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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

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Please excuse the dust, it’s spring cleaning time!

March 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

There are some very big changes happening behind the scenes here at Seven Winds and I want to take a break from the blog to focus our energy on the direction this business will soon be heading in.

I  know what you’re thinking, “Now, why on Earth would you just stop keeping your blog updated when you’ve gained some momentum recently?”

My best answer to that is that it could possibly do us more harm than good to be blogging without knowing for certain who, exactly, we’re going to be marketing to come April 1st and frankly, blogging is too much work to be wasting valuable post energy on irrelevant topics.

Now, this new plan being cooked up isn’t something I just plucked out of thin air, but I’m being completely transparent right now when I say that I haven’t ironed out all the details yet and until I do I’m not prepared to launch anything or to be blogging about it.

There are other spring cleaning items that are taking place around here as well, changes that are collectively going to improve our clients’ experience working with us and that will make team members happier…including letting go clients who are not holding up their end of our working arrangement.

So…we’ll be falling off the radar for a couple of weeks but my question to you in the meantime is this:

When did you last do some spring cleaning in your business?

  • Are you still doing things that aren’t working?
  • Are you holding on to clients because they pay you, even though they make you miserable?
  • Have you brushed off your marketing materials lately?
  • What about an updated list of service offerings or some spiffy new content?

Come on, guys, spring has sprung and it’s time to get serious about getting rid of the business clutter to ensure a healthy, happy rest-of-the-year!

You pick up your mop and pail and we’ll see you in April!

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

Micro-managers need not apply

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I’m surprised at how many of the VAs on my team react when I give them full control over a project. See…I am not a micro-manager. I never appreciated being micromanaged a hundred years ago when I was an employee and I won’t put up with it today as a business owner.

I choose the best of the best when it comes to the people I add to my team. They’re the experts at what they do, so I trust they’re doing the projects they’re assigned to the best of their ability. I oversee “bigger picture” projects and liaise with clients. I don’t need to be involved in every single project because, quite frankly, I’m busy enough with building the business, keeping it humming and signing on clients!

Besides, the reason I’ve added these professionals to my team is because they’re skilled in areas I am not…for the most part. Trust me, I’m not getting in the bookkeeper’s way because it would be a waste of my time (and hers) to be in her business all the time because she knows what she’s doing.

I’m not going to give my copywriter a list of guidelines about writing press releases before I ask her to write one. I have her on board with me because she knows what she’s doing. I trust her and everyone else on my team to do what they do best.

Fancy that.

Unfortunately, this trust factor is a rarity to most people who have ever worked admin in an employee role. We’ve all been micromanaged at one time or another and we’ve all hated it. We’ve called that micro-manager nasty names behind his (or her) back and complained to our spouses about them after a long day at work.

If you consider yourself a micro-manager you do not want to enter into a contract with us at Seven Winds, or with any VA anywhere for that matter. You will not be popular.

The whole point of partnering with a virtual assistant is to free you up to do other things. That means you need to give your VA control over her tasks, otherwise, you’re completely defeating the purpose of the relationship.

All that will get you is one frustrated VA and the feeling that working with a VA is taking up more of your time than you expected.

That’s a classic symptom of micromanagement. It wastes your time and it’s precisely why you would be much better off hiring yourself an in-house assistant who will put up with the constant stream of instructions and over-the-shoulder-looking.

So you have fun with that while we go ahead and make a real difference in the lives and the businesses of the trusting business owners we choose to align ourselves with. And if you know some entrepreneurs like that, send ‘em our way. We pay referrals.

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

Done wasting energy on “the haters”

March 4, 2010 By 6 Comments

There are two types of Virtual Assistants, at least as far as I’m concerned. There’s the type that works really hard at making it sound like they’re really busy and successful. They mention it so often, in so many places, that it’s quite evident to the rest of us that there’s no way they’re actually as busy as they claim to be. On Facebook you see them chatting with other VAs, complaining about their clients (how professional) and talking all day about the amount of work they’re doing. (These VAs may claim they’re on Facebook to market their business, an argument immediately discounted by the fact that they actually complain about their current clients.)

Then there’s the type of VA who works full time, both at reaching their business goals and doing client work. This VA actually is busy and has little time to gossip and speculate on what other VAs are doing. This is the type of VA you don’t see hanging out on message boards and chatting on Facebook all day because they’re too busy actually marketing and doing client work to be investing time in those types of activities.

This VA adopts unique marketing techniques and is more worried about their own business than what others are doing.

This VA tends to not feel like they’re really part of the VA industry because they’re not very well known among their peers except to be disrespected for doing things differently and bucking the regular trend.

See, I belong to the later group. I really am busy at building my business, managing my team and working on projects. I am not very competitive by nature and I am too busy to keep tabs on all of my competitors anyway.

I have to tell you, there’s a lot to be said for bucking the trend and making your own mark on your industry. I’m proud of what I’m doing and I’m proud of the fact that I have not lowered myself to the level of some of the “haters” I hear from who are much too concerned about what’s happening at Seven Winds.

I am officially done caring about what these people think or say about me and if you find something similar happening to you in your industry, I suggest you do the same.

Anyone who has enough free time to worry about what I’m doing has to learn how to market themselves properly. There is enough business to go around for everyone, so instead of worrying about how I’m marketing or how I’m growing my business, worry about what you can do to make your own mark.

End of rant {SIGH}.

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