Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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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

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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

 

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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:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • 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)

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What Is Sales Copy?

If you’re like me, you fell in love with floral design and decided to turn your passion for flowers into a small business. And if you’re also like me, you didn’t know much about how to market your flower business so you can book clients consistently and stand out against your competition.

I can tell you after 20 years of running my small business, the most effective way to book the best clients year after year is to follow an intentional marketing and branding strategy that speaks to the hearts of your ideal customers so that they KNOW you’re the best choice for them!

97% of the Florists I Surveyed Said They Do NOT Have A Marketing Plan…

I’ve spent the last 12 years learning how to get as good at branding my business as I am at floral design. In fact, I just taught 3 days of marketing and branding strategies to the students in my Marketing Minicourse and it was so much fun that I decided I’m going to do it again in December, but these sessions are free! Click here to join me in the free training!

A florist asked: What is sales copy? Just in case you want to know the answer, too, you can click below for a quick video I shared over on Instagram.

Click Here to Join the free training

Without a doubt, learning how to attract the best customers to your business is one of the most important (and challenging) skills for any business owner to master, however, if you’re working without an intentional marketing strategy, you may find yourself “posting on social media often”, but without any idea of what you actually need to say to attract the best clients!

Instead of throwing out random content, it’s time to add intention to your marketing efforts so that you actually get the results you want–great clients, increased sales, consistent bookings, more joy and freedom in your work.

Whether you decide to join me in the free training or you choose to “go it alone” from here, the most important step is to add intention to your marketing plan so you can book great clients more consistently and create your own version of success. 

I hope you’ll finish the year strong so you can have a great start to 2022!

xo. -Alison

P.S. This 3-Day Training won’t be like some of the free webinars you may have attended where it’s 90% sales pitch and tiny bits of info scatter here and there. We are going to do some work–in fact, I’m making a workbook to go along with it to help keep you moving forward. And if at the end of the training, you want to work further with me, there’ll be an opportunity to do that, too.

Every January I teach a group of highly motivated floralpreneurs how to build their own premium brand in my group coaching program, The Art of Good Business. Enrollment is officially opening Dec. 13-16th and I’ll have more details to share in the upcoming weeks if you’re interested.

 

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What Do Florists Bring To a Wedding?

How do florists set up a wedding?

When I was first starting my home-studio floral business almost 20 years ago, I often felt like I was pulling a rabbit out of my hat on the day-of a wedding. I was passionate about weddings and flowers and running my own business, but I was still “new enough” that I was making a lot of it up as I went along. Sometimes, I didn’t know if I’d even finish setting up on time. Luckily I always did, but the pressure is real when you’re a wedding pro because there are no do-overs (and we are expected to make magic)!

As I gained experience, I developed systems to streamline my wedding-day set-up, as well as my entire week-of-the-wedding prep, and I know that whether you’ve been a wedding florist for 1 year or 20 years, you’re always learning something new! For example, over the last several years I’ve been working to cut out floral foam in my weddings and that’s changed my day-of and week-of prep!

FYI I’ll be sharing my recent #foamfree wedding mechanics and week-of tips inside my Patreon Creator Page this month. Patreon members get access to my best tips for booking weddings and you can ask me anything so if you have questions, I’ll answer them here! I’ll be taking members inside my week-of prep for an $11,000 wedding including the foam free mechanics I used (and then reused the next weekend, too!). Click here to access my Patreon page!

Today, I want to share this behind-the-scenes look at my “bag of tricks” so you can see what I bring with me to every wedding day set-up. It’s so important to have the right tools for the job–click to see what’s in my bag!

Remember: I’m continuing to answer the question: “how do you actually do a wedding” for the florists on my Patreon Creator Page, and you’re invited to join me there! Access starts at just $3 and you’ll unlock a ton of tips and lessons on how to book better clients, build a strong brand, and design beautiful weddings! Click to join me.

Patreon is a place where artists and teachers create content for their Patrons. There is no obligation–you can cancel your subscription any time. Hop in to grab the tips you need, hop out any time.

Do you have questions for me? I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. You can learn more about me here.

xo. -Alison

Additional Resources for Florists:

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