Is Hosting an Online DIY Tutorial or Workshop Right for Your Business?
Holly Carlisle Photography
We live in a technologically advanced world, and our use of tech is only going to continue to increase. Technology is a huge part of our daily lives—from using our smartphones to make a call to advertising our services on a website. There are many ways you can delve into the advantages of technology for your flower business. One of these is by hosting a tutorial or workshop online at a distance.
How Hosting an Online DIY Tutorial Works:
You have a couple of different options as to how to go about making this happen.
Option 1 - Stay Local
Sell spots online via your website or social media to those in your local community.
Source flowers from a local flower farm or wholesaler and create bundles for clients to pick up from your home or studio at a set date and time frame. (Depending on how many attendees you’ll have, you can even offer to deliver the supplies 24 hours before the start of the tutorial for a small fee.)
Set a time/date for everyone to join a Zoom or Google Hangout call and design everything together!
Option 2 - At a Distance
Sell spots online via your website or social media to people all over the country.
Source flowers from a farm or wholesaler who ships nationally. The farm will create bundles (pre-determined by you and the farmer) to send to each recipient. The wholesaler will send bundles of flowers (chosen by you) to recipients. (NOTE: Be sure you work things out with the wholesaler and farmer and determine that they’re willing to do this before you begin selling spots.)
Pre-order a bundle for yourself and pre-record the video as you unbox and arrange/explain step by step.
Send the video to recipients on the day they’re scheduled to receive their flowers.
Holly Carlisle Photography
Is Hosting an Online Floral Workshop for You? Here Are Important Questions to Consider
Whether you’re a workshop-hosting pro or you’re just now considering this offering, there are four things you need to ask yourself to determine whether an online workshop is right for you and your business. Here they are below, and I’ll dive into each one in depth!
Are you willing to go out on a limb and take a risk?
What is your ultimate goal?
Do you have somewhere to source your flowers?
Who is your target audience?
1. Are you willing to take a risk?
This question isn’t meant to scare you, but it is a legitimate consideration. While technology is here to stay, the idea of hosting live paid workshops online is something quite new to the industry and, therefore, new to the general public. You could implement online workshops and it be a flop, but on the other hand, it could be a raging success!
If you give this a shot and it doesn’t work out well, will it completely break your business? If so, this may not be the right venture for you right now. Run the numbers with various scenarios beforehand, and make the decision based on what’s best for your business.
Holly Carlisle Photography
2. What Is Your Ultimate Goal In Offering Online DIY Flower Tutorials?
Are you hoping to replace an event design income? It’s important to note that it’s likely this revenue stream will not produce as much of a profit as designing for a wedding or event would. However, once you get it up and running, online DIY tutorials could bring in a steady flow of income. When working out the pricing, you’ll need to take into account the where you’re sourcing your flowers (fresh and in-season farm flowers will likely be a bit more expensive than internationally shipped wholesale blooms), whether there will be shipping costs, the time and effort you spend on logistics, and what you’re offering to clients.
If you’re a person who thrives in the in-person workshop scene, you’ll need to consider how you can be “present” when hosting an online tutorial. Remember, by being at a distance, you won’t be able to offer individualized support or problem-solving. There won’t be “special prizes” or a beautifully organized and well-stocked flower bar for attendees to choose from. But there are other things you can do to make this an exceptional experience for everyone involved. Here are a few ideas:
Give pointers on how to care for specific flowers
Include a thank-you card in their bundle or box of blooms
If you’re serving a local clientele, you can include a vessel for their design
Find fun ways to celebrate your attendees on the video (pop confetti poppers, play fun music, add a cheer, etc.)
Include tips on how to grow the flowers you’re using
Holly Carlisle Photography
3. Where Will You Source Your Flowers From?
Sourcing your flowers is a huge part of this being a successful venture. As we all know, flowers are seasonal and the industry is fluid, so be prepared to do a bit of work on the front-end to work through these logistics. Get in touch with your wholesaler to see what they might have available. If you don’t have a wholesale florist, there is an extensive network of various companies that can ship nationally. Do you live in a location with local growers? Chat with them about what you’re looking to do. Chances are, they’ll be all-in!
Where you’re sourcing your blooms from will also determine what type of arrangement you make. Do you have access to an abundance of blooms? You can create a sizeable sprawling centerpiece. Are your flowers more limited? Try designing a simple, garden-picked arrangement. Depending on how many flowers you have access to, you may need to set a cap on how many people can sign up for the tutorial.
Don’t have a local flower farm and can’t get flowers wholesale? Utilize the Team Flower Community to find a flower farm that can ship nationally and work out a system with them! (Not a Team Flower Member? Click here to join!)
4. Who Is Your Target Audience?
The answer to this question is important, as it will guide you in your decision-making process. If you’re unsure of who your target audience is, ask yourself the following questions to help narrow it down:
Holly Carlisle Photography
Are you plugged in to your local community?
What age group do you connect with best?
Does your audience have children? If so, what age?
Who are your engaged followers on social media?
Do you have subscribers for a newsletter?
What does your audience do for work? What type of jobs do they have?
You can also utilize social media and email to gauge the interest of your audience. Post an Instagram photo and story, use a poll, send out an email to your newsletter subscribers, etc.
Once you know who your target audience is, you’ll be able to determine whether you need to source flowers locally or find a national shipping option instead. It will also help you decide on a pricing structure (what can your audience afford?), as well as what type of arrangement to design.
If you’ve answered these questions and you’re up for taking the next step, then go for it. You’ve got this! Have any questions? Reach out to the Team Flower Community to see what others are doing. Congratulations on continuing to love the world through flowers—we’re cheering you on!
