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4
Mar 10

Cheap Wedding Photography - You Get What You Pay For

I know weddings are expensive, but cutting corners on your photography is something you’ll regret for years to come.

Long after you’ve forgotten about the late limo, the wilted lettuce and the wrong linens … the pictures will remain.

For many couples the only tangible evidence they have of their wedding day is their photographs. Here’s what happened when one bride picked a cheap wedding photographer.

I'd love to know what you think of this post. Leave a comment or question and I promise to respond.
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3
Mar 10

Event Business Scam

You know I’m always writing about ways to grow your business … but protecting it is even more important.
Recently more than 200 Boston area wedding & event professionals were ripped off by a phony Bridal Expo producer. They lost anywhere from $350 to $4,000 a piece.
In addition, over 5,000 brides-and-grooms to be were scammed out of the admission price of $10 to $15.
You can read the article here: http://bit.ly/bridescam
It’s tough enough out there without losing out to con-artists. Before you do business with a vendor, check them out.
  1. References. Your clients ask you for your references, why shouldn’t you do the same?
  2. Invoice. Negotiate for payment on delivery of services … and better yet on performance.
  3. Credit Cards. You have very little recourse after a check it cleared. Paying your deposit by credit card offers a bit more protection.
  4. Slow Down. There’s always another opportunity to spend money. Don’t feel pressured into making quick decisions.

Bridal Expos and Trade Shows can be a terrific way to grow your business, but most vendors lack the strategy and skills to make them pay off. Before you sign up for a marketing event, make sure your planning goes beyond sitting in the booth and handing out pens.

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24
Feb 10

The High Cost of Mediocrity

If you really want to build a successful business you just have to one thing.

It’s not building a fancier website or getting on page one of Google. It’s not pimping out your logo. It’s not giving out key chains and pens.

It’s not cold-calling or getting really good at handling objections.

The big secret to creating demand and getting clients to line up to do business with is … being remarkable.

Be the business that creates raving fans. The kind of fans who don’t just join your Facebook fan page, they start one for you.

On the face of it – it seems obvious.

But if it’s so obvious, why aren’t you doing it?

It’s because it’s hard to do … and besides, clients don’t demand it.

So we focus on “customer satisfaction” instead of creating amazing experiences that make customers want to tell the whole world about you.

Do you really think good enough is good enough?

Do you really expect to build a thriving business built on mediocrity?

Mediocre businesses always struggle to find clients. Remarkable ones struggle to keep up with demand.

  • A remarkable party DJ gives a client a show that’s worth $2,000 but only charges $800.
  • A remarkable caterer helps a bride pick out flowers, even if he doesn’t sell flowers.
  • A remarkable event photographer pulls some strings and gets her friend at the New York Times to cover her client’s grand-opening.
  • A remarkable A/V company helps the event producer find a keynote speaker at the last minute.
  • A remarkable banquet manager picks up the guest of honor’s lost luggage at the airport.

If you consistently “wow” your customers by going above and beyond the call of duty you will have customers for life.

Constantly ask yourself, “How can I amaze my clients today?”

I challenge you to do something jaw-droppingly astounding for 10 of your best customers this week.

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16
Feb 10

Event Business Marketing - Speed Kills

Want to know how to book more events? From caterers to event producers - everyone in the event industry is struggling to get more clients.  But while the economy has slowed, your customers are speeding up. They want answers now! They want RFP’s completed now!

And your potential clients demand even more speed. If you can’t respond quickly they’ll find someone else who can.

In today’s video I talk about the need for speed and how you can move your business ahead faster.

Yes, speed kills. It kills the slowest competitor.

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8
Feb 10

How to Expand Your Event Business - Catering, Event Planners and Event Services Marketing Tips

To expand your event business, first expand your thinking. To grow your company, grow your value.

Social Failures

The typical social event professional (from wedding planners to caterers and photographers to DJ’s) struggles to find new clients because they never leverage the power of relationships.

They assume that their customers are not likely to become repeat clients - and after the party’s over they fail to keep in touch.

The unsuccessful event pro says, “Why should I waste my time following up with a bride after the wedding is over? It’s not like she’s going to hire me again any time soon.”

It’s this type of faulty thinking that causes many event people to fail.

The successful event business owner says, “Of course I keep in touch with my brides! They’re not going to get married again soon - but they’ve got sisters, brothers, cousins, friends and co-workers. When I get referrals I don’t have to sell hard and I don’t have to deal with price shoppers.”

And this applies to corporate event pros even more so!

Referrals are your easiest sales and your best customers. They trust you and they’re willing to listen to your advice. They don’t want to waste time shopping for price. So, are you getting enough referrals?

Here’s a few ways to get more referrals - or should I say “earn more referrals” from your clients.

  1. Amaze Your Clients. If you want to be successful don’t give them a good deal for the price, give them a remarkable deal. And then give them the very best personal service in your industry. Being good enough isn’t good enough.
  2. Know Your Clients. Where did they grow up? When is there birthday? What college did they attend? What’s their biggest passion in life? What’s their favorite restaurant? Hobby? Teams? If they’re a social event client - what do they do for a living and how can you help them? If they’re a business client - what do they do for fun? If you don’t ask it shows you don’t really care.
  3. Connect. Use social media tools like LinkedIn with every B2B customer. Friend them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. Get their email addresses. Always.
  4. Find Ways to Serve Them. Don’t use Facebook to sell and tell - use it to listen and help. When an old client posts “I have the flu” on Facebook - pick up the phone or send a get well card. They’ll be amazed… just don’t stalk. That’s creepy.
  5. Let Them Know You’d Appreciate New Business. If you always seem overworked - nobody will want to burden you with new clients. Think about it! Let your clients know you want to help there friends.
  6. Don’t offer commissions to everyone. Yes- sometimes it helps to offer a percentage - but many times it can insult your client. If they feel you are bribing them - or exploiting their friends they won’t want to refer clients to you. Use commissions with other event vendors only.
  7. Tell Them What Kinds of Clients You Want. Don’t assume your wedding photography client knows you also do family portraits. Educate your clients about your business.
  8. Expand You Definitions. Are you only an A/V company or are you an event production solution? Or are you a partner in your client’s success… above and beyond the event?
  9. Love. That’s right. Love and serve your clients to the best of your ability. It will come back to you in a big way.

Growing your event business isn’t that hard when you do an amazing job and love your clients. Make sure you’re marketing your business in the most effective way. There are many free internet tools that make attracting more event clients easier than ever before.

If you want to grow your event or catering business fast without spending money you’ll want to download my free report, “More Clients Now.” It’s written for the event professional who wants to book more gigs and events by using 10 powerful breakthrough tools. Please feel free to grab your copy here.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_McGovern
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Expand-Your-Event-Business—Catering,-Event-Planners-and-Event-Services-Marketing-Tips&id=3721452

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11
Jan 10

Getting More Leads for Your Event & Catering Business

Sorry - Early Registration For The Workshop Is Closed.

Can you imagine starting every week with more event booking requests than you can handle?
How nice would it be to have clients begging you take their business - instead of the other way around?

Before that can happen - you have to believe it’s possible.

Believe it. 2010 can be your best year ever -  if you’re willing to take action now.

Why?

Want to know why you’re not getting your fair share of new clients?
Why some businesses struggle …  and some get more business than they can handle…

In this video I share the number one problem event business owners have and what you need to do to solve it.

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6
Jan 10

The Idiot and The Event Planner

Are you Sabotaging your own Event Business?

Wedding Planner Battles DIY Brides with DIY Marketing and is DOA.

The other day I spoke to a wedding planner who had a great deal of contempt for do-it-yourself (DIY) brides.

She said, “They honestly think they can do as good of a job as me! They can’t.  I can’t stand them. They pick my brain for idea and then try to do it themselves. They’re either really cheap or really naive.  Most of the brides around here are idiots.”

This planner was in big trouble - she needed to attract new clients - her attitude and her marketing sucked.

Her website was amateurish.  It looked pretty, but it didn’t attract clients.  Full of puffery and ego , it didn’t present a real benefit or compelling reason to hire the planner.

“Who did this site?” I asked.

“I did. I don’t have the money to hire a designer.”

“Who did your logo?”

“I did. I like it.”

“Who did the photos on your website?”

“I did.”

“Who wrote your sales copy? ” …. you guessed it.

She did it all herself - because she was trying to save money. She didn’t understand that a professional photographer could help her business look more professional and friendly. She thought snap shots would do the trick.

A penny saved and thousands in bookings lost.

She didn’t understand that an attractive logo can communicate her value faster than words.

She didn’t understand that the headlines, sub-headlines and copy were powerful tools for capturing attention, building interests and motivating visitors to pick up the phone now - and not hit the back button.

Before you snicker at how stupid the DIY customer is - how silly they are not to recognize your genius - take a good look at your own purchasing decisions.

It may help you understand what is missing in the story you tell your market.

Download Free Report

Download Brian McGovern's Free Report Here

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3
Jan 10

Why Your Event Blog Is Crap

Nine Signs That Your Event Business Blog Sucks!

If I see one more crap event planner blog I’ll scream - blogging without a strategy is a huge waste of time. Stop wasting time!

Random blogging will not get you more clients! Traffic that doesn’t advance your strategy is useless.

I recently tweeted that over at @BrianMcGovern after sifting through the crappy blogs people submitted to the BizBash post over at LinkedIn. Over 90% of the blogs listed there are crap – just a handful of blogs on that list are doing it right.

What Is The Right Way To Blog?

If you want to post your thoughts about reality TV programs and pictures of your cat because it makes you feel good – more power to you.  If you like sharing your thoughts and opinions with a handful of people via a blog – knock yourself out.

But if you’re blogging to promote your local event services business you need to think and act strategically. Blogging can generate free leads – it can help your website rank higher – it can build relationships – it can boost your credibility – all for free … except for the hours and hours it takes.

If you’re blog sucks it is sucking your time. If you’re an independent event professional you can’t afford to waste time on anything that is not producing revenue.

Blog smart or stop doing it – stop kidding yourself that you’re promoting your business. Stop using your crap blog a way to “feel productive” and as an excuse not to pick up the phone and make some sales calls or go out and network.

I see too many self-employed people who are so scared of marketing and sales that they hide … tweaking their websites … tweeting on Twitter … acting busy and getting nowhere.

Here are the top signs that your event blog sucks …

Last updated 3 months ago. You don’t need to post things to your blog everyday but not posting things at least once a month tells readers and search engines to ignore you.

No analytics. Is anyone reading your blog? How many visitors did you get? What posts are most popular? How many visitors came from the city or region you serve? How did they find you? There is no excuse not to install analytics.

No Keyword Strategy. What words do your potential buyers search with? If you’re a Brooklyn Kosher Caterer – don’t you think the words Brooklyn Kosher Catering and relevant variations should appear in some form in almost every post? So why do you insist on posting Key Lime Pie Recipes and Event Planning Trends?

Is the Kentucky bride to be searching for a wedding photographer by typing “flower girl” into Google? No! She’s typing “Louisville wedding photographer.”

And when she clicks on a link – does she want to read the deep thoughts or does she want to discover a fantastic portfolio and an easy way to connect?

Check out this amazing blog by a very gifted Louisville wedding photographer, Todd Pellowe. Take notes!

Your Tags Suck or Are Missing. If you want to get attract local buyers you need to put your keywords in your tags.

Your Headlines Suck. Clever titles don’t attract local buyers – keyword rich and titles that promise a relevant benefit do.

Headline examples: If you’re a disc jockey on Long Island ..

Sucks: “Sweet Ideas for Sweet 16”

Better: “Long Island Sweet 16”

Best: “Long Island Sweet 16 Party DJ”

Self Serving Fluff. Please don’t describe yourself as gifted, inspirational, preeminent or world-class.  People aren’t that stupid.
Crap Ads. Are you trying to attract clients or sell advertising? Ads are a waste of time unless you have a massive amount of traffic. Otherwise they just distract  attention.

Crap Design. Are you still using the default black background on Blogger? Really?

Hidden Contact Forms. How do I contact you? Don’t make me look hard because my finger ready to back click. You have seconds to get and direct attention.

Bad Alt Image Tags. Describe your images with smart keywords. Don’t call that photograph of a bouquet, “roses.” Call it “Miami Wedding Bouquet” if you’re a floral designer there.

If you’re a wedding planner, caterer, corporate event planner, wedding photographer, DJ, entertainer, floral designer or any other event professional who wants to get more clients without spending a lot of money – smart blogging works.

Smart blogs attract local buyers – not random readers from across the globe who can’t hire you.  Crap blogs don’t generate leads and what is worse – they waste your valuable time.

In my soon to be announced workshop I’m going to show you how to use blogging to generate a massive amount of leads, goodwill, referrals and repeat business.

To be notified when the workshop is open, be sure to jump on my list and get a free copy of  “More Clients Now.”

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30
Dec 09

Marketing Event Services in 2010

“To open shop is easy - to keep it open is hard.”
Want to get more clients next year? Then don’t repeat last year’s mistakes!
For things to change - you have to change.
For your business to grow - you have to grow.
And the time is now.
2010 is going to be a very tough year for people who refuse to change and grow.
But if you start now to make better decisions and take more effective actions - you WILL get better results.
Here’s my advice - get smarter about your marketing and sales strategy fast.
Learn how to market strategically and grow your business systematically.
It’s up to you. You can create a lead generation system that keeps you booked solid with top paying clients - or give up and keep struggling.
The choice is yours and the time is now.
“Drive thy business - or it will drive you.”
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8
Dec 09

One Page Plan for Growing Your Event Business

Here’s a portion of a live presentation I did today …

If you struggled this year – and if you want next year to bring you more profits with less stress, please check out this video.

You can put this powerful but simple tool to work for you tomorrow and start seeing results fast.

Go check it out now and then take action. Only you can make your dreams happen – take action and good luck!

If you’re a wedding planner, event producer, caterer, photographer, DJ or any other type of event professional, this is for you - but the idea can be used be any small business owner or independent professional.

Please leave a comment or question! I’d love to hear from you.

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