The Art Of Good Business - Real Flower Business

Overcome your fear of blogging

Have you blogged lately?

If you’ve been participating in my January Blog Challenge I want to say thank you for joining me! If you’ve taken some action I’d love to hear from you. Shoot me an e-mail at floralartvt@gmail.com and let me know what you’re up to...

This is the final week of the live challenge!

If you haven’t had a chance to join yet Click HERE to get in my FREE Pop-Up Group on Facebook to participate!

I’ll be LIVE at 12pm EST on Tuesday, Jan. 30th for Week 4 of the Blog Challenge!

You don’t need to have a blog yet to sign up!

Remember:

Building an awesome website is an ongoing journey.

Our website is our online storefront.

It’s our first impression.

It tells our story.

(It’s a little piece of our heart.)

And it’s never “done”.

But sharing that piece of our heart can be intimidating.

In fact, it can be so intimidating that some people can’t push through the fear.

And the fear holds them back.

So they can’t shine;

they can’t truly “be their best brand”….because no one can actually see how good they are.

So these brands remain hidden. Their uniqueness is kept a secret.

But we cannot keep our awesome qualities hidden if we want to work with more awesome clients.

We have to show our ideal customers who we are so they can find us.

On Fear & Creativity…

Whether you push through fear on the daily, or sometimes you find that fear holds you back, Click HERE to watch “On Fear & Creativity”; a behind-the-scenes livestream from my private Facebook group for my course, The Art of Good Business.

Enrollment is open for The Art of Good Business.

If you like my website tips and enjoy this blog challenge, I’d be honored to have you to Join me!

Click here for details on the course (and even check out a free sample preview of the course).

A note from Jessica Ormond to the paid members of our private Facebook group:

“Hey everyone! I just have to say this course, Alison’s content works! If you are dragging your feet in applying the materials, just do it! Do whatever little piece you can fit in during wedding season…here’s my story …

I still have website tweaks to make but 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.

…just booked as my biggest gig yet, by $3k….”

More from Alison…

I help florists create engaging websites, find ideal clients and build long-lasting brands.

If you’re not sure if one of my courses is right for you please feel free to e-mail me anytime.

I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.

With love from me to you,

Alison

Get in touch: floralartvt@gmail.com

Try a free course! CLICK HERE.

By Alison Ellis

Tips for Prequalifying Clients

How do you prequalify clients?

It took me several years of building my floral design business before I felt like I finally started to hone in on my pre-qualification process.

**Not every customer can be my customer.**

OK, I’d heard that before, but I really, really wanted more customers! How was I supposed to ignore perfectly decent customers in pursuit of only the right ones? (This felt risky.)

Well, it wasn’t “easy” and it did take some practice, but I spent the new few years zeroing-in on the clients that I really wanted to work with and soon, I had a calendar that was 90% filled with “my ideal customers”.

(OK, I totally made up that number….maybe it was 88%?….maybe 95%….I didn’t do the math, but my customers rocked. I was psyched with almost every single client.)

It took me years, but now I understand that attracting the right customers to my business is not about mass appeal; it’s about niche appeal.

So what’s unique about you?

That’s what’s marketable about you/your brand.

If we want to attract “better gigs”, we must show our ideal customers who we are.

Click to watch: Prequalifying Clients, Live from Facebook.

Prequalifying is a form of customer service.

Save yourself time and save clients time, too, by identifying early-on that you’re just not the right fit.

Make prequalifying part of your workflow.

Successful business owners don’t waste time in unnecessary meetings.

CEO’s say No to things that don’t fit the vision.

Prequalify.

We must be in love with our brand if we want customers to love it, too.

I know so much about my potential clients, even the ones who don’t book me, because their inquiry forms tell me a lot of important details about who they are….beyond just “we’re planning a wedding”.

My pre-qualification process feels like customer service.

It’s worth taking the time to get to know my ideal clients so I can more easily attract them AND more easily identify the clients who won’t be “ideal” for my company.

Remember: Ideal customers don’t need convincing. They already dig you.

Thanks for reading & watching!

With love from me to you,

Alison

Click for more:

What I’m obsessed with in my business right now.

By Alison Ellis

What I’m Obsessed With In My Business Right Now

I invited floralpreneurs to join me for a LIVE chat in my Facebook group in December so I could share what I’m obsessed with in my business right now…and what I plan to stay obsessed with for the forseeable future. I hope you’ll watch and get obsessed, too!

Click to watch!

And if you’re ready to “get obsessed” and you’re interested in The Art of Good Business CLICK HERE.

If you’d like to see a full list of my courses, Click here.

By Alison Ellis

Congratulations florists! You can never be replaced.

I was delivering my final wedding of 2017 a few weeks ago, and on my way home I was listening to a story on the news regarding automation and how “robots” will be replacing more and more employees…right down to entering your own order into a touchpad at McDonald’s instead of interacting with cashiers at the counter.

This is nothing new; it’s something we all know has been happening for decades now, of course, but for some reason, today, it really struck me: I can never be replaced.

There will never be a robot doing my job. Ever.

There will never be a touchpad that can interpret a bride’s vision and turn it into 20 centerpieces, 8 bridesmaids’ bouquets, 1 bridal bouquet, 12 boutonnieres, a chuppah of their dreams AND make it work within a budget they’re willing to commit to.

There will never be a robot that can drape fabric over an arbor and then create a meticulously designed fresh, seasonal floral swag that will look gorgeous for hours and hours. Never.

Demanding as it may be.

Tough as some of the physical demands are at times.

For the love and the glory.

No on can do it like you do….

You can never be replaced.

Keep doing beautiful work!

With love from me to you,

Alison

These are the final days to join me for the November Session of The Art of Good Business! Read details here.

Is this your session? Why wait? Get started today!

By Alison Ellis

The best way to evaluate a course: Real Florist Reviews

In my last two blog posts I shared survey results from real florists on why they did not sign up for my course, The Art of Good Business, and today I want to share the outcome and results from real floralpreneurs who DID take the leap to join my course.

I truly believe the best way to evaluate a course is to hear from real life florists.

(You can check out a FREE preview of the course here.)

Here’s what real florists had to say about The Art of Good Business:

“There is so much content in this course! Definitely exceeded expectations.

The most important part of this course for me was the section on choreographing the customer service portion of my business. I am learning how to communicate clearly and lead my clients in a way that builds trust and sets realistic expectations.

This course is great for anyone that is ready to refine their business practices. You have to be ready to take action for this to really make a difference.

I really enjoyed the live portion of the course…Felt like having you there with us.”

-Jessie Partridge

“Because it was nearly impossible for me to atend the live stream, it was invaluable to be able to watch when I was able to.

This is a terrific course for a floral design company to take their business knowledge to the next level. It also supports and confirms a more experienced designer and can round out any deficits.”

-Lisa Sommers

“I was hesitant to start and not finish the course online, but this course was very accessible.

[This course is for]…anyone and everyone seriously interested in improving their business. Learning to be passionate, but at the same time differentiate a hobby from a business.

I would love to do it again…”

-Sarita De Castro

“Being a success is more than dollars earned, recognition, or floral-designing mastered. More than visibility on social media or working prestigious venues. The integrity of delivering great value with integrity and client’s perception of being well served is what is a worthy goal. AND the work is mine to DO not just to KNOW. This falls in line with my personal life values so I’m happy to put this at the top of my list of business goals…

It was worth every penny. It was at the top of my affordability at this time in my fledgling business. And I did not have to get a hotel room or plane ticket, which kept me in the game.

I am so happy with the value of this course. I didn’t even know that all of THIS is exactly what I needed to know!“

-Cathy Lamb

“I recommend The Art of Good Business to anyone who has been trying to go it alone. I tried to figure out my business path on my own and found a patchwork of information. The Art of Good Business puts a plan out there to follow step by step. Also, because it is cohesive it puts all the information you need into one clear class. I have taken my binder with me everywhere I go to read and re-read the course. I find new depth in the material each time. It is wonderful that this course continues to grow with your business. The Art of Good Business is a guide book for my future.“

-Rebecca Raymond

Jessica Ormond shared in our private Facebook group:

…just booked as my biggest gig yet, by $3k….

They refused to give me a budget. Just said that they were willing to pay what was reasonable, flowers were a priority, and they knew they were going to be a big chunk so they intentionally saved in other places. It was sooo had to leave my money shoes in the closet and not make disclaimers when I sent the proposal.

In two hours she texted to say everything looked perfect… She signed the contact in 24hrs. And, she picked me over one of the more prestigious shops in town.”

Floralpreneurs told me that November, January and March are the best times to start my course so I’ve set up 3 new sessions so you can learn at your own pace.

REGISTER FOR 3 NEW SESSIONS:

0.1 DOORS OPEN NOW-NOV. 30

0.2 DOORS WILL OPEN JAN. 1-31

0.3 DOORS WILL OPEN MAR. 1-31

The Art of Good Business includes:

6 pdfs (over 125 pages of lessons + 8 pages of worksheets) that you can download right to your computer; you can even print out the entire course if you’d like.
10 videos with over 4 hours of content to supplement the pdfs.
Plus monthly livestreams in our private Facebook group to help move you through the course all year long! In our private group we can interact with one another (including other florists) and I can address your specific questions.

If you want to design a more engaging website, attract better clients and stop worrying about what “other florists” are doing, let’s dive into The Art Of Good Business.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN NOW THRU NOV. 30TH!

(check out a FREE preview of the course here.)

Click HERE to join my course today!

Feel free to contact me with questions here: floralartvt@gmail.com