It’s safe to say that no one’s situation looks much like it did 10 or 12 weeks ago. The threat of COVID-19 turned Spring 2020 into a season of upheaval, cancelling events, shuttering once thriving businesses, and creating new obstacles, particularly for those trying to work at home with no childcare or inadequate technology. Some people have struggled to carve out precious alone time, while others have suffered crippling loneliness. And no one knows when it will end. All this unease has probably prompted a little soul searching. What really matters to you? What are your strengths? What feels like …
Online Consultations Help Line Up Future Weddings
Although communities across North America are gradually easing stay-at-home orders and allowing more businesses to open, events remain off the table. That has led to a lot of free time — and melancholy — for florists with wedding-heavy businesses. To keep busy and ensure she has wedding business down the road, Mary Dann of Springhill Flowers in London, Ontario has been holding virtual consultations through FaceTime. “I usually shy away from relying on technology, unless it’s a destination bride, because I thought you couldn’t make a real connection that way,” Dann said. “I’ve been pleasantly surprised how well you can …
Small Business Tips In COVID-19 Times
It’s a tough time for businesses of all kinds. People are staying home, events are cancelled, shopping habits are changing. Even if you manufacture in-demand products, you have to manage keeping staff safe, expediting delivery, and options for adjusting capacity. It seems no one has been spared. As with every challenge, though, we’re starting to see more and more businesses adapting and evolving with some good ideas for survival and growth. We will keep updating this article as ideas are discussed and as recommendations change. Update Your Website Gift cards for local businesses Delivery instead of in-store Curbside pickup Google …
It’s Time to Vote … in the Game of Thorns!
March Madness is nearly upon us, and soon, thousands will participate in the annual ritual of predicting the next NCAA basketball champion. To tie in to the cultural phenomenon, DVFlora came up with a clever (and oh-so-lovely) floral spin: “the Game of Thorns.” The tournament, a pun on HBO’s award-winning series that ended last summer, seeks to crown the ultimate rose. Like the NCAA version, the competition has 64 competitors, divided into four divisions (Purity, Charm, Gratitude, and Passion). We caught up with John Burk, e-commerce project manager for DVFlora, to learn more about the company’s latest promotion. Strider: There …
Should You Join The Clique?
To state the obvious: running a retail flower business is hard work. Perishable product, intense competition from seemingly every corner (national floral companies, grocery stores and mass merchandisers, non-floral retailers), increased customer expectations, and constantly evolving technology are just a few of the challenges that might be keeping you up at night. With more than 40 years’ experience in the industry, Vonda LaFever, AIFD, PFCI, has been there — and she wants to help. That’s what inspired the Florida-based floral consultant to join forces with fellow TeamFloral alums, Lori Wilson and Kami Martin, and her daughter, Ellie, to create a …
3 Reasons Why Your Blog Content Isn’t Getting Traffic – And What To Do About It
Congrats! You’ve got it all together. You have a small business up and running. You have a website that looks pretty sharp. You even have a blog, because every SEO company (including Strider) says you need to have a blog for some reason. But you don’t seem to be getting much traction with that darn blog. “Why am I bothering?”, you might ask yourself. It seems like a tremendous waste of time. And it is – but only because you aren’t quite doing all you can to make it work… to provide your blog with the opportunity to drive traffic …
Essential Small Business Tips: Advice on How to Get Started
So… you have a great idea for a small business. Now what? It’s a simple question, but for people unfamiliar with the business world, it is a daunting one. While it’s true that you could either buy a franchise or take-over a business already performing the same sales or service you wish to perform, for this article, we are going to look at things from the concept of totally new: How do I get from a great idea to selling and making a profit? It’s not something you can simply start up. It takes planning and intestinal fortitude (guts). And …
Best Free Blogging Platforms For Business
Everybody wants something for free—but while the old adage about “getting what you pay for” is often true, sometimes “free” can be a truly cost-effective and successful way for the small business owner to become more active online. When it comes to a blog, a small business owner doesn’t need all the fancy bells and whistles some platforms offer. Rather, what you need is something that is intuitive for you to use, provides standard options and technical help, and looks good to the user’s eye. For the uninitiated, a blog is a place to express your own thoughts—generally without any …
Use PPC Marketing To Grow Your Business
Some enterprising person (who obviously has WAY too much time on their hands) found 159 different types, and provided definitions for each of them. Fascinating, but for today’s small business owner, all you need to know, is that the most cost-effective and trackable marketing leverages digital channels. Digital marketing is the marketing of products or services using technologies on the Internet and mobile phones—something most of today’s consumers use multiple (multiple, multiple) times a day. Sometimes even an hour. Or per minute. You’re on it right now. One of the more desirable and effective digital marketing options is Pay-Per-Click …
5 Simple SEO Tips For Small Business Owners To Follow
So, you have a small business, and maybe one or two regular clients—congratulations. But now is not the time to rest on one’s laurels, and is instead the time to double down on one’s efforts to build up your business quickly and efficiently. While we can’t stress enough the importance of setting up your company with a free Google My Business account we want to take the time to discuss website set-up for better SEO (search engine optimization) results. To do this, we are going to harp on the negative… things that people hate about websites—be they a large company …