Wedding Business Solutions

Are some people really luckier than others, or is there something you can do to improve your luck? Much of what you see that looks like luck from afar really isn’t. As the Roman philosopher Seneca said: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” So, what can you do to be luckier? Listen to this new 8-minute episode and find out. If you have any questions about anything in this, or...

We had such a spirited discussion that I invited my good friend Ron Ruth to join me again, to continue our talk about the customer experience. Through Ron’s speaking and training, and his lifelong addiction to all things Disney, Ron has some great perspective on how you can create a better experience for your couples and customers, right from the start. If you didn’t hear Part I, you can find it h...

Every time I open Google Analytics, whether to see the reports on my website, or on one of yours, I see so many points of data that neither you nor I will ever need. It’s not that the data isn’t interesting, it’s that you can’t do anything with the information. Want to find out the only 3 points of data that I really pay attention to, and why you should too? Listen to this new 14-minute episode an...

I got a Facebook message from a wedding band owner, John LaPalomento, with a link to a Reddit post   of someone complaining about how hard it is to get pricing for their wedding. The post, with over 270 comments, gives some very good insight into what couples think about how wedding and event pros talk about and display pricing on your websites. Listen to this 11-minute episode and hear some of th...

Too often we put obstacles in our customers’ way and add friction to the sales process. Join me for a great discussion with my good friend, and fellow member of the National Speakers Association, Shep Hyken. Shep is one of the leading customer service experts in the world, and a down to earth, nice guy. Through his many books and trainings, Shep helps companies, big and small, create a better cust...

I got an email that had the words ‘income’ and ‘outcome’ in the subject line and that was the spark for this episode. In my sales training and speaking I always say that you should be selling the results of hiring you, not your list of services. Listen to this new 9-minute episode and see how changing what you talk to your couples and customers about can lead to more bottom line profits for you! I...

Asking “why” is a great way to learn more, except of course if it’s your 4-year old asking “why” repeatedly! But there are many ways to interpret “why”, including “why not?” or “why should I?” In this 7-minute episode I’m going to help you see the many ways to look at the word “why” and show you which versions can help you and your customers the most. If you have any questions about anything in th...

For my Series: ”The Pivot” I’m inviting wedding and event pros to come and talk about how and why they made their pivots, into the industry, out of the industry and within the industry. For this episode, I invited my good friend, and fellow speaker, Rob Ferre, to talk about his pivot from being a wedding and event DJ, to MC, game show host and more. Rob is still doing weddings and events, but he’s...

This is a quote I read on the Forbes.com website by Micah Solomon – “The answer is Yes. Now, what was the question?” It’s such a powerful way to approach the customer experience. However, too often people’s first reaction is to say “no”, or to resist anything that’s outside your normal procedures. “No” can be a powerful word in sales, but in the customer experience you want to default to “yes” whe...

I was consulting with a client and his sales team the other day and I asked them to tell me, in 7 seconds or less, what it is that they do. After stumbling over their words they realized that they couldn’t do it. It’s called an ‘elevator-pitch’ because the theory is that you have to be able to explain to someone what you do, while in an elevator, before they get to their floor. Many people think t...

Nil Saltuk has created a unique niche within the wedding and event world, providing products for inclement weather. In this new episode for my series “The Niche”, Nil and I discuss how she created her niche, or rather how it came to her. All of us are presented with opportunities, not all of us have the vision to see them, or the will to capitalize on them. Listen to this new episode and hear how...

In my over 25 years in and around the wedding and event industry I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs. We’ve survived economic downturns, the 9/11 tragedy, the housing crash and now the pandemic. Some of you have been around for all of these, and some of you got in later. Every time there’s a downturn there’s talk about the “new normal.” The thing is that it’s not just a new normal it’s the next norma...

One question I get asked over and over in my consulting and sales training is how to stand out and show how you’re different than your competitors. However, when I dig into how you’re presenting yourselves, I see a lot of the same things. You’re selling ‘what’ you do and not ‘why’ they should hire you. Very often I can take someone’s web page or marketing piece, remove that company’s name and repl...

For this bonus episode I invited my good friend Ron Ruth to join me to talk about the customer experience. Through Ron’s speaking and training, and his lifelong addiction to all things Disney, Ron has some great perspective on how you can create a better experience for your couples and customers, right from the start. Join us for this discussion that was so compelling, there’s going to be a part I...

Many wedding and event pros think that taking responsibility for mistakes, especially those out of their control, makes them seem weak. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Accepting responsibility is actually a sign of strength. After all, when you’re the customer, do you like businesses to pass the buck or try to lay blame on you when things go wrong? I’ll bet you don’t. Listen to this 9-min...

How do you make your business decisions? Do you gather and analyze carefully curated data? Or do you go by what “feels” right – going with your gut? The truth is that even data-driven analysts have that inner voice that helps them decide the right way forward. In this 11-minute episode I’ll help you understand that pros and cons of just going with your gut when making important business decisions....

Inspiration for my episodes comes from all around. I caught a video of my good friend Bill Hermann talking about investing in yourself and I just had to have him on the Wedding Business Solutions podcast. We talked about the ways you can invest in yourself, personally and professionally. We’re not just talking about monetary investments. There are many ways you can invest in yourself and your futu...

By the time someone gets to your website, it’s likely that they know a little something about you. Maybe they’ve seen an ad, watched a video, saw your social media page or have your business card. Getting them to your website isn’t the end. You need them to take action, likely contacting you, so you get a chance to close the sale. Most websites that I see in my website reviews and consulting are l...

In my consulting and sales training, we do a lot of secret-shopping of wedding and event pros, just like you, big businesses and small. And what we find is that most of you don’t follow up nearly enough times to maximize your sales and profits. I spoke about this in my presentation and my most popular book “ Shut Up and Sell More Weddings & Events ”. By the time someone has reached out to you...

Nearly all couples will read some reviews before deciding to contact their wedding pros. That should be no surprise, since these days we can find reviews for almost anything we are looking to buy. Just getting reviews isn’t enough. There’s an art to maximizing your return on those amazing things your customers are posting about you. Listen to this 12 minute episode and learn the 4 things that matt...

One of the most popular episodes of The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast is “The Difference Between Branding and Your Brand.” In that episode I talked about how your brand is what people say about you after they’ve experienced what you do. That doesn’t mean that branding isn’t important, it’s just different than your brand. So, to complete the topic I invited my friend, and fellow WeddingPro Edu...

You get a new inquiry. You want to reply quickly and get them some information. So, you copy/paste your carefully written reply, attach your brochure or price sheet and click SEND. What’s wrong with this picture? Well, honestly, there’s a lot wrong with that picture, especially the attachment part. When I wrote “ Why Don’t They Call Me? 8 tips for converting wedding and event inquiries into sales...

We all know that our websites are an important part of our marketing and branding. They’re waiting, 24/7/365 for someone to come from somewhere, and that’s when your website’s job begins. If you sell on your site (e-commerce) then your site’s job is to get people to put things in the cart and check out. If you don’t sell online, then your site has one job – get you the inquiry. If you’re getting t...

I’ve often referred wedding and event pros, like you, to Traci Brown and her books/courses on body language and detecting lies. I got to wondering recently what reading body language is like in the age of Zoom meetings. Do the same rules apply as in-person? What signals are you sending with your body language on a Zoom sales meeting? Great questions, huh? So, I asked my friend, and National Speake...

I know, it’s a strange title for a podcast episode on a platform called Wedding Business Solutions. This is actually a true story that I first shared in a keynote presentation and my book “ Your Attitude for Success ”. This story shows how something as simple as my friend need to paint her house can teach you how to tackle your daunting business and personal projects. Listen to this 8-minute episo...