Information:

Cultivate’20 will be held July 111-14, 2020 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

For more information about this event, please visit OAF’s Website.

Information:

2019 CONVENTION

July 26 – 28, 2019 
Holiday Inn Louisville East Hurstbourne
More details TBA

For more information, please visit the Kentucky Florist Association website.

Information:

The Texas Floral Expo will offer two courses of study rather than an exclusive focus on design.

The Design Course of Study and the Business Course of Study relate to the needs of the individual offering the best possible education whether your passion is design or whether you feel the need to expand your business skills.

If design is your focus then you will be able to register for presentations that cover a multitude of design topics presented by the best in the industry.

If you are all about business there will be two and half days of specific programming covering a range of topics! Additional information can be found at the Texas State Floral Association website.

Online advertising, online promotions, and online visibility are all musts to stay relevant with your target audience.

Facebook has had the biggest user base among all social media networks, boasting 2 billion users globally. However, the story is dim for Facebook’s younger user base in the United States.

For the past two years, Facebook has lost 15 million users, and the majority of them are teenagers and young adults. Instagram, a social media network also owned by Facebook, is experiencing the reverse of that trend: in the same span of time, its user base composition of teens rose from 64% to 66%.

Snapchat, another social media network with a similar form as Instagram, is also experiencing the same trend.

Still, Facebook remains relevant as a platform for businesses, given its user count and expansive set of tools for advertising. However, Instagram and Snapchat become new pastures to be ventured or focused on, and the motivation to put out visual content is ever so higher.

Prioritizing these platforms is critical for businesses whose audience are the tweens, and we florists hit that criteria. So get your cameras and flowers out and start taking photos!

Pricing in Floral Advertising

Since Instagram is slowly entering as one of our main platforms to focus on, we’ll be dealing with its pricing strategies for advertising. However, spoiler alert: there are no clear-cut prices for it. Reasonable estimates round off to be $0.20-$2 per click or $5 per 1,000 visitors, depending on the advertising model that you want to do.

There are many factors that affect the price on Instagram. If you are familiar with Facebook’s advertising tools, then you’ll also know how Instagram advertising works, since Facebook, as the owner of Instagram, uses the same set of tools. 

Facebook’s advertising system works like an auction, and thus the pricing varies depending on a lot of factors. Instagram demographics are usually feminine, with a youth bias, and targeting this demographic will increase the price.

The factors that affect the pricing are the amount you are willing to bid for your campaign, your ads’ Relevance Score (determined by the quality of your ad, among other things), and your estimated action rates (how likely your audience will do your desired outcome, i.e. interact with it).

In this auction system, they subsidize relevant ads. To quote Facebook, “an ad that’s relevant to a person could win an auction against ads with higher bids.” The important part here is to note that ad quality and relevance matter in their pricing. 

Florists and Search Engines

In the world of the search engine, Yelp has partnered with Bing for better local Bing search results.

For example, Yelp reviews of local businesses will now show up on Bing’s search results page. Much like in the form of Google My Business and their Google reviews, you can also sort these reviews into Recent, Critical, and Favorable.

For businesses with multiple locations, it gives users the option to go through each location’s reviews. Information about businesses is also now available in Bing’s knowledge panel, courtesy of Yelp.

Yelp has always been a people’s favorite for assessing the quality of business places, and thus you should always maintain a good standing there. However, with this partnership with Bing, Yelp data are now more visible and thus you should be more mindful of them now.

Remind yourself to reply to reviews in Yelp; express gratitude and encourage people who left good reviews to come back, dropping possible offers or promos, and inquire and attempt to resolve issues addressed in the reviews, replying back if it has been done.

The world is not living in two versions of reality as you might think; the digital reality is interacting with our reality in very close-knit ways. Taking advantage of this will not give your business an even edge but rather a requirement in today’s fast-paced world.

Florists must be up to date with these business practices to stay relevant. Keeping yourself updated with changes in social media, search engines, and more can help make your business grow.

 

Florists, are you using Instagram, Snapchat, or Yelp to promote your Floral business? Any suggestions, comments, or ideas that could help other florists? Please share your comments below!

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

 

Information:

OAF Cultivate’19 will be held July 13-16, 2019 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

For more information about this year’s event, please visit OFA Website.

Information:

2019 – AIFD Conference – Awaken – Las Vegas

More information TBA

For more information on this event, please visit the AFID website. 

Studies show flowers helps patients recover!

Sending flowers to anyone you know that is sick or sad might be the go-to gift, but the sending of flowers is actually more helpful than you think. It might surprise you, but there are more to flowers than just the look and smell—they can have some really positive effects on your health as well.

Floral Studies

A few years ago the American Society for Horticulture Science performed a study seeing if plants have any influence on patients, and the results were outstanding. A group of patients was split into rooms with plants and flowers and the other half with no plants or flowers. The patients who had plants in their room had better results than those who did not have plants.

According to the study, those exposed to flowers and plants needed less pain medication, had lower blood pressure and heart rates, were less anxious and tired, and generally were in a more positive psychological state than patients in rooms without plants. The results of this research actually show that flowers should be offered to recovering patients.

Another study published in Contemporary Therapies in Medicine records that bouquets of flowers can also reduce our stress levels. The study gave women in college a fresh bouquet of roses for their dorm room. Results showed that each woman felt more relaxed and stress-free.

Flowers and Plants in the Home

They say home is where the heart is, and you should feel good being at home. Like patients in recent studies, a room with plants or flowers help overall well being, so why not add flowers in your home?

Keep flowers in your bedroom, like gerbera daisies. Gerberas emit oxygen and absorb toxins and carbon monoxide at night instead of during the day like most flowers, and some say they sleep better.

Having flowers on a dining room table is a must. Studies have shown that people who have flowers on their tables while eating are in a better mood—as long as you don’t bring up politics!

Plants & Flowers in the Office

Seem like you are in a rut and cannot focus at work? Why not add flowers and plants to your working space! Plants placed in a room help rejuvenate the oxygen in the room helping us think more clearly and keep the focus on the task at hand. Seeing green plants also helps with creativity as evidence has been shown in a case study by Shibata and Suzuki.

Flowers placed in the office not only helps our mood visually but also the smell of the flowers can help. Smelling floral scents seems to put us in a good mood and make us feel less anxious. Floral smells can help take the edge off during exams or before any major presentation you have before a group of people. So as they say, stop and smell the roses!

Floral Colors

Floral colors can also attribute to our well being and mental state. Flowers that are less saturated and brighter are generally more relaxing, while bold saturated colors will help energize you. Colors near each other on the color wheel will be more calming than those opposite on the color wheel.

Customers search online about the things they want to buy, even if it’s a simple local purchase.

 

Google is not only helpful for consumers, but it’s also good for businesses. As long as you can use that to your advantage by strengthening your business’s online presence, your floral e-commerce website can succeed. 

Florist Quick Guide to Google My Business

Google My Business is Google’s one-stop shop for all things online for your business. It is an online platform that contains tools where you can manage how your business will look like in Google and Google Search.

Google My Business (GMB) improves your local SEO by:

* Giving you the options to add your business and the relevant details to Search and Maps

* Viewing and replying to customer reviews

* Adding photos

What are Google My Business local Guides?

Google My Business’s Local guides allow people to contribute to the following:

*Adding information to Maps

*Adding photos

*Updating information on businesses they are familiar with or local to them

*Adding new places to the platform.

The program differentiates individuals into tiers, depending on how much they have contributed to Maps. The goal for them is to keep Maps updated and help other people be fully informed about the businesses and places around them. 

Aside from adding data, Local Guides can also add reviews to business listings. However, they are considered to be more reliable users, thus their reviews appear more frequently and on top of the reviews list. 

How Can I Improve My Local Pages?

Customers who come across your business, those who make a purchase or require service can be a Local Guide. It can be hard to tell Local Guides apart from normal customers. Local Guides reviews are trusted more by people just with the sheer fact that their reviews are given priority when displaying reviews on your listing.

You cannot just pick out Local Guides from your customers and give them the best service you can. The key here is to treat all your customers the same and give the best service as much as you can to everyone. 

Encourage customers to leave reviews for your business listing in Google Maps.

When receiving Positive Reviews:

*Reply to reviews in your listing

*Make sure to thank the reviewer

*Offer them to return 

*Try out a new service that you might have started on your business.

 

When receiving Negative Reviews:

*Be polite and courteous

*State the status of the concern or issue the review was having problems with.

*Apologize for the issue or concern

*Offer to replace or fix the issue

 

Doing this will give people the impression that you are very mindful of the concerns that your business has and responsive to your customer base.

 

The tools that GMB provides are beneficial in boosting your online presence, and most especially in the local setting. Taking advantage of these tools is thus invaluable in helping out your business grow.

Florists, have you been using Google my Business: Local Guides? Please share your thoughts and comments below!

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

 

Recently, Federal, State, and Local agencies have been hacked. Is your flower shop next?

Over the past weeks, cybercriminals have attacked computers in Baltimore and other US cities, freezing computers, shutting down email, and interrupting real estate sales, water bills, health alerts and many other services.

We have collected some helpful tips so that your flower business won’t be the next victim of similar kinds of hack attempts!

How Can Hacking Affect My Floral Shop?

Without having the most recent PC operating systems, like Windows 8.1 or 10, or up to date security patches, your floral business is at a high risk to be hacked. Many businesses who do not have up-to-date operating systems or security patches can experience the following:

• Frozen or locked out of your PC
• Stolen passwords and personal data
• Stolen business/customer data
• Viruses installed
• Your computer can be used to attack others
• Lost time and productivity

How Can I Secure My Flower Shop From Hackers?

1. Apply the latest patches: Make sure you have all your security patches up-to-date on your PC’s operating system. On Microsoft, here are some helpful hints for checking if you need a security update. If you’re on Mac, this article has instructions.

2. Don’t use outdated software: Use the recent operating system that Microsoft offers (Windows 8.1 or Windows 10). Windows 7 will no longer be supported by Microsoft starting January 14th, 2020! Older operating systems like Windows XP no longer receive security patches and are a huge security risk.

3. Download a Password Manager: Passwords are easier to guess than you think! Don’t use the same password for different sites. Use a password storage tool so save and protect passwords. If one of your passwords is compromised, other sites will not be compromised as well. We like 1Password.

4. Use two-factor authentication: Add an additional layer of security for at least your most critical services like banking, accounting, and email. When you log in with two-factor authentication (2FA), you will be sent a text message or verification code from an service like Authy or Google Authenticator.

 

We hope this information is helpful and allows you to run a successful and secured flower shop. Florists, please feel free to post any questions or comments below!

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

 

 

 

 

 

The 2019 Florist Mother’s Day Survey Results Are In!

 

A big thank you to everyone who participated in our annual Mother’s Day survey. Once again we received a strong response from our readers and members.

Results were based on the 347 retail surveyed by Floranext between May 15th through February 22nd.

Were 2019 Mother’s Day Sales Better Than Last Year?

• Lower – 18.1%
• Same – 20.5%
• Higher – 61.4%

Were Mother’s Day In-Store Retail sales greater than last year?

• Yes – 59%
• No – 41%

Aside From Red Roses, What Was Your Top-Selling Products This Mother’s Day?

• Arranged Flowers – 79.5%
• Hand-Tied Bouquets – 11.7%
• Other Roses – 7%
• Other – 1.8%

What Was The Most Popular Gift Item This Mother’s Day?

• Candy/Chocolates – 41.8%
• Stuffed Animals – 2.4%
• Balloons – 14.7%
• Other – 41.2%

What Did you Charge For  Dozen Long Stem Roses Arranged

• $75.00 (average total from participants)

How Many Extra Temporary Drivers Did You Hire This Mother’s Day?

• 0 – 18%
• 1 – 22.1%
• 2 – 20.3%
• 3 – 18.6%
• 4 or more – 20.9%

How Many Extra Temporary Shop Staff Did You Hire This Mother’s Day?

• 0 – 30.8%
• 1 – 26.7%
• 2 – 18%
• 3 – 15.7%
• 4 or more – 8.7%

Did You Use/Rent Delivery Vehicles / Trucks This Mother’s Day?

• 0 – 69.2%
• 1 – 14%
• 2 – 9.9%
• 3 – 1.1%
• 4 or more – 5.8%

When Did Your Floral Business Start Receiving Mother’s Day Orders?

• First Half Of April – 3%
• Second Half Of April – 3%
• First Week Of May – 59.3%
• Mother’s Day Week – 34.8%

What, If Anything, Would You Do Differently Next Mother’s Day?

List of a few randomly selected comments:

• “Order More Flowers.”
• “Get Flowers In Earlier.”
• “Bigger Online Presence, Online Advertising.”
• “More Prepping of Vases.”
• “Make up more flower arrangements ahead of time.”
•  “Promote earlier and use Social Media More!.”
• “Limit The Options.”
• “Order more plants as another option.”
• “Pray for nicer weather.”

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Florists, was this Mother’s Day successful and resulted in more sales? What would you consider to implement that next year? Do you have any feedback on your 2019 Mother’s Day sales season? Your fellow florists would love to hear about it—please feel free to share 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.