Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.
Are you a floral designer or farmer-florist who wants to add weddings to your offerings or improve your current booking and design skills?
Wedding Bootcamp is taking place April 27-29th, in Waitsfield, Vermont and there are 9 seats open!
Get all the details here and sign up today to save your seat.
I’m so happy to share that we just wrapped up another incredible Floralpreneur® Workshop at The Round Barn in Waitsfield, Vermont this April. Students and teachers joined us from Vancouver, San Francisco, Portland (Oregon), Chicago, Texas, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Ontario! We couldn’t have asked for a better group of people or a better time. As always, the food and accommodations at The Round Barn were excellent from start to finish. Even the weather cooperated!
We had the pleasure of celebrating Françoise Weeks’s new book, Wonder of the Woodlands, and we had our own mini book launch with a #WonderoftheWoodlands inspired dinner and signed copies of her book for everyone who attended!
Our photographer, Isora Lithgow, captured these shots on Day 2 and I think you can get a good sense of the energy and creativity of the workshop! Starting with this group shot of our incredible crew including our teachers, Hitomi Gilliam, AIFD, Françoise Weeks, Phebe Higgins and me, Alison Ellis. Our support team included Lori Bley of The Hidden Daisy and Sarah Jo of Creative Muse–we couldn’t have done it without their hard work! And of course our amazing students: Erin, Blair, Courtney, Ann, Amy, Maya, Alissa, Karyssa, Frances, Christy, Lezlee, Samantha, Jessica, and Mandy.
Hitomi shared reusable mechanics as part of her “Reuse to Reduce” philosophy and blew our minds with her simple approach to building structures and using the principles and elements of design to maximize the visual impact of your work while using fewer stems of flowers! A truly inspired and innovative way to approach design work.
We had some incredible tulips from VonTrapp Flowers that provided movement and flow in the design work, and flowers from Japan Blooms–including this large, ruffly lisianthus (below)–absolutely wowed us. See how Lezlee of Nature’s Path created this bouquet below with the challenge of choosing only 10 stems of flowers to design with–the results are beautiful.
The bouquet above by Sweet Blossoms really highlights the length of the clematis from Japan Blooms and the jasmine vine is such a fun counterbalance. Below, Maya of Honey Flora shows off her bouquet! Only 10 stems of flowers and they look full and beautiful thanks to Hitomi’s mechanics. We were so impressed with the results of the students!
Amy of Fleurish in the Valley designed the bouquet above and Phebe of Popped with Phebe shows off her bouquet below! They embraced that 10 stem challenge and made beautiful work.
Phebe and I taught business strategies in the morning sessions each day. I taught Website Tips and Phebe focused on the Power of Social Media to round out our program including some 1:1 time for social media reviews. Françoise taught floral fascinators on Day 2 and you can see some of the beautiful work from Gardenia’s Floral, Fleurish in the Valley and Urban Allure Events below. Including gloriosa lilies, begonias, dried mushrooms, air plants, fritillaria and string of pearl, as well as hyacinths, tulip petals and maidenhair ferns.
On our first day with Françoise the students made framed woodland designs and they made a beautiful display inside the barn. Moss, branches, bark, tamarack, dried ferns, mushrooms, succulents, air plants, honey locust pods, baptisia pods and wild cucumber vine are included in the design work below.
A few more images of the students at work (and play) just for fun! Because we did some awesome work, but the true growth and intention of participating in a workshop is the experimentation and play!
Once again, a big thank you to Lori of The Hidden Daisy for the incredible help and friendship! Especially thanks for the beautiful woodland designs for the wagon to celebrate our Wonder of the Woodlands book launch for our friend, Françoise!!
I cannot say enough about the experience we shared and the many tips we all learned; it was really special. Thanks to everyone who joined us. Thanks to the teachers and staff for making the trip. And thanks for reading this blog post to see what we were up to!
xo. -Alison Ellis
I’ve invested in more than a handful of professional workshops myself, so I want to share with you what sets The Floralpreneur® Workshop apart!
Click to watch below for a few reasons I think THIS IS THE BEST WORKSHOP FOR FLORISTS!
And sign up NOW if you want to ensure you get a seat.
It’s time to jump in and join us for this amazing workshop opportunity here in Vermont!
Remember: All Meals are Included, you get a 1:1 Coaching Call with Alison before the workshop, and you’ll walk away feeling confident that you can make ANY DESIGN foam free, yet secure!
I’d be honored to have you join us.
xo. -Alison Ellis
My business started organically and it was ALL DIY!–from business cards I printed on my home computer to the “flyers” and occasional print ads I ran in the local papers.
I only booked 1 wedding my first year in business–it was ALL sunflowers–and I felt lucky to book the work! The next year I grew my bookings to 5 weddings (thanks to some friends, and friends of friends, getting married, of course!) and then, I slowly began to build from there….10 weddings, 25 weddings, 34 weddings!….but my business still wasn’t growing the way I wanted it to.
You see, even after 7 or 8 years in business, I kept losing the “better events” to another florist. (Like the same florist every time.)
Was this other florist more established than me? YES.
Did they have a team that did 20+ weddings per month? YES.
Was I capable of designing flowers as beautiful as their team? YES!
So why was I losing out over and over again?
Simple. They Had Better Brand Position.
I had to face the fact that even though I’d been in business for a little while and I had a lot to be proud of already, my business simply didn’t have the appearance on the outside that reflected how professional and capable I was in real life (on the inside)! Choosing me wasn’t a “no brainer”…yet!
And frankly, this was really maddening! Because time and time again I’d get the same basic reply, “We really enjoyed talking to you and we’re sure you’d do a wonderful job, but we went with another florist.”
The action I took was to invest in a higher-level marketing and branding course (it was about $3,000 at the time, which was 20x more than I’d ever invested before!) and I committed to following the program and completing the course assignments.
It took me about 6 weeks of training (oh, and I had a tiny little newborn baby to contend with as well!), but I slowly started to put the pieces of my own marketing and branding puzzle together and you know what?….I started to feel a little differently about my business.
Now I won’t lie and tell you that I saw an immediate turnaround in my booking rate or my brand position–building a better brand doesn’t happen overnight!
BUT what I did begin to understand right away was how much OPPORTUNITY I had to actually reach those “better clients” (my ideal clients) with some strategic messaging and a more functional website!
And that opportunity began to give me a lot of useful information (as well as a little bit of optimism) that I had the power to turn this thing around!
So I continued the work and continued to get OBSESSED with my ideal clients and to find out who they really were and what they really needed to hear from me to get to a YES!
Now, when clients inquire with me, they are interested in working with ME, not just any florist.
Now, when clients go to my website they tell me how much they LOVE it.
Now, when I send a proposal, they book me quickly, instead of shopping around.
Now, when clients DON’T book with me, I am not worried that it’s because I didn’t put my best foot forward!
And now, that “other florist” still has a good brand position, but clients choose ME OVER THEM lots of times!
And after years and years of doing this work to attract the right clients and build an integrity brand, it’s a genuine passion of mine to help florists do the same thing by tapping into your own unique branding potential!
The floral designers and flower farmers who’ve already enrolled in my program, The Art of Good Business, know that you have to leverage your own inner potential so you can make a great first impression that looks as awesome on the outside as you KNOW you are on the inside!
You can CLICK HERE for all the details on this January Training and Enroll today if it’s a good fit for you!
If any of my business journey sounds relatable and you want to unlock your earning potential by attracting more clients who can afford to pay you to create work that also lights you up and fills your creative bucket, I would be delighted to have you join me in January for The Art of Good Business.
You can get started for only $129!
More income, more creativity, more freedom…it all starts to fall into place more easily with a better brand position!
I don’t teach florists how to “be like me” in order to succeed. The goal of this course is to get to the heart of what makes your business special. My hope is that by signing up for this course, you can position yourself better in your local market, that you can find the courage to try new things in your business, and that you can be happier in business and in life.
*Get to the heart of who your ideal clients are so you can create a magnetic marketing message that attracts more of the best customers to you
*Improve your website so it converts to more sales with qualified customers
*Lead clients through your sales process to help them get to a YES more quickly
*Establish your own unique brand strategy that stands out above the competition without posting on social media every day
I see each of my students as individuals with their own hopes, dreams, and talents, so I put my personal time into teaching this course…
* I answer all questions personally and promptly.
* I teach the course live every January so you can continue to get support year after year.
* If you have questions after the live sessions, you can still reach out–you’re not alone.
I want you to know that you will get special attention when you enroll in this course, and you will be supported in building a business that is perfect for you.
I am happy to answer questions about my program prior to enrolling if you have them! Registration Closes Jan. 4th.
If you don’t want to be in the same place you were last year, I would love to help you level-up in 2024.
-Alison
As a small business owner, I don’t have to tell you that social media trends are always changing, and the last thing you want to do is follow a TikTok trend that feels fake and phony and actually turns your clients off.
But if you’re posting on social media without an intentional marketing strategy to build your brand reputation, you may be experiencing that now! (If you’ve ever seen someone post a reel or make a video that seemed WAAAAY out of character, then you know what I mean!)
There’s nothing wrong with you if you’ve been following social media trends; it’s hard to resist the popular trends that “everyone else is doing”. But when you market with more intention, you can build a brand that’s trend proof! (No silly dancing or lip syncing required!)
Posting about what kind of Barbie you are, or using the most popular sound bite of the week, and trying to please an algorithm instead of appealing to your ideal customers is a HUGE marketing & branding mistake that a lot of florists are making.
Ever see a florist break down “why flowers cost so much”? That’s a perfect example of a “trend trap” because it seems like the right thing to do in the moment, but is your ideal customer attracted to a post about all of your overhead and the hours you work?
Or would they be more interested in your brand story, or a helpful tip for THEM instead of a “look at how hard I work and how much all this costs” reel?
(Hint: if your ideal client has a decent budget for flowers, they don’t need that kind of “budget education” so they don’t even realize you’re talking to them! In other words, the clients who CAN afford you will just scroll on by!)
Ask yourself:
Now, when you can create social media posts that answer these specific questions, what will your ideal clients hear? They’ll hear you speaking to them loud and clear because you’re talking about what matters to them!
So which kind of marketer would you rather be? The one who falls into the trend trap or the one who speaks directly to the hearts of their ideal customers? (I can tell you from personal experience, I’d rather be the latter.)
If you’re a floral designer or flower farmer who’d rather spend time designing beautiful flowers and booking clients, than following trends, then I’d love to invite you to join me inside the Marketing Workshop for Florists because when you sign up, you’re about to get my best marketing tips to help you stand out as your own unique brand.
Click Here for Details on the Marketing Workshop!
In 3 Days of Live, Virtual Training I’m going to show you how to get out of the social media traps and start bringing the best clients to you.
By the time you finish day 3 you’ll be talking to your customers with more clarity and purpose, which will feel so much better than lip syncing along with next week’s trend!
My students say the Marketing Workshop is actionable, informative and totally worth the investment. (And at $57 what do you have to lose? There’s even a money back guarantee!) Use Coupon Code: FRIDAY15 Today to take advantage of 15% for Black Friday!
So why wait any longer? Join me for the Marketing Workshop for Florists on Dec. 4, 5, & 6th, at 12pm Eastern/9am Pacific!
If you have questions for me or if you had an “a-ha” moment after reading this post, get in touch to let me know!
xo. -Alison
Debra Prinzing and I sat down for a chat on Instagram today as part of Slow Flower Members Appreciation Month to talk a little bit more about the power of marketing to your ideal customers vs following trends, click to watch!
View this post on Instagram
