When I have a mentoring appointment with a new wedding planner, I will ask him or her to email  information to me about their background and experience and to send me links to their website, blog, Facebook account and anything else they may be doing for marketing. I like to get a clear picture of who they are before we start meeting.

Almost everyone shares with me information about skills and experience they have, in addition to their wedding planning skills, that are very valuable “extras” to have as a wedding and event planner.

But none of the information is mentioned in their marketing materials!

Instead, they just have lists of their available services. But these lists don’t make them stand out.

Brides don’t know how talented they are and they end up not getting all of  the clients they deserve.

Are you also guilty of hiding some of your valuable skills and knowledge, thinking they aren’t directly about wedding and event planning, so they don’t matter?

For example, have you worked in catering or the restaurant business?

Then you know how to help a bride select a menu that will appeal to her guests while fitting within her budget.

Have you worked in financial services?

Most likely you know how to create a realistic budget and help a bride stick to it.

Have you been voluntarily counseling newly engaged couples at your place of worship?

Then you’ll be able to help couples not only plan their weddings with your planning skills, but also navigate successfully through the emotional highs and lows that often come during the months before a wedding.

Think about the knowledge, experience, and skills that you acquired when working in a job, or as a volunteer, that you can use as a wedding planner.  Then tell brides how they can benefit from what you know.

When they know the benefits, they will understand how valuable you are and realize how much they need you to be their wedding planner.

Did you spend the last week of 2011 thinking about goals for your wedding planning business and for your personal life? Goals can keep you focused and help you achieve what you want in life.

But many times when I work with new wedding planners, I’ve found that they have too many goals they are trying to accomplish at the same time. Their attention is scattered, they feel overwhelmed, and they end up not moving forward with any of the goals they set out to accomplish.

It’s not until we select two or three to focus on at one time do they start seeing success and, with it, gain the confidence and energy needed to move forward quickly.

Don’t let yourself get bogged down by trying to accomplish all of your goals at the same time, select two or three to start with first then move on as you beginning seeing results.

Here are 4 steps for selecting and accomplishing your first goals:

1) Start with the goals that excite you the most

If you start with goals that you feel you “have to do” or, worse, someone else wants you to accomplish, you will procrastinate and not get anything done. But when you start with something that excites you and makes a big difference in your life, you will quickly reach your goals.

2) Write them down, in detail with due dates

I’m frequently surprised by the number of wedding planners who keep their goals in their heads. Writing them down will help you clarify what you want and putting goals onto paper can make you feel more committed to getting them accomplished.

3) Schedule your tasks

Determine the tasks you need to perform to get your goals accomplished and schedule them on your calendar. Since you are starting with two to three goals, your list of tasks should not be overwhelming and your calendar should not be overbooked before you even start each day, which can happen if you are trying to do too much at one time.

4) Review your accomplishments

At the end of each day, review what you have done towards your goals and adjust your schedule for the next day, if necessary.

When you focus all of your attention on just a few goals at a time, you are able to have more clarity about them and will find them easier to accomplish in a shorter period of time.

Wishing you a healthy, prosperous, and successful year

 filled with an abundance of your ideal clients.

Happy New Year!

Sharon

Wedding and event designer Preston Bailey gives his expert advice in every issue of Event Solutions magazine. In the December/January issue, he answered a question about entering the wedding and event industry in Dubai. I thought his answer provided excellent advice not only for someone wanting to enter the business in Dubai, but anywhere in the world.

Here are 5 of the tips he offered to new wedding planners, I’ve added some comments:

1) Get experience

Even if you have a degree or certification in wedding planning or design, you need to get as much “real world” experience as you can. Plan events for family and friends, work as an intern for an experienced planner, florist, wedding photographer or caterer to gain insight into what brides want and how different types of wedding professionals work. The more you know, the more you have to offer to your brides.

2) Find out who the most successful planners are in your area

Learn what makes them successful and figure out how you can also be successful in your own, unique way.

3) Find out the price range for wedding planners in your area

What is is low in some areas might be considered high and out of the question where you plan to do business. Or the opposite might be true. You want to know the general price range so you don’t price yourself so low that people think you give poor service, or so high that brides in your niche cannot afford you.

4) Attend bridal shows in your area

This will give you the opportunity to mingle with brides and meet new vendors. You will be able to see what products and services attract brides at shows and “eavesdrop” into their conversations to find out what interests them.

Attending shows will also give you an opportunity to decide if you want to get involved in a show and be an exhibitor in the future.

5) Work daily on creating your unique identity

In order to attract brides, you will need to be able to stand out in a crowd. Learn what your greatest strengths are and develop them so you become an expert who can help brides with your unique abilities.

And if you want to learn more about becoming a wedding planner, sign in to get my free report, “7 Steps to Becoming a Top Wedding Planner.”

May the joy, beauty, and blessings of the season be with you and yours today and throughout the coming year.

Sharon

Thank you for being a part of my life.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate on this day.

Wishing everyone many blessings,

Sharon

Sometimes you have a bad day. You don’t get the client that you want, the bride you are working with blames you for problems that are not your fault, or all of the wedding planning you are doing today seems to be difficult. Your self-confidence goes down and you start to feel that maybe you aren’t cut out to do this. STOP! Don’t allow yourself to go down the path of low self-esteem.

Here are 5 ways to beat those blues:

1) Take a break

Listen to music, take a walk, dance, meditate, or read an uplifting book. Do something that will help you shift your your mind into a more positive state.

2) Ask yourself if all of those bad things you are thinking about yourself are really true

Haven’t you already helped brides and been successful? Haven’t you had days when planning has really gone smoothly? Or, other days when things didn’t go well and everything came out great in the end? In other words, shift your thinking to the times when you had success.

3) Remember the unique qualities that you offer your brides

You are one of a kind, no one can offer brides the same combination of skills, knowledge, and intuition that you offer. There are brides out there who are looking for someone with your talents.

4) Spend time with people who support you

You should only have friends who are supportive, help you think positively, and are a positive influence on you.

5) Fill your mind with positive information

Television and the Internet can be filled with news and images that are depressing and make you think that nothing is right in the world. Stay away from all of that and instead look for things that affirm positive beliefs about life and people. It will actually help you feel better about yourself.

Talk show host Kelly Ripa was a celebrity guest bridal consultant at Kleinfeld’s bridal salon in Friday’s episode of TLC’s, “Say Dress to the Dress.” She thought it always looked like an interesting job and she wanted to try it out. Although she wasn’t working as a wedding planner, she learned some lessons about working with brides that every new wedding planner should know.

Here are 5 of Kelly’s “key learnings” that will help you as as a wedding planner:

1) You are dealing with a bride’s dream so what you do really matters

Many dream of this day from childhood, you must take everything you do seriously.

2) You have to ask the right questions to learn what the bride really wants

Kelly correctly asked what the bride’s budget was for a dress, but failed to ask if her bride had tried on any wedding dresses before this appointment. Just as it’s important to know the experience a bride has had in trying on wedding gowns, you need to know if the bride has done any of her wedding planning before meeting you. You should also find out if she has already worked with a planner. If she has done these things you might have a better understanding of what she is looking for from you.

3) You need a tough skin to work with brides

Kelly’s bride was very clear that she didn’t like the selections Kelly brought to her. As a wedding planner, there will be times brides won’t like your ideas. You have to remember that it isn’t personal.

4) It takes a lot of experience to know what a bride wants

Kelly didn’t have experience working with brides so she was not able to find the right wedding dress. She also didn’t know anything about the inventory of dresses at Kleinfeld’s so she was at a real disadvantage. In fact, she was “fired” and one of the experienced consultants came in and immediately found the perfect dress for the bride.

Experience also counts when it comes to planning weddings. The more experience you have, the better you will be able to give the bride what she wants.

5) The job isn’t as easy as it looks

Kelly thought being a bridal consultant would be a lot of fun, but found that it was overwhelming and a lot of work.

Planning weddings can be overwhelming and a lot of work but it is also exciting, fun, creative and it gives you the opportunity to help brides realize their dreams.

I’m sure Kelly came away with real admiration for bridal consultants and the work they do with brides.

You can see a video clip of the show on the TLC website.

An article in the September issue of Brides magazine offers 26 (from A to Z) suggestions for a bride to use so she can have a worry-free wedding. Unfortunately the best suggestion, hiring a wedding planner, isn’t one of them. But if you’re thinking of becoming a wedding planner, or are a new planner, pay attention to the article because it will give you an idea of what you will be dealing with when you become a professional.

Here are 5 of the worries they address that you will need to be prepared to handle:

1) A bride worries that she won’t be prepared with all she needs in her wedding day emergency kit

One question brides often ask planners is if they bring an emergency kit on the wedding day and what things they bring.

Your kit should have more than a typical bride might have in her kit. For example, your kit might have a pair of dark socks for the groom or groomsman who only has white ones, Wine Away for a sudden stain, clear earring backs, a pair of faux pearl or diamond earrings in case a bride forgets her jewelry and, of course, a pair of faux wedding rings in case the real ones get left at home.

2) A bride worries that her vendors might not make it on time

As the wedding planner, you coordinate the wedding vendors. Even if you have been hired only for a “Day of” service, you should have all vendor contact information and you should speak with them in advance and give them a timeline of the day so they know when they are expected and you can keep track of them.

3) A bride with an outdoor wedding worries about the weather

You can’t control the weather but you can make sure there is a “Plan B” for bringing the wedding indoors if it gets too hot, cold or rainy.

Of course, there are situations, like some couples are experiencing now, with Hurricane Irene, in which even executing a “Plan B” may not be possible. (If you are in an area that could have hurricanes, you might suggest your couples purchase wedding insurance.)

4) A bride worries about an inappropriate wedding toast or speech

During rehearsal, speak to the best man, and any other members of the wedding party who will be giving  toasts, and review what they plan to say. Remind them they are there to honor the bride and groom not “roast” them. Give them a time limit and have the emcee help you enforce the limit at the reception.

5) A bride worries that she cannot complete her wedding day “to do” list

You have a wedding day “to do” list, not your bride. Know in advance what she feels she needs to get done on her wedding day and take it on. Let her know you want her to enjoy her day. She is to eat, get her hair and makeup done, get dressed and enjoy her day.

You can read about more wedding worries in the September 2011 issue of Brides magazine.

Struggling with ideas for your blog? I frequently receive emails from wedding planners who have writers block, so here are 10 ideas for blog topics that will help brides get to know you and recognize you as an expert on weddings.

1 ) The first 5 things a bride should do when planning her wedding

2 ) The biggest mistake most brides in your niche make when planning their weddings and how they can avoid it

3 ) 3 things you think every bride must have in her wedding day emergency kit and why

4 ) The smartphone app you think every bride shouldn’t live without and why

5 ) The latest and best ideas for gifts for bridesmaids and groomsmen

6  ) Celebrity wedding ideas and how a bride can copy them at an affordable price

7) 7 tips on how to get the most from attending a bridal show or wedding fayre

8 ) A guide on tipping wedding vendors

9 ) How to know when it’s time to hire a wedding planner

10 ) 10 qualities a bride should look for in every wedding vendor – and how you possess all of them!

Hopefully these ideas will get your creative juices flowing, help you come up with many more topics that will appeal to the brides in your target market and make them want to contact you.