Delivering Flowers Faster. Easier.

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

Try Floranext’s New Delivery Manager Today!

 

 

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 >>

 

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 >>

 

 

Try Floranext’s New Delivery Manager Today!

---

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, and Google Maps! Google My Business allows you to improve your business’s credibility and visibility, by showing you are verified on one of the most trusted platforms on the Internet.

 

 

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.

Click Manage Now and enter your Business Name.

 

Next, you will be asked if you want to add a location that customers can visit, such as a store or an office.

If Yes – Enter Store Address. This will be displayed on Google Search and Google Maps

If No (you do NOT have a physical location that customers can visit you at), just click No.

 

Regardless of your answer, you will next be prompted to add areas that your business may service. Say Yes to this, and be sure to use the search bar provided to type in ALL applicable Delivery Areas for your Business.

 

Next, you will need to choose a business category. Just start typing and you will see many suggestions pop up that could be applicable. You can only add one at this screen, however, it is easy to add more after you have completed signing up.

 

Once you choose your category, you will be asked which contact details you’d like to show to customers. If you already have a website, go ahead and enter your Website Domain URL in the provided space. If you have a phone number for your business, go ahead and enter that as well.  If you don’t have a website yet, simply select “I don’t need a Website” (you definitely need one, but not for the purposes of signing up here). You can add in a website later at any time by using the Info Section.

 

Once you have completed the application process, you will likely be prompted to Verify your new listing. This is almost always done by sending a Verification Code by Post to your Business’s mailing address. Once you receive the Code in the Post, you can then enter that code onto your Google Business Verification page, to confirm the verification. This can take between a week, or sometimes two weeks for the code to arrive via post, so it is important to begin this process with Google My Business ASAP.

You’re done! You now have a Verified Listing on Google Business, that will show up for customers who are searching for your type of business in your local search area!

Now that we are signed in and verified on Google Business, let’s take a look at the various sections of the GMB Dashboard that will require our attention.

 

The Home Page

This will be your Main Hub for your Google Business dashboard. Here you can do a little bit of everything, such as: quickly see how your Business is displayed on Search and Maps, respond to reviews directly, answer questions, manage customer submitted photos, and create posts to share with your customers who view your business on Google Search.

Google Business is constantly adding new features, and many businesses, small and large, fail to take advantage of them! The next section is going to examine some of the important features you can access on your Google Business Dashboard.

 

POSTS

Business Owners can now create Posts that show directly with your Business Listing when customers view it on Search or Maps. These posts can be used to advertise special Products (including a URL to directly buy from your site), or to notify your customers about Events coming up, or special offers you may have (such as coupons or discounts). There are lots of possibilities with this new function. Keep in mind, a post made here will only last for 7 days maximum, and can only be 1500 characters MAX. So it is important to be concise, and to have good timing with your posts! Consider this, if you have a promotion that coincides with a major holiday, such as this upcoming Mother’s Day!

 

INFO

This is one of the most important pages for your Business Listing. Everything that is in the main column, under the Business Name, should be filled out ASAP. This includes: Business Name, Categories, Business Location, Service Areas, Hours and Special Hours, Phone Number, Website URL, Payment Methods Accepted, Short Description, Opening Date, and Photos.

As a Business Owner, it’s in your best interest to make sure all of this is filled out. All of this information can be shown with your Google Listing.

I’d like to quickly highlight a few newer functions from this page that are not utilized as much we think they should be:

Service Areas: Previously Google prompted Businesses to choose a Radius on their map to indicate how wide their service area could be. Now GMB seems to prompt you to choose from Delivery Areas such as Cities and Zip Codes. It is advantageous to type in as many as are applicable to your business. Be honest, of course. But don’t short sell your business’s reach by only including your primary area.

Opening Date: This one is applicable to up and coming businesses, that are still getting their ducks in a row. Our advice to you, start this as soon as you are able! Your Local SEO Ranking can be influenced by how much people engage with your Google Listing. If you start building this momentum before your business is even open, you may find that people in your area become aware of your business and ask you questions before it is even open!

 

INSIGHTS

From this page you can quickly get a view into how people engage with your Business Listing on Google Search, and also Google Maps. When people see your listing from Search or Maps, do they call you directly? Do they click on your Website button? Do they ask for directions? Having this information can be helpful while you are getting to know your customers, and learning how people find your business.

 

 

REVIEWS

It is important to engage with the people that offer you reviews. Make sure to respond to both positive as well as negative reviews. Believe it or not, people take notice when they see that a business owner has responded personally to a negative review. Don’t just leave them there to rot, take the time to write a personal response, to show that you care about the quality of your business, and its reputation!

Thank customers for their positive reviews, and encourage them to come back!

MESSAGING

Customers can now send messages to your Business directly from the Search page. This is a legitimate way to directly communicate with potential customers! You may find that people reach out to you directly through this Messaging function, make sure to pay attention to your Homepage, to see when you get new messages directly from customers searching online.

 

PHOTOS

Upload your Photos! This is extremely important. Businesses that don’t have many, or ANY photos will find that they have a harder time ranking highly in the Local Search Results. You should have the following photos that you upload yourself:

Logo – Your Business Logo

Cover Image – This is the grand feature photo and should correspond to the services you offer.

Product – Upload photos of your arrangements that you yourself have created for customers. You can also upload photos of the products as seen in your store.

 

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!

____________

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.

Create Beautiful and Profesional Proposals with Floranext New Advanced Proposals

 

Floranext has the new solution to let your floral wedding and event business bloom! We have been hard at work enhancing our wedding and event proposals service and we are excited to announce the completion of our newest software: New Advanced Wedding and Event Proposals.

 

 

Try Floranext New Advanced Proposals

Features of Floranext’s New Advanced Wedding/Event Proposals

Make Your Job Easier

With Advanced Proposals, florists can create beautiful and professional proposals in a matter of seconds. No more lost and cluttered information, keep track of your clients requests in one location.

Easy to Use

With the new Floranext Proposal user interface, Floranext Advanced Proposals are easy to create, organize and manage. Florists are able to build a floral arrangement from the bottom up with flowers and supplies.

Customize Each Proposal Email

Add your business’ personal touch by adding a personalized message to each proposal with a customizable email template. Each client is different and adding that personal touch matters.

 

Take Payments

Track and take customer credit cards and payments for deposits and payments.

Increase Your Profits

Add markup, labor and then easily check to make sure you are pricing your flowers correctly. Making sure your weddings and events are fairly priced yet profitable.

Flower Catalog

With the Floranext Advanced Proposal’s flower catalog, it gives you the opportunity to record your pricing for your flowers and use these to help build your beautiful and professional proposals.

 

Building Components

Build components like bridal bouquets, boutonnieres and more by adding the specified number of flowers for every arrangement.

Shopping Lists

Flowers and supplies composed to build your proposals can help generate a shopping list to order flowers and supplies.

Cloud-Based Software

Use Floranext Advanced Proposals on your own computers, choose the best platform for you. 

Try Floranext New Advanced Proposals

Why try Floranext’s New Advanced Wedding/Event Proposals?

We understand that florist wedding and events are a core part of a floral business and creating beautiful proposals can be challenging.

We’ve all been there before: notes, images, spreadsheets, word documents and countless emails sent back and forth between your clients can be a nightmare. So why not use one program to make professional proposals and keep everything organized?

Get rid of the multiple programs and keep everything organized with Floranext Advanced Proposals. Our newest software allows you to create beautiful and professional proposals in a matter of seconds by adding images, components, personalized messages and more letting you focus on what’s really important, your floral business.

Start giving your wedding and event proposals more impact with Floranext’s newest Advanced florist wedding/event software today!

Try Floranext New Advanced Proposals

---

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.

If you don’t understand how secure websites work, you are not alone.

So what are HTTP and HTTPS websites? HTTP is short for hypertext transfer protocol, and HTTPS adds an S for secure: secure hypertext transfer protocol. Is your eCommerce website HTTP or HTTPS? And if you don’t know, how can you tell?

HTTPS uses a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) to encrypt data transmitted over your website. SSL provides a coded encryption which scrambles the information into a series of random characters and once that information arrives at its destination—the other computer—it will unscramble itself and be readable again. The coded encryption is what keeps hackers from stealing sensitive information.

How Can You Tell if Your Floral Website is HTTPS?

When browsing the internet pay close attention to the websites you view and notice if they start with “http://” or “https://”. Click the information icon and it will show you a message just like in the image below.

The image below is taken from a secured website. It has https:// in its URL, and if you’re using the Chrome browser you’ll also see the word Secure next to the padlock icon.

Why HTTPS is a Must for Your Floral Website

Besides the security of customer data entered into your flower website, it is becoming mandatory on search engines.

• Security of Data. When you have an SSL certificate on your website, all information passed between the user’s browser and the website including passwords and credit cards can potentially be intercepted. HTTPS protects customer data.
• Customer confidence. With version 56 of Google Chrome released in 2017 any websites that require visitors to enter sensitive information will be marked as “Not Secure.” This is something your customers will notice immediately and can lower their confidence in ordering from your website.
• SEO. Studies have shown that secured websites have higher search engine rankings. 
• Website Load Times. HTTPS websites load faster, which also benefits your SEO.

Some unsecured websites that are HTTP look like this:

However, for some they already appear this way. This new warning is part of the long-term plan to distinguish pages from HTTP and let visitors know they are “Not secure.”

---

No doubt about it, HTTPS is and will be a requirement on all websites. Your customers deserve to shop with confidence and you owe it to your floral eCommerce to have a website that allows you to reach your fullest potential on search engines. Find out if your website is HTTP or HTTPS.

Florists, do you have any feedback or questions regarding HTTP and HTTPS websites? Please share in the comment section below.

____________

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.

 

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.

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.

 

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. 

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.

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!

____________

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 is the key to successful growth and longevity for Floral Businesses.

However, some business owners are still stumped when it comes to marketing for their flower shop. Marketing is better explained by putting yourself as the business owner in the customer’s shoes.  What are your customer’s needs and wants? What makes your customers satisfied?

Marketing consists of many elements better known as Product, Price, Promotion and Place. In this blog, we thought it would be great to review the basics of marketing and make it easier to understand so that you may use marketing to grow your floral business.

 

What Is Your Business Marketing Goal?

1. Create brand visibility/recognition.
2. Grab your customer’s attention/interest.
3. Encourage purchasing.
4. A simple call to action.
5. Increase your business revenue.

 

Ways to Market Your Business:

• Inbound Marketing: This includes your floral website, social media platforms, video and emailing. Internet marketing also falls under Inbound marketing.
• Outbound Marketing: Outbound Marketing can consist of mailers, flyers and/or face to face. The goal here is to generate customers. With outbound marketing you are seeking them out. Think of cold calling (which falls under outbound marketing as well).
• Word Of Mouth Marketing: Solely relies on your existing customer referrals.  This is one of the best marketing approaches. Most (if not all) happy patrons will recommend your business to other patrons.
• Promotions/Coupon Marketing: Typically done to motivate the customer to buy at a great deal/offer.
• Giveaway Marketing: Is most effective in establishing a customer base. Offer free giveaways to customers or in your local businesses. Do this only for a short period of time – best when first opening up your flower shop.
• Paid Marketing: This includes any paid advertising, tv, print and pay per click for Adwords. 
• Cause Marketing: Marketing your product/brand for charity or to support a cause.
• Buzz Marketing: This is marketing your product without people knowing they are being marketed. This is seen as more of a controversial way of marketing. Buzz or also known as Stealth marketing is most done via Video or TV applications.

Note: There are so many different ways to market your business not limited to the ones above. The general rule here is to be visible and do not rely on only one way to market. Use a combination of marketing practices!

Marketing Must Do’s:

• Impeccable Customer Service: We do not want to market to customers without first achieving great customer service policies.  Employees should at all times be happy (sound happy) and pleasant while answering the phone or handling a customer. The old saying “The Customer Is Always Right” still holds true. Let’s listen and always be polite (even when we know they are wrong).
• Connect Your Platforms: Make sure to connect your in-store Marketing with your Internet/Online Marketing.
• Knowing Your Consumer: Having knowledge of your customers is key to successful marketing. Everyone needs flowers at some point, however, it is important to gather information on customers needs to market to each person correctly.
• Understanding Your Competition: Marketing in your area is important so that you can grab a grasp on your local customers. Evaluate your competition and what they are offering and how you are different.
• Keep Customers: Focusing on generating new customers is one of the essentials of marketing. However, so is keeping the ones you already have. Be courteous to and respect your current customers and offer some perks to all your patrons new or old.
• Get Reviews: Remember marketing is also word of mouth. Encourage reviews and testimonials. These are little miracles for increasing traffic to your flower shop and website.
• Get On Social Media: We understand that you most likely already have your floral business on social media. Being on social media and current on social media are two different things. Please devote at least a half hour a day to your social media communities.
• Promote Your Work: We get it, not all florists use their own product images on their eCommerce. Images can be hard to take. You’re busy and the catalog images are selling great on your website.  The missing ingredient here is that you are promoting your work and your brand. Seen time and time again images of floral shops own work is priceless in achieving their own specific niche. Invest in a backdrop and use a great camera (some mobile phones do a great job and start building your portfolio). If using images not based on your work, be careful of Copyright trolls. It’s always best to use your own work.

 

Marketing Tips:

• Discount: Offer a discount for any customer that gives you an on the spot review at your store or while purchasing from your website. Put up a sign that says “$5.00 off total order for a review on Google and Yelp!”
• Photo Shoot: During slower months have a photo shoot day! Remember marketing does cost a little money and think of this as the modern way of advertising. Make up some great floral arrangements and get to taking pictures. Does the budget allow you to hire a photographer or someone just starting out in photography? Another option is to have a camera ready and to take images as you design and make the camera accessible to your designers.
• Social Media Platforms: There are platforms that can help you post on all your social media sites with just one posting. Check out Hootsuite.
• Emails: Capture every customer’s email! Make it a point to get this information. Email marketing can have a great return of repeat business. Again, make sure to ask customers for their email, most if not all are willing to share this with you.
• Blog: What? You’re not a writer! How can you blog? Everyone can blog. Write about what you know and use specific keywords that have to do with your floral business.  Make sure to squeeze in your location in the blog if you can.
• Quality: Offer quality with your brand, focus on your customers and offer the best possible product you can. However (florists, listen up, as most of you are famous for doing this) Do Not Give Things Away. Charge for your creative work and give customers quality. Do not over give. It will always be expected.

These are some easy ways to understand and get started with your floral marketing. Florists, let’s hear your feedback! 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 below.

________________________

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.

 Opening a flower shop is a great career opportunity. You get to be creative and work with flowers all day, right?

Well, yes. However, there are so many other facets when it comes to opening a flower shop business. The floral industry does require much more than just designing flowers. Remember, you are selling, designing, delivering, marketing and much more!

We asked florist’s all around the world to share their most crucial advice/tips on opening a flower business. If you are thinking or just starting a floral business this will help you get answers to some of your questions.

 

Which is most important when opening a flower shop?

1. Location (111%)
2. Creativity (55%)
3. Revenue (52%)
4. I just like flowers (7%)
5. All of the above (63%)
6. Other (30%)

 With an overwhelming 111%, Florists have stated that location is key when opening a flower shop. So remember Location, Location, Location.

Additional Florist Expert Advice: 

• “Is there a need in your community for “Your” idea of a flower shop?” – Wild By Nature

• “Knowledge of business in general. KNOWING how to design already!” – Victorias Floral Design 

• “Driven work ethic.” – Tilted Tulip Florist

• “Social media, marketing and internet presence” – anonymous

• “A working knowledge of flower care and preparation methods and reliable suppliers.” –  The Enchanted Florist

 

What would you say surprised you when you opened your flower shop?

Long hours was the #1 answer by most florist’s for this question, however, there were many great responses that we believe are important to keep in mind when opening a floral business.

Additional Florist Expert Advice: 

• “How much yelp reviews really grew my business. After the first year, people calling the shop always mentioned: “I found you on Yelp”. I had more business from that then the local community that soon followed.” – Ace of Vase

• “All the prep work” – anonymous

• “The overwhelming bookkeeping if you are no prepared or don’t have enough financial experience.” – Flower Bomb

• “That many of the people who buy flowers know a lot of things about them.” – anonymous

• “How much you worry about it all and never get a true break from it. Even when on holiday, you don’t ever stop! ” – Beco Flowers

• “It’s hard work.” –  anonymous

• “How quickly the local people embraced us.” – Maureen’s Designs

• “How much of a percent wire service take for orders.” –  anonymous

• “How complicated the process was from start to finish- all the different ways something could go wrong from the weather to the shipping issues, flower care, and handling, order taking, design and delivery.” – The Flower Bar

• “How much fun it is!” – anonymous

• “The physical aspect – from collecting and packing flowers at the market to the lifting, cleaning and moving of heavy buckets.”  – Petals

 

 How much money do you say is needed to start your own brick and mortar flower business?

1. $1,000 to $5,000 (10%)
2. $5,001 – $10,000 (22%)
3. $10,001 – $15,000 (60%)
4. Other (102%)

Other was the #1 answer for this question with the winning budget amount $25,000.

Additional Florist Expert Advice: 

• “Depends on style location. Could be as little as $300. or as much as $250,000.” – Kelly Mayo

• “$40,000 ” – anonymous

• “Up to $50,000. You need refrigeration, insurance, vehicles. You also need to buy flowers and supplies c o d for at least 6 months before people trust you. Salaries and advertising are big unexpected hits in the first 6 months.” – Gloria’s Florist

• “I began with 15k. I would have been wiser to double that.”  – anonymous

• “The worst thing is to be undercapitalized” – anonymous

• “Purchase a shop already in operation if possible, would be what I recommend. “-  anonymous

 

 If you could open your flower shop today, what is the one thing you would do differently?

Do not join a wire service was the #1 answer if florists could do one thing differently. Trailing behind and almost taking over the number one sport was “Choose a better location,” with having an eCommerce website in third.

Additional Florist Expert Advice: 

• “The decor and the location to be more accessible.”-  anonymous

• “Design myself and eliminate payroll” – anonymous

• “Not take wire orders, EVER.” – anonymous

• “Web strategy and online marketing”  – Menifee Florist

• “I would go to flower school first and then open my flower shop.” – anonymous

• “I would have done more advertising to let people know I was there. Put decals on my van sooner. ” –  Mugfords Flower Shoppe

• “Coolers flush to the floor and better processing area.” – The University Florist

• “MORE WEB EXPOSURE.” – anonymous

• “Change business name” – anonymous

 

 What is the best part of opening a flower shop?

1. Customer Interaction (50%)
2. Money, Money, Money (3%)
3. Being Creative (45%)
4. Being Your Own Boss (62%)
5. Flowers Galore (9%)
6. Other (22%)

Florists have chosen Being Your Own Boss as the best part of opening a flower shop. Though percentages were very close, coming in at 2nd place is Customer Interaction.

Additional Florist Expert Advice: 

• “Creating something bigger than myself.” – Studio Vincca

• “Being my own boss and being able to bring my children to work with me.” – anonymous

• “Satisfying a deep desire to own my own business, and put my big business and academic knowledge to work.” – anonymous

• “Bringing smiles to people’s faces thru my creativity.” – anonymous

• “Being able to go to a job you love every single day of your life! ” – anonymous

• “Rewarding to know you could do it, pleasing customers with your products.” – anonymous

 

What would be your most valuable tip to someone who wants to open a flower shop?

Working in a flower shop was the most valuable tip given to someone who wants to open a flower shop. This gives new prospects the understanding and functionality of how a flower shop is operated.

Additional Florist Expert Advice: 

• “Go for it! You must always try! Do not cut yourself short with the funds when borrowing $$.” – anonymous

• “You have to be passionate about flowers and ready for hard working for many hours to open a flower shop!!!”-  anonymous

• “Service from the heart.” – Yousef

• “Control labor and cost of goods sold.”-  anonymous

• “Keep your focus on quality and customer service.” – anonymous

• “Forget the idea there is no money to be made anymore and stay way from wire services.”-  anonymous

• “Be creative, make a difference.” – Floral Factory

 

What is the worst part of owning a flower shop?

1. Customer Interaction (4%)
2. Long Hours (64%)
3. Demanding Work Load (49%)
4. Having To Be Creative All The Time (2%)
5. Nothing (13%)
6. Other (54%)

Long hours took the top with florists on the worst part of owning a flower shop. The long hours and the demanding workload is something each florist will experience when opening and running a flower shop.

Additional Florist Expert Advice: 

• “All of it. Long hours, Staff, Customers, Physical Demand.” – Musgrove Florist

• “Having to make all the decisions and be the boss.” – anonymous

• “You pretty much need to eat, drink & sleep it unless you have a well paid very skilled staff.” – Flower Bomb

 

Would you recommend someone join a floral wire service when opening a flower shop? Tell us yes or no and why.

Overwhelmingly the #1 answer to this question was no, there was a tremendous response to this question with many great florist advice.

• “No! They undersell the florist and steal their business.” – anonymous

• “You don’t have to belong to a wire service at first. Many shops are moving to a direct call system where they call other shops and offer reciprocating discounts for the shop to shop orders. A wire service is helpful when you have the high volume out of town orders or if you have inexperienced employees.” – Beco Flowers

• “No. But I’m trying to get away from them. You have to buy their software/equipment and it is over priced. In the end you really only get around 70% of the order amount. Once you take out your costs & labor there’s not much profit there.” – Tilted Tulip Florist

• “Depends on the area- But I say no in this day and age.” – anonymous

• “Nope, No longer can make money with them.” – anonymous

• “Maybe for the first year to get your name out, but negotiate the terms. Otherwise no” – anonymous

• “Yes and No. They steal your hard earn income but it is more difficult to get orders and new clients without them. They have completely cornered the floral market.” – Amazing Occasion

• “Maybe but be selective and shop around.” – anonymous

 

According to design, what makes the most revenue?

1. Everyday Arrangements (40%)
2. Parties & Events (17%)
3. Sympathy (84%)
4. Weddings (35%)
5. Other (16%)

Sympathy is the biggest revenue generator for florists with everyday arrangements coming in second.

 

What are the standard flowers, filler, and greens you order on a weekly basis for your flower shop?

• “Baby breath, wax flowers and leather leaf.” – anonymous

• “Roses! Carnations, Mums, Alstromeria Lilies & Pomps/Daisies because they last… I like when people tell me and others how long their flowers lasted. Filler flowers – Baby’s Breath for sure and one or two others. Then some feature flowers for interest…Stock, Iris, Tulips etc. depending on the season.” – anonymous

• ” We stay away from the typical standards (carnations/mums) and buy the more unique blooms. Weekly purchases include mini cymbidium sprays (so many ways to use them!), hydrangeas and seasonal flowers such as tulips in spring, sunflowers in late summer, etc.” – anonymous

 

What popular florist holiday makes your business the most revenue?

1. Valentine’s Day (66%)
2. Easter (0%)
3. Mother’s Day (86%)
4. Memorial Day (1%)
5. Halloween (0%)
6. Thanksgiving (1%)
7. Christmas (20%)
8. None (4%)
9. Other (14%)

Step back Valentine’s Day, With a whopping 86% Mother’s Day won the top spot with the most revenue made for a flower shop.

 

What are the must have florist tools when opening a flower shop?

A knife was #1 tool recommended as a must have when opening a flower shop, with Secateurs taking 2nd place. For those of you who are not familiar with Secateurs, they are pruning clippers. Good scissors were also very close to 2nd place.

“Floral tape, wet foam, containers, knives, wrap paper, cellophane, deferent wires gauge, scissors, ribbon, bows, moist and shine spray”  – anonymous

“FloraNext! A cooler is also an important investment.” – Petals Flower Company

“Knife, wire nips, pruning shears…great accounting system, telephone, the internet….and the list goes on!!!” – anonymous

“A cooler, buckets, cutting tools, containers.” – anonymous

“Computer, phones, functional front of store, good size fridge” – Carls Flower Company

“A good POS system and Website.” – anonymous

“Knives, Scissors. Clippers” – anonymous

---

Florist’s we are very appreciative of your participation in our surveys. We had an overwhelming response to “tips on opening a flower shop survey”. We plan to continue surveys as your expert tips and advice is so helpful to our readers and for new and upcoming florists who are considering or opening a flower shop.

Please share any feedback you may have on Opening A Flower Shop in our comment section below.

________________________

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.

 

 

 Every business owner with a website (florists included) should be aware of Copyright Trolls!​

Understanding how Copyright Trolls work can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars. If you have never heard of Copyright Trolls then you must read this blog. Many businesses/florists learn too late and are charged steep fees. In this blog, we will get down to the nitty-gritty on Copyright Trolls.

So what are Copyright Trolls? To explain this, let’s first explain what a copyright is.

What Is A Copyright?

You may have seen the c with the circle around it (like this – ©). This is known as a copyright.  A copyright is a legal right to the owner of the original work. The original work copyright protects the artist in the following publications:

• Print
• Publish
• Perform
• Film
• Record
• Import & Export

Good to know: Some works may not have a copyright but a license. A license grants other people to use the artists work by strict agreements and a fee.

 

So what is a Copyright Troll?

Here it is – a Copyright Trolls owns © copyrights or licenses. But here is the catch, they have no intent to use the work they own.

• They search the web and find their copyright/licensed material.
• Threaten any user (such as a business) with fees for using their images without approval.
• They do not give up until they get some compensation as this is their main objective and how they make their money.

 

How does this affect your Flower Shop?

Copyright Trolls are internet based so let’s focus on the pictures you are currently displaying on your floral website.

• Did you take these pictures yourself and post? If so, no need to worry about Copyright Trolls.
• Were the pictures provided by your website hosting company? If so, you are again clear of Copyright Trolls.
• Did you copy these pictures off an internet website, search engine or social media site? If YES, remove immediately, regardless of what kind of picture it is. This is exactly what Copyright Trolls are looking for.

We do understand that when pictures are saved and copied by owners to their websites it is not with malicious intent. Most people just do not understand that Copyright Trolls exist. However, for those who have been hassled by Copyright Trolls, this is a very costly and serious issue.

 

What Images Should You Use? 

Before you copy a picture you like on to your website, make sure that it is not copyrighted and you are able to use it freely without repercussions.

• Use websites that offer free images or Creative Commons licenses.
• Pay for images using stock photos from a stock photo company.
•  If you are using the image for selling a product on your website make sure the license allows for that use.
• If you don’t know if an image is copyrighted, just ask! Many artists/companies would be happy to talk to you about the work in question.
• Best Option – take your own pictures of your work. With cameras everywhere now it is not so hard to take a quality picture.

Tip: We like to point out that some images you like may cost a bit but it is certainly worth to pay the small price tag to have the look and feel you are going for and save yourself the hassle of dealing with Copyright Trolls.

How To Fight Copyright Trolls

Once a Copyright Troll locates a picture on a website that is © (they have websites that locate these pictures on anyone’s website across the world), they will bombard you with threatening letters to pay a lump sum or else suffer litigation. If letters are not responded to, they will file claims for damages. This is such a hassle! Remember this is their daily job, they have nothing else to do but send you letters and make you pay.

The Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act – known as OCILLA – has some great advice to follow:

Let’s say you post © images on your website, you can protect yourself from claims under   Digital Millennium Copyright Act ( DMCA).

• No actual knowledge of copyrighted content on your website.
• No money is received by posting the copyrighted image.
• Removing the copyrighted image quickly once notified.

 

Florists lets us know any feedback on Copyright Trolls you may have. Share in the comment section below.

________________________

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 now is the time to gear up and prepare – Valentine’s Day is approaching at lightning speed!

 It is important to be ahead of the Valentine’s Day flower rush! Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest and possibly the most profitable holiday of the year, compared to Mother’s Day.

 In this blog, we will create a step by step checklist to make it easier for you to maintain organization and increase profits in your flowers shop for a smooth, successful Valentine’s Day.

Flower Shop Appearance

(Best implemented early to mid-January)

Valentine’s Day Decor: Take a look around and make your flower shop ooze love! Customers respond to seasonal and holiday decor, so go ahead and add your special touches. Create a beautiful window display if feasible. The key here is to create an inviting atmosphere, all while reminding customers Valentine’s Day is approaching.

 

 Flowers & Supplies

(Best implemented before mid-January)

Order Flowers: We encourage you to order your flowers early from your suppliers, ask for price breaks and be sure to order all you need but do not over order. Remember, Be Smart, Buy Smart!

Try A Flower Auction: Due to large quantities, you must buy in order to get a great deal, this may not be a good option for all year long but great for Valentine’s Day. Look into getting roses for a super value and again ordering early is key.

Order Supplies: Make sure you have good tools, and all the prep supplies you need (wire, tape, oasis, flower food, etc). Besides your tools and prep supplies, you will need vases and containers. Order your standard vases and shop around home decor stores for unique finds for great deals.

Order Add-Ons: Do not forget to order updated plush, candies, chocolate, balloons and candles. Anything is really up for grabs and can be an add-on. Cross-selling creates huge profits and these items generally last from year to year. If you can, invest in quality products and watch them sell.

 

Floral Website Checklist

(Best implemented before February, 1)

Ideally, it is best to have your floral eCommerce all set and ready for Valentine’s Day before the first of February.  However, it is never too late to do a few website renovations that will attract customers. Remember to implement some Valentine’s Day keywords for your SEO.

Website Products: Start with your Valentine’s Day product images, these should be displayed throughout the website in various pages. You may certainly add Valentine’s Day products to your Best Sellers, Birthday and any other pages you like. The key here is to add a few products sporadically on different pages, all while keeping your Valentine’s Day page.

Call To Action: Great practice is to have a call to action on your floral eCommerce.  Add a “Shop Now – Valentine’s Day Flowers” which will direct customers where they need to go. Make sure  Valentine’s Day is clearly shown on your menu nav bar so customers have easy access to the page.

Clear Valentine’s Day Policy: If your policy is somewhat hidden on your website, now is the time to post it more clearly. It is a great idea to post a delivery policy as well as it is impossible to deliver everyone’s arrangement at a set time. Picking a time range is always best (Valentine’s Day Delivery – Guaranteeing between 9:00 am – 5:00 pm). This is also something that can be posted on your website top bar.

Promotions: We encourage adding an early bird special. Unlike other holidays, Valentine’s Day is one day which can get very busy. Having customers select a different delivery day spreads the holiday throughout the week. Offer a free delivery or percentage off for anyone who opts for delivery before February 14.

Pricing: If you are charging more for Valentine’s Day flowers, make sure your floral eCommerce has holiday pricing set.

 

Valentine’s Day Employee Checklist

(Best implemented before February, 1)

Employee Scheduling: Discuss what is required from your employees as far as their scheduling goes. Most flower shop employees understand the importance of this holiday, have a clear understanding of days and times they must work.

Cross-Selling & UpGrades: Valentine’s Day is a such a busy holiday in a flower shop that sometimes cross-selling or upgrading is not even thought of. We encourage you to make upgrading and cross-selling mandatory in your flower shop. The difference is astronomical in profits, every employee should offer a customer more with every sale.

Extra Help: Hire any extra help you need this week, front counter help, designers, and delivery drivers. Make sure to go over all that is required including scheduling.

 

Valentine’s Day Prep Checklist

(Best implemented after February, 5)

Prep Your Flowers: When your flower supply arrives, be sure to quickly prep all your flowers, do not cut corners. Prepping is the key in selling beautiful long lasting flowers. How to flower prep.

Supplies: Cut your ribbon ahead time for quick access. Line up all your codified containers and make sure you have enough, same goes for pics, pins, plush, candies and so on.

Get To Greening: Practiced by many florists, green vases before the holiday. Greens are very long lasting, doing this ahead of time will save you some valuable time (be sure to keep in cooler all pre-greened containers and vases).

 

Valentine’s Day Week Checklist

Get Your Display On: Create bundle deals and display them throughout the shop. Add special offers for roses purchased with plush, candies, or any combination. Make sure these are visible for easy purchase for walk-in customers.

Single Roses: A big seller from many florists has been the single wrapped rose. Pre-make tons of these and place them at your front counter. These sell quickly and most customers will almost always purchase an add -on to go along with the single wrapped rose. Be sure to display them close together.

Tip: Wrap single colored roses as well. Customers love these, with the color pink trailing right behind red. 

Delivery Route: Look over the orders you currently have and make a set plan with your drivers on what areas they are delivering to. Remember more orders trickle in the day before Valentine’s Day and day of, so be as organized as possible, with the delivery routing for each driver.

Tip: If you can, we advise having a standby driver at the shop, this driver will handle all new orders that come in on Valentine’s Day.

Attire: Why a section on attire? We want you to be comfortable! Please wear proper shoes. Do Not allow employees to wear open toe shoes, this can be an insurance liability.  Be comfortable and wear closed toe shoes.

Do Not Be Wasteful: With the orders piling up it is so easy to be wasteful, make sure to use what you need. Amazing how many flowers and supplies are simply thrown on the floor and then thrown out. Discuss the importance with your employees on not wasting products, this all cuts into your bottom line profits.

Watch Your Finances: You are exhausted we get it, however, please be sure to check your daily sales for each day leading up to Valentine’s Day. Keep clear reports on all accounts payable and accounts receivable.

 

Valentine’s Day Checklist

All the preparations have paid off! Valentine’s Day is here!

Everything Will Be Great: Florists by nature tend to be perfectionists. Our advice is everything will come together. The day will fly by so enjoy it, focus on your task at hand rather than feel like you have to be doing everything.

Keep Up The Sense Of Humor: Do not sweat the small stuff. Things can happen and they are all part of the Valentine’s Day flower shop process.

Treat Employees To Lunch: This is great for the fellowship in the flower shop and also keeps employees from venturing out for lunch.

Delivery Confirmations: If you participate with a floral wire service, be sure to confirm all your delivered orders. Doing so will keep you from being charged high non-delivery confirmation fees. Most floral wire services have a time that they need to be confirmed by, so please do this accordingly.

 

Florists, have any great Valentine’s Day tip to share with our readers? Please post your feedback below, as it is so important to us! We would like to wish all florists a very lucrative and successful Valentine’s Day!

________________________

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.

 

 

 An easy way to get the most out of your eCommerce sales.

No question that in this day and age every florist who offers everyday retail must have an eCommerce (commercial transactions conducted electronically on the Internet) website.

In this blog, let’s talk about floral websites best practices, ways of improving SEO (search engine optimization), content, user friendliness, and some other vital information on maximizing your eCommerce website.

 

Domain Name 

If you already have a domain name that has been on the internet or continues to be, please DO NOT change it! Domain names carry valuable SEO, so changing your domain name will have you starting from scratch in building up your SEO.

For those of you who do not yet have a domain name here are important tips on selecting the right domain.

• Use proper keywords in your domain, if you are a flower business, then without a doubt, you must use a keyword specific to your business. For example, flowers, floral, and florist.

• Once you have picked your domain name (flowershop.com) please make sure this is a vital domain name which was never linked to any unpromising business practices in the past. You may check this on domainhistory.net.
•  

Floral Website Appearance

We understand the sensitivity of this topic, however, it is a very important to go over your florist website appearance.  Regardless if your SEO is top ranking, if your floral website is not appealing to a multitude of customers you will lose valuable sales.

• Design: Be very careful when selecting colors and backgrounds, especially trendy backgrounds with patterns. These can turn off potential customers from shopping on your eCommerce.

• Products: Pay special attention to your product images, they should all look consistent, not overly large, or mismatched.

• Logo: Your logo should be big enough to read but not so big it takes half your home page. A clean simple logo always works best than a specific style that may not be appealing to a large demographic of visitors.

Best Practices for Floral Website Appearance

• Neutral background –  (white or black) Check out some other eCommerce websites and you will see a trend in white backgrounds with some black. These companies can spend millions on the appearance of their eCommerce websites and still choose to keep it simple with a neutral background.

• Fonts – All fonts should all be consistent and not overly mismatched. Fonts should also be large enough to read and understand.

• Mobile Friendly website –  A responsive website will allow customers who are on any other devices (tablet, iPad or mobile) a better shopping experience.  Besides this very important reason, Google search engines as of April 2015, is using websites who are mobile friendly as a ranking signal.

• Specific florist content – Having lots of specific content on your website allows for more keywords.  Keywords are high for indexing and ranking your florist website by increasing your SEO. Write a hefty “About Us” and wording for each page.

• Contact information – Your address should be clear and visible on the homepage, we like to see it listed on top (header) of the home page and also below (footer). You should still have a “Contact Us ” page with your address, business phone number, map, and email options.

• No rotating images or videos on your homepage – Reframe from using quick rotating banners, images or videos on your home page. This can be really confusing to your shopper and actually altogether make them click out of your floral website. While researching floral eCommerce, we found out that the websites who had no moving images, banners or videos on the home page had a tremendously better bounce rate and higher sales.
•  

Floral Website Content, SEO & Tags

If you are working with a floral website hosting company then most of these important functions should be already implemented on your eCommerce website.  In the chance that they are not, we want you to be super informed on these floral websites must haves for SEO.

• Add-Ons & Upgrades: All products should offer customers upgrading options and add-ons. Adding these two simple elements to your floral website can have a huge impact on your profits.

• Header Tags: Headers tags (H1 ) highest level of tags are valuable in SEO, as it sums up what your website is about. Writing a correct H1 tag is essential and should be done by your website provider.  H1 tags greatly improve your search engine rankings.

• Wedding /Event Gallery: If you do wedding and event flowers, it is a great idea to showcase your beautiful work in an image gallery on your website. These are very successful with customers, spending loads of time admiring your selections, which also increases your SEO.
  • Make sure customers can clearly see an option to contact you for a consolation.
  • Write a short bio on your Wedding/Event flowers page. It is perfectly OK to be conceded.(be sure to include specific keywords such as wedding, event, locations and so on)

• Website Footer: Your floral website footer is very important! The footer contains loads of information and valuable keywords which rank really well for your overall SEO. Make sure your floral eCommerce has a footer with a clear title descriptions and locations where services are provided.  Below are footer website must haves.
  • Terms of Service, Privacy Policy
  • Site Map
  • Contact Us
  • Business Address
  • Local Pages

• Local Pages: Offering great placement for SEO, local pages allows you to add multiple locations and businesses you provide services to on a designated page on your website. Rather than just placing high for your location, you may add various locations to also rank for those areas. You can also add hospitals, funeral homes, venues, schools, and many more to rank for these business keywords.
•  

Floral Website Marketing

There are countless ways of marketing for your florist website, below we will explore some options that have proven successful getting customers to purchase on your eCommerce site.

• Offer Promotions & Coupons:  Shoppers love deals, offer coupon codes periodically on your floral website for percentages off a total shopping cart. Set an amount that customers must spend in order to get the percentage off, free delivery is also a great selling option. Promotions are great to offer on specific items, for instances a percentage off on roses.

• Give It For Free: If you are new to the eCommerce website a great way to have customers buzzing about your floral website is to offer something for Free. We understand you cannot give it all for free, how about a raffle or the first customers who email you from your website can get a free arrangement.
  • This keeps customers clicking on your website, building your SEO.
  • You can post the winner on your social media, which creates conversations and likes, which also increases your visibility.

 

These are some easy ways to get the most out of your eCommerce site. Florists,  let’s hear your feedback! Do you have any important website design functions that have been successful? Please share all your feedback, tips or any floral website related questions you would like addressed below.

________________________

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.