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Larissa Parks Nominated for three AssistU Awards

July 25, 2011 By 1 Comment

I’m honored to announce today that I’ve received three (count ‘em…three!) nominations in this year’s AssistU Community Recognition Awards.

One is for the 2011 VA of the Year, the other is for the 2011 Techie of the Year and finally 2011 Most Supportive Community Member. That one I’m pretty excited about because I do take pride in being of assistance to my fellow Virtual Assistant sisters! Working with Wedding Professionals exclusively in my business and now being nominated, is the cherry on top of my ice cream sundae. Time to celebrate and drown in the love and happiness I feel. :)

Filed Under: Local Area Marketing, Virtual Assistants Tagged With: , , , , ,

How do you feel about good Customer Service?

June 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

It is my honor to introduce Sue Graber, the next specialist in our guest blog post series:  Without further ado….Sue Graber!

How do you feel about good Customer Service?

I just finished running a few errands, all of which involved interacting with Customer Service people.  I was really amazed at the difference in the responses I received.  My goal is to always go in with a positive attitude, a smile on my face and kind words to express whatever it is that I need help with – That was put to the test today!!

The first store I entered had a disgruntled customer in front of me.  I tried my best to get her to smile  with NO RESULTS! I’m sure she probably had been having a bad day and this was nothing personal, but it reminded me how easily we can let other people affect our moods and attitudes, whether positive or negative!

The receptionist wasn’t able to help me, although I must say she did try!  She told me that another lady had been in recently with the same problem!  She called for someone in SALES to help me.  Since my problem had more to do with getting a part fixed versus BUYING SOMETHING new, I felt as though there were $ signs in the eyes of the salesmen, and I was cutting into their time to spending making a commission!!!    Finally a brave soul came to help me.   I shared with him that something had gone wrong on one of my appliances that I needed help with, simply a latch on my silverware holder of my dishwasher had fallen off. (By the way this is less than a year old and was one of the top of the line.)

I had the part with me, so it was simply a matter of looking at a similar appliance and figuring out how to re-attach something.   When he finally did get it re-attached, he told me that there was something that looked a bit ”bent” that could be causing the problem, and HE HAD NO IDEA how that could have happened or what to do about it! (I’m thinking they just don’t make appliances like they used to!) …  He offered no further help and said I would have to get in touch with the manufacturer directly.

Whatever happened to good old Customer Service – Remember the day when they stayed with you until your problem was solved? This impacted me enough that I will not be going back there for future purchases.  CUSTOMER SERVICE IS IMPORTANT TO ME!!!   How about you?    Have you ever had this type of experience and how did it affect you?

CRAZY, isn’t it? What causes some people to reach out to others to help with that smile on their face and spirit of caring while others seem to just radiate negativity.  For some it’s simply a JOB instead reflection of their character and integrity?

ON TO A POSITIVE ENCOUNTER!

My next stop was so much more pleasant.  The Customer Service Associate who helped me had a smile on her face, even though I’m sure she had been standing up at her job for quite a few hours, and had a long line of people she was helping.  I told her how nice it was to have someone pleasant to help me.  There was a discrepancy on my bill and she took the extra steps to help me.  I thanked her for being so helpful AND pleasant, and told her that I appreciated that, especially after my previous stop.   She confirmed how true it is that some people seem to sometimes be  ”having a bad day” and I had to laugh when she added   “HAVING A BAD DAY EVERY DAY! We BOTH laughed and I again thanked her for not only helping me with my problem but also having such a positive attitude, which affected mine!  

WHAT A DIFFERENCE THOSE TWO ENCOUNTERS WERE!

Our attitude toward others – our kindness — our going the extra step to SERVE — it DOES make a difference!

Next time you feel like you’re having a bad day, try and   “put aside the negative” and think about something that will make you smile instead.   You just might create a chain reaction of positive, smiling people.

It doesn’t matter what industry we’re in, “service” is what’s important to us.   When we treat our customers with respect and put them first, worrying more about serving them than how WE are being affected, our relationships will be better and this will be reflected in our business.

Going that extra mile and communicating to our customers that THEY ARE IMPORTANT TO US will KEEP them our customers AND FRIENDS!   A simple thank you card expressing appreciation for great service will set you and your business apart from all the rest!

“Positive attitudes create a chain reaction of positive thoughts.”  — Unknown

Sue Graber has been happily married for 34 years, raising 3 daughters while working creatively from home as an administrative assistant and a fund-raising specialist. She loves reaching out to others in kindness and is on a mission. She has an amazing ability to teach others how to build and nurture relationships, spend quality time with their families while generating income from home with a greeting card and gifting business. Sue is passionate about showing others how they, too, can make a difference every single day!  www.suegraber.com

Filed Under: Featured, Local Area Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Secret Cut-Throat Life of Wedding Planners

May 9, 2011 By 4 Comments

Wedding planners seem sweet, don’t they? They’re just a bunch of benevolent people who are passionate about love and who want to see your wedding be as magical as you’ve envisioned.

They’re busy socialites who know everyone and will use their ties to help you out… right?

This is the rosy portrait we all see, but not all wedding planners are created equal. In fact, some are downright DIRTY!

Here’s what I mean:

  • There are wedding planners who feel they need to monopolize venues. They pay venue owners big bucks for exclusive rights to their location to keep other wedding planners out. Also, you may encounter a wedding planner who is receiving kickbacks from venues and will refer you to whoever is paying the most money – even if it’s not in your best interest.
  • There are wedding planners who catch wind that a bride has interviewed other consultants and proceed to trash-talk the consultants to tarnish their competitions’ reputations unjustly.
  • There are wedding planners who are very purse-lipped about the industry when asked and do not wish to lend any advice to aspiring or existing wedding planners because they fear it may hurt their business.
  • There are wedding planners who use blackhat SEO to gain better search engine rankings – paying for link farms and social media friends, paying people to click on their competition’s PPC ads (to drive up costs for them), and using web design for keyword trickery.

Even though we’re recovering from a recession, there is still a massive market for wedding planners due to favorable portrayal in the media. Word-of-mouth has been positive about the benefits of having a helping hand for the big day. According to the Association of Bridal Consultants, there are approximately 10,000 bridal consultants – which means for every wedding planner, there is 220 potential couples. Of these couples, about 19 percent will actively seek a wedding planner, so – at that rate – each wedding planner should still see 42 prospects per year. Because there is so much work, wedding consultants should embrace a sense of cooperation, rather than competition, says Maggie Daniels and Carrie Loveless in their book Wedding Planning & Management: Consultancy For Diverse Clients (2007).

Truth be told, the best way for wedding planners to get ahead is to network with other consultants and share knowledge. Networking with other planners can open up your world and expose you to service providers you never knew existed. Many wedding planners differentiate their business to a specific niche that is different than yours. So, for example, if you have a bride who tells you she wants a very traditional Jewish wedding — and you deal in mainly outdoor weddings with a justice of the peace – you can forward this referral to another planner you know who does traditional Jewish weddings. Then, when the other planner gets someone who wants an outdoor wedding, you’ll get a referral right back.

Also, it would behoove you to partner with caterers, florists, places of worship and venues to offer joint packages where you assemble all the paperwork for the couples to sign and you are responsible for collecting the payments and paying vendors. This sort of arrangement would be beneficial for everyone involved. As long as you are not monopolizing a vendor or exchanging financial kickbacks, it’s a totally legit way of doing business.

The average bride interviews 3-4 wedding planners to find the right personality, specialization, level of service and arrangement. Do not take it personally! The right bride will work with the right wedding planner and you cannot expect to be everything to everyone, no matter how good your service is. Let the right brides breeze in and remember that your obligation is to your client – whether it’s finding the right florist, caterer, musician, venue, or other wedding planner!

Just my $.02  ;-)

What do you think?  Let me know by commenting below or connect with me on my Facebook wall HERE.

Thanks!

Filed Under: Wedding & Event Professionals Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Google Places For Wedding Pros

May 5, 2011 By 3 Comments

Are you making the most of your Google Places listing? Please tell me you’ve at least heard of Google Places listings. It’s only one of the most popular ways people search for small businesses locally these days.

The sad fact of the matter is that small businesses are not using these opportunities wisely. When people click on these listings, they want the entire business at-a-glance, not just an address, a phone number and a Google map of your location. Here’s what I mean…

Wedding Planner

  • You’ve got 10 photos: use them! Get girls in dresses, flowers, cakes, favors, décor, destinations, limos, churches, musicians and maybe even a few photos of your building, office and yourself to personalize it further.
  • You also have 5 videos. Get testimonials from past brides. Conduct interviews with some of your vendors. Show a behind-the-scenes day in the life of a wedding planner. Reminisce about your own wedding and all the details that made it special. There is so much you can do here to brand yourself and surpass your competition.
  • Do not lose sight of the power of coupons. These days people not only look for deals. They expect them. You may offer money off or give a free gift as a token of your appreciation. Some wedding planners advertise a free consult too.
  • Reviews are a must! Offer incentives for past clients to give you the thumbs up. As a new feature, Google Places now allows business owners to comment back on review pages.

 

Florist

  • Add pictures of your most recent arrangements. Try to showcase diversity.
  • Include a behind-the-scenes video of a wedding floral display from start to finish. Show clips of flowers from different weddings if you can or just a collage of flower photos set to music. Share your expertise and talk about some of your favorite flowers to use for bridal bouquets. Talk about the different styles of bridal bouquets and corsages one might choose. Add value to your listing. You can then reuse these videos elsewhere.
  • Create a coupon that can be printed or brought in on a mobile phone
  • Ask past clients to write a review for your business

 

Photographer

  • You’ve got tons of pictures, undoubtedly, but try to showcase a variety of different locations and moments – the cake cutting, the first kiss as husband and wife, the father/daughter or mother/son dance, the bouquet toss, the ring exchange, the reception dancing, etc. Also try to capture the décor.
  • Show video testimonials. Talk about what equipment you’ll bring or what differentiates your business. Make a video of your favorite local locations you’ve shot. Create a short promotional video about all of your services and packages. If you do videography as well, include samples of that.
  • Offer exclusive coupons for Google Places users to see how your campaign performs.
  • Get reviews!

So whether you are a Wedding Planner, Florist, Photographer, Videographer, Limo Company, Horse Carriage Company, Entertainment Company, Jeweler, Venue, Bridal Shop, Atelier, whatever it is that you do in the wedding and bridal industry…Don’t let this marketing opportunity pass you by, you are a Wedding Pro! Get an edge on the competition.

Click here to get started!

I would love to stay connected with you. Please drop by and say “hello” on my Facebook wall HERE.

In service to you,

Larissa

Filed Under: Google, Mobile Media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Put Them On Blast

April 25, 2011 By 10 Comments

My ear has been to the floor listening to the grumblings of Wedding Planners.

It is important to “hang” out where your audience is, listen to their pain points and make sure you offer a solution that can take care of it for them.

I’ve heard the latest comments:

  • “I can’t find any brides in this economy.”
  • “Brides come to my website, they have questions about what I do etc.  I meet with them, but I never seem to close the sale.”
  • “How can I make money in this Wedding Planning business?”

Well I have news for you Shirley [insert your name here] :) , it is possible to find and work with brides and make great income in this economy.

First, “you say you are unable to find any brides.”  Can they find you?  And when they do, can they tell from your website what the heck it is you do?

Does the message you convey scream this:  ”I am the best Wedding Planner in the world.  I am here to make your dreams come true on your wedding day.  PICK ME, PICK ME!”

B-O-R-I-N-G  [yawning]

And I’m sure if you do a Google search you will find a ton of other Wedding Planners in the industry with a similar message.  You must stand out.  What is unique about you?  What is your gift or talent that you are not putting on FULL BLAST for the world to know?

What is the outcome you want the bride and groom to have by working with you?

What do you have a passion for?

Because this is what’s going to drive you no matter what.  Are you doing “Going Green” weddings because you think you can make a lot of money with it?  Or are you truly a conscious environmentalist at heart with a love for nature and want to spread your knowledge and passion to brides to implement in their ceremony and reception?

At the core of what you do, WHY do you do it?  What you put out will come back to you…even subconsciously.  If you think of your bride as the “next sale,”  guess what? You are going to have a hard time partnering with that bride and groom.

Get your mindset right, girlfriend! But if you go in with the heart and soul of being of service, sharing your expertise and LISTENING to the bride…you are going to have a much easier time being able to work with the bride and get a signed contract.  It just happens organically.

I’m not suggesting to not ask for a commitment if the bride says she must get back to you.  Sales 101, “always ask for the sale.”  It’s just the way you do it.  If the bride gives a reason why she must get back to you, then you ask her when will she make a decision, and at this point she will give you a day.  So the scenario would go something like this:

Wedding Planner: “When would you like to get started?” (asking for the sale)

Bride: “I need a little more time to think about things.”  (Not ideal, but let’s work with it)

Wedding Planner: “OK, when will you be making a decision?”

Bride: “Sometime next week.”

Wedding Planner: “Lovely, let’s reconnect next week to chat on what you have decided.  What day and time works for you?”

Bride: “Tuesday at 11 am.”

Wedding Planner: Great, I have us scheduled to connect about your decision on Tuesday at 11 am.  You can give me a call at that time by calling me at 555-555-5555.

NOTICE:  the bride is calling you.  She has committed and set up an appointment with you.

If the bride misses the appointment, follow up with her.  Make sure to mention that you were checking in to see how things are going since she missed the appointment (delicately of course).  One of two things will happen.  She will get bad to you and feel back because SHE is the one who missed the meeting or you will never hear from her again.  If it’s the latter, good riddance and you have saved yourself time.  You only want to work with those who see you as their solution.

But in order to find out that you are their solution, your first impression will be your website.  Is it outdated?  Is it an Intuit website or a Go Daddy Website Tonight?  If it is…STOP HERE!

Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

Take that $200 and find someone to install a WordPress based website for you.  If you don’t know anyone, ask me…I will tell how to get it done.  I say this with love, if you didn’t know any better, we are here to learn together and get your business right!

Go Daddy and Intuit websites do not reflect elegance (IMO) and if you want to get found by the search engines and where our 21st century brides are looking…it is online. WordPress makes it so easy for this to be done.

If I was to visit your website, can I get a clear picture of who you are and what you do?  I firmly believe all Wedding Planners should find “that thing” that makes their face smile, their soul warm up inside and puts an extra pep in their step and find a niche.  So when someone says [insert your name here] does “green weddings” we automatically can get an idea of what you do and check you out.

For example, if you are reading this blog post, you know that I am a Virtual Assistant, Online Business Manager that SOLELY works with Wedding Pros.  My content reflects that, my testimonials scream that.  So if you come to my website you already know if you aren’t in the wedding or bridal industry, I am not a fit for you.

Are you a Wedding Planner that only caters to high end weddings?  Then this is “your thing.”  So if I am a bride with a $10,000 budget, I wouldn’t be a fit for you.

The clearer you are with WHO you are, your vision and what you represent, you can begin to exercise your creative energy in your business to attract like-minded folks. Instead of spending time worrying about this economy.  People haven’t stopped getting married and you haven’t stopped planning weddings, so get ‘r done!

This is a new feature in my blog I like to call “Put Them On Blast.” When I come across someone who is doing something so beautiful and for which we all can become inspired and develop our own ideas for our business, they should be “Put On Blast!”

Wendy Dahl, Chief Inspiration Officer is an extraordinary Wedding Planner who plans and orchestrates beautiful South Asian weddings.  She has created “Balamani Bride.”

When you visit Balamani Bride you know she has a passion for South Asian weddings.  She wants to inspire and create dialogue centering around these type of weddings.

There is no question when you visit, what she is doing here.  She deserves a HUGE shout out and to be “Put On Blast!”

What do you want to be known for in your community?  ”You are the Wedding Pro who [fill in the blank].”

I can’t wait to hear what you are up to!   :-D

If you know someone who is doing something marvelous in their business or YOU are doing something that calls for a “shout out”, please let me know so we can “Put Them On Blast.” You can send an email to:  larissa [at] sevenwindsva [dot] net.

I really want to know what you think, so don’t be shy and let me know below by commenting.

In service to you,

Larissa

Filed Under: Local Area Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’m a 1Shopping Cart Expert!

April 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Thank goodness it’s Friday. All this training I’ve been taking is really wearing me out. But don’t worry! I love learning and I’ve scheduled in lots of time to relax this weekend. (I definitely see a glass of wine and a bubble bath in my near future.)

Now I’m getting off track.

See…I told you a little while ago about how I’m now a Certified Online Business Manager but since then I’ve gone ahead and taken another very important course – this time from The Shopping Cart Queen, Christina Hills. That’s right! I’m now Certified in 1ShoppingCart! That’s great news for my clients because I can help them get more out of their carts now. Heck I’ll be able to take over the entire e-commerce aspect of their businesses if they want me to!

If the extent of your knowledge about shopping carts is how to put stuff in them and you have an online shopping element to  your site, we need to talk! Just not this weekend please. I have plans :)

Filed Under: Featured, Virtual Assistance Tagged With: , , , , , , ,