It's the start of September and there's some definite back to school vibes going on out there. Lots of us have come to the end of the really crazy busy summer season. Maybe we've come back off holiday. If we've got children, they've gone back to school and our mind has turned to our business. How can we plan ahead for next year? What do we need to achieve by the end of the year? And where can we get some help to. I'm Becca Pountney wedding business, marketing, expert, speaker, and blogger.
And you are listening to the wedding pros who are ready to grow podcast. I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level. If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business, doing what you love, then you're in the right place. Let's get going with today's. I'm in a great mood today. We are back to school. I'm back to my desk.
I've got lots more time back on my hands. And we're heading into one of my favorite parts of the year. I absolutely love fireworks. I am someone who likes to look forward to Christmas from September. So all is well in the world. Now, at this time of year, I find that you guys are wanting to sort out your businesses. You've got to the end of the really busy summertime, and you're starting to think about that extra time you're gonna have on your hands over.
Winter, maybe you're looking at improving your branding, your website. Maybe you're looking to start a wedding business, because you've been to loads of weddings over the summer. Perhaps you're looking to change your career or make a change in your life. And you're starting to think about how that can happen. I, at this time of year, see an influx in my inbox, in my direct messages or in people posting in my. Asking about where they can get help or how I specifically can help them.
So today I thought I would share with you a little bit of a different podcast episode, where I talk you all about how practically I can actually help you, what I've got going on in my world and how it could help you to grow your business, help you to make more money, help you. Build a network that you love and to create a profitable business that you love as well. So I'm gonna be running through all of the different things, different resources I have available to you.
So you can find the one that is the best fit for wherever you are at right now in your wedding business. So first up, I wanna start with the free resources that I have on offer for you. First of all, you're in the right place because this podcast is my way of giving back to the wedding pro community. I like to share lots of actionable tips with you to help you practically grow your business, even if you're starting out or you don't have a lot of money to invest in other things.
So if this is the first time you've listened, do go ahead and have a look at all of the other episodes already available to you. This is episode number 26, which means there's 25 other great resource episodes that you can go back and listen to. Now don't judge them by the titles because every single one of us has more to learn on all the different topics. So just pick at random and I'm sure you'll find something to inspire you. They're great for listening to on the road.
While you are out for a run while you're cleaning the house. If you're anything like me, that's when I listen to my podcast or even when I'm cooking the dinner at night, the other resource that you should definitely be making the most of, if you are a listener to this podcast is my free Facebook community. You may have heard me mention it in previous episodes and there will be a link to it in the show notes below, along with all of the other things that I mentioned.
My free Facebook community is the same name as this podcast. It's called wedding pros who are ready to grow. It's a community for other people in the wedding industry to come together to talk. I do share in there's some tips, but it's mostly for you guys to share with each other, to find other people to work with.
Perhaps if you've got a styled shoot going on, and you're looking for people to collaborate with, maybe you're trying to meet people in your local area, or maybe you're looking for some advice about whether you should advertise in a certain place. That group and community is totally. To join. There's 750 other wedding professionals in there. So there's definitely people for you to connect with.
And all you've got to do is click on the link, fill out the questions, and you can be part of that group. If you're not already in that free community, I highly recommend that you become part of it because you've got nothing to lose. And it's a great place to ask your questions and to connect with. So the next thing that I can offer to help you in your wedding business, as you develop and grow is my lowest cost way of working with me, which is my wedding pro members' lounge.
I launched the members' lounge a few years ago as a way of bringing the best people together into a community. What I find with the free groups is there's often people who are from all sorts of different walks in their business and not all of them. Take business seriously, perhaps they're just doing it for fun or as a hobby.
And I wanted to create a community where people who were really genuinely serious about growing and developing their wedding business could come together and know it's a safe environment to ask questions. There's also a lot more access to me inside of that community. that community is for you. If you wanna get more focused and more serious on your wedding business over the next year, each month, we have a monthly goal setting on zoom.
Now the idea of this is to look back at the month you've just had and to then set goals and be accountable for the month to come now, sharing these goals with other members of the group. And with me helps you stay on track. And it's also great to look back over the last few months and see how far you've come. So if you are looking to get more focused and more planned out in your business, those session would be perfect for you. The members club is also a great place for community.
It's one of the safest places that I like to hang out on the internet. We are a group. Builds each other up. We do share when we are struggling, but we also share our wins and encouragements. But the most important thing to me about that group is that I encourage people to be authentic. We don't wanna pretend that business is great and that we're all doing amazing because we know that we all have life struggles and we're not all doing amazing.
And if there's a safe place where you can share some of those thoughts. Ask for help. That is a great thing to have. And I love to have a community like that, that you can be part of. We share our wins, like I said, but we also share things that we're struggling with and people are very, very encouraging. I love it. When people take conversations offline, they share policies with each other. Maybe they have a chat about insurance or recommend an accountant.
All sorts of things go on in that group, but it's a great place to hang out. And it's a great place for you to meet like-minded wedding professionals like you, because everyone's paid to be there. Therefore everyone's invested in the group and they want to get the most out of it and they want to build those connections. So if you are looking for high quality connections in the wedding industry, it's a great place to go and check.
the other thing about the members lounge is that we also have a monthly guest expert training session. So one of the things I found when I first started my business is I would put on some events, maybe social media training or something like that in a hotel, people would come along, pay for a ticket. Get the training. And then a couple of weeks later, the algorithm would change and then the training was out of date.
And then that's frustrating because then you've got to pay to go on another training. So when I created the members lounge, I wanted to make sure there were training resources in there in a library and a back catalog. But also because you're just paying a low cost to be part of it every month, rather than a one off fee for an event. If the algorithm changes, I just get someone to come back in and give an updated training.
I mean, we've had loads of Instagram training since the members' clubs begun because Instagram keeps evolving. When we first started, it was all about the posts on the grid. Then it was about stories. Now it's about reels and I'm sure there'll be more Instagram training to come in there as, and when the algorithm shifts or new features are added as well. So it's a great place for you to get up to date training.
And there's a library of all the back catalog over the last few years of all the training. So if you need help with anything. SEO, Google analytics, accounting, wedding fairs, connections. Uh, the list goes on and on pricing sales, how to stop people ghosting you. There's so many great video trainings in there that you can just access as soon as you're part of the club. And of course the other, the great thing about the members club, you get more access to me. I'm in there a lot.
I'm in there every week doing a live video where you can ask questions to help stay accountable to me and to the rest of the group for the week ahead. Uh, I'm in there all the time on posts, replying to you because you are there because you wanna be there and I wanna serve you in the best way I can. And the final great thing about the members club is you also get a link and promotion on our sister site vicinity wedding.
So you may not know, but I actually own a wedding blog called vicinity weddings that I set up here in the UK to help brides and grooms, find people in their local area that they can book for their wedding. And. As a member of the club, you get promotion on the blog. And it's also a place where you can submit your style shoots to, you can submit editorial content to, and I prioritize my members.
So if you wanna be on there and you're willing to write an article or submit a styled shoot, I will absolutely help you. To get that to happen. So to recap, the members club is great for you. If you want to meet like-minded wedding professionals and venue owners to build community with and to refer work on to each other. It's great for you.
If you're looking to get that up to date training, and if you want that accountability and goal setting mindset, because being on your own in this wedding industry can be lonely and having a group of supportive people and me there telling you that you can do it and to help you keep motivated and keeping on keeping on. Is amazing. Oh. And also we have the best Christmas and summer parties.
So if you remember, look out for details of the Christmas party coming very soon, the next way that I can help you is through some of my signature programs. Now, these are for you, if you're looking for a more step by step guide in how to achieve more in your business, it's less about community and it's more about knowledge. So I have two signature programs. The first is all about Pinterest. So it's called.
The Pinterest master course, and it walks you step by step through how to use Pinterest as a resource in your business. So if you are looking to use Pinterest as a marketing platform, because it's great in the wedding industry, then my four module course, which is self-study and runs over video walks you through step by step. Everything you need to know from how to set up your account for success, how to get it verified, how to qualify for rich pins, right?
The way through to what content to post, how often to post it. And how to use a scheduler as well. That program is now an evergreen program. So if you're looking to understand how to use Pinterest in your business, you can access that at any time. And I'll put the link below in the show notes. So go check that out. If you are interested. The other signature program I have is called invisible to irresistible. This is a program that walks you through everything.
To show you how to take you and your wedding business from invisible and feeling like no, one's noticing you to irresistible and fully booked. This is perfect for you. If you are either starting out in business and you're looking to get started and want to make sure you do everything correctly or best practice as you start out, rather than making the same mistakes as everyone else makes to start with. Or if you've got a wedding business and it's just not quite hitting the mark.
So you feel like you're only getting the cheap people. They don't wanna spend money, perhaps you're not getting any inquiries and you don't really understand why and you need to relook at your business. If that's you, then this is probably the program for you as well as then going on to join the members club after you've completed. I run this program a couple of times a year.
So I'll pop the link to the waiting list in the show notes below, but invisible to irresistible walks you through everything from branding. Getting a brand guide, getting your brand colors through to marketing, how to market your wedding business, what marketing messages to use right through to sales, networking, building connections with venues. And then in that final module, we look at finance and we plan your financial goals for the next year.
It's a total one stop shop for growing your business and making sure you go from being invisible to totally irresistible. So if you feel like that's something you need, either reach out to me via DM or go and join that waiting list. And that will be opening again very soon. The next thing that I wanna share with you is perfect for you.
If you feel like you're either stuck in a rut, maybe you've been doing the things the same way for a long time, and you're looking for change and you want to evolve in your business, or if you are so run off your feet in the day to day working of your business, that you don't have the time to set aside, to plan, to think about raising your prices and overall improving your business. What I'm gonna share with you now is an incredible experience and I recommend it to each and every one of you.
And that is our wedding business retreat. Now for this offering, I've teamed up with my friend and fellow UK, wedding industry expert Kelly Mortimer. We've put on an incredible event called the wedding business retreat each year. And it's one of the only times you'll see us in the same place. Two powerhouses in the wedding industry, talking to you about how to grow your business in one room for three days.
So we go away, we hire exclusively a venue this year, we're gonna be up in Scarborough and you can come to that venue. There's no one else there other than your fellow wedding, business retreat, attendees, and myself and Kelly. We go away for three days and we work on our businesses. There's high level sales and marketing training. There's an opportunity for you to shut out your outside life.
Totally focus on where you are and where you want to be over coffee, over lunch, over dinner, you can talk weddings and wedding business with everyone because everyone's there for the same reason. Now this event is like nothing else you're going to experience. It really is special. Over those three days, you will form bonds with your colleagues in the wedding industry, both suppliers and venue owners. And you will also learn a lot about yourself.
And have that time that you never have to focus on your business because you don't have to worry about the day to day worries of life. You don't need to worry about going anywhere. You don't need to worry about doing your washing or cooking. Everything is included. Everything is done for you. All you need to worry about is showing up, going to the training sessions.
Implementing the work and enjoying it, planning ahead and getting sorted about how you're gonna grow your wedding business for success. Moving forward. Our next retreat is taking place in just a few weeks time. In October, we only have a very limited number of spaces left. So if you are interested in that again, head to the link in the show notes to drop me or Kelly DM and ask us for more details. Or if you know, you can't make it this year, but you would like to go on the waiting.
For next year, let me know. And I can sort that out for you too. This brings me onto the final way that I can help you. And this is my top level service, which is one to one support. If you want me to speak to, to give you ideas, to share my thoughts, to look over your work, to plan with. Create strategies with you to help you plan your social media content out, whatever it is, then you can book to work with me one to one, and that can work in a variety of ways.
We can just do a one off session together, or we can have a series of sessions. I have one client that books me to work with me every six months, so we can set goals and they can stay accountable. I have other clients that just come when they need a. Session about strategy or social media management or planning. And I have others who just need that accountability.
So if you really need some one-to-one specific help in a certain area of your wedding business, then one-to-one may be the best option for you now, depending on where you live, we can do that in person.
We can do that online, but if you're interested, In that the best thing to do is for us to have a quick call together, uh, and have a little bit of a discovery chat to see if it's a good fit to see if I can actually help you solve the problems you're looking to solve or help you plan out that strategy. Sometimes it's just the accountability. It's not that we need someone to show us how to do it, but by putting aside those two hours with someone and sitting down and.
Doing the work, it makes us achieve it. And also I set you goals. So I'm checking in on you to see if you're actually doing the things that you said you're gonna do. And you know that you've gotta come back to me and say, Becca, I forgot to do it. Or Becca, I did it. And it was amazing. This is my premium offering. So I don't do a lot of that. Obviously my time is limited, but if you feel that.
Benefit from some time, one to one with me, specifically, looking at your business, your business strategy, your business, finance, your social media, planning on whatever it is, then do reach out to me via DM. We can jump on a call together and see whether or not we're a good fit. I've covered loads of different ways. I can help you in today's episode. And I hope that overview has been helpful to you.
The main thing I wanna say to you is if there's an area of your business that you are stuck with, if there's something, you know, you want to achieve, but you don't know how to achieve it. If there's something that's just been bothering you, because you know, you could be doing it better and you don't know how. Don't sit on those feelings, find a way to help, whether it's one of the ways that I've talked about today or an alternative way, don't sit on it.
I always say you can't change things without taking action. And also you don't know what you don't know. So if there's an area of your business and you don't know how to sort out the strategy, or you don't know how to plan the finances, or you don't know what constitutes a great marketing plan, then get some help and find someone. Does know to show it to you so that you can use those strategies going forward. It's been great to chat to you about all of the different offerings.
If you've got questions about anything or you've got something else in your business, you need help with that. I haven't mentioned feel free to reach out to me on. Instagram. I'm very approachable. I reply to all of my direct messages. So I'm always happy to chat with you. So just drop me a message, let me know what you need help with. And hopefully we can find a solution to move you forward and take your business to exactly where you want it to be.
This whole business that I have formed out of a desire to help people just like you get to where they want to be in business. I know that you're great at what you do, whether that's making cakes. Designing flowers, planning, weddings, taking photos. You are amazing at those things, but sometimes you just need a bit of support in building that business so that it's as successful as you deserve to be. I don't want any of you to be invisible.
I want all of you to feel totally irresistible and to be fully booked, reach out to me. Let's chat and I'll see you next week.