I Teach Flowers for Kids

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purplegirl

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Feb 26, 2007
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www.ablossomshop.com
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Thanks to Twila's post yesterday about how well ffk has worked for her shop, I received many questions about the program. I thought it might be helpful if everyone who has ever taught the class could list themselves here. Then people who are interested in getting trained could contact any one of us for feedback or any questions about ffk. Might even help a florist who is interested to "sit in" on a ffk class. Tracy from The Rose Garden will be sitting in on a ffk class I'm teaching in September.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to pm me or call me at my shop 732.349.7447. I would be more than happy to talk your ear off about Flowers for Kids!!!
 
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How do you get your wholesaler to give you the flowers? There is my big sticking point. I cannot afford to buy them for each and every class and the school cannot afford to either. Wholesaler is a no go.
 
pnyflr said:
How do you get your wholesaler to give you the flowers? There is my big sticking point. I cannot afford to buy them for each and every class and the school cannot afford to either. Wholesaler is a no go.
Click to expand...

There are participating wholesalers that donate the flowers needed for the class. What wholesaler do you use?
 
This is a great idea. We do need names available for us. I'm available to talk about FFK anytime.
 
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Seriously, if we are going to benefit from this marketing venture, why would we expect our wholesalers to donate the flowers?
What's it going to cost? 50 bucks?
 
OB1 said:
Seriously, if we are going to benefit from this marketing venture, why would we expect our wholesalers to donate the flowers?
What's it going to cost? 50 bucks?
Click to expand...

I am not getting my product for free, but for a substantial reduced rate. My supplier is fairly new, but knows the value of marketing. He knows that more people (or kids and their families) that are exposed to flowers, the more demand there will be for them.

I just give him a list of how many of each type of flower I need for the week and he gives me whatever he is long on or can get for the best price. We had to kind of play with that for a few weeks, but now I think that we are both on the same page.

I'm feeling that this is a very good way to market...much better than spending tons on Yellow Page Advertising (which BTW we just decreased quite a bit)
 
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OB1 said:
Seriously, if we are going to benefit from this marketing venture, why would we expect our wholesalers to donate the flowers?
What's it going to cost? 50 bucks?
Click to expand...


Some wholesalers are in the flowers for kids program they receive flowers from farms in the flowers for kids program at little or no cost.

I currently receive my flowers from a wholesaler who is not in the program and he donates all the flowers to me at no cost.

Every time I receive flowers for a class the WHOLESALE cost is anywhere from $200 -$500 depending on the size of the class and exactly what I receive. Add that up it could get very expensive, and don't forget the cost of your time away from the shop.

The idea behind this program, from what I understand, is that everyone right down the lines gives a little. From the farms donating flowers, to wholesalers donating storage and transportation of flowers, and possibly some or all of the cost of the flowers, to the florist who donates their time and energy to set up and carry through the classes.

Who does this program benefit? EVERYONE from the kids, teachers and staff of the school, parents, florist, wholesalers, and farms, and anyone else in between. The more peoples lives we touch through flowers the more people will purchase flowers. Which means more sales for florist, wholesalers, and farms.

If we all work together, and we all give a little (and not just in this program) the stronger our industry will be.
 
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OB1 said:
Seriously, if we are going to benefit from this marketing venture, why would we expect our wholesalers to donate the flowers?
What's it going to cost? 50 bucks?
Click to expand...
The Flowers For Kids Retailer Training Sessions are generally held at a wholesale florist. These wholesalers want to help their retailers as the retailers will buy more from them. The FFK trainer strongly suggests mutually floral back scratching.
 
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Hello, anyone else teaching ffk in their local community???? If there are only 3 of us in the FC community teaching ffk, we have a lot of work on our hands....

Twiggy, aka Tracy has taught ffk and is currently working with her local elementary school to begin teaching ffk in the fall.

Any other flowerchatters that teach ffk, we would love to hear from you.
 
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I'm considering teaching the FFK classes in the neighboring town. I have already been asked about doing that. Come on people....there have to be more of us.

Has everyone who said they wanted to start, been trained or at least have the wheels turning towards that? If not....GET GOING! School will be back in session SOON.
 
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Forgive me for going out on a limb here... for those of you that teach FFK, is it possible for you to use silk flowers? If so, I am wondering if I could get my dad to host a Flowers for Kids Retailer Training session at our location. But we have no fresh flowers to contribute...

The next q - does anyone know an FFK trainer anywhere near Cleveland?

And finally, does anyone know an FFK florist anywhere near Cleveland? Sorry, my mind is going in two separate directions here. My chiropractor is on the board of the PTA for her preschool daughter. She is on the hunt for outings and lectures etc for the kids. She lives in a pretty affluent town, there are 200 moms that participate with their children. I think it could be a great advertising opportunity for some florist. On the way home from the dr. yesterday I thought of FFK, but had never heard of it anywhere in our area. Only heard of it here on FC.
 
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wanted to share something I added to my classes late last school year.

I bought a globe and put bout pins in it in the places we get our flowers from (grower locations) all around the world. It is great for kids in older grades, they really get a kick out of seeing where all the flowers I brought with me come from. I talk about how do the flowers get from say Columbia to where we are.

I also printed out some pictures of farms to show the kids. They really like this.

I printed out some coloring pictures of flowers for the kids to color while they are waiting or done making their bouquets, to give them something to do so they don't get so rowdy.

Don't be afraid to put your own spin on the classes, be creative, we are florist after all.
 
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