Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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Growing Your Business

Are you growing or maintaining your business?

To kick off the new year, I was live on YouTube to share some thoughts on growing your business and maintaining what you’ve built! You can watch it now!

This is the first topic for the year because not every year is a growing year in your business and it’s important to have a plan on what to do when growth isn’t the goal so you can maintain what you’ve built.

If you need some help reigniting your brand this month, I’m teaching every Tuesday in January, starting Jan. 7th, when you join me inside The Art of Good Business, 4-week training. (You can find details here & enroll today!)

Learn More & Enroll Here!

And if you’re already enrolled in The Art of Good Business, I can’t wait to get started next week!

Welcome to a new year, floralpreneur®. Keep doing beautiful work!

xo. -Alison Ellis

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CEO Mindset In Your Business

Learn More About Alison

 

 

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CEO Mindset In Your Floral Business

How important is it to have a CEO mindset in your floral business?

Today, I have a few tips on how getting into a CEO mindset will help you to EASE into the new year–without adding anything to your to-do list!

Because when you run a business and you do “all the things”, it can be hard to zoom out to see the big picture and set next-level goals.

It takes intentional strategy and practice to get yourself into a CEO mindset that can chart your course and steer the ship (instead of just rowing the boat)!

Whether you work alone (like me!) or you lead a team, the most important thing is that you know where you want to go and what you need to let go of! Take a few moments to watch.

Things to consider now…

Do you work ON your business as much as you work IN your business?

Are your customer service systems seamless and effective?

Is your brand mission and message clear?

What are you paying attention to?

Are you spending your time wisely?

What is your next best step to get closer to your own unique goals?

How are you investing in your future growth?…

If you know it’s time to enter your CEO era, consider joining me in January for my 4-Week Training with Live Support, The Art of Good Business!

Learn More & Enroll Here!

And if you missed the Marketing Workshop for Florists, you can catch the limited time replay for just $37!

Get The Replay Now!

I’m rooting for you and your business as you move through this season and into the next! If I can be of any help to you in reaching your goals, please get in touch!

You can also find a full list of courses for florists HERE!

Keep doing beautiful work!

xo. -Alison Ellis

 

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Engagement Season Tips for Florists

Do you want to book some more events for 2025? Well, are you ready for engagement season?

Today, I have 3 Tips To Help You Prepare for Engagement Season–or whatever season your business may be entering–so that you can attract more of the right customers to your business! Click to watch now:

Join the Marketing Workshop!

A Few Notes To Recap

#1. Keep your ideal customers in mind–always!

Identify who you seek to serve so you can focus on what they want to hear from you!

That means, if your ideal customer really loves flowers and tends to have a reasonable budget, you don’t have to create content about how hard you work behind the scenes to clean wax out of votive candles or scrub buckets on a Monday morning.

Because your ideal customer would rather see the beautiful work you created this week and hear a little bit about why you love the look of the design!

 

#2. Revisit your existing marketing efforts.

  • What are you actually doing right now to attract the best customers to your business?
  • Are you putting all of your eggs in the social media algorithm basket?
  • What does your website express when I land on your homepage?
  • Are you speaking to the hearts of your ideal clients?
  • Where else can you reach them?

 

#3. Add more intention to your marketing strategy!

Level-up your marketing and branding strategy with a more magnetic message to attract the best clients!

Your “brand” is what your customers experience. So it’s more than just an image you project–it’s what people say about your company when you’re not in the room.

A better marketing strategy gives you leverage. In short, it makes it easier to book clients and gain trust if your brand credibility is already established in their minds.

 

After 22 years in business, I think it’s a wise practice to revisit your marketing and branding efforts on a regular bases (at least once per year!). That’s why I’m hosting my upcoming Marketing Workshop on December 3, 4 & 5th! You can learn about that and sign up here if you want to join me! I’d be honored to have you join me.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

xo. -Alison Ellis

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Simple Social Media Tips for Florists

How can you be more consistent with blogging and social media so that you attract the best customers, but also follow a strategy that’s practical and simple?

I got this question from a member of my Patreon Community the other day, which was actually more like 8 or 9 questions, so I answered them live so I could really dig into details and answer in depth!

If you have questions after you watch, let me know!

Click to watch now:

In this livestream I answered questions on:

  • Content ideas for blogging and social media
  • Discipline ideas
  • Goals of how often to post
  • How do you measure its success
  • Post structure
  • How do I keep it simple
  • How do I post our values, beliefs and key brand points

 

If you need some help crafting your brand message and sharing your voice, you can get access to Monthly Blog & Social Media Prompts by becoming a Marketing Maven inside my Patreon Community here: www.patreon.com/realflowerbusiness

I know that as a business owner, it can be challenging to be consistent and authentic because there’s often a bit of a trade off between consistent and authentic.

Wash, rinse, repeat = consistent  

But it often takes a little bit of contemplation to find what you have to share with the world that’s actually authentic!

I hope the tips I shared today will inspire you to simplify your social media strategy and share your voice with more intention.

And if you’d like to check out this month’s Social Media Prompts on Patreon, I’d be honored to have you join me there!

xo. -Alison

 

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Luxury Weddings And Marketing Tips

Does your social media attract your ideal customers or are you repelling great clients accidentally?

Click to watch for some practical advice to help you course correct if your marketing has gotten a little off track!

FYI The Marketing Workshop for Florists starts on Monday, Dec. 4th! If you haven’t registered yet, Now’s the time to sign up so you can start attracting more of the BEST clients to your business.

>> Click Here for all the details!

As I mentioned in my live chat above, here are a few things to think about when marketing to “luxury” event!

Have you noticed that there are a lot of people who throw around the word “luxury” when it comes to weddings and events? Well, it turns out that “luxury” events may not be what you think.

To borrow a quote from one of my favorite movies of all time, The Princess Bride, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

That’s because every single wedding you design is a luxury!

 

Just think about it: You can get married without a single stem of flowers, which means when clients choose to hire you as their florists it IS a luxury. (Yup, you’re already in a luxury market!)

It’s easy to lose sight of this in the social media world where “luxury” seems to be described as $100,000 weddings and above.

 

But as a florist who’s done her fair share of $100K weddings, they aren’t necessarily “luxury” in the way that social media wants you to believe!

Because that $100K budget actually gets spent quickly!

 

And while there may be $10,000 (or even $15,000) for flowers, that might “just barely cover” what they’re asking for–it’s not “ample” or “over the top”, it’s adequate (depending on the guest count!) and you can make it a beautiful event!…

However, you’re probably NOT creating that grand entrance to the reception tent, lining the entire aisle with flowers, or hanging a floral installation over the dance floor…which is what we tend to think of when the word “luxury” is invoked.

So when we’re really talking about “luxury events” you’re working with MUCH BIGGER BUDGETS–maybe even 3x higher, for example.

 

What does it take to do a $30,000-$45,000 floral installation? Well, in short, it’s soooooo much!

From a team of 8-10 floral designers you can trust (at $20-$50 per hour!), to multiple vehicles that need to be rented and loaded, to long design days (and nights!) to get the job done, to the VERY high expectations that your clients and their planner communicate to you every step of the way for 6-12 months!

(The stress level, in other words, is probably more than 3x!)

This is why it’s important to be careful what you wish for in your own “luxury goals”. 

➤ How do YOU define luxury as it pertains to your customers and your own brand identity?

➤ What sorts of events do you want to attract?

➤ Do you want to do full-service weddings and events that are manageable, yet profitable, and don’t require a huge team?

➤ Are flowers for the wedding party your specialty, so you’ll happily design boutonnieres, bouquets and corsages, but leave the rest of the event to the DIY client?

➤ Or do you prefer the higher-ticket, higher-stress events because you thrive in that CEO position overseeing a team?

 

So before buying into the idea that you should be striving for “luxury”, recognize that you’re already doing it! 

Define for yourself what your brand of luxury looks like so that you know EXACTLY what it means to your customers.

 

In short, when it comes to folks trying to convince you to break into a “luxury market”, don’t believe the hype.

Whether it’s personal flowers only or the biggest wedding of your career, the artistry you provide matters.

Keep doing beautiful work!

xo. -Alison

 

REMINDER: The Marketing Workshop for Florists starts on Monday, Dec. 4th!

If you haven’t already registered, Now’s the time to sign up so you can start attracting more of the BEST clients to your business. Click Here for all the details!

  • We’ll meet for 3 Days, Mon, Tues and Weds for about 45 minutes each day.
  • Recordings will be available if you can’t join me live!
  • VIP sessions will take place each day at 1:30pm Eastern to answer YOUR specific questions and provide additional support!

Questions for me? Get in touch. I’m here to support you along the way!

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