can the internet create legal warfare..

if one sues the other one..what decides the issue? what if the defendant has a distinctive logo and branding? would this matter, or would it come down to which one went into business first?

the fact of the matter is Barry, this is commonly done already. if you google "seattle florist" invariably the search results often yield interesting results. it's common to see there are florists from other markets jumping into our traffic. sometimes they aren't even florists at all..rather just a call center and a web site. Justflowers.com is just one of a slew of them.

The worst offender occording to local florists here in Seattle i hear is Cascade Floral supposedly out of Issaquah. i have a friend with a shop called Edmonds Flower Shop..These people actually put an ad in her local phone book claiming to be Edmonds Florist. While it may be legal, i can see why she thinks it dirty.

The problem i am going to have to confront as my web presence grows is how to not loose traffic to florists with names spelled more conventionally..also the question is do i want to dip into there traffic? Is there a way to do this without being unethical? Isn't theoretically possible for me to run into a dilemma even as i try to SEO optimize to limit how much accidental traffic i send to my fellow florists in other places?

I mean i may have to put in something about how we are not Busy Bee..We are BiZi Bee.. yet that could land me in some of their searches. how best do i protect myself while protecting myself?

Btw, if FTD, Teleflora, and 800FLOWERS has any such restrictions...they don't even seem to enforce it on themselves. they do the best they can to buy our traffic and sell it back to us at a deep discount.

That's why if any of you decide to send flowers this Valentine's Day..i highly recommend you do it through a local florist. Most of us have websites now, and with google local it's easier than ever. Course, if you only want to do your flower biz at BiZi Bee Floral & Gifts..we'll understand! many of us have arrangements between us that allow us to send flowers between us without charging the consumer the extra fee the wire service makes us tack on to use their network. we have the internet now! no need for any extra fees!

If you don't mind paying a commission to a local florist to send flowers out of town for you (it doesn't have to cost any more than normal if you insist on not involving a wire service) we'd appreciate it if you steer clear of FTD.com, Teleflora.com, 800FLOWERS..why should they get any commission? Their cheasy bouquets (which most florists still grudgingly do) are a drag on our industry..and if you noticed their business practices are killing the local florist..if you drive down Aurora Ave here in Seattle..you'll notice (according to one local longtime resident) that the little mom and pop flower shops have folded.

okay..i'll get off my soapbox and return to the question of this thread..how does a small biz like me grow their traffic...not lose sales opportunities to well established companies/web urls with more conventional names.. and if this brings me traffic can i prevent BiZi Bee from being sued?

Do any of you think this is too public of a forum to discuss such a thing? my attitude is i have nothing to hide. i want to achieve maximum success for my biz while operating fairly and ethically...never mind legally.