11. How to Price and Market Your Greenhouse Plants

The price you charge for your plants will depend on whether you sell finished or unfinished stock, and whether your enter­prise is a full-time business or just a profitable sideline or self-supporting hobby. In this and some of the succeeding chapters you will find discussion of large-scale, home greenhouse grow­ing and sales operations. If your business is small, you may not need all of the information now. However, the plain purpose of this is to make sure that if and when you expand your plants-for-profit horizons, you will be forewarned and forearmed with important information to guide you all along the way.

"Finished stock" means plants that have reached a size or state of growth where they have decorative value. This can mean flowering plants, such as African violets, begonias, and gloxinias when they are in bloom-and-bud or in full bloom, or foliage plants potted and of large enough size to be attrac­tive.

"Unfinished stock" refers to young, undeveloped plants. This can mean seedlings like annuals sold from flats or pots; started or dormant begonia, gloxinia, and other tubers or bulbs in pots; cuttings, either rooted or un-rooted; and small foliage or other fibrous-rooted plants. Since it requires time and expense to bring a plant to maturity, finished stock should sell at a consid­erably higher price than unfinished plants in the seedling or dormant stage. (Actually the common trade term for dealing in dormant bulbs and seeds, either loose or packaged, is "dry sales.")

Large commercial firms expect their plants to earn a profit of approximately $2.00 to $3.00 per square yard of greenhouse space. If you are carrying your greenhouse operation only to make a little extra money and you have a low overhead because you are doing your own work, then you, too, will be satisfied with such a minimum return. However, with a bit more effort you can extract the full potential from your greenhouse by planting crops which will return a profit of between $4.50 and $5.50 per square yard of space. You'll see how as we go along.

Price your plants realistically. Before setting a price, total your upkeep, such as the original cost of seed, cuttings, plants, tubers, or bulbs; your pots and potting material; and an ap­proximately proportional share of heat, light, and water, ferti­lizer, insecticides, and greenhouse deterioration.

Take into consideration, too, the customers you will serve. If you are offering a general, popular selection of plants and you aim to capture the trade of the home town folks, you may have to meet local competitive prices. Also, because your venture is new (as is your reputation), your merchandise will have to be as good as and preferably better than plant items available elsewhere in town. What's more, you'll have to maintain high standards to keep your customers coming back for more.

If you intend to sell through the mail, you should check with catalogs and other listings to arrive at a fair price for your plants.

". . . . The Best Policy"

Before we go further in this sales discussion, there's an ex­tremely important point about marketing I want to bring up. It is obvious but worth emphasizing: In all your advertising and promotional material, even on plant labels and the like—in other words, in all your dealings with the public—observe that old maxim about honesty. I don't mean actual, obvious dis­honesty but that borderline thing called "deception." For in­stance, wouldn't it be a form of dishonesty or fraud—or at least unethical business conduct—to promote the sale of a "new" plant when it is really only an old plant species with a newly coined name? But you can stimulate sales by giving an old-time plant a more catchy and salable name while avoiding any taint of deception. Simply give prominence to the proper botan­ical name right after the new name.

If you sell plants, bulbs, or seeds meant for outdoor culture, you are a part of the nursery industry. The Federal Trade Com­mission has on its books a very strong and inclusive set of "honest business" laws—called F.T.C. Trade Practice Rules— that were issued specifically for the nursery industry. The pre­viously cited example of deceptive naming is just one of the many practices covered by these rules. If you want to see all of them you can obtain a copy of the rules from the Commis­sion (Washington 25, D.C.) or perhaps from your local Better Business Bureau. (Incidentally, the B.B.B., even more than the F.T.C, is the public's first line of defense against unscrupulous businessmen. Suffice it now to emphasize that these rules do exist, and they have teeth. But they are no threat to the opera­tor who is always on the up and up, who knows that customer confidence (resulting in repeat trade) is the greatest business asset.

If You Want to Be a Retailer

There are certain things you should know if you plan a retail business (selling directly to customers). For example, you may have to pay higher insurance premiums than you would on a pure hobby greenhouse. Here the insurance agent takes into consideration injuries which might be incurred by a customer while he is on your property, and damage your plants might suffer from hail, wind, or fire. Your real estate taxes, too, may be increased somewhat. It is wise to check these items before planning your method of operation. Your agent can give you all the facts about rates, and the Commissioner of Taxes will help you with the tax problem. After checking, you may find that the extra insurance and taxes will be negligible—or so severe as to affect your plans seriously.

You can arrive at a fair price for your retail merchandise by examining prices listed on similar items in a number of seed and nursery catalogs and by visiting local greenhouses and flower shops.

Should you be so fortunate as to have some indoor or garden plant not in catalogs, and should this plant have out-of-the-ordinary flowers or foliage, you will find collectors and perhaps general gardeners so eager to buy it that you can set your own price. For example, among a group of gesneriad seedlings, I discovered an unusual one. It proved to be Rechsteineria purpurea, a gesneriad which hasn't been in general cultivation since the middle of the nineteenth century. I haven't had green­house space to propagate more of this, but I have been able to sell thousands of seeds from it.

Browse through the catalogs and you may discover seed or plants entirely new to your community. Start out by planting some of them. If they are reasonably easy to grow, they may prove to be extra profitable plants for you to handle in your retail operation. Information on other aspects of this phase of home greenhouse business will be found in Chapter 23, "Hy­bridizing and Marketing New Varieties."

37. A definite asset to the looks of the property, and a vigorous asset to  the cash  register,  is  this  retail  "shop"  and  auxiliary  growing  area attached to the efficient greenhouse. (Courtesy, Lord & Burnham)

If You Sell Wholesale

Prices differ considerably when you become the wholesaler. Then you are selling plants to the retailer, who may be a florist, a buyer for a department store or supermarket, or for one of the larger plant and seed houses. With these concerns, you are told exactly how many plants you will be expected to produce in a given time. The firm sends an order and takes the plants off your hands as soon as they are ready to be shipped. With deliveries dispensed with and no leftover plants, you can cheer­fully sell them at about M or M the retail price.

But remember one thing: When you start selling specified quantities to dealers or stores, you are in the "big leagues." Your greenhouse operation may lose all semblance of a hobby. You are a regular business man and as such you must live up to your commitments. The profits will be greater than in a small­time operation limited to your neighborhood, but responsibil­ities will be greater, too. Your business will increase as your reputation for reliability increases.

The Sales Approach

There are several methods of letting the world know you have plants for sale. Your own city may be just the right spot to market your wares, If so, you can write to the managers of plant departments in the various stores telling them what you are growing. List the price for specialty items, making certain to show at least one "leader," such as a common plant sold be­low the usual price (quantity limited to a certain number per customer). If you prefer not to start off by offering even one cut-price leader, offer at least one plant you have not seen in the stores and which you feel sure will be in demand once it is displayed. In this category would come any of the unusual gesneriads, "new" plants such as pink-flecked hypoestis or trail­ing plectranthus, or even an uncommon type or form of a com­mon plant. Include with the letter your telephone number as well as a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Your letter might look like this:
John Q. Buyer, Purchasing Agent
Plant Counter
Review Department Store
Address
Dear Mr. Buyer:
I am able to supply unusual house plants and good garden plants in quantities which I believe will be sufficient for your needs.

I have attached a price list. You will find the prices attractive, and I can promise immediate delivery.

If you would like to see samples of these plants I will be happy to bring them to your office.

Sincerely, John M. Smith House Plant Haven Address—Phone

Or you can telephone for an appointment, but don't try to make actual sales over the telephone. Most buyers disapprove of such methods, so why risk a potential customer?

One of the best sales methods I have found is to put some plants in my car, drive up to a roadside market or to a store with a plant counter, and show them to the buyer.

We have a roadside market about 5 miles from us. The people who manage it are good merchants and their plants are always beautifully displayed. After looking at their house plant dis­play, which consisted of the usual items, begonias, rather ordi­nary geraniums, and African violets with plain leaves and flowers, I suggested they add some of the species gloxinias, newer types of African violets, and some small foliage plants— hypoestis, in particular. They weren't interested enough to ask me to bring samples. I decided, however, that this was a good market for these plants and that the proprietors had only to see the plants to realize their market value.

Accordingly, I loaded some of each kind into the car and showed them. These people had never before seen these plants and thought them extremely beautiful and salable. They bought all I had with me and since then they've been steady customers.

Markets for Your Plants

Dime, chain, variety, grocery, drug, and department stores and even pet stores and cafes—all these can become your cus­tomers. These outlets usually have to purchase the plant mate­rial they sell and generally have the plants shipped in from out-of-town wholesale growers. Look over the plants and seeds at these retail counters. If you feel you could make money by being a wholesaler and selling a store similar plant items at about M to /2 the price that you see they are charging the public, seek out the manager and have a talk with him. It may be to his advantage to obtain plants from a nearby source—such as you—rather than risk shipping delays, etc. Your plants will in all probability be fresher than those shipped in. Since you escape the high overhead that most of the larger plant houses have to contend with, you not only can sell for less but you can also probably safely offer to replace poor plant specimens such as those that have become ragged through customer handling. You can bring back the flats and pots of plants to your green­house, spray the plants to kill insects, give them a little time to rejuvenate, and then offer them again, for they will be as good as new. This additional service will undoubtedly please the buyer and help you make additional sales; it will also get your plants out of your greenhouse and exposed to customer traffic in a display room or area.

Once you have established yourself, the buyer is likely to go on from his first cautious dealings to purchasing some of the unusual (and more profitable) plants you grow—cacti, new philodendrons, pilea, peperomias, and such flowering gesneriads as columnea, kohleria, and species gloxinias. You may find your­self growing specialties just for one outlet, which will want even more than you can grow (a pleasant and profitable experience).

When you arrange sales to a large chain store, you may be asked to ship sample plants direct to their central buying sta­tion. If you get the O.K. there, you will be placed on the pre­ferred list, and from then on you should be able to count on this store as a regular outlet.

On Consignment

You may find consignment selling is more agreeable to some potential customers. It is quite a common practice in the florist trade. In a consignment setup, unlike direct selling, you merely leave the plants with the store owner or dealer, promising to pick up leftovers at a specified time. The consignee does not pay you for all the plants delivered—only those he actually sells. He gets a percentage of the sale price for providing a "show window" for your plants. It occurs to me that a pet shop might be an ideal place to try a few plants on consignment. And incidentally, thanks to the moisture escaping from the aquari­ums, your plants should remain in excellent condition.

Roadside Markets

In a roadside market you have another really excellent pros­pect. Here is sold everything from dairy products to plants and vegetables. Usually on the outskirts of a city, the roadside stands attract the Sunday drivers, people returning from vaca­tions, and those who feel they obtain fresher produce in such places. In our area, we have a number of such markets. In early spring, they sell annuals in pots or small flats (Plant-Paks) of one dozen plants and large flats of 100 each, featuring pan-sies, bachelor buttons, marigolds, petunias, bedding begonias, coleus and various other well-started or blooming-sized plants. Later on this space is given over to potted green plants—ivy, dracaena, dieffenbachia, and sansevieria—and flowering plants, such as fuchsias, abutilon, African violets, and even potted roses.

Make your contact with these potential customers by carry­ing with you a box or two of the type of plants you sell. These people have to buy from someone; and if your plants are well grown, nicely potted, and priced so that the market can resell them at profit—why, you're elected.

If local zoning rules allow you to have a stand on your prop­erty, and you are near enough to a highway, you may be able to dispose of your plants yourself. Friends of ours have a very attractive redwood roadside stand where plants and garden supplies are sold exclusively. Their greenhouse, 20 by 18 feet, is attached to the stand, and on the land adjacent they grow roses, shrubs, and some perennials to sell.

In their greenhouse—which they close down in winter and do not operate again until February—they raise all the annuals they sell. They also purchase geraniums and other plants like calceolaria, hydrangea, and fuchsia as unfinished stock for "growing on" (an old trade term for taking young plants and growing them for a period of weeks or months until they are mature specimens). Thus by Mother's Day my friends have gift plants large enough to sell for a good profit. Both husband and wife work in this shop and greenhouse which yields them a comfortable living plus a lengthy winter vacation.

Other friends raise annuals and tomatoes in their greenhouses and sell flats of them at a farmer's market. In their greenhouses the temperature is kept at a minimum of 60 degrees F. One woman with a lean-to greenhouse, 6 by 12 feet, grows tomatoes and annuals which she transfers to a cold frame when the weather warms up—usually in March. The tomato space is then taken over by hundreds of pots of Jerusalem cherries and ornamental peppers. From March on, the greenhouse needs but an occasional warm-up, and the heat goes off entirely around May first. The peppers are started in flats and transplanted to 3-inch pots in which they grow until August, when the propri­etor starts taking them to the farmer's market. Purchased sin­gly, they sell for 59 to 69 cents per plant; in lots of ten or more at half that price. This woman's little greenhouse is a home­made affair, the initial cost of which was under $100.00. It brings in an annual revenue of approximately $500.00.

Mail-Order Business

Perhaps, like many greenhouse operators, you would prefer to sell by mail. With such a sales setup, you will not have to travel or interview people or have customers coming to your home. To carry on a successful mail-order business, you must grow something in general demand like geraniums, roses, iris, tender foliage plants, or daylilies, or specialize in collectors' plants, such as the newer or species types of African violets and other gesneriads, the cacti and succulents, fuchsias, amaryllis (hippeastrum), and other amaryllids, bromeliads, or orchids.

In fact, the specialist grower will find the mail-order business perfect for him. Buying by mail-order often permits customers to obtain plants that their local greenhouses do not carry. The average retail greenhouse owner-operator in a small town usu­ally is dependent for the bulk of his business on seasonal sales of popular plants and flowers. Seldom does he grow collectors' items. For example, he may carry half a dozen varieties of African violets while you, the specialist, list 75 to 100; or he may grow only one or two kinds of geraniums, while you can list 25 to 50 varieties. And, of course, gardeners living in large cities also are prospects for your unusual and extensive line of plants.

When you sell mail-order you will obtain many customers who do not have time to go to a greenhouse. They will appre­ciate being able to shop from an easy chair.

Mail-Order Plant-Price Lists

It is a good idea to post a list of all plants and prices in your greenhouse or sales area. However, a descriptive list, including terms of sale and prices, is absolutely—and obviously—an essential in mail-order selling. This mailing piece doesn't have to be elaborate—mimeographed sheets are all right—as long as it is neat and legible. Stick to the facts in your plant descrip­tions. Use abbreviations of terms only if they can be readily understood; or use a simple key system to get a lot of informa­tion into a little space. Here is a list similar to what I have used in my mail-order business. Here I have used fls. for flowers; lvs. for leaves.

Sample Price List Green's Greenhouse

Date (Season or Year) Please accompany your order with a money order or check.

Postage  paid  on  all  orders  of  $7.50 Send orders to:
or over.                                      Name
Send .25 extra for special handling.       Address
Minimum plant or cutting order: $2.50   City (Zone) State
(Postage .50 extra)                     Phone:
Minimum seed order: $1.00
Minimum tuber order: $1.75
Mixture of choice African violet seeds: 100 seeds $1.00
Mixture of choice Gloxinia seeds: 100 seeds $1.00
Seeds of the species gloxinias (Sinningias) 50 seeds $1.00
Episcia seeds (mixture) 25—$1.00
Rechsteineria seeds 25 for $1.00. Interesting tuberous plants with handsome foliage and red, pink, or orange flowers. Excel­lent house plants or hybridizing material. Choice: cyclophylla (tubular red fls., lrg. green lvs.; cardinalis velvety green lvs. bright red hooded fls.; Warzcewiczi "talisman" colored hooded fls.; purpurea hybrid, whorls of deep green lvs., hundreds of pink and red fls. (very rare).
Mixed Gesneriad seeds 100—$1.00 (Many rare)
Hybrid American amaryllis seeds 10 seeds .25
Hybrid Dutch amaryllis seeds: Red Mixtures only, 15 seeds $1.00
Haemanthus Katherinae seeds: 2 for .25 House plant seeds, mixed—50 for .50
AFRICAN VIOLETS: Leaves of older varieties 12 for $2.25. Send me list of varieties you have and I'll not duplicate.

AFRICAN VIOLET SPECIAL:
10 small plants named varieties My choice. $6.00. Send me list of those you have and I'll not duplicate. Fifteen plants unnamed seedlings $6.00.
GLOXINIAS (Sinningias):
Grandiflora, Tigree, or Crassifolia:
Large Tubers .60 apiece or three for $1.75.
Huge tubers of assorted newer hybrids: You name the color— $1.00 apiece.
Gloxinia perennis: The true gloxinia. Collector's item— rather difficult in the window garden. Scaly root-stalk (tuber). Large gray-green lvs., downy blue fls. $1.25 per tuber.
Sinningias (Species of our window-garden gloxinias)
Sinningia regina: Silver-stenciled, red-backed lvs. Dangling dark purple bell-shaped fls. $1.50 per tuber.
Sinningia pusilla: Miniature with lvs. under 1 inch long; small orchid fls., profuse bloomer. Rare. Tubers each $5.00.
Sinningia eumorpha: Shiny green lvs., lovely white "slipper" fls. $1.00
Blue slipper (gloxinia, large type) .75 per tuber, small fid. $1.00
Pink slipper (Large type) .75 per tuber, small-fid. $1.00 Purple slipper $1.50 per tuber.
SPECIAL: Collection of one dozen seedling gloxinias $3.00. GESNERIADS: Relatives of the African violets and gloxinias. Episcias grow much like strawberry plants, reproducing through runners. Their lvs. are exquisite. Cuttings (small unrooted plants) .50 each.
Root in water, sand, or vermiculite.
E. reptans: Bronze and green lvs., bright red flowers often called red violet.
E. dianthiflora: Small green lvs., shaggy white flowers (ex­cellent house plant).
E. Silver Sheen: Hairy, silvery lvs., orange-red fls.
E. cupreata: Metallic-green lvs., red fls.
E. viridifolia: Shiny green lvs., bright red fls., good bloomer.
E. Chocolate Soldier: Shiny brown and green lvs., orange-red fls.
Gloxinera Rosebells: NEW bi-generic hybrid. Salmon-rose bells, shiny green lvs. $1.50 per tuber. Gloxinera seedlings F-2 and F-3—marvelous for hybridizing, $2.50 per small tuber, rooted cutting, or small plant.
Misc. Plants:
Sea Onion .50 bulb.
Cissus discolor: Green and silver leaves veined red. Vine. .40 cutting.
C. albo-nitens: Large green lvs., rapid grower. Vine. .40 cutting.
Plectranthus Oertendahli: Silver-veined hairy lvs., sprays mauve fls. .40 cutting.
Plectranthus myrianthus: Waxy-leaved trailer. Bears sprays of tiny white flowers. Rare. .75 per cutting. Roots easily. Excel­lent house plant.
Crossandra: Shiny green lvs., salmon fls. .75 plant.
Pilea involucrata (Friendship plant): Crinkled brown lvs., tiny pink and green fls. Small plants .50
Hypoestis sanguinolenta: (Pink Polka-Dot plant) Dotted pink lvs., purple fls. Small plants .50. Excellent for window garden.
Rivina humilis: Green lvs., small heads of white fls., followed by red berries. Good in window garden. Small plants .50
Ceropegia woodi (Rosary Vine): Cuttings .30 each or four for $1.00
Anthurium crystallinum: $2.50 plant.
Ruellia: Silver veined lvs., tubular red-orchid fl. Cutting .40
Special Service to Indoor Gardeners:

If you don't see the plant you want on my list, write to me (enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope) and I will try to find a source for you.

You'll find that having a policy of NO CREDIT TO INDI­VIDUAL BUYERS will be best for you. However, wholesale firms do not normally send money or checks with their orders. They expect to be billed for their merchandise, paying for it usually by the tenth of the month following receipt of plants.

Postage is a big overhead in mail-order business. As you noted on my sample price list, I specified extra postage charges for many types of orders, and I charge another 25 cents if spe­cial handling is requested.

Restrictions—Quarantines

A few states have mailing restrictions on plants, as well as requirements for plant inspection. In Minnesota, such inspec­tion is not required on greenhouse-grown ornamentals. You can obtain the regulations of your particular state by writing to the Department of Agriculture at the state capital. Do not for­get this chore or even postpone it. You can cause yourself un­told grief if you violate plant quarantine laws in your state and in the states to which you ship plants. A listing of all state regu­latory offices is given in the Appendix for your convenience.

Supplying Commercial Seed and Plant Houses

Each year many of the major seed houses try to add new and distinctive material to their established lines. Before you attempt to sell to any of them, study their catalogs to discover what they already stock and the type of plants they seem to be interested in obtaining. If you make a specialty of one or more things, such as African violets or begonias, and you note that some seed houses carry these items but list only a few varieties, then it's time to query them. They may be in the market for additional varieties.

Note well, too, the seed, bulbs, and tubers listed in their catalogs. If you enjoy hybridizing and can't use all of the bulbs and seeds you grow, contact these companies and mention the material you will have on hand at a given time—such as glox­inia tubers, small plants or seed, iris or daylily plants or seeds. If possible, enclose some good clear pictures of your plants with your letter.

Direct your letter to the "attention of" the Purchasing Agent. Enclose with your query a stamped, self-addressed envelope, and you will be bound to receive a reply. Very often the pur­chasing agent will ask if you grow additional types of plants or if you know a source where they might be obtained. This past winter I was compelled to turn down an order for 1,000 gesneriad tubers. The company I dealt with wanted types un­available in Europe and they were willing to pay me up to 50 cents each for them, but I was unable to supply their needs, and I knew of no one who could.

On Contract

Speaking of filling orders, there is still another way to make money from your home greenhouse, it is called "contract grow­ing." I would not recommend it to anyone who wants to retain something of the fun of under-glass hobby floriculture. In con­tract growing, you make a binding agreement (usually with a single large customer) to sell all of your production to him, and he in turn guarantees you a market. That, of course, is just a broad description of the system; there are many angles and conditions. But what usually happens is that, because of the sure and easy profit, you eventually grow whatever this cus­tomer tells you to grow. You may wind up growing only Chinese evergreens or some equally uninteresting plant. That's fine, if profit—maximum profit—is your sole goal. But if you want your greenhouse to be fun, too, then you should be, at least partly, a miscellaneous grower and an independent seller.

Your Advertising Budget

No matter how small your greenhouse business is, advertis­ing should concern you. Let's consider how, when, where, and how much.
Established firms base their current year's advertising budget on a percentage of the complete total of last year's sales. With a new business, of course, this is not possible. So you will have to estimate how much business you hope to do per month or year and construct an advertising budget around this figure.

Authorities on advertising will tell you that any new firm spends more money on advertising during its initial period of operation than after it becomes established. There is no speci­fied amount to spend—much depends on just what you want to accomplish.  While your  advertising budget  may,  in future years, taper off to 1 per cent of your sales volume (total monthly or yearly sales), you may want to spend up to 4 or 5 per cent to introduce your greenhouse and its plants to the public.

Your Best Buy in Advertising . . . Newspapers, MagazinesIf you plan to sell locally, advertising in your home town paper will be your best buy. This will let gardeners in your community know you are in business and what you have to sell. The way your ad is worded can give your greenhouse a distinct "personality.”

If you are unfamiliar with writing advertising copy, just make a list of the plants you have for sale. Put at the top of the list the plants you want to push—the ones you have the most of or the ones you'll be making the most money on. Jot down their desirable traits, and what you consider a fair price. Take the list to the newspaper's advertising manager and ask him for sug­gestions. He will have the ad set up for you and may even have a stock of ready-made "mats" or "cuts" of common plants such as geraniums, Easter lilies, some annuals, etc. The use of these will spice up your ad. Regular advertising is more resultful than sporadic advertising. Repetition makes the impression. Consult with—and heed—your newspaper's ad man. He can inform and guide you.

Mail-Order Advertising

For the small plantsman who wants to sell mail-order, the best advertising investment is space—either "classified" or "display"—in one of the regional or national garden magazines. In the classified sections, ads cost from 40 cents per word with a minimum of $8.00, to 75 cents per word with a $15.00 mini­mum. Since most of these periodicals have circulations between 250,000 and 350,000, an advertisement in one of them will be read by many interested people. But don't advertise in such mass-audience publications unless you are ready and able to fill a large number of orders and do it promptly.

In your mail-order advertising, if you are just starting in business, do not include any such statement as, "Please enclose stamp for plant listing." True, by not requiring a stamp, you will receive a great many inquiries from folks who just natu­rally answer advertisements and don't often buy. If you re­quest a stamp, you will avoid these idle inquiries but you will also shut out many interested gardeners who may not have an extra stamp on hand or who want to inquire by postal card. The names you receive from your ads will form the nucleus of your mailing list. And, even better, satisfied customers from such a source write you year after year asking for new circulars or for special plants.

There are many specialty magazines like those issued by plant societies. If you advertise in these, you must offer some­thing mighty rare, exceptionally low-priced, or perhaps inject a "gimmick" into your ad (i.e., that something free will be included with an order of specified size), if you hope to induce the specializers to write for a listing. These gardeners obtain much of their plant material by swapping with each other, so unless you can make your ad really appeal to them, you won't get much of a return on your specialty advertising investment. True, rates are low compared to those of the larger magazines —but it is the final sales results which really count.

What you spend will be dictated by the budget you have set for yourself. A wise move is to try first an $8.00 or $15.00 ad in the classified section of a garden magazine. If the ad is run under the right heading, it will get a lot of attention and should bring you an excellent return. If, for instance, you have several types of rather common plants to sell, such as wax begonias, ivy, and philodendron, and at least fifty plants of a rare kind, ask to have the ad placed under the heading best adapted to the rare type. If your list includes a number of ordi­nary plants, plus a good line of African violets, have the ad placed under African violets. It might read along these lines:

African violets, newest varieties; other interesting pot plants. Free list.

Vinnie's Violet House, Dept. A.

45 Main Lane, Maintown, U.S.A.

Should you be undecided about the proper heading or classi­fication for your ad, ask the publication's advertising manager to insert it under the heading he thinks most logical.

Keying Your Ad

Did you notice the "Dept. A." in the foregoing sample ad? That is what is known as a key. If you are advertising in more than one publication, always key your ad. This means inserting a department number or letter, such as Dept. A for one maga­zine, B for another, and so on. There are many other kinds of keys, some more subtle than others. When the inquiries come in, have separate filing places for each "key department." With this system, you can keep an accurate check on returns and de­termine which of the publications has the most "pulling power." Do not make the key complicated; our mailmen have trouble enough deciphering addresses without the burden of confusing letter or number keys attached to the street address.

Ads That Pulled

An Oklahoman, who has a small greenhouse, placed a $15.00 ad in one of the gardening magazines when he was only a teenager, listing gloxinia tubers and seeds, rare begonia and gera­nium seed. The orders poured in and he sold $700 worth of seeds and tubers in a short time. Then he had to call a halt. His greenhouse was only 8 by 10 feet and he had to save some stock for propagation!

I have frequently run this ad in garden publications:

African violets, rare gesneriads, species sinningias; seeds, cuttings, tubers. Free list. Name . . . address . . . phone.

Returns were always good—with from $150.00 to $300.00 worth of seeds, cuttings, and tubers sold. If you live in the South and are dealing with customers in frost-free areas, you can ship most of the year; but in the North, you must limit shipping to the period from May to October.

Publicity Selling

Years ago, before I acquired a greenhouse, I wrote a maga­zine article entitled "Sprouting Saintpaulias from Seed." I stated that I was ready to sell the seed for $1.00 per package. A few days after the magazine went on the newsstands I found myself deluged with orders. Lacking a greenhouse, I didn't have enough seed to fill the orders and had to relegate the orders to gardeners all over the country. I received nearly 2,000 letters on the strength of that "story." That's the power of publicity.

Incidentally, you should be able to induce your local paper to run a little story about your business, or get publicity through the department, "Letters to the Editor." You could construct your message along these lines.

Dear Editor:

America's favorite house plant is probably the African violet.

Although  hobbyists  all  over the  country are familiar  with propagating them by leaf-cutting, I wonder how many grow­ers know that they can produce a wide range of colors and leaf patterns when they grow African violets from seed. The seed is small—one hundred of them would barely cover the top of an ordinary pencil eraser. They are sprinkled on moist vermiculite, covered with transparent plastic or foil with ventilation holes punched in it, and set in a warm place to germinate. As the seedlings enlarge, they are moved to pots. With good care it is possible to obtain flowers from seedlings within 6 to 9 months. I have enclosed a picture of some of my own seedlings.

Sincerely,

If you know your local paper plans to devote space to the garden club or to publicizing a flower or plant show in your vicinity, it may pay you extra dividends to insert an ad on that day. As a result, expect to see a number of gardeners who will drive out to browse around your place. Perhaps none of these visitors will buy right away, but they may later on. And they will tell other gardeners, and thus you will become better known throughout the community.

The "Soft Sell"

Do you for some reason shy away from direct ("hard sell") advertising? If so, you might try indirect advertising—the "soft sell"—by inviting garden club members out to see your green­house. At one meeting or another during the year every club is likely to be stymied for a program; and a trip to your green­house is a ready-made program. You can create additional good will by presenting each visiting member with an African violet leaf, a cutting, bulb, or tuber.

If it is at all possible, learn to lecture. Then you'll be called upon to speak at P.T.A. meetings, church, and women's organi­zations, as well as garden clubs. You will be introduced as the owner of a successful greenhouse specializing in African violets, gloxinias, geraniums, or whatever you specify to the M.C. Tell your listeners you will be glad to help them with their indoor gardening problems. Before long you will have a steady stream of eager customers at your door.

Discussing special plants on T.V. or radio programs devoted to gardening is also a form of good advertising. Most stations have a daily or weekly show devoted to people, their work, or their hobbies. Call the station and tell them about some of your interesting plants and you may be asked to appear on one of their shows.

Keep Accurate Business Records

Once in business you will have to keep records of your ex­penses and profits. Even though you don't have a "head for figures," you will find that if you use a simple system you won't have too much trouble. Purchase, for your first bookkeeping set, two books from the dime or stationery store. In one book, keep a record of all expenses; in the other, your sales. Break down your expenses something like this: initial cost of green­house; cost of benches and shelves; cost of potting media and chemicals (including fumigants, sterilizing agents, disinfect­ants, and fertilizers); cost of tools, pots, labels and other equip­ment accessories, and utilities such as heat, light, and water.

When income tax time rolls around, you may have to consult someone as to how much you can take in the way of deductions. The usual procedure is to allow, each year, 10 per cent of the cost of your building and its equipment, and the total amount of utilities and materials used. You can obtain full information on all phases of income tax deductions from the office of the nearest Department of Internal Revenue. One thing is sure: you'll be a sitting duck for the tax man without accurate, prop­erly documented business records.

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