Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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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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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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6 Week Coaching For Florists

How can I take my floral business to the next level?

Floralpreneur® Fastrack is a 6-week private coaching course with Alison Ellis designed to help you maximize your branding potential and reach the best clients.

It’s not enough to be a talented floral designer, you have to know how to attract clients, close the sale and turn a profit to truly succeed in business!

I’ve been asked for private coaching packages this year and while the word “package” never felt quite right, I developed a custom coaching course for a few floral designers recently that I’m certain can help you in your floral business, too….so now I’m rolling out this unique opportunity to work 1:1 with me for up to 2 designers per month.

There has arguably never been a better time to buckle down and get to work on your branding and marketing, but you can get there a lot faster with my Floralpreneur® Fastrack Program! (Fill out the Inquiry Form below!)

While it can be tempting to keep doing the same thing you’ve been doing, here are some actions I suggest you take if you want to take your business to the next level:

  • Create a more compelling story for your About page.
  • Streamline your contact form and intake process to help lead clients to “yes”.
  • Get A Social Media Strategy! Blogging, pinning and sharing to IG so you’re posting on all the platforms where your clients are looking for you.
  • Update your website so it reflects your brand’s story and unique awesomeness.
  • Add more of your own voice to your sales copy.

This may sound like a lot of work, but together, we can make it a lot easier! I can help you with all of the above!

Scroll through this survey below to get in touch and find out if this program is a good fit for you and your business! It’ll just take a moment!

 

Create your own user feedback survey

 

Want more details? You’ll find pricing and interest free payment plan options if ya scroll on down….

Here’s what a custom coaching package looks like:

  • Three 1:1 Calls with Alison: 1. Initial call to get acquainted & set agenda (45-minutes), 2. Brand Story and Website “stuff” (90-minutes), 3. Sales Coaching & Consultations (up to 90-minutes). ($750)
  • Website Review: I’ll create a custom screenflow to help you quickly improve your website with some key tweaks, changes and edits that you can make asap. This recorded private video allows you to watch, pause, take notes, make changes, and repeat! ($195)
  • Write/Edit Sales Copy for: Home page, About, Testimonials, Contact Form, and 2 Additional Pages or Blog Posts (you’ll write them, I’ll edit and help punch them up!). ($1,000)

Plus you’ll get these Bonuses:

  • 6 months worth of weekly Blog Post Prompts/Social Media topics that you can write about to help develop your brand’s voice. (30 Prompts/$50 value for free!)
  • How To Write Proposals That Sell pdf with a behind-the-scenes look at how I create free mood boards & 3 Ways I Present Pricing In Proposals. ($99 value at no charge!)
  • Real Life Transcript Of A Phone Consultation. ($50 value at no charge!)
  • Online Toolkit with additional lessons and tutorials on how to improve your marketing & attract the best clients on your private dashboard at realflowerbusiness.com ($300+)

This sounds great! Sign me up…

You can join my Floralpreneur® Fastrack for $1,800 (you’ll save $600 Off)!

  • The total price for the custom coaching and website revamp comes to over $2,400 with the bonus prompts, transcript and proposal training.

If this sounds like a good fit for you, we can do an interest free payment plan! Take advantage of an 8-month payment plan or 12-month payment plan.

That’s $225/8 months or $150/12 months and zero interest.

Prefer to pay upfront?

You can save an additional $300 OFF with a one-time payment of $1,500 HERE. (That’s $900 in savings!)

Later on:

  • If you feel like you need more 1:1 time with me you can add on an additional call at another time for $200 if you’d like. 6 months from now, or whenever you’d like a check-in if needed.

If you’re not sure if this coaching program is right for you, you can reach out anytime! Just shoot me an e-mail at floralartvt@gmail.com

And hey, if you’re not comfortable answering the survey questions above or shooting me an e-mail, then you’re definitely not ready to join me in this coaching program!

Before you buy a course or hire a coach ask if they have the qualities of a great mentor:

  1. Is this person getting amazing results in their business?
  2. Do they get those outcomes by doing what they teach?
  3. Are their clients getting amazing results, too?
  4. Are they willing to share real numbers?
  5. Is there real support and real accountability that comes along with this purchase?
  6. Will this information shorten my learning curve?

The answers should be “yes” to all of the above.

Ready to sign up? Click here to make 1 payment of $1,500 and save $900 today!

Want to learn more about Alison? Click here!

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Alison Ellis on The Flower Podcast

I am so excited to be Scott Shepherd’s guest on The Flower Podcast this week!

 

And because I’m SO excited to be on Scott’s podcast, I’m sharing a free gift with listeners.

You’ll get a sneak peek behind-the-scenes at how I save time on mood boards when you click HERE to Scott’s website.

I’m sharing 3 Quick & Easy Mood Board Tips including:

  • 3 Easy (& Free) Ways To Make A Mood Board,
  • 2 real inspiration boards I made for clients,
  • 1 real life wedding I designed based on a mood board,
  • Plus I share a quote I sent WITHOUT an inspiration board,
  • And 3 Bonus Tips To Write Proposals More Quickly.

Click here to grab my tips!

Scott Shepherd knows florists and I find that he always asks thoughtful and insightful questions of his guests. He definitely asked me a few questions that I know many florists struggle with.

For example:

We talked about pricing, prequalifying clients, design fees, what it means when a “new florist” comes to your town, and, of course, website “stuff”. I hope you’ll make some time to tune in and check it out.

You can listen & subscribe to The Flower Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts, AND you can click here to visit Scott’s website and grab my free mood board tips. 

I’ve been tuning to @TheFlowerPodcast for a while now and I’m always impressed with Scott’s pointed questions, which truly reflect his depth of knowledge in the floral industry. Since Scott and I could have talked for hours, we’re going to be live together tomorrow in my Facebook group! Click HERE to join us!

xo. -Alison

 

 

 

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