Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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5 Easy Tips to Improve Your Website

If you’re a floral designer, you already know that running a successful business means you need to understand a lot more than flower care and design principles.

Marketing and branding are important pieces of longterm success. Most of the florists I work with have a website that “looks pretty good”, but they’re missing some important elements (and updates!).

That’s why I sat down with Emily and Mary-Catherine at Koehler & Dramm last week to talk about 5 Easy Tips to Improve Your Website!

You can take these 5 Website and Branding Tips and put them to work in your business today! Click to watch!

Do you want more brand recognition and inquiries from clients who are eager to book?

I create website tools and shortcuts for florists to help you create a site that doesn’t just look good, but actually attracts great clients and helps you weed out customers who aren’t a good fit.

I can help you take your website and your branding further with 2 courses made especially for florists:

The Art of Good Business is a comprehensive course that takes you through the steps I follow in my own business to get in touch with my ideal clients, improve my website messaging and hold myself accountable for impeccable customer service! (This is one of my signature courses and it includes a private Facebook group and support from me!) Click for info here.

Website Bootcamp is a shortcut to help you improve your website in 3 days or less! This is a quick, affordable course that walks you through the most important tips to improve your About page, help you get more “clicks” from interested clients, and improve SEO. Learn more and start today!

Taylor enrolled in Website Bootcamp and said:

“Love this course so much! Also the blog challenge is very inspiring! I’ve got 40 draft ideas already and 4 blogs written and scheduled!!!”

Successful Bootcamp Students Say…

Samantha said:

“So grateful for this bootcamp! The inquiry form is saving me from a long phone call to find a budget that is just not realistic.”

Another Bootcamper said:

“I can do this at my own pace and revisit the info as needed. I like that it was presented in a way that was not overwhelming in regards to doing the homework….
I ended up redoing my entire website…I think my website is much better than before with a lot more content (doesn’t look like a 3rd grader made it haha) Thanks Alison!!!!”

Tascha wrote after updating her site on Day 1 to say:

“I don’t know if this is a coincidence but…has anyone else gotten an influx of inquiries this afternoon/evening? No joke, I got FOUR! 2 within the past half hour.”

Art of Good Business Students Say…

Rebecca Raymond:

“…four weeks into the class the inquiries started coming, I booked three clients and have two new prospects!…

I’ve learned about myself, my belief system, my ideal client, my accountability, and my personal wisdom (yes! I have some!) I’ve been given a roadmap for business success that will be a baseline for my future growth…”

Jessica Ormond:

“I just booked my biggest gig yet, by $3k…

I just have to say this course, Alison’s content works!…my ideal client is more clearly defined, I’ve mostly reworked my web copy, have been better about blogging, and more intentional about how I talk to my followers on social media posts.”

Learn more HERE!

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How Do Ideal Customers Find You?

Do you know what your ideal customers are looking for?

I shared this video yesterday about tuning into who your ideal customers are and what you deliver to them.

Today, I want to talk about the next step: getting found by your ideal customers.

Once you’ve identified the “who you serve” and “what they care about”, your next big feat is attracting customers to your website with sales copy that speaks to their hearts.

Click to watch a short video: How Do Ideal Customers Find You?

As I mention in the video, in Week 2 of The Art of Good Business I walk florists through 12 Tips to Build a Better Website so that you “get more clicks” and continue to attract great clients year after year. Learn more about this fun, easy to implement group coaching program HERE.

I’ll show you how to leave a trail of breadcrumbs so customers get to the right places…

show them around…

and create a branding strategy that increases client engagement!

In The Art of Good Business, you’ll learn how to easily organize your website so customers go where you want them to go!

The work we do together in this course is the compass I follow that helps me set the foundation of what I say “yes” and “no” to in my business.

Now’s the time to check your own compass and make sure your foundation is strong as you embark on a new year in your business.

I do this work every year and I am happy to do it with you in The Art of Good Business (click here to join me!).

xo. -Alison

P.S. Not sure if The Art of Good Business is right for you? Click here to hop on a call with me!

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How do you handle cancellations?

should you cancel your 2021 wedding or event

Will weddings and events happen in 2021?

That’s the question that a lot of vendors and couples are starting to ask as new mandates are announced in many states—including my home state of Vermont.

I’m starting to see scenarios repeated in my Facebook group regarding how to handle the new cancelation or postponement requests. This is a really important question for everyone to answer because we are ALL going to get these requests. They are coming soon.

I am in this with you–I know how it feels to anticipate what lies ahead for us in the wedding industry.

One florist wrote:

[Read more…]

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Introducing My New Book on How To Become a Wedding Florist!

A big announcement for the floral world….

I am SO excited to share my new book, Falling Into Flowers, A Step-by-step Guide to Today’s Modern Wedding Business, is available NOW!

You can click to order a signed copy directly from the author (that’s me!) HERE!

This 80-page book covers the essential “must knows” for running a profitable wedding design business of any size—from basic tools and knowledge to presenting proposals and booking clients, to pricing for profit, to production and design schedules, Falling Into Flowers, features beautiful typography, stunning photography featuring my design work, and a step-by-step guide to today’s modern wedding business.

I want to offer up a big huge thanks to those who’ve already purchased the book! Your support has been phenomenally reassuring and humbling!

Floralpreneurs have been so kind and supportive in my first 2 weeks of this book launch that I sold out of my first shipment!

I’ll be filling orders just as quickly as I can….or you can order direct from the publisher for faster delivery!

Click To Order!

As seen in Florists’ Review magazine!…

how to become a wedding florist

Here’s what Florists’ Review says about the book…

If you have the desire to perfect your wedding floral sales and business and customer-service skills, and to become more professional and profitable in this segment of the industry, Falling into Flowers is the book for you!
Written in an enchanting, friendly and easy-to-comprehend manner by Alison Ellis, a practicing wedding florist for nearly two decades and owner of Floral Artistry in Jericho, Vt.; creator of Flower Math; and founder of RealFlowerBusiness.com, this book covers it all. Included are sound advice and proven tips for:

• becoming a wedding florist
• finding and creating a niche for your business
• selling weddings (including consultation tips)
• pricing your wedding work profitably
• planning and executing weddings
• managing communications with clients—and much, much more.

Ellis assures that it is possible to make money on weddings, from either a studio or a retail flower shop—even if you believe weddings are too much work and not profitable. By following the steps outlined in this consummate wedding business guidebook, readers will gain the confidence, clarity and professional strategies to become successful and profitable beyond their imaginations. And don’t hesitate to order this must-have business manual for your floral library: Once you start reading it, you’ll have a hard time putting it down! It’s that engaging! Click to order your copy today!

Get It Here

 

From Alison…

I created this book as a step-by-step guide for wedding and event florists who started their business because of their passion for flowers, but need to improve their skills beyond floral design in order to book clients, turn a profit, and feel proud of the business they run.

I hope readers will walk away with confidence in their ability to book clients who value their work and run a profitable business that brings them joy.

You can turn a profit AND create beautiful designs your customers will love!

Falling into Flowers book for wedding florists

I want to especially thank the folks who contributed to the creation of this book:

Robin Avni, my wonderful and thoughtful editor who kept my voice, but made it even better!

Andrea Leksen, my uber talented designer who brought the book to life with her typography and image selection.

Magnolia Photographie, for the fantastic cover image.

Four of my favorite female photographers in the Green Mountain State whose work is included throughout these pages:

Barrie Fisher Photo

Birke Photography

Daria Bishop Photography

Orchard Cove Photography

And, of course, my publisher, Travis Rigby, of Florists’ Review and Wildflower.Media—thank you for asking me to write this book!

It’s truly a dream come true (or perhaps, better stated, it’s a “goal come true”) to have a published book to share with florists around the world. I cannot wait for you to see it and I look forward to hearing what you do with your business once you read it!

Click To Order!

With so much love, appreciation, respect, excitement and straight-up-joy from me to you,

Alison

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Tips for Florists on Blogging, Ghosting, and Attracting Higher Budgets

For the last few weeks I’ve been broadcasting my Tuesday Q&As over on Instagram (instead of in my private Facebook group) and it’s been fun to connect with floral folks on the gram! Click below to watch a replay of today’s live chat and make sure to follow me on IG here: @realflowerbusiness!

Questions I received this week include:
  • Why should I blog? I know it’s important for SEO, but why?
  • How do I avoid getting ghosted?
  • What’s your advice for attracting clients with higher budgets? My typical weddings are $2,000-2,500, but would love to see $3-4k inquiries more often.

I also touched on how I’m handling COVID cancellations moving forward and addressed a question on customers who ask for discounted pricing during the pandemic!

Questions for a future livestream? Just get in touch: floralartvt@gmail.com

FYI I’ll be diving into MORE pricing questions later this month in an invitation only chat on Zoom!

Flower Math Sale Waitlist

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