Own Your Business

Are you getting enough inquiries? I don’t know. But I do have a formula for figuring it out - and I’m going to share it with you on today’s episode.  It’s essential information if you’re going to develop a solid marketing plan for your business.  How can you know when you’ve crossed the finish line if you don’t know where it is?  Many people are happy with their current inquiry count but actually...

You hear a lot about ideal clients from educators and experts, us included. We don’t have the market cornered on the information, but we certainly feel we add a nuanced and sophisticated approach to the concept. On this podcast, you’ve heard about buyer types and psychological motivations, which isn’t discussed much by others. We feel it’s important to do deep research on who your favorite couples...

Have you ever shown up at a party feeling like you missed the dress code cue on the invitation? It’s awful. You stand around talking to people, but the only thing on your mind is how uncomfortable you feel about the way you look. It’s called the “spotlight effect,” when we feel like everyone’s looking at us more than we actually are. Most of the time when we feel like everyone’s watching very few...

CRMs are a big part of any successful business. They help organize information, get contracts signed, collect payments, build a database of potential referrers, and streamline workflows. But I see too many wedding pros take CRMS to the extreme, especially when it comes to automation. What’s easy and convenient for you, the business owner, often feels impersonal and generic to the couple. Even wors...

Trust isn’t given, it’s earned. And if you’re not focused on making deposits with potential clients, you better start now. Sure, marketing and sales requires you to do lots of different things well. Showcase a solid portfolio. Connect with the couples who inquire. Lead the discovery call to uncover emotional and social desires. Deliver a compelling custom proposal.  But at the root of all these th...

Friction in the buyer’s journey grinds away on deal momentum slowly and silently. I’ve looked at hundreds of sales processes over the years, and I can tell you it’s usually not one big, dramatic reason why people ghost you.  When a deal dies, it’s more like death by a thousand paper cuts. One nick and it’s not that bad. Two, you can keep things going. But after a while the little things start to m...

People buy from people, not businesses. Especially in the wedding industry where couples can work closely together with vendors for over a year. So why are you making it hard for couples to connect with you on your website? And to be clear, I’m not talking about putting up a photo of you with a blurb that reads like a dating profile or resume. Today, I bring on Katy Taylor Jacobson to share what m...

Zoom is one of those artifacts from the pandemic that’s not going away. People got used to talking with each other remotely with this app, and the behavior stuck. Here’s the thing: I’m okay with it. In fact, I kinda like it. When done well, Zoom allows us to connect in a richer, more helpful way than phone calls do. It can also add to your swag by boosting the brand of your business in the same wa...

Today I chat with top photographer, Joseph Rogero Mills, a client I first met back in 2023. I remember getting the inquiry and looking him up online. By all accounts, he was very successful: - Lots of IG followers - Published plenty of times - Brides Top Photographer - Stunning portfolio - Gorgeous website I was curious why he reached out. When I did the discovery call to find out, I was even more...

Couples are overwhelmed by all the noise in today’s wedding marketplace. It’s crowded. It’s loud. It all sounds and looks the same to the untrained buyer simply hoping to book vendors for a pretty, fun celebration with family and friends. So how do you compete in this situation? How do you fill your calendar? With the right kinds of couples? Who pay higher prices you deserve for your amazing work?...

The pandemic might be over, but we’re still feeling the ripple effects.  Anyone with kids who were supposed to be in school for the second half of 2020 and most of 2021 know what I’m talking about. I’m reading a book called “The Stolen Year” because it’s so terrible for our educational system as a whole. The economy is…confused. Some signs point good, others not so good. Even the decision-makers a...

My brother owns a talent company in Los Angeles, and I once asked him what he did for his clients. He thought for a while, then said, “I manage their expectations.”  He went on to explain that a lot of writers and directors - the types of clients he represented at the time - go to Hollywood with big dreams. They have talent, ideas, and are willing to work hard to get where they want to go. Unfortu...

Last week I sent out a newsletter about a “correction” in the wedding market last year, and the impact we’re feeling in our businesses this year - and likely next year too. It made quite a bit of noise on IG, which is great. Thank you Reagan Events for amplifying the ideas I shared and adding in a planner’s perspective on a speculative market in downstream vendors. Ironically, I’d just cut this ep...

I remember my first day on the job working in a restaurant in 1994 at the age of 16. I’d eaten at them while growing up, but I’d never known how it all went together behind the scenes, behind the swing door going into the kitchen - and I was transfixed when that first day in the back-of-house watching it all go down.  Same thing happened when I worked my first wedding 17 years ago. I’d attended tw...

In the intro to the podcast you hear me say it’s hard to own your own business. Especially if it’s a business of one. Why? Because you’ve got to do ALL the things - even if you’re not good at them or love doing them. When you’re starting out or struggling, or too stubborn to hire out important work to experts, you end up doing all of it by yourself. And it’s tiring. You only get so much energy to...

Want to know why you’re not attracting the right kinds of couples to your inbox?  First place to look is your website. But don’t look at it like a filter, or a screen. Think of it like a magnet. Are you putting out content that triggers interest in ideal clients?  We look at literally thousands of websites and galleries every year, and I can assure you that most people are putting out images that...

Are you pitching your packages and pricing on discovery calls? If so, listen up. You might be booking couples with your current approach. But are you booking as many as you could if you chose to delay your pitch… Until they were at the right stage in the buyer’s journey? Until you’d built enough trust and respect with the couple? Until they were eager to hear that kind of information? Until all th...

Today, I bring in Julian Leaver, the Dapper Diplomat and owner of Julian Leaver Events. Julian was on the podcast a few months ago for episode 123 to talk about the power of a strong personal brand. It was one of the most popular podcasts we’ve done over the past year, which got me thinking about how to dive even deeper into the knowledge he can share with the audience. So I’m bringing him in quar...

You listen to the podcast because you want to be a more successful business owner. You want to get better at selling your services. At creating a solid website. At making messages that connect with your ideal clients.  I share information on the podcast, because I know how to do these things. And I love helping others like you who are open to the insights, the information, and most importantly, ar...

I tend to focus on practical advice about strategies and tactics on this podcast. Sales. Pricing. Copywriting. Website design. Communication. I take general behavioral science insights and apply them to your work as a wedding professional. However, don’t confuse my focus on these few areas with a belief that other areas aren’t important. They are the ones I choose to talk about, because I feel lik...

We’ve all heard about the “inquiry season” or “booking season.” But does it really exist?  The digging I’ve done shows that it’s not as much of a thing as you might think. I surveyed dozens of clients inquiries and bookings from the past several years, and what I discovered might surprise you: There’s not a definitive bump in counts in the first quarter of the year compared to other times of the y...

Let me tell you what I’ve learned after talking to hundreds of wedding pros who aren’t getting enough bookings or the right kinds of bookings. Most of the challenges you’re running into are self-created. You’re doing it to yourself. In the wedding industry, we tend to blame outside forces acting upon our business for the reasons why we’re not doing well, or not reaching our full potential. The eco...

Most wedding pros aren’t getting enough inquiries to feed their businesses - and the website is often the reason why.  Yes, even for those of you in the luxury market. My general rule of thumb for the luxury market is to get 10x the number of inquiries as you need bookings if you want to get the most from your bookings. For those NOT in luxury, it’s more like 4x-6x as many inquiries as the number...

You know the saying: It’s good to learn from your mistakes?  I think it’s overrated.  Yeah, sure, you should absolutely learn from what didn’t work so you can improve your chances of something else working in the future. But it’s slow - and stressful - to go through life making mistakes. Why not learn from the mistakes others make? Let them screw up or screw around on the way to success. You can o...

I’ve featured some of the best in the business on my podcast. Abby Jiu, KT Merry, Bob Spiegel, Alex Le Roux, Shannon Leahy, Chris Jespersen, and so many others. It’s great to hear their insights and reflections on the route they took to the top of their fields in the event industry. But I find it equally important - and even more inspiring - to hear from people who are in the middle of their journ...