Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Starting A Wedding Business

I am so excited to share that I’m a guest on The Flower Podcast this week! Scott and I have talked a few times before (you can find all of my past episodes HERE!) and this week we’re talking to floral designers and farmer-florists who want to add weddings into their current business model. Click below to listen or head to wherever you get your podcasts to tune in today!

 

 

Learn More About Alison Here!

 

Get Workshop Details Here

 

Find A Full List of Course Offerings Here

January 18, 2023 — 7:59 pm

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Workshop for Florists in Vermont

Announcing A Spring Workshop for Floral Designers and Farmer-Florists!

Join us for 2 Days of Hands-On Training with Françoise Weeks, Phebe Robinson-Higgins & Alison Ellis, April 17 & 18th at The Round Barn, Waitsfield, Vermont.

Including Foam Free Woodland Techniques, Business Coaching On How To Sell A Wedding & Price For Profit, and Everything You Need To Run A Successful Pop-Up Shop in time for Mother’s Day!

Get the resources you need to level-up your passion & career. 

Limited to 20 Seats. Doors Are Open Now! Click Here For Details!

Pack your tools, bring your refillable water bottle, and we’ll make sure you have everything you need once you’re on site!–from flowers to supplies to meals and snacks and bottomless pots of coffee (or tea)!

All Meals Included for Welcome Reception on Sunday and 2 Full Days of Hands-On Training on Monday and Tuesday.


If you’re a floral designer or farmer-florist and you want to expand your offerings to include more sustainable design techniques, or create profitable pop-up shop in your community, or book more profitable weddings & events, this workshop is for you! 

You’ll walk away with inspiration to design with new perspective, know-how to price for profit and close wedding sales, and skills to Pop-Up so you can sell your flowers– even without your own storefront!

Get Your Seat Now!


TWO DAYS WITH FRANÇOISE, PHEBE & ALISON:

  • Sustainable Woodland Designs with Françoise Weeks
  • Successful Pop-Up Shops with Phebe Robinson-Higgins
  • How To Price For Profit & Book Weddings with Alison Ellis

 

Sustainable. Successful. Profitable. Ready to join us?

Elevate your creativity and level-up your business strategy!

Click Here for Pricing, Daily Schedule and FAQs!

We’d love to see you here in Vermont in April! Reach out with questions for me anytime. info{at}realflowerbusiness.com

xo. -Alison Ellis

 

January 12, 2023 — 1:16 am

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Engagement on Instagram Is Down

Have you heard that engagement is down on Instagram lately? Some of the “most popular” flower famous folks I follow have been mentioning this for the last few months, but what does that REALLY mean for their business…and more importantly, what does that mean for YOUR business?

 

Well, let me show you a few quick REAL numbers from some of the “successful” instagram accounts I follow with 90K-100K followers.

 

First, a note….I know I’m not the only one who looks at numbers like these, but when you’re looking at your own “Instagram stats” and adding up your “likes”, keep THESE STATS in mind:

 

One “flower famous” account with over 100K followers had about 1,000 “likes” on a post recently–which sounds like a lot, but that’s actually ONLY 1% of their total followers! And MOST of their posts had closer to 500 average “likes”, which is 0.5%–that’s ONLY half of one percent of “followers”.

 

Another super talented floral designer with over 90K followers had an average of 149  “likes” on posts lately….and AGAIN that’s just a little over 1% of their follower count.

 

Overall, that is a very small percentage of people who saw the post and took a second to “give it a like”–and, as you may be able to guess, even fewer took the time to comment–and even fewer took action to buy something!

 

If your small business has 600 followers with an average of 10 likes on your posts, that’s 1.66%–Which is in line with the stats of these VERY popular flower accounts with tons of fans!

 

Knowing that the actual reach of these social media posts is “very low”, should you be aiming to grow your Instagram following?

In short, nope.

 

Instead of chasing an algorithm for “likes”, your business needs a more intentional marketing strategy to bring the right clients to your business year after year.

 

Now, don’t get me wrong here–having 1,000 people “like” your stuff is a lot of eyeballs for a small business!…But I’m more interested in how many customers are buying from you than how many people are “liking” your social media posts!

 

Most small businesses don’t have the bandwidth to outwit, outsmart, and out-post on social media to try to gain “popularity”–it’s far better to reach a smaller number of people who are the MOST interested in purchasing what you have to offer.

 

Remember these stats before you worry about a poor post performance! Focus on growing your sales over growing your “followers”.

 

xo. -Alison Ellis

 

P.S. I don’t post on social media every day and I don’t have 100K followers on social media, but I have managed to attract GREAT clients to my business for the last 20 years thanks to an intentional marketing strategy that’s designed to bring the BEST customers to me. I’m sharing some of the MOST important marketing and brand building tips in my Marketing Workshop for Florists on Dec. 5, 6, & 7th at 12pm EST. If you don’t have a marketing plan in place for 2023, consider joining this workshop for just $37!

 

You don’t have to end the year “pushing to the finish line”, but some easy, practical marketing tips can be just the thing to help you reach more great customers who can’t wait to work with you in the new year. Click Here for details about the Workshop and Sign Up Today!

November 30, 2022 — 1:31 pm

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Do Florists Have To Go To Floristry School?

If you want to be a florist, do you have to go to Floristry School? It’s a question I see a lot and I know there can be some strong opinions on the subject. Click to see my answer to the question and let me know what you think!

The truth is, there isn’t just 1 right way to become a florist!

There are so many things to learn that you can’t learn “everything you need to know in just one place”. Whether you go to floristry school, or take an accredited floral design certification program, or you teach yourself through trial and error, there will always be something more for you to learn.

For example, I’ve heard from floristry students in Australia and England who enrolled in my Flower Math course and say that they got a much more thorough and clear explanation from my online course than they did in school! Even longtime florists have told me that they understand the design aspect of their work, but they’ve been kept mostly in the dark on the business-stuff.

And still, some floral designers manage to build a “busy” floral design business, but they struggle with attracting higher paying clients or creating systems to close sales (without a dozen meetings that drain their time and energy).

Let’s face it, there’s so much more to know as a florist than “just flowers”!

The secret to success in the floral industry is to keep learning and growing. Just going to floristry school isn’t enough.

And just learning from YouTube videos isn’t enough.

And letting 20 years pass between your last in-person learning experience isn’t enough either.

Never stop learning in your business and your life–and keep doing beautiful work!

With love from me to you,

Alison


Ready to learn proven strategies to streamline your workflow and create more freedom in your floral business?

See  A Full Course List

April 8, 2022 — 8:38 pm

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

How To Get More Business Reviews in 2022

Happy new year, Floralpreneur®! A florist asked the other day, “How do you ask for reviews from your clients? Do you ask for an opened ended review or send them a questionnaire?”  I’ve done both over my 20 years as a small business owner and I have 2 simple tips to help you gather more rave reviews in 2022:

  • You can click here for a free template on how to ask for a testimonial (there’s no e-mail opt-in required–just grab the template and go!)
  • If you’d like to take this a step further by creating a survey that puts your client testimonials to work, I just posted a short video my Patreon Creator Page here to show you how to create a questionnaire that gathers market research for your biz! (All Patrons have access to this video at any membership level starting at just $3.)
There are few things more valuable than your customers’ words when it comes to sharing your brand’s story. (They’re like gold when it comes to your marketing and overall messaging.)

So reach out and ask your happy clients for a review to help build up your social proof. You’ll be glad you did! And if you want to dig deeper, send out a questionnaire that helps you gather more insight on your ideal customers.

Keep doing beautiful work, and thanks for making time to read my blog today!
With love from me to you,
Alison Ellis

FYI when you join me on Patreon you’ll find a vault of tips and behind-the-scenes trainings including:

  • Tips on Sales Copy
  • Vision & Goal Setting Session
  • What If Another Florist Is Cheaper?
  • Quick Tips To Improve Your Instagram Bio
  • How I Wrote A Proposal in 21 Minutes
  • How To Get More Testimonials
  • Foam Free Arbor Mechanics
  • Tips To Build A Portfolio
  • 15 Business Tips I Learned From My First Boss
  • Behind-the-Scenes of a Big Wedding: From Prep Through Profit
  • How I Make A Floral Bracelet
  • Morning-Of Wedding Prep
  • Tips On Contracts (Yes, You Still Need One)
  • Running A Successful Floral Business
  • Why Instagram Is Only 1 Piece Of Your Marketing Puzzle
  • Streamlined Proposal Writing Tips
  • Tips On Setting Minimums (post-pandemic)
  • How I Wrote 3 Quotes In 1 Week & Booked All 3 Clients
  • Pricing Right From The Start
  • How To Handle Price Increases & Substitutions
  • How To Send A Non-Itemized Proposal
  • Tips to Help Build Your Newsletter
PLUS members in the Marketing Mavens Tier get 5 Blog and Social Media Prompts on the first Monday of every month! You’ll find at least 3 months of social media prompts at any give time waiting for you there.
Click here to subscribe for a month and check it out. (You can cancel any time.)

January 8, 2022 — 4:33 pm

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Welcome, Floralpreneur®.  I’m Alison Ellis, creator of Flower Math, published author, and founder of Real Flower Business. My online business courses and private coaching help floral designers increase profits, book great clients & build a better brand.  Learn More →

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FOR WEDDING FLORISTS:

Read my book: Falling Into Flowers

Templates for Florists

Flower Math Formulas

3 Keys To Booking Great Clients

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Free ebook: Everything I Wish I Knew Before Starting My Business

5 Actions To Take When Biz Is Uncertain

10 Things I Did To Grow My Biz

AS SEEN ON:

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