Are you a brand new wedding planner? What experience do you have?

I was just looking at various different question and answer forums on the Internet and found, on a few of the sites, questions such as “What do I tell a potential client if I don’t have any experience as a wedding planner?

First, you don’t ever want to lie and say that you have experience, education or certifications that you don’t have.

Second, if you really don’t have any experience, the best thing to do is to spend some time getting it before you start your own business. You want to be able to give brides and grooms the weddings of their dreams and you will have to some time studying and working to learn how to create their weddings. Find local wedding planners, event designers, florists, photographers or caterers who have busy schedules and are willing to take on interns or apprentices to help them with their weddings. Be ready to work without pay or for very low pay. In fact, you might need to pay to participate in some apprenticeship programs. You can find wedding professionals through bridal, wedding, or special event planning associations.

Third, you might have experience and not realize it. If you have been planning weddings for friends, family and members of your place of worship for free, you have experience. Take a look at what you have done for those events and use the photographs of your work in your portfolio. Get testimonials from the brides you worked with that you can share with potential clients and that you can post on your website and blog.

Are you a wedding planner catering to technically savvy, gadget-loving brides? If so, you might want to make your blog available for reading on the Kindle (Disclosure this link goes to my affiliate account). The Kindle is the wireless reading device from Internet retailer Amazon.com. Amazon allows you to publish your blog for free on the Kindle and earn money from brides who subscribe to it. (Do be aware – the Kindle does not display color.)

To publish your blog, go to the Kindle Publishing for Blogs site, http://kindlepublishing.amazon.com, and create a new account for Kindle publishing. It’s not the same as your regular Amazon.com account, you will need to give them your tax ID and bank information so they can pay you when someone subscribes. You will need a description and screenshot of your blog, a copy of your blog header and your RSS feed (ask your web master for help with this, if necessary).

You won’t get rich quickly by doing this. Amazon determines the price, it’s usually between $0.99 and $1.99 a month for a subscription and they keep 70% of the money and give you 30%. However it is another good way to connect with your brides, market your wedding planning business online and get more exposure.

Become a Top Wedding Planner Blog is available on the Kindle for $0.99 a month.

I just attended my third bridal fair in about a month’s time. This one was in my city, Walnut Creek, in the San Francisco East Bay Area.

Not one wedding or event planner exhibited. Since it was a small. local event, it might have been a good opportunity for new planners to get appointments with some local brides and meet wedding vendors to add to their network.

I wasn’t able to take photographs at this event. It was basically a small show with tables of exhibitors, not the lavish event of the San Francisco Wedding Fair at the Four Seasons Hotel last month, but it had a few great vendors.

Here are two who have products that you and your brides can access no matter where you are:

Unveiled is a wedding favor, gift and accessory shop that is about 10 minutes from my house. They have very unique items that you won’t find everywhere and they have an online stop which means you don’t have to live in Walnut Creek, California to purchase their products. Check out their website at www.unveiledbridal.com.

Party Flickers photographs weddings then creates high-end books instead of standard photo albums. Their website unfortunately doesn’t feature their books but you can contact them at www.partyflickers.com for additional information. They handle weddings nationally and internationally.

Earlier this week I wrote about the importance of wedding planners having professional voice mail greetings and leaving professional sounding messages for others.

Now I want to bring up the topic of emails, this is also a place where you need to make a good impression with potential clients and vendors. Many people find your website or blog or connect with you on social networking sites and write to you before they call. People might also refer you to others and give you an email address rather than a phone number.

Here are 12 tips for making a good impression:

1. If you initiate an email, write something in the “Subject” line, don’t leave it empty. If you were referred by someone the recipient knows, mention that here so they will know your email isn’t spam. For example, “Referred by Mary Smith for Planning Weddings”
2. Start with a salutation – “Dear …” or “Hi …”, whichever is appropriate.
3. Don’t “cc:” people unless you know all recipients are aware of each other, you could be disclosing private information.
4. When you are a recipient of a group email, don’t “Reply All” unless you know everyone needs to know your reply.
5. Make sure you spell names correctly.
6. Don’t use abbreviations that might be used in “texting” when you send a professional email.
7. Run a spell check and correct errors.
8. Read the email aloud and correct mistakes in grammar and any information that might appear unclear.
9. Remember the recipient is not there to see your face or hear the tone in your voice, don’t make jokes or write anything that could be easily misunderstood when you are not present in person.
10. If you have a need to rant, write the email but don’t send it immediately. Walk away, return later to read it and make sure you still want to send it.
11. End your email with “Thank you”, “Best regards”, or another closing.
12. Include your name and the name and web address of your company. You might also want to include links to your Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn accounts.

Make it a point to answer your emails in a timely manner. People usually expect to hear from you within one business day.

A wedding planner sent me an email asking what to say on her voice mail greeting for her new wedding planning business. She understood how important it is that her greeting be professional because it will often be the first time a potential client hears her voice and forms an impression about her.

Here are 9 tips for recording your message:

1. Write down what you want to say before you record
2. Make sure it is quiet when you record – no lawnmowers running, dogs barking, children playing or the sounds your computer makes when it starts up (I included this because I have heard it more than once.)
3. Speak clearly and professionally and smile when you do it – it will make you sound friendly
4. Keep it brief
5. Give your name and company name
6. Tell them you would be happy to return their call
7. Request they leave their name and phone number, a message and the best time to call
8. Suggest they visit your website or blog for more information about your services or for wedding planning tips (if you offer them, and I hope that you do) and thank them for calling
9. Preview your message before you save it, you can re-record it if it does not sound right

Here is an example:

“Hello, you have reached Jane Doe of Perfect Weddings by Jane.

I’d be happy to return your call as soon as I can so please leave your name, call back number, and a detailed message with the best time to reach you.

For more information about having a perfect wedding, visit my blog at www.PerfectWeddingsByJane.com, where I share tips for making your wedding special.

Thank you for calling and have a great day.”

The wedding planner who wrote to me had gotten many tips for becoming a wedding planner from my free Special Report, “7 Steps to Becoming a Top Wedding Planner”. You can get your copy at www.HowToBecomeaTopWeddingPlanner.com.

Twice this week, I’ve received voice mail messages from professionals asking me to return their calls, without leaving call back or contact information so I could easily do so.

One requested I get back to her on email. She did not leave an email address on her message and does not have it on her website or her business card. I understand from discussions we have had in the past that she was quite bothered with spam when she posted and printed her email. However she makes it difficult for her clients, like me, and potential clients to reach her. I ended up leaving a voice mail then looking through my computer for an old email from her to find her address.

The other person left such a long detailed message that she probably forgot to leave her number at the end of it. I looked up her number and called her back.

Everything you do, and don’t do, leaves an impression on people. As a wedding planner, even when you leave messages for people, you must be as thorough as you are in your wedding planning because people expect it of you.

When you leave a message for any client, wedding vendor or professional be sure:

• You speak clearly

• Give your name and company name

• Tell the reason for your call. If you are rescheduling an appointment, try to give at least 24 hours notice and provide alternative times when you are available.

• Give your phone number, with the area code first, speak slowly and repeat it. Leave your number even if you think the other person has it. They may not be able to access it immediately or may have lost or forgotten it.

• If you want someone to contact you via email, give your email address. Never assume people have your information.

Last week I received a question about appropriate voice mail greetings so I’ll cover that in my next post.

Last week one on my blog posts gave you a list of questions you should answer about your ideal clients.

Here are 5 ways you can use that information:

1) Create the services, packages and products your ideal clients need and will buy

Knowing who your ideal clients are will help you decide what you are going to offer. For example, if you are targeting women in executive positions, you might see that it is important to them to have someone else take charge of the details of planning a wedding. So you decide to develop different levels of full service packages versus ones that allow brides to take care of a lot of details themselves.

2) Write targeted marketing copy

Now that you have researched and know details about your ideal clients, you can write to them in a way that attracts them. For instance, first time brides have different concerns about their weddings than brides who are about to get married for a second time and have children. When you know which brides you are speaking to, you can write in a way that addresses their concerns and makes them want to hire you.

3) Reach them on the Internet

Your research should have identified if they spend a lot of time on the Internet checking wedding and bridal websites for information, becoming fans of different wedding pages on Facebook and tweeting about their wedding plans. If so, you can make sure that you are highly visible on these sites by answering questions on wedding forums and boards, frequently posting useful information on your Facebook fan page and commenting on other people’s fan pages (please don’t make sales pitches, just contribute to the conversations). You become known as an expert and they will think of you when they need the help of a wedding planner.

4) Reach them offline

If you know where your ideal clients go, the organizations they belong to and the hobbies they engage in, you should consider taking part in those activities also. For instance, think of all of the men and women who have taken up the sport of golf to network and meet business clients. Do something similar. Don’t expect anyone to hire you on-the-spot, take the time to build relationships and trust.

5) Tell people you know who you want as clients

When you network with other wedding vendors or even when talking to friends and relatives about your business, don’t be afraid to tell people who you ideal client is. Also, this is important, tell people what you can do for your clients. It’s always important to tell the benefits of your services.

If you want more information about becoming a top wedding planner, get a copy of my free Special Report “7 Steps to Becoming a Top Wedding Planner”.

As a wedding planner you want to keep up with the magazines that brides are reading. One that just hit the newsstands is Shape Bride, published by the editors of Shape magazine. Like Shape, the magazine is mostly focused on health and fitness with articles on exercise and weight loss. But there are also articles on bridal fashion, beauty, celebrity brides, conquering stress and handling financial issues in a marriage.

There are two articles you that can help you in working with your brides. One gives a timeline for when a bride should make appointments for beauty treatments such as hair cuts and colors, spray tans and teeth whitening. You can include this information in the timelines that you create for your brides. Another article that will give you helpful ideas is on handling last-minute beauty emergencies that come up for a bride such as blisters from new shoes, pimples, and too much self-tanner.

Get information about the magazine and get more tips for your brides on the Shape Bride website.

Whether you are spending the day celebrating love or

the good fortune a new year can bring

or both

I wish you a fabulous day.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

and

Happy New Year!

Sharon

If you are interested in attending an educational conference and tradeshow and would like to see Las Vegas too, you might want to consider attending the Event Solutions Conference and Tradeshow that takes place March 8 – 10, 2010, at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The conference is for all types of event planners; independent wedding and event planners, along with corporate and association planners. Seminars are taught by the top experts in all areas. Topics for sessions include event planning, design and trends and navigating the challenges of having a business.

To learn more about the event, go to the Event Solutions website and download a copy of the conference brochure.

If you don’t already have a subscription to Event Solutions magazine, you can get a free subscription to their digital copy. It is well worth reading for information on news and trends in the event industry.