Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Do Florists Have To Go To Floristry School?

If you want to be a florist, do you have to go to Floristry School? It’s a question I see a lot and I know there can be some strong opinions on the subject. Click to see my answer to the question and let me know what you think!

The truth is, there isn’t just 1 right way to become a florist!

There are so many things to learn that you can’t learn “everything you need to know in just one place”. Whether you go to floristry school, or take an accredited floral design certification program, or you teach yourself through trial and error, there will always be something more for you to learn.

For example, I’ve heard from floristry students in Australia and England who enrolled in my Flower Math course and say that they got a much more thorough and clear explanation from my online course than they did in school! Even longtime florists have told me that they understand the design aspect of their work, but they’ve been kept mostly in the dark on the business-stuff.

And still, some floral designers manage to build a “busy” floral design business, but they struggle with attracting higher paying clients or creating systems to close sales (without a dozen meetings that drain their time and energy).

Let’s face it, there’s so much more to know as a florist than “just flowers”!

The secret to success in the floral industry is to keep learning and growing. Just going to floristry school isn’t enough.

And just learning from YouTube videos isn’t enough.

And letting 20 years pass between your last in-person learning experience isn’t enough either.

Never stop learning in your business and your life–and keep doing beautiful work!

With love from me to you,

Alison


Ready to learn proven strategies to streamline your workflow and create more freedom in your floral business?

See  A Full Course List

*Get my FREE eBook*

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April 8, 2022 — 8:38 pm

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Spring Pricing Chat for Florists

Spring is approaching–even here in Vermont where it’s still cold and snowy, I can see and hear the signs of spring–and for the 3rd spring in a row I’m inviting florists to join me for a free Pricing & Profitability Chat for Florists on Monday, March 21st, 2022 at 12pm EDT/9am PDT.

Click Here to Join The Pricing Chat


In this free live chat I’ll share:

  • 3 Numbers Florists Need To Know
  • 3 Easy Steps to calculate your profit margin
  • Why tracking your profit margins are SO important
  • The importance of setting a profit goal, NOT a spending goal
  • AND I’ll address your questions LIVE!

Think of it as a quick 1-hour spring business check-in. I’ll even have a special offer for those who attend live!

I’ll also be kicking off my Spring Flower Math Sale on March 21-23rd and I’ll have all the details for you on that soon! (Sign up for the pricing chat to be the first to know when the sale is live.)

In the meantime, I’m talking “all things pricing” over in my Instagram highlights HERE and you can watch a few short pricing tips below!

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Alison Ellis (@realflowerbusiness)

Sign Up For The Pricing Chat


View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Alison Ellis (@realflowerbusiness)


 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Alison Ellis (@realflowerbusiness)

Sign Up For The Pricing Chat

March 10, 2022 — 10:29 pm

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

How Do You Set Boundaries In Your Business?

I spent the last 4 Tuesdays teaching my live group coaching program, The Art of Good Business–as I do every January–and of ALL the tips and strategies I’ve shared this month, the most important action my students can take is to set healthy boundaries. This is such an important part of running your business that I decided to add an extra Bonus Session on Setting Boundaries that Actually Work for Your Life & Business, and I’m inviting ALL of my Patreon Members to join us on Tuesday, February 1st, for this live bonus Zoom.

Click Here to become a Patreon Member for just $3 to get an invitation to the 1-hour session.

If you need to get better at saying “no”, or you’re so busy that you need to raise your prices, or your clients’ expectations are depleting your energy–not filling your creative bucket–then this session is designed for you!

We’re going to spend 1 hour mapping out a plan to help you create boundaries that actually work for your life and your business–and you’ll walk away with a strategy to hold yourself accountable as well.

Grab a pen, a notebook, your favorite beverage, and block out 1 hour to tune in for this session. You’ll be glad you did.

FYI: This is not a “set bigger goals” kinda pep talk. This will be fun, easy, actionable and I hope you’ll feel stronger and more focused at the end of our hour together. A replay will be available on Patreon after the live session.

Note: As soon as you become a Patron, you’ll get instant access to all the existing lessons in the Patreon Vault–and new lessons are posted every month. As a Patron, you can ask me anything! I’ll answer your question in a lesson and you can message me privately if you’d like. (You also get invited to bonus sessions like this one!) Members in the Marketing Maven Tier get 5 Social Media Prompts on the first Monday of every month.

 

Not sure what Patreon is?

It’s an easy to use app that allows teachers and creatives to share original content with their Patrons. This is exclusive content that you cannot get anywhere else–and I add new updates monthly so there’s always something new. There’s no commitment–you can cancel anytime. Florists have been supporting my Patreon Creator Page since 2019.

As a supporter, when Real Flower Business shares a new post on Patreon, you’ll get an email letting you know there’s a new lesson on Patreon. You can click the link right from your email to access that specific post/lesson. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Click Here to become a Patreon Member for as little as $3.

 


Learn more about Alison Here

 

January 28, 2022 — 10:16 pm

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Top 10 Florist Tips of 2021

As a general rule I find it’s best to look forward in my business, however, as 2021 comes to a close there’s a lot of hubbub about “top moments” and “best of” lists so it seems only fitting to reflect on some of the conversations and topics from the Real Flower Business community:

  • I started off last January with a question: Who Is Your Ideal Client (this was in preparation for my yearly program, The Art of Good Business)

 

  • Ben Cross at Crosslands Flower Nursery in the UK shared his family’s sustainable alstroemeria production with us and his #BritishFlowersRock campaign

 

  • April was dedicated to Newbie Tips on Instagram including: How Long Do Flowers Last?, a quick tutorial on How I Clean Stock and a behind-the-scenes look at How I Prep for A Wedding In My Small Home Studio

 

  • I shared time saving strategies for florists with 3 Tips on Writing Proposals Quickly

 

  • Ad we celebrated 5 Years in Community over in my free Facebook Group in July

 

  • I also broke down Tips for Running A Successful Floral Business (and what it means to define your OWN version of success)

 

  • Answered the question: How do florists actually “do a wedding” with Day-Of Wedding Prep Tips and a look at What I Bring To Every Wedding

 

  • In October, I got the opportunity to sit down with Michelle Lane of Something’s Blooming, to talk about How The Wedding Industry Can Be More LGBTQ+ Inclusive

 

  • In November, I hosted a Vision & Goal Setting Session and taught 3 days of live trainings to students inside my Marketing Minicourse (all replays are available now inside the course)

 

  • And it was so much fun to talk marketing with floral designers and flower farmers that I hosted a 3 day free Branding & Marketing Training for Florists in December, in preparation for enrollment in, The Art of Good Business, my online course and group coaching program, which begins January 4th, 2022!

While everyone is recapping the year, I just want to remind you of 1 thing:

Nothing’s ending–

it’s not over,

you didn’t miss it,

it’s OK if it isn’t “that special”,

all your efforts are part of what you’re building towards

and the “end of a year”, doesn’t mean anything is actually over…

 

Keep moving forward in your business.

I’m honored to be on your floral business journey with you.

Keep doing beautiful work and I’ll see you in the new year with MORE tips and trainings to help you move your business ahead.

With love from me to you,

Alison Ellis

(click here to learn more about Alison)

December 26, 2021 — 9:32 pm

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Wedding Day Prep

What do florists do on the morning-of a wedding?

A florist asked me recently, “How do you actually do a wedding?” She knows how to price it. She knows how to book it. But how do you actually “do the wedding”?

After 19 years of designing weddings in my home-studio, I shared my Morning-of Wedding Prep with my Patreon membership* and you can see a small sample of how I get started below.

*Patreon members can ask me anything and get access to a ton of tips and training videos to help you book clients consistently, build a solid brand and create high quality work year after year. Membership starts at just $3, but you can unlock more “stuff” with each membership tier.

Click to watch this short 2 minute clip:


In the full video on Patreon you’ll see:

  • How I tie and box bouquets
  • How I present bouquets to clients
  • How I pack centerpieces for delivery
  • How I prep a #foamfree arbor
  • Pictures of my work and the full ceremony set-up

Now, I know that no one wants another “membership”, but if you want to book clients with more ease and ask me anything about how I run my business and execute events, Patreon is the perfect place for you! (click here to join me!) There’s no commitment and you can cancel anytime.

What else would you like to know more about?

Ask me and I’ll turn it into a video lesson you can access any time as a Patreon supporter.

Thanks for making time to watch today’s clip of my wedding day prep.

Keep doing beautiful work!

xo. -Alison

July 30, 2021 — 12:51 pm

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Welcome, floralpreneur®.  I’m Alison Ellis, creator of Flower Math, and founder of RealFlowerBusiness.com. My online business courses, group training and private coaching is created to help floral designers increase profits, book better gigs, type fewer emails & build awesome websites.  Learn More →

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