Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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Who Is Your Ideal Customer?

How do you define an Ideal Customer?

People talk about finding “ideal clients”, but it’s rarely defined.

The simplest definition of an ideal customer is: someone you want to work with over and over and over again.

You may have more than 1 ideal customer (multiple income streams sometimes have multiple customer avatars).

Click to watch this super short video on Why you want to get to know YOUR Ideal Clients!

We dive into this very topic in Week 1 of The Art of Good Business, which starts LIVE Jan. 8th.

You don’t have to join me live, but I will be here every  Friday in January to walk you through the course.

Learn More HERE!

Ideal customers choose your brand easily.

They are willing to pay what you charge.

They love your website.

They love you/your personality and/or your sales staff.

They get to yes, easily.

In short…

In order to make your social media attract the right customers, you need a clear idea of who you’re actually taking to!

Ideal customers say, “this is for me…she’s saying what I’m thinking!”

You want your ideal customers to read your sales copy and think “yes, this is for me”.

Does your website and social media reach your clients like this?

If not, I can help!

Click here to learn more about The Art of Good Business!

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog and watch my tips.

Keep doing beautiful work, Floralpreneur®.

With love from me to you,

Alison

P.S. If you have any questions for me about the course or whether it’s a good fit for you, request a free 20-minute call here! I’m happy to hop on a call if you have questions for me.

This is truly one of the most valuable and in-depth courses I teach and I would be honored to have you join me if it sounds like a good fit!

 

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How do you handle cancellations?

should you cancel your 2021 wedding or event

Will weddings and events happen in 2021?

That’s the question that a lot of vendors and couples are starting to ask as new mandates are announced in many states—including my home state of Vermont.

I’m starting to see scenarios repeated in my Facebook group regarding how to handle the new cancelation or postponement requests. This is a really important question for everyone to answer because we are ALL going to get these requests. They are coming soon.

I am in this with you–I know how it feels to anticipate what lies ahead for us in the wedding industry.

One florist wrote:

[Read more…]

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Focus On What Matters In Your Business Right Now

What should you be focused on in your business right now?

Small business owners are often pulled in multiple directions; we wear a lot of hats, right?! But there are times when your business needs you to focus and avoid distractions!

If you have trouble focusing on what matters most, ask yourself the following:

  • Where are you pouring your energy?
  • What’s bringing in money?
  • Why are you “doing what you’re doing” (ie social media, current offerings, etc.)?
  • Are you consistent?
  • What do you need to “practice”?

From brand loyalty to growing your Instagram following to renaming your business, I addressed the questions florists sent to me this week…

Click to watch the Tuesday Q&A replay!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Tuesday Q&A to answer your questions live! Link in bio for my Real Flower Business “stuff”! ❤️

A post shared by Alison Ellis (@realflowerbusiness) on

The moral of the story is this: Don’t forget to plan and finish this year strong!

Thanks for taking the time to tune in and watch.

You can follow me on Instagram here, subscribe to my YouTube channel here, and join my Facebook group here.

xo. -Alison

Additional Resources for You:

Flower Math: The Florist’s Guide To Pricing & Profitability

Marketing Minicourse 

Patreon Membership Training

 

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6 Week Coaching For Florists

How can I take my floral business to the next level?

Floralpreneur® Fastrack is a 6-week private coaching course with Alison Ellis designed to help you maximize your branding potential and reach the best clients.

It’s not enough to be a talented floral designer, you have to know how to attract clients, close the sale and turn a profit to truly succeed in business!

I’ve been asked for private coaching packages this year and while the word “package” never felt quite right, I developed a custom coaching course for a few floral designers recently that I’m certain can help you in your floral business, too….so now I’m rolling out this unique opportunity to work 1:1 with me for up to 2 designers per month.

There has arguably never been a better time to buckle down and get to work on your branding and marketing, but you can get there a lot faster with my Floralpreneur® Fastrack Program! (Fill out the Inquiry Form below!)

While it can be tempting to keep doing the same thing you’ve been doing, here are some actions I suggest you take if you want to take your business to the next level:

  • Create a more compelling story for your About page.
  • Streamline your contact form and intake process to help lead clients to “yes”.
  • Get A Social Media Strategy! Blogging, pinning and sharing to IG so you’re posting on all the platforms where your clients are looking for you.
  • Update your website so it reflects your brand’s story and unique awesomeness.
  • Add more of your own voice to your sales copy.

This may sound like a lot of work, but together, we can make it a lot easier! I can help you with all of the above!

Scroll through this survey below to get in touch and find out if this program is a good fit for you and your business! It’ll just take a moment!

 

Create your own user feedback survey

 

Want more details? You’ll find pricing and interest free payment plan options if ya scroll on down….

Here’s what a custom coaching package looks like:

  • Three 1:1 Calls with Alison: 1. Initial call to get acquainted & set agenda (45-minutes), 2. Brand Story and Website “stuff” (90-minutes), 3. Sales Coaching & Consultations (up to 90-minutes). ($750)
  • Website Review: I’ll create a custom screenflow to help you quickly improve your website with some key tweaks, changes and edits that you can make asap. This recorded private video allows you to watch, pause, take notes, make changes, and repeat! ($195)
  • Write/Edit Sales Copy for: Home page, About, Testimonials, Contact Form, and 2 Additional Pages or Blog Posts (you’ll write them, I’ll edit and help punch them up!). ($1,000)

Plus you’ll get these Bonuses:

  • 6 months worth of weekly Blog Post Prompts/Social Media topics that you can write about to help develop your brand’s voice. (30 Prompts/$50 value for free!)
  • How To Write Proposals That Sell pdf with a behind-the-scenes look at how I create free mood boards & 3 Ways I Present Pricing In Proposals. ($99 value at no charge!)
  • Real Life Transcript Of A Phone Consultation. ($50 value at no charge!)
  • Online Toolkit with additional lessons and tutorials on how to improve your marketing & attract the best clients on your private dashboard at realflowerbusiness.com ($300+)

This sounds great! Sign me up…

You can join my Floralpreneur® Fastrack for $1,800 (you’ll save $600 Off)!

  • The total price for the custom coaching and website revamp comes to over $2,400 with the bonus prompts, transcript and proposal training.

If this sounds like a good fit for you, we can do an interest free payment plan! Take advantage of an 8-month payment plan or 12-month payment plan.

That’s $225/8 months or $150/12 months and zero interest.

Prefer to pay upfront?

You can save an additional $300 OFF with a one-time payment of $1,500 HERE. (That’s $900 in savings!)

Later on:

  • If you feel like you need more 1:1 time with me you can add on an additional call at another time for $200 if you’d like. 6 months from now, or whenever you’d like a check-in if needed.

If you’re not sure if this coaching program is right for you, you can reach out anytime! Just shoot me an e-mail at floralartvt@gmail.com

And hey, if you’re not comfortable answering the survey questions above or shooting me an e-mail, then you’re definitely not ready to join me in this coaching program!

Before you buy a course or hire a coach ask if they have the qualities of a great mentor:

  1. Is this person getting amazing results in their business?
  2. Do they get those outcomes by doing what they teach?
  3. Are their clients getting amazing results, too?
  4. Are they willing to share real numbers?
  5. Is there real support and real accountability that comes along with this purchase?
  6. Will this information shorten my learning curve?

The answers should be “yes” to all of the above.

Ready to sign up? Click here to make 1 payment of $1,500 and save $900 today!

Want to learn more about Alison? Click here!

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Wedding Postponements, Canceled Events, and Your Floral Business

Let’s talk about cancellations, deposits, refund requests and YOUR BUSINESS….

First, this is your business, which means you don’t have to do things my way.

What I do doesn’t have to be what you do. I recognize that there’s a lot to consider around postponing and pushback and you can watch a replay of my live Q&A where I address real florists’ questions.

Because what strikes me over the last couple of weeks/days is how florists are feeling sensitive and defensive about their own decisions.

For example, if a florist chooses to refund a deposit or partial deposit due to a COVID “situation”, that doesn’t mean that YOU have to refund and it doesn’t mean that you’re being judged or that you’re a bad person if you choose to keep a deposit.

It’s not unwise to amend your terms under these circumstances in order to reach an agreement with your clients.

HOWEVER YOU CHOOSE TO PROCEED UNDER THE CURRENT CONDITIONS IS UP TO YOUR BUSINESS POLICIES.

Ideally, your heart and mind are at peace with how you choose to proceed.

As a lawyer in my group put it:

You can be just as creative, and collaborative with your clients, regarding altering contract terms to fit the times, as you are in doing design work and taking care of your clients in the happier, floral area of your business.“

Frank Sinatra said, well sang, “I did it my way”….and that’s the situation you’re in now.

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