Slow Flowers Creative Workshop: Your Pre-Homework [PDF download]

Here are some exercises and prompts that you are encouraged to work on prior to joining the Slow Flowers Creative Workshop.

By the end of our time together, you will have developed a clear vision for your brand distinctives and have a glossary of effective storytelling language to support the marketing for your floral business.

Let’s get started. Please complete this form and bring it with you to share on Day One of our workshop. Don’t feel stressed if you leave some fields blank. You can send these to debra@slowflowers.com.

 

Name:

Business name:

Date founded:

Web Site:

Facebook:

Instagram:

Twitter:

Pinterest:

Other:

Describe your business in 2-3 sentences:

Activity #1 — All about Y O U: Who/What Defines You

Describe your earliest memory or an early memory when you interacted with flowers, the garden or nature:

Describe your earliest memory or an early memory when you interacted with art?

 

What are the emotions or sensory impressions attached to those memories?

 

Describe how color affects you? What is your favorite color? Why?

 

Describe the place(s) where you feel at home. This can be a geographic region or a specific spot (like “the mountains” or “the beach”):

 

In what Season do you feel most at peace?  List 3 attributes of that time of year that you find comforting:

1.

2.

3.

 

Activity #2 — All about  M I S S I O N   &   P A S S I O N: What Makes You Tick?

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up? What gets you out of bed in the morning?

 

 

What would you do in life even if you weren’t paid to do it?

 

 

What is your NORTH STAR, your Guiding Principle? The urban dictionary definition of North Star is: Something that is a constant and dependable in an ever changing world.

 

In your business, when do you compromise? (give examples)

 

When do you NOT compromise? (give examples)

 

What are you compelled to share/offer/provide others in order to make the world a better place?

 

What needs, demands or problems (physical or emotional) are you solving for customers?

 

Activity #3 — All about  C H A R A C T E R: Actions over Words

List 5 NOUNS to describe you:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

List 5 ADJECTIVES to describe your aesthetic or style:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

List 5 VERBS to describe the way you work and create:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

 

Future Activity: Things to think about (we’ll do plenty of exercises about this when we’re together). Draft a few sentences that best reflect your business  Mission, Vision and Values:

1. The Mission captures, in a few succinct sentences, the essence of your business’s goals and the philosophies underlying them. The Mission can reveal:

• Who is your company?
• What do you do? What do you stand for? And why do you do it?
• Do you want to make a profit, or is it enough to just make a living?
• What markets are you serving, and what benefits do you offer them?
• Do you solve a problem for your customers?
• What kind of internal work environment do you want for your employees?

Here is an example of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market MISSION:

To foster a Vibrant Community Marketplace that sustains Local Flower Farms and provides Top Quality Products and Service to the Floral Industry of the Pacific Northwest.

Here is the Mission of Slowflowers.com:

The Mission of Slowflowers.com is to promote American-grown flowers, to make it easy for flower consumers to connect with florists, shops, studios and farms who provide American-grown flowers, and to encourage truthful and transparent country-of-origin labeling in the floral industry.

MY MISSION:

 

 

2. The Vision is inspirational and aspirational. It creates a mental image of what you want to be in the future: what you wish to achieve. It can also serve as a tool for strategic decision-making. If you know where you want to end up, you can measure choices large or small against that goal to determine if they are essential to your core vision

Here is an example of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market VISION:

Cultivating a Northwest Floral Industry that Values and Supports Local Growers and Sustainable Growing Practices.

MY VISION:

3. Values: A statement that informs internal and external audiences about your top priorities and core beliefs. It can help you effectively identify with and connect with consumers and remind your tribe (employees/vendors) about your priorities and goals.

Here is an example of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market VALUES:

• To be fiscally responsible to the members of our cooperative and their equity in the company

 

• To use sustainable practices on our farms and to strive to produce zero waste in our market

 

• To provide truth in advertising to our customers

 

• To value the creativity and equal importance of everyone with whom we work and with whom we do business

 

• To uphold the cooperative business model through strategic collaboration and industry alliances

 

• To work passionately at providing excellent, bountiful floral product from our farms

 

• To encourage and foster the next generation of flower farmers and florists

 

• To have fun while doing business

 

MY VALUES: