Are you going to BLOOM??????

Oh we love the June Bank Holiday Weekend, because for

 us it means BLOOM is here and the tutors of Kay's 

Flower School are heading there for 

5 Days of Flowers, Food, Family Fun and Fashion 

 For its 7th year running Bloom in the Park is returning to the Phoenix Park from Thursday 28th May until Monday 1st June from 9am - 6pm each day.Bord Bia (The Irish Food Board) will be one of the main sponsors of Bloom this year 

The weather last year wasnt too bad but always come prepared for our irish Weather, Rain Jacket & Sunblock.

There will be Picnic areas so pack up the picnic bag 

This year we will see the Bloom showcase over gardens designed by top garden designers.  For all you food lovers like us there will be over  Irish Food Producers.  

Bloom is such a family day out with something for everyone, Amazing Gardens, Fabulous Floral Arrangments, a Farmers Market, Family Fun area for the kiddies at the Childrens Zone. and lots more. 

Traveling to Bloom

Be aware that the Ashtown gates entrance into the park will be closed for the duration of the Bloom event

If you arriving by foot-

Please be aware it will take around 20 mins to walk from either Parkgate Street entrance or Castle knock gate to the Bloom event.

If you are arriving by Bike-

There will be facilities for parking and locking your bike.

If you are arriving by car-

·         For city centre traffic please follow the signs for car parks when you enter the Park.

·         For M50 & North City Traffic please follow the signs for car parks when you enter the Park.

Event Traffic coming from the M50 should take the slip road over the Flyover after the Petrol Station on the Navan Road and turn back along the Navan Road, turning Left at the Auburn Avenue junction and then following the signs to the Castleknock Gate.

Parking is available at the show at a rate of €5.

If you haven’t yet booked your tickets here is the link  - Tickets for Bloom

No doubt we will bump into lots of Past Students from Kay's Flower School, make sure to pop over and say Hi :)  

Janette

xxx

Learning How To Blog For Your Business

Today I spent the day learning how to use blogging more effectively for business. Wow never realised there was so much too it and all the mistakes I was making.

However with the amazing expertise of Aine Bermingham from Utter Digital, she gave us all step by step tips and ideas on how to get the most out of Blogging

Aine from Utter Digital

Here are just some of the Tips I picked up

• Its not all about you .....  Blogs need to be written with your readers in mind
• Don't over stuff your Blog with keyword ( Google don't like that ) 
• Keep it relative to your business - dont blog about car mechanics if your a florist
• Once written you need to Promote your Blog through Social Media 

On the Blogging Workshop today I also met some amazing business women with fantastic business and some great ideas and tips too. 

Sitting beside me was the gorgeous Mary from Addibeads who sells the most beautiful beads and also runs workshops for making jewelry. To see more of her stunning beads check out her website where she has thousands of beads for sale, we will definitely be checking out some of her beads for our brooch bouquet training workshops.

Also on the workshop was the talented Artist and Calligrapher, Josephine Hardiman, although specialising personalised wedding stationery, she also has lots of "How to draw" tutorials that she is planing on publishing soon.  I can wait to see them, as lots of our students in our flower school often ask about people who draw flowers for logos etc.  Josephine will be a great contact to have. 

Did you ever hear about Crookstown Craft Village???  this looks like and amazing place and definitely worth a visit.  They are open from 10am - 6pm Monday to Friday and during the Summer, Easter and Christmas they are open 7 days a week.  This Craft Village stocks a huge selection on Pottery, Hand Made Cards, Lamps, Alterations Service, Chocolate Outlet, Healing and lots lots more. I will definitely be popping buy very soon and will be passing on their information to our Christmas Workshop Students who might be interested in selling their Christmas designs and wreaths. 

Oonagh Sheehan is a N.A.E.T Allergy Elimination Therapist, and having never heard of NAET, we had a discussion over lunch about it.  Its a long time since I have come across someone as passionate about their specialty field.  I will without doubt be taking my son who suffers from Hey Fever to her later this year to begin the process of eliminating his allergies for next summer.  Oonagh tells me she she actually does not advertise her services that much because she gets so much business through word of mouth, now that tells you something. 

Liz from LizzieB fascinated me with her knowledge of scents and soap & candle making, and having recently spoke to a bride about an outdoor wedding Liz assured me that she can add citronella to wedding candles to keep the bugs away, isn't that just an amazing idea, cant wait to tell all our future brides who come to us to learn how to make their Brooch Bouquets about Liz's wedding candles.

Last but not least we met Michelle from Inspired Design, and Michelle's company can design websites and also manage all your social media for your business, and for our students who have opened their own flower shops this can be a fantastic service as trying to manage everything can be a bit daunting.

Well tired after a busy and intense day, I decided to come home and put into practice some to the things I learned, would love to hear your feedback on this blog post and make sure you follow our blog for hopefully some more informative posts and look back over some of our passed posts for lots of video tutorials on making bows 

How to make a bow for your wedding buttonholes & corsages

Step by Step on making a Bow for your wedding buttonholes and corsages 

Are you getting married?  Would you like to DIY your bridal party buttonholes and corsages?

Here is a step by step tutorial on making the florist bow that is used for buttonholes 

On our Beginners Bridal Floristry Courses we cover lots of different buttonhole & corsages for each member of your wedding party.

See our Facebook album here for lots of different style Buttonholes 

We offer courses in all aspects of Bridal & Wedding Floristry, call us today on 01 45 386 49 or email info@kaysschool.com for more details 

How to Make a Bow - ideal to stick in a plant - 3 loops and a tail

Over the next few weeks we will be uploading some tutorials on  making Bows.  

The aim of these videos is to make bow design and decoration easier for you our students, as feedback from our students tell us that these are the thing they find most difficult when they leave our school 

Watch this Make a Bow Video on YouTube  

For More Information on any of our 

Flower Courses 

or 

Distant Learning Brooch Bouquet Kits

Visit our Website 

Kay's Flower School 

What to look for when employing a Florist - Top Tips

Are you thinking of employing a florist for your flower shop??

Here are some Tips for employing Flower Shop Staff

Personality - Florists are dealing with people in all different emotional states and it is important that a florist is professional whilst having empathy and a sense of understanding

Cop On ! - Florists need to be able to work on their own initiative, if the floor is covered in leaves, clean it up, if the buckets need to be filled, fill them.  There may be lots of times in a flower shop where there are no customers coming in a it seems very quiet, but there is always something to do

Experience - If you looking to employ a florist on a long term basis you may be happy for them not to have too much experience so you can pay a lower rate of pay and let them build up their experience over time, however if you are looking for a florist to step in and cover while you go on holidays or at busy times, experience is vital. - always contact previous employers or check references

Freelance Florists - Does your florist work form home?  It is important to draw up policy's and procedures regarding this so that it is clear from the start what you are happy to accept.  Always be aware they may take work from your business.

Driving Licence - A florist with a full clean driving licence can be an asset for making deliveries or collecting flowers from suppliers at busy times.

Floristry Skills - Skill test them at interviews and ask to see a portfolio of their previous work

Working relationships - when working in a small business it can be hard to keep your relationship strictly professional but remember there has to be only one boss - don't cross the line

Job Description - from day one make sure the employee is very aware of their job description and what is expected of them.  Don't leave the door open for "that's not my job"  include - Cleaning, Buying, Selling  Opening, Closing, display, upkeep of plants, bleaching buckets, making displays, preparation like bows, cellos, boxes etc ect etc…..

Trial - Always take staff on a trial basis (1-6 months)

Do not employ a Local Florist as they may take work from the shop

Wishing you the very best of luck with your Flower Business

www.kaysschool.com 

Commercial Flower Arranging & Floristry Training for Beginners & Advanced Students

Bridal Brooch Bouquet Designers and Trainers 

DIY Distant Learning Bridal Brooch Bouquet Kits Available Here 

Top Tips for Marketing Your Flower Shop

How can you Market your Flower Shop?

Below are some tips you may find useful 

.TOP TIPS TO MARKET YOUR FLOWER SHOP

Remember people do not visit a flower shop unless they need flowers. if they don't buy flowers regularly they wont know you are there when they need

 funeral flowers / birthday flowers / wedding flowers

Let them know where you are and what you have available 

Have an OPEN Day  - on that day 

Have Flower Arrangements in every local business and establishment, this will show your skills to people who do not visit flower shops ( make sure to attach an invite to your shop to the flower arrangement) 

Free Rose / Daffodil / Tulip to everyone who passes your shop - and if there is a local pub or restaurant leave in some for them to give out to their customers - Make sure they have your business card on them 

Understand your Locality and Customers

Look at your target area and decide what is the best price range for the area that you are in.  

Capitalise on your Point of Difference

What makes your flower shop different from another one in the area?

Do you offer a more prompt delivery service? 

Do you sell gifts as well as flowers?  

Can you take orders outside normal working hours?  

Longer working hours? 

Better Value for money?

Better Quality?

Find out why your present customers come to you and monopolies this. 

Keep an eye on your competition

Always good to be one step beside that one step behind

Find out where your Target Market are

Valentines Day  - Target Offices & Business where men work or congregate, Target Hotels who may offer flowers to their guests

Mothers Day - Target School Runs, Office Staff 

Find out the average age of those living in your locality, this will give you an idea as to the type of flowers you are more likely to sell.

Passing Trade

Is there a lot of passing Trade??  make it easy for them, plenty of signage, parking if possible, cash and wrap readily available

Record Keeping

Keep records for year to year - How much you ordered? How many arrangements, hand tied bouquets, plants etc that  you sold, this will give you a good basis to work on each year. 

Add to your Business

Can you add to your business - balloons, chocolates, cards, soft toys, wine, jewelry etc 

Wishing you the very best of luck in your business

www.flowerschoolireland.com

Commercial Flower Arranging & Floristry Training for Beginners & Advanced Students

Bridal Brooch Bouquet Designers and Trainers 

DIY Distant Learning Bridal Brooch Bouquet Kits Available Here 

How to make a small cluster bow with florist ribbon - barbie bow

Over the next few weeks we will be uploading some tutorials on  making Bows.  

The aim of these videos is to make bow design and decoration easier for you our students, as feedback from our students tell us that these are the thing they find most difficult when they leave our school 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qufwKCPP8z0&list=UUuDEocgdNI5sYSQaGxemBlA&feature=share&index=1

Subscribe here to our flower school newsletter 

www.kaysschool.com 

How to Make A Large Cluster Bow ( Barbie Bow)

Over the next few weeks we will be uploading some tutorials on  making Bows.  

The aim of these videos is to make bow design and decoration easier for you our students, as feedback from our students tell us that these are the thing they find most difficult when they leave our school 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdbsrQB40HI&list=UUuDEocgdNI5sYSQaGxemBlA&feature=share&index=4

Make sure to subscribe to out Blog for more Free tutorials 

You can subscribe here to our Flower School Newsletter 

www.kaysschool.com 

Top Tips for setting up a Facebook Page for Florists

Throughout our Flower Arranging and Floristry Courses we talk to our students about social media and marketing themselves.  First and foremost we encourage our student to set up a Facebook Page to promote themselves from.

Here are some important tips to consider when using your Facebook Page to market your Flower Business or Flower Shop

Set up a business page not a personal profile page for your business - most people do not want to be friends with people or business that they don't know, as a business page you can not see any info about any of your "likers" pages.

Don't publish your page until you are ready with all your relevant information - business name, phone number, website details , areas covered etc. 

Fill in the "About" section   - include the areas that you will cater for ie. if you're in Dublin you may not be delivering flowers to Donegal. 

Include your contact phone number - people need to be able to contact you

Have a good cover photo & profile photo which tell people at a glance what you do - read FB policy's on cover photos and make sure to abide by their rules. 

Invite all your friends to like your page and ask them to invite their friends also - these will most likely to be your first customers.

Once your page has been published you need to use it - if you don't post photos and details of what you do, no one will know what you do. 

Take photos of every design you make and post these photos and explain why it was made - ie.  This flower arrangements was made for Mary for her Granny who was 70 today, Mary wasn't sure if her granny had a vase to put flowers into in a nursing home so we decided an arrangement would be best suited, the colours will match her granny's bed linen in her room  - this type of posting tells your fans you care about your customers and what suits their needs.

Do not "copy" images from other pages and claim them as your own, if you do use someone elses images always make sure to credit them with a tag or a link back to their website /FB page 

If you do a lot of designs in one day, hold back some of the images fro days when you might not have any to post 

You should be posting approx 3 times daily to engage with your customers / likers.

Encourage integration with your likers.  - ask questions of them ie what is your favourite flower?  Discuss everyday events ie. what I are your plans for the weekend? 

Do not discuss customers and customers requests, your page is public and everyone can see what you post. 

Deal with negative feedback in a positive manner, don't get into a slagging match. 

Promoting your page"like & share " competitions are against FB rules and they will close your page for running them - use a competition app like Shortstack to run a completion.  

You can ask people to like and comment, but you can't ask them to tag others or share with others.  Read FB policy's on competitions here.

You can promote your page also by running FB adds, these are quite reasonable, can be specifically targeted to who you want to reach  ie. if your business is in Rosslare you can target people in Rosslare and a 10 or 25KM radius.  There are lots of targeting mechanism that make these adds work very well.  Also you set your budget, so you know exactly what you are spending. 

I would advise anyone who is serious about their business to think about doing a Facebook workshop to learn how to use it in the most effective way for your business. 

At Kay's Flower School we recommend Martina Ginty at Content Social Manager or Felicity McCarthy at Spark Digital.

We wish you the very best of luck in your floristry business 

For more information on our Floristry & Flower Arranging Courses 

www.kaysschool.com 

A Business Party to inspire any business #irishbizparty

#IrishBizParty Conference in the Green Isle Hotel for SMEs

Wednesday we both  attended this an amazingly inspiring conference organised by the Tweeting Goddess Samantha Kelly from Wexford. Our first impression was Wow, what have they done to the Green Isle Hotel, it looked amazing, the ever so friendly car park attendants pointed us in the direction of the FREE parking :)


The Hotel has recently been taken over by new management and we were very impressed with the Hotel as a Venue and also the staff were so friendly too.

The buzz going around the room as electric even at 10 am in the morning, and that was to only intensify as the day went on.


Samantha Kelly opened the conference and gave  us some Twitter tips and told us how the conference and #irishbizparty came about.  This lady has gave so much of her time developing and promoting #irishbizparty and other SNEs Im delighted to see she is now running her own Twitter Workshops to help people set up their twitter accounts and indeed help them get followers and network and get more business using Twitter as a medium.  Samanthas next work shop is in DIT on See Here for more details

We got then chance to listen to some amazing speakers Felicity McCarthy from Spark Digital spoke to us about Facebook and how to use the insights to our advantage and also planning adds and promotions, and needless to say she reinforced the importance of following Facebook Policies on running competition.  This lady really know her stuff and it was a pleasure and so interesting to listen to her. You will find more detail about Felicity here 

Up next came Simone Chapman who spoke to us about Sharing and the Sharing economy.  Simon was followed on by the Award winning Blogger and Business owner Anita White from Dolledup.ie.  It was lovely listening to Anita's experience in business and how she got to where she is today.

We were put through our paces by the amazing Adrianna mannix  from GoalGetters.  Adrianna spoke to is about the importance of nutrition and exercise particularly for hard working entraunprenairs.  Adrianna really made us sit up and take a look at our selves and our "friends in our heads"  - If your always telling yourself you cant do something- get a new friend in your head - push away negativity and believe in yourself.   Def food for thought for a lot of us listening

After the lovely lunch provided by the exception staff of the Green Isle we were we net the lovely Aine Bermingham from Utter Digital who gave some great tips about blogging, lots of them we will def use in the future.  Aine has published her own Blog on her talk yesterday you will find all her Blogging Tips and she has an upcoming Blogging Course find more information here 

The last 2 speakers of the day were the Apprentice finalist Joanne Sweeney Burke and A Dragons Den Winner James O Reilly.  Two very different speakers, very different stories to tell, very emotional and humorous talks by both but gosh, did they keep us on the edge of our seats.
Joanne talked about the obstacles that stood in her way, but in fairness Joanne used these obstacles

as steps up rather than set backs, her emotional rollercoaster on the Apprentice was at times so tough but I'm so glad for her after hearing her story that she didn't win it.   Cant wait until she does fulfill her next ambition of writing a book, it will be an amazing read.

To finish of the conference we were highly entertained by the hilarious Jason from Pride Watches, gosh what a story he had to tell, and we were all nearly on the floor with the laughter.  I some ways we were laughing at our own mistakes in business, because I'm sure some of us did the things he did too, but it was his determination to move ahead that inspired us.  I think jason would do well no matter what business he had, his charm, charisma, wit and passion it what have helped him on the road to success.  But Jason does not forget where he started and his offer of help to everyone was very genuine.

And so we came to the end of the day, we can honestly say we learned loads, were hugely inspired, made new contacts, put names to faces and most of all we were proud to be part of this every growing group of like minded people

#irishbizparty

All Photos Above are from the fabulously 

talented photographer David Mcauley 

Congratulations to Tweeting Goddess Samantha Kelly for all her hard work 

You too can join in to #irishbizparty on Twitter on 

Wednesday nights from 9-11pm