Florist and Flower Blogs

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CHR

CHR

Design matters
Nov 28, 2002
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I'm starting this thread as a place for links to florist and flower-related blogs. (I haven't seen too many, but do find most of them interesting.)

Human Flower Project "The Human Flower Project is an international newsgroup, photo album and discussion of how people live through flowers. We report on art, medicine, society, politics, religion, and commerce." I love this one, btw.

Ephemeral Florist "Have you accepted glitter into your life to personally savor?" Musings from a Minnesota-based florist.

A Beautiful Day at the Flowershop IMO, simply an OG/florist attempting to game Google into thinking their daily ramblings are anything more than blatant promotion.

Bloomery Wedding Blog Wonderfully incorporated in their shop's wedding site, this one offers real tips and ideas as well as promotional content.

Please add other URL's as you find them. :)
 
FlowerMike said:
The service charge is only $11.50 !!!
On a $27.50 order they make more than you do!
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In their about us section...

11Flowers is a full service florist that has specialized in nation wide delivery since 1910.

1910? Did they use the PONY EXPRESS or did they send their flowers by train?
Did the recipients complain if the flowers smelled like the horses that delivered them or if they complained if the horses ate the flowers?

Was Henry Ford's first vehicle a delivery van for them?
 
Since 1910, maybe...

Might be a renamed charter member of the old Florists' Telegraph Delivery, which I believe was founded in 1910.
 
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Don't think there was a charter member of FTD in San Clemente, CA. The "real shop" has separate TF numbers under the names 'Flowers & Balloons' as well as 'M L Flowers'. Not sure about FTD.

Hey Rich, what kind of feedback are you getting on your shop's blog? How is the maintenance? Any problems with spam? Thanks for dropping in... :)
 
Blog feedback

Maintenance is a breeze with the software I use. Editing is done through an interface similar to this one. If you can type an e-mail, you can edit a blog post.

No problems with spam yet. The software I'm using for this blog uses a CAPTCHA test (those images where you have to type in the letters), as well as the movable type blacklist to check for certain domains in the comments.

We've had a few customers comment on the blog, but not comments posted yet. That's not surprising--in my experience (about 500 posts on 3 blogs in a year), you don't get too many comments unless you are either dead wrong on something technical or piss people off. If you're looking for comments, call John Kerry a flip-flopper or Bush a chimp. You'll get comments.

I think one of the attractions of blogs is that the interaction is anonymous. Visitors don't need to give out their e-mail address, accept a cookie that can be tracked, etc. They can use an aggregator or browser to read the posts on their schedule and their device (I have an aggregator for my PDA, but not the smart phone yet) without the feeling they're being tracked.
 
Hi! I'm Birdie from Ephemeral Florist. THANK YOU for adding this link.
I started writing the blog because I wanted a dialogue like this one...funny, you've been here all along but I couldn't find you.

So, I've been lurking for a week and think you folks just might be able to tear me away from some of my blogging...lol
See you again soon!
Bird
 
Rich -

Good to hear you're not getting too much spam. I think the RealFlorist Blog gets a bunch but Boss and Mlou are the ones in the know on that issue.

New members may not be aware of the FC weblog. Please take a look at this thread to request your shop be added to the directory there. (It's a good way to help Google to find your shop's website, BTW.) And, please feel free to contribute an article since weblogs are always in need of content.

Some Suggested topics -
Great summer flowers
Funniest requests for arrangements
Traditions in Funeral flowers
Bridezilla stories (without being mean or naming names!!)
I wish consumers knew __________.

Birdie -

So glad we found you and you found your way over here. :) Any tips on blogging? What do you like most? What's the most challenging part? Lurking is OK but my bet is you've got lots to share. :rolleyes:
 
Birdie-So glad you dropped in and hope you will add your voice in the future!
Lots to learn and share here at Flowerchat! I've enjoyed my visits to your blog and your sense of humor!
 
CHR said:
Rich -

Good to hear you're not getting too much spam. I think the RealFlorist Blog gets a bunch but Boss and Mlou are the ones in the know on that issue.

New members may not be aware of the FC weblog. Please take a look at this thread to request your shop be added to the directory there. (It's a good way to help Google to find your shop's website, BTW.) And, please feel free to contribute an article since weblogs are always in need of content.

Some Suggested topics -
Great summer flowers
Funniest requests for arrangements
Traditions in Funeral flowers
Bridezilla stories (without being mean or naming names!!)
I wish consumers knew __________.

Birdie -

So glad we found you and you found your way over here. :) Any tips on blogging? What do you like most? What's the most challenging part? Lurking is OK but my bet is you've got lots to share. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Any tips on blogging? What do you like most? What's the most challenging part?

About blogging...it really helps to have a main subject :^)
If you read Ephemeral Florist, you'll see that lotsa posts are not about being a florist at all, but about other stuff that's happening in my life.
It's cool that I have flowers to 'hang my hat on', and I always get back to the subject eventually...lol
I've tried "Flowers of the Month" and "Blogging like a Florist" as recurring themes, but even I loose interest!
The best part is that I often work through what I think about something in a post or two. Having to explain something so that others will understand forces me to be clearer about it, ya know?
(background, details, how it happened)...early on, a blogger friend told me not to "over-explain" either, so it's sometimes tough to chop a funny tangent.
LOL...still, it's MOSTLY tangents.
I've followed a few blogs for two years or more, and at first, I thought I needed something unique to say or it would waste everybody's time. But you know, all of life is one story--with a gazillion variations. I just happen to be recording this particular set, on the WEB.
Oh, my, what hubris! lol
Birdie
 
thanks, and a news horror

Thanks so much for recommending the Human Flower Project ! I'm honored.

Ran an appalling story this week from St. Paul, MN, about a hospital planning a $5 flower surcharge . The morning the story appeared in the Minneapolis paper, there was such an outcry that the hospital changed position.

Sadly, a story from St. Paul today suggests that such tack-on charges to florists may be the wave of the future .

The United Hospital example suggests that florists and their customers are a strong lobby. Friends of flowers may have the chance to USE that strength more often in the future.

With good wishes to all,
Julie
 
itsbirdie2u said:
Any tips on blogging? What do you like most? What's the most challenging part?

About blogging...it really helps to have a main subject :^)
If you read Ephemeral Florist, you'll see that lotsa posts are not about being a florist at all, but about other stuff that's happening in my life.
It's cool that I have flowers to 'hang my hat on', and I always get back to the subject eventually...lol
I've tried "Flowers of the Month" and "Blogging like a Florist" as recurring themes, but even I loose interest!
The best part is that I often work through what I think about something in a post or two. Having to explain something so that others will understand forces me to be clearer about it, ya know?
(background, details, how it happened)...early on, a blogger friend told me not to "over-explain" either, so it's sometimes tough to chop a funny tangent.
LOL...still, it's MOSTLY tangents.
I've followed a few blogs for two years or more, and at first, I thought I needed something unique to say or it would waste everybody's time. But you know, all of life is one story--with a gazillion variations. I just happen to be recording this particular set, on the WEB.
Oh, my, what hubris! lol
Birdie
Click to expand...


I think you walk a very fine line when you intermix personal and professional on a professional blog. I think it's great when you can show your personality through your posts, but getting too personal can be a turn-off. I know when I read professional blogs, I really don't care whose cat horked up something green, but I do share in the joy of a new baby. Too many tangents, and your professional blog becomes a personal blog with professional tangents. It's not to say one is better than the other, just choose which way you want your blog to go, and don't lose your focus.

In the case of our weddings blog, I think it's important to keep that strictly a professional blog, while still allowing our personality to show through. This blog is a very public face of our business, and it's important to not bore, offend or turn away anyone who is reading the blog.
 
Blog Spam

Interesting article about Blog Spam that specifically mentions an OG hiring bloggers to place links to his site - for $5 each.
Jeff Cutler has never purchased anything from Dot Flowers, but you might think otherwise, reading the Hingham resident's blog.

''No more driving to the corner to buy flowers and hand-deliver them," he wrote on his Web page. ''Nope. Now I go online to places like Dot Flowers.com and 1-800-Flowers. I like Dot a little better just because of the personal touch."

Dot Flowers's ad agency paid Cutler $5 this spring to promote the florist and put a link to its website on his blog, or online journal, short for web log. Cutler, who does not disclose the payment on his blog, is one of more than 2,000 bloggers whom marketer USWeb enlisted to hawk products and services. That helped the nascent florist double its sales in the first three months and shoot up near the top of Google's search list, according to USWeb.
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DotFlower.com's site features products from FTD, Grower Flowers and one of the drop-ship gift basket companies.
 
I just have to say The Human Flower Project is now in one of my Firefox tabs that opens at work and home. It is now a requirement for my wife and employees to take 5 min out fo their day and read this Blog.

I've never liked blogs because most of them talk about themselves or their business. The flower chat blog is well done and educational, but there is something about the Human Flower Project I like... big pictures, world articles, not a lot of talk about the negative aspects of our business like OGs, PF did this, etc... It is a refreshing educational experience over my cup of coffee that reads like a morning newspaper.

Thanks for this site and thanks for this thread Cathy!!
 
I have actually been in contact with Julie, she runs the blog. She lives in Austin as well and I will be meeting her soon. I think you all would be interested to know her reason for starting the project. She has a background in literature and journalism, then earned a doctorate in sociology focusing on the sociology of art. She became interested in looking at floral customs as a folk and popular art form practiced all over the world. She'd gone stale studying the structures, vocabulary and work of the fine art world and found the flower project refreshing, as well as an immediate cross-cultural, international subject.
She is working on a book for UT Press about Texas flower customs. Pretty cool. It makes one realize the cultural insight that can be gained by looking at the use of flowers and the customs surrounding them.
 
$hill Blogger - 5 Dollars Makes Me Holla

As a follow-up to Item 14 of this thread, I happened across a page from SEOBook.com that provides enlightening commentary on the "Will to Shill" of some bloggers.

The commentary highlights numerous blogs that were willing to write fake reviews about dotflowers.com.

Gotta love the tongue-in-cheek logo near the bottom of the page.
 
What's happening in blog-land

Every day, I become more convinced that the message about real florists and happenings in the world of flowers could be shaped and amplified via web logs (blogs). Think of all the information you wish the public knew both about your local business and the wider topics of flowers in arts and daily living.

The passion for all flower topics - and how they impact and are impacted by cultures across the world - is beautifully expressed in The Human Flower Project, a blog written by Julie Ardery. If you haven't checked out her site lately, you're missing some terrific writing.

Rich Dudley was a featured speaker about blogging at the SAF convention last week. He has created a simple-to-use platform for real florists to share news and information about their stores and the world of florists called FloristBlogs.com. Signing up is easy and the interface for posting works like what's used here to post at FlowerChat. There are some really fine writers here at FC and I hope many will take those skills and apply them to let consumers know about what real florists do.

Google has created a special blog search. The results when searching for the topic florists yields an odd mix of posts. The one that tickles me most is titled Wedding Day.
She's tried to do everything herself fot he wedding but has just really run out of time. Instead of just paying a florist, she and Shelley actualy just ordered the flowers piecemeal and spent a frenzied day yesterday morning trying to arrange them all. I, of course, instead of helping decided to just sleep in though from what I saw of the finished results, it was quite spectacular. I figure she must've saved at least 500 dollars or so this way though god only knows how you calculate the cost of the stress. She was so backlogged with last minute details that she ended up being a hour and a half late to the rehersal dinner. I think what her efforts have taught everyone else present is that it's just better to spend th emoney and let a professional deal with it next time. The amount of frenzied chaos just isn't worth it.
Click to expand...
Now that's a quote I'd link to! :rolleyes: Would be nice to see more florists' blogs linked from the top of that search page.
 
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