April 2012 Floriology

FOLLOWFOLLOWUS ONUS ON

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Mark Nance, AAFPresident, BloomNet

PUBLISHER

BloomNet, Inc.www.MyBloomNet.net

(866) 256-6663

SENIOR EDITOR

Lisa Carmichael

MANAGING EDITOR

Fred Russell

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Len Vermillion, Megan Sullivan

ART DIRECTOR

Shane Hickey

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Mike Pucci

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS

Ted MarloweJerry Rosalia

floriology is published monthly byBloomNet, Inc.

Printed in the United States, Copy-right 2012. All rights reserved. Nomaterial contained herein may bereproduced without the consent ofthe publisher or editor. Permission toreproduce portions of this publicationshould be obtained through Bloom-Net, Inc. Publications.

All statements are those of the per-son making the statement or claim.The publisher does not adopt anystatement or claim as its own and anystatement or claim does not necessar-ily reflect the opinion of the publisher.

Although published material is intend-ed to be accurate, neither floriologynor any other party will assume liabil-ity for loss or damage as a result ofreliance on this material.

Opinions expressed are not necessar-ily those of BloomNet, Inc.

Annual Subscription Rate is $71.88 (plusapplicable tax) in U.S. and Canada.

4 Industry InfoSAF Congressional Action Daysand AIFD National Symposium.

5 By the StatsThe growth of social media haschanged how we live and work.

6 Out & AboutGeorgia State Convention, Floriology Institute, Michigan State’s Great LakesFloral Expo, and more!

8 design center: On the EdgeDonald Yim’s latest designs are stunning yet easy to re-create.

10 Owner’s CornerRick Canale of Exotic Flowers in Boston is an industry leader in usingsocial media as a marketing tool.

12 design center: Back to BasicsFrank Brice creates three Mother’s Day designs in bird nest containers.

14 Tech TalkFlorists should consider planning a Pinterest strategy.

14 OperationsIs your shop prepared for Mother’s Day?

15 MarketingEngagement is the key to successful marketing with Facebook’s Timeline.

15 Care & HandlingMom’s favorite flowers require TLC.

16 Neighborhood CornerFort Huachuca Flower Shop in Arizona caters to soldiers on base.

WHAT’S INSIDEV O L . 3 N O . 6 | A P R I L 2 0 1 2

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>>>On the cover: A Donald Yimdesign, photo courtesy of WestVan Florist, Vancouver, B.C.

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UP FRONT

WHAT’S ON TAP

● Mother’s DayMay 13

● Memorial DayMay 28

● Louisiana AnnualConventionJune 2-3Lafayette, La.

● Florida State FloristAssoc. ConventionJune 8-10Stuart, Fla.

● Floral StrategiesFuneral Sales BootCamp WebinarJune 12

● Floriology Institute5-Day Basic Principles& Elementsof Design*June 11-15Jacksonville, Fla.

● SAF Retail GrowthSolutionsJune 19-20Philadelphia

● Dallas Total Home& Gift MarketJune 20-26Dallas, Texas

● Utah AnnualFlorist ConventionJune 23-24Salt Lake City

❋ Go to MyBloomnet.netfor more info!

AttentionReaders!In addition to the printedition of floriology,you also can read themagazine on yourdigital devices. Scanthe QR code here oron the cover to viewour first digital edition.

THE BIG “A”Floral industry reports all point to a record-setting Valentine’sholiday both in terms of increased retail customers and floral or-ders, as well as a substantial uplift in average order value. These areall good indicators for Mother’s Day. However, a level of uncertaintystill exists in many shops as their day-to-day business seems to beinconsistent at best. Why?

Obviously, there are several reasons including local economicimpact, competition, financials, supply and technology to name afew...and each of those reasons seems to be individual to the shop. Yet, I think an interestingquestion is why are many shops not exhibiting fluctuations and rather, they are seeing dailysales increasing? I believe one contributing factor is the Big “A”: ATTITUDE.

At a recent grand reopening, 50-plus customers came into the store during the first threehours. At the end of the day, the store welcomed more than 250 customers. In one day! Butjust as important as the number of people who showed up is the fact that a great attitude wascreated from the moment customers began arriving.

As each customer entered the store they were greeted by enthusiastic staff and asked tocomplete a form for a contest to win gas cards, watches, flower arrangements, discounts andseveral other prizes. Immediately, the energy level among customers was raised, pepperedwith anticipation that they could capture a prize. The form asked for all the usual pertinentinformation...name, address, phone, zip, email address and, can you believe it, the form evenasked customers if they wanted to open a house account.

After the forms were collected, each customer’s name was entered into the contest and theywere given their choice of a complimentary small flower arrangement. And guess what? Notone customer left with just the free flowers.

Instead, they left with a super-positive attitude about the shop. Everyone was talking abouthow beautiful the flowers were, the aromas that filled the air, the staff in uniforms, the newpaint, signage, the newly wrapped delivery truck. And all were having fun.

Winston Churchill once said, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” Indeed,attitude seems to trump just about everything else in life, and nowadays attitude has a lot todo with how we deal with change in our business.

I recently read that within one year, 40 percent of all floral transactions will be completed ona mobile device or app. Yes, the floral industry is changing. And the positive—perhaps oppor-tunistic—attitude we all take toward that change can make a big difference in the growth andprosperity of our industry. With those thoughts in mind, what is your attitude toward mobileapps, Facebook, Pinterest and other technologies affecting our business?

In this month’s issue we jump back into social media and present some staggering statisticsand information impacting the floral business...keeping in mind that with the right “A,” it’s nota problem, it’s an adventure filled with many exciting possibilities. Have a very successful andfun Mother’s Day!

Mark Nance, aaf | President

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THE COFFEE POT

Dear Floriology reader,We value your opinions. What do you like about the magazine? How can we improve? We en-courage all feedback—our goal remains to strengthen and build the community within the floralindustry. Please email your thoughts to us at [email protected].

❋ The Floriology team

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INDUSTRY INFO AWARDS, SHOWS, ADVOCACY

One of the great things about America is the oppor-tunity for citizens to have their voices heard by ourcountry’s leaders. Last month (March 19-20) the powerof those voices to effect change was on display as

more than 90 retail florists, floral wholesalers and growers came toWashington, D.C., for the Society of American Florists Congressio-nal Action Days (CAD).

Each year the eventoffers a strong plat-form for people allover the floral industryto communicate theirneeds and concernson Capitol Hill. Andthat’s exactly what theydid as floral profes-sionals made theirway through the hallsof Congress...sharingideas with legislativeaides, chiefs of staffs and 27 different members of Congress repre-senting a wide and diverse array of constituencies nationwide.

Among the priorities on the CAD agenda this year was an effort toconvince Congress to pass a bill designed to help sustain America’s“Main Street” businesses. Specifically, CAD attendees asked legisla-tors in Washington to help create an easier way for small businessesto obtain capital as well as simplify the tax code to reduce the cost ofcompliance for retail shops and other “micro-businesses” that havealways been vital to the fabric of the American economy.

“Congressional Action Days gives retail florists a seat at the tablewith members of Congress and their key staff advisors to talk directlyabout issues that mean something to their businesses—like access tocapital,” says Drew Gruenburg, SAF chief operating officer.

Drew goes on to explain that during the CAD event in March, flo-rists spoke to 144 congressional offices about the financial challeng-es that continue to plague their businesses. “And, one week later,we [were] very close to having a bill introduced in the U.S. Congressthat will help retail florists get the capital they need to sustain theirbusinesses and help their local communities,” Drew says.

Also attending Congressional Action Days were Tony Tantillo,BloomNet regional vice president, and Gino Marotta, BloomNetnational sales director. Tony emphasizes that again this year CADprovided an outstanding forum for florists from around the country,working together to get bills passed to help the floral industry growand prosper. “It was a great experience,” Tony exclaims.

SYMPOSIUM

SUMMER HEATSizzling agenda on tap for AIFDSymposium in July.

LeBron James and his teammates will not be the onlyMiami Heat to ignite excitement in South Florida thisyear. In what is being billed as “Caliente,” the Ameri-

can Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) will hold its NationalSymposium July 12-16 at the Hyatt Regency Miami Hotel.

The event promises to be a hot attraction, filled withcreative trend-forward ideas and inspiration from the world’sleading floral designers. Among the scheduled highlights arestage presentations by renowned floral design artists fromthe United States as well as Finland, the Netherlands and oth-er countries. In addition, hands-on workshops will be offered.

Also on the agenda are several business-related presen-tations. These informative sessions include “Creating AWorld-Class Service Organization,” featuring Dennis Snowand sponsored by elite platinum partner BloomNet, and

“Sand In My Shoes – Cus-tomer Service Challenges,”a luncheon featuring thefloral décor of Michael Wha-ley, AIFD and sponsored byBloomNet and Napco.

“AIFD’s National Sympo-sium is the most exciting,motivational, artistically-refreshing program of itskind in the floral industry,”states Tom Bowling, AIFD,PFCI, president of AIFD.

Included in the stagepresentations are: “Objects – Be the Best Designer YouCan Be” with Pim van den Akker; “Made In America – TheAmerican Floral Trends Forecast 2012-2013” with TalmageMcLaurin, AIFD; and “Les Saisons des fleur de Mariage” withIan Prosser, AIFD and commentary by Grace Ormonde.

As part of the Symposium event, aspiring designers—whoare endeavoring to achieve AIFD’s Certified Floral Designer(CFD) designation and ultimately become accredited AIFDmembers—will be given the opportunity to participate inAIFD’s Professional Floral Design Evaluation (PFDE). ThePFDE will take place on July 10 and a special design pro-gram will be offered to PFDE candidates on July 11 whiletheir designs are being evaluated.

Other activities on the Symposium program include re-ceptions during which attendees can view the work of PFDEcandidates and AIFD Student Competition designs. Alsofeatured will be the “AIFD Partners Expo and Book Fair”showcasing the products and services of AIFD partners.

For further information visit www.aifd.org.

GOVERNMENT

SAF CONGRESSIONALACTION DAYSAnnual event gives florists a ‘seat atthe table’ with members of Congress.


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SOCIAL MEDIA BY THE STATS

by Mike Pucci

General Statistics❋ 66% of adults who go online are connect-

ed to one or more social media platforms

❋ 50% of social networking users say theycheck into their favorite networks first thingin the morning

❋ 58% of businesses report seeing a drop inmarketing costs by utilizing social mediaas a vehicle to market their products and/or services

Some people have compared the rapid rise in popularity of social network-ing to the kind of game-changer that has literally revolutionized our societythroughout history…for example, the invention of electricity, automobiles, and thetelephone. Agree or disagree, the fact is that social media is indeed impacting ourdaily lives in a big-time way.

This month, floriology departs from its usual “By the Stats” format and we letthe numbers themselves do the talking. In addition to some general statistics, wefocus on six of the most highly used social media platforms: Facebook, Pinterest,Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+.

ENORMOUS GROWTH OF SOCIAL MEDIAHAS CHANGED HOW WE LIVE AND WORK.

Social Impact

FACEBOOK

■ 1 in every 9 people onEarth is on Facebook

■ If Facebook were acountry, it would havethe world’s 4th largestpopulation

■ Of the 850+ millionFacebook users, 31%check in more thanonce a day

■ 4.7 billion minutes arespent collectively onFacebook every day

■ More than 250 millionpeople access Face-book via their mobiledevices

■ Facebook is translatedinto 70 languages

■ The average Facebookuser has 130 friends

■ 30 billion pieces ofcontent are sharedon Facebook everymonth

■ 57% of users say they“like” a brand be-cause they want toreceive discounts andpromotions

■ 29% of brands on Face-

book have offered dealswithin the platform

■ More than 2.5 millionwebsites have inte-grated with Facebook

PINTEREST

■ Nearly 12 millionpeople use Pinterest

■ Women account for80% of the site’s userbase

■ 60% of users have at-tended college

■ 30% of Pinterest usersare between 25 and 34years old; 25% are 35-44; 17% are 18-24

■ 50% of Pinterest usershave children

■ More than 80% ofPinterest pins are “re-pins” (content alreadypinned being pinnedagain by users)

■ American users ofPinterest spend anaverage of 1 hour and17 minutes on the site

TWITTER

■ 500 million registered

users are on Twitter■ 36% of users tweet at

least once a day■ In total, Twitter us-

ers send 175 milliontweets each day

■ 40% of users do notactually tweet...insteadthey check to see whattheir friends are doing

■ 32% of users will re-tweet when offered anincentive

■ 20% of marketersclaim to have closed asale using Twitter

LINKEDIN

■ More than 150 millionmembers use LinkedInin 200 countries andterritories

■ 60% percent ofLinkedIn members arelocated outside of theUnited States

■ LinkedIn membersconducted nearly 4.2billion professionally-oriented searches onthe platform in 2011

■ There are 2 million

SOURCES: The Social Skinny, Mashable, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Google and Google+

companies on LinkedIn■ 50% of LinkedIn us-

ers have a bachelor’sdegree or higher

YOUTUBE

■ More than 500 millionunique users visit You-Tube every month

■ 48 hours of video areuploaded to YouTubeevery minute, result-ing in nearly 8 yearsof content uploadedevery day

■ In total, YouTube usersspend 2.9 billion hoursper month on the site

■ YouTube generates92 billion page viewseach month (not in-cluding videos viewedon phones or embed-ded in websites)

GOOGLE+

■ Over 90 millionpeople use Google+

■ 44% of Google+ usersare single

■ American users spendan average of 6 min-utes on Google+

■ Google+ was the fast-est social network toreach 10 million users,accomplishing that featin just 16 days (Face-book took 852 daysand Twitter took 780days)

❋How is socialmedia impact-

ing your life? Emailus at: [email protected].


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OUT AND ABOUT BLOOMNET TAKES TO THE ROAD

The 65th Annual Georgia State Convention was held March 9-11 at theMacon Marriott City Center in Macon, Ga. BloomNet sponsored TimHuckabee’s “SuperSalesSkills” workshop and Jackie Lacey’s, aifd, cfd, pfci“Let’s Get This Party Started” presentation.

Jackie andTim on stageeducating thecrowds.

BloomNet Market Area Consultant (left) Doug Crescimannoand BloomNet Vice President of Marketing and New BusinessDevelopment Lisa Carmichael with Randy Wooten, GSFA President.

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BloomNet Market Area ConsultantJayla Love does a BloomNet ManagementSystems point-of-sale demonstration.

Some designs from the 2012 MichiganFloral Association Design Contest won.

BloomNet President Mark Nance, and BloomNet Marketing Co-ordinator Nicole Gandini announced the Floriology Institute Scholar-ship Award Winner. Cindy Van Deraa of Ridgeway Floral in Three Rivers,Mich., won the award and will be attending this month’s AdvancedSympathy Class in Jacksonville.

The Michigan State’s Great Lakes Floral Expo was held March 2-4 at theDeVos Place in Grand Rapids. Jackie Lacey, aifd, cfd, pfci and JoButtram with “Here Comes the Bride” were both presenters in Michigan.

GEORGIA

MICHIGAN


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SAF’S 32nd Annual CongressionalAction Days on Capital Hill were held onMarch 19-20. From left to right are JessicaCosentino of Cosentino Florist in Auburn,N.Y.; Corey Connors, senior director, government relationsfor SAF; BloomNet National Sales Director Gino Marotta; andEastern Regional Vice President Tony Tantillo.

ON THESCENE

On behalf of everyone at BloomNet floriology wants tocongratulate Bill Schaeffer, , , and Kristine Kratt, ,, who got married March 7 at the PhiladelphiaInternational Flower Show.

Rick Barber, designer at Westshore Flowers inTampa, Fla., demonstrates it’s not all books andlectures at the Institute.

The class hard at work!

FLORIOLOGYINSTITUTE

The doors of Floriology Institute were open March 19-21 for 15students for a Three Day Contemporary/High Style EuropeanDesign Course taught by Donald Yim, aifd.

BloomNet friend and Celebrations.com expertJes Gordon rocked Manhattan with anothermarvelously outrageous window display at theMacy’s Flower Show March 25 through April 7.

Donald in the middle surrounded by his students.


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DESIGN CENTER ON THE EDGE

by Mike Pucci

Whimsical, inspired. Perfect for Mother’s Day aswell as everyday sales. We’re talking about the new-est floral creations from designer Donald Yim, AIFD.

Donald, in addition to serving as creative directorat West Van Florist in Vancouver, British Columbia,also teaches an innovative design course at theFloriology Institute in Jacksonville, Fla. His career ac-colades include numerous People’s Choice Awardsand Flowers Canada Industry Choice Awards.

IMAGINATION, BROUGHT TO LIFE

Among Donald’s floral ideas is a cleverdesign that will have customers “raising a

glass” to their moms. “It’s a fun way topresent flowers on Mother’s Day,” saysDonald in describing the arrangement,which features a bold martini glass.

Included in the design are several flo-ral varieties: phalaenopsis orchid, bird of

paradise, cymbidium and craspedia. Thereare also apple green midollino sticks, plant

material, lime green Rainbow Oasis, pink corsagepins, orange broken glass and of course...the martiniglass itself.

“Using a spoon, scoop the Rainbow Oasis asyou would ice cream. The broken glass (obviouslybe careful when handling) will help hold the Oasisand the mechanics up,” Donald says. “Then insertthe phalaenopsis first to get height. Next add thecymbidium and craspedia. Then take the bird ofparadise apart and add the blooms. Decorate withcorsage pins and add the midollino sticks.”

Another of Donald’s striking designs for Mother’sDay is a timeless arrangement boasting phalaen-

IMAGINAT

Amondes

gpDw

ralpara

are also

opsis orchids, cymbidium, succulents, plant mate-rial and cordyline Ti leaves. The arrangement alsoincludes a white low rectangular container, foam,water tubes, pink wire and pink sisal.

“Decorate the container with the wire for a uniquelook,” explains Donald. “Fit in the foam, only go-ing half way up the height of the container (allowingroom for the leaves to be added). Roll the Ti leavesup and secure with glue. Fill the entire container withthe rolled-up leaves and then insert water tubes intothe leaves where you’d like your flowers. Place thephalaenopsis blooms in the water tubes. Next, do thesame with the cymbidium blooms. Then add the plantmaterial to create movement in the arrangement.”

Yet another of Donald’s designs features a cutewooden butterfly surrounded by gladiola, anthurium,bells of Ireland, horsetail, flax leaf, pink ice protea,cymbidium and Ecuadorian rose in a square tall con-tainer accented by pink wire and leaf wrap.

As an initial step, decorate the container with theleaf wrap and wire. Then, “the key is to start design-ing from the top down to the bottom,” says Donald.“First insert the gladiola. Then add the flax, horsetailand bells of Ireland. Weave them between each other,keeping things vertical and along the parallel system.Add the anthurium, cymbidium, rose and protea. Andadd more flax leaves, shaping them as you go.”

PROMOTIONAL THOUGHTS

Donald advises the use of social media as a greatway to promote Mother’s Day designs such as thosedescribed above. At West Van Florist, Donald’screations for Mom will be highlighted on Facebookand Twitter.

Latest designs by Donald Yim, aifdare stunning, yet easy to re-create.

Designer:Donald Yim, AIFD

Floriology InstituteInstructor

Exposure/Achievements:Numerous People’sChoice Awards and

Flowers CanadaIndustry Choice Awards

Member of theCanadian Professional

Floral DesignerAssociation

Flair ForA

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What’s more, customers will re-ceive a discount when they mentionthat they saw the designs on socialsites. Complementing social media,West Van Florist will also promote itsMother’s Day offering in newspapersand on the shop’s website.

ENHANCING THECREATIVE PROCESS

The course that Donald teaches atFloriology Institute is titled “Con-temporary/High-Style/EuropeanDesign,” during which a wide rangeof trend-forward design techniquesare explored hands-on. “The courseshows florists how to create their ownsignature style,” Donald says.

Besides being true standouts,Donald’s designs are also versatile...offering extensive sales potential forholidays such as Mother’s Day and alsofor everyday arrangements all yearlong. “I teach affordable and sell-abledesigns at Floriology Institute,” addsDonald. “And I concentrate on makingeverything easily understandable, withstep-by-step explanations of eachtechnique.”

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1} This unique design features a decorated squaretall container, a wooden butterfly, and pinkwire and leaf wrap accents.

2} For a more bold and fun look, Donald suggestscreating an arrangement with several floralvarieties in a martini glass.

3} Donald’s timeless design features a lowrectangular container, foam, water tubes, pinkwire and pink sisal.

Photos courtesy of West Van Florist, Vancouver, B.C.


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RRick Canale of Exotic Flowers in Boston is a third gener-ation florist and an industry leader in using social media tohelp promote his business. Growing up in the Boston area,Rick would help out his parents, Sonny and Marie, doing alittle bit of everything. After attending Boston College witha liberal arts major in the early ’90s, Rick worked full time atthe family business that started over 50 years ago.

“Most of our marketing is reinforcing ourcurrent clientele,” Rick says. “We com-bine an aggressive direct mail market-ing plan and mix in social media toremain relevant and top of mind.”Rick’s new customers result mostlyfrom referral business and searchengines like Google, Yelp andFoursquare. Because Rick looks athis current customers as an avenuefor getting new ones, he consistentlytargets them on different platforms tostay relevant and keep people talking.

Rick was an early adopter of social me-dia. “You have to collect ‘likes’ on your Face-book page like baseball cards,” Rick says. Betweenhis Facebook friends and Twitter followers Rick has wellover 1,000 contacts. This yields a lot of potential consumersthat can be easily reached at a moment’s notice. Rick is alsoactive on his blog (blog.exoticflowers.com), which attracts6,000 unique visitors a month, and tries to reach out to hiscustomers via a social avenue three to five times a week. “Iwrite about everything; from social issues, what’s going onin Boston, baseball or top five movies of the week,” Ricksays. “You don’t always want to make it about you and betoo self serving, you just want to be out there so people seeyour name.” Rick likens it to a presidential campaign. “It’sall about shaking hands and kissing babies!”

Rick also closely monitors what people are saying abouthis shop and uses Hubspot (www.hubspot.com) to monitoractivity. “I jump right in and answer questions, talk aboutthe shop and they’re floored to get that quick reaction.” Healso monitors what his contemporaries are blogging andfollows them on Twitter. “You can always learn from what

other people are doing and see if I’m missing any-thing. I also find a lot of inspiration by looking

at what my peers are doing.”So how do you keep your website andsocial customers loyal? “When we get

a first-time order on a website orderwe send the customer a handwrittennote thanking them for their busi-ness.” Rick also sends a personalbusiness card to give it a more per-sonal touch.

Rick stays away from discountingand feels it’s unnecessary because

they always have great products and arealways competitively priced. Once you dis-

count, your customers will expect it. “There’sno way I’m going to compete with someone selling

$9.99 roses and that’s not what we’re about.”Rick plans to continue using social media in his market-

ing plan. He suggests that the Twitter community is anotherform of blogging and a great way to catch a customer’sattention with a quick, catchy message. As far as anotherrecent social phenomenon, Pinterest, Rick compares it toa coffee table book. “Everybody loves coffee table books,but how often do you read them?” With the recent fascina-tion Rick will observe its progress and develop a presencedown the road.

Be sure to follow Rick on Twitter @RickCanale!

From Facebook to Twitter and everything in betweenRick Canale is ‘LinkedIn’ to everything social.

MarketingMOVEMENT

OWNER’S CORNER SOCIAL MEDIA

by Fred Russell

50 years ago.ng ourm-t-

yog.me-ur Face-says Between

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Owner:Rick Canale

Shop:Exotic FlowersBoston, Mass.

Established: 1957

Employees: 10 full-time

FAST FACTS

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Interesting Tidbit❋

In 2008, Rick was named Floral ManagementMarketer of the Year and was featured in Floral

Management’s #1 Sales Boosting Story of 2011.Rick is a huge Boston Red Sox fan and from 2007to 2009 he was the official florist of the Sox.


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DESIGN CENTER BACK TO BASICS

by Megan Sullivan

Flowers inONE BASKET

ally done in say ceramic, glass or a more refined container, I thought itwould be interesting to do something more organic,” Frank explains.

The bird nest is an interesting container because of its texture, headds, and the liner is substantial. “I thought I would take the containerand see what I could do with it to personalize it,” Frank says.

This is a great time of year for curly willow, so Frank capitalizedon it. “Right now it’s very pliable and green, so I thought it wouldbe fun to use curly willow branches in different ways, and use all ofthe branch. So many times the woody part is discarded.”

He used the entire branch to create a structure for his horizontaldesign. Liatris, sunflower, kermit, and snapdragon spill out of the nest,creating a colorful mix of yellow, green, pink and purple.

For his flat design, Frank added curly willow branch tips to theoutside edge of the nest to create an armature around the container.“We increased the visual value of the basket,” he says. “That’s a greatdesign to use for a situation where you have limited space.” It’s alsoa good arrangement to use short stem flowers. Again, strong colorgroupings are used, with sunflower, kermit, hot pink gerber daisies,yellow daisies and spray rose heads.

For the bird nest basket design, Frank used curly willow tocreate a handle. The tiny red bird gives a sense of continuity andspring-like flavor. To make the bird stay put, Frank notched it onthe bottom and created a channel so he could glue it to the roundbranch. Liatras, sunflower, snapdragon, kermit, and stargazer lilyare featured. The negative space that exists between the elementsgives the illusion of more quantity.

The three designs are of enough physical weight, and not tootall or too wide, so florists don’t have to worry about them fallingover during delivery.

“I wanted to show something creative and easy to design,” Franksays. “I wanted to feature a more organic look and get away from flufftraditionally associate with Mother’s Day.”

Frank Brice, AIFD, PFCI creates three distinctMother’s Day designs in a bird nest container.

Designer: Frank Brice, AIFD, PFCI Experience: Nearly 40 years Exposure/Achievements: Contributingdesigner to PFD magazine and Modern Bride; member of the KNUD Neilsen design team and theWorld Flower Council.

DesigndesigWorld

Mother’s Day shouldn’t be limitedto roses, lilies, and pastel colors.Designer and retailer Frank Brice, AIFD,PFCI, owner of Rao’s Mattydale FlowerShop and F.R. Brice Florist in Syracuse,N.Y., is getting tired of rose-heavy holi-day specials and the lack of intensecolor palettes.

Next to Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Dayis the busiest florist holiday and attractsbusiness from a broad audience. Franksees it as an opportunity to educatesenders and recipients about optionsbeyond pink roses. Increasingly high gasprices will have an effect on value, headds, and what customers get for specif-ic price points. Be realistic when sellingproduct so that it’s fair to the customerand to the receiving florist, he says.

This year for Mother’s Day, Frank ex-pects florists to trend toward more sat-urated color palettes and less whites.

Using 1-800-Flowers.com’s birdnest basket, Frank created

three distinct Mother’sDay arrangements with

pops of bright color.“My initial idea was

to use a strongercolor palette and, asopposed to some-thing that is tradition-


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OPERATIONS

IS YOUR SHOP PREPARED FOR MOTHER’S DAY?

To bring customers inside your store for Mother’s Day, createexcitement outside of the store. That means lots of colorand motion in the form of flags, balloons, lawn spinners,potted hanging baskets, and more. Exterior product cre-

ates even more attention when passersby see customers and staffmembers walking about. “That’s the best type of motion. It says, ‘Hey,there’s somebody home. There’s something going on at this store,’”says Brenda Simmons, director of communication at Flowerama.

Brenda says that unlike the in-and-out Valentine’s Day, Mother’sDay is a weeklong holiday and should be treated as such. Shopsshould be spreading awareness that Mother’s Day isfast approaching. Occasionally business falls off whenMother’s Day is too close to Easter, but this yearBrenda says it’s sitting in a great position—Easter wasApril 8 and Mother’s Day is May 13.

She suggests listing prices and specials on asandwich board that will prompt an immediate callto action. “You need something to draw people’sattention,” Brenda stresses.

It’s also a good idea to hang a sign by the cash register thatreminds customers of all upcoming special occasions, such asAdministrative Professionals’ Day April 25, National Nurses WeekMay 6-12 and Teacher Appreciation Week May 7-11. When custom-ers purchase a gift for one event, give them a coupon with a specialoffer for the next occasion. This tells the customer to keep comingback because there is always something going on in your store. “It’simportant to capitalize on the people in your store all the time,”Brenda says. “Get them thinking about next occasion.”

April is a crucial planning month. It’s the time to order flowers,plants, hard goods, greeting cards, plants, fliers, balloons, candy,

and plush; plan additional staff; and order an additional refriger-ated truck for Mother’s Day. Brenda recommends looking backat your shop’s notes from last year and identifying aspects

to improve on or adjust, whether it’s ordering additionalpink roses or renting an extra cashregister. “It has to run like a well-oiled machine or you will run out of

product,” Brenda says.

SET in Motionby Megan Sullivan

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Considering Pinterest made the top30 U.S. websites in February forpage views with over 100 million

visitors from Jan. 12 to Feb. 12, mostpeople would probably say “yes.”

By now most everyone is familiar withthe latest social phenomenon. However,if you’ve been locked in the cooler for thelast couple of months, Pinterest is a socialphoto sharing website that allows usersto build “pin boards” to share image col-lections such as fashions, photography,hobbies and much more.

“It is one massive, virtual inspirationboard filled with everything from homedécor to lifestyles,” says Jaclyn Ferrara,the Celebrations.com associate market-ing manager responsible for the com-pany’s digital marketing plan, including

social media andSEO.

“Pinterest is nowour number one re-ferral to our websiteand is getting increas-ingly more popular andit’s just starting,” Jaclynsays. With a $1 billion valuation,it’s clear that all brands need to find waysof using Pinterest to drive sales.

Jaclyn suggests florists should plan aPinterest strategy as it fits their demo-graphic perfectly. The website is mostlyused by women and is ideal for morevisual brands.

It’s also very easy to get started. “Besure to pin a good mix of products andinspiration you find on the Internet,” Ja-

clyn recommends. “Pin-terest wasn’t designedto be a tool for selfpromotion so I would

post recipes, crafts anddécor ideas to make your

board a resource for peopleto grab inspiration. Each board

should have a central theme to cre-ate a better experience for your followersand it will encourage pinners to followyour board if it seems more creative andoriginal.”

Also be sure to include the Pinter-est icon on your website and Facebookpage to easily direct people back to yourboard. It’s also very entertaining to use;follow your contemporaries and start hav-ing fun!

TECH TALK

by Fred Russell

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VIRTUAL INSPIRATIONIS PINTEREST WORTH YOUR ‘PINVESTMENT’?

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PROM MARKETING

People TalkingAbout ThisENGAGEMENT IS THE KEY TO SUCCESSFULMARKETING WITH FACEBOOK’S TIMELINE.

by Megan Sullivan

The new Facebook Timeline layout for brand pages requires evenmore fresh and engaging content. “The way I look at it, it’s goingto be a game change for marketers,” says Milena Regos, founderand CEO of Out&About Marketing.

One of the biggest changes is the cover photo, an 851-by-315-pixel per-sonal space where brands can get creative and make their page standout.According to Facebook guidelines, the space is not meant for promotions,coupons, or advertisements, and shouldn’t be primarily text-based.

Milena says after people like a page and see the cover image, only about6 or 7 percent ofthose people comeback. “Even thoughit’s a great way to cre-ate a first impression,engagement happensin the actual timelineof users,” Milenasays. “It’s importantfor florists to thinkabout that. Very fewpeople like a pageand come back to thepage and visit unless you give them a specific reason for it.” She suggestsrunning a contest and directing people to apps on your Facebook page.

Instead of custom tabs, Facebook now allows custom apps with in-creased visibility below the cover photo. These apps create a call to action.“Come up with clever marketing tactics,” Milena suggests, such as featur-ing a newsletter sign up, YouTube video channel, and contest entry.

Highlight key events in your shop’s history by adding milestones, such asthe year when your shop first opened, or the time you received a prestigiousaward. Florists can also pin important posts to the top of their Timeline forup to seven days. This is useful when your shop wants to draw more atten-tion to a promotion or has a special event coming up.

Page owners now have access to an admin panel that features a snap-shot of insights, messages, notifications, and new likes. “For small businessowners it’s a great tool to use on a daily basis,” she says of the analytics.Milena says the most important metric for your Facebook page—moreimportant than the number of likes—is the number of People Taking AboutThis (PTAT). The higher the number, the more chance your post will bevisible in people’s news feed. Milena says only about 10 percent of peoplewill see your posts in their news feed unless it’s engaging content, such asphotos, that is receiving likes, comments, and shares. Continue the en-gagement by responding back to fans. “Getting engagement is going tobe the ticket with the new design,” Milena sums up.

Flowers make Mom smile. A few tradetricks of handling make Mother’sDay favorites last longer.

Flowers drink more solutionwhen it’s hot and mid-May ispushing right into summer.Set up processing bucketsa day ahead of deliveryto pre-chill the solutions.Prepare a back stockbucket of Chrysal Profes-sional #2 and store in thecooler. Use cold solution to fillvases and top-up arrangements.Cold water travels faster than tepid inflower stems. Cold also reduces condensationforming on blooms.

■ HYDRANGEAS | As the name implies, hy-drangeas are big drinkers! Display hydrangeasup high, in low-drip areas. Those round beau-ties suffer when the curious customer squeezesthe heads or moisture drips on flowers.

■ FREESIA | Display fragrant varieties oncounter areas—the fragrance sells the bloom.

■ GLADIOLAS | Glads are super-sensitive tofluoride—if city tap water is fluorinated, con-sider using bottled water when making displaysolution. The cheapest brand works perfectly.

■ SNAP DRAGONS | These tall spikes love tolean toward light. As pretty as they are, snapsfoul the water fast. Keep your eye on displaybuckets. Change the solution as needed.

■ ROSES | Work clean. Roses have very sensi-tive vascular systems—easily plugged withbacteria and air bubbles.

■ PEONIES | Ants love these flowers, too.There is a symbiotic relationship between theinsect and the flower so take time to inspectbuds when putting buckets out on display.

More care and handling tips can be found inthe Florist Quality Care program mailed withthe May directory.

LONGERLASTINGMOM’S FAVORITESREQUIRE SOME TLC.

CARE & HANDLING

by Gay Smith,Chrysal Technical Consulting Manager


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BLOOMNET IN THE COMMUNITY

PRESRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDRIPON, WI

PERMIT NO. 100

One Old Country RoadSuite 500Carle Place, NY 11514

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For 26 years, Delayne Whorley owned a bridalshop in Helena, Mont. When her husband retiredfrom the military, after 37 years of service, the couplemoved to Cochise County, Ariz., because they lovedmotorcycles and yearned for warm weather. “Wewere tired of shoveling snow,” Delayne says. Thearea also has a large retired military population and ishome to Fort Huachuca, a U.S. Army installation.

In April 2011, Delayne put in a bid to take over FortHuachuca Flower Shop. Since her old bridal shop waslocated next door to a friend’s flower, balloon and giftshop, Delayne often helped out with proms, weddings andother special events. She had also taken classes and semi-nars in flower arrangement. “Flowers weren’t something Ijust jumped into and said, ‘Oh, great, I can do this!’ I hadsome training,” Delayne says.

After managing Fort Huachuca Flower Shop for a couple ofmonths, and learning new techniques from co-workers, shereceived the bid on a Friday night in June. The current em-ployees said they would stick with her, but Delayne neededto purchase all new equipment in order to open back upthat Monday. She borrowed a cargo van from a friend andrushed to Phoenix to “beg, borrow or steal” equipment, andthen headed to Tucson to purchase wholesale cottage-stylefurniture. “We whipped it together,” Delayne says.

The shop handles a lot of last minute weddings for soldierswho end up getting deployed. They also prepare bouquetsfor the change of command, a military tradition that repre-sents a formal transfer of authority and responsibility for aunit from one commanding or flag officer to another. Theincoming commander’s spouse receives yellow roses, and theoutgoing commander’s spouse receives red roses.

Other items Fort Hua-chuca Flower Shop makesfor on-post residentsinclude welcome homebouquets and junk bucketsthat feature soldiers’ favoritetreats. Close to 9,000 soldiersand their families live on-post.Delayne estimates that the shopreceives about 60 percent of its business on-post, and 40percent from surrounding communities.

The shop participates in and makes donations for a lot ofcommunity events as well, including those on post, at theUniversity of Arizona and Chocise College, among others.

Since Delayne took over the shop nearly a year ago, “ithas an atmosphere that’s a lot homier and warmer.”

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April 2012 Floriology