The Floral Hustle

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Hello our friends. It's Jen and I'm excited to talk 'cause I actually have had a ton of contracts coming through. Yay. And I was really thinking about what is that one thing that helped me book those five weddings? And I mean, of course I know it's like this little. Jingga puzzle that's all together. But one of the biggest things is networking.

Networking with other wedding professionals. And I know networking, I've done episodes on networking, and it feels kind of like uncomfortable and you're kind of outta your, you know, the box and you know, you're like. Feels disingenuous or, you know, doesn't feel good or you know something. But I know that networking has completely, in the relationships that I've built, based on networking, has completely elevated the revenue in my business.

It has. Um, made me having to hunt for weddings, basically non-existent people come to me via referrals and it's allowed me to build a bunch of friendships that were, that are like, so giving and so fun to see people grow their career and grow their business and grow their skill level. And, you know, it, it's, it's fun.

To see other people succeed and it's fun for them to see you succeed. So how do you go about even doing that? How do you go and like make other vendor friends? So the first thing, I think the easiest is just starting up with that. If you're at an awards thing or if you're at a networking thing or a thing for a local, you know, event of some sort or a open house.

Just say hi to people. Hi, my name is, I am a wedding and event florist. We specialize in cultural weddings and um, I also specialize in locally road, whatever it is. Whatever your little elevator pitch, have that ready so that you come across as confident and cool and in charge for when you're meeting and interacting with people that you are memorable.

So the next thing is I am always trying to add value. Like, how can I help someone so that later on they would wanna help me? So like, am I helping maybe potentially with a Mother's Day, minis thing, um, or am I helping with like, they need a dog collar

for a. Uh, for a like little photo shoot they're doing, like, what, what can I help? How can I help? Like those, when somebody knows that you're just really there for them, you are going to get more referrals from that person. It is just inevitable because they feel supported by you. You feel supported by then, and it makes this like really symbiotic.

Relationship that just feels good and you have a person that is your go-to person that you can talk about, and then you know you are potentially helping your client by teeing up somebody that really could help them. And hopefully that is reciprocated for when they're meeting with a client that could benefit from your services.

It is an all around win and I wish we did more of it, but. Say Lavie, we need to keep going with those relationships. And one of the relationships that I actually got two weddings booked this month, um, was with a local wedding planner who I had, they also own like a. Uh, rental linen company and it's a very big one.

They actually purchased to or someone, and I had been corresponding with her periodically for donations on, for one of my workshops. And, oh, sorry, this has just been a long week, you guys and I, um, randomly got an email from her with a client in it. Yeah, and I have never, hey, said, Hey, you should consider, it's always been like really kind of hands off, but hey, could you sponsor this event?

Could you do this? I really appreciate you. I sent you a little something, something to say thank you. And like I've been doing that now for three years and there were two inquiries that they sent over that was full service planning with them. That booked me for their wedding flowers. I mean, I had invested in just building a relationship and rapport with this person for years, I think three years now.

And now they're all of a sudden sending me two weddings in a month. Like how amazing is that? So sometimes it takes a little bit longer, but it is so impactful. So impactful. Um, I had another person reach out to me that saw. My arches, my silk flower arches, and was like, whoa, I love them. And so they, um, are wanting to rent them and they're working with my decorator friend.

No. So like, there's another like networking relationship, which you know, they wouldn't talk to. No. And she was like, oh my God, she's great. Blah, blah, blah. You should go with her. Like that confidence that people have in you. It's so easy to make a referral when you have this strong foundation. So if you do not have vendor friends, start getting vendor friends and if even if you start making flower friends, that is a huge step.

I know that networking has been such a huge part of my growing my business and honestly growing the coaching business because. Because of the networking that I've done, I'm able to get really cool places to be able to host workshops. I'm able to, you know, find connections with different vendors to make a beautiful styled shoot during them.

I mean, like, all the things are possible when you have a network. I, I had one mastermind, um, that I was in. They would always say, your network is your net net worth. And I do believe that that is somehow. Very, very true. Because if you know someone that can help accomplish something, you're, I mean, that's huge.

And don't discount those people at any moment. 'cause you, even if you've been talking to 'em for years, nothing's ever been panned out. You never know. It could be panning out tomorrow, something could happen, something could change, and this is your opportunity to shine. So go get. You are networking on. Go and really put your best self forward to start talking about you and your business and what you can do for them.

Because I know you're just in for greatness. Great things will come your way and you deserve that success. So go get it. Thank you so much for listening, flower Friend, and you have an amazing flower filled 📍 day.