Real Flower Business

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By Alison Ellis

Alison Ellis on The Flower Podcast

I am so excited to be Scott Shepherd’s guest on The Flower Podcast this week!

 

And because I’m SO excited to be on Scott’s podcast, I’m sharing a free gift with listeners.

You’ll get a sneak peek behind-the-scenes at how I save time on mood boards when you click HERE to Scott’s website.

I’m sharing 3 Quick & Easy Mood Board Tips including:

  • 3 Easy (& Free) Ways To Make A Mood Board,
  • 2 real inspiration boards I made for clients,
  • 1 real life wedding I designed based on a mood board,
  • Plus I share a quote I sent WITHOUT an inspiration board,
  • And 3 Bonus Tips To Write Proposals More Quickly.

Click here to grab my tips!


Scott Shepherd knows florists and I find that he always asks thoughtful and insightful questions of his guests. He definitely asked me a few questions that I know many florists struggle with.

For example:

We talked about pricing, prequalifying clients, design fees, what it means when a “new florist” comes to your town, and, of course, website “stuff”. I hope you’ll make some time to tune in and check it out.

You can listen & subscribe to The Flower Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts, AND you can click here to visit Scott’s website and grab my free mood board tips. 

I’ve been tuning to @TheFlowerPodcast for a while now and I’m always impressed with Scott’s pointed questions, which truly reflect his depth of knowledge in the floral industry. Since Scott and I could have talked for hours, we’re going to be live together tomorrow in my Facebook group! Click HERE to join us!

xo. -Alison

 

 

 

February 17, 2020 — 8:21 pm

By Alison Ellis

Business Tips For Florists

I’m hosting 3 livestreams in February in my Facebook group to answer real florists’ questions.

In this week’s Tuesday Q&A I’m talking about:

  • what to do when a wedding is canceled,
  • what to do when another business owner bad mouths your biz,
  • how to explain a minimum to clients,
  • how to get employees psyched for Valentine’s Day…

Plus….Beth asked:
Who’s your favorite designer and why?….
And “What advice would you give to your younger self?

Click to watch and tune in next Tuesday for another Q&A (click here to view the event on Facebook).


Links as mentioned in my video are below:

#1. Patreon Members get ALL the booking tips here: https://www.patreon.com/realflowerbusiness

#2. Valentine’s Day tips video as seen on FlirtyFleurs found on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/tOWRAY7dRpA

#3. Brand New Freebie “How To Grow An E-Mail List That Doesn’t Suck” here: https://realflowerbusiness.lpages.co/e-mail-growth-tips


Questions for me? Don’t hesitate to get in touch!

I may choose your question for an upcoming Q&A.

xo. -Alison

February 7, 2020 — 6:15 pm

By Alison Ellis

Tips for booking great clients

How do florists book great clients? I would have LOVED to get some secrets for booking more clients in the first 10 years or so of my business! I spent many years learning how to level-up my booking process.

I sought out knowledge that’s allowed me streamline my sales–from consultations to branding to recognizing which clients are the best clients for me–and this has allowed me to take control over the success of my sales process.

I’ve figured out a thing or two over the last 18 years…

That’s why it’s my goal to help florists book awesome clients and build a businesses they love.

I was live today in my Facebook group and here’s a replay of today’s Q&A with real questions from real florists.

Topics covered include:

  • How to get more people into your flower shop,
  • Clients with $700 floral budgets,
  • Last-minute consultation cancellations,
  • How to set an income goal for 2020.
  • And handling clients with sticker shock!

Click to watch:

Don’t miss out my my new training starting Nov. 18-20th! You can learn more about my monthly training on Patreon here: patreon.com/realflowerbusiness

If you’re ready to take control over your future, feel respected and stop price shoppers in their tracks, don’t wait, sign up to join me today!

Questions for me? Shoot me an e-mail anytime: floralartvt@gmail.com

xo. -Alison

 

November 13, 2019 — 8:10 pm

By Alison Ellis

The Worst Business Advice I Ever Took

realflowerbusiness.com, courses for florists, how to write proposals that sell and book more weddings more quickly, #floralpreneur

I want to tell you about the worst business advice I ever took.


It was early in my career as a solo-business owner and even though I’d spent 8 years working in flower shops, I was eager to get new business tips….I was impressionable.

[Read more…]

March 26, 2019 — 2:25 pm

By Alison Ellis

Can florists write proposals without a recipe?

realflowerbusiness.com, floralpreneur, florist recipes, floral design

When should florists write recipes?

Do you figure out stem counts before a client is officially under contract?

Even with a streamlined booking process, it takes precious time and TLC to put together a wedding proposal–and I like to turn my proposals around quickly–so I don’t write recipes without a commitment from the client.

I always write recipes for my weddings…

Over the years I’ve established “starting prices” for the floral elements I make most frequently (i.e. bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, arbors, cocktail pieces, delivery & set-up, etc.)….

And my starting prices, or “minimums”, provide enough breathing room in the budget to create work I’m proud to deliver to my clients, without adding up each stem before we’ve actually established a working relationship (ie. a contract & deposit to secure the date), let alone finalized the design, color palette or specific floral choices.


Pricing a proposal takes far less time when minimums are established for each line item.

Whether you itemize an initial proposal for a client or simply offer a “lump sum total” when quoting a job, your established minimums will allow you to price as needed to turn a profit without having to write out recipes on every proposal before you get the job.

Here’s my process for booking without a recipe:

  • I send an initial proposal to a client with a minimum spend requested,
  • the clients commit to working with me (ie. a signed contract & deposit),
  • within the next fews months/year, we modify our plans as needed (adjusting colors, table counts, floral varieties, etc.),
  • and then, once final decisions are made, I’ll invest the time to create custom recipes for their event.

Click to watch, Can you price without a recipe?…

P.S. The wedding I talk about in this video, well, I’m happy to report that it worked out GREAT!…she ended up being an ideal client after all.

And if you want to learn how to price with confidence & stop over-buying so you can increase your income, I teach you everything I know about pricing in Flower Math! 

Sign up & SAVE $100!


Testimonial:

“In one wedding I felt more confident in my pricing & made my money back on the purchase of the class. This really has been a game changer for me!!  

-Susan of Wild Blume


Customers should get to “yes” easily.

It’s always easier to have a pricing conversation with a client if you’re being honest & transparent.

It can be as simple as clarifying: What are your customers willing to spend? and What can you provide at that price point?

Be confident in your pricing. Because if a client walks away after you’ve already offered your best price, then they’re just not your customer! They simply couldn’t afford you.


I used to be limited in my belief about how much I could charge…

Years ago, if someone said they had a $3,000 budget, I’d say, “OK, sure, I can make that work!” I mean, I should be able to make something beautiful for $3,000, right?!…well, that depends on what the client is requesting!

Once I get some preliminary details from a client, I can introduce a starting price based on the information I’ve collected.

The client’s requested vision may be “more than the minimum”–that’s the up-side of Pinterest….we can see immediately how elaborate and lush their dream/vision is, or get a sense of how clean, focused and simple their taste may be.


Are these flowers expensive? Yes, they are.

It’s not your job to try to replicate a $450 elevated centerpiece that your customer fell in love with (on Pinterest!) for the low, low price of $150. (I’d rather make a beautiful centerpiece for $150 that’s easy for your guests to see over, instead of feeling uneasy about the “smaller scale” of an elevated piece that was cobbled together for $300 less than the inspiration photo! That’s not your job.)

I want my customers to experience value when working with me.

Charge what you’re worth and then, BE WORTH IT.


What if you’re pricing something you’ve never made before?

For example, what if you haven’t made an elevated centerpiece?

Well, sometimes you need to do some mathematics and imagining and spacial relations-work with your ruler and a loamy dish to determine a price on something you’ll be making for the first time…

But if you set some starting prices for your work, and you know that elevated centerpieces are at least 3x the price of a low centerpiece, you’ll automatically have a starting point to work from and instead of trying to make it for “less”, you can simply present the “starting price on elevated pieces”…even though you haven’t made it yet! (and then, you can offer alternatives to the elevated designs if their vision isn’t aligning with the desired budget.)


Deliver what you promise…

If the inspiration photo is “more than you’ll provide at this price”, that must be clearly stated in all of your documents. “Your inspiration photo is $450, however, we’ll make a smaller, scaled down version for $275.”

Always deliver what you promise.

Your brand is what you deliver. Don’t promise something you can’t deliver.

Never forget the trust your clients put in you/your team.

Keep doing beautiful work, floralpreneur®!

With love from me to you,

Alison


Additional Resources:

  • Should you book more luxury weddings? (click here to find out!)
  • Get The Vault (just $13)
  • Increase your income with Flower Math (save $100 off today) 
  • If you want to join my Facebook group click here!

 

February 24, 2019 — 10:38 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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10 Things I Did To Grow My Biz

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