Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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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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Marketing Workshop for Florists and Wedding Pros

Do you want to attract better customers to your business?

If you’re unsure how to “get yourself out there” so customers can find you OR you’re getting inquiries from clients who aren’t a good fit and simply can’t afford you, what are you going to do to change that? How will you level-up?

The truth is, the more intentional you are in your marketing strategy, the more ideal customers you’ll attract.

If your current marketing plan is focused on beating an algorithm, instead of speaking directly to your ideal clients, that’s a big mistake! That’s why I’m inviting you to join me for a FREE Marketing Workshop on Tuesday, Oct. 26th at 12pm EDT/9am PDT.

Click Here to Sign Up

When you sign up, you’ll get some of my BEST marketing and branding tips, plus you’ll be the first to know when my Marketing Minicourse is on sale!

In this free workshop I’ll share:

  • Marketing mistakes small businesses make
  • How to attract better clients to your business
  • Why you need a more intentional marketing strategy
  • AND I’ll address your questions LIVE!

Click Here to register!

An intentional marketing strategy is the first step to booking better clients!

An Intentional Marketing Strategy Needs To:

  • Eliminate Confusion & Establish Trust
  • Communicate Your Brand Story
  • Help You Get Found Without Paying For Ads
  • Add Clarity and Purpose to Your Website & Social Media So Customers Are Excited to Book You!

Does your current marketing plan do all that? If not, this workshop is for you!

Click Here to Sign Up

Make sure to join me live so I can answer YOUR specific questions! I look forward to seeing you there!

xo. -Alison

 

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The Number 1 Branding Mistake Florists Make

What does it mean to have “good branding”?

In a world where social media “success” can be misleading, today’s tip is essential for all businesses to understand–not just new florists. That’s why I’m closing out the month of April with a Tip on Branding Your Business.

What you need to understand as a business owner is that your brand is what other people say about you!

Your brand is what you deliver. It’s the customers’ experience with you and your staff. It’s the way people feel when they work with you and what they tell others when you’re not in the room.

Marketing, on the other hand, is what you tell people about yourself. And there’s a big difference between what you say about you and what your paying customers say about you.

Click to find out the #1 Mistake New Florists Make when branding their business:

Want to continue your business journey with me and build your brand the right way? (Slow, steady and with integrity!)

Here are some resources that will help you take your business further:

  • Become a Patreon Member: Learn the 3 Keys to Booking Great Clients Consistently with a behind the scenes look at how I prequalify, close the sale and build an integrity brand. Patrons can ask me anything and I will create a lesson to answer your questions!
  • Business Plan Jumpstart: A fun, easy business plan to help you map out your future. It’s just $20 and it will set you up on the right path.
  • Flower Math: The Florists Guide to Pricing & Profitability teaches the proven formulas to maximize your profit and increase your pricing confidence. It even has a money-back guarantee.
  • Private Strategy Session: Schedule a 1 on 1 with Alison to discuss your unique business goals. (Space is limited to 2 floralpreneurs per month.)

You’ll also find a full list of courses HERE including my templates for florists to help you take control of your client communication and establish authority so customers follow your lead.

There’s so much more to what we do than “just flowers”. Pricing for profit, learning how to close the sale, and building a reputation that attracts great clients are just as important as the design work we do.

FYI if you missed any of my April is for Newbies series you can catch them all on Instagram HERE on IGTV!

Thanks for being here and keep doing beautiful work!

With love from me to you,

Alison

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5 Easy Tips to Improve Your Website

If you’re a floral designer, you already know that running a successful business means you need to understand a lot more than flower care and design principles.

Marketing and branding are important pieces of longterm success. Most of the florists I work with have a website that “looks pretty good”, but they’re missing some important elements (and updates!).

That’s why I sat down with Emily and Mary-Catherine at Koehler & Dramm last week to talk about 5 Easy Tips to Improve Your Website!

You can take these 5 Website and Branding Tips and put them to work in your business today! Click to watch! [Read more…]

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