Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

  • About
    • Testimonials
      • Student Success Stories
      • Flower Math Testimonials
      • Art of Good Biz Testimonials
    • Bio
    • Coaching
    • Core Values
    • FAQ’s
    • Privacy Policy
  • Workshops
  • Book A Call
  • Courses
    • Flower Math
    • Wedding Templates
      • Wedding Workflow
      • How To Write Proposals That Sell
      • Contracts For Florists
      • E-mail Templates For Florists
    • All Courses
  • Blog
  • Login

By Alison Ellis

Marketing Tips for Florists

How Do You Avoid Trend Traps?

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.

The first step to course correct:

Stop writing “educational posts” that come across like complaining! 

 

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!)

 

Here’s what to do instead:

Get obsessed with your ideal customers and create a marketing plan that attracts them to you!

 

Ask yourself:

  • What is my customer worried about right now? 
  • What would my customer be thrilled to know? 
  • What problems do I solve for my clients?
  • What am I selling that my customers would be interested in buying today?
  • Why am I the BEST choice for my clients?

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


CATCH A REPLAY WITH SLOW FLOWERS SOCIETY ON INSTAGRAM!

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

 

A post shared by Slow Flowers Society | Local & Sustainable Flowers (@slowflowerssociety)


November 21, 2023 — 2:33 pm

By Alison Ellis

5 Steps To Book More Weddings

How Can Florists Book Weddings In Less Time With Less Stress?

I taught a live training last week on the 5 Steps To Book Weddings More Quickly to help wedding florists streamline their current sales process so you can save yourself time (and sanity) when you’re investing energy in writing a proposal for a client!

I got some great feedback on the training and I want to share a few really important takeaways with you today!

Click below to watch a few of the tips I want to highlight for you.

Want To Get Access To All 5 Steps To Booking In The Replay?

Click To Learn More!


The first step to booking a wedding starts here! Click to watch this 1 minute clip now!


Learn 2 of the biggest mistakes florists make BEFORE even booking a client when you click to watch below!


Click below to watch the MOST important step to stop clients from ghosting!

One important thing to know is that none of what I teach is fluff or theory.

Everything I share with you is tested and proven–it’s not a magic trick to book great clients, but after 22 seasons of booking weddings, there is a clear sales process to follow to make sure you’re leading clients from initial inquiry all the way through to deposit! And if you need practical tips that work, I’m here to help!


Want to get the full 90-minute training plus the Q&A? Grab it now!

Yes, I want the 5 Steps!

 

October 29, 2023 — 2:26 pm

By Alison Ellis

Wedding Bouquet Tips

A floral designer asked in my Facebook group the other day, “Are the stems on my bouquets too long?”

And while there isn’t 1 right answer on exactly how long your bouquet stems should be, I threw together a quick video to show you how I determine the stem length on a bouquet for a real wedding. Ultimately, the stem length is part of your overall design flair. You may like your stems shorter than what I show in my work, OR your clients may begin requesting longer stems like we’re seeing in some events lately! It’s a matter of taste and balance on the design as well.

This video got such a nice reaction that I ended up putting together a few more wedding bouquet tips for you! You can watch all 3 videos below in the order I created them in about 26 minutes.

I hope you’ll enjoy these wedding bouquet tips! And if you do, please make sure to “Like” the videos on YouTube, subscribe to my channel and share with a friend!


After I shared the stem length video, I got questions on how I tie my ribbon–so I did another quick tutorial on how I tie the knots on my wedding bouquets!

 


Naturally, it only made sense to follow up with a behind-the-scenes look at how I actually make a wedding bouquet in the first place, so I recorded myself at my design bench as I designed the bridal bouquet for my most recent wedding. Take a peak at my process below!


Thanks for taking a few minutes to watch! And remember to “Like” these videos and subscribe on YouTube. You can also watch a few more design tips on my YouTube Playlist below!

If you haven’t already subscribed to get my Free eBook, Everything I Wish I Knew Before I Started My Business, Click Here To Get It Now!

You can also learn more about me below!

See My About Page

Find a Course List

On The Flower Podcast

October 3, 2023 — 6:35 pm

By Alison Ellis

Flower Math Fall Sale!

The Flower Math Fall Sale is ON for 3 DAYS ONLY!  Coupon Code: Fall23

Get the LOWEST price on the ONLY Pricing & Profitability course for floral designers NOW thru Sept. 14th at 11:59pm Eastern!

Use Code: Fall23 to Save $100 Off!

Click For Details!

 

September 11, 2023 — 10:11 pm

By Alison Ellis

Floral Education with Alison Ellis

A floral business can’t run on creativity alone! If you want your business to be sustainable and successful, you do need to map out future goals and define your own version of success!

Save the dates for my upcoming online trainings and click on the topics below that would be of most help to you on your path to reach your goals!

 


Business Plan Refresh Session–Aug. 23 

If you’re feeling overworked or uninspired in your floral business, this session is for you!

Florists and Flower Farmers will leave this session feeling refreshed, refocused and ready to take action to ditch the overwhelm by putting their goals in writing.

You can join me live for 1-hour on Zoom and catch a replay for 30 days after the training. I’m offering a “Pay What You Want” option that starts at just $5!

Sign up for a Replay Here until it expires: https://learn.realflowerbusiness.com/refresh

 


Pricing Chat for Florists–Sept.12

How do you calculate the profit margin in your flower business? 

If you’re a floral designer or farmer florist who wants to pay yourself more, tracking your profit margin is THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP you can take to make sure that you’re keeping as much money as possible!

And it’s OK if you aren’t “good with numbers” because it’s actually really easy to learn how to do it! That’s why I’ll be hosting a free Pricing Chat for Florists on Tuesday, Sept. 12th at 12pm Eastern/9am Pacific where I’ll share The 3 Numbers Florists Need To Know to help make sure you’re maximizing your margins.

Registration is Closed.

 


Additional Training Dates…

  • 5 Steps To Book Weddings More Quickly–Oct. 24th

  • Marketing Workshop for Florist–Dec. 4, 5, 6th

  • The Art of Good Business–Jan. 9, 16, 23, 30th

  • Floralpreneur® Workshop–April 14-16th


If you ever tell yourself, “I’m great at the creative stuff, but I’m not good at business”, what do you think someone who IS good at business would do to work smarter and reach their goals?

The first step is to put a business plan in writing! The next step is to make sure you’re pricing for MAXIMUM profitability, of course. And then, you have to be able to book clients with ease and market your business with intention to attract the best customers to your brand!

It sounds like a lot, I know! That’s why I’m teach ALL OF THESE THINGS specifically for floral designers and farmer florists in my online business training that you can join from anywhere in the world!

Remember:

Setting Realistic Goals Is Critical To Your Overall Success & Happiness.

And Feeling Overworked In Your Business is NOT Sustainable.

Make sure to stay tuned for upcoming training dates, times and registration!

If you’re not already on my email list, click HERE to sign up for my free eBook and you’ll be on my list!

xo. -Alison Ellis

August 21, 2023 — 10:15 pm

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • …
  • 37
  • Next Page »

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 →

Follow me on social:

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

FOR WEDDING FLORISTS:

Get Flower Math

Read my book: Falling Into Flowers

Wedding Templates for Florists

Wedding Bouquet Tips

FREE RESOURCES:

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:

*The Flower Podcast

*Slow Flowers Podcast

*Mornings With Mayesh

*Botanical Brouhaha

*Florists’ Review

*FlirtyFleurs.com

*From The Ground Up Floral-podcast

Blogroll

Be Sage Consulting

Botanical Brouhaha

Hitomi Gilliam

Flirty Fleurs

Francoise Weeks

Marie Forleo

Passionflower Sue

The Business Of Being Creative

The Flower Podcast

The Full Bouquet

Think Splendid

Slow Flowers

Seth Godin

Topics

advertising Alison Ellis American Grown Flowers blogging Botanical Brouhaha branding Business Plan For Florists contracts Customer Service Delivery Fees design tips e-mail E-mail Templates for Florists FlirtyFleurs floraculture Floral Artistry floral business floral design floral foam floral industry floralpreneur Floral Speaker Floral Wholesalers Floral Workshop florist pricing floristry florists Flower Blog Flower Boss 2 Flower Math Freelance Florists Giving Back Home-Based Florists Ideal Customers Marketing Mornings With Mayesh real flower business Slow Flowers Testimonials The Art Of Good Business The Flower Podcast websites wedding florist wedding proposals Wedding Workflow

Categories

  • Alison's Favorite Things (4)
  • Book for Wedding Florists (3)
  • Boutonnieres & Corsages (2)
  • Building A Brand (133)
  • Business Plan (36)
  • Coaching (15)
  • Contracts (7)
  • Courses (52)
  • Customer Feedback (10)
  • Customer Service (48)
  • Delivery & Set-up (3)
  • E-mail Etiquette (11)
  • Floral Design (147)
  • Floral Industry (218)
  • Floral Workshop (26)
  • Floralpreneur® Workshop (4)
  • Flower Blog (184)
  • Flower Business (202)
  • Flower Math (49)
  • Frequently Asked Questions (26)
  • Giving Back (1)
  • Home-Studio Florists (87)
  • Ideal Customers (53)
  • Inclusivity (5)
  • Marketing (84)
  • Online Business Education for Florists (185)
  • Photography tips for Florists (1)
  • Pricing (49)
  • Pricing Tips For Florists (27)
  • Proposals (26)
  • Recipes (6)
  • Social Media (3)
  • Uncategorized (4)
  • Websites (36)
  • Wedding Workflow (2)
  • Workshops for Florists (10)
  • About
  • Workshops
  • Book A Call
  • Courses
  • Blog
  • Login

Copyright © 2025 Fresh Event Design, LLC · Website Designed by Zach Hoag