Canadian Florist - November 2018

November/December 2018

canadianfloristmag.com

Striving for Work-Life Balance

How Delegating Can Save Your Business — And Your Sanity Cultivating Cultivating aa Healthy Healthy Company Company Culture Culture

inside

• Email Marketing 101 • Capitalizing on Flower Fashion • The Power of a Curious Mind PM42919543

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• Our best-in-class technologies, including our award-winning POS and web-hosting solutions, are built to run your business efficiently – connecting you with consumers and the largest network of florists.

• We invest heavily in robust consumer advertising campaigns and develop unique and effective marketing programs and products – all to help you acquire and retain new customers.

© 2017 Teleflora LLC. All Rights Reserved. FM17368

We’ve made all the arrangements so your business can blossom.

• We have industry-leading experience and knowledge, and are always available with the support you need – allowing you to stay focused on your business.

• With over 80 years of partnership with florists, we are 100% committed to ensuring that every single order in our network goes to a local florist.

myteleflora.com

| 1.800.668.5770

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12:45 PM

10

16 Starting a company takes moxie, tenacity, faith, and hard work. It’s well-recognized in the start-up world that the founder will wear all the hats in the beginning because there isn’t enough profit to hire extra people. The founder learns the business from the ground up and every process, product, and point of view is infused with the founder’s philosophy and vision.

But eventually, there will come a time when the business needs to scale up. It’s a sign of success when the founder can fire him or herself from certain roles and grow the business by taking the time saved and reinvesting it into activities that help the business thrive.

-Michelle Brisebois

08 departments

features 10

Making Spirits Bright

14

Distributing the Load

20

Making Time for Life and Business

24

Are You Too Busy to be Productive?

online

6

Coast to Coast

8

Florist Spotlight

12

The Social Florist

16

By Design

26

Grow with Joe

28

Ask the SEO

30

On the Level with Neville

Network with florists online

Have your say. Join the new Canadian Florist Facebook Group to share thoughts on florist life in Canada. http://cfmag.pub/fbgroup

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A Time To FROM THE

EDITOR

Unplug

By Katie Hendrick Vincent

Vol 113 No 6 Editor Katie Hendrick Vincent khendrick@CanadianFloristMag.com 800-314-8895 ext 106 Advertising Manager advertising@CanadianFloristMag.com Publisher Ryan Freeman ryan@CanadianFloristMag.com

Fortunately, I did not grow up in the era of smartphones. In high school, most of us only got a cellphone when we started to drive. Their primary purpose was to provide a line of communication to our parents in case we were running late, needed to change plans, or encountered an emergency on the road. Per school policy, students kept phones in lockers or car consoles during the day. (Crazy to think teens actually abided by this, right?) By my college years, cellphones definitely got more use, but they were still a far cry from today’s standards. No one had access to the Internet; that capability was reserved for lawyers with Blackberries. Honestly, texting only really caught on during my senior year.

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Alas, the same cannot be said for my professional life. I got my first job, assistant editor for the Society of American Florists, in March 2010. My third month there, we ran a six-page feature story about the significance of smartphones. The theme? Anyone who wanted to succeed in business had to have one. (I joined the connected masses that summer.)

e-mail: distribution@CanadianFloristMag.com Tel: 800-314-8895 ext 2 Fax: 800-755-7032 Mail: 6-6150 Highway 7, Suite 400

Woodbridge, ON L4H 0R6

Of course, smartphones have many assets. But there’s no denying that having email access available at any moment takes a toll on employees’ wellbeing.

A recent Wall Street Journal article delved into this problem. “Today, always-on is the default work setting for most of us. Ubiquitous smartphones, slim computers and innovative apps make every response a snap—quicker, easier, seemingly less painful. It just takes a second, right?” wrote tech editor Matthew Kitchen. “But those rapidly accumulating seconds are just technology’s version of death by 1,000 cuts, expanding the workday’s boundaries until it seamlessly blurs with the rest of civilian life.” Kitchen cited a 2016 study by the Academy of Management, which found that employees tally an average of eight hours a week answering work-related emails after hours, and that 30 percent of men and 23 percent of women regularly bring work home and (sigh) on vacation.

Oh, can I relate. In 2016, I had the most “successful” year of my career. I juggled positions for three different magazines, for which I wrote something like 200 articles. One of those won a prominent award. I also line edited a friend’s novel and outlined a continuing education textbook. What I didn’t do: many leisurely activities. Looking back, I recall a lot of weekends spent working in coffee shops or at my (now) husband’s office. (He’s a workaholic too.) I took two mini vacations that year — a Caribbean cruise (I wrote for four to five hours a day on that one) and a trip to the Florida Everglades (I didn’t actually work but had my laptop within arm’s reach the whole time in case one of my bosses contacted me). Ultimately, I became depressed and burned out. A mere four days into 2017, I sent a lengthy — and, if I’m being honest, slightly curt — resignation letter to my bosses at the most demanding of the three magazines.

Emailing that letter (subject line: swan song) felt very therapeutic in the moment. But in hindsight, I should never have let the situation get to that point. I should have spoken up nine months earlier, when I noticed that their expectations were becoming unreasonable and I was feeling overwhelmed. It would have spared a lot of resentment on both sides. And, I would have had some pleasant memories of 2016.

For the past two years, I’ve focused on achieving work-life balance — and I still have plenty of room for improvement. What’s certainly helped are my current bosses, who respect my time and encourage me to take breaks and connect with my loved ones. Wondering how you can show your employees similar support to create a healthy workplace culture? Check out Mackenzie Nichols’ feature, Making Spirits Bright, p. 10, to learn some bosses’ tried-and-true tactics that boost morale.

If, like me, you tend to take on too many tasks, be sure to read Michelle Brisebois’ advice on delegating in Distributing the Load, p. 14. Not only will you feel better removing some of your burdens, but freeing up your plate will also allow you to invest your mental energy in strategies to actually grow your business. Funny man Neville MacKay, CAFA, PFCI, wearer of many hats, also shared his secrets for living a full life. (Spoiler alert: it involves uttering the word “no” from time to time.) Check it out in Ain’t No Time For All That, p. 30.

Media Designer Ruby Coles

Printed in Canada ISSN 1700-5043

Circulation

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No part of the editorial content of this publication may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission. ©2018 Strider Media. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher. No liability is assumed for errors or omissions.

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Dedicated to the memory of Bill Martin, and all those who gave of their time and resources to build up our industry.

www.canadianfloristmag.com

Have you lost sight of the big picture? Edward Unger will help you recalibrate with a plan to identify your values, goals, and priorities. Find it in How to Make Time For Life and Business, p. 20.

As always, we hope this information leaves you feeling inspired and refreshed. All of us at Canadian Florist wish you a very happy holiday season and a healthy and prosperous 2019!

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LESS IS

MORE

High Impact Designs. Less Coverage.

Now is the time to be bold. OASISÂŽ Midnight Floral Foam lets you think bigger and design bolder than ever before!

Dry gray foam transforms to rich black when soaked, creating the perfect canvas for any design. Equipped with MaxLife technology for enhanced biodegradability, this exclusive formula is 100% biodegradable* within 567 days.

So, stop covering foam, overfilling it and overdoing it! Less coverage means less materials and less labor to create stunning designs.

Go ahead, be bold.

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Vancouver Designer

coast to

COAST

Releases Book

This fall, Christine de Beer released The Effortless Floral Craftsman, a pictorial guide filled with “how-tos” and “why-tos” to inspire floral crafters, from beginners to experienced designers.

“I unpack my tool bags and open up my design room to help readers set up their own design space in which their talent can flourish,” de Beer said. “I simplify harvesting, purchasing, and conditioning plant material. I show how and why I test design rules, and how and why studying nature helps us to create believable floral illusions.”

De Beer is a Master Floral Artist known for her innovative floral art objects and contemporary flower arrangements. She has represented Canada in some of the best-known international design shows and has won awards for her floral art in South Africa, the United States, England, and Canada.

She achieved her Master Florist/Advanced Floral Artist accreditation in 2010 after winning a design innovation award from the World Association of Floral Artists.

As an experimental floral artist, de Beer created the “My Creative Workbook” website (www.christinedebeer.ca) as a place to capture her floral art and techniques. It has grown into a design resource used by flower enthusiasts from all over the world. She is passionate about skills development and is a popular design demonstrator and active member of the international floral art club community. She also writes about floral craftsmanship for DIY Weddings magazine.

A special handcrafted, signed, hardcover edition of The Effortless Floral Craftsman is available on de Beer’s website. A paperback version will be released in mid 2019. An e-book version is available exclusively through Amazon.

Florists Observe Inaugural Canadian Flowers Week The nation held its first Canadian Flowers Week, Sept. 13 through Sept. 19. The holiday was started to celebrate the country’s more than 2,000 flower growers and more than 250 flower varieties and to engage the public, policymakers, and media in conversations about growing seasons, what’s available and when, and where Canadians can buy local blooms.

and Knot, hosted six customers in her home studio in Île-Perrot, Québec, for a workshop making centrepieces with Canadian-grown dahlias and eco-friendly tools. “Everyone had a fantastic time,” she said. “They were so happy to be working with local product, supporting local producers.”

Poppy Parsons, AIFD, CAFA, of Smart Flowers in Swift Current, “Similar to the locavore and slow food movements, ‘slow flowers’ help to strengthen Saskatchewan, celebrated by selling exclusively Canada-grown flowers and the relationships between farmers, florists, and consumers,”said Canadian Flowers greens. She also set up an outdoor flower market, gave demonstrations on flower care, handtied bouquets, and using a wire armature; set up a flower Week and Toronto Flower Market curtain installation inside the studio, and offered BOGO specials on bouquets. founder, Natasa Kajganic. “Our goal is to build a mindful momentum, so we “Our installation was small in comparison to others I saw, but for our rural can develop long-lasting social impacts location, I think it generated a lot of interest,” Parsons said. “I was asked to that benefit local economies and bring come and talk on the morning show for our three local radio stations, a press Canadians the best quality flowers for release I sent was published in the local newspapers, and we got lots of good years to come.” activity on our social media posts too. I’d like to give a shout out to Florists Sarah Crawford Burnell, owner of Flourish Supply’s Calgary branch for their sponsorship!”

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See Paul Jaras Compete at FTD World Cup in Philly in March Florists’ Transworld Delivery (FTD) will organize and host Interflora World Cup, the world’s most prestigious floral design competition, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 1-3, 2019 during the Philadelphia Flower Show, the United States’ largest and longestrunning horticultural event. The Flower Show attracts an average of 250,000 visitors annually.

The competition, named FTD World Cup 2019 in recognition of the event’s host organization, will include up to 30 of the world’s best designers selected to represent their countries. Canada’s contestant will be Paul Jaras, AIFD, a floral designer in Kamloops, British Columbia, winner of the 2018 Maple Leaf Cup. Jaras began his floral career in 1988 following his studies in architectural technology, fine art, and clothing design. His experience includes retail floral design, show/stage work, and floral design instruction in Canada and the United States. He is an active member in the American Institute of Floral Designers, both as a volunteer and leader.

He continues to provide floral design education as well as contract design services and wedding/ event decor through his company, Paul Jaras Floral Design.

COMING

EVENTS NOVEMBER 14-16: Expo-FIHOQ Drummondville, Quebec Expofihoq.com

DECEMBER

Time to Recognize the Cream of the Crop Canadian Florist is in search of unsung heroes to recognize in an upcoming issue. Fill us in on who’s doing remarkable work by sending your nominations for the following categories: Best Boss: Does your company’s owner or manager have an amazing vision? Give rousing pep talks? Inspire employees to grow?

Hidden Gem: Who’s an up-and-comer with incredible promise?

4-6: Great Lakes Expo Devos Place Conference Center and The Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Grand Rapids, Michigan http://glexpo.com

JANUARY 8-10: Landscape Ontario Congress Toronto Congress Centre Toronto, Ontario https://locongress.com

25-29: Floradecora Frankfurt am Main, Germany https://floradecora.messefrankfurt. com/frankfurt/en.html

27-31: Toronto Gift Fair The International Centre & Toronto Congress Centre Toronto, Ontario www.cangift.org

FEBRUARY 24-27: Alberta Gift Fair Edmonton Expo Centre Edmonton, Alberta www.cangift.org

MARCH

Community Service: Know a dogooder making their community a better place?

1-3 FTD World Cup Philadelphia Flower Show Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Best Social Media Presence: Whose Facebook/Instagram/Twitter account do you check out regularly for creative ideas to engage followers?

8-17: Canada Blooms Enercare Centre Toronto, Ontario

Best Supplier: Which wholesaler offers superior service, variety, and pricing?

Email nominations to editor@canadianfloristmag.com, with “CF Awards” in the subject line.

https://ftdworldcup2019.com/

http://canadablooms.com/

20-22: World Floral Expo Dallas, Texas

http://www.hppexhibitions.com/wfe/

Organizing an upcoming event readers should know about?

EMAIL khendrick@canadianfloristmag.com

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Bringing the

FLORIST

Outdoors In

SPOTLIGHT

By Christy O’Farrell

When customers see the gardens outside Monte’s Place in Guelph, Ontario, they know someone well-practiced at the craft is lovingly choosing and arranging the flowers and plants they buy inside.

They might see 600 tulips or gorgeous peonies blooming before ever setting foot in the shop.

“I believe in tying the outside and the inside together,” said Hewson, whose parking lot still has room for 20 to 25 cars. “It’s curb appeal. It’s so important.”

The outside adornments also serve a very practical purpose. From ferns and phlox to Lady’s mantle and lilacs, Hewson draws from his own living inventory. “When I need things, I can go outside, and I have beautiful cuttings of all the different, unusual plants,” he said.

One of his favourites: a nearly 100-year-old, pure white iris with deep blue edges. Before she passed away, his neighbour asked her gardener to dig up her irises and move them to Monte’s Place, wanting them to live on with someone she knew would sustain them. Special customers sometimes get the irises in their arrangements. When Hewson eventually retires, he will plant the irises in his children’s gardens “so they’ll be thriving in the future,” and his grandchildren can enjoy them.

Hewson opened his original shop in late 1979. As he was getting his business off the ground, he lectured for various organizations and taught night classes.

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Hewson moved to today’s 2,000-square-foot shop around 1996. He employs three designers, two clerks, and a delivery staff. He brings in seasonal help when it’s busy, including some former Monte’s Place employees. “I have my business because of my staff,” Hewson said.

Anne Leeson, AIFD, CAFA, CPF, his former manager of 25 years, “really put my store on the map,” he said. Hewson credits his “cuttingedge” design team with creations that are “emotive, welcoming, and distinct” — important qualities for a business based on personal emotions.

“We believe in exceptional quality and superior service,” he said. “That’s one thing that we have been known for.”

To ensure he only uses top quality, fresh product, Hewson visits flower auctions early in the morning. “I’m old school,” he said. “I believe in seeing the flowers that I buy.” To promote longevity, he is fastidious about care and handling practices.

“I love what I do,” he said. “Essentially, [my business has] been my baby.”

After studying landscape design in college in Toronto and graduating in 1973, Hewson managed a nursery. “Working this hard, I should be

people.”

• Maintain harmony among employees and reward them with raises and lunches; work as a team with no prima donnas.

• Educate your customer. Explain the difference between a No. 1 select 60-centimetre Ecuadorian rose and lower-cost, lower quality varieties.

• Avoid letting “good enough” product leave the store. Once carefully chosen and arranged, flowers and plants’ presentation must also “sizzle,” he said. Every order must have pizazz to make the recipient feel special, whether that’s a box and tissue, or cellophane and ribbon.

And always include a brand label.

• Never sell yourself short. “You have to pay for what we do,” he said.

“We are professionals.” Some clients willingly pay extra for additional services.

• Encourage brides to trust you to create something original for them instead of recreating from popular “safe” photos they’ve seen online. “I think we can be better than that,” he said.

• With the decrease in funeral flower orders, try something different with funeral work such as personalized tributes with elements drawn from the person’s interests. working for myself,” he decided. When considering where to open a business, his market research led him to Guelph, a university town.

Another compelling reason to work in Guelph? His identical twin brother, Mitchell, lived there. He’s an author, works in psychiatry, and has a master’s degree in horticultural therapy. “I knew that he would be free labour for me for the first couple years,” Hewson joked.

• Take time to tour other gardens for inspiration and share your love and knowledge of plants with younger people.

Hewson’s daughter and son worked weekends for him for many years, building their work ethic and learning about small business operations.

He would have loved for them to come into the floral industry, but they found their own callings. She’s a physician, and he works for a large international company.

His wife works in bacteriology at the University of Guelph. Hewson said he got some of his passion from his grandmother, who was 103 when she passed away, vibrant to the end. She always had flowers in her home.

“I rock and roll in this field,” said Hewson, who can stand by that claim because he’s also a saxophone player in a band.

With more than 40 years in the industry, Hewson has learned when to change with the times and when to stick with his original business plan.

Some of his dos and don’ts: • Stay away from running in-store sales on giftware and arrangements because customers will come to expect repeated discounts. Instead, be careful what you buy and how you merchandise.

• Give back to the community that supports you. Hewson, who has been a Rotary International member for 35 years, is “a sucker for children’s charities,” he said.

• Listen to customers, exceed their expectations, and stay slightly ahead of trends. That means steering clear of the “pedestrian” designs that chain stores sell, he said. Monte’s Place carries unique, exotic plant varieties. “I believe in keeping the store fresh,” he said.

• When something goes wrong with a product as it passes through many hands from grower to delivery, Hewson makes it up to clients to earn their repeat business. “Whether you spend $1 or $1,000 in my store, you’re equally as important,” he said.

• Personally connect with clients as much as possible to balance out all the digital communication that occurs. “With technology today, sometimes we’re losing a bit of the humanity,” he said. “There’s so much done now with anonymity. Consequently, I try to break through that and talk to

Christy O’Farrell is a freelance writer in Alexandria, Virginia.

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Making Spirits BRIGHT

By Mackenzie Nichols

A flower shop is not a vacuum.

Emotions are contagious. If one person struggles with stress, sadness, or just a plain bad attitude, his or her mood is likely to spread — making the owner’s and manager’s lives miserable. A positive work culture is crucial for making a business run smoothly and effectively.

Fortunately, there are simple, low-cost ways to foster a workplace free of volatile hierarchies. Social gatherings, supportive daily communication, praise via social media, and creative monetary incentives have helped managers and employees create stable, uplifting environments.

rather than just a place of work.

“I cannot do this without them; people are indispensable,” Ashton said. “It’s not necessarily about being a good boss; it’s about being a good person. That’s how you build respect. You get respect by being “I know I’m not going to succeed if I have people against me. I know respectful. When somebody doesn’t respect you, you know what that I’m not here to be ‘Mr. Powerful’ and have everyone serve me. That’s energy does to a workplace.” not how I want to be,” said Craig Ashton, co-owner and manager of Staying in tune with the energy of the workplace can be tough for Collingwood Flowers & Home Decor in Edmonton, Alberta. “I want owners who are busy with their fast-paced schedules, but there are us to be a family. People read that when they come in the door, they simple ways to get feedback and become a good listener to your staff. read the vibe of the store.”

In San Francisco, California, Christina Stembel of Farmgirl Flowers Since taking over Collingwood Flowers & Home Décor last year, implemented a clever system that automates and tracks her employees’ Ashton has succeeded in creating a friendly, supportive dynamic with morale: a bi-weekly survey delivered with paychecks. his small staff. From hosting group potluck dinners on the beach to inviting his staff to attend his local opera performances during off- “The anonymous surveys are delivered through our payroll company hours, Ashton shows his goofy, human side to his employees, striving and go out when employees receive their paychecks through an online to be a “good listener” and cognizant of his team’s energy on a regular HR Service called Gusto,” Stembel said. “We change the topic of the basis. The humanness of his management style has brought his team survey every month, and it includes everything from ‘how happy are closer together, and helps employees feel like their workplace is home you?’ to ‘how autonomous do you feel?’. We can get real feedback.

Some of it is good; some of it is bad. Not everything is an issue, but if it’s a pattern, we want to start addressing it.”

Keeping an open line of direct communication makes employees feel valued and empowered, and it helps solve any issues that may be festering under the surface. Angela Moisey, owner of Heartleaf Design in Winnipeg, Manitoba, bases her leadership style on past experience with empathetic and supportive managers.

Shelly Murphy and her team at Napanee Blooms spend quality time together at an “appies and wine” event.

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“The biggest part was that they listened to any concerns or ideas that we had, and if they didn’t agree, they didn’t say blatantly ‘that’s never going to work’,” Moisey said. “They would explain why it isn’t going to work. Managing is a lot like parenting. “Saying ‘because I said so’ doesn’t get you anywhere.”Sm

If you’re looking for opportunities to go out and socialize, it helps cement healthy relationships.”

“They’re really such a family,” Murphy said. “Everyone is different and unique, but everybody gets along.”

Small shifts in the way managers speak to their employees can create a tightly-knit community within the workplace. Ashton pays attention to his employees’ demeanors. When he notices someone is having a tough day, he offers kind words of encouragement. There’s a stark difference between telling an employee exhibiting strong emotions to go home and taking them aside, checking in, and offering to let them leave early if they think it would help.

“It’s so important to show you care about your people,” Ashton said. “Even if you’re not like me, if you notice somebody in a bad mood, a few kind words asking if everything’s okay makes a different impression of you.”

Ashton also likes to share the love of happy customers. “I tell them about good reviews,” he said. “I let them know that I couldn’t do this without my team.”

For owners of small shops working on a tight budget, minor changes to the way managers talk with their employees goes a long way.

Those in charge of bigger operations may opt to bring in a third party.

Stembel decided to hire a young Human Resources professional specializing in people and culture management to give her employees a person to connect with when she is unavailable. This addition, she insists, is worth the expense.

“Many florists think ‘this is nice to have, but not a need to have,’ and we need to change this mentality,” Stembel said. Her “people and culture” manager hosts daily office hours and spends the rest of her time out on the floor connecting with staff members. Because the manager is young, she connects well with the millennial members of her staff, Stembel said. Since hiring her, Stembel has seen her rate of attrition decrease.

Another way to boost employees’ moods: engage in fun, teambuilding activities. Shelly Murphy, owner of Napanee Blooms and Loyalist Flowers in Kingston, Ontario, hosts “Staff Appreciation Day” once or twice a year. Recently, she treated employees from the two shops to a day of relaxation at an Aveda spa. Outings like these allow the staffs to bond and build a community.

At the Collingwood Flowers & Home Décor potluck, Ashton invited employees to bring family members and other guests. They “sat around until quite late” bonding and getting to know each other, he said. The potluck format, he added, is a much more economical alternative to a restaurant meal (where the owner typically picks up the tab), and the casual environment encourages intimacy.

“I find that, as a boss, you can either distance yourself from employees or become part of the group,” Ashton said. “If you’re looking for opportunities to go out and socialize, it helps cement healthy relationships.”

The Internet is another place to nurture relationships. Murphy credits designs on social media, tagging the respective designer. Stembel posts “Meet the Team” Instagram stories, highlighting employees.

She recently started an email campaign of a similar nature.

“By giving them a public accolade, you give credit where credit is due,” Stembel said.

Monetary incentives are another way to reward employees who go above and beyond in the workplace. Recognizing that many of her employees were delivering arrangements after hours on their way home, Murphy decided to give employees gas gift cards at the end of every month.

The afterhours deliveries benefit Murphy, who doesn’t have to devote as much payroll to delivery drivers. “They did it so frequently to help the business, so I decided at the end of the month to compensate them in gas cards,” she said. “I want them to know that they are appreciated, and a little goes a long way.” A bonus, she explained, is that the gas cards are tax deductible.

Do your staff and yourself a favour: prioritize workplace happiness.

Discontent employees can wreak havoc on your business, causing your staff to drop like flies, leading to additional stress as you spend more time and money retraining replacements. Embrace these triedand-true ideas to build a loyal, dedicated team.

Mackenzie Nichols is a freelance writer in New York City and a former flower shop employee. Her work has appeared in several floral industry publications.

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The Best Practices

SOCIAL

the

Lifestyle Marketing: Photography on Email

FLORIST

You Need to Succeed

By Rachel Levy Sarfin

The holiday season is upon us. It’s the time of year when consumers expect to receive promotions from retailers — and are ready to act upon them.

Email marketing is an effective and affordable way to reach people.

Here are some best practices to convert readers into buyers.

SEGMENT YOUR CUSTOMERS No two customers are exactly alike. When you market to them, you shouldn’t treat them the same.

Email segmentation allows you to differentiate your customers so you can tweak your message to target the right demographic.

Segmentation simply means that you break your customers into groups. It could be groups based on age, gender, or purchase history.

Marketing technology today has advanced to the point where you can be very specific when you segment your email list. For instance, you can break down your list into categories of men who buy their wives a dozen roses each Valentine’s Day, customers who opt for early delivery (for a discount), and customers who request something untraditional.

Taking the time to do this lets you create personalized offers likely to spur a purchase.

WRITE AN ATTENTION-GRABBING SUBJECT LINE Take a second and think about your inbox. What makes you open an email? What makes you delete an email without reading? The answer to both questions is the same: the subject line.

You want people to open your email, so make your subject line compelling. Email marketing experts have numerous tips on how to write the best subject line. (Check them out at https:// www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/ email-subject-lines-superhero/.)

Maybe your audience will be moved by scarcity (“Our Christmas wreaths are almost gone!”) or perhaps readers will appreciate alliteration (“Fall for freesias!”). Whatever you decide, make sure you use proper spelling and avoid any grammatical mistakes.

DON’T WASTE THE READER’S TIME Your customers’ time is valuable. You don’t want to make them feel as though you’re wasting it reading long or pointless emails. Rather, your goal is for subscribers to open every email that you send.

How do you do that? The answer is to deliver value through your emails. You find an email valuable when it contains information that’s useful, educational, and/or entertaining. That could be an article on the symbolism of various flowers (did you know that

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gladioli represent remembrance?), it could be a video on how to make a simple, seasonal bouquet, or a list of gift-giving ideas for every budget and personality.

The frequency of your emails also affects value. If people hear from you too often, they’ll get annoyed. On the other hand, if you only send one or two a year, customers will likely forget about you. A weekly or bi-monthly email might strike the right balance.

INCLUDE A CALL-TO-ACTION If you send an email that doesn’t include a call-to-action, does it have any impact? The answer to that question is, “Not so much.”

CTAs tell readers what to do, whether that’s to “like” your shop on Facebook, sign up for a design class, or click on a button to receive a coupon.

However, it’s not enough just to have a CTA buried in your email. The CTA shouldn’t just be black-and-white text — it should have an eye-catching design. Text should be simple and easy to follow; the customer needs to understand the benefit of following the CTA immediately. In addition, make sure that when the reader clicks on the CTA, that button takes him or her to a relevant landing page.

MAKE YOUR EMAIL MOBILE-FRIENDLY In this day and age, your email marketing campaign absolutely must display properly on a mobile device, which consumers use more than a laptop or desktop computer for most functions.

Adestra reports that an email that doesn’t display correctly on a mobile device will be deleted in three seconds. As many as

15% of subscribers will actually unsubscribe.

How can you ensure your email looks the way it’s supposed to on a mobile device?

Send a test message and review it carefully on your own mobile device before you send it to check for optimal text and image size, as well as readability. Some email marketing platforms will actually create mobile-friendly email campaigns automatically.

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR RESULTS Email marketing platforms such as MailChimp, Constant Contact, and SharpSpring, have sophisticated metrics to track the results of your email marketing campaigns. Don’t ignore this valuable feature.

Pay attention to click-through rates (the percentage of people who clicked on at least one link in an email), the conversion rate (the percentage of people who clicked on a link and carried out the CTA), the bounce rate (the percentage of emails that couldn’t be delivered), your list growth rate, the email sharing/forwarding rate, and your overall return on investment.

Email marketing is a great way to reach customers … when done properly. Following a set of best practices makes your efforts more successful, which in turn boosts sales and helps you forge a deeper, longer relationship with your customers.

Rachel Levy Sarfin, is a freelance writer in Toronto who covers technology and social media.

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Distributing the

LOAD

By Michelle Brisebois

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and as though you’re the only one who can get things done right, it’s probably time to fire someone — and that someone might be you.

Starting a company takes moxie, tenacity, faith, and hard work. It’s well-recognized in the start-up world that the founder will wear all the hats in the beginning because there isn’t enough profit to hire extra people. The founder learns the business from the ground up and every process, product, and point of view is infused with the founder’s philosophy and vision. But eventually, there will come a time when the business needs to scale up. It’s a sign of success when the founder can fire him or herself from certain roles and grow the business by taking the time saved and reinvesting it into activities that help the business thrive.

How do you know when it’s time to start scaling up? Then, how do you choose what tasks to delegate and which to keep for yourself?

Here are seven tips to help you decide.

1. DELEGATE EARLY ON IN YOUR BUSINESS’ LIFE SPAN. You should delegate shortly after you open up shop. That may sound like a bold and expensive choice, but realize that, the longer you go, the harder it will be to delegate properly as you become more and more overwhelmed. The moment you realize your business is generating income on a daily or weekly basis, you should consider what obligations to hand off. Your company may be your creation, but it is not your whole life. Think of it objectively, as you would a live plant. If it’s growing, where do you pinch and prune to direct the plant’s energy to activities centred on optimal growth? Guide your company with the same discerning eye.

3. DELEGATE THE ACCOUNTING AND BOOKKEEPING. A good accountant who understands small business accounting will be worth their weight in gold. Their advice will centre on how to structure things: for instance, to incorporate or not to incorporate, what types of expenses you can deduct, and how to choose a fiscal year end. While the accountant will advise on high level stuff, somebody has to keep the ledger current. Mileage, office supplies, travel expenses, fixtures — it goes on and on. Just remembering to keep and file the receipts is a full-time job — never mind actually logging them into the system. Consider hiring an

2. CREATE A CORPORATE FLOW CHART THAT LISTS ALL THE POSITIONS IN YOUR COMPANY. It’s pretty sobering to sit down and parcel out all the roles your company has, especially when you’re the only one doing them.

CEO? That’s you. Vice President of Sales? That’s you too. Director of Marketing? You as well. Administrative Assistant? Yep, you.

Custodian, Web-Master, Bean Counter…you get the point. When you write it out, it will suddenly become very clear why you’re so tired all the time. Make the chart and post it where you can see the big picture at a glance. The next step would be to estimate how many hours per week you’re spending on each role.

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assistant to file and log expenses. If you can find someone for $25 per hour, that time saved could be spent generating new business, which would more than cover the assistant’s fee.

Plus, an expense not logged is an expense unclaimed on your income tax, so simply ensuring it’s done correctly will pay back in deductions.

4. DELEGATE THE TECHNOLOGY. There are lots of off-the-shelf software packages that allow businesses to build their own website. If you go on YouTube, you can also learn how to change the oil in your car, sand your own floors, or cut your own hair. But should you do any of these things just because you can? Technology changes quickly and a good webmaster will make sure your site has the proper structure, hosting, bug fixes, and security updates to keep it healthy. There are daily notifications when a virus threat has surfaced. Are you on top of these? If you aren’t, you could be putting your customers’ private data (including credit card information) at risk, as well as your reputation.

5. DELEGATE CHORES AT HOME. Maintaining a home and having a family is work. Research from a 2016 study through the University of Michigan found that the average woman engaged in 17 hours of housework per week.

That is nine fewer hours per week of housework than they were doing 40 years earlier. The researchers excluded what they called “core” household tasks, such as home repair, gardening, or washing the car, but included everyday tasks like cooking, cleaning, and basic tidying. The study reports that men do 13 hours of housework per week. When you add kids into the mix, the numbers get very interesting. This same research found that married women with more than three children engaged in an average of 28 hours of housework per week, 11 hours more than the average woman. The study also reports that married men with more than three children did around 10 hours of housework per week, which is three hours less than the average man. If you hire a cleaning person for minimum wage, can you spend those extra 17 to 28 hours growing your business? That’s about half of the average work week, so it’s a good place to dig in.

6. DELEGATE THE MARKETING. This one’s a toughie. For many entrepreneurs, marketing is fun and the company’s brand is intertwined with their business vision. But marketing is a discipline that looks easier than it is, and today’s digital world makes it even more complicated. When professional marketers hear small business owners announce they want to do their own

Social media is a great way to build brand awareness and converse with customers. It’s also a huge time commitment. marketing, they have a similar reaction to the one you get when brides say they can DIY their own wedding bouquet and have it look just as nice as anything you can create. You know that a great floral design contains lots of theory and design structure, making it a cut above an amateur’s effort. Solid marketing is based on the same principle. Find an advisor who will help you focus your vision. You’ll still be involved with the fun part — the strategy. But you’ll be much happier (and more successful) if you let an expert execute the plan.

7. DELEGATE SOCIAL MEDIA. Social media is a great way to build brand awareness and converse with customers. It’s also a huge time commitment.

Sites like Facebook and Instagram increasingly demand lots of pictures, videos, and written content to keep pace with changing algorithms and trends. Incorporate social media into one of your employees’ job descriptions. So many business owners think they are the only ones who can be the voice of the brand, but that is seldom the case. As a compromise, you may want to choose one channel (like Facebook) to focus on yourself and have your team cover the others.

Delegating takes self-confidence. You have to like yourself enough to admit you won’t be good at all of the jobs on your corporate flow chart. The next step is to let those jobs go to the right support person. It’s only by letting go of things that no longer serve us that we free up space to grow.

Michelle Brisebois is the founder of Textrix Consulting and a freelance writer who specializes in retail strategies. Her background is in luxury goods, restaurants, financial services, and ecommerce.

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FASHIONABLE

Fleurs

By Isabel Harrisson

design

I come from RivièreOuelle, Québec. When I was 18, I took my first floristry class. I fell in love.

Now I am 37 and I have completed more than 30 advanced courses with some of the greatest European masters of floral art. Previously, I worked in a boutique in Québec City. Since 2013, I’ve been a freelance instructor because it’s the best way for me to spend time with my children, while continuing to share my passion. I teach with the Canadian Nacre Academy team and I am a co-founder of the blog Art Floral Pro, an educational tool allowing every florist to easily learn more about the technical and marketing aspects of our beautiful profession.

Here are a few favourites from my portfolio.

The wild and imperfect plants are a part of my identity. I love picking them and working with them. It’s my personal way to celebrate nature’s beauty.

This composition plays with negative space.

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Movement is life. Even in the strictest compositions, I try to include movement.

It’s the copper ribbon’s role in this mosaic of roses.

Colour is a powerful tool to create harmony. To marry the yellow craspedia to the corsage’s silver bullion, I added araucaria cones and pale beige fake fur. This gradation of beige and brown links the silver and the yellow.

The symmetric balance is not boring at all! Symmetry gives an impression of stability in three dimensions.

The opposition between the texture of the rope and the flowers creates tension.

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The crescent bridal bouquet is one of my favourite shapes.

I repeated the use of flowers and forms to create rhythm and movement.

The country-style hand-tied bouquet is a great classic. This one is made of wild flowers, which has a delicate and natural feel.

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This plant wall lets nature into our contemporary interiors.

Red is for love; wool is for warmth. The Christmas spirit is represented by the simplicity of elements.

This wreath-like design reminds me of my favourite season: autumn. It uses a symmetrical structure and asymmetrically positioned flowers.

Silver bullion and glue lace create an impression of coldness for this modern bridal bouquet.

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How to Make More Time for

Life and Business

By Edward Unger

How do I make time for life and business?

This is a question you might have asked yourself when you have two calls on hold, what feels like a hundred important emails waiting to be answered, five more calls to make for the day — and the thought of your loved ones tugging at your heart.

Then there is that thought: “As soon as I finish this order and finalize this part of building the business today, I can spend all the time I need with family or socializing or enjoying my favourite hobby.” But then something else comes up and you miss that birthday celebration/ sports game/holiday party, or show up late, wondering how it happened again.

life, right?” But after a few years, it doesn’t feel that way. Your mind, heart, and soul are drained. You need to figure out how to stop feeling exhausted.

It’s no fault of your own. It’s the cost of making a living and what we have been taught to do from traditional families and culture — “work hard, stay late, do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your

Here are five steps to start redesigning your schedule to enjoy your best life while still nurturing your business.

Making time for life and business really isn’t difficult. But what it requires can challenge you at first. Once you adapt, though, you’ll find the inspiration and joy you’ve been missing.

KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING You wouldn’t go on a road trip without a map or start building a house without blueprints. Most likely, when it comes to your business, you have a plan. But how about the plan for your life?

The foundation of your life roadmap lies in your values. There are five areas to consider when determining these values: family, relationships, career, health, and religion/spirituality (or wellness/personal growth).

Action Item: Craft your personal mission statement. Start with the end in mind. Ask yourself: Why do I exist? What are my biggest goals? Come up with three points, defining each in a sentence.

1. I exist because…

2. I exist because…

3. I exist because…

Action Item: Identify your vision, spelling out what you want to be or want to do.

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1. I want...

2. I want...

3. I want...

Action Item: Now, address the values that affect how you live your life, such as work hours, non-negotiable priorities (birthdays, school activities, etc.), and relationships with employees, customers, and others in your community. Describe in a paragraph about why these things matter and how you will give them proper attention.

1. We will..

TIME TO GROW There is nothing like getting new information in your mind to inspire a new idea, a different perspective, or a new adventure. Personal growth is vital to making time for life and business. One of my favourite authors, John Maxwell, emphasizes the importance of reading, thinking, and writing in his life. He makes time for it every day — no matter what.

Some people ask him, “what about on the weekends?” His reply: “Every day, no matter what.” John Maxwell is one of the top authors in leadership who has impacted hundreds of thousands leaders across the globe. That’s because he sticks to his principle of making time for things that help him grow.

What is your personal growth plan?

At the end of every week, ask yourself, what did you learn from your experience with friends, family, and colleagues? What could you have done better? What books would help you achieve that?

What can you learn to help empower your team?

next day. It will help you adjust your calendar and spread your life goals and business goals out over the week.

After scheduling priorities, review what went wrong and what went right during the previous day or week. What fires came up that stopped your progress? What challenges were you able to overcome to keep your focus? What were real emergencies — and what were just events that occurred because of lack of forethought?

Action Item: Write down your plan to grow. Possible actions include reading for 30 minutes a day, listening to an audio series, scheduling one-on-one calls with colleagues or friends to share successes and discuss obstacles you’re facing.

This can be challenging at first but with the help of a Google calendar or even just sticky notes, you can be a master of reflection. Over time, you learn to adjust what you didn’t get to finish, prioritize the next day’s activities, and how to spread those projects, tasks, and events over the upcoming days and weeks so you don’t feel overwhelmed.

TIME TO RECHARGE

This will help you say “no” to the good opportunities and “yes” to the great opportunities in all areas of your life.

What makes your heart come alive? Do you remember something from your childhood that you always loved but haven’t explored in ages? Maybe it was riding horses, playing a sport or a musical instrument, writing, or travelling. For me, it was picking up hockey again. I played street hockey as a kid but never got the chance to play with a team on ice. So I got all the equipment that was at my parents’ home and started to play a couple times a month.

Consequently, I was rejuvenated and so refreshed with new ideas and motivation getting back to life and work.

Reading, embracing spiritual time, and speaking affirmations are also amazing ways to rest and recharge to avoid burnout.

Action Item: Do you have a resting plan? Find out what invigorates you, what calms your soul, what helps you unplug, and sharpens your creative juices when you get back to life and business. Once you’ve identified these activities, make a point of engaging in them regularly.

REVIEW It’s important to frequently revisit your personal mission statement, your vision, your values, your growth plan, and your resting plan.

I recommend thinking about it before bedtime, on your way to work, and the night before the work week starts. This helps you see the most important things you can accomplish the

Action Item: Set dedicated times to review and reflect on your plan and habits. Plug them into your calendar.

REPEAT Each day is a new opportunity to try a different approach, listen to a new perspective, and live a new adventure with those you care about most. It’s a time to create inspiring products and services to help your community and also take care of your family.

The goal in the marathon of life is to last the distance. Your health and mental wellbeing are your most valuable assets to your loved ones, your business colleagues, your customers and all those in between. There is only one you. You have received the challenge. Now march on like the warrior that you are. When you change, grow, rest, review, and repeat in all areas of your life, you will not burn out.

This is not something you can outsource. No one can answer these questions but you. But that is also the empowering and exciting part.

Edward Unger is a senior project manager, business and marketing strategist for StriderSEO.com. He has run a recording studio, hosted free songwriting workshops, offered in-studio training, and developed multiple e-commerce websites. He enjoys family time, making music, rollerblading, playing ice hockey, playing guitar, and singing, among other creative outlets.

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E R A S W E REVI D R HA

T I E K A M E W but

Y S EA

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Take your business further.™ We’re in the business to help grow your business. With our worldwide florist network, technology systems, marketing tools and customer support, you can focus on what’s most important—delighting and inspiring your customers with handcrafted arrangements.

Visit FTDi.com/ftdadvantage to keep up with the comprehensive ways our partnership takes your business further. If you need anything, call us at 800.788.9000. ©2017

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Are You Too Busy to Be Productive?

Why customers shouldn’t be your first priority

By Jeff Mowatt

Let’s be frank — if you work for a company, then your primary goal is to make money. Period.

You may have secondary goals to serve the interests of your customers, employees, and be a good corporate citizen, but your number one priority is strictly return on investment. Profit.

When I speak at conventions and meetings on how to boost profits through customer retention, I often find that business owners and managers don’t have their priorities straight. The result is they lose customer loyalty, face increasing operating costs, scramble to cope with staff turnover, and struggle just to keep up to the competition. They may work hard and think positively, but their impact is marginal.

On the other hand, by simply realigning their priorities, managers can lead their company or department in a way that builds customer and staff loyalty, reduces operating costs, makes more money, and serves as a model corporate citizen. You won’t have to work any harder; just smarter. To find out how, answer the following questions according to your current practices. Then read the accompanying suggestion for the best way to optimize your time and effectiveness.

WHAT IS NORMALLY YOUR FIRST TASK OF THE DAY? a) returning phone calls b) administrative paperwork

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c) work on strategic projects d) dealing with customers e) responding to employee requests Your first priority of the day should be c) working on strategic projects designed to prevent problems and increase profits.

Typically, however, managers put off strategic work to do other work that has a deadline. They confuse urgency with importance.

It’s always easy to put off work that’s strategic in nature because the deadline is usually non-existent or not urgent, and strategic work requires something many of us prefer to avoid — thinking.

The problem is that if you continually put off projects designed to increase profits or reduce problems, then you end up having more crises to deal with. So, you get caught in the vicious cycle of crisis management.

“A lot of managers and business-owners secretly love putting out fires because it makes them feel like heroes. In fact, they live in a fool’s paradise; treating symptoms every day rather than curing the disease.”

Doing strategic projects for the first one to 1.5 hours of your day puts you in proactive mindset. Even though crises may spring up during the day, at least you have the comfort of knowing you’re doing something to prevent these problems from reoccurring. In other words, doing strategic project work gives you a sense of control and a feeling that that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

When I speak at seminars about the hour and a half of uninterrupted strategic project work, I often hear a chorus of protests from the audience. People talk about the emergencies that require their attention.

The truth is, unless you work in emergency services, there is almost no problem or ‘crisis” or customer request that can’t be handled by someone else in the organization, or wait a mere hour and a half for your personal attention. Realistically, you’ll accomplish more in that hour and a half of strategic project work than the other seven hours of crisis management combined.

OF YOUR MAJOR PROJECT WORK, WHICH DO YOU TYPICALLY WORK ON FIRST? a) the one with the most pressing deadline b) the one that’s the easiest to do quickly c) the one that will generate the most profits over the long term Obviously, you should work on c) the project that will generate the most profits over the long term. That’s what you’re in business for. Ironically, most managers don’t do it. They react to deadlines — submitting to the tyranny of the urgent. It’s fine to work on projects with urgent deadlines, but at least spend the first hour on the long-term profit project, then work on the other projects with the urgent deadlines.

Administrative activities are some of the most important tasks as a manager a) true b) false Answer: b) false. Adminis-trivia is the day-to-day organizing of money (cash flow) manpower (scheduling) and machinery (inventory). It’s the tedious, mindless reporting and paperwork that simply has to be done. And it’s the lowest form of work for any manager. It should be automated, delegated or outsourced. If you are doing this work yourself, you are a clerk — not a leader.

THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE The problem is that adminis-trivia is seductive because it’s easy to do and it usually has a deadline. Ditto for dealing with customer requests that should be handled by your employees.

They are paths of least resistance. Long term strategic project work, on the other hand, requires concentration, vision, and rarely has an immediate deadline. A classic example is

Your first priority of the day should be c) working on strategic projects designed to prevent problems and increase profits. developing an ongoing staff-training program. You can put it off indefinitely and still look busy doing paperwork. The consequences are that the rest of your day is spent in crises management because your front-line staff isn’t properly trained.

The bottom line is that to be an effective manager, you don’t have to be the most intelligent, the most enthusiastic, or even the hardest worker. You simply need to learn how to organize your working day so that you’re less busy and more productive.

Jeff Mowatt is a customer service strategist, Hall of Fame speaker, and bestselling author.

For more tips, training tools or to inquire about engaging Jeff for your team visit www.

JeffMowatt.com

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EMBRACE

Blooming

By Joseph Delarge, CAFA, CFD

Joe With

Possibilities

Flowers are everywhere these days and I’m loving it! In fashion, art, social media, advertising, food — take a quick look at social media and you can see the alluring impact flowers have in all parts of our lives. During a recent visit to Montreal, I came back with a floral-patterned baseball cap and an arm full of floral-patterned shirts. I couldn’t choose between them!

Florists are in a perfect position to capitalize on these trends.

The profits are there if you’re creative and are able to adapt to a new demographic and new ways of selling. People are taking up old fashioned hobbies and trying to get back to their roots.

I’m talking about gardening, cooking, sewing and knitting, doit-yourself projects, and other slow tasks. All have become very popular ways to spend time.

is always so much to learn. Staying up to date and embracing a willingness to learn new things will pay dividends.

Florists are the experts who are there to help and guide people through pastimes like floral arranging or gardening. Share the information you know with everyone who walks through the door. Show them you know your stuff. You’re the expert! There

Now, let’s talk about fashion. Florists would do well to position themselves for this 21st century flower boom. People are wearing flowers again. Flower bars with boutonnieres, corsages, and crowns customers can customize on the spot will set you apart.

Brush up on your personal floral designs, learn quick mechanics, and this will be a hit! Pitch this set up for a special feature at events and weddings. Get people excited about flowers again!

Share the information you know with everyone who walks through the door. Show them you know your stuff.

Floral arranging and gardening encourage us to slow down and appreciate natural beauty. Studies have shown that having soil in our hands or being in the presence of flowers and plants will reduce stress and anxiety and lift your spirits. (Hint: spread the word to your community!)

Guys have been affixing flowers into their beards for years. The latest viral thing is “flower vase hair.” Google it! It’s basically a Dr. Seuss-like updo that holds a vase of flowers.

Ever heard of guerilla marketing? Make a splash in your community with an unexpected floral creation, such as a pop-up installation sprouting out of a garbage can or at bus stop. The surprise will delight everyone and makes for the perfect social media marketing moment!

There is such a bounty of flowers in the southern Ontario region, where I live. Flower markets are a popular summer event that brings that bounty into the city. Could you start something

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that brings that bounty into the city. Could you start something like that in your community?

When I was a kid, my parents would take us strawberry picking. Now, we have “pick your own” flower farms. Have you thought about starting a flower farm? You don’t have to go big.

Grow a few unique blooms on a little patch of land if you have it. Choose flowers you aren’t able to source commercially and grow them yourself. Offer those unique and very seasonal flowers to your best customers and flower connoisseurs. Create a feature arrangement that shows off your über-local blooms.

Start a floral design workshop series in your shop. Offer a few different types of designs: a bouquet, arrangement, wreath, or seasonal urn design. There are many plant- and gardeningrelated workshops that would fit the bill as well.

Bring in products that complement fresh flowers, like candles in floral scents or dried flowers.

Dried flowers are making a comeback. I can’t keep dried lavender in stock these days. I am trying so hard to find dried roses. Anyone know where to find them?

Let people touch the flowers and design their own bouquets. Do-it-yourself is very hot right now. Let people mix and match and play with the flowers. Give them advice and allow them to create.

Give your customers floral experiences that will make sure they remember you each time they are in need or want a flower fix!

Joseph Delarge CAFA, CFD, is the owner of eco|stems in Toronto.

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Delegation is a popular buzzword these days. For many of us who are small business owners, though, it’s more like a “four letter” word. Delegating means releasing control of something I’m doing to someone who (in my irrational fear brain) doesn’t care as much, doesn’t know as much, and can’t do it as fast/well/elegantly as I can.

Ask The SEO

BY: Ryan Freeman

If we’re wise business owners, we’re also delegating important work that requires specific expertise: electrical, plumbing, HVAC maintenance — you know, the stuff that can flood you out or burn down a shop if you’re not careful.

With this in mind, let’s examine three ways you can delegate some of your marketing workload. More than any other aspect of running a flower shop, marketing seems to be the area that gets squeezed the most. “I KNOW I need to do it” butts right up against “Ain’t nobody got time for that.” You know that marketing your shop is essential for growth, and you care that it’s done right … but you rarely have the hours each week to do it well or consistently!

SOLUTION 1: HIRE AN EXPERT This doesn’t have to be a high-priced full-time person with their dreaded MBA developing deep strategies that span the next 60 months. You can parcel out some of your marketing work, particularly the time-consuming parts, to niche experts. There are a number of social media, SEO, web maintenance, and other marketing services that can be contracted for just a few hundred dollars a month. You could bring in a part-time person to create and schedule your social media posts in just a few hours a week. Hire a writer to produce blog posts for you. Try to identify the areas that you know you should be doing, but present the biggest challenge for you personally.

SOLUTION 2: AUTOMATE EMAIL MARKETING Marketing Automation is something we’ve covered here before, but it certainly qualifies as a type of delegation. From simple email marketing, to advanced segmentation, to abandoned cart notifications, occasion reminders, and automated suggestions using technology to automate the grunt work can be a huge benefit.

For example, our marketing automation platform has a list of every known person who has ever visited the Essential Marketing page of our Strider site. If we decide in the future to run a promotion on this service, we can immediately send a specialized email to all the people on that list.

SOLUTION 3: LEVERAGE A REVIEW BUILDER Online reviews are the hottest topic for Local SEO in 2018. From the Wild West approach used by Google (“Anyone can leave a review — or five!”), to the highly curated system of Yelp (“thanks for the review, we’ll show it later when we trust you more”), local search rankings are increasingly being influenced by not only the number of reviews, but also the themes and sentiments expressed within them.

From a human perspective, reviews are the new “word of mouth”.

More than 80% of consumers say they trust reviews as much or more than comments from friends and family. And 85% of purchases are influenced by reviews. But in a world where shoppers expect a threshold of 36 reviews before they consider the average rating to be trustworthy, how is a florist supposed to encourage that many customers to go online and write a worthwhile review?

Services like Strider’s Easy Review Builder (pardon the shameless plug) make this an automatic process. Sometime after the customer makes a purchase the system sends them an email asking for a 1-10 rating on whether they would refer your shop to a friend. That leads to a single box asking for comments.

That feedback is parsed by the system to determine if it meets a threshold of goodness, and happy reviewers are then directed to a “so glad you were thrilled, would you mind pasting this review into one of these online review sites?” page. Reviewers who are less-than-thrilled are taken to a different page with an apology and promise of follow-up. The florist is alerted of the unhappy customer and has the chance to rescue the relationship.

WORKING IN ON YOUR BUSINESS All three solutions can take a bit of time to implement, but that’s a worthwhile investment in freeing your time and growing your business. Don’t let the day-to-day duties swamp you so much that you lose the opportunity for personal, business, and team growth. And don’t forget to use a few of those newly-freed-up hours for something you enjoy outside of work!

Ryan Freeman is president of Strider Inc., founder of Florist 2.0, and publisher of Canadian Florist.

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Curiosity Keeps Stress At Bay

How To With

Heather

By Heather de Kok, AAF, AIFD, PFCI

They say that curiosity killed the cat. Well, I don’t believe that for a second. Curiosity, I think, is the most fabulous thing! Curiosity lets the cat live life to the fullest!

De Kok atten Weeks ds a hands-on at Floris ts Supp program led b y ly’s Edm onton b Francoise ranch.

Let me give you an idea about my life. I have 4 kids — FOUR! — between the ages of eight and 17. I own a company and my husband works out of town often. Work-life balance is so important to me.

In fact, I value my time more than almost everything else in my life.

I want to be the best at everything I do, be it as a mom, business woman, wife, or friend. “How do you do it?” is a question that I hear a lot. Here is the secret….

I constantly look for opportunities to learn. I find it so rejuvenating to attend classes locally, nationally, and internationally. When the ideas are flowing, I get this tingly feeling in me. It makes me eager to get back to the shop and incorporate what I’ve just learned. I attend conferences whenever possible. Not only do you get an education from the seminars but you also get useful advice just talking to other attendees. There’s nothing like making new friends, especially those who are in the same boat as you. It’s liberating to discover you aren’t the only person facing that one issue that seems to forever haunt you, and to pick up some possible solutions from others. You gain so much by putting yourself out there rather than just working in your store, day in and day out, growing tired and complacent.

Continuing my education gives me the desire to keep going and to give back. At least I try to. I have been lucky enough to not only attend classes from world-class industry leaders but to also lead classes and design shows, imparting what I have learned through

my 30 years of experience. I have watched our industry change and I am learning how to change with it!

I also believe in accreditation. I do this for myself — not for my business. It is important to me to push myself. I currently have four designations (American Institute of Floral Designers, Professional Floral CommunicatorsInternational, Certified Floral Evaluator and Judge, and American Academy of Floriculture) and am working towards the European Masters Certification. Achieving these things has boosted my confidence and opened so many doors.

My last tip? Find a hobby outside of the field. I LOVE Kung Fu, kickboxing, and yoga. (And, of course, shoe shopping, if I am being honest!) I know it can be hard to squeeze recreation into a busy schedule, but I believe it is an absolute must to keep your passion going strong.

None of us know it all, so the answer is to just keep learning!

Heather de Kok, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, is the owner of Heather de Kok Floral Design and Grower Direct in Edmonton, Alberta. She also founded The Maple Leaf Cup.

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on THE

LEVEL with

NEVILLE

AIN’T NO TIME FOR ALL THAT!

by Neville MacKay, CAFA, PFCI, WFC

First, let me apologize to Katie, who nags, I mean, “politely nudges” me to get my pieces in her hands on time. I KNOW it’s a struggle, but I’m still one of your top 500 contributors, right? Look, we all are running off in all directions and sometimes when I hear a person say to me, “I don’t know how you do all you do!” I must ask myself the same question. I generally make a joke about it, but the truth is, my life is a whirlwind most of the time and it takes a lot of energy and planning to make it all work.

About 200 years ago now, I was at a floral meeting hosted by a talented and sweet lady named Patricia Cull. I listened as she carefully choreographed the day ahead, not only with our meeting, but with her family and business obligations as well. I’ll never forget her strength and determination to get everything done and done well.

And she did. (All before mobile phones, by the way — so let that sink in, kiddies!)

I own and work in a flower shop. I have a husband, an apartment, a house in the country, a cat, and a family. I write for two publications, teach and demo for Smithers-Oasis all over North America, and host tours to the United Kingdom (and, soon, to South America as well!).

I am on TV regularly, judge competitions all over, have two books in the works, host many charity events, and drive by a gym as often as I can! In my spare time, I love to cook, bake, garden, and sit like a blob on the sofa. Now, that’s a profile no one would swipe right on, ha!

Look, we all have a lot of things going on — now more than ever it seems — and no time to get it all done. Here’s how I get through it all….

• Break it all down. If you have a pile of things to do and it seems a bit overwhelming, make a list and prioritize your obligations. Do you have to do that planter now, or should you look after the funeral first?

Not only is this a great way to remember and review what’s on your plate, but it really makes things a lot easier to digest when you have them in order. Also, making a list allows you to check things off as you do them, which provides a sense of accomplishment. I have a list of my bookings and engagements for the year ahead called “Neville on the Go!”, and that has been a blessing so many times.

• Put yourself first now and then. Look, it won’t do anyone any good if you are sick and burned out, so be sure to take care of yourself.

There’s a reason flight attendants say to put on your own oxygen mask before helping others. I spend a lot of time travelling, and I get

the best sleep now on a plane! I put my earbuds in, shut my eyes, and often am asleep before the plane has taken off. Also eat well. Yes, it’s more challenging during the busy holiday season, but you can still find time to eat an apple, an orange, or a nice “hippy”sandwich.

• Just say “no.” I must admit that this word doesn’t come out of my mouth easily when it comes to desserts or charity gigs, but it is empowering when you master it. There was one event I did for years, never really enjoying it, and finally turned down a few years ago. Well, the world didn’t end, nor did the opportunities. If you don’t allow yourself the opportunity to do other things, these opportunities won’t come your way.

• Exercise. Haha!! Nope. Isn’t gonna happen for me. But allegedly this is a wonderful way to better your mind and body for the marathon ahead.

• I do know that sleep and mental rest are imperative, and give you energy to do more in your life. I spent some time this past summer with my friend William Roache (Ken Barlow from ITV’s “Coronation Street”) and he spoke of meditation, which he does for 15 to 30 minutes daily. He’s an 86-year-old, and he attributes this daily activity to his longevity and success. You’ve all heard, “Stop and smell the roses!” Well, do just that. Look at the beauty you get to work with, and I mean really look at it. Drink in the textures, the colours, and the scents, and let yourself go. It is so very good for you and gives clarity and focus. I do this several times a day. I’ve even done so on stage before an audience. I also take time about every six weeks or so to go sit on a rock by the ocean or in the garden or in the forest —away from people and telephones — and let it all go, so to speak. This is so healthy, and something we as a culture haven’t allowed in our lives.

Mostly, be kind. Smile. Laugh at yourself. Up the dosage, if necessary.

Neville MacKay, CAFA, PFCI, WFC, is owner of My Mother’s Bloomers in Halifax, Nova Scotia and a design director with SmithersOasis North America. He designed flowers for the 1988 Winter Olympics, as well as a long list of celebrities, including Glen Close, Sir Elton John, and members of the British Royal Family. MacKay appears regularly on Canadian TV and travels internationally, giving presentations about the impact of flowers.

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