*Please Note: This advice is not meant to be legal advice as the legalities will differ based on your location and because we aren't a law office but a service provider for the Event Services Industry.*
In case you somehow haven't heard, there's a virus spreading in the world that is causing many countries to close their borders, cancel events, and change the way business and education is done. This is going to drastically affect your business. However, it can actually greatly improve your business IF several things are done in a timely manner:
Are you implementing any of these tips? If so, please tell us about your company in the comments and how you're navigating your business during this time. These two quick ideas are related, and perhaps you do them already. However, if you're looking for an easy way to stay top-of-mind in previous clients, you must do these two things.
The first quick way to get wedding referrals is to write Christmas cards to the couples whose wedding you helped plan that year. They know you have nothing to directly gain from it, so it's not being pushy, and you will remain on their mind a little longer as well. This is good because they probably know some people getting married (and could be starting to do wedding preparations), and this could help them remember to refer you to the couples getting married. You may even book weddings from that within a few weeks after the New Year, since the Summer would be getting close at that point. Another similar quick way would be by writing a one-year anniversary card (and even every year if you want) to those couples who got married. Yes, unfortunately, you may run across couples whose marriages didn't last, so there can be a downside to continuing the process every year, but hopefully they're all still together and will continue to refer you years down the road (but don't just do this to get referrals - do this as a continuous thank you for them having been a client of yours). Also, for your own records, do try to keep track of the couples who are referred to you by couples whose weddings you planned, just so you can see how well your referral efforts are. These are two quick ways. If you have any quick ways to get wedding clients, please leave a comment with those methods below, so others can benefit by quick methods that you have found, and if you enjoyed this tip, please give it a like or share below. Perhaps you're getting your clients through referrals. That's great! But, is it scaleable? What happens when your business referrals dry up? What happens when you're hit with a lot of bad reviews online? Relying on referrals as a main source of income is great when referrals keep coming, but how many times do you have no business? If you have gaps between clients, it's time to look into marketing your business.
Let's look at several ways to get a steady stream of clients without relying on referrals: 1. Advertise on Facebook in your local area. Local Facebook ads are one of the easiest ways to see ROI from Marketing, if the ad is done well. Also, if your events are public (such as not a wedding), you can even promote the events on Facebook ads as well and see a higher client satisfaction. 2. Become great at Social Media Marketing. Start by posting twice a week, at least. And the great part about it is you don't actually have to write the content. Find a well written article from your industry (perhaps something about best practices for events) and share it on your social media profiles. Also, build your following through Facebook ads that reach as many people as possible. 3. Get partnerships with other event services. For instance, if you're a wedding planner, get in touch with local Churches and local venues to see if they need a dedicated wedding planner to help the couples who are getting married. This can ensure that you are getting the visibility necessary to book more weddings. 4. Website - We can't emphasize this enough. You need a great looking website that performs well on the search engines. Web design isn't enough - you also need SEO services. Depending on your role in the Event Service industry, there's a possibility that most of your business is done in the Summer. If that's the case, you don't want to close the business up during the rest of the year - you want to be found year-round. This is why Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is essential for you to be found online, even if you live in a smaller city. You want to be the one people find on Google, not your competitor, right? 5. Keep your reputation up with Reputation Management. This is very important, as bad reviews online keep people from choosing you over your competitors. Also, a lack of reviews means that either you're new or people didn't love or hate your service - or, just that you need to start asking for reviews and testimonials (hopefully it's that one if you don't have any reviews). For more help on Marketing, visit our Marketing Services page to get help with your Event Services Marketing. We help Wedding Planners, Event Planners, Christian Speakers, and Venues find clients or locations to speak. We can't wait to hear from you and see how we can help you grow your business. |