June 26. 1902 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



135 



Marie Lemoine. 



Plti larch 



Some Paeonies of Mtrit. 



La Tulipe. 



BUSINESS METHODS FOR BUSY 

 FLORISTS. 



VIL 



Advertising. 



It is not without fear and trembling 

 that I take up this subject, knowing that 

 there is such a wide diversity of opinion 

 regarding it and that so many abler pens 

 than mine have covered the field very 

 thoroughly many, many times. At the 

 same time, every opinion is worth some- 

 thing, if it only leads to something bet- 

 ter and sets people to thinking. In the 

 hope that these lines of mine may be of 

 some benefit to some one I will submit 

 I hem. 



Every man in business advertises in 

 some manner or other, else he would not 

 be in business. As a rule, the most suc- 

 cessful business men advertise the most, 

 although there are a few prominent ex- 

 ceptions. The word advertise is from 

 the Latin advertere — to turn the mind to 

 — and that is the meaning and intention 

 of the word to-day — to call attention to 

 your business and the goods you have to 

 sell. In its broad meaning, however, it 

 refers to the free use of printers' ink in 

 newspapers, magazines, posters, etc. 



Every florist who builds a greenhouse, 

 puts up a sign and offers goods for sale, 

 advertises. He cannot exist in business 

 unless he does. If he buries himself in 

 f dense forest, keeps his business a secret, 

 never tells any one and never offers any- 

 thing for sale, he will not advertise, but 

 he will not do any business. The mo- 

 ment he begins to sell goods he begins to 

 advertise them. Starting, then, with this 

 self-evident truth for the basis of our 

 remarks, let us discuss a few of the best 

 methods of advertising. 



In the first place, grow and handle 

 only the best goods. Choice stock is the 



best advertisement any firm can have. 

 There is always a demand for the best, 

 and once you get a reputation for grow- 

 ing and handling it you will have but 

 little trouble in disposing of it. Don't 

 try to grow too big a line of plants or 

 flowers at first, for if you do you will 

 fail in some. Better grow one or two 

 things well than half a dozen fairly well. 

 Your trade and reputation will grow in 

 proportion to the quality of your stock, 

 and no amount of printers' ink will make 

 up for inferior goods. 



In the second place, keep your place 

 looking neat, tidy and attractive. This 

 is especially necessary if you are in the 

 ret.iil business, as a grower or as a store- 

 keeper. Thrift and evidences of pros- 

 perity will attract people every bit as 

 much as choice stock, and when you once 

 get them into your place of business be 

 neat and courteous in appearance. You 

 can sometimes grow nice flowers in dilap- 

 idated houses and roses are just as sweet 

 if handled and put up in a slovenly, care- 

 less manner as they are in an up-to-date 

 basket, but the style of the latter will 

 attract 100 customers where the other 

 does one. A tidy store, neat, polite clerks 

 and nice boxes, etc., cost more than un- 

 tidy ones, just as it costs a little more to 

 grow good flowers than poor ones, but 

 your customers pay for the additional ex- 

 ]iense, leaving you the same margin of 

 profit on the stock. And the more goods 

 you sell the larger your profits will be. 



Good stock, a neat and appropriate way 

 of displaying it, and courteous and care- 

 ful treatment of your customers are the 

 first three principles of successful adver- 

 tising. 



Having established your business by a 

 conscientious adherence to these princi- 

 ples, we turn next to the best methods 

 for increasing it. The common and ac- 

 cepted meaning of modern advertising 

 is the liberal use of printers' ink, espe- 



cially in the newspapers and magazines. 

 Wo will consider all printed matter which 

 a florist may put out as advertising. This 

 may be divided into two classes — first, 

 price-lists, catalogues, circulars, etc., sent 

 out through the mails; second, public ad- 

 vertising in the newspapers, magazines, 

 programmes, handbills, etc. 



If your business is local you can do 

 without a price-list, but a neat folder can 

 be obtained at small expense and will 

 save you the answering of many ques- 

 tions, talk while you are asleep or busy, 

 and pay for itself many times over. If 

 3'our business is general,a price-list or cat- 

 alogue is imperative. As neatness is es- 

 sential in presenting a "good appear- 

 ance" to your local trade, it is equally 

 so in presenting your goods through the 

 medium of a price-list. Have it clear, 

 concise, comprehensive and attractive. If 

 you have a particular specialty for sale, 

 emphasize it with a good picture. Half- 

 tones are now so cheap and easily ob- 

 tained and are so true to nature that 

 their use is recommended. You will need 

 better paper for them than for ordinary 

 wood cuts, and that is where their chief 

 value lies — in elevating the general char- 

 acter of a price-list. They lend tone and 

 attractiveness and in the end your cus- 

 tomers pay for them. 



I cannot now expatiate on the merits 

 or demerits of certain catalogue advertis- 

 ing which is quite current in the trade, 

 but may treat that in a separate paper 

 at some future time. The average seeds- 

 man's catalogue is in a class by itself 

 and cannot be discussed in a general pa- 

 per at this time. 



We come now to public advertising in 

 periodicals, a subject which has engaged 

 some of the brightest minds of the age. 

 Does it pay ? In a general way, yes. But 

 millions of dollars are foolishly expended 

 each year in this manner. If your trade 

 is local and you desire to keep it so, a 



