When you’re building your event business there are many things you can do and many things you think you ‘have’ to do, no matter what stage you’re in. And, this can sometimes feel overwhelming.

Do you focus on your marketing first? Paid advertising? Hiring a team?

Today I’m sharing three values that we have followed since 2013 that have guided our success at Event Planning Blueprint.

Our achievements didn’t happen overnight, and we definitely didn’t start with an expensive website or ads. But, we did take a long-term approach.

Event planning is a crowded market, but the right formula allows you to pave the way for getting event clients.

Buyer’s Cycle

In this video, I’ll walk you through the 4-step buyer’s cycle so you’re taking prospects on a journey to become clients.

Also, I’ll go over how you can create a red carpet experience.

Create a Red Carpet Experience

These three values have helped us inspire thousands of event planners from around the world and I know they’ll help you when it comes to getting event clients, too.

#1 Create Value – to help make the point, let’s start with the opposite. Having or feeling entitled and expecting others to provide what you need is not creating value for you, your clients, or your business.

However, having a sense and a guiding principle of creating value for others lets people see what you’re doing and gives them the opportunity (and willingness) to help you in the future. This positive attitude also helps you attract opportunities, support, and resources.

As Will Curran, from Endless Events says, “you have to give to get”. In a world like event planning where it’s creative and all about ideas, it’s easy for clients to ask for things ahead of time.

When this happens, you will feel like you don’t want to give up all your ideas because it devalues your work. After all, they might take your ideas and hire another event planner. 

Here are three ways you can handle this scenario:

1. Have the client pay upfront and don’t give anything until you get paid. In our opinion, you have to have a ton of value to begin with in order for this to work. So, this is not a good strategy for new event planners.
2. Give value to scale – for example, by building an RFP template, you can use it over and over again and reuse it to save time. Figure out a way to give value on a one-to-many basis vs. a one-to-one basis. Blogging is a good way to do this.
3. Coach them through the process – if a prospect is struggling with a specific area of their event – like budgeting – coach them through the process. You could charge for this service but by coaching them you’ll learn a lot about the client and their event. Then, they’ll often come back to you because you were willing to help.

People want to work with people that help so it’s important to figure out what your personal line is and what works for you.

#2 Proof of Concept – by testing your services, you’re able to see if clients respond to what you’re offering and are willing to pay you for your event services.

Why do this?

Because nearly everyone who has an event business or related product believes it will work. Testing your idea before you spend a lot of time or money on it ensures you offer the best version of your product or service, and then you can improve your offering(s) from there.

Taking the long-term approach to this and making your services outstanding allows you to give a red carpet experience. It also shows clients that you’re a professional who knows exactly what they’re doing. This alone will attract more clients.

Which leads us to value #3…

Getting Event Clients

#3 Know Your Client – Offering services to anyone and everyone is a business strategy that often gets you nowhere – fast.

Not every client is right for you, and your services are not for every client. You can’t please every person, so use it to your advantage.

Focus on attracting your perfect client. For instance, in our How to Be an Event Planner course, here’s what I tell our students:

If you’re looking for an easy path to becoming a successful event planner, then we’re not for you.

Why?

Because event planning and being an event planner can be hard. It takes grit and a can-do attitude so when times get tough you don’t give up.

If you’re looking to make instant money, we’re not for you.

Why?

Because that’s not how business works. It takes time to build the right relationships, hone your craft and become known as an expert in a certain niche.

When you stand tall and say no to people who are not the right fit clients, you’re going to attract way more clients. You’re going to love what you do (more than you do now). You’re going to make more money. You’re going to love your clients and they’re going to love working with you.

Getting clients is just one piece of the puzzle.

If you’re looking to upgrade your event business, check out our online courses here.

Now let me know in the comments below…

Using these three values, how can you create a red-carpet experience for getting event clients?

Thank you so much for joining us, we’ll see you again soon!