I have had a certified plant nursery here in Florida for 28 years, but the peppers have been a little side line for me for the last 5 years. I am still trying to figure out what is the best thing to have for sale. I sell seeds. I send small flat rate boxes of fresh peppers all over the U.S. Locally, I sell pepper powder. Lastly I sell pepper plants, but I don't sell the small starter plants that everyone else does, I sell larger plants. Here is some of the advice I can give you if you are just starting out. Also, I guess I should add that I have a degree in finance, so I'm going to look at this as an investment and what it takes to make the business happen. One of the old sayings in the nursery business around here is that anybody can grow plants, what makes or breaks a business is that you have to market what you have. Being able to sell what you have is way more important than just growing good plants. You need to look at other people in your country that are doing the same thing and see what they sell things for. As an example, there is another pepper forum that some people here are also on and there is a person who sells fresh peppers by the pound at an incredibly low price. She told me that she was just barely breaking even at the price she was asking them for, but she just loved getting peppers to people. So, it makes it hard to sell fresh peppers on that forum for a decent price. So I guess this is saying, if you want to sell fresh peppers, look to see if there are people selling so cheap that it makes it hard to sell yours at a decent price. If your greenhouse is going to cost a lot, you have to pay for it somehow, and also cover the cost of running the greenhouse. Also with fresh peppers, I found that you can't sell everything you have all the time. When you have fresh peppers ready to sell, there is a short window in which you can sell and ship out. This is why I do the powder. When things are slow, I take the extra peppers, dry them in an electric dehydrator, and grind them up in a coffee grinder. The powder has a shelf life of several months, so that keeps you from letting some peppers go bad. On plants, I think I do the best because I do something that hardly anyone else does. How many people buy seeds or small plants and then you grow what you bought and 4 to 6 months later, you find out that you get some other looking pepper? Then it is to late to start over, so your entire season is trashed. I don't know about anyone else, but I get all excited waiting to try my new hot pepper and I feel cheated out of six months that I will never get back. Out what happens if you kill your small plants or your seeds die, and don't have time to start any more plants? I sell 1 gallon plants that are already flowering, and sometimes, already have pods on them. I can so these to 47 states easily. Then at the local level, I am selling 3 gallon plants with a 32 inch tall, metal tomato cage, that are already producing pods and are already near the top of the cage. In fact, most of the year, these plants will have ready to eat peppers right on the plants. So, customers can pick their plant that is producing pods at once. For those who care about genetics, like with the inconsistency with types like the reapers, you can pick out a plant that has pods exactly the way you want. Anyway, this is the way I am doing things after learning what people want. If you have more questions, I'd be happy to help, but mainly, you have to do your own local homework to see what will work for you.

Hi there, There are numerous ways to market your small business online. Free ads, paid ads, website content, local business listings, email, social media, PR, etc. If you're looking for free marketing techniques, your best bet would be social media and SEO, or search engine optimization. On social, you could make daily videos of what your store is selling, upcoming sales, holiday offers --- just get creative with it. SEO is a whole other ball game, but it's free marketing, and if done right it can generate a lot of traffic to your website. SEO is the process of optimizing certain things on and off your website so that Google ranks your website higher in searches, which of course will bring you more clicks and more sales. The elementary version of SEO is that there's 4 aspects of SEO: on-page, off-page, technical, and local. To break those down... On-Page SEO: On-page SEO involves optimizing individual web pages to enhance their relevance to specific keywords and improve their overall quality. This includes optimizing title tags, meta descriptions, headers, content, and images. On-page SEO helps search engines understand the content and intent of your pages, making them more likely to rank higher in search results. Off-Page SEO: Off-page SEO focuses on building a website's authority and credibility in the eyes of search engines. This is achieved through activities like link building, social media engagement, and online reputation management. Off-page SEO signals, such as backlinks from reputable websites, can boost a site's ranking and trustworthiness. Technical SEO: Technical SEO ensures that a website's infrastructure is search engine-friendly. It involves optimizing elements like site speed, mobile-friendliness, URL structure, and XML sitemaps. Technical SEO helps search engines crawl and index your site more efficiently, leading to better rankings and user experiences. Local SEO: Local SEO strategies are essential for businesses with a physical presence or those serving specific geographic areas. It involves optimizing a website to appear in local search results, local map listings, and directories. Local SEO includes activities like Google My Business optimization, obtaining online reviews, ensuring NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) consistency, and creating location-specific content. This helps businesses reach local customers who are searching for products or services near their location Also, content SEO has become its own category. Content SEO: High-quality and relevant content is crucial for attracting and retaining website visitors. Content SEO focuses on creating valuable, informative, and engaging content that matches the intent of search queries. When content is optimized for SEO, it not only ranks higher but also provides a better user experience, which can lead to increased traffic and conversions. In summary, the four areas of SEO work together to improve a website's visibility and performance on search engines, making it easier for users to find and engage with your content. A well-rounded SEO strategy that addresses these areas is crucial for online success, as it helps you rank higher in search results, drive organic traffic, and ultimately achieve your online goals. Hopefully this helps.

flgargoyle ~ I just keep searching online and things that look like they will be right for this forum I post here. We have a mixture of some antiques, curbside finds, flea market and yard sale items. I also check out books at our local library to give me ideas for make our home more liveable. Like you said though, getting rid of stuff would certainly help free up some space. It is hard to let go of 'things', but we are working on it. FlowerLady

This is a picture of my son (several years ago) sitting on the clock that his GREAT grandfather had built in front of their family jewelry store...My FIL ran the jewelry store for years until his retirement, then it was passed to a nephew and now since no one wants it...it has closed this year after 75 years...a legacy is gone...but thank GOD for pictures and the clock will always be there...When they redid the roads they went out around the clock! This is in historic New Bern, North Carolina...I'm sure if you do a search you can find some really great pictures...the downtown area is really quaint and lots of people have gone in and revitalized the older buildings! Good Luck on your quest!