What Is Your Unfair Advantage?

April 25, 2012 by 2 Comments

What is your unfair advantage in business? Everyone has one. It could be related to your past work experience, your college degree or your spouse’s unique abilities. What is it that helps your event planning business that your competitors don’t have?

Here are competitive advantages you may not have thought of:

My spouse is an accountant. Great! Instead of having to pay a professional accountant for bookkeeping, financial business planning and taxes, can your spouse take on this roll? If so, this gives you an advantage because you can put the money you would have spent on those tasks into marketing, education or some other business detail. It also helps because your spouse can answer financial questions whenever they arise.

I majored in theatre and production. This is… continue reading

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Are You Tired of Doing It All Yourself?

April 23, 2012 by 2 Comments

Today’s guest post is by Jeanna Pool. Jeanna is the Amazon #1 bestselling author of the book Marketing for Solos®, speaker and marketing consultant who helps solo small business owners attract more clients consistently. Visit her website www.MarketingForSolos.com now to get FREE marketing tips that will jump-start your marketing efforts and success.

Dear solo small business owner…are you suffering from too much “doing it all yourself?”

Do you feel overwhelmed with the long list of items on your never ending to-do list?

Are you not accomplishing as much as you would like to in your business?… continue reading

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Retirement + Business Exit Strategy

April 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Retirement

Do you still want to be planning weddings and events when you are 65, 75 or 85 years old?

What age do you plan to retire?

Are you saving for retirement?

Do you plan to sell your business, dissolve it or give it to someone when you retire?

As a business owner, these are very important questions to ask yourself, even if you are just starting your event planning business.

When you are an employee for a company, it’s easy to save for retirement because most larger companies have a retirement plan setup that you automatically contribute to. As… continue reading

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What is Color Blocking?

April 16, 2012 by 3 Comments

Have you heard the buzz words lately in event design? Color blocking is a huge trend this year in both fashion and event design. Color blocking simply means that you pair two or three totally different colors together to make a bold statement.

You can see simple color blocking on this wedding invitation:

{from minted.com}

 

This potential bridesmaid dress pairs together bright colors such as fuchsia, white and tangerine:

{from 2b stores}

 

This designer used gorgeous color blocking… continue reading

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Are You Giving Away Your Work?

April 12, 2012 by 11 Comments

It is perfectly acceptable to do a few events for free or low cost when you are first starting out. We all need to start somewhere and many event planners started off this way to get experience.

If you are in your second or third year of business (or more) and are still offering wedding day coordination (also called event day management or month-of coordination) for $200 or $500 or $xxx dollars (whatever is extremely low in your market), then you are selling yourself short and devaluing your time and talent.

Here is a very conservative break down of time spent for a typical wedding day

continue reading

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Mistakes to Avoid During Consultations

April 10, 2012 by 4 Comments

When you are meeting a potential new client, it’s often very exciting and you may be over eager to book their event. Before you step into a consultation, take a few moments to breathe and relax so that you appear confidant and ready. Here are a few mistakes to avoid during the consultation:

1. Negotiate your price too soon. Whether you negotiate your prices or not is up to you, however do not start lowering your prices before the client asks.  Be confidant in your pricing and what you have to offer.

2. Talking too much. Listen to your clients and ask… continue reading

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Twelve Questions for Event Design Success

April 5, 2012 by 6 Comments

The key to event design success is being able to understand and translate your client’s style, ideas and vision into something incredible that exceeds their expectations and imagination. Designing weddings and events starts with getting to know your clients. Having a solid grasp of who they are, what they like, what is important and where they shop is the foundation you will use to build the design ideas and style for the event.

Here are twelve questions to ask wedding clients before you start their event design:

1. “What are five words you would use to describe your wedding day?”

2. “What are your favorite colors?”

3. “What are your least favorite colors?”

4. “Where do you shop for clothes?”

5. “Where do you shop for… continue reading

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Meeting Professionals International | Florida Chapter Education Day

April 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment

If you are near north Florida, you don’t want to miss out on this incredible educational opportunity!

MPI NORTH FLORIDA CHAPTER’S EDUCATION DAY
Tuesday, April 10th, 2012
9:00 am – 2:30 pm (8:00 – 9:00 am Registration)

Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village

This exciting event will feature something for everyone including:

  • Industry Renowned Speakers & Interactive Educational Sessions
  • Moderated Roundtable Sessions with a Variety of Engaging Topics
  • Table-top Supplier Exhibits
  • Update from MPI International Board of Directors
  • Lunch and Afternoon Coffee & Dessert Reception
  • Networking With Colleagues and Friends

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

  • Holly Duckworth, CAE, CMP Generation Now –  7 Strategies to Building Future Leaders, Staff and
continue reading
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The People Plan | Guide for Hiring and Training

April 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment

We are proud to support Sage Wedding Pros, creators of The Simple Plan, with the launch of The People Plan!

 

What is The People Plan?

  • The People Plan is a collection of EASY-PEASY HIRING and TRAINING tools.
  • The People Plan is your human resources department in a box.
  • The People Plan is everything you need to add an individual or team to your business.

The People Plan is No-Sweat, No-Fuss, Piece-of-Cake, Easy-Peasy Human Resources for your small business!

What does it include?

It includes a 56-page book and over 20 digital files (templates, checklists, forms, etc) which will assist you in:

PREPARING to… continue reading

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Setting Office Hours

March 30, 2012 by 2 Comments

Event planners are often expected to be on-call 24-7 and respond to client requests and emergencies at all times. This can be incredibly draining and lead to career burnout if you have clients who take advantage of your time or if you don’t have a good system in place for managing time.  It’s perfectly acceptable to establish set office hours for your clients.  You can establish your hours (and days off) on your website, in your email signature or in your client contracts.

When you determine your office hours, choose the days and times that work for you.  These hours might change from week-to-week based on your schedule… continue reading

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Running a Wedding Rehearsal

March 28, 2012 by 11 Comments

Running your first few wedding rehearsals can be a daunting task. Many planners have commented this is their least favorite part of the wedding planning process.  If the officiant or church coordinator will be at the ceremony rehearsal, communicate with her the week prior to determine who will be responsible for directing the rehearsal. Some church coordinators and officiants prefer to take charge which is helpful to know ahead of time. You can also inquire with the ceremony musicians to see if they would like to attend the rehearsal.

Here are six steps for directing a successful wedding ceremony rehearsal:

continue reading

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Coaching and Mentoring Official Launch & Giveaway!

March 26, 2012 by 16 Comments

Today is the official launch of coaching and mentoring services through Planner’s Lounge! After unofficially doing coaching and consulting with many small business owners over the past decade, it’s finally time to make it official. It inspires me immensely to see other women (and men) build, grow and be successful in the events industry. Our coaching and mentoring services are available to anyone in the events industry or for anyone interested in getting started in weddings and events including planners, designers, coordinators, photographers, florists and more.

Not only are we officially launching today, I am GIVING AWAY three (3) one-on-one coaching sessions this week!  You can enter up to three times by doing the following… continue reading

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