SRFA 2008 Wrap Up!

We just returned from the Southern Retail Florist Association Annual convention at the Concord Convention Center in Concord North Carolina. We spoke to many of the attendees and introduced them to www.localflowershop.com and also invited them to participate in our “outside the box” specialty gift items.

Many shop owners shared with us that they are using our FREE look up service to phone out their orders. Shops were thrilled when they heard us say that we are not a wire service. We spoke to a great deal of brand new shops that had been enlightened to the fact that wire services are not what they used to be and that the need for them is an option not a necessity. Our online Florist Directory is an alternative to a wire service as our orders are at full value and come directly from the customer without the need for a wire service. Our members receive incoming orders at full value and they use our FREE look up service to send outgoing orders.

Shops were talking about cutting costs and  searching for ways to stay alive. We don’t think wire services are bad, however we know they are not for everyone. It really is an individual choice. It just happens to be that this is our 4th anniversary and it is just now beginning to get the majority of the shops attention. Shops are cheering us on as we continue to bring them full value orders at a very reasonable cost.

Some of the shops that were in attendance were already featured members on our floral directory. They felt so strongly in our service that they sent other florists to our booth. In our opinion the endorsement from a member shop that is benefiting from our full value orders is really what it is all about. The value for a listing is very easy to justify as a front page featured listing starts at only $120 per year.

The highlight of the show for us other than meeting all the florists that were in attendance was the Friday night silk presentation by Randy Wooten. We took many pictures of his fantastic silk designs as they were breathtaking and incredibly inspirational. In addition to his powerful point of thinking outside the box he featured our LenoxCelebration Gift Bag with a surprise arrangement to show it versatility.

For those of you that could not attend, please enjoy our video presentation that was played during the conference on the importance of a “Yes We Can” attitude.

Top 10 Reasons to be Listed

These are the top 10 reasons why all flower shops need to be listed on www.localflowershop.com.

10 ) Full access to your listing, no fees to make changes and updates.

9 ) High ranking status as every shop, funeral home and hospital in the US are listed.

8 ) Feature your minimum prices, All Floral Affiliations, Coupon or discount offer.

7 ) Teleflora and FTD members and independents value the added exposure to their website.

6 ) Web traffic confirmations sent to you via email within minutes of a visit to your site.

5 ) It works. The Majority of the top 50 Teleflora florists are members because a listing pays for itself through orders, exclusive member discounts, the inbound link, web traffic and reciprocal link.

4 ) Annual members have an opportunity for a $50.00 rebate for a reciprocal link.

3 ) Low annual fee…no commissions, no transaction charges or transmission fees.

2 ) Front Page visibility for your shop’s listing guaranteed.

1 ) Obtaining full value orders from consumers and shops.