Successful event and wedding planners know that the secret to growing their business and achieving their goals lies in how well they market and sell their services. Modern Marketing for the Event and Wedding Planner provides the marketing and sales fundamentals that thriving planners follow to set themselves apart and land more clients.Written by marketing expert Jeff Kear - a 20-year veteran in the marketing, branding and advertising industry and owner of MyWeddingWorkbookPro.com, the online software for the wedding professional - this essential how-to guide breaks down the formula for marketing a service-based business into a series of easy-to-understand steps. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur starting a business at home or an established planner with multiple staff and locations, the process outlined in this book will serve you well for years to come.There are unique challenges when it comes to branding, marketing and selling a service like event and wedding planning. In no-nonsense, clear language, with lots of examples and stories, this engaging book walks you through what to do and what to avoid in building a rock-solid marketing and sales program for your event and wedding planning business, including:- Identifying who your ideal customer is and what they really want.- The reasons behind how your customers make buying decisions (and how to influence them).- How you can build a lasting brand for your company (and why it's so important).- Crafting and honing your marketing and sales messages (including your elevator speech and Web site copy).- Exploiting a niche in your local wedding and event planning market (and how it can distinguish you from the crowd).- Avoiding the minor slip-ups and grave errors that can actually push prospects away.- Pricing and packaging your services so prospects know exactly what they're getting.- Overcoming the stigma of being a small business.- Which marketing tactics to try first (and which ones to avoid at all costs).- Indispensible tips and tricks for marketing on the Web (including guidance on building a Web site and blogging, plus where to market on the Internet for free).- How to make the most of networking (and why it's better to give than to receive).- The do's and don'ts of proposals.- Avoiding the many landmines of sales pitches (and coming out the other side with the clients you want and your sanity intact).- And much, much more.If you are looking for a comprehensive-but-straightforward guide on event planner marketing, Modern Marketing for the Event and Wedding Planner is your road map to a successful marketing and sales strategy.About the AuthorJeff Kear has more than 20 years of experience in the marketing and advertising industry and has worked with both Fortune 500 companies as well as hundreds of small, locally owned service-based business. In addition, in 2009 he launched MyWeddingWorkbook.com and MyWeddingWorkbookPro.com, online software services for engaged couples and wedding professionals, respectively. In the process of building these popular online wedding planning resources, he has consulted with hundreds of event and wedding planners, becoming intimately familiar with how they run their businesses and their challenges in growing their customer bases."I wanted to write a marketing book that I wish someone had given to me before I started a service-based business," says Kear. "So I included all the big topics as well as little tips and pieces of advice that, although on their own might seem small, add up to make all the difference when you're trying to build a successful wedding and event planning business."
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