Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

If you went out of business, would people notice?

I jotted down a note on a piece of scrap paper that hangs around my desk. I come across it from time to time. It reads:

“If you went out of business, would people notice?”

 I can’t remember what prompted me to write it down, but every time I see it I think “Ooh, that’s good.”

I want the answer to this question to be “Yes!”
Yes, without a doubt.
If I go out of business I want people to notice.

As I complete my 15th year in business and look ahead towards 2017 with a wedding calendar that’s booked more quickly than ever before, well, I’m feeling lucky…and grateful…and like I’ve worked really hard to get here.

As a solo-business owner, or floralpreneur as I like to say, I struggled for years to find a mission, a purpose, a meaningful impact that I could make in the world.

I started my business with a mission statement, as all good companies do, and then I refined that mission over the years, but it always felt hollow or somehow fell flat. It wasn’t as purposeful as Ben & Jerry’s mission statement or other cool companies who use their profitability to make a positive difference.

I wanted to “do more”, but with a business as small as mine any donations or attempts to “make giving part of my growth strategy” (one of my favorite, inspired quotes from Danielle LaPorte) seemed insignificant….a drop in the ocean. And in truth, my customers didn’t even seem to care.

I always had core values, but I wasn’t communicating them to my clients.

I can tell you without a doubt the better I became at communicating my values to my clients, the more my ideal clients started responding.

Click to read my Core Values here.

I’m going to walk you through exactly what I did to determine these values and attract more of my ideal clients in my course, The Art of Good Business, Find details here!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Growing a business is a journey. It’s not a sprint, not a straight line, and every year is a learning year.

Communicating your Core Values can be an integral part of attracting ideal clients and building a reputable brand.
 

Join the #VowToGive Challenge!

If you want to make a bigger impact with your small business, join me in #VowToGive.

Here’s how I define my giving: For every wedding I book I donate 165 meals to the Vermont Foodbank. I commit $55 from every wedding sale to the foodbank and in 2015 I provided 4,800 meals through the Vermont Foodbank.

#VowToGive is easy to do and it feels good, too.

Perhaps you already have a charity or social mission for your business, but if not, now is the perfect time to start!

It’s easy. Just follow 3 steps:

  1. First, choose a local charity or global charity that moves you and fits the core values of your business.
  2. Second, define a dollar amount per wedding or amount of time you volunteer or sponsorship you’ll support.
  3. Third, follow through! Send the check, show up, volunteer, sponsor and tell your customers about it.

You can pick a dollar amount per wedding, per month, or per year to donate to your charity of choice. It’s tax deductible and it’s good for business.
1, 2, 3…choose, define and follow through.

Take a minute and ask to join my Facebook group here! It’s a great way for us to connect and it’s my new favorite way to talk with floralpreneurs!

As always…
Keep
doing
beautiful
work. 

With love from me to you,
Alison

Read more about Alison here.

December 13, 2016 — 3:12 am

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

What does great customer service feel like?

The most important thing I’ve done for my floral design business is work towards perfecting a customer service experience that reflects the values of my brand and speaks directly to the heart of my ideal clients.

Want to find better clients?

Create a better customer experience.

What does great customer service feel like?

Do you remember the best customer service experience you ever had? A time when YOU were the customer and something stellar happened that made you feel great?

Maybe it was an unexpected refund you didn’t even have to ask for, or a hotel staff member who went above and beyond for you….maybe it was the super comfy leather chair in a waiting room that made your wait time a little more enjoyable…or the free refills…or the personal touch…a time when you experienced a better-than-average “result”.

How can you make you customers feel special?

1. Think of a real life customer service experience where you were wowed. [Even better, think of a brand that continually wows you with their service.]

2. Write down all the details….what did you expect to happen? How was this experience with this company or brand different/better?

3. Now consider how YOU can translate what was special about your experience into a customer experience for your ideal clients?

Tapping into what makes you one-of-a-kind propels your business.

Now…to expand on that…

Tapping into what your customers need is another meaningful way to speak to your ideal customers.

My downloadable pdf, Wedding Workflow, gives you a behind-the-scenes look at my 16 Steps to Client Management from the initial e-mail inquiry to a post-wedding followup.

Create a better customer service experience.

You can read the details on this downloadable course here including the table of contents with a list of all 16 steps!

It’s priced at just $19 and you can CLICK HERE TO GET IT.

DOES YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER READ YOUR BLOG?

I challenged floralpreneurs to blog every week in November…HOW’D YOU DO?

I hope you’ll consider taking this challenge and show your blog some love with 4 fresh posts!

If this is the first time you’re hearing of the challenge, can you blog 4 times over the next 4 weeks, then?…

WHY DO YOU NEED TO BLOG?

Your website is where you really want to talk to your ideal customers.

Your website is the only thing you own.

JOIN ME LIVE ON FACEBOOK!

I’ve been livestreaming on Facebook.

Real Flower Business is the name of the group and it’s a great group of floral pros.

Join us in the group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RealFlowersBusiness

Thanks to everyone who’s already joined me!

As always…

Keep doing beautiful work.”

With love from me to you,

Alison

Find a list of my course offerings HERE.

P.S. If you’re a floral designer who’s digging my content and/or my courses, please share the real flower business love via e-mail, Facebook, Instagram, sky writing, what-have-you with a florist you know and love. (I truly appreciate your support in cultivating other floral pros.)

P.P.S. Are you still on the fence about Flower Math? Buy it today for 10% off HERE. (Get it before the end of the year and it’s a business expense for 2016.) Keep more of the money you’re already making in 2017!

December 7, 2016 — 7:53 pm

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Are you eager to book weddings? First, consider this….

In a seasonal business like weddings and events it can be a true test of confidence when one season comes to a close and you’re eager to book next year’s calendar.

This year I’m finding couples are booking much earlier for the upcoming wedding season and in fact, my calendar is nearly full. I may only take on 2 more weddings for next year. It’s nice when people plan ahead!

Whether your calendar is booking quickly or you don’t normally start booking until November or December, there’s an understandable eagerness to book ’em, and book ’em now!

BEFORE booking, it’s important that you’re on the same page with a potential customer…because this relationship has to endure several months of planning.

Doubt and uncertainty can lead to unnecessary hassles as a creative business owner and you don’t want to be in a position where you have to constantly reassure a client that you’re up for the job.

Don’t sign a contract with a customer you don’t trust, and don’t sign a contract with a customer who doesn’t trust you.


Click to watch: The Importance of Contracts in your Flower Business.

 

THE TAKEAWAY
Before signing a contract you must have a meeting of the minds.

It doesn’t matter if a client agrees to work with you if they question your every move.

You can’t invest too much time trying to convince people that you’re “worth it”.

The goal is to find clients who choose you for YOU.


If you need a proper contract for your clients, I share my weddings & events contract here in my course Contracts For Florists.

This downloadable pdf includes:

    • 14 Terms & Conditions of my contract,
    • 10 Additional clauses or phrases you may consider adding,
    • Things I will NOT agree to,
    • 1 parting thought, “Not everyone can be your customer!”,
    • Plus a Bonus E-mail Template: Can You Modify Your Contract?

A good contract should protect you/your business and define the working relationship with the client.

Always consult your attorney before implementing a legally binding contract or modifying your existing terms for a customer. (We’re florists, not lawyers.)


Thanks as always for reading and watching.

Keep
doing
beautiful
work.

With love from me to you,
Alison


Find a full list of my courses offerings EXCLUSIVELY for florists HERE.

real flower business, florist contract, contracts for florists

November 14, 2016 — 2:30 am

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Are You Giving Away Your Best Stuff?

If you’re a floral designer in the midst of your busy wedding season there’s a good chance that 3 things are true:

1. You’ve been creating a lot of beautiful work.

2. You’ve been sharing photos of your beautiful work on Instagram and Facebook.

3. Your own website and blog has been getting no love or attention.

Am I right? (of course I am.)


I will admit that after years and years of steady blogging and website TLC I let it slip.

I became a mom (so I became understandably busy!),

my calendar was booking consistently early (so I wasn’t as motivated to create new content!),

I had years and years worth of blog posts (I could just rest on my laurels!),

and now, between my 18th wedding season and my weekly updates for Floralpreneurs on my e-mail list (and now a Facebook group where thousands of florists from around the world can connect!), well, I have plenty of good reasons why blogging has not been at the top of my list…

 

BUT I truly had an ah-ha moment as I was writing my Wedding Workflow course, (which includes my 16 steps to client management), when I realized I WASN’T FOLLOWING THE FINAL STEP!

 

I was missing out on the follow-up conversation with my customers because I wasn’t diligent about blogging.


THE FIRST STEP WAS ADMITTING I HAD A PROBLEM.

The ah-ha moment was when I realized that I’ve been creating all this free content for Instagram (which is awesome and fun!), but I’m missing out on creating this current content for my own website!  What was I thinking? 

There’s an instant gratification factor that only Instagram can give a floral designer these days.

On the other hand we think: “No one reads my blog.”

That’s the #1 reason we become disenchanted with blogging and go for the quick fix of Instagram or Facebook….the “likes” can be seen, heard and felt ’round the world. It’s instantly gratifying to share.

BUT on my blog the comments are few and far between, so I don’t feel the love as readily.

On the surface the “likes” seem relevant, but in truth, what’s relevant is a good, strong brand with integrity…

and the only thing I “own” online is my website, which is where my blog lives, and I love my blog, and I love the SEO I’ve earned through all the hard work of writing and labeling my images.

So the only logical conclusion is that I have to get back to blogging and adding photos of my most recent work to my website.

Conclusion: If I don’t love my website, no one else will either.

 


If you’re ready to take your website even further, take the leap to try my Website Bootcamp!

realflowerbusiness.com Website Bootcamp

 

Warning: Deliberate learning and practice will be required to improve your website. You will be forced to allow yourself to possibly make a mistake or misstep. The sooner you can accept that “it” (your business, your decisions, your efforts) sometimes cannot be perfect, the sooner you can create the room to bloom and grow….because nothing’s ever perfect. Progress over perfection.

Start before you’re ready. And if you’re not sure if a course is right for you, drop me a line any time. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have before, during or after taking a course. You can contact me at floralartvt@gmail.com

As always…

Keep doing beautiful work. 

With love from me to you,

Alison


Still need a kick in the pants? Check out my video below: The Most important Thing You Can Do For Your Business Today!

Thanks so much for reading and watching!


  • You can check out a full list of my course offerings HERE!

November 7, 2016 — 2:46 am

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

FREE RESOURCES:

Free ebook: Everything I Wish I Knew Before Starting My Business

5 Actions To Take When Biz Is Uncertain

10 Things I Did To Grow My Biz

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