Florists, are you bewildered by Google AdWords?

We have received many questions on using Google AdWords, and we’re in agreement that if you are new to the application it may look a bit daunting. We thought it beneficial to explain the mystery to some of Google AdWords and how it works.

Before we begin, let’s point out that Google AdWords is NOT FREE and can actually be quite pricey. So why use Google AdWords? Google AdWords makes your marketing easier by bringing in traffic through the use of keywords, allowing you to customize your ad campaigns and turn clicks into sales.

Understanding how Google AdWords works means understanding how to bid on ads, which turn into conversions. Let’s focus on a basic introduction to Google AdWords to clear up the mystification of how it works.

Image via Google.com

Basic Google AdWords Bidding/Budget Functionality

Sometimes you can not fully understand how something works unless you dive right in and try it out for yourself. That certainly applies to getting started with AdWords. There is a reason why we starting out with Google AdWords bidding, it is of great importance you are knowledgeable of your targeted spending before even complicating Google AdWords.

• Automated Bidding: By far the most recommended if you are just starting out with Google AdWords. Set a daily budget and let AdWords adjust your CPC (cost-per-click) bids to bring you the most clicks possible within that budget.
• Manual Bidding: Manual bidding lets you set bids at the ad group level, allowing you full control over your CPC for keywords or ad placements, so you bid what you want for the clicks you want.
• Setting A Daily Budget: One of the most crucial things to remember is to set a low daily budget. We recommend no more than $10.00 a day. Paying for an exorbitant amount of clicks to your AdWords campaign will leave you feeling defeated.

Image via Google.com

Understanding/Researching The Floral Market

You’re now ready to start a Google AdWords campaign, but have you thought about the keywords you’ll use to reach potential customers? This question can seem simple—just use keywords specific to the floral industry, right? Well, yes and no. You’ll need to do some research, but we promise you’ll get the hang of it.

• Keyword Planner: Take advantage of Google’s Keyword Planner on Google Adwords (in your account under Tools). Be sure to describe what you’re promoting to reach your targeted audience.
• How are customers finding you with keywords? Enter how you think people are searching for flowers into the keyword planner. Our goal is to find the keyword which has the most searches.

Note: You cannot access Google Keyword planner until your payment information is entered into Google Adwords. 

Image via Google.com

Starting Your Floral AdWords Campaign

First, navigate to https://adwords.google.com, and sign in or click Start Now. If this is your first time on Google AdWords, try to set aside some uninterrupted time to complete setup.

• Pick Your Goal: Do you want customers to call your business, visit the store, or visit your website?
• Choose Your Campaign Location: You will want to choose a geographic area—large or small—your campaign will cover.
• Define Your Products and Services: Enter your language, the products you offer, and who to show your ad to.
• Create Your Ad: Start with your Headline 1  and remember to stay relevant to the floral industry and what you are promoting. 
• Setting Your Budget: Remember to start off slow and set a daily and monthly budget when getting to know Google AdWords.
• Review Your Ad Settings: Take some time to review your settings and make sure everything is correct.
• Enter Your Payment Method: Enter in your payment information and voilà, you have created your Google AdWords campaign.

Image via Google.com

Tip: When defining your service be sure to take advantage of the Add Another option below Show your ad to people looking for. AdWords will give you a list of related keywords, check all that apply. Most if not all will be useful to add.

Understanding Google AdWords Acronyms

As you begin your journey into Google AdWords you may find some acronyms that throw you:

• CPA: Cost Per Action, the amount you pay each time a user takes an action such as purchase, signup, call, etc.
• CPC: Cost Per Click, the average amount you pay when users click on your ad.
• CPM: Cost Per Thousand, the amount you pay when Google displays your ad to users 1000 times.
• CTR: Clickthrough rate, a percentage of the number of clicks you get on your ad or keywords divided by the total of impressions received.
• GCO: Google Conversion Optimizer. You may indicate a target cost per conversion you want to pay and Google will optimize your placement and CPCs to bring you conversions at or below that amount.
• PLA: Product Listing Ad, an ad on Google search with an image displaying a product for sale on an ecommerce site.
• QS: Quality Score, Google’s score for users’ experience when they see your ad on a page.
• SEO: Search Engine Optimization, a strategy to move websites and pages higher in the rankings in organic and free listings.
• SPN: Search Partner Network, information on other search engines where Google displays ads in response to a search query.
• USP: Unique Selling Proposition, unique selling features of your products, services, customer experience and guarantee that make you unlike your competitors.

Florists, how has Google AdWords helped your floral business? Please share your feedback in the comment section below. If you have any questions please post below as well!

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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.

Florists, have you ever been taken aback by a floral card message?

With the overwhelming response to our Most Ridiculous Things Said in our “Florists’ Thoughts” blog series, we thought it would be fun to launch another survey to ask florists about the most bizarre and hilarious messages they have ever had to write on floral arrangements.

With a tremendous response from our readers, we will list our top 10 answers in this blog. Thank you to all who participated on these Florists Thoughts!

10.  An elderly woman came to send flowers to a friend who just had her leg amputated. She wanted a get well balloon to go with it. After she browsed through the selections, she chose a “cute” one but overlooked the message on it which read, HOPE YOUR BACK ON YOUR FEET SOON.

I assured her we’d take good care of her order but without her knowing, attached a more “appropriate” balloon…

-anonymous

9.  A Customer picked up flowers to take along to his colonoscopy. “Thanks to the girls of the rear guard.”

-Shearers Florist

8.  “I know that you are blushing, now everyone is looking and wondering who has sent you the flowers. You can’t tell them it’s your lover, but I thought that if the husband is not sending, then I will. Happy Valentine’s Day. From, ????????”

-Wildflowers Of SC

7.  Set the stage. Valentine’s Day! Big snow storm in Maine. The guy is a snow plow driver. “Dear Susie, the driveway isn’t the only thing that is going to get plowed tonight! Love, Your Snow Plow Guy.”

-B Bridges

6.  “I love you b**h, your the best b**h, can’t wait to see you b**h.” Man to his girlfriend, very classy…

-Amber Roses

5.  “I think a while of love, and while I think, love is to me a world sole meat and sweetest drink. Close connecting link ‘tween heaven and earth. Derek.” This order was sent over the wire and that’s word for word how it read, grammatical errors and all. We posted it and whenever we needed a little laugh all anyone had to say was “I think a while of love” and we’d get to laughing all over again.

-anonymous

4.  I did a funeral piece for a man whose best friend died, they were friends for like 50 years and were practical jokers. He wrote on his card message ” good luck getting in!”

-Scholl

3. “I love you so much I could sh*t.”

-anonymous

2.  “You are the bacon bits on my salad of life.”

-Mppatch

1.  “I love all your pink parts.”

-anonymous

Florists, share your most hilarious card messages with our readers in the comment section 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.

Family-owned floral businesses rarely survive the transition from the first generation to the second. As a matter of fact, in this day and age, they are becoming more and more obsolete.

Many studies have shown that there is a high impact on family-owned and run businesses on our economy. In the floral industry, there was a time when this was the norm: a local flower shop stayed in the family, resulting in a local staple, while the whole family was able to live comfortably from running the family-owned flower shop. There was never a question of whether their children would continue the business after their parents’ retirement.

On our quest to find a third-generation family-owned flower shop, we came across Lighthouse Flower Shop in Mesa, Arizona. We thought it would be illuminating to have a brief Q&A with Lisa Miller, the third-generation owner of Lighthouse Flower Shop. This extraordinary accomplishment of running a successful flower business for 58 years definitely beats the statistical odds. We hope you find this interview encouraging, informative, and a piece of floral business history.

Lisa, Age 5

 

What year did your grandmother Hope Griffin open the flower shop, and do you know why she decided to open a flower shop?

Her first flower shop was in Presque Isle, Maine, and Grandma Hope saw that people getting married at the local church needed wedding flowers, so she decided to open a flower shop.

Tell us how the name Lighthouse Flower Shop came to be.

It was originally called Griffin’s Flowers in Maine and the first few years here in Arizona, but when my mother Ruth took over she renamed it Lighthouse Flowers as a tribute to Northern Maine.

 

Lisa’s mom, Ruth

 

When did your mother take over the Flower Shop and why?

My mother Ruth—my Grandma Hope’s daughter-in-law—took over the flower shop in 1974. My mom took over because she didn’t have anything else lined up, and she did have a knack for the floral business.

What is the earliest memory you have at Lighthouse Flower Shop?

Besides being there every day after school and on weekends, I remember making Mother’s Day corsages when I was in elementary school. Once for show and tell I even taught the class how to make corsages. Not bad for a little girl, wiring flowers together!

Lisa and Linda

As we see in the picture above, you have a sister (Linda Tomblin). Did she ever participate in the flower shop business?

She doesn’t have a creative bone in her body, but she went on to become a kindergarten teacher.

When did you take over the family business?

Four years ago, when my mother decided to retire.

Do you still see her around the shop often?

Yes, every day. She actually just ran a delivery for me with my daughter.

What would you say has made your floral business so successful for 58 years?

We are still the original family who owned the shop, and we have customers who are multi-generational. Also, we can have competitive prices because we own our building.

Did your grandmother, mother, or yourself use a wire service? Do you still?

My grandmother no, but Mom used to have Redbook and Carrick—I remember the flip book with the 5×7 pictures we kept on the counter.

We tried a major wire service for about a month. All their arrangements were short and tiny and we got too many complaints.

What would you say was the single most influential factor in the success of your flower shop?

Customer service, honesty with our customers, and high-quality product. I only take on orders I can handle, that I know will represent my brand—even if it means turning business away sometimes.

What are some of the biggest hurdles you’ve encountered while building the family-owned floral business, and how did you overcome them?

Learning to work with social media, SEO, and getting into advertising for the first time. My grandmother and mother did not believe in advertising, so their business all came from word-of-mouth. It was a simpler time to start a business, and there was a smaller variety of flowers and colors to sell in general.

Running a family-owned business can have its pros and cons. What would you say are some of the pros and cons?

Pro: I can set my own hours and have creative control over all projects I choose to take on.

Con: Long hours, and it’s hard to find experienced part-time help around the holidays.

By your measures (or from what you can remember) what year would you say you sold the most flowers?

When I started branding/marketing this created an explosion. This year has been our best year ever. Last week was actually one of my most profitable weeks, it was like a little Mother’s Day week.

What is one change to the floral industry that you didn’t see coming? Is there anything that you did predict?

Pinterest is by far the biggest change. Everyone comes in with the same picture—they don’t allow me to be creative, and everyone asks for burgundy dahlias.

Does that make you sad?

It does, and I love this business. Nobody else in the family wants the shop. It’s been here for so long, but I’m holding out hope for a fourth generation.

Lisa’s grandmother, Hope

What do you know today that you wish you would have known when you first got started running the flower shop?

My shop is much more profitable when we do fewer weddings. Last October I did 40 weddings, but they were smaller, and I’ve had to turn down other work to keep up with weddings.

What tip would you give someone that wants to be successful with weddings?

Be brave and charge for your work, and charge up front.

What would be the one piece of advice you would give someone who is opening a flower shop? 

Be prepared to compete with large grocers and wire service websites, and taking the time to educate customers about the difference between these sites and stores and a real brick-and-mortar shop. Your quality will always speak volumes for your brand, never skimp on quality.

Lisa’s Wedding, 1995

If you could do anything besides own and operate a flower shop, what would it be?

I would love to be an auto mechanic because I love cars. I also tried to get into the army, but they told me I was too small, so the flower business it was 🙂

We all want to know what your grandma’s, mom’s, and your favorite flowers are.

My grandmother loved amaryllis and bearded iris. My mom doesn’t have a favorite. I really like hyacinths and red heart garden roses.

In closing, there are many young new florists. What advice would you give them?

It takes so much hard work to be a good florist and a lot of patience. Everyone who wants to own a flower shop should apprentice at a flower shop. You must keep your flower shop updated on the outside—every year I update my flower shop to keep it feeling fresh.

~~~

One thing we learned in interviewing Lisa is that you can’t start a flower business with the intent to keep it for your family, your goal should be to run a successful business for yourself, and if your family follows your example, that’s icing on the cake. As technology encroaches deeper into our lives, it’s important to remember how Lisa ended our interview: “Robots will never be able to arrange flowers.” We couldn’t agree more.

Flowers are impactful, beautiful and full of awesome flower facts.

Some of you may already know and others you may just learn about today, either way, you can never know enough fun flower facts. Not only do flowers offer us visual and emotional well-being they have amazing appeal and history. Let’s dive right into these mind-blowing flower facts.

image via Shutterstock

10. Get Your Zzzs With Gerbera Daisies

If you want to get a better night’s sleep tonight, try placing gerbera daisies next to your bed. Gerberas emit oxygen and absorb carbon monoxide and toxins at night, this was said to be especially helpful for anyone suffering from sleep apnea.

image via Shutterstock

9. Roses Are Related To Fruit & Almonds

Roses share a relation with almonds, apples, raspberries, cherries, peaches, plums, nectarines, and pears. Roses have what’s called rose hips which are a berry fruit in some roses.  Rose hips are used to make jellies or teas as they are loaded with Vitamin C.

image via Shutterstock

8. Tulips Bulbs Were Used As Food Source.

Although this flower fact is more well-known, it’s important to know why tulip bulbs were eaten. No one ever claimed that tulip bulbs were delicious, however, they were eaten because of hunger and food shortage. During World War II tulip bulbs were claimed to taste awful and dry however many kept hunger at bay by eating tulip bulbs. Some families used tulips in place of onions.

image via Shutterstock

7. Broccoli Is A Flower

We do not think of broccoli as a flower nor do most florists display broccoli in their floral cooler. However, broccoli, in fact, is a flower. Broccoli is harvested before the flower buds fully open and eaten as a vegetable. Maybe it’s time we start incorporating broccoli in floral arrangements.

image via Shutterstock

6. Hydrangeas’ Soil Determines Its Flower Color.

Hydrangeas’ color is determined by the acidity of the soil it’s planted in. If the soil is too alkaline it will result in pink Hydrangeas.

image via Shutterstock

5. Queen Victoria Was A Flower Trendsetter

During Queen Victoria Era 1837 – 1901, in order to be considered a well-rounded young lady you were expected to learn how to arrange flowers. Queen Victoria loved flowers so much that she wore an orange floral wreath instead of the expected crown.  She also incorporated lavish amounts of beautiful floral arrangements at her wedding making wedding flowers a must have for all brides.

image via Shutterstock

4. Sunflowers Saved Lives

Surprisingly sunflower stems were used to fill life jackets. Floating sunflower rafts have been used to clean up water contamination from the Chernobyl disaster. The roots of the sunflowers remove up to 95% radioactivity by drawing the contaminants out of the water. Simply amazing!

image via pixabay.com

3. Daffodils Used As Currency

Daffodils are used as currency for Prince Charles, he is paid one daffodil a year as rent for his lands on the Island of Scilly and off the coast of Cornwall.

image via Shutterstock

2.  Stop & Smell The Chocolate

Just when you thought that flowers could not get any more miraculous comes along Chocolate Cosmos. These beautiful dark burgundy flowers smell exactly like chocolate. Amazing!

Check out these other varieties of flowers that also smell like chocolate.

• Chocolate Orchid
• Black Salsify
• Chocolate Daisy
• Chocolate Mint

image via Shutterstock

1. Do You Speak Floriography

How could we leave out the language of flowers? Floriography, the language of flowers, has been around for thousands of years, however, most popular during the Victorian era due to its conservativeness with emotional expression and flirtations.

Floriography allowed one to express themselves without saying something deemed taboo out loud to its recipient. Floriography consisted of an actual floral dictionary where the sender could send flowers to someone with encoded messages through the bouquets also known as “Talking Bouquets,” sort of like text messaging for its time.

If only this were popular now, “Talking bouquets”  – Florist’s we think this is due for a comeback. 🙂

 Florists, do you have a fun flower fact to share? Please share your feedback or questions below in the comment section.

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.

 Marketing, as we all know, is essential for the survival of your floral business.

There are still many floral business owners who do not have a direct marketing strategy or feel bewildered by the word itself.  Marketing can be so many things and most business owners who thought not to be marketing their floral business, in fact, were. Bussines marketing is no longer just huge billboards, TV commercials or coupon direct mailers. It can be something as simple as posting an image of your flower arrangements or services on social media.

If you remember one thing from business marketing, marketing is getting customers to buy your products/services.  Marketing for your flower shop and online store does not have to be expensive or overwhelming.  We promise you that following the tips below will give you a clear understanding of how simple floral business marketing can be without breaking the bank.

1. Floral Business Marketing Goals

In order to achieve master status in marketing, you must first understand why you are marketing for your floral business in the first place. The answer to this is simple-

• Attract/Engage customers.
• Create brand visibility (brand being your flower shop business – visibility is the flower shop everyone knows, remembers and recommends) 
• Educate on products and services you offer.
• Promote your products and services.

Tip: Although floral marketing can be inexpensive there are aspects that require free time on your part- good to set aside one day a month to go over your marketing strategy and what you will be promoting the following month. 

2. Offer Free Marketing Gift With Purchase

Ever wonder why back in the day Chinese restaurants gave you a free calendar with purchase? This was a genius marketing tactic for its time. Customers would hang the calendar on their fridge and never look for another Chinese restaurant again. This is back when looking up a business was picking up a heavy phone book and searching for a business. The subliminal message here was brand recognition and visibility.

Recently a bakery on a busy Sunday morning offered a free T- shirt if you spent over $30.00. When looking around, many customers had a T-Shirt in hand.  I actually never thought I would wear it, but I do it’s cozy and soft. I find myself grabbing it all the time to run errands around town with a direct advertisement for the bakery.  This is marketing, and I love the idea of it.

Think of things you can offer to customers to make your flower shop brand visible and make sure it’s something that will be used often. Your business name, phone number, and website address- and your address too if it fits. We want everything to be very clear and visible on the product you offer free with purchase.

• Pens
• Calendars
• Bags
• Mousepads
• Hats
• T-Shirts
• Jackets
• Sweatshirts
• Water Bottles

Tip: We recommend all employees at your floral business to wear clothes that state your flower shop name, phone number, and websites address as well. Marketing/Advirtesting should start in-house.

3. Work With Local Bussiness

Partner up with local businesses in which you can work together to cross promote each other, once you find local businesses to work with you, you may backlink them on your website.  (adding local business website address to your website and vice versa)

Besides backlinking, work together on –  social media postings.

Businesses you can and should work with-

• Bridal Salons
• Entertainment/DJ Companys
• Hair/ Make Up Salons
• Nail Salons
• Limo/Party Bus Companys
• Venues
• Dance Schools

4. Floral Marketing On Social Media

The easiest way to market on social media communities is for you to pick one social media community you prefer and then duplicate the content on to the others. There are loads of platforms out there that make posting on social media a breeze by connecting all social media communities on to one platform. Check out  HootSuite

• Think of your preferred #Hashtag. This hashtag will now be used for all your posting on your social media communities.
• Set a schedule for posting. Choose a specific day each week, biweekly or monthly. (of course, we prefer weekly, however, that is not always possible so post within your time allowance) 
• If you are only posting monthly, you still need to check your social media community daily. Be responsive, address comments that need to be addressed and thank new fans for liking/following your page. Nothing beats gratitude for brand visibility.
• Create enticing eye-catching posts. Pay attention to the images selected, have a clear bold title and if possible link to your website.
• Engage fans. On a weekly basis try to engage your fans with questions, thoughts or tips.
• Allow for fans to post their images on your social media.
• Offer promotions and contests. Fans love to participate in contests/questionnaires,  be it something as simple as one quiz question or asking their advice.
• Allow fans to review you on Facebook.

5. Make A Floral Video/Commercial

We are huge advocates of making a short floral video of your business. These can be posted across your social media communities and linked back to your website. Sites like slide.ly/promo make this very simple to do. Researchers confirm that videos help create longer lasting brand visibility with more conversions to sales.

• Use relevant keywords when posting your video.
• Link your floral video to your website
• Post on Youtube and all your social media communities

6. Google Business And Yelp Is A Must

A whopping 91% of customers read reviews, it’s crucial to sign up for Google business and claim your business on Yelp. We hear it time and time again how customers are attracted to businesses with reviews and search engines make these business reviews very prominent. Every review counts in creating more trust with the readers.

• Google Bussiness and Yelp allow for customer interactions by reading/ leaving a review and posting photos.
• Customer love to read testimonials and reviews, the more the better. An average small business should have  40 customer reviews at a minimum.
• Offer $5.00 off any order for a customer that gives you an on the spot review on Google business or Yelp. The advantages far out weigh the discount.
• Post these reviews on your website.

7. Write A Blog 

Blogging takes commitment and a good strategic plan. Writing a blog twice a year will not offer you that much recognition, commit to blogging at least once a month.  The benefits of blogging, are priceless, does wonders for your SEO and allows valuable content to share and link back to your website on social media communities.

• Blog about what you do. Be specific to the floral business and use keywords.
• If blogging is not for you – hire someone to write your floral blogs. Hiring a monthly blogger does not cost much compared to the impact it has on your SEO. For around $100-$150.00 a month you can start engaging customers with your blogs.
• Write about things people genuinely want to read about. How To’s, Secrets Revealed, Tips & Tricks and anything Floral Wedding – these are all very popular just do not deviate from your profession, which in this case is the floral business.
• Post your blog link with images and a title anywhere and every where you can. All you social media communities, send to friends via a text message and see if your local business partners will post on their social media communities and website.

Florists do you have any important marketing advice/tips that have been or are successful? Please share all your feedback, tips or any floral marketing related questions you would like addressed in the comment section 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.

With over 1 billion daily users worldwide, it is of great importance, that all floral business owners have a Facebook business page.

Facebook allows you to create an abundant of visibility for your floral brand, drives traffic to your website, raises your SEO (Search Engine Optimization),  allows for customer interaction and many other valuable reasons.

We hear time and time again how difficult Facebook can be to understand and navigate. One of the most asked questions is “How do I create a Facebook business page?”  In this blog, let’s break down step by step on how to create a Facebook business page.

Step 1 –  Do you have a personal Facebook account?

• You will need a personal Facebook account in order to set up a Facebook business page.
• If you do not have a personal Facebook account, go ahead and sign up for Facebook.
• Once a personal Facebook account is created or if you already have one, go ahead to step 2. 

image via Facebook

Step 2 – Creating Your Facebook Business Page

• Start creating your Facebook business page by clicking on the arrow in the upper right-hand corner. 
• Select Create Page
• Now choose Local Business or Place. Local Business or Place allows you to add a physical address and this is the best option for all floral businesses.

               image via Facebook

• Enter your flower shop name, add categories (Flower Shop, Florist), address and phone.

Note: You may have a common business name and Facebook may ask you to add keywords in order to differentiate your Facebook business page name from another. Add your town or state as keywords or another floral based keyword such as flowers, flower shop or florist.

image via Facebook

Step 3 – Adding Your Floral Business Information

• Now comes the most time-consuming part of setting up a Facebook business page – adding in all your floral business information.
• Give your self-plenty of time to do this, grab a cup of coffee or tea as this is the bones of your Facebook page. These keywords will be indexed throughout search engines.
• Pay close attention to your username for your floral business page. It is a custom URL which will appear on search engines when searched for flower shop in city and state
• Add description and your website URL to the right where it says + Add Button 
• Click on See all Page tips and add in all information required.
• Make sure to also click on the left-hand side under home and add all of your flower shop information there as well.  Click on each category, you may not need to add information to all of these, but good to familiarize yourself with these pages:

1. Home
2. Services
3. Reviews
4. Shop
5. Offers
6. Photos
7. Videos
8. Posts
9. Events
10. About
11. Community

• You may add a Post and even Promote your floral Facebook business page from the left side menu.

image via Facebook

Step 4 – Adding floral pictures  & posts to Facebook business page

• Add a clear crisp profile picture. Your logo or picture of your work, such as flowers, is a great option.
• The cover photo should have a slight WOW factor and be true to the floral business. Crisp, clean and professional looking.
• Add a descriptive post to engage friends and always add an image to your post.

image via Facebook

Step 5 – Finalize your floral Facebook business page

• Make sure that you have your shop hours, services, address,  and website link. These are important is getting maximin visibility for your floral brand.
• Invite your friends to like your floral Facebook business page.
• Add posts consistently on your Facebook business page and always add your website URL link to posts. Be engaging and do this on a daily or every other day. However, remember that a Facebook business page is now going to be part of your daily routine, checking it and posting once it is established.
• Be very responsive to notifications! Look at your top bar for any messages and notifications you may have revived. Facebook rewards responsiveness so be sure to Mark all as read

Facebook is by far the best option for creating visibility for your business. The best part of it is that creating a Facebook business page is that it’s FREE.  Now that you have created a Facebook business page, you will see how quickly your floral brand grows across search engines.

Florists, how has your flower shop Facebook business page helped your business grow? Please share your feedback and questions in our comment section 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.

You have a creative passion and love for flowers, you dream of owning and operating a flower shop.

Your dream can be a reality! What other career choices can be as rewarding than being a flower shop owner and opening a flower shop?   How many times have we heard people say, “I wish I owned a flower shop.”

There are tons of nostalgic when it comes to being a flower shop owner. Using your creativity to sell everlasting emotions with flowers and surrounded by natures beauty on daily basis is priceless. Have you pondered taking the leap into the floral industry as a business owner? Go For It!

If you have come across a neighborhood flower shop that is for sale, even better! There are important key factors to look for when buying a flower shop.  Let’s review the benefits and 8 tips to consider when buying a flower shop.

Benefits Of Buying A Flower Shop

• Less Up Front Costs
• Easy Turn Around Time
• Established Reputation
• Continuous Cash Flow
• Great SEO
• Guidance from current owner
• Trained Staff

7. Whats Included In Purchase Price?

To run a flower shop, equipment, inventory and supplies are needed. Find out what is actually included in the purchase price. Look over the condition of equipment to see if it will need to be replaced sooner than later.

• Coolers
• Equipment
• Inventory
• Customer Data Base
• Delivery Vehicle
• Current POS & Website Software

Note: Does the purchase price include House Accounts (Accounts Receivable) take a look at these and see what is outstanding. 

6. What Debt Are You Buying?

Take into consideration all the acquired debt when purchasing an existing shop. It is good to know what you will be responsible for once you take over ownership of flower shop.

• Are suppliers owed money?
• Are utilities up to date?
• Are Government and State Taxes up to date?
• Are there any liens on the business?

5. Flower Shops With Wire Services

Some flower shops participate with wire services. If this is the case for the flower shop you are purchasing, establish whether or not the hardware of the wire service has been paid off.

• Wire service hardware includes computer servers, printers, receipt printers and cash drawers.
• Is the shop you are planning on purchasing in a contract with a wire service?
• If you wish to continue to participate with said wire service, see whether you will resume payments on hardware or if the loan should be paid off before you take over.

Note: Not all existing flower shops for sale still owe balances on wire service hardware, if they do not, then you can just resume the monthly payments due if you wish to continue the wire service.

4. Flower Shop Name & Domain Name

Will you have full rights to flower shop name and domain name? You must also take into consideration any domain names the existing Flower Shop has, domain names are the address for the flower shop’s website.

• Regardless if you want to keep the existing flower shop name, it is always recommended to keep the domain name of the existing flower shop if it is placing higher on search engines.
• Make sure that you read and go over any limited liabilities attached to the existing Flower Shop name when purchasing.
• Make sure you have access to email accounts with the flower shop’s name, in particular, the one associated with Google Business account for the domain name.

3. Credit Card Processing

There are many facets to credit processing and good to know and understand the basics. Will you continue with the same credit card processing merchant the existing flower shop is using?

• If you are, then make sure to speak with the credit card merchant to change information.
• You will also need to update your gateway if you are processing credit cards online. Be sure to update the bank information to receive timely deposits of sales.

Payment Gateway: A payment gateway is necessary to process sales online or brick and mortar. The gateway can store and encrypt customers credit card information.

Credit Card Merchant: A credit card merchant functions like a bank account who authorizes you, the merchant, to accept credit cards as payments. These accounts will work with a payment gateway.

Payment Processor: A financial institution that works behind the scenes. Connects to both the payment merchant and gateway passing the information back and forth.

Payment Aggregators: Allows you to accept credit payments without having to set up a merchant account. Payment aggregators have an internal gateway so no gateway setup is required with no extra costs for a gateway. The best-known payment aggregators are Stripe, Square and PayPal.

2. Will you need to Hire Staff?

In some cases, most, if not all, the staff will stay when new owner acquires the flower shop.

• There are times when the owner of the flower shop will also offer to stay for a specific time period to help out with training you, the new owner.
• Are all current employees staying?
• Will there be changes in scheduling?

1. Be Hands On In The Floral Industry

It goes without saying that understanding the way the flower industry works is the key in pursuing a career as a floral business owner. Most business owners learn as they go, however, in the floral industry, floral designing, flower prep is important as all other business management tools. 

• Even if you will have full-time floral designers, it is important that you understand floral design. Take a floral design class.
• If owning a flower shop is your dream, think of working in a flower shop for some time to understand the business.
• Have a flower shop owner mentor you, connect with other florists for help and guidance.

Florists, did you buy a flower shop? What is your experience?  What key advice would you give to our readers? Please share your feedback or questions below in the comment section.

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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.

 Ah, Fall! The time where kids are going back to school, the brisk autumn air and a harvest of flower trends galore.

This bountiful season is approaching with exciting inspirational florals that encompass the beginning of this wondrous time of the year. Floral trends are defined by something that is new, different and copied because of its enormous popularity and demand. These forecasted floral trends are making a huge impact with loyal followers on social media.

Take a look at the top 5 Fall Forecasted Trends below and see if this is something you are currently implementing or inspired to try something new.

image via Instagram via la flor flower

 5. Flower Baskets

It’s safe to say that flower baskets are used pretty much daily by floral designers, how wonderful that they are now actually trending for the upcoming Fall season.

The biggest component here is to use quality baskets with an organic flower design which is slightly more structured.

image via Instagram via fleurette

4. Flowers In A Box

Oh my! Flowers in a box are so popular right now in Europe.  Not to be confused with flowers that protrude out of the box. These floral box arrangements are made to be completely inside the box,  revealing its beauty when the box lid is open.

Customers love these as gifts and sometimes add other surprises such as sweets or jewelry to complete this unique beautiful gift.  It’s very simple to make these arrangements with cellophane, oasis and the box of your choice with matching lid.

Image via Instagram via Pink Diamond Co

3.Flower Ribbons

Wedding bouquets with added multiple strands of high quality flowing ribbon are amongst the hottest trend for fall. Although already very hot this summer, the difference now is the longer the ribbon, the more romantic the look.  Pair it with gradual lengths of ribbon either the same color or different hues in the same color family for Fall.

Image via Instagram via printa_zita via The Wildflower Bar

2. Preserved Flower Wreaths

There is a new creative twist on flower wreaths this season which is more organic, rustic with a little whimsy. These floral wreaths are now being sold by large chain home decor stores because of their high demand.

Image via Instagram via Frosty Photo via Crimson Wedding Flowers

1. Flowers & Feathers

Flowers and feathers are actually not a new trend. Florists have been incorporating feathers in their floral arrangements for centuries. The difference this fall is the quality and uniqueness of the feathers. Opt for feathers with interesting geometric designs and length.

Do not limit feathers to only wedding bouquets these look great in any basket arrangement, vase or centerpiece.

Be sure to refer to this  Floral Cheat Sheet for trending flowers and greens selection.

Florists, what are your thoughts on these trends for Fall Yay or Nay? Have you incorporated any of these top 5 Fall Trends in your flower shop? Please share your feedback or questions below in the comment section.

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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.

Using Google My Business is one of the best ways to improve your floral business website’s visibility.

Google My Business (formerly called Google Places) is the number one platform for listing your flower shop on Google searches, Google Maps, and Google+ all in one place. Google My Business allows you to improve your business’s credibility and visibility.

Image via Google

Signing Up for Google for Business

If you are just starting your floral business, whether or not you have a floral website set up or not, start your application here.

1. Click Start Now and enter your floral business address.
2. If you receive walk-in traffic in your shop, by “I deliver goods and service to my customers at their location,” set Yes. Otherwise, leave this set to No and click continue.
3. On the next page you will see a list of possible address matches for your business. Select from among them and continue.
4. If you selected Yes, you will see an information request on the services you offer. Enter your delivery area, and include delivery radius. If you do not select the box below where you serve customers at your location, your address will be hidden, but your city and state will still show.
5. Verify the information you’ve entered, especially your business address. Google My Business is generally very user-friendly, but correcting errors can be cumbersome, so take the time now to verify all information is accurate. Agree to the terms of service and continue.
6. On the last page, you will be asked how you would like to receive the verification code. It’s likely you will choose to get a postcard mailed to you, very few get phone calls.

Within a couple weeks, you’ll receive a verification code for your business. Log back into Google My Business, add your code, and violà, you’re done!

Adding Photos to Google My Business

The more images you add to Google My Business, the better your ranking will be in Google local searches. Add as many images as you can to your Google My Business account. That said, there are many different categories of photos, it’s worth making sure they correspond correctly.

• Profile Image: This will allow customers to recognize your business. The profile image will be displayed next to your business name on Google+ and must be different from your Logo image.
• Logo: Use a square image file for your logo as these look the best on Google.
• Cover Image: This is the grand feature photo and should correspond to the services you offer.
• Additional Images: Add as many photos as you like here, the more the merrier. These are viewed by customers who are looking at your listing. It is good to include your own designs of everyday arrangements, wedding and store front image if possible.

To add your photos simply sign into Google My Business, click Photos from the menu, and select the photo category you would like to showcase. You can now upload your photo from your computer.

The best image formats are JPG and PNG. Use high quality images, you don’t want customers looking at fuzzy images.

image via google and hello you designs

Why is Google My Business Important?

There are so many reasons why all business owners absolutely must be on Google My Business, especially if your business is location specific. The biggest reason of all is the impact it has in increasing your search engine ranking, but below are some further reasons.

Improved Search Visibility: Try any of these keywords in a Google search: city, state, florist, flower shop, zip code/postal code. Notice who comes firsts under the map. These results are Local Search Results, courtesy of Google My Business. You cannot pay to place in these results, but having a Google My Business profile will enable you to.

Maps Your Floral Business Location: This allows the customer to find and navigate to your brick-and-mortar store and website more easily.

Allows for Customer Interaction: Google My Business allows for customers to interact with your business by leaving reviews and uploading their own photos. Every review counts, and every photo upload counts! How does it count? By improving your SEO, remember you want to list in the top 3 records on Google Local Search.

Florists, how has Google My Business helped your floral business in the past years? Please share your feedback in the comment section below. If you have any questions please post below as well!

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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.