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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Goals for 2020

How do you set attainable goals?

Years ago I started following Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map for setting goals for the upcoming year. What she teaches is that you set goals based on how you want to feel in your life; not just based on what you want to accomplish or do.

I learned that I could achieve so much more by focusing on my feelings instead of just my goals (or god forbid, new year’s resolutions!), which seemed more distant and long term than something I can act upon right now.

But my desired feelings are something I can act upon at any moment. I can choose to do something that satisfies one of my desired feelings just about any time I want to.

Here’s a list of my 2020 Desired Feelings…

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I started making plans and setting goals years ago based on how I want to feel. #desiremapping changed so much about my life and the way I make business decisions. ❤️ To be honest, my core desired feelings haven’t changed much since I first did my desire map? It’s pretty straight forward: I want to feel Healthy. Sounds easy enough, right? ? ? ? I want to be mindful, but I’m using Mindfull because I don’t only want to feel present, but also full of ideas as well as spirit. ? ?? Grounded is always my goal because feeling out of control or overly emotional doesn’t suit me. Rooted, firm, and solid is more my style. ??? Connected carries several meanings and it’s a reminder to not get too lost in my solo projects…also, a reminder to keep up my content and teachings for florists around the world. ☎️?❤️ And finally, Steady. That’s a new one this year. It also carries several meanings: consistent, loyal, reliable, trustworthy…ALL qualities I strive towards. ⭐️?? So now you know all about what’s driving me! What are your desired feelings for 2020? What goals are you reaching towards? Share ‘em with me in a comment or shoot me a message! ? I’m rooting for you. ❤️

A post shared by Alison Ellis (@realflowerbusiness) on Dec 30, 2019 at 4:37pm PST

So, like I said, I can achieve one of these desired feelings just about anytime I want to.

Want to feel healthy? Then, I can workout for 30 minutes or go eat a carrot.

Need to be more mindfull? Then I can meditate for 20 minutes.

Want to feel grounded? Hey, maybe the meditation already did the trick!

Not connected enough? I can make a phone call to a friend.

Need to be more steady? I could make a new schedule or update my calendar; I could also simply follow through on something I promised I’d do.

See, it’s really that easy to create small achievable goals that not only make me more successful as a business owner, but also make me feel happier and more fulfilled in my life.

I can choose to say no more easily because if it’s not aligned with my desired feelings, then it’s a no.

I can say yes more easily, too, because if I can get closer to one of my desired feeling, then the answer is yes.

If you want to learn more about Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map click here to follow my affiliate link and get some clarity on how you can apply this process in your own journey!

By identifying 5 key desired feelings and diving deeper into this work over the years, I’ve been able to establish rules and boundaries that allow me to create space to discover more of the things I truly love and value. I hope you’ll have a year ahead filled with more of what you love, too!

With love from me to you,

Alison

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Questions From Florists Answered Live!

In business it’s important to finish the year with intention!

And to help push you over the finish line of 2019, so you can start out 2020 feeling strong, I’m answering real questions from real florists LIVE in my Facebook group for Tuesday Q&A Sessions from November 26-Dec. 17th!

Click below to watch a replay of today’s live chat and click here to ask to join my free Facebook group!

We’re talking about Competition, Comparison, Unrealistic Budgets and Deposits for Bigger Budget Weddings….plus even more of your questions like how to tell someone you aren’t the cheapest florist!

Note: For those who want to get the first 3 lessons in my NEW training on Patreon, click here to sign up and get some super behind-the-scenes tips on weeding out clients and booking with a phone call: patreon.com/realflowerbusiness

Want to learn more about me? Click here for my Bio!

Ready to build a business you love that’s uniquely yours? Click here!

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Tips for booking great clients

How do florists book great clients? I would have LOVED to get some secrets for booking more clients in the first 10 years or so of my business! I spent many years learning how to level-up my booking process.

I sought out knowledge that’s allowed me streamline my sales–from consultations to branding to recognizing which clients are the best clients for me–and this has allowed me to take control over the success of my sales process.

I’ve figured out a thing or two over the last 18 years…

That’s why it’s my goal to help florists book awesome clients and build a businesses they love.

I was live today in my Facebook group and here’s a replay of today’s Q&A with real questions from real florists.

Topics covered include:

How to get more people into your flower shop,
Clients with $700 floral budgets,
Last-minute consultation cancellations,
How to set an income goal for 2020.
And handling clients with sticker shock!

Click to watch:

Don’t miss out my my new training starting Nov. 18-20th! You can learn more about my monthly training on Patreon here: patreon.com/realflowerbusiness

If you’re ready to take control over your future, feel respected and stop price shoppers in their tracks, don’t wait, sign up to join me today!

Questions for me? Shoot me an e-mail anytime: floralartvt@gmail.com

xo. -Alison

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

How Florists Book Great Clients

Want to know the keys to booking great clients?

I would have given just about anything to know how to find good clients when I was starting out in my business.

Even after I put in years of work and my experience grew in business, I had to actively seek out more knowledge on managing and retaining awesome clients.

Self-learning kept my business moving forward.

I’ve spent time reading, attending conferences, and diving into high-level online education programs to gather a few more tools for my business tool belt. I know the right advice can take years off your learning curve, which is why I invite you to learn with me as often as I possibly can!

Booking great clients is just the tip of the iceberg!

Florists have to know how to attract awesome clients, pre-screen and pre-qualify, run a kick-butt consultation, and close the sale if you’re going to consistently book customers and I’d love to share what I’ve learned with you in my NEW TRAINING FOR FLORISTS on Patreon where we’ll officially kick off Lessons 1-3 in November.

If you missed last week’s live chat you can click to watch it below!

Remember: booking great clients is only the beginning.

If you want a behind-the-scenes class on how I’ve learned to attract great clients and book my calendar year after year, join my new online training program on Patreon TODAY.

You’ll learn how to:

pre-qualify clients and STOP WASTING TIME;

run a phone consultation with flair and BOOK CLIENTS WITHOUT A MEETING;

and ATTRACT THE RIGHT CLIENTS with better branding and marketing efforts that are authentic to YOU.

Click here to sign up today.