Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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Tips for Florists on Blogging, Ghosting, and Attracting Higher Budgets

For the last few weeks I’ve been broadcasting my Tuesday Q&As over on Instagram (instead of in my private Facebook group) and it’s been fun to connect with floral folks on the gram! Click below to watch a replay of today’s live chat and make sure to follow me on IG here: @realflowerbusiness!

Questions I received this week include:
  • Why should I blog? I know it’s important for SEO, but why?
  • How do I avoid getting ghosted?
  • What’s your advice for attracting clients with higher budgets? My typical weddings are $2,000-2,500, but would love to see $3-4k inquiries more often.

I also touched on how I’m handling COVID cancellations moving forward and addressed a question on customers who ask for discounted pricing during the pandemic!

Questions for a future livestream? Just get in touch: floralartvt@gmail.com

FYI I’ll be diving into MORE pricing questions later this month in an invitation only chat on Zoom!

Flower Math Sale Waitlist

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Foam Free Wedding Arbor

Foam free floral arbors are fun and easy to do!

I just did my first wedding of 2020 yesterday and shared my #foamfreefloral mechanics on Instagram. Click through the pics below to see the before, during and after on this foam free wedding arbor including 2 time lapse videos showing you the greening and the flowering!

View this post on Instagram

 

#foamfreefloristry before, during and after look at today’s arbor using the #hollychapplepillow

A post shared by Alison Ellis (@realflowerbusiness) on

 

These are super easy foam free mechanics that are affordable and help you make a bigger impact with less product!

What about a water source? I’ve received some questions about a water source and YES, I used about 20 water tubes on the more tender blooms (like hydrangea) and if you live in a warmer climate you can tube every bloom if you need to.

And if you want to see a full breakdown of the recipe on this arbor PLUS the total cost and profit margin on the design, I just shared this with my Patreon subscribers at the $9 Tier and up!….there are a WHOLE LOTTA lessons when you join me on Patreon, of course, but this arbor breakdown is just one good reason to give it a try! There’s no obligation and you can unsubscribe at any time.

I hope you’ll enjoy this little peek behind the scenes.

xo. -Alison

P.S. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram if you don’t already!….

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Alison Ellis on Botanical Brouhaha Podcast

I’m a guest this week on Episode 3 of the BB+ Podcast.

BB+ are bite-sized episodes of the Botanical Brouhaha Podcast and I am so happy to share this short and sweet Q&A with you today!

In this Pricing Q&A for Florists we talk about:

  • How much should you charge for rentals?
  • How do you set a starting price/minimum on flowers?
  • Should you list your prices on your website?

Listen wherever you get your podcasts or click here to check it out: botanicalbrouhaha.com/bb-episode-3-alison-ellis-on-rental-pricing-floral-markups

It’s only 27 minutes long and I hope you’ll enjoy it!

BotanicalBrouhaha.com is a tremendous resource and inspiration for florists around the world; the floral industry is so lucky to have Amy McGee in our corner. Make sure you subscribe to the Botanical Brouhaha Podcast with Amy & Maria.

This was my first time on the BB Podcast, but I’ve been featured on BotanicalBrouhaha.com before!…

Click to watch a video from the BB Blog below and find my Master Your Pricing series featured on Amy’s blog HERE.

On a personal note

It was an honor to be Amy McGee’s guest on Episode 3 of the BB+ Podcast. I’ve known Amy for several years now and I can honestly say she is simply one of the best people. Period.

Not just one of the best floral design advocates.

Not just one of the best industry resources.

One of the best people on this planet.

And I’m proud to call her a friend.

And I’m ridiculously proud to be invited to serve as a resource for the Botanical Brouhaha podcast listeners in this episode.

Thanks for all you do for the industry, Amy, and thank you for your constant support of the work I do. In both small and big ways Amy always lets me know that what I do in the floral world actually matters…and there’s no way to express my heartfelt gratitude for that continued support!

Make sure to subscribe to the BB Podcast wherever you get your podcasts to show your support of this incredible resource and catch up with any episodes you may have missed.

xo. -Alison

Additional Resources For Florists:

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Alison Ellis on Mornings with Mayesh

As a floral educator, it’s always an honor to be invited to speak with floral industry professionals.

My appearances with Yvonne on Mornings With Mayesh are a few of my favorite live Q&A’s and you’ll find all 3 of my guest appearances in this post!

I’ve had some great opportunities to appear as a guest on other people’s podcasts, blogs and web shows that are worth highlighting over the next few weeks PLUS I’ll be on 2 stages in March and April where you can connect with me live (see below).

Appearance highlights:

Last week I was the featured guest on The Flower Podcast and then, Scott was a guest in my Facebook group (click here to check out our live chat).

Next up, I’ll be teaching live and in person in March in Minneapolis at Koehler & Dramm. Click here for details and to sign up today!

Then, I’ll be in Portland, Maine, April 4-5th teaching at The Floral Collaborative. Click here for details and contact Katey to sign up!

Now, onto the Mornings With Mayesh Mashup….

A few notes and questions covered in our most recent chat include:

  • If a customer “must have it”, then they must be willing to pay for it.
  • Industry standards have variation built into them. Once you know the standards you can customize your pricing model to work for your business.
  • How much should you charge for your markup and design fee?
  • Selling a wedding Pre-Pinterest vs. Post-Pinterest.
  • Should you itemize a wedding quote?

Click to watch here:

Grab my free eBook: Everything I Wish I Knew Before I Started My Business HERE.

 

Click below to watch my April 2019 chat where we address:

  • Should you set a minimum on weddings?
  • Do you price anything different with a hand tied vs a vase arrangement?
  • How to make sure you’re not undercharging your clients
  • How to charge clients appropriately
  • Do you mark up high-end flowers like peonies the same as you do a carnation to keep your margins? If you do, how do you use peonies and ranunculus in everyday arrangements? Sparingly?
  • Should you charge a different markup on rentals, vases, and labor?

 

Find a full transcript and additional show notes on the Mayesh website here: https://blog.mayesh.com/mwm-alison-ellis-talks-pricing

And in my very first appearance in April 2018 we talked about:

  • Writing prompt proposals.
  • Why should florists have a minimum?
  • Should florists do free mock-ups?
  • Why I took my minimum off my website.
  • What equipment do you need to start your floral business?

Find a full list of my courses for florists HERE!

Thanks so much for taking the time to tune in and watch!

Feel free to shoot me a message any time if you have questions for me. I may answer the live in one of my Tuesday Q&A’s on Facebook.

xo. -Alison

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