Top 10 Florist Tips of 2021

As a general rule I find it’s best to look forward in my business, however, as 2021 comes to a close there’s a lot of hubbub about “top moments” and “best of” lists so it seems only fitting to reflect on some of the conversations and topics from the Real Flower Business community:

I started off last January with a question: Who Is Your Ideal Client (this was in preparation for my yearly program, The Art of Good Business)

Ben Cross at Crosslands Flower Nursery in the UK shared his family’s sustainable alstroemeria production with us and his #BritishFlowersRock campaign

April was dedicated to Newbie Tips on Instagram including: How Long Do Flowers Last?, a quick tutorial on How I Clean Stock and a behind-the-scenes look at How I Prep for A Wedding In My Small Home Studio

I shared time saving strategies for florists with 3 Tips on Writing Proposals Quickly

Ad we celebrated 5 Years in Community over in my free Facebook Group in July

I also broke down Tips for Running A Successful Floral Business (and what it means to define your OWN version of success)

Answered the question: How do florists actually “do a wedding” with Day-Of Wedding Prep Tips and a look at What I Bring To Every Wedding

In October, I got the opportunity to sit down with Michelle Lane of Something’s Blooming, to talk about How The Wedding Industry Can Be More LGBTQ+ Inclusive

In November, I hosted a Vision & Goal Setting Session and taught 3 days of live trainings to students inside my Marketing Minicourse (all replays are available now inside the course)

And it was so much fun to talk marketing with floral designers and flower farmers that I hosted a 3 day free Branding & Marketing Training for Florists in December, in preparation for enrollment in, The Art of Good Business, my online course and group coaching program, which begins January 4th, 2022!

While everyone is recapping the year, I just want to remind you of 1 thing:

Nothing’s ending–

it’s not over,

you didn’t miss it,

it’s OK if it isn’t “that special”,

all your efforts are part of what you’re building towards

and the “end of a year”, doesn’t mean anything is actually over…

Keep moving forward in your business.

I’m honored to be on your floral business journey with you.

Keep doing beautiful work and I’ll see you in the new year with MORE tips and trainings to help you move your business ahead.

With love from me to you,

Alison Ellis

(click here to learn more about Alison)

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How Can The Wedding Industry Be More LGBTQ+ Inclusive

Are you a wedding professional who’s inclusive of LGBTQ+ couples?

If you’re in the wedding industry and consider yourself and your business to be welcoming to all couples, there are some initial steps we must take to show our love and support.

What steps are you taking to ensure clients feel truly safe and welcome?

I’m happy to introduce you to Michelle Lane today. She’s a recent newly wed and in this conversation she shares what it was like to plan her wedding and some of the vendor missteps she experienced along the way. Michelle has had a long career as a singer, actor and dancer, and now, she teaches, too! When she lost her creative outlet during the pandemic, she turned to flowers and is now part of my floralpreneur community!

We sat down today to talk about how the wedding industry can be more inclusive of LGBTQ+ couples when planning a wedding and I hope you will enjoy the conversation and take some small steps today to be even more welcoming and celebrate all people.

Click to watch:

Some of the things we talked about include:

Assumptions-We have to stop making them!
Pronouns-We have to share them and ask for them!
Fix your Contact Forms if you have gendered language that’s not inclusive.
Clients look at your website and ask, “Am I represented?”
If you’re not considering LGBTQ+ couples in your marketing, clients won’t feel safe & welcome.

When wedding vendors prioritize inclusivity and diversity, we begin to align our beliefs with our business practices to help create a more equitable world.

Thank you for tuning into our Inclusion Conversation today. Let’s keep the conversation going and keep striving to create safe and welcoming event spaces for all people!

xo. -Alison

A couple of links:

In this conversation Alison mentioned the Wedding and Event Vendor Alliance (WEVAVT.org). WEVA helps wedding professionals become better allies by creating safe, inclusive and anti-racist event spaces through self-education and community development. We are always welcoming new members. Learn more about joining WEVA as an ally here!

Michelle mentioned in our initial conversation that she had a hard time finding templates for LGBTQ+ wedding invitations and I asked if she heard about Dash of Pride. Dash of Pride believes that wedding planning should be fun, which is why they provide easy, judgement-free shopping so you can celebrate your love, your way. Click Here to see the products available at dashofpride.com

Note: I had the opportunity to meet Jenna Szyluk, owner of Dash of Pride, along with my colleague, Maricela Ehmann, for a discussion during Pride Month which you can find HERE.

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Live Chat with Passionflower Sue on Brand Integrity

How do you build a long lasting business?

After nearly 2 decades in business, my aim is to focus on building a brand with integrity. You can call it brand integrity or integrity branding, but what it boils down to is “what people say about your business when you’re not in the room”.

My friend, Susan McLeary, invited me to sit down for a live chat on Instagram to talk about what it means to have an integrity brand and align your business values with your personal beliefs.

Susan has built a well-loved brand that’s followed by many, because of her willingness to show up authentically and consistently share her creative vision with the world. These are essential qualities of an Integrity Brand, of course, and there’s a whole lot of practice that’s required as you continually “put yourself out there” to share your work and your branding message with your customers.

Click to watch a replay of our chat below! [Read more…]

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Why It’s Important To Be LGBTQIA Affirming In Your Business

This is a live chat from my Facebook group–I didn’t plan to share this chat outside of the group since it’s directed AT the group, however, my friend, Susan (aka Passionflower Sue), asked if I’d be sharing it more widely and since the message is vitally important to our industry, I’m sharing it here so you can watch and share even if you’re not a member of my Facebook group.

The topic is about the importance of creating safe spaces for the LGBTQIA community, but this message extends to members of any marginalized communities who deserve equal treatment and basic human dignity when doing business with your company. [Read more…]

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