We had a great time on our interview with Peggy Sullivan about ESCAPING TIME POVERTY. Peggy Sullivan is self-proclaimed “busyness addict in recovery,” Peggy now empowers professionals to escape time poverty and focus on what truly matters. As the creator of the Performance by Design Framework, she provides actionable strategies that help people achieve more… Read more »
You can have the most beautiful Instagram grid, the most polished website, and the most carefully crafted elevator pitch, and still lose clients to a planner who has none of those things but exudes confidence when they get on the phone. Confidence closes. Everything else just opens the door. What Confidence Communicates to Clients When… Read more »
When you’re new, pricing feels like a guessing game. You don’t have a portfolio of past events to reference, you’re not sure what the market will bear, and you definitely don’t want to price yourself out of your first few clients. It can feel overwhelming when you’re trying to build confidence and credibility at the… Read more »
Your business name is the first impression you make. Your brand is what makes you memorable. Your positioning is what makes clients choose you over everyone else. Getting these three things right early can save you years of frustration, and help you attract exactly the clients you want from day one. Naming Your Business: Practical… Read more »
Most people frame the risk conversation around starting a business: What if it doesn’t work out? What if I lose money? What if I’m not good enough? But there’s another set of risks that rarely gets talked about, the risks of not starting. The cost of staying exactly where you are. The Hidden Cost of… Read more »
Asking for referrals is one of the most powerful marketing moves an event planner can make, and one of the most avoided. I’ve met brilliant planners who would rather post into the void on social media for months than ask five friends for a referral. Let’s fix that. Why Referrals Are Your Most Powerful Marketing… Read more »
There’s a version of event planning that looks glamorous from the outside but feels exhausting from the inside, and it usually involves a full calendar of clients who weren’t the right fit from the start. One of the most powerful decisions you’ll ever make in your business is learning to say yes intentionally and no… Read more »
Scroll through any event planner’s website and you’ll likely find it: a pricing page with tidy packages, set fees, and a neat little table of what’s included at each tier. I understand the appeal. It feels transparent. It weeds out tire kickers. It saves time. I just don’t think it’s the right move, and here’s… Read more »
Starting an event planning business without a foundation is like planning a wedding without a venue, you might have all the pretty details figured out, but nothing has anywhere to go. The foundation of your business is what everything else gets built on, and it’s what most new planners skip in their rush to find… Read more »
Overwhelm is the number one reason aspiring event planners don’t start, and the number one reason they don’t grow as fast as they could once they do. When there’s no system, every decision feels equally important and equally urgent. Everything is heavy. Everything feels like a potential mistake. But the opposite of overwhelm isn’t calm,… Read more »
You’ve decided to launch. You know your niche, you know your services, you know who your ideal client is. Now comes the part that trips up almost everyone: actually telling people. What do you say? How do you say it? How do you make it clear without sounding desperate or salesy? I’ve got you covered…. Read more »
One of the most powerful things you can do in your first year as an event planner is calculate your minimum hourly rate. Not what you want to charge. Your floor. The number below which you literally cannot afford to work. Once you know this number, every pricing conversation becomes clearer, calmer, and more confident…. Read more »
Let me say this directly: you will never feel 100% ready to start your event planning business. Not when you take one more course. Not when your website is perfect. Not when you’ve assisted at five more weddings for free. Readiness is built in the doing, not before it. The Fear Is Normal. Acting Anyway… Read more »
I could talk all day about strategy and frameworks and pricing formulas, and I believe in all of it. But what I believe in most is results. Real people, starting from scratch, building businesses they’re proud of. Here are some of the stories I’m most grateful to have been part of. Victoria: From Zero Experience… Read more »
I was 47 years old when I launched my wedding and event planning business. I didn’t have a business plan. I didn’t have a marketing budget. I had just been laid off, I had a severance package, and I had a burning belief that I was meant to do something more. That’s it. And somehow,… Read more »
Once you know your income goals and minimum hourly rate, the next question is: how do you actually charge clients? There are five main pricing models in the event planning industry, and the right one depends on your niche, your clients, and where you are in your business. Let’s break them all down. Pricing Model… Read more »
I can’t tell you how many aspiring event planners have told me they’re not ready to launch because they don’t have a website yet. Or they’re waiting on business cards. Or they want to take one more course first. I understand the impulse, but none of those things will get you your first client. Let’s… Read more »