Last week I sent out a newsletter about a “correction” in the wedding market last year, and the impact we’re feeling in our businesses this year - and likely next year too. It made quite a bit of noise on IG, which is great. Thank you Reagan Events for amplifying the ideas I shared and adding in a planner’s perspective on a speculative market in downstream vendors. Ironically, I’d just cut this episode with Lindsay Landman the day before all this happened. Instead of airing it in June, as planne...
May 06, 2024•1 hr 5 min
I remember my first day on the job working in a restaurant in 1994 at the age of 16. I’d eaten at them while growing up, but I’d never known how it all went together behind the scenes, behind the swing door going into the kitchen - and I was transfixed when that first day in the back-of-house watching it all go down. Same thing happened when I worked my first wedding 17 years ago. I’d attended two weddings in my life up until that point, but even so I was blown away by how much work went in behi...
Apr 29, 2024•40 min
In the intro to the podcast you hear me say it’s hard to own your own business. Especially if it’s a business of one. Why? Because you’ve got to do ALL the things - even if you’re not good at them or love doing them. When you’re starting out or struggling, or too stubborn to hire out important work to experts, you end up doing all of it by yourself. And it’s tiring. You only get so much energy to devote to important things every day. Your brain can only do so many things with its logical, ration...
Apr 22, 2024•50 min
Want to know why you’re not attracting the right kinds of couples to your inbox? First place to look is your website. But don’t look at it like a filter, or a screen. Think of it like a magnet. Are you putting out content that triggers interest in ideal clients? We look at literally thousands of websites and galleries every year, and I can assure you that most people are putting out images that do NOT appeal to their ideal clients. Yes, they tell a story of the wedding day. Yes, they reflect you...
Apr 15, 2024•16 min
Are you pitching your packages and pricing on discovery calls? If so, listen up. You might be booking couples with your current approach. But are you booking as many as you could if you chose to delay your pitch… Until they were at the right stage in the buyer’s journey? Until you’d built enough trust and respect with the couple? Until they were eager to hear that kind of information? Until all the decision-makers were paying attention? In today's episode, I’ll share a story about how a salesper...
Apr 08, 2024•28 min
Today, I bring in Julian Leaver, the Dapper Diplomat and owner of Julian Leaver Events. Julian was on the podcast a few months ago for episode 123 to talk about the power of a strong personal brand. It was one of the most popular podcasts we’ve done over the past year, which got me thinking about how to dive even deeper into the knowledge he can share with the audience. So I’m bringing him in quarterly, now, to talk about important topics like personal brand, grooming and attire, etiquette, comm...
Apr 01, 2024•41 min
You listen to the podcast because you want to be a more successful business owner. You want to get better at selling your services. At creating a solid website. At making messages that connect with your ideal clients. I share information on the podcast, because I know how to do these things. And I love helping others like you who are open to the insights, the information, and most importantly, are willing to do the work to make the improvements. While I might be good at sales, marketing and buye...
Mar 25, 2024•26 min
I tend to focus on practical advice about strategies and tactics on this podcast. Sales. Pricing. Copywriting. Website design. Communication. I take general behavioral science insights and apply them to your work as a wedding professional. However, don’t confuse my focus on these few areas with a belief that other areas aren’t important. They are the ones I choose to talk about, because I feel like there’s a gap in these topics in the wedding industry, and I’m uniquely qualified to provide exper...
Mar 18, 2024•52 min
We’ve all heard about the “inquiry season” or “booking season.” But does it really exist? The digging I’ve done shows that it’s not as much of a thing as you might think. I surveyed dozens of clients inquiries and bookings from the past several years, and what I discovered might surprise you: There’s not a definitive bump in counts in the first quarter of the year compared to other times of the year. If inquiries were evenly distributed throughout the year, that would mean about 25% would occur ...
Mar 11, 2024•29 min
Let me tell you what I’ve learned after talking to hundreds of wedding pros who aren’t getting enough bookings or the right kinds of bookings. Most of the challenges you’re running into are self-created. You’re doing it to yourself. In the wedding industry, we tend to blame outside forces acting upon our business for the reasons why we’re not doing well, or not reaching our full potential. The economy. The election cycle. Declining engagement rates. Wars overseas. Yes, these impact the macro con...
Mar 04, 2024•28 min
Most wedding pros aren’t getting enough inquiries to feed their businesses - and the website is often the reason why. Yes, even for those of you in the luxury market. My general rule of thumb for the luxury market is to get 10x the number of inquiries as you need bookings if you want to get the most from your bookings. For those NOT in luxury, it’s more like 4x-6x as many inquiries as the number of bookings you want. It’s easier than ever for couples to inquire, but why does it seem like there’s...
Feb 26, 2024•31 min
You know the saying: It’s good to learn from your mistakes? I think it’s overrated. Yeah, sure, you should absolutely learn from what didn’t work so you can improve your chances of something else working in the future. But it’s slow - and stressful - to go through life making mistakes. Why not learn from the mistakes others make? Let them screw up or screw around on the way to success. You can observe what they’ve done from a distance and learn not just what DIDN’T work, but also what DID work. ...
Feb 19, 2024•1 hr 37 min
I’ve featured some of the best in the business on my podcast. Abby Jiu, KT Merry, Bob Spiegel, Alex Le Roux, Shannon Leahy, Chris Jespersen, and so many others. It’s great to hear their insights and reflections on the route they took to the top of their fields in the event industry. But I find it equally important - and even more inspiring - to hear from people who are in the middle of their journey. Who are seeing success, but haven’t come close to reaching their full potential. I try to bring ...
Feb 12, 2024•1 hr 21 min
Is it just me, or does the 2024 booking season feel a little different than other years? I’ve been in this industry for 17 years now. I’ve seen the Wedding Boom, the pandemic, the Golden Age, and the Great Recession. But this year feels…flat. I’m not saying it’s a bad start to the year. Oh no! In fact, many of our clients are having record bookings these past few months. But many others aren’t doing well. It’s stressful, even scary. On today’s episode, I try to explain what’s going on, why it’s ...
Feb 05, 2024•27 min
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a magic button you could push and all your dreams would come true? Or at least some of them? I was reading Arnold Scharzenegger’s recent memoir, Be Useful, and in it he says: “If there is one unavoidable truth in this world, it’s that there is no substitute for putting in the work. People have tried to cut corners and skip steps in this process for as long as hard work has been hard.” I love this, because it’s so true. If you want to see the results, you have to...
Jan 29, 2024•26 min
Last week, I shared insights on why couples aren’t booking vendors at higher price points. It’s largely due to an imbalanced value proposition. Price is higher than the value offered by the vendor. It’s one of the biggest obstacles that wedding pros run into when trying to make the move into premium and luxury markets. But it’s not the only thing getting in the way of you charging higher prices. Today, I want to bring in my better half for a conversation on what’s getting in the way of your succ...
Jan 22, 2024•31 min
The single biggest reason wedding pros struggle to convert couples at higher prices is because you’re not justifying the extra expense compared to someone who’s cheaper. Let’s be honest, most of you offer packages with features that are nearly identical to others in your field. You want to know how to stand out in a crowded marketplace? And get clients to gladly pay more for what you’re offering? Build value. Create desire. Which is exactly what I’ll talk about in this short episode that shows y...
Jan 15, 2024•26 min
Most wedding pros I know are trying to charge more for their services. Is this one of your goals? If so, keep listening to the Own Your Business podcast, because it’s about booking more of your ideal clients at higher price points. But strategies and tactics for sales, pricing and copywriting are only a few of the skills you’ll need to pick up if you want to break into the premium and luxury markets. One of the big areas you have to level up if you want to stay in those elevated markets is your ...
Jan 08, 2024•56 min
Before we get the main episode underway, a quick announcement for those listening before Jan. 15. I’m co-hosting a free workshop on how to build a luxury personal brand in the wedding industry. I’ll be joined by my friend, luxury planner and certified protocol officer, Julian Leaver to talk about what it takes to present yourself and communicate in a way wealthy clientele trust and respect. Trust is the #1 criteria for purchase decisions among affluent buyers. We’ll talk about specifics on creat...
Jan 03, 2024•1 hr 30 min
What a year! It wasn’t as crazy as the past three, but that didn’t make it any less interesting. No pandemic, but we sure felt the ripple effects, even if it was more about getting back to normal after riding the boom wave for 18 months. It’s tempting to wrap up 2023 without looking back on it, because we’re so eager for what the future holds. But most successful planning involves a few moments reflecting on what you see in the rear view mirror. Join us on this quick conversation as Katy and I g...
Dec 25, 2023•47 min
The single most difficult sales skill to develop is the discovery call. It’s also the most important. It’s when you qualify the client. And connect with them. And it’s where you set yourself up for an easy close. If you’re getting ghosted after you share pricing it’s because you blew it earlier on in the discovery call. I’m not perfect at them either. I get ghosted too! But not as much after I stopped making the common mistakes I’ll share with you on today’s podcast. But first a story about the ...
Dec 18, 2023•20 min
PSA: You’re not perfect. You’re going to make mistakes. The question is: Will you learn from them? If so, how will you learn from them? People tend to improve what you pay attention to in their business. So how do you know what needs to be improved - especially if you’re not deconstructing what went well and what didn’t. In today’s episode of Own Your Business, I talk about: - Why post-mortems are a non-negotiable for your future success - What to include in your post-season analysis - What to d...
Dec 11, 2023•16 min
Katy and I cut this episode right after we returned from our Shift Retreat in Costa Rica a couple weeks ago. Ironically, when this episode goes to air on Dec. 4, we’ll be in the middle of a second retreat helping business owners clarify what success looks like, and then create action plan to get there. Spending a solid week with clients to dig into what’s going on and how to help them revealed some patterns in what we saw. Today, Katy and I sit down for a quick conversation about what we’re seei...
Dec 04, 2023•42 min
What goes into a successful website? A beautiful design? Yes, of course. A stunning visual brand? For sure. But what else? Yes, copywriting is important too. But before that, before the branding, before the design, you’ve got to build the site on a solid foundation if you want it to last. In today’s episode of Own Your Business, Katy and I talk about the six components of a successful site. And give you the step-by-step on how to build one yourself. Enjoy the listen…...
Nov 27, 2023•27 min
It’s Thanksgiving week in the US, so I thought it would be fun to do an episode on gratitude. But this isn’t a week off from the science of growing your business. Oh no! We’re pulling back the curtain on what seems like woo-woo, so you can see how: - Our negativity bias creates a pressure cooker for everyday life - Where you might be setting yourself up for failure the harder you try for success - Why losses are so much more intense than wins - Most importantly, you’ll get the tools to rewire yo...
Nov 20, 2023•17 min
Want to know what I’ve learned looking at hundreds of wedding pros’ offerings and pricing? Most people are doing it wrong. And unfortunately, it’s costing you business - both in clients lost and money left on the table. Here’s the good news: I’ve got insights to share with you today that will help convert more couples and get them to feel comfortable paying higher prices for your services. In today’s episode of Own Your Business, I share: - How I got my start practicing choice architecture at Th...
Nov 13, 2023•22 min
Let me ask a question that most wedding pros I know can’t answer: What’s your exit strategy? Here’s another one: What’s your growth strategy? And let’s be clear: Charging more is NOT a growth strategy. Yes, getting couples to pay higher prices is part of success. But at some point you’ll hit a ceiling with how much people are willing to pay. Real growth - and most exit plans - are built on your ability to get others to do the work you’re currently doing now. It’s the old adage that the first thi...
Nov 06, 2023•49 min
We all want more ideal clients. But how do you get more of them to land in your inbox? It’s not magic. But it’s also not as simple as cold-DMing planners and upgrading your branding. In this episode Katy and I talk about: - What goes into an ideal client avatar - How you can communicate messages to trigger ideal clients - Why some messages connect and others don’t Stay tuned. You won’t want to miss this short deep-dive that gives you a blueprint for getting better inquiries and bigger budgets. P...
Oct 30, 2023•27 min
Scarcity is a powerful persuasive tool. But it’s also a dangerous one, because when used too often or with too heavy of a hand it can backfire - and kill a deal faster than you can say, actually there’s not really an expiration on the proposal I sent you. In today’s episode, I’ll share with you: - Ways you might be using scarcity without even knowing it - How it impacts buyers positively and negatively - What buyer type sees huge value in hard-to-get services, and - The two buyer types who shut ...
Oct 24, 2023•23 min
Do you ever feel like you have 28 hours of things to do every day? Yeah, me too. In fact, I recently read about a mindset called “time poor,” which I suffer very badly from. It’s awful. I never feel like I have enough time. And to top it all off, I still feel guilty for not putting enough time into the things that matter to me. Just the other day, I started work at 700am and felt awful, like I was playing hookie with my day. Over the past 100+ episodes, we’ve devoted a total of ZERO to time mana...
Oct 16, 2023•47 min
