Growing Your Business

Are you growing or maintaining your business?

To kick off the new year, I was live on YouTube to share some thoughts on growing your business and maintaining what you’ve built! You can watch it now!

This is the first topic for the year because not every year is a growing year in your business and it’s important to have a plan on what to do when growth isn’t the goal so you can maintain what you’ve built.

If you need some help reigniting your brand this month, I’m teaching every Tuesday in January, starting Jan. 7th, when you join me inside The Art of Good Business, 4-week training. (You can find details here & enroll today!)

Learn More & Enroll Here!

And if you’re already enrolled in The Art of Good Business, I can’t wait to get started next week!

Welcome to a new year, floralpreneur®. Keep doing beautiful work!

xo. -Alison Ellis

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CEO Mindset In Your Business

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By Alison Ellis

CEO Mindset In Your Floral Business

How important is it to have a CEO mindset in your floral business?

Today, I have a few tips on how getting into a CEO mindset will help you to EASE into the new year–without adding anything to your to-do list!

Because when you run a business and you do “all the things”, it can be hard to zoom out to see the big picture and set next-level goals.

It takes intentional strategy and practice to get yourself into a CEO mindset that can chart your course and steer the ship (instead of just rowing the boat)!

Whether you work alone (like me!) or you lead a team, the most important thing is that you know where you want to go and what you need to let go of! Take a few moments to watch.

Things to consider now…

Do you work ON your business as much as you work IN your business?

Are your customer service systems seamless and effective?

Is your brand mission and message clear?

What are you paying attention to?

Are you spending your time wisely?

What is your next best step to get closer to your own unique goals?

How are you investing in your future growth?…

If you know it’s time to enter your CEO era, consider joining me in January for my 4-Week Training with Live Support, The Art of Good Business!

Learn More & Enroll Here!

And if you missed the Marketing Workshop for Florists, you can catch the limited time replay for just $37!

Get The Replay Now!

I’m rooting for you and your business as you move through this season and into the next! If I can be of any help to you in reaching your goals, please get in touch!

You can also find a full list of courses for florists HERE!

Keep doing beautiful work!

xo. -Alison Ellis

By Alison Ellis

Engagement Season Tips for Florists

Do you want to book some more events for 2025? Well, are you ready for engagement season?

Today, I have 3 Tips To Help You Prepare for Engagement Season–or whatever season your business may be entering–so that you can attract more of the right customers to your business! Click to watch now:

Join the Marketing Workshop!

A Few Notes To Recap

#1. Keep your ideal customers in mind–always!

Identify who you seek to serve so you can focus on what they want to hear from you!

That means, if your ideal customer really loves flowers and tends to have a reasonable budget, you don’t have to create content about how hard you work behind the scenes to clean wax out of votive candles or scrub buckets on a Monday morning.

Because your ideal customer would rather see the beautiful work you created this week and hear a little bit about why you love the look of the design!

#2. Revisit your existing marketing efforts.

What are you actually doing right now to attract the best customers to your business?
Are you putting all of your eggs in the social media algorithm basket?
What does your website express when I land on your homepage?
Are you speaking to the hearts of your ideal clients?
Where else can you reach them?

#3. Add more intention to your marketing strategy!

Level-up your marketing and branding strategy with a more magnetic message to attract the best clients!

Your “brand” is what your customers experience. So it’s more than just an image you project–it’s what people say about your company when you’re not in the room.

A better marketing strategy gives you leverage. In short, it makes it easier to book clients and gain trust if your brand credibility is already established in their minds.

After 22 years in business, I think it’s a wise practice to revisit your marketing and branding efforts on a regular bases (at least once per year!). That’s why I’m hosting my upcoming Marketing Workshop on December 3, 4 & 5th! You can learn about that and sign up here if you want to join me! I’d be honored to have you join me.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

xo. -Alison Ellis

By Alison Ellis

Simple Social Media Tips for Florists

How can you be more consistent with blogging and social media so that you attract the best customers, but also follow a strategy that’s practical and simple?

I got this question from a member of my Patreon Community the other day, which was actually more like 8 or 9 questions, so I answered them live so I could really dig into details and answer in depth!

If you have questions after you watch, let me know!

Click to watch now:

In this livestream I answered questions on:

Content ideas for blogging and social media
Discipline ideas
Goals of how often to post
How do you measure its success
Post structure
How do I keep it simple
How do I post our values, beliefs and key brand points

If you need some help crafting your brand message and sharing your voice, you can get access to Monthly Blog & Social Media Prompts by becoming a Marketing Maven inside my Patreon Community here: www.patreon.com/realflowerbusiness

I know that as a business owner, it can be challenging to be consistent and authentic because there’s often a bit of a trade off between consistent and authentic.

Wash, rinse, repeat = consistent

But it often takes a little bit of contemplation to find what you have to share with the world that’s actually authentic!

I hope the tips I shared today will inspire you to simplify your social media strategy and share your voice with more intention.

And if you’d like to check out this month’s Social Media Prompts on Patreon, I’d be honored to have you join me there!

xo. -Alison

By Alison Ellis

Work-Life Balance In Business

A florist asked about a healthy work-life balance in my Facebook group the other day and frankly, it’s nearly impossible to achieve a balance because there’s an ebb and flow to everything–and rarely do business pressures and demands of personal life come in equal measure.

Some days are heavily focused on family, while other days are work days. Some days I’m a better designer than I am at dinner preparation and some days all the laundry is clean, but my studio is a royal mess!

This doesn’t mean I’m falling short–it means I’m human. And lucky for me, I’m not aiming for perfection.

Designing is my favorite thing about being a florist, but it’s a small part of all the work I really do. That’s pretty obvious to you if you’re a floral designer, too! (You know exactly what I mean.)

For example, I did a beautiful wedding earlier this month, which I LOVED, but the rest of the time I’ve mostly been doing things I don’t want to do. Now, I’m not saying that to complain! I’m just being truthful. And that can definitely contribute to a work-life balance that feels less than balanced!

Yet one of my strongest skills as a small business owner for 22 years is my ability to get through all that stuff I don’t love so that I CAN do the thing I really love!

(But trust me, it’s taken a lot of practice.)

And as I focus more on “being human” vs. the title of “business owner”, I notice that in the times when I’m feeling like my BEST self are when I’m not in a constant self-judging cycle and I’m not spending (wasting) as much time on social media.

If you’re interested in reducing the amount of time you’re spending on social media too, I want to make sure you know that every month I send 5 social media prompts to the members of my Patreon Community in the Marketing Mavens Tier. The intention is to save florists time and help you create posts that represent your brand instead of just posting because you “have to”. (These prompts land in your inbox on the first Monday of each month when you’re a subscriber!)

Whether you’re currently feeling balanced or not, I hope you have a wonderful week ahead and I hope you’ll make the most of it!

Keep doing beautiful work!

Very best,

Alison Ellis