Sam Horn – Does your business POP?  After reading Sam Horn’s book “POP”, I just had to have her on to talk about how you can make your business stand out from the crowd. We talked about how the first 60 seconds can make or break your business. Sam also shared how to use AIR – Alliteration, Iambic and Rhyme when choosing a name for a business, product or service. She’s a great story-teller.  Listen to this new episode and hear how you can use POP – Purposeful, Original, Pithy – to help your...

What to do with Wedding Expo leads  Thanks to Chuck in Philly for this suggestion. I’ve actually done another episode a while back on this, and it’s time for a refresher. The opportunity here is that 90% of the exhibitors at wedding expos won’t use the lead lists. To me, that’s just throwing money away. You paid to get in front of a unique audience that will never exist again. Why would you think that what happens at the show is the only thing you paid for. There are so many distractions for...

You know what to do, but are you doing it?  This isn’t a listener suggestion, rather it was inspired by things I’ve seen working with and listening to some of you, my clients and connections. For example, I’ve had people come to me and say that they’re not getting the response they want from their inquiries, and that they’re following what I taught them. Yet, when I look at how they’re replying, it’s not at all what I taught them (or have written about). Now, my way isn’t the only way to do...

Phil M. Jones – Do you know exactly what to say? After reading Phil. M Jones’ audio book “Exactly what to say”, I was hooked. So many of the things he talks about apply to your businesses, and mine. And then I read “Exactly How to Sell” and “Persuade to get paid”, which just reinforced that I had to have Phil on here to talk about how his ideas and concepts apply to wedding and event businesses, like yours.  Listen to this new episode and hear common sense tips to help you, help more people...

Customers aren’t going to adapt to us!  I’ve been seeing and hearing a lot of frustration from companies that stems from how they want to do business, but their customers want it done differently. When we’re the customer, the companies have to do business the way we want, or we’ll find someone else who will. It’s too easy these days to find another alternative. Are you doing things a certain way because it’s easier for you? Is it also easier for your customers? Or, are you adding friction...

Your customers don't care if you're busy!  Here’s another topic that came both from my personal experience and from conversations I’ve been having lately, both with engaged couples as well as wedding and event pros. For many of you, juggling doing events while handling inquiries, especially in your busy season, is a challenge. Your customers don’t care. And you don’t either, when you’re the customer. You want a reply, quickly, and responsiveness, from the companies you do business...

Phil Gerbyshak - Do you have a sales system?    Is your sales system a spreadsheet, a CRM or… you’re just winging it? I invited my friend Phil Gerbyshak to come on and talk about sales systems and processes, why they’re important and how you can get started, even with a small budget. Phil has been in sales and sales training for years and just launched the Modern Sales Success online course.  Listen to this new episode for ideas on why you need a sales system, what to look for and how to be...

Is it procrastination or indecision?  It’s frustrating when you get all of the good signals from the customer that they like what you’re offering, but they just won’t commit! Thanks to Marylee for this suggestion. We’ve all been there. What’s holding them back? For some, it’s just their personality type to procrastinate, and they do it on most decisions. For others it’s indecision, which is related to, but a little different from procrastination. Determining which it is will help you get them...

What do you do when two customers want the same date?     Here’s another listener suggestion, this time from Euan in the UK. He had two couples asking about the same date (a good problem to have), and wasn’t sure the best way to handle the situation. I’m sure you’ve run into this, I know I have, and we don’t want them to feel like we’re adding pressure by just saying we have another inquiry (or enquiry).    Listen to this 7 minute episode for some ideas on how to handle situations like this....

Kristin Arnold – Do you have/need a strategic plan?  You’ve probably been told that you need a business plan, or a marketing plan, but do you have a Strategic Plan? I asked my friend Kristin Arnold to come on and talk about how a strategic plan is different than those other plans, what it is and why you should have one, regardless of the size of your business.  Listen to this new episode for insight into strategic planning and two different ways you can go about it for your business.  Kristin...

You have to do better than that!  If your inboxes are like mine, you’re getting a lot of generic messages, trying to get our attention. I get people reaching out through Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram saying things like “I've noticed you pop up in my Facebook recommendations a lot…”, and I can see that we have no connections in common, so I know it’s a scam or at least it’s spam. If you want to get someone’s attention, you have to do better than that. Once in a while, someone sends me a...

How do you define success?  I’ve had this one on my list for a while to talk about on the podcast. When I work with businesses, large and small, one of the things I try to find out is how you define your success. It doesn’t matter how I define it, as you’re the one that has to do the work to get there. And when you get there, you want to feel satisfied with wherever that is. Too often we let others define success for us, and then we feel unfulfilled. Listen to this new 8-minute episode for...

Brian Lawrence – My site has enhanced accessibility to visitors with disabilities, does yours? A while back I had someone on to talk about ADA compatibility for websites, and then… I didn’t do anything about it. Can you relate? So, I asked my friend and website expert, Brian Lawrence, to make my site more accessible. I couldn’t believe how easy it was (for me, since I didn’t have to do it), and how many different features there are, making my site more accessible to people not only with...

When should you ask about their budget?  This is another listener suggestion, this time from Marylee in Connecticut. When should you ask the customer, couple or client about their budget. It’s not an easy answer, as it will be different for different price points, different services (some are easier to explain) and frankly, for each of us. You’ve probably heard me say that since all budgets are made up (credit to Phil. M. Jones for that), they can all be changed. Listen to this new 9-minute...

Do you ask How Much?  There are times when we have to ask ourselves if we do some of the same things when we’re customers, that our customers do to us. For instance, if you hate it when people ask you how much you charge, before finding out the results you can provide, or the value that you bring… have you done that when you were the customer? I know I have. Whether it’s because we don’t know what to ask, we’ve never bought this product or service before, or maybe we’re just trying to shop on...

Kendra Ramirez – AI for Wedding Pros I met Kendra at the WedProCon conference where she was speaking about AI – Artificial Intelligence, and how wedding pros can use it… and I just had to have her on the podcast to talk to you. Of course, we discuss ChatGPT, but also some other cool tools that you can use to help you with content creation, images, video editing and much more. Listen to our conversation and get some ideas on how you might use AI in your wedding/event business. I know I got...

Have you resolved to stop making resolutions?  Now that it’s February (when this first aired), have you made and broken your New Year’s resolutions already? Did you make any? I don’t, because I don’t wait for the beginning of the year to commit to what I want/need to do. Do you need a milestone date to get started? Or, do you just need accountability to what you want to achieve? Listen to this new 7-minute episode for a little perspective on resolutions and how they relate to your getting to...

This episode was prompted by paying attention to some of the many email signatures I see every day. Sometimes we don’t pay any attention to them (especially if it’s someone we already know). There were a few times, just this week, where I wanted to know more about the person sending the email (either to do research, or add them to my CRM, etc.) and I found it to be a lot harder than it should have been. Adding unnecessary friction is a good way to alienate your customers. Listen to this new...

How many words is your current contract, including the Terms & Conditions? Did you account for every eventuality, not matter how rare? Can your contract be cut down to only 500 words? I had a great conversation with Sarah Fox, a “Recovering Lawyer”, and fellow speaker I met in the UK. In her former life as a corporate attorney she saw the ridiculousness of the length of so many contracts. Then, her sister challenged her to write a contract with only 500 words… and viola, thus began her...

What's the Zero Moment of Truth? I just finished reading “Youtility” by Jay Baer, and among other great nuggets he talks about the Zero Moment of Truth, which Google defines as “The ZMOT refers to the moment in the buying process when the consumer researches a product prior to purchase.” Are you there for their ZMOT? How many potential customers are you losing, before you even knew they were in the market for what you do? Listen to this new 9-minute episode for more information and clarity on...

Should we care what the color of the year is? I just saw the big announcement… the Pantone color of the year is Peach Fuzz! Does that matter to your business and should you care? If you’re in the color business – flowers, linens, fashion, invitations, lighting, décor… then yes. Should the rest of us care? Maybe. Listen to this new 6-minute episode for more some thoughts on the color of the year and what you might want to focus on next year and beyond. If you have any questions about anything...

Alan Katz – Scaling from 1 wedding to thousands! I’ve known Alan Katz for years and I love the story of how he got started doing a friend’s wedding, and has parlayed that to a company that does almost 2,000 ceremonies each year! You’ll also hear how he’s deepened his niche with other related services and how he’s been able to get thousands of reviews. Oh, and Alan Katz is the one who told me to end every email with a question… something that I credit him in my book “Why don’t they call...

What’s a Fake Lead? I’ve been having quite a few one-on-one conversations with clients and folks in the industry about fake leads. I also see many social posts about this and I’m often tagged and pulled into the conversation. And since you can’t hear my one-on-one conversations, I thought I’d address it here, as most of those conversations are very similar. Listen to this new 10-minute episode for a different perspective on what is and isn’t a fake lead, and what you can do to improve your...

Don't punish the masses for the ills of a few I’ve used this phrase before on the podcast “Don't punish the masses for the ills of a few”. Just recently I saw another wedding/event pro coming up with what felt like punitive rules, so I decided it was time to devote an episode to this. How many things are you telling your couples and customers they can’t do? Is your “no” list bigger than your “yes” list? Listen to this new 7-minute episode for more a little introspection and ideas on how you...