Investing 30 hours of time in 2 hours of networking

Thirty hours of time, for two hours of networking probably seems out of proportion to the untrained eye. Not to my eyes.

It’s Tuesday, and I’m driving to the Fairmont Hotel in Santa Monica, CA to attend the second of two launch parties in Southern California, hosted by WIPA (Wedding Industry Professionals Association). Monday’s event was at the Sheraton, San Diego.

If you haven’t heard about WIPA, you should read my post from last week.

Here’s the thing. The main focus of my business is weddings. Wedding marketing, precisely. The notion of a true nationwide association is important to the industry, and important to my business.

For me, joining is a no-brainer. Sending in a check is easy. I want to kick the tires. Meet the leaders. Feel the tone of the organization. Hear where it’s headed.

In the world of Amazon.com and YouTube, there is nothing quite like shaking hands, looking people in the eye, and listening to what they say. I feel strongly about that, so I’ll be driving to Santa Monica, attending the gathering, and hanging out, afterward.

Driving back to Las Vegas, Wednesday, is important, too. Because Wednesday night will be the Awards and Board Installation for the Las Vegas Chapter of NACE. If one were to attend only one NACE meeting, the entire year, this would be the one.

Online social networking has its place. Being face-to-face is even more important. And I’m in this industry for the long haul. What about you?

I’ll report to you about WIPA, in the next couple of days.

Stay tuned!

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

WIPA: First Non-Profit Trade Association Launched for U.S. Wedding Industry

There are many wedding organizations offering networking meetings, conferences, education, networking, and/or certification throughout the United States: ACPWC, AFWPI, June Wedding, Inc., Weddings Beautiful, and ABC to name just a handful.

While all these organizations serve their members, to varying degrees, none of them are actually a non-profit trade association (also known as a Business League).

What’s the difference you ask? A non-profit trade association, such as ISES or NACE, and now, WIPA, is owned by its members. It is not operated by an individual or partnership who own the organization, in perpetuity.

The average member of any of organization, national or local, may not care whether the belong to a non-profit trade association; however, it is more than a technicality. It’s a way of doing business.

Further, there is dominant wedding association, nationally. There a variety of certifications, which have their own value, but there is not uniformity among them.

WIPA is the first national non-profit (501c6) trade association created specifically for providers of wedding products and services.

The purpose of WIPA is to educate the public about the value of employing qualified wedding specialists, to set and monitor performance standards for its members, and to provide members with opportunities to enhance their professional growth.

Pioneered by 36 leading authorities in the wedding business, WIPA was introduced to a select group of bridal specialists recently at The Vintage Estate in Napa Valley, California, on October 1st, and at the headquarters of Wildflower Linen in Southern California on October 7th.

WIPA’s Founding Sponsors and Members read like a Who’s Who list in the wedding industry – Auberge du Soleil, Denon & Doyle Entertainment, Good Gracious! Events, Paula LeDuc Fine Catering, Penton Media (publishers of Special Events magazine) The Carneros Inn, and many other premiere providers.

“We recognized the need for higher level education and professional development opportunities for those employed in the wedding industry,” explains WIPA’s first President, Joyce Scardina Becker, an international award-winning wedding planner and author.  “Our industry has just risen to professional status over the past 20 years, and many unskilled planners and suppliers have been starting new wedding careers at a rapid pace.  There’s an overdue need for a strong code of ethics, and WIPA will set the standards of performance for the wedding industry.  The expert members in WIPA are demanding it.”

As a non-profit association, WIPA is run by its members, who understand what it takes to produce a wedding. WIPA brings together professionals from all wedding disciplines, including cake designers, caterers, entertainment companies, florists, hoteliers, journalists, photographers, rental companies, videographers, wedding planners and many more.

This solid peer network helps WIPA’s professionals produce outstanding results for brides and grooms.  Other national membership service organizations exist in the wedding industry, but they are for-profit entities, in business to generate a monetary return on investment for their owners.  WIPA has been established to satisfy needs that are unmet by the for-profit wedding groups, primarily through superior education, mentoring, certification, career advancement and business support.

WIPA is moving to the forefront of wedding industry education at The Special Event 2009 Conference, which will take place at the San Diego Convention Center on January 27-30, 2009.  At this annual conference that attracts 6,000 event industry professionals from around the world, WIPA members will present six educational seminars on important wedding-related topics.  For more information about The Special Event 2009, visit its website.

The long term plan for WIPA includes local chapters and its own national conference.

Next week, as part of its rollout, WIPA will be hosting launch events on Monday, November 17th, and Tuesday, November 18th, in San Diego and Santa Monica, respectively. These launch events are designed to share information about the benefits of joining this new association.

Monday, November 17th
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina
1380 Harbor Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92101

To RSVP for the San Diego event, please email: jessica@eventsbydesign.com

Tuesday, November 18th
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Fairmont Mirarmar Hotel & Bungalows
101 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401

To RSVP for the San Diego event, please email: paula@weddingsbyct.com

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SPECIAL COMMENT: This is ground breaking news. The launch and success of WIPA can be an excellent enhancement to the United States wedding industry. It’s important to find out about, attend launch events, join, and be involved. In this way, wedding professionals can earn both the knowledge and credentials to serve their clients and peers with utmost integrity and ability.

Your reaction, comments, thoughts, and questions are especially welcomed on this news.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

Set your wedding marketing goals for 2009

Perhaps you have noticed. Halloween has passed and Christmas decorations are everywhere in sight. Thanksgiving barely registers as a bump-in-the-road anymore.

If Christmas is a scant 50 days away, can the new year be far behind?

Okay, now that I’ve successfully boosted your blood pressure, it’s time to take inventory on marketing. Please pull out your 2008 wedding marketing plan. You have a written wedding marketing plan, don’t you?

In either case, set aside some quiet time for planning. My definition of quiet time means no distractions. No phones and no extraneous people. What you need is your marketing materials from 2008, your financial information, sales data, and media kits for all the new marketing opportunities in 2009. A Sunday away from the office, with just you,  your laptop, business partner, and/or marketing mentor should do it.

Gee whiz… I really didn’t mean to scare you so badly.

Tell you what. Do three things, right now.

1. Block a half-day or full day on your calendar for this planning session.
2. Begin to gather and organize your materials for that session, giving yourself enough time to prepare.
3. Obtain current media kits and rate information from any publications, websites, wedding shows, networking groups or other marketing options you should be considering.

I’ll get back to you on the rest.

Quote: Tomorow’s starting now - John Legend (quote inspired by Marcello Pedalino, MMP Entertainment)

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

Get your piece of the Wedding Marketing Pie

Think of your wedding market share as one piece of a tasty cherry pie. Perhaps, this year, the slice has been both tasty and satisfying. The revenue and profits from that pie have been just fine, thank you.

Before you can say ‘flaky crust,’ the size of the pie begins to shrink. Perhaps there’s a cherry shortage. Could it be that there has been a run on Crisco?

If the pie continues to shrink in size (# of weddings, or wedding budget dollars), you are going to be one hungry consumer of cherry pie.

Sadly, you have no control over the size of the pie. You just eat your slice; you’re not the baker. What’s a dessert eating wedding business like yours going to do?

Steal some pie!! You heard me. Steal some pie.

If your slice of pie is shrinking, you need to take a bite out of someone else’s pie. It’s nothing personal. It’s just necessary, from a competitive appetite standpoint.

If the pie were increasing in size, you could just coast on your percentage of the pie, and life would be cool.

Now is the time to hustle, not to coast.

If you are responding to your competitor’s appetite, you are toast. You need to be hungrier than your competitor. Make one more call, have a better print ad, get some face time with your venue contacts, have office hours that ridiculously convenient for the prospect, respond to inquires with lightning speed, and follow up on even the coolest lead as though it’s sizzling hot.

You’ve got to want it; no excuses!!

Want to motivate your sales staff. Go out to Marie Callendars, bring a cherry pie back to the office for a sales meeting, and retell this story with your own twist. Make little flags with your competitors names and stake them in the pie.

Make cherry pies a sales incentive. Top producer or every person that meets a sales goal for a 2-week period earns a cherry pie.

How about delivering a cherry pie to an industry contact who has given you the most referrals in a month?

OK, I’ve made myself sufficiently hungry. I’m going out to Marie Callendars for a slice of cherry pie (sugar free) and coffee.

It’s time to get get yours!!

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

Save time by scanning business cards to text

In a post from November 1st, I suggested that now would be a good time to update your contact files. One  easily neglected tasks is transferring business card information to your address book, contact management or database software.

There is a highly effective tool for accomplishing that work, quickly and effectively. It is Card Scan; a scanner-software combination that makes short work transferring information from a pocketful of business cards into your computer-based records.

I have an earlier version of Card Scan, and judging by recent reviews, the latest hardware and software are even more efficient. I’m going for the upgrade, and suggest you do, too. It’s one of those specific-use products (such as Dymo Labelwriters) that perform extremely well for what their designed to do.

Card Scan is available for both Mac and Windows operating systems.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

Whatever is obviously outdated, needs fixing

The image of the sign in this post appears in the office of one of my doctors. It lives behind the glass, facing the hoards of patients, killing time in the waiting room.

In the last couple of years, I’ve spent way too much time in waiting rooms. I’ve read every magazine, worked on my laptop, and considered every possible piece of good or bad news that might face me when I actually get in to see the doctor.

The sign posts a change of insurance acceptance from May 15, 2007. HELLO! It’s now November 2008. Either remove the date or remove the sign.

The sign is a symbol of internal blindness that many small business owners suffer from. We don’t notice obvious evidence that the external faces of our businesses is covered with cobwebs.

• Does your website boast?: Last updated 10/7/06
• Do you have trouble opening documents sent to you, by email, because your software is more than two versions old?
• Does your company logo look like it was designed in the late 1970’s?
• When your crew shows up to deliver or set up, are they wearing Grateful Dead t-shirts, or polo shirts, sporting your company name?

Time flies, and we have a different threshold of awareness when it comes to ourselves, or our businesses. Designing and implementing a new logo is a big deal. Others tasks… not so much.

Get an outside opinion. A fresh set of eyes and ears. In a time when money is tight, you’ll be surprised how many actions you can take to bring matters up to date, without spending a king’s ransom.

Once you figure out what those tasks are, you actually have to perform them.

You can do it!

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

Shameless Self-Promotion: Andy Ebon on Blogging

Since early 2007, I’ve become an active blogger, and something of a blogging evangelist, too. It has been great fun to share the reasons for, and the how-tos of blogging, in presentations and seminars from coast-to-coast, during the last year.

There seems to be no question in my mind, or the minds of most internet communication experts, that a business without a blog is sorely lacking in its media mix.

This month, marks the publishing of my first wedding marketing article in Mobile Beat Magazine. Naturally, it’s all about blogging. My personal thanks to Mobile Beat Publisher, Ryan Burger, for bringing me into the fold.

Readers of the Mobile Beat website have had the opportunity to read a syndicated version of The Wedding Marketing Blog.

I’m proud to announce that I’ve been tapped to write a chapter, titled: Blogging Your Way To Business Success for the forthcoming book, “Power of the Platform - Speakers On Success.”

Power of the Platform is the brainchild of Robin Jay (Las Vegas Convention Speakers Bureau). Robin has created an anthology of contributions by 20 notable speakers, including many recognizable national names, such as: Brian Tracy, Les Brown, Dr. Tony Alessandra, Amanda Gore, Marcia Wieder, Jack Canfield, and many more.

Robin is ever the taskmaster (or is that taskmistress?). She’s right on schedule, and the finished product will be ready for sale in mid-December. Another announcement will be made, as soon as pre-orders are available, online.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

Wedding Marketing Maintenance: update my contact files

Call it what you want: Rolodex, contact files, database, address book…

Whatever you call it, bring it current. Businesses move, people get promoted, job titles change, people get laid off, new businesses open, you collect business cards at networking events, membership in networking groups and association change, [your addition to this list goes here]

In our rapidly changing world, we tend to acquire new information and contacts, faster than we process them. If you plan to send holiday cards or just keep in touch, being up to date comes first.

There is no worse feeling than having the holiday cards arrive and, only then, discovering your contact information is way out of date.

Today is the 1st day of November. Make it a 3-week project, then you won’t drive yourself crazy, when you need to use the information.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

Tara Murney: It’s quite easy ‘Being Green’

The buzz phrase, ‘Green Events,’ might already sound overused to some of us. Believe me, this is only the beginning.

You may not realize that brides, are beginning to take an significant interest in making their wedding eco-friendly, and that this often includes their choice of vendors. As one begins to learn more about becoming an eco-friendly business, you will understand that this orientation can be as good for business, as it is for the planet.

In this video podcast, produced at the Wedding MBA, Tara Murney (A Green Tie Affair), is interviewed by Brandon Mulnix (Modern Photographics & Western Michigan Wedding Association). Tara very succinctly defines the meaning of ‘Green Events,’ and goes into some detail about the range of options for business and clients make events more eco-friendly.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

Don’t violate the ‘no surprise’ rule

Last week, when I presented, “Marketing and Selling to the 21st Century Bride” to Las Vegas NACE, i emphasized the importance of relationships and communications as key factors in surviving and prospering during current economic downturns.

During the Q & A period we transgressed into the area of ‘vendor meals’ and other side issues.

Rather than rehash the discussion, there was one strikingly clear comment made to me, after the meeting, by Frank Gregory, CPCE. He said, Andy, “It’s not that a Catering Manager objects to providing meals for the appropriate vendors (as agreed to by the client). It’s that we when we are about to open a room to 250 guests, we don’t want to be surprise.

What the catering contact needs is communication, early in the week, to make certain that the client has included you in the head count, and listed you for seating. Then we can confirm it, and it’s a very minor item.”

The bottom line is: No Surprises

If you like be referred by venues, it’s important to make their life easy. You can do that by communicating clearly, and several days in advance.

Or, face their wrath!!

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

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