If you have an event planning business (or planning to start one), here are 10 ideas on how to market your business and get clients:
1. Hook up with big event planning companies. Some will give their overflow work to their subcontractors or they may even ask you to work with them on their projects. Good relationship with competitors can be beneficial
2. Find organizations in your area that conducts a lot of events and seminars, and offer to arrange it for them. Contact all the local clubs, sports clubs and churches and tell them about your service. For example, you can offer to plan an event for FREE, for your Chamber of Commerce, or any networking organizations to show your skills and talents.
3. Network, network and network. Get involved in local business organizations, examples: Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, Rotary Club, etc. Discuss your business with other business leaders to help ensure that you’re on the top of their minds when they need an event planning organizer. On the Web, join professional social networking sites such as LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com.
4. Contact every large business, restaurant and hotel in your area and tell them about your services. Cold call these businesses, doing research beforehand how the business handles events and who is in charge of contractors. Request for a meeting and meet them in person, rather than simply sending in a direct mail piece or brochure.
5. Attend all the wedding fairs and other trade show opportunities where you can appropriately participate.
6. Contact all the local radio stations and magazines and make friends with the editors and journalists. Explore opportunities where you can give advice on how to organize parties and events — from radio talk show guestings to writing articles for local newspapers.
7. Make it a point to ask referrals from your customers — don’t just assume that they will refer you to their friends. Ask them to recommend you to anyone else they think could use your services
8. Create a website and make sure that it is listed in all local directories, on the web and off
9. Yellow page advertising – a significant portion of the population still looks at the yellow pages to find local service providers
10. Provide excellent service and customers are very likely to recomend you to other people. Word of mouth is an important marketing strategy for an event planning business, that you need to ensure that your clients can become ambassadors of your business. Ask your satisfied clients to post favorable reviews of your services in various local directories and sites such as AngiesList.com
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About Isabel Isidro
[...] You can learn more about the various ways in which you can promote your event planning business by reading this article. [...]