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JOLT 17, 1910. 



The Florists' Review 



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vesting a small percentage of his g^oss 

 income in advertising. 



Tlie Proper Appropriation. 



We bave found through experience 

 that approximately five per cent of the 

 yearly gross income is a justifiable ex- 

 penditure. To some this may seem high, 

 and I will 'say that where one 's business 

 is limited to local territory, three and 

 one-half to four per cent may be suf- 

 ficient to produce the desired results. 

 We have spent more money for adver- 

 tising during the last year than ever 

 before, and I believe that we can attrib- 

 ute a large part of the gratifying in- 

 crease in sales to this investment. 



Some advertising is costly at any 

 price. A full-page displ&y in one me- 

 dium may be worth 16ss than only a few 

 inchels of space in another, and a poorly 

 written and arranged advertisement is 

 a detriment instead of an asset. We 

 have found the morning and evening 

 daily newspaper with a good class of 

 readers to be the best medium, as these 

 media cover a wide territory, have a 

 large circulation and are read by all 

 classes. Next in line comes direct ad- 

 vertising. We have found that when a 

 special class of people are to be reached 

 a direct appeal by mail insures you a 

 positive circulation, and while the ex- 

 pense of presenting your message before 

 each person is much higher than that of 

 other media, the net results are as great, 

 as these direct appeals usually go to a 

 class of people that are responsive and 

 are delivered to them at the psycholog- 

 ical time and their indecision is over- 

 come by your clear, convincing argu- 

 ment sent forth in an attractive manner. 



Direct Mail Methoda 



Now just one or two suggestions as to 

 methods of recovering customers who 

 fall by the wayside for some reason that 

 has not been called to your attention. 

 We have found an effective method of 

 bringing to life customers who have 

 been on the books but for some reason 

 have discontinued their business with 

 us. When, in checking over our ledger, 

 we find a regular customer has suddenly 

 discontinued his orders, we drop him a 

 letter about as follows: 



Januai^y 10 was your last purchase. Previous 

 to this date you purchased flowers regularly. 

 If for any reason we have failed to give you 

 proper service or have given you cause to change 

 your account, we stand ready to make the neces- 

 sary explanation or adjustment, whatever the 

 cause ma> be. We will be pleased to have you 

 call at our store or drop us a line. Please bear 

 in mind that satisfaction must be yours, etc. 



We have in our files a record of the 

 birthdays of the wives of several hun- 

 dred of our business men. This record 

 was compiled after considerable work 

 and tact. A few days preceding the 

 birthday we remind the husband of the 

 fact and suggest the sending of flowers 

 for the occasion. There are various 

 other methods that are business getters. 

 There should be some one assigned to 

 this particular line of work. 



In conclusion, let me say that adver- 

 tising pays, and the sooner you wake up 

 to this fact the sooner your business 

 will grow. Decide now. Let this fall 

 be the beginning of an advertising cam- 

 paign and give serious consideration to 

 the matter of judicious advertising for 

 the florists' business. Remember one 

 thing, that you can waste a great deal 

 of money unless you select the proper 

 medium, and once you have started, do 

 not stop. A day's ads may not bring 

 results, but by continuous hammering 

 you will reap the harvest. 



THE WILL AND THE WAY 



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TEXAS FLOWERS FOB TEXANS. 



Percentage Orows with Years. 



I would like to take you back with me 

 fifteen or twenty years and look at the 

 flower business in Texas from the grow- 

 ing standpoint. At that time (I have no 

 official date) fully ninety per cent of the 

 flowers marketed by Texas florists were 

 imported from northern markets, and 

 the florists took great pride in stating 

 in their advertising that their flowers 

 came from northern growers. 



Ten years later the situation was not 

 much improved; perhaps this ninety per 

 cent was reduced to seventy per cent. 

 Still the Texas florist was pleased to pa- 

 rade the fact that his fine carnations, 

 roses and such stock came from Chicago, 

 or whatever northern city he happened 

 to be shipping from. The farther away 

 the source, the prouder he was. 



The last ten years have wrought con- 

 siderable change. The seventy per cent 

 of imports has now been reduced to per- 

 haps forty per cent, but, most important 

 of all, the Texans in the flower business 

 have awakened to the fact that Texas- 

 grown flowers are second to none, and 

 are taking pride in stating to their cus- 



An address on "The Possibilities of Texas 

 Supplying Her Own Flowers," delivered by A. P. 

 Koehle, of Houston, Tex., before the Texas State 

 Florists' Association, July 9. 



tomers and displaying in their ads that 

 their flowers are home-grown. 



Will-power Wanted. 



The possibilities here in our line are 

 unlimited. There isn 't a flower or a 

 plant required in the conduct of the 

 flower business that cannot be grown 

 profitably and to perfection here. Per- 

 haps in some sections success cannot be 

 obtained with some things, but it can 

 be elsewhere in the state, and it is our 

 duty to encourage to the utmost those 

 who make the attempt. 



One of our greatest troubles is that 

 when a brother florist suggests the grow- 

 ing of some line we are in dire need of, 

 he is usually confronted with the 

 statement, "It can't be done," and if 

 he asks why, the reply is usually, ' * Well, 

 no one ever has." Well, no one ever 

 crossed the Atlantic before Columbus, 

 either, but still he accomplished it. As 

 in many other reputed impossible feats, 

 it takes nerve, it takes money, it takes 

 good equipment, it takes persistence, 

 but above all it takes faith in the under- 

 taking. From my observations, the last 

 is one of the things lacking most, and 

 without that the other requirements will 

 be but makeshifts. 



How Carnations Came West. 



You know, a number of years ago 

 florists in the middle west had to get all. 



A. F. Koehle. 



