Melanie Spilbeler of FreshPath Marketing was a presenter at SAF’s 1-Day Profit Blast in Baltimore last year. At next month’s 1-Day Profit Blast in Denver, she will discuss how technology can help you work smarter in her “Automate Your Email and Social Media Marketing” session.
Derek Woodruff, AIFD, CF, PFCI, of Floral Underground honed his creativity as a designer — as well as his problem-solving and time management skills — by participating in competitions. But you don’t have to compete to boost your creativity or become a better problem solver, says Woodruff. All you have to do is regularly take time to step out of your comfort zone so you don’t get stuck in a creative rut that can easily set in when dealing with the daily grind of business.
“I always tell people they should just take extra time to practice new things,” Woodruff explains. “Whether it be something they found inspirational on Pinterest or Instagram, or new materials a wholesaler has available, grab those things and make some time in the day to try something new and just see where it goes.”
During the Society of American Florists’ 1-Day Profit Blast on Oct. 11 in Denver, Woodruff’s session, “Make It Work,” will include pointers on how to be creative with limited resources and pivot when a supply chain curveballs happen. Profit Blast, sponsored by Denver Wholesale Florist, includes three educational sessions designed to help florists improve productivity and profitability. The event also features a supplier showcase and time for networking.
Rethink Delivery
In the “New Ways of Thinking About Delivery” session, Paul Goodman, MBA, CPA, PFCI, of Floral Finance Business Services will look at best practices for floral delivery — a service that gives retail florists a competitive advantage.
“The most important service a florist provides is delivery,” Goodman says. “Of course, customers are coming for the flowers, but generally they are coming for full service, including delivery. They want to make the order — online or in a call — and have everything from that point taken care of, including getting the flowers to the recipient.”
During his presentation, Goodman will discuss how to track a driver’s productivity and find good drivers during the busy holiday season. He’ll also discuss new third-party delivery service options, how to set up delivery zones, and pricing.
Streamline Marketing
If you’re not taking advantage of automation for email and social media marketing, you’re missing an opportunity to maximize your time. According to Invespcro, marketing automation can drive a 14.5 percent increase in sales productivity, while at the same time, a 12.2 percent reduction in marketing overhead.
Melanie Spilbeler of FreshPath Marketing will discuss ways technology can help you work smarter in her “Automate Your Email and Social Media Marketing” session.
“With limited resources dedicated to marketing in the floral industry in the first place, every floral professional should be looking to automate as much as possible,” Spilbeler says. “A single email can take up anywhere from two to eight hours for strategy and up to eight hours to design and deploy, depending on complexity.”
Spilbeler will discuss how to streamline the promotional planning process and create content calendars. She’ll also introduce attendees to no- and low-cost tools that make social media marketing more efficient.
To register for the Denver 1-Day Profit Blast, click here. The final 1-Day Profit Blast of the year will be on Nov. 9 in San Marcos, Texas.
Kenya McCullum is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
