How Will Coronavirus Impact Your Wedding Business?

How will Coronavirus impact your small business?

It’s impossible to say for sure, but one thing’s for certain: your business will be affected.

The truth is that everyone and every business will feel the economic and social impacts of this pandemic so the question you may have at this point is: how much will it actually hurt your business?

Instead of panic or worry, focus on how you can pivot.

I won’t pretend to have all the answers, but I want to encourage you to consider how you can react with compassion in a time of uncertainty.

Watch my quick IGTV chat below for some thoughts on how we should proceed!

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I hopped up from my yoga mat this afternoon to share some brief thoughts on how we proceed in our businesses as we face cancellations and uncertainty. (You’ll hear my kiddo scream in the middle of my chat; notice how I do not flinch. ? And good news they were screams of delight.) ❤️ #wereinthistogether

A post shared by Alison Ellis (@realflowerbusiness) on Mar 13, 2020 at 2:33pm PDT

The bottom line: This is not just about your bottom line.

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The Worst Business Advice I Ever Took

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.

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10 Things I Did To Grow My Floral Business

flower business, learn to be a florist, floral design, florist education, flower school

It feels amazing to reach a milestone where I’ve been running my floral design business for over 20 years! I’ve worked really hard over the years to build up my business and I can tell you that it’s all been completely worth it. I still love my job and my customers after all these years.

Part of why my hard work has paid off is due to the fact that I’ve been really focused on intentional planning in business so that I can create my business to fit into my life. (Having a successful business isn’t just about making money or “being busy”; it’s about creating happiness and fulfillment, too.)

I’ve done a lot of things to grow my business, and I thought it would be helpful to narrow down the top 10 things that had the biggest impact on my business success and my overall happiness factor, too.

Here are the top 10 things I’ve done to grow my home-studio floral design business the most: [Read more…]

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Why you don’t want to book every customer

When you’re running a business, you don’t want to book every customer! You want to book the right customers.

When I first started out in my business, I thought the goal was to book every client–no matter what!

Lower the price on a few things to meet the budget? Sure.
Meet at a super inconvenient time for me? You bet!
Schedule a second call to go over “all the things” before you decide to work with me? Um, OK!

Whatever reassurance a customer needed to be persuaded that I was the right florist for the job, that’s what I’d do!

But over time, with experience and concerted efforts to understand who my ideal customers actually are, I’ve come to realize that I don’t want to book every customer! Not by a long shot.

Who’s “the right customer”?

Well, it’s someone who doesn’t need to be convinced that I’m the right choice because they can already feel that I’m the best choice from the preliminary experience with my company and my brand (via my website, consultation and e-mail communication).

By tapping into who my clients really are and what they really care about, I’m able to reach them on a deeper level and develop a level of trust before we even speak and that means that “the right clients” get to “yes” more easily.

I’ve learned to let go of the clients who aren’t an easy fit. I only want to book the right customers for me.

I share exactly how I’ve perfected this process over the past 20 years in my templates for florists!

“Alison’s email templates are an absolute life saver!

The email templates have taken off so much stress…just copy + paste, tweak a bit to customize with your own personality, and hit send. Client responses to the email templates I’ve used have been positive…the message is clear, and the tone is professional + kind. Absolutely worth the price in time saved!!” -Bethany

My downloadable pdfs, How To Write Proposals That Sell and Wedding Workflow show you how to spend less time before booking a client and how to lay out the steps for clients from the initial inquiry to post-wedding day follow-up! Combine them with my E-Mail Templates and Wedding Contract, you’ll have my entire communication package, plus you’ll save $30 off when you buy all 5 templates here.

It takes practice to learn how to speak directly to the heart of your ideal clients.

I’ve streamlined my proposal process so that I’m not “giving away too many details”, yet I still provide enough detail that a client can trust that we’re on the same page.

And I clearly communicate the steps in our booking process, so neither one of us invests too much time before we’ve decided we’re a good match.

It may not happen over night, but with time and practice, the booking process starts to take shape and you’ll be able to prequalify clients before investing too much time.

You can take a shortcut with all my downloadable pdfs here!

Keep doing beautiful work!

With love from me to you,

Alison

P.S. If you have questions for me, don’t hesitate to drop me a line right here: floralartvt@gmail.com

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Reaching Your Potential As A Florist

Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?

-Danielle LaPorte (from The Fire Starter Sessions)

In The Fire Starter Sessions, Danielle LaPorte writes, “Invest in your second nature.” She goes on to talk about “the acorn theory”; the idea that we’re all “born with a soul that shapes our destiny–that our full potential already lives within us.”

The theory was first published by James Hillman. He explains it like this:

The acorn theory expresses that unique something that we carry into the world, that is particular to us, which is connected to our “daimon”.

(The Greek word, daimon, can be considered your “inner voice”. The Roman word was genius, and the Christian word is guardian angel.)

To quote Hillman, “They are all a little bit different, yet each expresses something that you are, that you have, that is not the same as the personality you think you are.”

In other words, we must make our way through the layers of soil and compost and debris until the conditions are right and we’re ready to grow to our true potential.

Because you were born an acorn…with everything it takes to become a huge oak right inside you. And it’s been there all along.

It does take time to perfect your processes and meet (or exceed) your goals and make enough money to quit your “other job“….and the time it takes to streamline or perfect…and practice can feel pretty dark some days.

We’re going to spend some time in the dark before we can burst into the light!

So…are you reaching your full potential or are you ready for a break through?

Pro Tip: If you want to break through, you have to make sure that your brand is seen in it’s best light from the first point of contact!

And there’s a good chance that you rely on your website to make your brand’s first impression!

It’s easy to fall into a trap of thinking, “I have a website. I mean, it exists!…I updated it a year or two ago…so I’m good, right?…”

But just like anyone striving to reach their potential, your website has to break through many layers to grow from an acorn to an oak. (It’s a process!)

If you’re ready to make a stronger first impression and represent your brand in its best light, I can help you do that work in my Website Bootcamp! I share easy and effective shortcuts to help you increase engagement and attract awesome clients so that you can keep striving to reach your potential year after year!

Every year is a good year to learn and grow (and improve your website).

CLICK HERE to learn more about how you can create your own website break through in 3 days or less!

BOOTCAMP SIGN UP!

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog today.

Keep doing beautiful work!

With love from me to you,

Alison

P.S. This post is for the late bloomers–the floralpreneurs who’ve lived a first life before pursuing a floral dream or falling into flowers as a side-hustle…

And it’s for the determined–the florists who try and try and then, try again, because there are always more layers to break through in this work to get to the light….

The florists who’ve worked slinging stems in someone else’s flower shop for a decade or two, and are finally branching out on their own….

The newly retired, newly single, new moms, new grandmas, new floristry students, basement Betty’s….

This one is for you….wherever you are on your floral journey….

I’m honored to be on this journey with you.

Whether you’re a newly aspiring floral designer or a seasoned pro, I hope you’ll take advantage of some of my free resources, as well as my pdfs and online courses for florists.