S.Malik Intro

[Carrington]

So, you're telling me you want consistency and predictability from creative, artistic and emotive people?

Ryan

Hmmm ... given I am all of those maybe I should have re-phrased it - certainly my staff would say I am neither consistent or predictable! I guess I am picking up on the fact that people like the 1800 lady and FTD chap were, I presume, accepted but Mr Malik 'appeared' to be rejected without a by your leave and as you say, was mis-quoted.

It's such an emotive subject this voting in or out. Over on floristnews they are having the same dilemma ... give info willy nilly in the hope some will land in the right place or vet within an inch of their lives and risk becoming too insular. A conundrum!

Carrie

 

[LJVF]

Clarification please. Does this mean that Mr. Malik is an active member now?

 

[bloomz]

the same dilemma ... give info willy nilly in the hope some will land in the right place or vet within an inch of their lives and risk becoming too insular. A conundrum!

Carrie

Pretty good explanation I'd say, even tho the American in me had to read it twice.

I call it playing your cards closer to your chest.

 

[theRKF]

That's a very fair point. He came here saying he wished to learn what real florists are like - and at least he didn't start link dropping just to increase his inbounds, as some others have done.

And guess what? WE locals DO need stronger affiliate relationships and could greatly benefit from experienced online marketers helping sell our own flowers at prices fair to both them and us. There are only a couple small systems in place right now and building them out will take time, a lot of resources and active participation.

There's definitely a 'burn out' factor when it comes to marketers approaching local florists as partners. Remember Who Sent Flowers, with his 'new model' that turned out to be reselling calls from his phony local florist phone listings?

I've probably looked at several thousand sites similar to Mr. Malik's over the years and suppose if the content (which is all we can really assess ATM) was something unique and forward-thinking, the response to this thread might have been different.

Just as members have expressed disinterest in educating hobbyist florists, it makes sense that there's little or no will to offer the same to non-floral industry businesses, especially if they come here tied in with shady affiliate marketers.

Malik's business model seems remarkably similar to this one:
http://www.flowerchat.com/forums/showthread.php?p=141627#post141627

Ryan

 

[FlowersM]

Hi there Malik,
I have read the postings and have to say I was quite shocked by the negativity you have recieved. A forum is an open discussion where like minded people or not can discuss things.. Or it should be, Please let me tell you not all florists think like that.
Florists need to be open to all options these days as the market is so difficult.We all have to try doubly hard to achieve our goals and web propogation is a good tool.(I think you need to understand it and lay people like myself can sometimes be scared by the use of such terms.)
I have been a florist for over 20 years now and have worked all over the world so I have a good understanding of the business and thats why we created iflorist in order to create as much work for florists and for ourselves.
I work for a company called iflorist and we have a fabulous relationship with most of our florists, (we have 1400 florists on our system and its growing daily) we are proud to generate free orders for them. As we really want to put the money back in to the florists pockets. They deserve it they work long arduous hours and need all the help they can get.
Our company is only small but we have invested large amounts of capital in product design, web development and most of all creating orders for our florists. They do an amazing job and I cant say more than that.
PS I was in Noida in January training Indian staff about Funeral flowers, contintental bouquets, and I have to say your country is beautiful and the people are lovely. We were welcomed everywhere we went.
Regards Chrissy from www.iflorist.co.uk...General cook and bottle waher.lol

 

[Victoria]

Chrissy, the difference is, you are a florist... Mr. Malik is not.

V

 

[theRKF]

So my question is this: (Posed to all, not V)

As mentioned here, Malik has the same business model as direct2florist. If he was located in the UK instead of India, would we have reacted differently?

Or is there a sense of guilty by association, because of Flora2000 and their ilk?

Ryan

 

[Tracy D'Amico]

Malik has the same business model as direct2florist.

I'd say similar, not the same. Also, D2F is affiliated with WFFSA, which offers some credibility to their service. from Clay's synopsis of their announcement:

Only traditional florists will be allowed to participate.

Does Mr Malik say the same?

If he was located in the UK instead of India, would we have reacted differently?

It would be naive to say it doesn't matter - with the amount of outsourcing for many businesses, and certainly many unscrupulous businesses today, India seems to be the target, thereby garnering some degree of skepticisim. I believe if he said he was from Nigeria, the doubt would be there as well.

Or is there a sense of guilty by association, because of Flora2000 and their ilk?

Yes.

 

[Victoria]

About FlowersM
Business Name
Flowers M
City
Burnley
State / Prov
Lancs
Country
England
Occupation
Florist
Industry Segment
Florist

Business Name
Shop Online flowers
City
New Delhi
State / Prov
New Delhi
Country
India
Occupation
Business Analyst
Industry Segment
Service Provider

Ryan I know you said I didn't have to reply but just for information sake the above is what I base my voting criteria on (plus I trust my gut).

So based on the information above, my vote would remain the same.

V

 

[theRKF]

Interesting, V ... I wasn't talking about FlowersM, as I believe they are a different company (iflorist). However, the comparison stands.

Ryan

 

[Tracy D'Amico]

Clarification please. Does this mean that Mr. Malik is an active member now?

yes, if you look below the names of the members, "new applicants" have limited access. "registered users" can go anywhere. Mr Malik's profile says he is a registered user.

 

[BOSS]

Interesting, V ... I wasn't talking about FlowersM, as I believe they are a different company (iflorist). However, the comparison stands.

Ryan

Agree'd... I like too that on the iFlorist site they ship "Direct from the Grower" just like Proflowers does::BS

 

[felicityflowers]

So my question is this: (Posed to all, not V)

As mentioned here, Malik has the same business model as direct2florist. If he was located in the UK instead of India, would we have reacted differently?

Or is there a sense of guilty by association, because of Flora2000 and their ilk?

Ryan

Ryan,

D2F offers an online presence to florists who don't already have one. It's a beefed up directory- of sorts not a deceptive order gathering site.

For example:

Here is a D2F listing for one of our own FC members:
http://us.direct2florist.com/florists/central-square-florist-cambridge-106708.html

Compare that to Malik's site with seven items out of twelve being drop shipped and not delivered via florist.
http://www.shoponlineflowers.com/index.php?n_c=1

Maybe I'm missing something but I really see zero connection between D2F and Malik's business model. Sure, both are making money from the transmission of orders but at least the customer can choose an actual florist to take their order in the case of D2F.

I'm not dogging Malik for what he's doing but- I just don't see the connection between the two sites.

 

[prestonway]

The difference is...

What applicants can actually contribute to this forum, and which applicants would only take from this forum?

Just recently, we have allowed/considered a venture capitalist, a ribbon supplier, and a couple of order gatherers.

From my perspective, the venture capitalist & ribbon supplier would have little to contribute, while the order gatherers have the potential of adding to the information discussed on this board.

Whether we LIKE them or not isn't necessarily the issue...without them/us this board may lose a point of view that wouldn't be available otherwise.

My two cents...

 

[CHR]

So my question is this: (Posed to all, not V)

As mentioned here, Malik has the same business model as direct2florist. If he was located in the UK instead of India, would we have reacted differently?

I believe he has an idea for a similar business model, but he really didn't share it here. He identified one site as his site and it's a (mostly incomplete) online OG with every product page redirecting to Flora2000.com.

I didn't see examples of his other sites, but am guessing they're affiliate marketing sites, too. (Nothing wrong with affiliates in and of themselves.)

For me, I suppose if he had displayed a site that featured local florists from his area, or any area for that matter, he would have been welcome or at least received a different reaction.

I personally have hit extreme burnout with the many webmasters who proclaim to want to "help" local florists, but shortly end up with links to OG pages since they're much easier to monetize. In fact, I can only think of a handful that have remained true to their original missions.

Everyone else redirects buyers to out-of-area affiliates if they can't get a local florist to pony up in the market. Some do it even when they do have paid locals.

All have co-opted the catch phrases of real locals - 'family owned and operated', 'local flower shop', 'local florist', 'we deliver to', 'we serve zip codes ___' and on and on.... They use us (real locals) as bait and then switch when the money's better.

the order gatherers have the potential of adding to the information discussed on this board.

Whether we LIKE them or not isn't necessarily the issue...without them/us this board may lose a point of view that wouldn't be available otherwise.

IMO order gatherers are already well represented here. And honestly, I don't recall any of them sharing 'secrets' of how their doorway pages do well in so many city-targeted SERPs. :>

 

[fairfield]

Malik's business model seems remarkably similar to this one:
http://www.flowerchat.com/forums/showthread.php?p=141627#post141627

Ryan

It is similar to your business also Ryan, especially if you were to accept the recent offer of a per order fee instead of monthly. All three of you are offering the same thing - increased www orders to the florist through internet traffic. Yes, I know that is a very simplified analogy.

Perhaps S.Malik would've received a warmer welcome if the initial presentation was more akin to Zoe's. Direct2florist appears to offer it's services to all florists right now through a complete, professional, and easy to use format. The site gives all the information necessary for the florist to make the decision of whether or not it is right for them. It also appears to be a service-oriented business geared toward promoting the real florist with no drop-ship items - S.Malik's main page was full of them. I understand that S.Malik's page was an example, but it couldn't have been a worse one. It would have been better to use a generic page, along with a complete description of the services being offered. But, S.Malik did not offer that because it was not his/her intention to be here of service to florists. Apparently, he/she just wanted to be here for the social aspect:

moreover i am not here for business. i m here as a chat member. just want to know how things work here.

This business model is interesting to me. It's a new twist on gathering orders. S.Malik puts up a web page that ranks well and grabs the consumers attention. That's it. There is no other cost necessary. S.Malik just pays the site host. No shopping cart. No wire-service membership expenses. S.Malik is truly creating a new position in the world of the florist - a new middleman position. S.Malik's business looks extremely simple compared to direct2florist.

I'm sure that S.Malik won't be the last word on this. This could even become an industry segment that kills the OG's. No, Wait. S.Malik is already working with flora2000. So much for that pipe-dream.

If direct2florist were to keep phonies like flora2000 out...hmmm.

Jason

 

[Bigted]

IMO order gatherers are already well represented here. And honestly, I don't recall any of them sharing 'secrets' of how their doorway pages do well in so many city-targeted SERPs. :>

It's only 8:00 and we have the post of the day.

 

[bloomz]

So my question is this: (Posed to all, not V)

As mentioned here, Malik has the same business model as direct2florist. If he was located in the UK instead of India, would we have reacted differently?

Or is there a sense of guilty by association, because of Flora2000 and their ilk?

Ryan

Bingo!

What applicants can actually contribute to this forum, and which applicants would only take from this forum?

Just recently, we have allowed/considered a venture capitalist, a ribbon supplier, and a couple of order gatherers.

From my perspective, the venture capitalist & ribbon supplier would have little to contribute, while the order gatherers have the potential of adding to the information discussed on this board.

Whether we LIKE them or not isn't necessarily the issue...without them/us this board may lose a point of view that wouldn't be available otherwise.

My two cents...

That's more than two cents.

I'll give you a buck. (US)

 

[Zoe@Florist2Florist]

sorry but i fail to see how the webistes are similer?

we promote real local florists and if there are no shops in the area we do not take the order

 

[Zoe@Florist2Florist]

jason


our aim is to give business back to florists rather than taking it away from them.

We do not send any orders out via courier or boxed delivery and do not take orders if there are no shops