Episode 23: Interview with Ryan Freeman: What can you do for your online business?
Would you let someone put the exact same window display in your shop, the shop across the street, and eighteen other shops in your city? Of course not. But that's exactly what thousands of florists do with their websites every day. This week Vonda sits down with Ryan Freeman, founder of Strider, an online marketing agency that works largely with florists — and he has some free, practical advice for making your online presence actually look like you.
Fifth-generation florist, first-generation web guy
Ryan didn't choose the flower business — he was born into it, fifth generation, working for his grandfather making boxes as soon as he could stand. He also discovered early that floral design wasn't his gift ("my design career kind of peaked at five"), so he found his lane on the business side, running Saturday deliveries as a teenager. That delivery experience stuck with him: watching a recipient's face light up at the door never gets old, and he still recommends that worn-down shop owners get back out on the delivery route to remember why they do this.
Technology came naturally — he was the kid who took everything apart — and by 1994 he was building websites for small businesses, then spent years training flower shops on their first point-of-sale systems. Today Strider (named for the ranger who guides the hobbits through the wilderness in Lord of the Rings) aims to be that same trusted guide for small business owners navigating the online world.
Your website is your second location — treat it like one
Ryan's biggest frustration is shops that treat their website as a checkbox: template site, stock catalog, default text. In one of his favorite presentations, he pulls up the About Us text from a florist's website — then shows seven or eight thousand other florists using exactly the same words. "Family owned and operated and committed to fresh flowers" tells your customers nothing.
His research says at least ten times more people will see your website than your shop window. Vonda and Lori put it simply: your online presence is a second location — and during COVID-19, for many shops it's the primary location. The same energy you pour into merchandising your front room belongs on your website.
Free things you can do right now
For shops that can't afford an agency, Ryan offered a checklist that costs nothing but attention:
- Use your Google My Business listing — actively. Claiming it isn't enough. Post regular updates on hours, availability, curbside pickup, and safe delivery, and make sure everything a searcher sees is accurate and current.
- Pare down your product offerings. You don't need 1,200 products online — six or eight well-chosen options plus designer's choice can carry you, and limited selection is easier to execute beautifully. (Ryan is a fellow believer in the paradox of choice.)
- Date your alerts. If you post a COVID or holiday notice on your site, put a date on it so people know whether it's current — regulations and hours change constantly.
- Stay active and human on social media. The algorithms reward consistency, and going silent for two weeks means starting from zero. Not every post has to be about flowers; show life at home, the garden, the renovation in progress.
The race restarts without warning
Asked when things will get back to normal, Ryan pushed back on the whole idea of a bounce-back date. There will be no announcement that normal has returned — we'll only see it in the rear-view mirror. The shops that ease off now will discover the race started without them, while competitors who kept marketing have a three-to-six-month head start that may be impossible to close. Be proactive now, not reactive later.
Ryan also generously offered five six-month licenses to Strider's small business essentials package — a DIY-friendly toolkit with guided SEO, reputation tracking, social scheduling, and review requests — and Lori cooked up a giveaway plan on the spot: message her privately with why your business needs it, and winners get drawn on a Facebook Live.
Key takeaways
- Post to Google My Business like it's part of your job — hours, delivery status, and current details, every week.
- Rewrite your About Us page to tell your real story; the people who click it are your storyteller repeat customers.
- Trim your online catalog and lean on designer's choice — fewer, better choices convert.
- Your website deserves the same pride and polish as your front window, because far more people see it.
- Keep marketing through the slow stretch; nobody will warn you when the race back to normal begins.
Sponsored by:
Flower Clique
Flower Clique Prep School
Real Life Retail Florist