Real Flower Business

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By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

How Do You Sell More Flowers?

When florists want to sell more flowers for Mother’s Day–or any occasion–the most important step is to reach out to your past customers to make sure they know what you’re offering.

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 you REALLY want to sell more flowers, you have to reach out to the real live customers who’ve bought from you before and invite them to place an order today!


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:

  • Introduction–what you’re offering (and why they need it!)
  • Clear price points on 1-2 options
  • Call To Action–with a link to buy or phone number to call
  • Sense of Urgency–why do they want to do this today?

 

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.

May 5, 2023 — 2:49 pm

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Should Florists Use Artificial Intelligence In Marketing?

Everyone’s talking about using AI to automate, but what role should automation play in your floral design business?

It’s tempting to lean into automating your business–and I get it, it’s enticing to take the “thinking” out of your work and let someone else handle it!

But there’s truly no replacing the human-to-human interaction and connection that your brand can create with your customers!

(By the way, that’s why the intern that’s assigned to “handle your social media” may not be getting the results you’d hoped for!…because they don’t have the client-focus that’s required to really connect with your ideal customers.)

Click to watch this short take on using AI in your business.

The Moral Of The Story

People buy from people. And good brands aren’t built on auto-pilot.

It’s wise to streamline your business processes whenever possible–as long as you’re not missing the customer connection! There’s a risk of over-automating and losing the special touch (and trust!) your customers are looking for.

I follow templates to help lead clients through the sales process with my email replies and proposals (which you can find here!), but I still take the time to craft customized communication for each client so they get the best experience with my brand.

Because personalized service is part of what I promise. And a computer can’t deliver that for me!

Keep doing beautiful work and keep showing up for your customers as ONLY you can!

(Click Here For More: Should You Lose Your Auto-Reply?)

With love from me to you,

Alison Ellis

(Learn more about Alison Here)


January 3, 2023 — 5:27 pm

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Engagement on Instagram Is Down

Have you heard that engagement is down on Instagram lately? Some of the “most popular” flower famous folks I follow have been mentioning this for the last few months, but what does that REALLY mean for their business…and more importantly, what does that mean for YOUR business?

 

Well, let me show you a few quick REAL numbers from some of the “successful” instagram accounts I follow with 90K-100K followers.

 

First, a note….I know I’m not the only one who looks at numbers like these, but when you’re looking at your own “Instagram stats” and adding up your “likes”, keep THESE STATS in mind:

 

One “flower famous” account with over 100K followers had about 1,000 “likes” on a post recently–which sounds like a lot, but that’s actually ONLY 1% of their total followers! And MOST of their posts had closer to 500 average “likes”, which is 0.5%–that’s ONLY half of one percent of “followers”.

 

Another super talented floral designer with over 90K followers had an average of 149  “likes” on posts lately….and AGAIN that’s just a little over 1% of their follower count.

 

Overall, that is a very small percentage of people who saw the post and took a second to “give it a like”–and, as you may be able to guess, even fewer took the time to comment–and even fewer took action to buy something!

 

If your small business has 600 followers with an average of 10 likes on your posts, that’s 1.66%–Which is in line with the stats of these VERY popular flower accounts with tons of fans!

 

Knowing that the actual reach of these social media posts is “very low”, should you be aiming to grow your Instagram following?

In short, nope.

 

Instead of chasing an algorithm for “likes”, your business needs a more intentional marketing strategy to bring the right clients to your business year after year.

 

Now, don’t get me wrong here–having 1,000 people “like” your stuff is a lot of eyeballs for a small business!…But I’m more interested in how many customers are buying from you than how many people are “liking” your social media posts!

 

Most small businesses don’t have the bandwidth to outwit, outsmart, and out-post on social media to try to gain “popularity”–it’s far better to reach a smaller number of people who are the MOST interested in purchasing what you have to offer.

 

Remember these stats before you worry about a poor post performance! Focus on growing your sales over growing your “followers”.

 

xo. -Alison Ellis

 

P.S. I don’t post on social media every day and I don’t have 100K followers on social media, but I have managed to attract GREAT clients to my business for the last 20 years thanks to an intentional marketing strategy that’s designed to bring the BEST customers to me. I’m sharing some of the MOST important marketing and brand building tips in my Marketing Workshop for Florists on Dec. 5, 6, & 7th at 12pm EST. If you don’t have a marketing plan in place for 2023, consider joining this workshop for just $37!

 

You don’t have to end the year “pushing to the finish line”, but some easy, practical marketing tips can be just the thing to help you reach more great customers who can’t wait to work with you in the new year. Click Here for details about the Workshop and Sign Up Today!

November 30, 2022 — 1:31 pm

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

August Sale

August Sale Is On Now!

If you’re in charge of sales and marketing in your floral business, you can get my BEST tips for attracting great customers and talking about your brand with confidence inside 2 of my MOST popular courses on sale now! (Sale Ends August 31st!) Here’s what you get: [Read more…]

August 18, 2022 — 9:36 pm

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

11 Tips To Update Your About Page

Do you know that your About Us Page is one of the MOST viewed pages on your website?

An interesting About Page works like a magnet to attract great clients to your business. But if your website is “borderline boring”, you could actually be repelling clients.

I know it’s not always easy to talk about yourself with confidence, but your About Page MUST tell a compelling story that establishes trust and makes it clear that you are the BEST choice! [Read more…]

August 15, 2022 — 12:40 pm

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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 →

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FOR WEDDING FLORISTS:

Read my book: Falling Into Flowers

Templates for Florists

Flower Math Formulas

3 Keys To Booking Great Clients

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