I need information on starting a bridal consultant/party planner

[Sandy K]

If anyone has any idea of how to go about advertising or getting the word out about being a wedding planner/party planner or have ever had this business, I would appreciate any insight as to how to begin this business.
Any and all information would be so helpful.
Thank you,
Sandy

[kwontemtek]

I would get a website that explains your services. Make sure you have a newsletter system for your customers/prospects.

Associate your business with a .com extention. For example "Party Planner.com". Then when you list your business in the phonebook your business will look somthing like this

Party Planner.com....................................... ....555-5555
Party Planner Competitor..................................555-6666

Your business stands out. Also listing in the Yellow Pages Helps alot! Try to associate your phone number with somthing like 555-PLAN which will make your number easy to remember. Post your ads in places like local coffee shops where the environment is open to alot of talk. News papers/radio during the "wedding season" would be another good reference.

Hope that helps out a little

[Sandy K]

Thank you so much for the information. I not only want to be a party planner but a wedding planner as well.
I am sure I will be contacting you in the near future.
Again, thank you so much.
Sandy

[akula]

If anyone has any idea of how to go about advertising or getting the word out about being a wedding planner/party planner or have ever had this business, I would appreciate any insight as to how to begin this business.
Any and all information would be so helpful.
Thank you,
Sandy

Okey...good question....

So as to avoid the danger of launching into a tirade on marketing plans, here's an important mistake you should avoid

Customer Expectations: A lot of entrepreneurs start a business and then end up advertising/promoting through the cheapest channels available, not taking into account customer expectations.

E.g. When I'm buying a mutual fund, I expect the pitch to come from a financial planner rather than an unsolicited email. The place where the message comes from lends much legitimacy to the message.

I've seen many entrepreneurs make this mistake by advertising their products in ways which don't meet customer expectations, and suffer lower than average conversion rates as a result.

The point: To make sure you don't end up promoting your business in places where people don't expect to see messages for wedding planners, go and survey marrying couples about how they organize their wedding plans.

As a result, you may (or may not) find that people preffer to find wedding planners through other chanells other than the internet and yellow pages, in which case, you'll need to divert your energies to places where prospects actually look for wedding planning advice (btw: I got no idea how ppl find wedding planners)

DO NOT just brainstorm 101 ways and places for how to promote your venture. Survey the market to find the formula for where and how your target market wants to see your message.

Common sense? You'd be surprised often entrepreneurs produce contextually irrelevant commercial messages

Avoid contextually irrelevant promotions

[Your Brand]

My wife is in the business - she does custom products and with four successful years advertising with The Knot. Advertise locally for your business and look at bridal shows and local wedding magazines. Very targeted. I don't know where you live, but assuming that you have a lot of competition in an easy to enter market of wedding planning - what makes you different?!

[Chance]

As someone who does marketing and is in the processes of planning a wedding, I can say that offline promotion is going to be your best bet.

Wedding planning is a very hands-on thing- its cool to look at dresses, flowers, and venues on websites but decisions are made in stores and at the location, not online.

Some examples of offline promotion that I have seen:

With the Venue: When we selected where we wanted to have our wedding, they gave us a list of planners who "knew the place" and were recommended.

Local Bridal / Wedding Magazines: We have been given at least 20 free magazines chock full of advertisements for wedding related products and services. My darling fiance pours over these daily. Advertising in these free local guides and magazines would be a must.

Bridal Shows: Women love them, and my fiance has picked a few product and service providers based on local bridal shows.

[Sandy K]

Just to share with you I live in Louisville, Ky. and I have looked through the yellow pages and have found only one listing as a Bridal Consultant. Hopefully I will be in a very lucrative market here.
If anyone else has anything to share I would be exceptionally grateful.
Thank you so much!!!!
Sandy