Season 4 is over! We can’t believe it! Thank you to our Patrons who have made it possible for us to keep making this podcast.

In our last episode of Season 4, we reflected on what went well and what didn’t last year, as well as what kind of changes we’re planning on making for the podcast and our paper flower businesses. We agree that our big focus for 2022 is getting back to the why: the heart of why we keep wanting to be paper florists and share our love of paper flower making. 

We highly recommend taking time like we did on the podcast to reflect on your challenges and triumphs. But who has the time or energy for that? You can find the space in your mind to ask these difficult questions. Here are just a few ideas we shared on the episode.

Find Space to Reflect

If you’re overwhelmed with your work, you won’t have the ability to think deeply or widely about where your paper flower business is and where you want it to be. 

As Quynh shared in the episode, she scaled way back on The Posey Box last year because of this very reason. She felt like she never had time to reflect or do anything different. There was always something with an urgent deadline to take care of. She felt burnt out. You can hear the entire story on the podcast, but in short, she decided to focus on other things and is all the happier for it. 

We shared some practical tips in the episode on how you can find space. Every paper florist has different circumstances, so there’s no one size fits all answer here. But if you are feeling unsatisfied or overwhelmed, start by carving out some space for yourself.

Say No Sometimes

Jessie put it well: “Just because you have these great ideas, or opportunities come knocking, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they're the right ones for you. And some of them are really tempting! But they might not get you to your why.” 

You need to master the art of saying no! We had an entire episode of Paper Talk dedicated to this subject, because it’s just so powerful. (Listen to Episode 85 here.) It’s hard to do, but the more you practice this skill, the better you’ll be at it.

Once you find the space to think critically about where you want your business to be, you have to focus on it. That means saying no to opportunities or ideas that don’t lead to it.

Build in Accountability

You can’t build a paper flower business alone. We all get help from family, friends, peers, and mentors. These relationships are essential for giving you someone to bounce ideas off of, to cheer you on, and very importantly, to keep you accountable. When you share your goals with someone, you’re going to have more motivation to work on them because that person is going to ask about them.

Our partnership in particular has been absolutely critical to our success both with Paper Talk and our individual businesses. And as Quynh said, “If you haven’t collaborated with another paper florist, I highly recommend it. The energy and the happiness that you get talking about paper flowers is just so fun.”

We talked a lot in the episode about how we’ve built our partnership so successfully. It isn’t always easy! But it’s completely worth it. You can also hear about our mentor for the podcast and how that has shaped our path for Paper Talk.

Here’s what you’ll learn when you listen to our conversation:

• How we balance our personal lives and paper flower businesses.
• Why leaning into your strengths is the key to avoiding burn out.
• Practical ideas for giving yourself space to focus on the big why and direction of your business.
• How to build a successful partnership, even between two very different people.

Join our Facebook group where you can share, connect, and grow with us. Please also consider supporting us on Patreon for even more great content like this.

BULLET POINTS OF WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• How we balance our personal lives and paper flower businesses.
• Why leaning into your strengths is the key to avoiding burn out.
• Practical ideas for giving yourself space to focus on the big why and direction of your business.
• How to build a successful partnership, even between two very different people.

Many paper florists end up teaching our craft. People want to know how you created that amazing paper flower! And once you start offering tutorials or classes, you are inevitably going to be asked about where to source our specialized materials like crepe.

One answer to this issue? Offering kits with your tutorials.

In our latest episode of Paper Talk we dove into what it really takes to offer kits to your customers. If you haven’t put a kit together before, there are lots of issues that you probably haven’t thought of. Here’s just a few to get you started.

Packaging Wholesale Items

If you’re going to make a profit from selling kits, you should definitely look into buying items wholesale. That said, you can’t just throw a bunch of unmarked wholesale wires and crepe paper into a kit.

Many customers who are buying paper flower kits are new to our craft. They bought your tutorial and kit because they often don’t feel equipped to find the items themselves. It’s all so new to them! So they aren’t going to recognize the difference between a 22 gauge and a 16 gauge wire. You need to repackage these wholesale items in a way that customers can easily understand.

We discussed much more in the episode about packaging kits, including how to best present your product to make it a magical experience for the customer. Presentation matters!

Storing Products Safely

Buying all of those wholesale items means that you are going to need space to store them all. But you can’t shove them just anywhere.

As we discussed in more detail on the podcast, you have to make sure that these items won’t be damaged by crushing weight or by the elements, and that they will still be fresh if you don’t ship them out to a customer until months later. 

One way to avoid some of these issues is to offer preorders, meaning that customers buy something that won’t ship to them for some time. In the episode, we talked about how we used this method for our Awesome Blossom! workshop series, and everything you need to think about when offering preorders. 

Shipping Costs

Many small business owners don’t take into account all of their shipping costs. They ultimately end up losing money because they didn’t account for all of their expenses.

When you put together paper flower kits, you need to take into account the shipping costs for buying wholesale items, as well as what it will cost you to ship to customers. Kits can be heavy or bulky depending on what you include! You need to know how much a kit will cost to ship before you sell it at a set price that won’t cover this expense.

And this gets even more complicated with international shipping. Quynh has had international customers request her kits, but it isn’t as simple as them offering to cover the increased costs. On the podcast, you can hear our discussion about the pros and cons of shipping internationally, and how to deal with the guilt that might come when you turn down international customers. 

Here’s what you’ll learn when you listen to our conversation:

• How Quynh began teaching and creating kits.
• What goes into creating, packaging, and shipping paper flower kits.
• Whether you should ship internationally or not.
• Managing clients’ expectations around ordering and shipping.
• How to manage preorders and why they could help your business.

Join our Facebook group where you can share, connect, and grow with us. Please also consider supporting us on Patreon for even more great content like this.

BULLET POINTS OF WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• How Quynh began teaching and creating kits.
• What goes into creating, packaging, and shipping paper flower kits.
• Whether you should ship internationally or not.
• Managing clients’ expectations around ordering and shipping.
• How to manage preorders and why they could help your business.

In our latest episode we talked with Kristen Kong of Campbell Workshop. In under a year she opened a shop and started a YouTube channel with a gruelling one-tutorial-a-week schedule. How does she do it? She shared all the details with us on the podcast, giving you an insider’s look at what it takes to produce regular and beautiful video content. 

Listen now to learn how she does it, but in the meantime, here’s a look at three things we discussed that will put you on the path to success when it comes to building a YouTube channel.

Focus on Your Strengths

Part of our discussion delved into how unique each of us are as artists and creators. There isn’t a one-size fits all path when it comes to paper flowers. 

Kristin explained her love of making tutorials like this: “Making paper flowers constantly could be boring for me, because I just keep repeating the same process, making the same flowers… It’s less challenging for me. I just love making new things and keep creating things… It just depends on the person, really.” 

Cranking out a tutorial every week might not be for you. If you don’t love doing that kind of work, you will burn out quickly. If you are interested in creating more videos, think about what kind of content you would be happy to put your heart into. That might mean that you post different videos than other paper florists, or that you post less often. That’s okay! Figure out what works for you and focus on that.

Know Your Target Audience

As you make YouTube videos, keep in mind who will be watching them. Do you want to capture experienced paper florists? Crafters who are dabbling in crepe? People who just want to watch something pretty be made? 

The better you understand who your target audience is, the better content you can create to engage with them. 

Kristen talked more about this on the episode, but in short, she keeps all of her tutorials accessible to as wide an audience as possible. How? By using tools and items that almost anyone would have around the house. She knows the level of commitment her audience is comfortable with.

Let Yourself Be Less Than Perfect

Kristen shared her tutorial creation schedule on the podcast, which will give you a great peek at what it takes to create as much content as she does. One thing that stuck out to us is that she doesn’t let the fear of not being perfect hold her back. 

She didn’t have the best equipment when she started filming, and still doesn’t. She doesn’t get caught up on perfecting the details of each tutorial. She does her best in the time she has, and then she posts the video and moves on to the next. 

Being consistent with producing content is more important than being absolutely perfect. The truth is that you can spend months polishing a video, and it will still not be perfect. The minute you publish, someone will point out a flaw. 

Kristen’s advice about paper flowers applies here as well: “Everything doesn’t have to be perfect. Even in the flower world, like the real flower world, they don’t really have the perfect ones, because some of them have a little bit of burn or like a bit of tear or something like that. So there’s no perfect flowers in the real world.”

If beautiful flowers don’t have to be perfect, you don’t have to either.

Here’s what you’ll learn when you listen to our conversation:

• How Kristen started her paper flower journey.
• Her process and schedule for creating weekly tutorials.
• How she makes her tutorials accessible for everyone.
• Which equipment she uses to produce her videos.
• What she offers on Patreon to her fans.

Join our Facebook group where you can share, connect, and grow with us. Please also consider supporting us on Patreon for even more great content like this.

Have you ever dreamed of owning a brick and mortar shop?

We’ve heard many paper florists express interest in opening up a physical store, but fear of the unknown holds them back. It’s a big leap! Luckily, in our latest episode of Paper Talk we chatted with Arlene Rest of Arlo Arts in the UK. Arlene made the jump from working in the corporate world, to becoming a paper florist, and eventually to owning a brick and mortar store. She shared why a physical store has so many benefits for increasing sales and building community, but she also told us about the many challenges that come along with shop ownership.

Arlo Arts has built up a big fan base and a great reputation. How did Arlene do it? There are too many helpful details from the episode to share here, but here’s a quick look at three things Arlene suggests paper florists should think about before taking the plunge into opening up a physical location.

Be Prepared to Diversify

If you have interest in opening up a shop, it’s probably because you love paper flowers and want to share that with your community, whether through workshops or offering supplies or selling made flowers. The reality, however, is that you most likely can’t keep a store running on that alone.

The good news is that our artform overlaps and runs alongside many other crafts. As Arlene said, “Generally try and make sure you’ve got enough interest in the store, so it’s maybe not just paper flowers, maybe you’ve got complementary things in there.” 

Listen to the podcast to hear how Arlene has diversified her store and how she chooses which items will sell instead of just buying things she likes.

Understand the Upfront Costs

Many paper florists are already running online businesses. You might have encountered some surprise costs along the way. With a brick-and-mortar store, there are even more costs, and you have to pay many of them upfront. That means that you need capital and you need a solid plan to start making money as soon as possible.

The first step is to fully understand what you will have to pay for upfront. Arlene shared so much in the episode that will get you started, and there are many other resources out there for people opening up physical small businesses. Do your homework. Get your finances in order. Know what you’re getting into.

Have Enough Time

Running a physical store is not a side gig. Arlene is the only worker at Arlo Arts, and she has to do it all. As she shared on the podcast, her life circumstances are such that she can dedicate herself full-time to running her shop.

Take a look at your life. Be honest with yourself. Do you really have the bandwidth to get a store up and running? Even if you hire someone to help, the buck still stops with you. And like Arlene said, the time she spends on running her shop isn’t just during the store’s open hours. Be ready to pour lots of time and effort into a new business. 

You can hear what Arlene’s typical day at Arlo Arts is like by listening to the episode. You’ll get a good idea of what her time commitments look like.

Here’s what you’ll learn when you listen to our conversation:

• Arlene’s journey from paper florist to brick and mortar business owner.
• The positives of owning a physical store.
• What it takes to run a brick-and-mortar shop.
• The biggest challenge Arlene faces running Arlo Arts.
• How she runs workshops and rents out her space.

Join our Facebook group where you can share, connect, and grow with us. Please also consider supporting us on Patreon for even more great content like this.

BULLET POINTS OF WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Arlene’s journey from paper florist to brick and mortar business owner.
• The positives of owning a physical store.
• What it takes to run a brick-and-mortar shop.
• The biggest challenge Arlene faces running Arlo Arts.
• How she runs workshops and rents out her space.

Imagine this: you create a paper flower template, you put it up for sale online, and without any further work from you, it brings in a steady stream of income. 

You can do exactly this with digital evergreen products. 

On our latest episode of Paper Talk we chatted about how you can make passive income from your digital content. Now, you can’t just post a template and expect the sales to roll in. As we discussed on the podcast, there is work that has to be done to cultivate your business and your online presence in order to leverage evergreen content. But with some planning, your paper flower business can bring in steady money from products that you’re not actively promoting.

Listen to the episode to get inspired and start producing successful evergreen content. If you can’t listen right away, here are three reasons why you should expand your horizons and start producing evergreen digital content.

Spend Less Time Making Products

The beauty of digital content is that you don’t have to invest time in making products over and over again. With physical items, each paper flower you create needs to be handmade by you. Evergreen digital content doesn’t require you to put in a big chunk of time for every single sale you make. 

For example, an online course takes time to plan, film, edit, and promote, but then you’re done. You may spend a bit of time advertising here and there, but nothing compared to creating something from scratch. And as Jessie in the episode, “You only have so many hours in the day. As we get older, it’s harder to make things over and over again.”

Listen to the podcast to learn which digital products you should put that upfront investment of time into.

Tie-Up Less Money 

An evergreen product is something that doesn’t need continual input from you. That includes monetary input. Instead of buying materials upfront for each order, you only have to invest once—and even then, there are evergreen products that require very little upfront investment.

In the episode, we discussed how to broaden your product offerings with things like print-on-demand items, and we also talked about creating new content from old. As Quynh said, “If you’ve been in business for a couple of years now, you’ve got a lot of content. Look back on your history.” You’ll want to listen to our discussion for all of the details on how to leverage that content.

For now, know that good evergreen content will bring in more money over time than you put into it upfront.

Save Inventory Space

Digital content lives on the internet instead of taking up space in your closet or on your kitchen table—we know how a big paper flower project takes over the house! When you can bring in a steady stream of passive income from digital items, you can focus on the physical projects you really care about.

We’re not trying to convince anyone to give up making paper flowers. We certainly haven’t! But we do want to encourage paper florists to look for other revenue streams that won’t take up time, money, or space in their already crowded lives. 

Here’s what you’ll learn when you listen to our conversation:

Ideas for creating evergreen content.

Which digital products you should invest time cultivating.

How to leverage social media for evergreen content.

Repackaging content in different ways to promote sales with less work.

Join our Facebook group where you can share, connect, and grow with us. Please also consider supporting us on Patreon for even more great content like this.

BULLET POINTS OF WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Ideas for creating evergreen content.
• Which digital products you should invest time cultivating.
• How to leverage social media for evergreen content.
• Repackaging content in different ways to promote sales with less work.

How do you find your artistic voice? Will you ever get to the point that you can tell clients that you know what’s best for their floral arrangements—and they trust you?

In our latest episode we talked with fresh florist Sue Mcleary, also known as Passionflower Sue. She has a unique and strong style. She stays true to her artistic voice, and her clients are all the happier for it. But Sue didn’t magically arrive on the fresh flower scene knowing who she was as a florist. It took time and experience. She told us all about how she found her way, and the principles all apply to our paper flower journeys as well. 

Listen now to hear how Sue took back her artistic vision and has built a floral career that brings her joy and fulfillment as a result. 

Here’s a sneak peek at three things we discussed in the episode that can help you get started on your artistic journey.

Find What You’re Passionate About

Sue didn’t expect to fall in love with floral arranging. She took on a wedding as a favor to a friend, and as she said:

“When I was designing flowers [for the first time], I really had this moment where everything kind of stopped, and I got chills, and I thought to myself, ‘This feels so right and so good. I think this is what I’m supposed to do’”

Even after she figured out that she wanted to be a florist, she still took time to find her niche. After several years, she discovered that she loved teaching. You need to do the same. Maybe you love creating large installations, but you don’t know it yet. As we discussed in more depth the episode, give yourself room to breathe sometimes so that you can watch for that moment of clarity that Sue had. 

Give Yourself Time

Many of us, like Sue, are late bloomers to our industries. That can actually be a great benefit! Before Sue found flowers, she made jewelry. That shows in her work today. She is very well known for how she uses her floral art on the body in stunning ways. 

You need time to gain experience and to learn. You need time to find what you are truly passionate about. That’s okay. This isn’t a race. This is a journey to find what will bring you joy as a paper florist.

Try Different Artistic Styles

Those who are new to paper flowers or any artistic industry need to try different things out. They need to learn, and that usually means trying on different styles that closely follow more experienced artists. We had a fantastic discussion on the podcast about mimicking others and making ideas your own, both from the perspective of newbies and more experienced artists/teachers.

On the one end, teachers need to help newer artists find their style. Sue told us about a formative experience that taught her what kind of teacher she wanted to be. You can hear the interesting details in the episode, but in short, it made her very passionate about sharing as much information with her students as possible. As she said, “You teach because you want people to be better than you. Because you enjoy the idea that you can participate in elevating your industry.”

Our thoughtful discussion went much deeper into both teaching as an experienced creator and learning by mimicking. If you’ve felt unsure about either of those issues, make sure to listen.

Here’s what you’ll learn when you listen to our conversation:

• Why taking back the artistic vision will actually make for happier clients.
• How to stop worrying about sharing what makes you special as a teacher.
• Why being a late bloomer in your industry can be a great perk.
• How she runs forums and offers online classes in different formats.
• What you’ll learn from Sue’s two fantastic books.

Join our Facebook group where you can share, connect, and grow with us. Please also consider supporting us on Patreon for even more great content like this.

BULLET POINTS OF WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Why taking back the artistic vision will actually make for happier clients.
• How to stop worrying about sharing what makes you special as a teacher.
• Why being a late bloomer in your industry can be a great perk.
• How she runs forums and offers online classes in different formats.
• What you’ll learn from Sue’s two fantastic books.