From the monthly archives:

September 2007

SEM for Florists: How to achieve a high bounce rate

September 13, 2007

Many small businesses are looking to search engine marketing firms (SEMs) to help position them in pay per click campaigns so they’ll appear for relevant keywords in popular sites like Google and Yahoo. Local companies, like florists, often prefer to turn to professional firms rather than undergoing the steep learning curve (and ongoing monitoring) while [...]

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1-800-Flowers pulls local RCF phone numbers

September 11, 2007

In a comment last week in Mike Blumethal’s blog about Yahoo Local Mapspam, I mention the frustration of a local Butler PA florist being challenged to prove his company was a real brick and mortar store while a national affiliate marketer had managed to place ‘local’ listings without addresses throughout Y Local.
The 1-800-Flowers remote call [...]

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FTD removes brand from Florist.com

September 10, 2007

FTD member florists report receiving a mailing outlining the flower marketer and wire service company’s new plan for mirror site Florist.com. After spending an estimated $6-$8M to purchase Florist.com late in 2004, and rebranding it as an FTD-owned site, the company has now decided to remove all references to FTD.
The old version (screen shot below) [...]

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An open letter to Weekend Today

September 10, 2007

Florist Rick King, AIFD, SCCPF, NCCPF penned the following letter to Weekend Today in response to their segment about “”What Your Florist Won’t Tell You”.

As a professional retail florist, I have to say that you portrayed the local retail florist in a bad light. Yes, There are those unscrupulous people who do scam the customer [...]

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Today Show Compares Local Florist to Online

September 10, 2007

On NBC’s Weekend Today this past Saturday, anchor Amy Robach and CNBC reporter Vera Gibbons featured a story about Tricks of the Trade – What Your Florist Won’t Tell You. (video)
The consumer advice segment included a comparison of two arrangements – both costing $50 – with one being purchased from a local florist and the [...]

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