Potential : Bloom or Bust ?

It's all about potential.

Jim McCann owns the largest on-line florist in the world and claims that he grew his business with a personal approach.

With 25 million customers he - or perhaps his pr people - says that instead of chatting in chairs around his shop he now gets up close and personal with them through Second Life because it promotes "creative interaction between users".

Following a link promising that I could send freebie flowers to other SL residents, I went to look. Although there were plenty of pots of tulips and such and ways to get to the website I saw only about a half dozen freebies like bouquets available.

I walked around. Nope - these fairly normal looking floral items sitting around were not copyable nor did they show a price or giftable options when clicked.

Is it the florist's PR is laying down on the job? Is there something I'm missing? Are Sl's directory links mis-placed and I'm not seeing an updated venue?

Whatever the cause, it's a missed opportunity and a lesson for us on setting expectations, understanding our audience and even about follow thorough.