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July 8, 1915. 



The Florists^ Review 



11 





FLORISTS AS ADVERTISERS jg 

 Mf AND BOOKKEEPERS 



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HAT is the 

 use of grow- 

 ing a splen- 

 did lot of 

 stock unless 

 one has a 



means in 

 view of letting the trade, be it 

 wholesale or retail, know what he 

 has? Then, what is the use of 

 selling if one hasn't a System 

 of bookkeeping to keep proper record 

 of the sales, not only to know where he 

 stands financially, but for future refer- 

 ence, to know what quantity to grow 

 the coming year? We can thereby elim- 

 inate that awful pest of both retailer 

 and wholesaler, gluts, and not have to 

 run to some department store to un- 

 load stock. A preventive of gluts, 

 which means a preventive of antago- 

 nism among brother florists, can be had 

 through these two means. 



How to Advertise. 



Advertise judiciously and insistently. 

 There are poor ways of advertising as 

 well as good ones, and best results can- 

 not be obtained without careful study. 

 Select a medium which you know 

 reaches the most desirable customers, 

 make your advertisement brief and to 

 the point, and above all make your 

 opening display interestinjf and at- 

 tractive. Put yourself in the public's 

 place. How many advertisements do you 

 read that are not started with some 

 catchy phrase, unless 

 you are looking for 

 that particular line of 

 stock? And there 

 are few people who 

 pick up a paper to 

 find out who is sell- 

 ing flowers the cheap- 

 est, or what the most 

 seasonable flower is. 

 It is up to us to catch 

 their eye and make 

 them see who is who 

 in the flower and 

 plant line. 



Last St. Valen- 

 tine 's day I decided 

 to use a slide in all 

 the picture shows in 

 town. One can ob- 

 tain these slides at 

 the oflBce of our daily 

 paper. I am well ac- 

 quainted with the ad- 

 vertising manager of 

 this paper, and he 

 asked me why I did- 

 n 't use his paper for 

 an advertisement. I 

 told him I thought 

 the shows would 

 reach more people. 

 His only reply was, 

 "Then why do the 

 picture shows in this 

 town use one whole 

 page of my paper to 

 advertise their shows 

 if your theory works 



A paper read before the Texas State Florists' 

 Association at Fort Worth, July 6, 1915. 



out?" I told him those visiting the 

 shows mighty near had to read the 

 advertisements when thrown on the 

 screen, while they would never look 

 at them in a paper. He told me if my 

 advertisements were overlooked, it was 

 my fault and not the paper's, and I 

 guess he was about right. However, 

 we have found the following: Picture 

 shows good, leading papers better, and 

 direct advertising best. The last 

 named we have worked down to a fine 

 point. We have tried some of the va- 

 rious folders that are now on the mar- 

 ket, but find our own letters pay best, 

 and attribute the enormous growth of 

 our business to this means. 



A. F. Koehle. 



Circular Letters. 



• In sending out these 

 circular letters for any 

 special day, we prepare 

 one to be addressed to 

 the married men, one to 

 the single men and one to the 

 ladies who entertain. Each letter 

 is carefully filled in with type- 

 writer, signed with pen and 

 mailed under 2-cent postage. Of course, 

 we endeavor at all times to make these 

 letters attractive and brief. For our 

 mailing list locally, we use the city 

 directory carefully marked by some one 

 who is well acquainted in the city. In 

 fact, we have as many as three differ- 

 ent clerks check over this list, all of 

 whom are well acquainted in the city, 

 so as to get a complete list of those 

 persons most likely to purchase flowers. 

 We also use these same letters for our 

 out-of-town customers, using lists of 

 names furnished us by our local agents 

 in the different towns. 



Now, as to out-of-town advertising. 

 All advertising of this kind should, of 

 course, be keyed, and all inquiries care- 

 fully recorded and followed up. For 

 keeping record of the number of in- 

 quiries and of sales through our dif- 

 ferent advertising mediums, we use a 

 monthly card for each paper. When an 

 inquiry is received the name is recorded 

 on a iix5 card, marked at the top with 

 numbers from one to 

 thirty-one and a clip 

 placed on the number 

 corresponding to the 

 date on which the in- 

 quiry should be fol- 

 lowed up. When a 

 sale is made, it is 

 duly recorded on this 

 card, and the card 

 then placed in 

 "sold" file, for fu- 

 ture reference and 

 for future advertis- 

 ing. Repeat orders 

 bring our profits; the' 

 first order frequently 

 is not of sufficient 

 importance to reim- 

 burse us for what it 

 cost to secure it. But 

 a satisfied customer 

 is the best advertise- 

 ment, and we en- 

 deavor at all times to 

 please, for we know 

 if we "sell satisfac- 

 tion, our goods will 

 sell themselves." Ad- 

 vertising is worth lit- 

 tle if you do not 

 back it up with A- 

 No. 1 quality, the 

 best of service and 

 the most pleasing 

 courtesy. 



One might think it 

 takes considerable 

 capital and time to 



