Send Your Condolences with Sympathy Flowers
By admin | November 19, 2008
Sympathy flowers are used when we want to support somebody who has suffered the death of a loved one. People send sympathy flowers to friends, colleagues, members of family and relatives to express their grief about the deceased person and to show the suffering ones that they support them. Sympathy flowers are a nice and polite way to express condolences. They can reveal much of the sender’s emotions and thoughts if they are carefully chosen. People admire flowers in difficult moments as they help them overcome their sadness by revealing them the beauty of the world. That’s why sympathy flowers are largely used in sad moments. To convey their feelings people add some other gifts together with the bouquet of sympathy flowers, such as sympathy cards and baskets of sweeties. They “sweeten” the grief and help people become more optimistic about the future.
There are several different types of sympathy flowers available, according to the place where the bouquet is sent. Sympathy flowers arrangements can be sent both to the family’s home of the deceased, or to the memorial service. If you experience the sad occasion of somebody’s death, you should carefully consider all the available arrangements of sympathy flowers that can be sent. Flower arrangements should be complied with the personality of the deceased one. Ask your florist to help you in the choice. Perhaps he or she can give you proper advice for the certain occasion. Many standard arrangements of sympathy flowers can be viewed online. You can choose to send a more personalized tribute, which exactly represents the life of the deceased one. This may be very consoling for the family. Reviewing all the possible arrangements before picking up the particular bouquet would be a good idea.
Additionally, you can send some other sympathy gifts to express more personally your regrets. Condolences can be expressed by sending special cards. The sympathy messages on the card can be very consoling to the sad family. Another way to show that you care is to send a food basket to the people. Food can be served as consolation, as it symbolizes care and safety. You may fill up your sympathy basket with sweeties, caramel clusters, gourmet cheese, crackers, zesty cheddar corn, dark chocolate, chocolate wafers and so on. These food items will change their mood and help them overcome the sadness. You may as well get wall hangings and frames with motivational and inspiring quotes. This is a nice sympathy gift, as it may change their attitude and keep their thoughts distant from the loss.
Another thing you should do is to try to express your thoughts before them. If you spend some time talking to the family, you would help most. Conversation gives soothing. You may as well learn things about yourself by speaking with the people and conveying your emotions and thoughts.
Last thing about sending sympathy flowers is to remember to send flower arrangements at least twice: once at the funeral itself, and the other time several weeks or months afterwards. This would show the people that you have not forgotten their grief and would be the most consoling thing you can do for them. They would understand that you are a real friend.
Article by Robbie Darmona - an article writer who writes on a wide variety of subjects.
For more information click =>Sympathy Flowers or Find a florist
The Flower Drying Game - Part 2 Sand or Glycerin
By admin | November 14, 2008
Part 1 in this 3-part series, Air, Sand, and Sources, detailed the basics of air drying and spoke briefly about drying more delicate flower specimens in clean, fine sand or a specialized material called silica gel. If you haven’t already, you might like to go back and browse Part 1 before you begin pouring sand into a box. Later, in Part 3, I’ll show you how you can make your own affordable flower-drying press. Now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and actually get the job done with sand and glycerin.
The Sand Process. By now you’ve probably run down a supply of suitable sand and a shoe box, so let’s dry just one flower to start with, and see how it turns out. A daisy, zinnia, carnation or small, compact chrysanthemum is safe for us beginners. Later on you’ll likely want to try other types, and perhaps dry several flowers in the same box.
Put an inch or so of sand in the bottom of a small box. Make a support for the flower head out of a piece of cardboard about the size of a recipe card folded in half the long way, with a half-inch “v” notch at the center of the fold. Place this folded card on the sand so it looks like a little army “pup” tent with its notch facing up.
Select a flower that is fresh, with short, tight petals and a stem that’ll fit in the box without bending. Lay the flower head on your notched card “tent” high enough so the bottom petals just clear the surface of the sand.
Now, with a paper cup, begin slowly and gently pouring sand all around the flower until it begins to be covered. No tamping. No shaking. And do it slowly so you don’t end up with a sand-squashed finished product. Continue pouring in sand gently, surrounding and covering the entire flower, stem and all.
You might need to use the wooden end of a small artist’s paintbrush to gently coax the petals into just the right natural position. So much for the tricky part.
Don’t put the cover on the box. Do carefully set it up on a closet shelf out of the way, especially if you have cats. (You cat owners know exactly what I mean.) Mark the box where the end of the stem is.
Drying time is usually between two and three weeks. It’s not wise to “peek” or otherwise disturb it during that time. Have you noticed that I continue to emphasize slowly and gently and carefully?
Pouring out the sand after drying is a very delicate operation, because your flower has now lost all of its flexibility, virtually all of its moisture, and has become quite fragile. Slowly tip the box away from the flower-end and pour the sand back into a clean pail. Gradually, the flower itself will be exposed and you may have to support it gently until it is completely free of the sand. Lightly tap away all the sand around the petals, and voil
Tags: air drying flowers, dried flowers, dry flowers, drying flowers, glycerin, glycerine, sand, silica gelMarketing 101
By admin | November 13, 2008
Marketing is based on the importance of customers to a business and has two important principles:
1.All company policies and activities should be directed toward satisfying customer needs.
2.Profitable sales volume is more important than maximum sales volume.
To best use these principles, a small business should:
* Determine the needs of their customers through market research.
* Analyze their competitive advantages to develop a market strategy.
* Select specific markets to serve by target marketing
* Determine how to satisfy customer needs by identifying a market mix.
Market Research:
Successful marketing requires timely and relevant market information. An inexpensive research program, based on questionnaires given to current or prospective customers, can often uncover dissatisfaction or possible new products or services.
Market research will also identify trends that affect sales and profitability. Population shifts, legal developments, and the local economic situation should be monitored to quickly identify problems and opportunities. It is also important to keep up with competitors’ market strategies.
Marketing Strategy:
A marketing strategy identifies customer groups which a particular business can better serve than its target competitors, and tailors product offerings, prices, distribution, promotional efforts, and services toward those market segments. Ideally, the strategy should address unmet customer needs that offer adequate potential profitability. A good strategy helps a business focus on the target markets it can serve best.
Target Marketing
Owners of small businesses usually have limited resources to spend on marketing. Concentrating their efforts on one or a few key market segments - target marketing - gets the most return from small investments.
There are two methods used to segment a market: Geographical segmentation - Specializing in serving the needs of customers in a particular geographical area. For example, a neighborhood convenience store may send advertisements only to people living within one-half mile of the store. Customer segmentation - Identifying those people most likely to buy the product or service and targeting those groups.
Managing the Market Mix
Every marketing program contains four key components:
* Products and Services
* Promotion
* Distribution
* Pricing
These are combined into an overall marketing program.
Products and Services - Product strategies may include concentrating on a narrow product line, developing a highly specialized product or service, or providing a product-service package containing unusually high-quality service.
Promotion - Promotion strategies include advertising and direct customer interaction. Good salesmanship is essential for small businesses because of their limited ability to spend on advertising. Good telphone book advertising is also important. Direct mail is an effective, low-cost medium available to small business.
Price - The right price is crucial for maximizing total revenue. Generally, higher prices mean lower volume and vice-versa; however, small businesses can often command higher prices because of their personalized service.
Distribution - The manufacturer and wholesaler must decide how to distribute their products. Working through established distributors or manufacturers’ agents generally is easiest for small manufacturers. Small retailers should consider cost and traffic flow in site selection, especially since advertising and rent can be reciprocal: A low-cost, low-traffic location means spending more on advertising to build traffic.
The nature of the product or service is also important in siting decisions. If purchases are based largely on impulse, then high traffic and visibility are critical. On the other hand, location is less a concern for products or services that customers are willing to go out of their way to find. The recent availability of highly segmented mailing lists, purchased from list brokers, magazines, or other companies, has enabled certain small businesses to operate from any location yet serve national or international markets.
Annette Thomas is a freelance writer and professional marketer. She has recently launched her online e store, Giftboxedbaskets.com. which is an online retailer of handmade gift baskets, holiday baskets, gourmet food baskets, corporate gifts, and more. You may visit at, http://www.giftboxedbaskets.com
Tags: corporate gift baskets, executive gifts, flowers, gift baskets, home based business, promotional products