Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.
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!
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.
Sign up here: https://learn.realflowerbusiness.com/price-chat
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
I received some great questions from florists in my Facebook group this month, and I’m going to address them in a LIVE Q&A Session on Wednesday, May 31st, at 11am Eastern/ 8am Pacific and I would LOVE to see you there!
From how I leveraged local restaurant accounts and built my business on bud vases, to tips for pricing something you’ve never made before, to those the renewed requests for lily of the valley bouquets–I have a few questions on my list–but florists who join live can ask me anything!
We’re talking about what’s on your mind right now!
I hope you’re having a great day wherever you may be in the world and I’ll see you in the replay!
With love from me to you,
Alison Ellis
In April, I hosted my first live workshop for floral designers and farmer florists along with my friends, Françoise Weeks and Phebe Robinson Higgins, and I have to tell you it was a fantastic collaboration of creativity and business minds! From business strategies to botanical jewelry and foam free floral design techniques, attendees walked away ready to implement new tips and techniques to propel their businesses forward.
It was an excellent floral design workshop! See what florists said at the bottom of this post! In fact, it was so much fun that we’re already planning the next one for April 2024! Get on the notification list!
I never hosted a workshop before, but when Françoise Weeks asked me if I’d like to teach a workshop with her my immediate reply was, “Yes!…I know the perfect venue, and I know who should invite to teach with us!”
Within a few days, we had our teaching team in place and the BEST venue to host the first Floralpreneur® Workshop at The Round Barn in Waitsfield, Vermont.
Isora Lithgow Creations helped document Day 2 and she captured this beautiful group of flower loving humans so perfectly it is an honor to get to share them with you.
Alison Ellis of Real Flower Business (that’s me!), Phebe Robinson-Higgins of Popped with Phebe, and world renowned designer, Françoise Weeks, taught a 2-Day Hands-On Workshop for Floral Designers and Farmer-Florists on Foam Free Woodland Designs, Pricing and Booking Strategies, and How To Run A Successful Pop-Up Shop.
Floral designers joined us from Canada, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, & Virginia and we had such a wonderful time. I can’t say enough about the floral designers who decided to join us–they were a beautiful bunch of humans. (You can see a group shot at the end of this post!)
Françoise taught foam free woodland designs as well as botanical jewelry. My favorite thing about doing a workshop with Françoise is that no two designs are alike. Every student’s work is unique! You can see some of the beautiful wearables that Robin of Wild Thing Flower Farm created (as well as her lovely smiling face!) below.
Phebe shared her insights on running a successful Pop-Up Shop and how to parlay that into a larger marketing opportunity. She shared so many nuggets of wisdom and even set up a sample display featuring roses courtesy of Rosaprima Roses so florists could walk through the entire customer experience.
As a business coach, my focus is always on profitability and practical business strategies, and I took this opportunity to teach Flower Math Formulas and 5 Steps To Book A Wedding to show exactly how I lead customers through a sale. It was so much fun to teach live and get to answer all the questions in real time!
There was so much to love as I flipped through these photos and remembered our time together and all of these smiles are at the top of my list! Talking business really can be a good time!
Everyone gathered around to see some of the tech Phebe uses to send out quotes. She did not hold back on the tips! Next year, Phebe will share even more marketing ideas and techy touches florists can use in their business.
Isora got a group photo before the end of the day–I told you we were a beautiful bunch! It was such a great time, we’re doing it again next year! Details will be coming very soon! Click here to get on the notification list.
Special thanks again to Isora Lithgow Creations, Nick from 802 Events, Sheryl of Thistle and Bone Floral for all the invaluable help, Walt at Mountain Flower Farm for the pussy willow branches, Rosaprima Roses and our incredible venue, The Round Barn.
This was an experience I will never forget. I’ll have to do a part 2 post with more images of the students’ work…so stay tuned.
xo. -Alison Ellis
“This workshop breathed life into my business practices, creativity, and proposals. The instructors were motivating, generous, and organized. A total success!”
“Amazing instructors, Alison created an unforgettable experience!”
“…wonderful food, venue, detailed planning involved and learned far more than what I thought I would!”
“I loved how welcoming every student and educator was, how everyone was not only willing but eager to share with each other and how very supportive the environment was. I was slightly intimidated signing up (because compared to the others I am very new to the field) but from my initial call with Alison through to the final dinner, I felt included and supported but all (sounds like a Hallmark card) but honestly it was a great experience.”
“Rejuvenating energy and creativity!”
“Everything is taken care of! You just have to show up and everything is provided. It was nice not to have to think about what we were doing next, eating, etc. It was just all there.”
That means if you have NOT directly pitched your offers to the customers who purchased from you last year, it’s time to take action now!
I know it’s tempting to throw out a few posts on social media and feel like you’ve “done your job” to get the word out about your business and what you’re selling, but posting and praying is not enough!
If this sounds like a lot of work, guess what–it could be! You may not be organized with your customer list at your finger tips, perhaps.
But it’s actually pretty easy to write an email to your client list and create a short script to make phone calls to your best customers who haven’t ordered yet, so you can tell them exactly what you’re offering and make it easy for them to buy.
A few things to include in your pitch:
Some customers will say no, but some will say yes! And then, you’ll be that much closer to your sales goal.
The moral of the story is this: Ask for the sale. Don’t sit back and wait for customers to come to you.
Keep doing beautiful work!
xo. -Alison Ellis
Find out more about Alison HERE and see a full course list for florists HERE.
