

Keep an Online Presence

The touchstone of the Millennial generation is the Internet, enabling people to be connected wherever they may be in the world. This makes the Internet one of the best tools of communication, and of course, marketing. Knowing how to fully utilize the Internet to make an impact with your brand is fundamental to letting yourself be known to your target audience.

graphic-design-diy-florist

Image via Shutterstock

Engage With Social Media

Social media platforms are by far the most visited websites and tools in today’s society, and florists should take advantage of that traffic to bring attention to their brand. Although it is good to have an account with all the large social media platforms, the most critical are Instagram and Facebook. Their impressive support for images (which you should rely heavily on) and extensive ad programs make them the go-to for almost any business.

Your shop’s Facebook page is going to be the face of your business, so take your time tailoring the page’s picture and cover photo. For any other day, you can use a default design, but you can also utilize these photos when running campaigns or promos. Usually, the profile photo can be your logo.

The content of these profiles will be the most important. Whether it be on Facebook or Instagram, your posts should endeavor to tell a story. Millennials are loyal to brands they trust, and they trust brands that tell their stories.

staffing-mothers-day

Image via Shutterstock

Share Your Floral Knowledge

Millennials are DIYers and reliant on gathering information on the Internet, thus you should take this opportunity to consider putting up a blog, where you can teach people how to take care of flowers, content about which flowers can be useful for specific occasions, how-to/DIY guides, and much more. Putting up content is both a service to your customers and a boost to their loyalty to your brand (besides being good for your search engine ranking!). Once they find your content helpful and useful, they can learn to trust you over time.

A trend that you can also ride on nowadays is the do-it-yourself trend. People believe that when they can do it themselves, not only can they have potential savings, but they can also have the satisfaction of having done it themselves. In order for you to fully utilize this trend, you should have good DIY content, where you teach people how to set up flowers and maybe even teach them a few tricks in floral arrangements. For people who might be apprehensive in the DIY approach, give them a flexible option that lets you do it but still gives them control over the flowers. The key here is customization: give people a way to express themselves through the flowers, and try to give them more options to give more customization!

Build Florist-Customer Relationships

After gathering a following, you should engage with them! You should excel in customer support: dealing with errors in orders and delivering, helping provide information on the flowers, and even helping them out pick the right flowers for specific events. Going over and beyond, you should also learn to engage with your customers in the social media platforms. People appreciate replies to questions they ask about your service or product. 

Part of relating to them is talking with them when they share their own experiences. By encouraging people to share their own stories, then commending them and appreciating their effort, they are more likely to interact with your brand more, earning yourself a potential customer. Don’t force people to do so, though; let them come to you naturally so you can ensure that they will stay.

Through these interactions, you can also get feedback as to how to improve your products further. Letting them voice their opinions and recognizing them can be great in knowing how to make your service better for them.

Emphasize Convenience

Convenience is one of the millennials main focus when choosing or purchasing a product. Anything that could cause any brief delay will detour this generation in finding a competitor.

Just like in other industries, you might be also interested in setting up subscriptions and or loyalty programs. Subscriptions are perfect for the floral industry and can entice newcomers since they will be bound to be changed every so often. You can feature flowers every month and have them sent to everyone who subscribed, with complimentary brochures on how to take care of them, information on the flowers or advertisement of your upcoming events or classes.

Loyalty programs can be less effective than subscription, but they can help add more incentives to customers who frequent your place, which will keep them returning.

 

Marketing to Millennials and the younger generation may seem too much work, a pain, or even frustrating. However, simply following some of the recommended marketing tactics above can help increase a younger clientele and will help increase profits and allow your business to bloom in the future!

Florists, what are you doing to reach young people? Please share your comments below!

The Power of Flowers in Art: Artist Spotlight

January 23rd, 2019 Posted by Blog, Floral Design, Floral Instagram, Flower Fun, Stunning Photo Galleries 0 thoughts on “The Power of Flowers in Art: Artist Spotlight”

 

image via mrflowerfantastic via Instagram

Image via mrflowerfantastic on Instagram

Have you considered using flowers not just in design, but as an art medium?

image via mrflowerfantastic via Instagram

Image via mrflowerfantastic on Instagram

As florists, we use flowers for designing arrangements for customers’ everyday events and milestones, but have you thought about designing as a floral artist and creating beautiful artwork?

One artist who uses flowers as an art medium is Mr. Flower Fantastic. His floral art can be seen in magazines, art galleries, on Instagram, and more.

image via mrflowerfantastic via Instagram

image via mrflowerfantastic via Instagram

Meet the Floral Artist

Mr. Flower Fantastic wears a mask and gloves, but not to hide his identity—it’s essential for his health. He is highly allergic to flower pollen, which goes to show that if you have a passion for something, nothing should stand in your way. Mr. Flower Fantastic’s hidden identity allows us, viewers, to focus more on the art piece rather than the artist, a technique used by other artists like Banksy and Daft Punk, going all the way back to Homer.

image via mrflowerfantastic via Instagram

image via mrflowerfantastic via Instagram

Flowers as a Visual Art Medium

All of the flowers used in Mr. Flower Fantastic’s art pieces are real flowers found locally, nationally or internationally. All the flowers used in each art piece are natural pigment.

When it comes to flowers as an art medium, Mr. Fantastic has an idea of what flowers he wants to use for his designs before heading to the local flower market. However, depending on the season some flowers may not be available and he has to rework is original plan on what is available at the market or another flower may stand out more compared to his original vision.

In an interview with Solecollector, Mr. Flower Fantastic has stated “I have a spiritual connection with florals—I can’t make flowers, only God can make flowers. All I have done is taken what he has already made and position them differently. I’m not really the real artist here, I’m just kind of messing with his work. I kind of always want the focus to be on that. It’s not about me. It’s not about what I look like, or what I don’t look like. It’s about the florals.”

image via mrflowerfantastic via Instagram

image via mrflowerfantastic via Instagram

Floral Art Pieces

Mr. Flower Fantastic made waves a few years back when he turned Serena Williams’ Air Max 97 into a floral showstopper during the  U.S. Open. Since then he has been creating shoe masterpieces out of flowers.  Not only does he do designer shoes but also floral art of our favorite logos, and icons working out of his New York Space.

Mr. Flower Fantastic flower arrangements are rare, however, keep an eye out on his Instagram page and prints of the art masterpieces he has created can be purchased online at mrflowerfantastic.art

Not only does Mr. Fantastic share his beautiful work online, he sometimes leaves his arrangements in random locations in New York and other cities by creating kind of a treasure hunt for his Instagram fans, offering clues through his Instagram stories.

 

Florists, what fresh and innovative ways are you taking on with the classic flower arrangement? Leave us a comment below!

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Floranext Logo

Floranext makes great florist software. Florist websites, floral POS, florist wedding/event proposal software, and florist technology. Let us know if you want a free demo or try our software for free here.

Florist SEO: Knowing the Basics

January 9th, 2019 Posted by Blog, Florist Ecommerce, Florist Marketing, Florist Resources, florist technology, Florist Websites, Opening a Flower Shop, Search Engine Optimization, seo 0 thoughts on “Florist SEO: Knowing the Basics”

What is SEO, why is it important, and why should florists care?

Search Engine Optimization or SEO refers to the process used to improve a website’s position on search engine results pages (SERPs) on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing. Having an SEO strategy for your floral business can help draw customers to your website and grow sales and revenue.

Working on SEO can sound like a headache, and there are a lot of myths about SEO, but once you understand the basics you will be on your way to starting your own SEO strategy. Let’s take a minute to review the basics of SEO and understand how search engines like Google rank your business website.

What Are Search Engines?

Web search engines are the software systems we and our customers use to surf the Internet. The top search engines are Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Google commands the largest share among the three, with consistently over 90% market share globally in 2018.

The goal of a search engine is to provide the information you or your customers are looking for and ranking them in order of quality and relevance. There are hundreds of factors that are involved when search engines rank websites in an organic search.

Image via Shutterstock

SEO Components to use on my Floral Website

Here are some important components to use on your floral website that will help rank your website higher on search engines.

  • H1 Tags: These are the larger headers that should contain your targeted keywords, ones that closely relate to the page title and are relevant to your content.
  • H2 Tags: This is a subheading and should contain similar keywords as the H1 Tags.
  • Keyword Density: This is the number of times that the keyword your customers are searching for that appear on your website.
  • Meta Description: This is the description you provide search engines in your <meta> HTML tags. The meta description you use for your website should also include the keywords you want your target audience to search for.
  • Backlinks: This is when other websites link back to your website by providing your website URL. The more backlinks you have, the better your opportunities are to be higher ranked in your keywords.
  • Software Provider SEO Tools – Tools that can help increase SEO rankings like Local Pages, testimonial/review pages, partner pages, etc.

How Does My Floral Website Get Ranked

First off, as with all search engines like Google, they implement a web crawler/algorithm, that goes around the web. It “crawls” around the web, catching keywords to determine the topic and understanding the content of the page and seeks out links in the page, then checking if that linked page is a “reliable” one. 

It can be concluded that if a page links to a reliable page, it has a reliable source and is thus relatively reliable too. It gives a score to this page from that linking. The crawler then goes through all the links in that page and does that scoring until all links are exhausted. After that, the algorithm gives the page its PageRank in that specific keyword. The higher the PageRank, the more likely it is for the page to appear in the first parts of the search engine results pages.

on a side note, Google search results may show some variances depending on browsers and devices.

Image via Shutterstock

When Can My Floral Website be #1

Getting placed on the first page of a Google search doesn’t happen overnight or in a few days, but you can passively accrue traffic to your website by being present in the top 5 searches for your keywords. Your SEO strategy needs to be a continuous process by staying on top of your SEO strategy and make sure that it is up to date.

Your SEO strategy Not only needs to be focused on your current customer base, but potential Customers will be able to find you and your business easily when looking up relevant information that pertains to your business. A good rule of thumb to keep on top of your SEO strategy is to research the tactics used by your competitors.

Florists, Do you have a SEO strategy in place? What do you do to increase your SEO? Please share in the comments below!

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