Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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Tips for booking great clients

How do florists book great clients? I would have LOVED to get some secrets for booking more clients in the first 10 years or so of my business! I spent many years learning how to level-up my booking process.

I sought out knowledge that’s allowed me streamline my sales–from consultations to branding to recognizing which clients are the best clients for me–and this has allowed me to take control over the success of my sales process.

I’ve figured out a thing or two over the last 18 years…

That’s why it’s my goal to help florists book awesome clients and build a businesses they love.

I was live today in my Facebook group and here’s a replay of today’s Q&A with real questions from real florists.

Topics covered include:

  • How to get more people into your flower shop,
  • Clients with $700 floral budgets,
  • Last-minute consultation cancellations,
  • How to set an income goal for 2020.
  • And handling clients with sticker shock!

Click to watch:

Don’t miss out my my new training starting Nov. 18-20th! You can learn more about my monthly training on Patreon here: patreon.com/realflowerbusiness

If you’re ready to take control over your future, feel respected and stop price shoppers in their tracks, don’t wait, sign up to join me today!

Questions for me? Shoot me an e-mail anytime: floralartvt@gmail.com

xo. -Alison

 

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How Florists Book Great Clients

Want to know the keys to booking great clients?

I would have given just about anything to know how to find good clients when I was starting out in my business.

Even after I put in years of work and my experience grew in business, I had to actively seek out more knowledge on managing and retaining awesome clients.

Self-learning kept my business moving forward.

I’ve spent time reading, attending conferences, and diving into high-level online education programs to gather a few more tools for my business tool belt. I know the right advice can take years off your learning curve, which is why I invite you to learn with me as often as I possibly can!

Booking great clients is just the tip of the iceberg!

Florists have to know how to attract awesome clients, pre-screen and pre-qualify, run a kick-butt consultation, and close the sale if you’re going to consistently book customers and I’d love to share what I’ve learned with you in my NEW TRAINING FOR FLORISTS on Patreon where we’ll officially kick off Lesson #1 on Monday, November 18th.

This week, you can join me on Facebook at 11am ET on Wednesday, November 13th for a LIVESTREAM WHERE I’LL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS FROM THE PAST WEEK.

I received questions on where to advertise to bring more customers into your flower shop; managing a client’s expectations when she has a $700 floral budget; and handling last-minute cancellations on a scheduled consultation, which is just so rude! (click here to join my FB group if you aren’t a member, yet! and make sure to answer the 2 questions.)

If you missed last week’s live chat you can click to watch it below!

Remember: booking great clients is only the beginning.

If you want a behind-the-scenes class on how I’ve learned to attract great clients and book my calendar year after year, join my new online training program on Patreon TODAY.

You’ll learn how to:

pre-qualify clients and STOP WASTING TIME;

run a phone consultation with flair and BOOK CLIENTS WITHOUT A MEETING;

and ATTRACT THE RIGHT CLIENTS with better branding and marketing efforts that are authentic to YOU.

If you sign up before November 16th, you’re eligible for A GIVEAWAY! I’ll be selecting 10 group members a one-on-on strategy session if you sign up before the end of the day on November 16th. (This will not be random, I’ll be hand selecting the giveaway recipients before the end of November.)

Click here to sign up today.

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Join Me On Patreon

Want to book weddings more quickly?

I’m hosting a new training on Patreon!

The intention of this 6-month training is to serve as a behind-the-scenes pass to the strategies I use to attract awesome clients year after year and help you improve your booking, marketing and branding efforts.

In this private subscriber-only forum we’re going to dive deeper into EXACTLY how you can pre-qualify clients, perfect your consultation process, book weddings more quickly, and build a long-lasting brand.

Let me tell you a little bit more about this new thing I’m trying….

Become a Patron!

Question:

Would you like to get a closer look at how I fill my calendar every year with AWESOME CLIENTS WHO TRUST ME and book me without a meeting?

Answer:

Now, you can join me in a NON-Facebook space where you get behind-the-scenes training on:

  • How To Identify & Pre-qualify Customers BEFORE investing time in a consultation and proposal.
  • Phone Consultation Tips & Scripts (so you don’t have to meet clients until you’ve been paid).
  • Branding Building & Marketing Prompts for 6 months of weekly blog posts, social media content, IG posts. (This is for anyone who says “I don’t know what to write about” or “I don’t know what to post”.)

Sound good? Join me & become a patron today!

In this new subscriber-only space on Patreon, we’ll hone in on your ideal customers, sales copy, marketing strategy, and increase your confidence when pre-qualifying clients so that you can LOVE your business (and your life!) as you set yourself up for business success in the long run!

From where to find the right customers to spending less time on consultations, members can ask me anything about streamlining your systems to help you gain more freedom and ensure longevity in your business.

Become a Patron!

Goals:

The goal is to create a professional, curated group that’s NOT ON Facebook so that I can provide off the charts value.

We’ll be focused specifically on attracting clients, booking clients and developing a personal connection with your brand (even if you’re not sure you have a brand yet!).

I am ALWAYS engaged in what I call “the art of good business”;

this means ALWAYS striving to streamline, perfect and hone my skills, not only in floral design, but in ALL the elements of business that make up a high quality brand.

The training starts November 18-20th and then, you’ll continue to receive monthly training sessions thru April. (You don’t need to attend live to access the training!) If I reach 100 subscribers, I’ll release 2 videos (or mix of video and live Q & A) per month thru April!

Become a Patron!

 

Your success is my #1 goal. That’s why I’m offering multiple tiers of membership on Patreon–you can choose which subscription meets your business goals & budget. The first tier of membership is just $9 per month.

If you haven’t been over to Patreon yet, it’s a super user-friendly space where creators, artists, writers and teachers share their work with the people who sign up to support them, or learn from them, on their creative journey (aka their Patrons!).

If you’re reading this, but you’re not familiar with me yet, I’m Alison Ellis, a floralpreneur® with over 25 years of design experience. And while floral design is what brought me to the floral industry, my passion for the art of good business is what’s kept me in business for over 17 years!

Ask me anything! Leave a comment on a post anytime and I’ll address your questions in the upcoming training. You’ll get 3 training sessions in November. This may be a mix of recorded trainings and live Q & A…your input will help shape the content I deliver to you!

Become a Patron!

This is a super up-close and personal look at how I “conduct myself in business” and I’m looking forward to helping you incorporate some of my tips and tricks into your systems, too.

I’d be honored to have you join me on this brand building journey!
With love from me to you,
Alison

Note: Payments for the current month will be due on the day you subscribe and then, on the 1st of the month for recurring subscriptions. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Become a Patron!

 

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What Sets Your Business Apart?

What sets you apart from the competition?

I was asked this question twice in two days : What sets you apart?

It’s ALWAYS a good question to ponder, but even better to actually put some real answers in writing…so today, I’m sharing some tips so that you can identify what sets YOU apart, too!

Click to watch a brief excerpt from a live chat I did inside my Members Only group for The Art Of Good Business:

Note: My Art of Good Business Program is designed to help you attract awesome clients who truly appreciate your talents AND create an authentic brand that represents your vision and passion as an artist! Click here to learn more about creating a business that sets you apart from the competition!

For example, I know that what sets me apart from other course creators is my real life experience.

I’m a real florist; not a luxury wedding designer; not a “6-figure” florist,

I do “regular weddings”–beautiful weddings–but with mostly REGULAR budgets,

I don’t have big-wig, high-end events every weekend,

I run a small, profitable floral business from my home,

and I’ve been doing so for over 17 years!

I focus on longevity.

My business is small, but successful because I define success in more than dollars–it’s about LOVING my biz and the work I produce–though I DO turn a profit and teach florists how to maximize your profit margin, too!

So what else sets me apart?

  • I fully support my courses and will happily answer questions via e-mail or even hop on the phone if you need a more personal response.
  • You can learn from ALL of my business tools (both free and paid) right from your computer without the added cost of travel for a workshop.
  • Everything I create is made with love from me to you!…and that’s why I price my courses as affordably as possible and I ALWAYS aim to deliver tremendous value to my students.
  • I offer a money back guarantee on my Flower Math course–you won’t find many floral courses that offer that!
  • I want to see florists succeed and my resources are available to you 24/7–no timed out offerings, no e-mails with countdown clocks–just real resources at your fingertips anytime you’re ready.
  • In fact, you can final ALL of my courses right HERE.

Now it’s your turn! What sets YOU apart?

Write. It. Down. And feel free to share it if you’d like!

Leave a comment or you can send me an e-mail at floralartvt@gmail.com

Learn more about Alison HERE.

photo credits: Bride and groom with bouquet by Magnolia Photographie. Photo of me by Taken By Sarah.

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Interview: Alison Ellis On The Slow Flowers Podcast

I am so excited to announce that I’m a guest on the Slow Flowers Podcast today!

Catch me on Slow Flowers With Debra Prinzing here!

Debra and I sat down a few weeks ago, here in Vermont, while we were both attending and teaching at The Floral Field Trip. It was such an honor be invited to be a guest and I hope you’ll take a some time out of your day to have a listen!

Click to Listen

From DebraPrinzing.com:

“I’ve known Alison mostly through social media over the years and I’ve watched how her business of teaching and education has really grown. We also share a fun connection through Florists’ Review, where I’m a contributing editor and Alison is a regular business columnist.

I couldn’t skip the opportunity to record an in-person conversation with Alison to share with you. Lately, I’ve been in conversation with many of you about the term “Sustainable,” and in addition to having sustainable practices in our businesses, I strongly believe the term also applies to ensuring florist and flower farmers are SUSTAINED by their businesses; that they are paid a living wage and compensated fairly for the beauty they bring to the world.

Alison is one of the people helping make that happen, especially as she coaches others how to build profitability into their flowers…”

Click to Listen

Here are a few photos from our experience on The Floral Field Trip in September…all photo credits to Taken By Sarah.

We made a foam free (#nofloralfoam) arbor with custom structures that Kelly had custom made by a welder, and added Holly Chapple pillows from Syndicate Sales as well as short black floral buckets and a few Eco Fresh Bouquet wraps for our design of all locally grown Vermont flowers and foliage from Mountain Flower Farm.

Kelly and Mary Kate picked a perfect time of year for a photoshoot in Vermont. We were lucky to have a real life couple for our models for the day….how beautiful was this day by the way?!

Knoll Farm was an absolutely awesome location. Check out their website here to get a sense of what this unique retreat is all about. They provided 3 meals a day for us and each one was fantastic!

For our farewell dinner we cut down our bouquets from the photoshoot to serve as centerpieces. Including flowers from The Floral Reserve, Mountain Flower Farm, Understory Farm, and Longfield Gardens.

This business retreat was a great opportunity to learn more about sourcing American Grown Flowers (the basis of the Slow Flowers movement!) and it was not only educational, but truly inspiring to connect with likeminded floral professionals. The future of floristry will be “locally sourced flowers” and more eco-friendly design mechanics….especially if we, the florists, do our part to help make it that way!

It was a pleasure to be invited to teach on The Floral Field Trip and a special bonus, and a genuine honor, that I got to connect with Debra for an interview on her #slowflowerspodcast, too!

Click to Listen

Vendor credits for the Floral Field Trip…

Photographer @takenbysarah
Flowers sourced from:
@mountainflowerfarm @understoryfarm @thefloralreserve @longfieldgardens
Dress @meagankellydesigns
Model @erin.benn
HMUA @finishingtouchvt
Supplies @syndicatesales
Ribbon @honeysilksco
Venue @knollfarmvt