The following article is reprinted from the October 2009 Plugged In column of Society of American Florists' (SAF) Floral Management Magazine. SAF's Floral Management is distributed to more than 11,000 SAF members and is the floral industry's premier floral business practices publication.
Why Twitter? It's free. It's quick. You just need an Internet connection and the ability to make sense in 140 characters or less. And, the competition already loves it.
Twitter, the micro-blogging site, grew a staggering 1,392 percent this spring compared to 2008, according to Nielsen Online. And Forrester Research says much of this comes from the 35 to 54 set.
The time for dismissing Twitter as that silly, bird-brained thing is over. Lawmakers and newsmakers use it. Teleflora and 1-800-Flowers.com tweet with the best of them. Retailers, photographers and bridal planners all keep it short and sassy on Twitter. And if Ashton Kutcher, Martha Stewart and Newt Gingrich all wield their tweets with success, its multi-purpose power can't be denied.
Take Flight
Go to www.twitter.com and click "Sign up now." On the next screen, type in your shop name in the "Full name" box. For your username, we recommend using your business name without any spaces. The limit is 15 characters. Your resulting Twitter URL would look something like www.twitter.com/my- bloomingbiz. And your username be- comes your "handle" referenced as @mybloomingbiz.
Next, enter a password and provide an e-mail address. We suggest creating an account just for Twitter, like twitter@ mybloomingbiz.com. This allows you to forward e-mails from this account to employees who manage your Twitter feed. Finally, type in the reCAPTCHA to prove that you are human and click "Create my account."
Twitter then asks whether you'd like to check for friends on Gmail, Yahoo or AOL so you can announce that you are on Twitter and invite them to join and follow you. Otherwise, just skip it. On the next screen, click "Skip this step," unless you want to follow celebrities (If you have any celeb clients, you may want to keep online tabs on them so you'll know when they need flowers.)
Now, you've arrived to your empty Twitter page, which will remain that way until your write your first post, or tweet
as it's known in the Twitterverse. Now, click "Profile" at the top and then "Add a Photo." Then, in the same window, click on the "Account" tab. The next step separates the twits from the savvy biz owner. Put your shop URL in the "More Info URL:" box, a 160-character descrip- tion in the "One Line Bio" box and your city and state in the "Location" box.
A couple one-line bios that do it right:
"Avenue Gardens Florist-flowers serving Wilson NC since 1931 ... call 800.366.9111," from @avegrdnsflorist
"Happy Twitterings from Crystal Lake Floral Shop, servicing the greater Twin Cities with local deliveries from our location! Ask for Twitter Coupon Code :)" from @PhilTheFlorist
Make It Count
The maximum is 140 characters. But it's the amount of info that you pack into those characters that counts. On Twitter, it's OK to use texting abbreviations (u = you, l8r = later, btw = by the way). It's also fine to drop some vowels and shorten links with an online utility like http://tinyurl.com or http://bit.ly.
The Twitterverse thrives on symbi- otic relationships. So get in the habit of retweeting a worthy post from someone you follow. Everyone has a different follow list so it's safe to conclude your retweet will be hitting a fresh audience. You can just cut and paste the Tweet in a post and add the prefix of the person's handle with "RT" before it. (This will become more clear once you start using Twitter.)
It's easy to manage your tweets on your Twitter page, but if you'd like full control of your social presence, consider the free Tweetdeck (www.tweetdeck. com) which allows you to follow your friends, mentions of your handle, cus- tomized searches and your Facebook feed on one window.
Cut to the Content
Rather than an "eating a grilled cheese, watching Lost" tweet, your tweets can share: flower meanings, gift sugges- tions, care tips, in-store events, exclusive tweet coupons, helpful advice to other florists and same-day promotions. You can even use Twitter's direct message function to take orders.
The most effective way to get your Twitter marketing up and running is to follow other florists and industry leaders (See sidebar). You can also click "Find People" at the top and search for "florist" and "flowers."
Think of Twitter as a mass idea swap and get to copying - or retweeting.
Sweet Tweets
A few examples of flower power in 140 characters or less.
@hazelsflowers YABA-DABBA-DO get a free rose this week if your name is Fred and/or Wilma (bonus if dog is Dino)
@WelkesFlowers It's National Senior Citizen's Day today. Send your favorite senior flowers from Welke's!
@slingflower 1 week til Boise schools start. B sure 2 congratulate those Moms out there 4 making it thru w/ flowers. http://www.slingflower.com.
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The following article is reprinted from the October 2009 Plugged In column of 
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