Real Flower Business

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By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Do You Need A Pricing Guide On Your Website?

realflowerbusiness.com, floralpreneur, courses for florists

As a consumer I can appreciate a good pricing guide.

When I see the “pricing tab” on someone’s website, it’s usually one of the first tabs I’ll click on…That said, there are 2 reasons I don’t provide a pricing guide on my website:

Reason #1:  I design custom work and part of doing custom design work means I provide custom quotes.

A pricing guide doesn’t fit my business model.

Each event has its own parameters and that’s how I determine what this job costs for this client on this date in this location. It’s not a one-size-fits-all pricing formula.

Reason #2:  I want to work with clients who are more focused on “what I deliver” and less focused on the “price of each piece”; providing a price list doesn’t jive with that goal either.

Referring clients to a price list, suggests that they should consider pricing out their own wedding before speaking to you.

The intention of listing your pricing is to be helpful and informative, but focusing on price can work against the best interest of your business.


One can easily argue the virtues of a pricing guide and its ability to “educate” before going down the road of an official consultation process, etc., but in my experience, a price list doesn’t really inform the client of what it costs to do custom work for their wedding.

If you put the focus on price before service, it may work to weed out certain clients, but it may also turn other perfectly excellent customers away…

 

A sample pricing guide often presents a range of prices, which is likely only minimally helpful.

For example:

If I tell you that bridal bouquets range from $175-375+, what does that really tell you about what your bouquet will cost?

If I tell you that centerpieces range from $75-250+, how does that inform you regarding your overall budget expectation?

(And yes, I have seen ranges this wide on centerpieces in online pricing guides…..because it really “depends” on what the client wants before you to accurately quote a price….and centerpieces are usually the bulk of the “average wedding order”, so you don’t want to underbid on half the job!)


Instead of a price list….

Instead of itemizing a price list for your website, create a thorough contact form to draw information out of potential clients so that you can prequalify and start to assess their needs and then, start a budget conversation based around the requirements of this particular client.

If you focus on service before price, clients start to experience what it’s like to work with you before focusing on “what it costs”. They can feel your value!

The goal is to work with ideal clients who recognize your value and choose you for you!….not just because you fit their budget.

Ideal clients feel your value so they choose you easily…

And they pay you what you’re worth!

Keep doing beautiful work!

With love from me to you,

Alison

P.S. Does your website make it easy for client to choose you? Want a few stellar hacks to help streamline your site and make it SUPER user-friendly?

Click here to learn more about my Website Bootcamp to improve your website in 3 days or less!


 


And…you’ll find a full list of course offerings HERE.

May 8, 2017 — 4:52 pm

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Should you quit in order to grow?

Hey Floralpreneur,

Are you a quitter? I am. 

As a small business owner it can be hard to quit things, including jobs that are dragging us down, but sometimes quitting or saying “NO” to work that’s no longer moving us forward is essential if we’re going to truly thrive and grow our business. 


Click to watch my video “Should You Quit In Order To Grow Your Business”.

I share how I finally became a quitter, and how I started my home-based floral design business over 15 years ago! 

Thanks for taking a few minutes to watch!


THE MORAL OF THE STORY…

We have to evaluate what’s working vs. what’s no longer working if we’re going to actually enjoy the work we’re doing every day.

Because, what’s the point of running your own business if it doesn’t bring you joy, profitability and pride? 

Taking pride in what we deliver is our responsibility to our clients, our employees and ourselves. Click To Tweet


We can’t let ourselves down because we got too busy saying Yes to EVERYTHING that we forget to say a big, fat, HECK YES to our own needs and wants and hopes and dreams.

Quitting or saying “No” to make room for something better (something that hasn’t actually materialized yet; something we’re hoping is out there, but we can’t really be sure) takes bravery;

it may get easier to do with time and confidence, but turning down a sale is not always easy for people who are in business to sell.

Think of it like this: Gardeners sometimes have to deadhead a few blooms for the sake of the overall health and prosperity of a plant.

If you want your business to grow, you must cultivate it, like a gardener.

If there’s something bogging you down that you know you need to stop, be brave. Quit.


Thanks again for being here. Let me know if you ever have any questions for me: info@floralartvt.com 

Keep doing beautiful work!

With love from me to you,

Alison

P.S. If you enjoy my free “stuff” you’ll find the biggest collection of my real flower business tips, trainings and pdfs inside The Vault for just $13. Click here to unlock The Vault today!


JOIN ME…

If you’d prefer to be a “joiner” Click HERE to join my Facebook group and connect with floral designers around the globe.


Find a full list of course offerings here.

April 23, 2017 — 8:39 pm

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

Sixth Anniversary with Flirty Fleurs

I try to keep track of landmark moments and anniversaries in my business, but I’ll admit a few business anniversaries have snuck up on me! I’ve officially been in business for 15 years now…my 16th season begins this month!

This “Sweet 16” feels like another landmark to me. I suppose each year in business is worth celebrating in its own way.

We have to make deliberate moves in our business, if we want to reach our landmark moments.

(For example: Will you leave your “real job” to do flowers full-time? Will you be able to set a minimum or say “no” to work that doesn’t meet your criterion? Will you blog? Will you get more training; hire a new accountant; get another designer; teach your staff more?)

I make moves in my business.

I made a move back in 2011 when I wrote my first guest blog post for Flirty Fleurs.

I had no idea if Alicia would be interested in what I had to say, but I LOVED her blog, and I felt like I had something to say, so I wrote up a post, held my breath and sent it.

I was thrilled that she not only posted my article, but she encouraged me to send her more.

I kept writing articles and made my first video in 2014.  I have about 50 posts published so far.

Last March was my 5th Anniversary as a guest blogger on flirtyfleurs.com.

I even have my own blog category, which was absolutely a landmark day for me. I’m not kidding, Alison Ellis Videos is a legit category!

coral peony, real flower business, Alison EllisI’m also a proud contributor to the first 3 issues of the Flirty Fleurs print magazines. If you haven’t seen them, check them out.

The print magazines are absolutely beautiful!

They really are designed especially with floral designers in mind.

One of my favorite things about the magazines is that every single flower photo includes top billing to the floral designer! It’s truly a florist’s dream come true; designer credit right on the photo!

Check out the 3rd edition of Flirty Fleurs magazine HERE and treat yourself to all 3 magazines to enjoy all the incredible images!

Happy 6 year Anniversary, Alicia! Thanks for always giving me a place to “share my stuff” with your readers and fans!

xo. -A

 

April 12, 2017 — 4:01 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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