Building your brand sounds more intimidating than it is.

Unlike big businesses and corporations, we are our brand.

It is a much more pure process. When building your brand you are deciding two things:

What do you want your brand to say?
How do you want your brand to be represented?

Customers want to purchase flowers from a small-scale grower or hire a farmer-florist not because some big flashy ad told them to, but rather, to make a connection. A fellow human connection. A connection to the earth through supporting a grower directly. To support their local economy by supporting a local small business. To be able to purchase fresh, unique flowers that are exclusive to a local flower farm.

Authenticity is essential when building your brand as a small business owner/grower/florist. This means you get to be yourself.

When I was first exploring what has become Sierra Flower Farm, I didn’t have a name, a logo, or a website, and I pretty much loathed social media.

All I knew was I wanted to grow and share pretty flowers. Well, that wasn’t enough:

Husband: “What’s your business plan?”

Me: “To grow pretty flowers.”

Husband: “You need more of a plan if this is going to work…”

Me: “In the end, at least they’ll be pretty flowers.”

I have shared this exchange between Graham and me in other blogs about my flower farming endeavor being a business or a hobby. In order to grow and share pretty flowers as a business, I needed to treat it as a business. This also meant building my brand.

What did I want to say to my community and to the world with my brand?

Finding Your Flower Farm’s Voice

Have you ever stood on the ledge of a cliff overseeing a valley of trees far below? Or one standing above waves dramatically crashing against the boulders? Or perhaps a massive bridge over a rushing river?

That feeling is similar to deciding how to use your brand’s voice to connect with others. Am I alone on this?

Meaning there’s some pressure with it. What do I want to say to my community? In the modern world of social media and the internet, what do I want to say worldwide?

Ultimately, I chose to be myself, the best version of myself, but still myself. I encourage you to use your brand’s voice to do the same.

Not hiding behind an avatar or filter like on social media but just you with your hopes and dreams, and flowers, of course.

If you are passionate about regenerative agriculture, make sustainable part of your voice.

If you are passionate about intricate floral designs curated especially for individuals, make bespoke part of your voice.

If you are a stay-at-home mom making a go of flower farming, make that part of your voice.

The main one we can each share is being passionate about locally grown specialty cut flowers; make that part of your voice.

Long ago, when I was first scheming flower farming, I came across an article that suggested you choose three words to describe your business. Back then, I chose Local, Fresh, and Sustainable. These days, “sustainable” has become such a slippery slope that I chose to drop that and switch it with “Lovingly Grown.” If you are at a loss for how to brand yourself, consider choosing three words to describe what you believe in and want to offer your customers.

Overall, be authentic. Authenticity is greatly missing from this world, making it quite refreshing. Keep your messaging simple.

To create a Mission Statement or Not?

I remember doing my Capstone project for getting my Bachelor's in accounting; it was to create a business plan. Technically, a Mission Statement is part of the business plan, and it is a good idea for each business to have a core goal and set of values. Even if you choose not to share your mission statement on your website, I challenge you to take the time to create one, even if it is simply to remind yourself of the purpose of your business.

Knowing your purpose, ethos- essentially your brand’s voice, will also help guide you to determine a business name.

Selecting a Name for Your Business

When I was first figuring out a name for my flower farming business, I went to Google and the thesaurus.

I put chic French words together that would spell something like bloom a la stem that I couldn’t pronounce.

It was Graham who suggested Sierra Flower Farm.

Admittedly, I didn’t love it at first. After all, living in the Sierras, everything has the name “Sierra” in it, from liquor stores to laundromats. The name felt… basic.

Though I always liked the name, Sierra, I even have a pet chinchilla with that name. It was also simple and easy to remember, which seemed like it would be a benefit.

Eight years later, I can say that keeping it simple was the right call. The name made it easy for customers to remember to easily follow up with us with a quick Google search or on Social Media.

Here are some things to think about when selecting your flower farming business’s name:

Choose a name that’s easy to pronounce.
- Keep your business name simple and fuss-free for potential and existing customers to be able to say.
Choose a name that is easy to spell.
- Similarly to choosing a name that is easy to pronounce, it should also be easy to spell.
Choose a memorable name.
- A name that means something, whether it is a good representation of your physical location, services, or the spirit of your flower farming business.
Choose a name that is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) friendly.
- We did this by accident with Sierra Flower Finder!
- Also, having the words “flower farm” in our name has helped with SEO.
- A name that represents you and your product offering.
Choose a name that has a website domain available.
- Before getting too attached to a possible business name, be sure to check that the domain (a .com one for commercial use) is available. We want to use this website to check domain availability and purchase the domain.
- We also like to check for similar business names on a Google search to make sure if something is typed incorrectly, it doesn’t lead customers to a website that would make us blush! It’s also wise to check for potential competition with similar business names.
Choose a name that is available with your Secretary of State.
- If you did a Google search as recommended, you should have an indication of whether or not the business name is available, but always be sure that it is with your Secretary of State. You don’t want to begin investing time and energy into a business name you can’t register for.

Securing Your Flower Farm’s Business Name

Once you find that the business name you want is available you need to secure the business name before taking the next steps of building your brand.

Each state may be different, but here in Nevada, we needed to get a DBA (Doing Business As) name to be able to register our business with the Secretary of State and open a business bank account.

Once you have your business name, it is time to start building your brand by creating a logo!

Creating Your Flower Farm’s Logo

Basic seems to be the underlying tone we went for.

We wanted our logo to be simple and fun but not distracting from the flowers.

We also chose to go with neutral colors; back when we were first starting, being budget-conscious was heavy on the mind. It is much less expensive to have items printed in black and white rather than color. We also didn’t have it in our budget to hire a professional to design our logo and this was long before Canva was a thing.

One night during a family BBQ, with the encouragement of my brother-in-law and his wife, we created our logo. A scrap piece of paper, a dull pencil, and five minutes later, the logo was crudely sketched. My brother-in-law took it and fixed it up in Photoshop; we found a free font to use, and voila! Our logo was created.

I have a fondness for the logo; I think more for its origin story than the actual logo itself.

I encourage you to have fun with your logo and keep it simple. A design that can easily be turned into a stamp, a business card, a banner or to be used on your website. Create a logo that is versatile for various business needs.

Considerations When Designing Your Flower Farm’s Logo

Keep it simple.
The more colors, the higher the costs for printed products.
Have it represent your business and offerings.
Make sure your business name is legible.

These days, if you do not want to bust out the pencil, paper, or watercolors, fortunately, there are great programs to DIY your logo! Canva is a great program that will make you feel like a legit graphic designer. On Etsy, you can easily purchase downloadable logos or graphics to custom-create your own. If you really have an aversion to DIYing your logo but don’t have a budget to hire a professional, websites such as Fiverr could be a good fit where graphic designers will pitch their designs, and you choose and pay for the one you like.

Now that you have an idea of what you want your brand to say, have a name and logo, now you need some space to share it all!

Snatch your space!

As a reminder, you must also secure your flower farm’s domain name when securing your business name.

You should also have a domain name under the moon and every social media account. Or, at the very least, a Facebook and Instagram. Unless you plan on shipping physical products, I recommend setting up a business page on Facebook and a Content Creator on Instagram. Honestly, though, you should list the pros and cons of each to see which type of account is best suited for your needs.

Circling back to the domain name, I am a huge advocate for having a website for your flower farming business and email campaigns. A website is your space to express yourself and tell your story truly. You can do that to some degree on your social media accounts but in our experience, a website is much more powerful.

You need to have an internet presence. When brides are looking for a wedding florist or a son is looking to purchase his mom a bouquet subscription, they are most likely going to Google over attempting to search hashtags on Instagram.

While we’re at it, ditch that “@gmail” and “@hotmail” and become a professional. It needs to be “@(whatever your business name is). Even if you feel unworthy or that it is unnecessary, I’m here to tell you: in this day and age, you need to.

It makes you look professional and less scammy, which, with the increase of sophisticated scams and AI, will help.

If you can muster the energy, you should blog or vlog. Even if you are writing for your mother to “ooo” and “ahh” and what their awesome creative kid made. You need social media, but don’t rely on it. Put your energy into your website; that’s your space! Put your energy into email campaigns and build up your newsletter list at every farmer’s market or pop-up you are at! Typically, when we offer a product to sell, 90% of those sales come from pushing the product through an email campaign.

Keep your web pages and content fresh; don’t let your website stagnate!

Also, throw an online store up there and make it easy for people to purchase your product! We live in the age of convenience, for most people that does not include calling on the phone.

Content, content, content: become your photographer

Graham and I decided to become our photographers; thanks to YouTube and persistence, we’ve gotten pretty decent.

A task that once seemed overwhelming has become something we now relish. It has given us the opportunity to challenge ourselves further with another form of art while having the benefit of capturing our flowers. Flowers are ethereal, but capturing them in a photo makes them timeless. The season can go by in such a blur that it is such a treat to look back on the photos we captured while the snow flutters in winter.

Taking photos at sunset has become essential for us during the season. Sunburnt and tired, it has also become magical despite all that. It is a time to appreciate the flowers themselves truly.

Even if you are not up to learning how to use a “fancy” camera with a phone, get into the habit of framing your photos and exposing them correctly. The phones have gotten pretty great at capturing photos. Use them! Have fun with it and explore seeing your field of flowers through a fresh lens.

Monet said there are never enough flowers; well, there is that, but there are never enough photos of the flowers either! Having your own high-quality photos will help you increase sales and connect more with your customers.

Take the time to make yourself feel human and get in front of the camera once in a while too!

We are the farmers, we are in the trenches and we work to capture those moments ourselves. You don’t have to be perfect, just do it and continue to work on the craft of photographing your flower farming journey.

Luckily, in the beginning stages of my business I had a handful of photos from my vegetable garden that I took before flower farming. I also created content when there wasn’t any content: staging seeds in Graham’s fabulous wooden bowls, soil blocks, and plant babies in the greenhouse. I used those photos for my website, then as my season picked up and better photos were taken, I switched them out, lightning fast! At least I had those in the beginning. They made Sierra Flower Farm look legit before I even felt close to feeling legit (okay, who am I kidding? I still don’t feel legit, haha!).

I briefly mentioned blogging and vlogging: talk to your peeps! Keep your website relevant, I’m sure you have something to say to someone! Everyone loves a hero’s journey. Share yours!

Marketing Materials for Your Flower Farm

We found balancing quality versus being cost-effective was puzzling at first.

We had to be selective on what marketing materials we would use to represent our business the way we wanted it to but not cost us so much that our operation budget was blown on packaging and other marketing materials. The cost can quickly run away from you, and then you have two choices: eat the cost from your profit or raise your prices to afford the materials that go into it.

For example, we invested in an adorable metal sign with my logo for about $100 from a local sign business. That sign has been blown over, leaned on, kicked, and hung on a ladder: we are not kind. This was our choice in lieu of a banner or A-sign. We wanted something cute, versatile, and tough. We did not only sell at farmer’s markets, and we did not base our brand around that outlet. We also sell at outlets that demand cute, so it has to work on that level.

It would have been easy for us to buy the banner for the farmer’s market and something else for our other outlets. Instead, we brainstormed and weighed the pros and cons. We decided on a compromise that would work for us across the board. Seven years later, that sign is still solid.

We also invested in more expensive business cards.

Business cards that wouldn’t easily be mixed up with a bank business card, or worse! Graham accounting ones! Once again, we wanted to leave an impression. So we invested in heavier-weight cards that were not the usual shape and size. Instead, we went for square cards with rounded corners. Our logo is on one side, and on the other, a photo of dahlias and pertinent information. These business cards also double well for price tags for our more premium products. We have gotten a lot of positive feedback about our business cards. They also are tags for our local restaurant account flowers, which has booked us a few of our best weddings.

I also recommend investing in having a stamp made of your logo. You never know when you may run out of stickers or business cards but marketing 101, never let a product leave without your logo on it.

Basic Marketing Materials to Consider:

Business cards
Stickers
Card/postcards
Stamp
Signage/banner

To outsource or not to outsource?

The best person who knows how they would like to cultivate your flower farming brand is you. On the other hand, the person who knows your abilities and willingness is also you.

If it’s in your budget and you would rather not have to play graphic designer or web designer, hire a professional to help you with these tasks.

If you don’t have it in your budget to hire out and are willing to put some sweat equity into these tasks, then you should dive into it!

The great thing about building your brand is that it can evolve with you over time. Photos can be switched out, sentences can be edited- nothing is permanent.

Choosing sales outlets that represent your brand right!

A decision we don’t take lightly is what other brands do we want to align our brand with?

There will be opportunities for you, many opportunities, to work with other businesses. In the beginning, you may be thrilled to just be asked!

As someone who said “yes” too many times I give you a word of caution:

Take a hard look at the brand you are looking to align yourself with.

Does it make sense for you?

Are their customers a good fit as your customers?

Does it represent you and your flower farm in a way you like?

Think of your outlets, think of the brand you want to build. Think of the message you want to send out. It is easy to get caught up in the beginning saying “YES” to every person that approaches you wanting to sell your flowers or wanting you to be a flower vendor. By the end of your first season you will get burned out if you say yes to every person who asks. Know your limits, know how you want your brand represented and know your worth (know your flowers worth).

We have other businesses that we have teamed up with for years. Their customers translate well into our customers and vice versa. We are comfortable, in a good way, selling through these outlets. We’ve been fortunate. I want that for each of you, to find your profitable outlet and tribe. A partnership that benefits you and represents your brand positively.

Align yourself with businesses that share your aesthetic, similar price points, and passion.

Final ramblings…errr…thoughts….

Don’t market your brand as it is right now.

Market it for what you dream it will become.

Trust me, it will outpace you fast (you will not see it coming!).

Don’t go crazy spending on marketing materials, then have nothing left over to put into your actual product (which may lead you to put flower farming on the back shelf until next season!). Also, remember whatever sticker or card you put in with the product- build it into the price to accommodate!

Have fun building your brand, exploring your voice, and taking on the challenge of photography or building your website. Be yourself, your best self and make some great connections and friends in the process!

Building Your Flower Farm's Brand