Trying to find ways of getting exposure on different social media portals can be a challenge. Here at arena flowers we decided to create a separate web site with the sole purpose of being used as an interface for people to interact with Facebook and twitter by sending a virtual bouquet of flowers to their partners and friends.

It’s a very simple system where you can add the name of the recipient, edit the message on the card and choose the virtual bouquet you want to send. We wanted to make something that is more interesting than a simple text message. If you were looking to post a note wishing someone happy birthday, congratulations, happy anniversary or any thing really you could use our application to really personalise that message.  The reception we received was very positive; it was a simple, fun idea and was completely free. See here: Flowers and Fun

So far 28,000 people have added our app to their Facebook accounts, and have sent over 65,000 virtual bouquets.  Here is what one might look like:

More recently we have upgraded the simple app into something really innovative. The tool identifies people wishing each other happy birthday over twitter and sends them a virtual bouquet and message. We have received thanks from across the world for this fun and personalised service.  People seem to love the surprise of receiving a message on their birthday and a virtual bouquet of flowers.

In response to the post before.  I’m sure there is potential value in trying to convert the huge volume of people on Facebook into sales.  However we decided to use these social media circles to build brand awareness, and have some fun in doing so.

About ArenaFlowers - Fresh, beautiful flowers delivered across the UK next day, and same day Flower delivery throughout London with Arena Flowers. Include chocolates, balloons and other gifts to the flowers delivered ensures the perfect gift, whatever the occasion.

www.floristsearch.co.uk, try refreshing the homepage, fantastic logo and image.

Submit your website for free.

Websites for florists - Get a professional, low cost e-commerce shopping cart solution specifically created for your florist. Visit www.floristwindow.com

Florist Window provide customised online shopping cart solutions for florists allowing you to sell online as well as maintain your own products, content and customers.

The Florist Window team can create a new website for you that is 100% search engine friendly and branded to your florist using your colours and logos. You maintain your own webpages, products, product categories, reminders, delivery charges, unlimited website themes such as Valentines or Mothers Day, spring or summer, voucher codes, customer newsletters, sales orders and more. New products and shopping categories can be added, modified or deleted instantly ensuring your online business is always fresh and up to date.

You rent the software for £50 each month, each year you pay a fee for your secure SSL @ £60 using VeriSign. The VeriSign secure certificate allows your online shop to take credit or debit card orders online securely.

Since launching their first florist window client on December 23rd 2009, today they have launched their 31st client in just under 9 months.

Florists need to be able to integrate their outside shopping cart products into their Facebook page, this would make Facebook an even more powerful tool as it would bring FaceBook to business and not just social networks. If they cannot integrate outside applications maybe just an app built purposely for Facebook. Can this be done?

This call first off was a surprise, a company calling me to see if my florist (not that I’m a florist) would like to advertise on FaceBook. Advertise on FaceBook, I thought FaceBook was a social networking website not a place that people visit online to find a florist to send flowers! If you look-up FaceBook on Wikipedia this is what you get “Facebook is a social networking website launched in February 2004 that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc., with more than 500 million active users in July 2010. Users can add people as friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or college.” Okay so we have ascertained that FaceBook is not a search engine and that 500million users actively use the site on a regular basis. Wikipedia on Google also tells us that Google is a search engine that processes over one billion search requests every single day, so my point is why would a florist advertise on FaceBook when they may as well advertise on Google that is a proven place that internet users visit to find things.

“Do you use FaceBook” the lady asked looking for her first yes reply to the question! This is how sales people work, the sales person looks for a series of yes answers from the prospect to lure them into a a sense of agreement and then ‘BAM’ the closing question and before you know it you find yourself quids out of pocket and the new owner of adverts on FaceBook. My answer to the question was always going to be “No” regardless of what the question was even though I was telling the truth.

Right I need to buy the ingredients for beef wellington later, where shall I go online to find a website to buy from? Any ideas… and don’t say FaceBook!

I’m certain that web designers who have nearly all these days self-titled themselves SEO experts are harping on about Twitter and Facebook being the Holy Grail in search engine marketing. Apparently if you setup your florist on Facebook and Twitter this will generate your top search engines listings and make you lots of money

Apparently Facebook and Twitter are the new Google :o)

Twitter and Facebook are the starting pages to visit apparently when you go online if you want to find a florist to send flowers. You can search Facebook for a florist and get fantastic results! (Not) If you search twitter you can find lots of florists all twitting on about everything from a supplier delivery they received earlier to tweets about them delivering flowers 6 days a week except on mother’s day and that they deliver flower locally from their shop in x!

Hang on a minute are these not details that show up when you visit a website anyway, e.g. telephone code, address, we arrange flowers for mother’s day.

Here are a few florists I have found using Twitter:

• http://twitter.com/flowerworksuk
• http://twitter.com/zaraflora
• http://twitter.com/florist
• http://twitter.com/jerrysflowers
• http://twitter.com/KabloomFlowers

SEO (web designers) experts lead many business owners in many industries from Floristry to Builders to believe that a link from Twitter or Facebook back to their own website will make you stand out from the rest in Google’s eyes, I think not. Google looks at quality content, the way in which a website is built from the bottom up and relevant links back to your own domain from industry/topic specific websites. A link from a site such as twitter or Facebook is worth no more than a link from a general directory. If you are a florist reading this, for the amount of time it takes to keep writing these mini tweets or micro blogs as I like to call them, login to your Facebook page and update it you may as well go and find a good florist directory and pay to get listed on it! This way Google will see a relevant link from an industry related site to your own and be able to place you within a network of related sites. Secondly why not just become a writer, write about your business, the flowers you design and publish this information on your website for all of your customers and Google to see? Thirdly, how about actually getting a real blog and writing something meaningful to share with other likeminded individuals.

A link back from Twitter or Facebook will do little if anything for you business in terms of rank on search engines, however if you fail to write anything meaningful, worthy, of use on these sites you stand the chance of wasting your customers/potential customers time.

Are most tweets being used to promote voucher codes or tell people that they do wedding flowers at weekends? Are they now another form of online chat/support modules that customers can use to complain about a delivery that will stay published for all to see? Having taken 1 hour of life that I will not get back this is all I could make out from the 40 or so florists on twitter that I looked at. One florist was so desperate to reach 1000 followers I think they would sell their soul to achieve it!

Twitter has a reason for being here hence being ranked @ number 11 in the world today, I’m just not sure every business has a reason for being on twitter, social networking does not mean business. Maybe I need pointing in the right direction… I would like to point out that this is only my present opinion, what are your thoughts on the subject? Post any comments below.

Secret Garden Flowers are located in Jesmond, Newcastle - you can order flowers online, in person or over the phone.

April Cotton Florist [ website ] or [ blog ]