How To Add A Video To IGTV

Do you want more followers?

Are you on Instagram? Just kidding, I know you are!

But are you using video to increase your engagement?

Video is a powerful tool and IGTV is a perfect place to share replays of livestreams or promos to direct customers to your blog or website. Today, I’m sharing tips to help you use the power of video to reach your fans and followers on Instagram.

You’ll learn how to:

Upload a video from your computer/laptop,
Make a cover image for the video,
Post it on IGTV,
Share it to your stories!

Check out this quick tutorial on How To Post a Video To IGTV:

Now it’s time to take action: Post a video on IGTV before the end of this week!

FYI You can get MORE lessons and tutorials in my Marketing Shortcuts right here!

Level Up Your Marketing!

Pro Tip: Everyone’s focused on “more followers”, but you don’t want MORE followers you want MORE ENGAGED followers. Video is one of the most important ways to share your brand’s story and connect with clients.

Marketing and Branding are different, of course. Your marketing is how you advertise; your brand is what you deliver!

While “marketing” and “branding” are often used interchangeably, they are distinctly different.

Grab My Marketing Shortcuts!

Thanks to tuning in to today’s tutorial! I hope you will put these tips to work for your business.

With love from me to you,

Alison

P.S. You can find the video I uploaded in this tutorial on IGTV HERE!

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

How Florists Book Great Clients

Want to know the keys to booking great clients?

I would have given just about anything to know how to find good clients when I was starting out in my business.

Even after I put in years of work and my experience grew in business, I had to actively seek out more knowledge on managing and retaining awesome clients.

Self-learning kept my business moving forward.

I’ve spent time reading, attending conferences, and diving into high-level online education programs to gather a few more tools for my business tool belt. I know the right advice can take years off your learning curve, which is why I invite you to learn with me as often as I possibly can!

Booking great clients is just the tip of the iceberg!

Florists have to know how to attract awesome clients, pre-screen and pre-qualify, run a kick-butt consultation, and close the sale if you’re going to consistently book customers and I’d love to share what I’ve learned with you in my NEW TRAINING FOR FLORISTS on Patreon where we’ll officially kick off Lessons 1-3 in November.

If you missed last week’s live chat you can click to watch it below!

Remember: booking great clients is only the beginning.

If you want a behind-the-scenes class on how I’ve learned to attract great clients and book my calendar year after year, join my new online training program on Patreon TODAY.

You’ll learn how to:

pre-qualify clients and STOP WASTING TIME;

run a phone consultation with flair and BOOK CLIENTS WITHOUT A MEETING;

and ATTRACT THE RIGHT CLIENTS with better branding and marketing efforts that are authentic to YOU.

Click here to sign up today.

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Join Me On Patreon

Want to book weddings more quickly?

I’m hosting a new training on Patreon!

The intention of this 6-month training is to serve as a behind-the-scenes pass to the strategies I use to attract awesome clients year after year and help you improve your booking, marketing and branding efforts.

Become a Patron!

In this private subscriber-only forum we’re going to dive deeper into EXACTLY how you can pre-qualify clients, perfect your consultation process, book weddings more quickly, and build a long-lasting brand.

Let me tell you a little bit more about this new thing I’m trying….

Become a Patron!

Question:

Would you like to get a closer look at how I fill my calendar every year with AWESOME CLIENTS WHO TRUST ME and book me without a meeting?

Answer:

Now, you can join me in a NON-Facebook space where you get behind-the-scenes training on:

How To Identify & Pre-qualify Customers BEFORE investing time in a consultation and proposal.
Phone Consultation Tips & Scripts (so you don’t have to meet clients until you’ve been paid).
Branding Building & Marketing Prompts for 6 months of weekly blog posts, social media content, IG posts. (This is for anyone who says “I don’t know what to write about” or “I don’t know what to post”.)

Sound good? Join me & become a patron today!

In this new subscriber-only space on Patreon, we’ll hone in on your ideal customers, sales copy, marketing strategy, and increase your confidence when pre-qualifying clients so that you can LOVE your business (and your life!) as you set yourself up for business success in the long run!

From where to find the right customers to spending less time on consultations, members can ask me anything about streamlining your systems to help you gain more freedom and ensure longevity in your business.

Become a Patron!

Goals:

The goal is to create a professional, curated group that’s NOT ON Facebook so that I can provide off the charts value.

We’ll be focused specifically on attracting clients, booking clients and developing a personal connection with your brand (even if you’re not sure you have a brand yet!).

I am ALWAYS engaged in what I call “the art of good business”;

this means ALWAYS striving to streamline, perfect and hone my skills, not only in floral design, but in ALL the elements of business that make up a high quality brand.

The training starts November 18-20th and then, you’ll continue to receive monthly training sessions thru April. (You don’t need to attend live to access the training!) If I reach 100 subscribers, I’ll release 2 videos (or mix of video and live Q & A) per month thru April!

Become a Patron!

Your success is my #1 goal. That’s why I’m offering multiple tiers of membership on Patreon–you can choose which subscription meets your business goals & budget. The first tier of membership is just $9 per month.

If you haven’t been over to Patreon yet, it’s a super user-friendly space where creators, artists, writers and teachers share their work with the people who sign up to support them, or learn from them, on their creative journey (aka their Patrons!).

If you’re reading this, but you’re not familiar with me yet, I’m Alison Ellis, a floralpreneur® with over 25 years of design experience. And while floral design is what brought me to the floral industry, my passion for the art of good business is what’s kept me in business for over 17 years!

Ask me anything! Leave a comment on a post anytime and I’ll address your questions in the upcoming training. You’ll get 3 training sessions in November. This may be a mix of recorded trainings and live Q & A…your input will help shape the content I deliver to you!

Become a Patron!

This is a super up-close and personal look at how I “conduct myself in business” and I’m looking forward to helping you incorporate some of my tips and tricks into your systems, too.

I’d be honored to have you join me on this brand building journey!
With love from me to you,
Alison

Note: Payments for the current month will be due on the day you subscribe and then, on the 1st of the month for recurring subscriptions. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Become a Patron!

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Website Bootcamp July Sale

A funny thing happened…I recently updated my website and I got 5 new inquiries in the last 4 days.

BUT I hear a lot of florists who are disappointed with their inquiries as of late.

This isn’t a problem that’s unique to any one level of business. (Even experienced florists experience a lag sometimes.)

So many florists get STUCK and know it’s time to make a significant change, but lack of time (or know-how) keeps you from committing to change.

You don’t have to make big changes….you can make little ones instead.

Changes like…

Getting crystal clear on YOUR specific niche,

Letting go of offerings that don’t work,

Shifting focus on what you want in your business,

Embracing your business as a profitable gig and not a hobby,

Investing in sharing your message on a deeper level to attract better clients…

I told you I got 5 new inquiries in the last 4 days and that’s because I updated my website about a week ago. It’s still a work in progress, but there’s no doubt that the work I put into my site helped create those results.

I don’t know how long you’ve been in business.

I don’t know how long you’ve been struggling with low-budget inquiries.

I don’t know the last time you updated your website or improved your About page or wrote a blog post, but if you want to put your best foot forward and book great clients for 2020 (and beyond), then it’s time to make some strategic changes to your website right NOW. ❤️

And my 3-Day Website Bootcamp will walk you through the most important changes to make ASAP.

And it’s ON SALE thru July 7th for 10% OFF click HERE to get it!

Each class is approximately 1-hour and includes notes and homework.
There are 10 videos included in the Bootcamp.
This course is self paced and you can access the entire course as soon as you sign up.

Tascha wrote on Day 1 to say:

“I tweaked my tabs and dropdowns and also simplified my contact form. I don’t know if this is a coincidence but…has anyone else gotten an influx of inquiries this afternoon/evening? No joke, I got FOUR! 2 within the past half hour.”

Here’s what another Bootcamper said:

“I can do this at my own pace and revisit the info as needed. I like that it was presented in a way that was not overwhelming in regards to doing the homework….

I ended up redoing my entire website and still working on the SEO and blogging sections. But I think my website is much better than before with a lot more content (doesn’t look like a 3rd grader made it haha) Thanks Alison!!!!”

Here’s what you get when you register for my Website Bootcamp:

Day 1-Eliminate confusion and make a great impression.

You’ll learn:

How to improve your first impression.

How to get more people to “click to contact” you.

3 important must-haves every website should have.

Day 2-Elevate your About page and attract the best clients.

You’ll learn:

How to write better copy on your About page.

What your About page is missing.

How to pre-qualify clients for budget.

Day 3-How to get found without paying for ads.

You’ll learn:

The #1 way to get organic SEO.

How to position yourself as an expert.

3 essential steps for SEO you may be missing!

Samantha said:

“So grateful for this bootcamp! The inquiry form is saving me from a long phone call to find a budget that is just not realistic.”

Here’s what one Bootcamper in Autralia said:

“I think when it’s your biz you can become blind sighted like, “nah, I’m ok”. But the bootcamp takes those blindfolds off baby! And this course helps you to rethink and look. So easy and informative. Everyone will benefit.“

Click to enroll and SAVE $10 Off Today thru 7/7/19: https://courses.realflowerbusiness.com/product/website-bootcamp

This isn’t a course on ‘how to build a website from scratch’,

but on how to IMPROVE your website….OR how to tell your web designer EXACTLY what you need done to make your site function well.

It’s compatible with any website platform you use, though I use WordPress on my sites.

Sandi said:

“I have almost tweaked what I wanted to tweak on the website (my call to actions are all in place now Alison!) I have had such a great run of bookings which has been amazing as this year has been terrible for conversion- now I am nailing almost all of the enquiries. The brides are filling in the enquiry form answering all of the questions too- so thanks Alison so much!”

❤️

Look, I KNOW it’s not fun to update your website…I just did it, believe me, I get it!

But with my shortcuts and website hacks, you’re going to get results! So don’t delay. Sign up now and save.

I look forward to seeing you in the class!

xo. -Alison

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Why Florists Cannot Compete On Price

Have you ever been pressured to lower your prices in order to book a job?

Today, a floralpreneur® in my Facebook group shared that a client slashed her prices in half and re-sent the new pricing back to the florist!…..needless to say, the comments on that one made for some good reading!

As a business owner and floral artist, it’s important to recognize that you don’t want every customer. You want the customers that want YOU…and are willing to pay your for your work!

Business guru and genius marketer, Seth Godin, talks about Competing On Price as a “race to the bottom”. As Mr. Godin puts it, what do you do when you win?…ie. when you’ve succeeded and you’re “at the bottom”!

The idea of “winning” based on undercutting, is a misconception. You cannot “win” if the only reason someone picked you is because you’re cheap-er.

The real reason you don’t want to compete on price….

A florist cannot lower prices and exceed expectations at the same time!….not unless you’re giving up your profit margin.

And if you’re going to sustain your business, you must respect your profit margin.

I don’t want to win at the game of “cheapness”.

I want to win at the game of quality work and amazing customer service.

Click to watch this quick video, “Why you cannot compete on price”:

In today’s video I mention my Flower Math course.

Learn About Flower Math!

What is your goal?…

Do you want to be the cheapest?

Or do you want to be better than the cheapest?

I hope you’ll choose option #2 above!

Don’t compete on price!…so you can keep doing beautiful work!

With love from me to you,

Alison

P.S. If you want to find out more about my Flower Math course, which is designed to help florists price with confidence and maximize profit margins, click here for details on the course!

More FREE Tips from the Blog:

You down with O.P.P? (Other People’s Proposals) Click HERE to read.

How much should florists charge for rentals? Click HERE to read.