I am convinced that being different is like being the only woman on an island of 100 men; there is an increase in demand. Just as likely, if all woman looked exactly the same except one woman, that difference would make her the most popular. Therefore, I feel that it would be best for me if all florists used TF sites except me. Just my humble opinion......
Unless the 100 women looked like Cindy Crawford, and the 1 looked like Kathy Bates...
how many of you with independent websites can emulate your internet orders to your POS?
I think this is a really important question as internet sales increase, the need to efficiently move an I order to a POS will gain significant importance.
joe
I think the word you're looking for is "integrate." Some POS systems include an interface with a prescribed data format. Any website can deliver the order to the POS in that format. The question then becomes: 1) does the POS accept web orders; 2) does the website provide data in the appropriate format.
Cathy, how does offering a unique image get picked up better by search engines?
At the very least, using a unique file name and image / product description helps. Using a previous example of the Brighten Your Day bouquet, I might rename it to "Brighten Your Toronto Bouquet" and use this code:
Code:
<img src="images/brighten-your-toronto.jpg" alt="Brighten Your Toronto Fresh Flower Arrangement" />
I would also make sure variations of the product name appear in the title, H1 text and a couple other places through the page as appropriate.
I'm with you on this one Joe - The orders placed from your internet site should show up on your POS. That was the one thing that persuaded the shop's old owner to go with an FTD site initially.....is the the order came through as a Mercury order.....which in turn was printed up as a work ticket on our POS.
The balance to this is: do you opt for the convenience of not re-typing orders, if it means not getting as many orders as you might have with a different site?
Clearly, lots of orders and integration is the ideal
yea, but you know photoshop....
My priorities are different than other florists, like watering wilting plants rather than changing out a sign message., etc.
And Mikey knows fridges (and electrical/plubming/construction/etc), and I know computers, and Prestonway knows business numbers ... we all have non-floral skills that we bring to our businesses.
What we know, we do. What we don't know, we hire out. Those of us who can't tell the difference between the furnace and the AC unit (which one goes outside again?) hire an HVAC contractor to do the work properly.
If you don't know photoshop, hire a student / designer / skilled & affordable East Indian firm from Elance to do the work in batches for you.
If you don't want to update your site yourself, hire Teresa Taft to do it.
These hirings are an investment in the welfare of your busniess - website, furnace, electrical or accounting ... it's all important.
My site is very different than the ws sites.
I know that some of you will find my site a little unprofessional - and thinking that it doesn't work to mazimine capacity.
My website is my shop to the world, and I am working it.
Good for you
I only had a quick look, but I don't think the site is that bad at all. The biggest drawback for me upon first glance is that the graphics are very old-school, and it immediately made me wonder if the site was being updated. Stale sites = poor consumer confidence.
I think updating the look a bit would probably do wonders for you.
Regarding the pros & cons of using WS images: For me, it comes down to making an informed decision based on actionable data. If you have real numbers to prove what sells, whether WS or home grown, vase vs wrap, modern vs granny, etc., then act on the data. Just be sure you're getting good data, and continuing to test.
Ryan
