Are you a highly organized individual? Do you love to take the reins when a party or wedding comes up and find yourself doing most of if not all the planning? Do your friends and family come to you for help when they are planning a party or other special occasion? If so then becoming a professional event planner may be up your alley.
Being an event planner is a highly rewarding way to own your own business and put your planning skills to work. To become an event planner you should be proficient in organization, have some sense of accounting, and also know about marketing. If you don't know all of these things fear not.
There are college degrees in the area of event planning but attaining one is not mandatory to break into the business. There are many courses that different schools offer that will give a certificate in event planning. At these schools you will learn things such as marketing and networking, different types of event planning to get into, and how to present yourself and your business in a professional manner.
Your start up cost will all depend on what type of event planner you want to be. If you plan on having catering as part of your business for example you will need a full kitchen. These types of things can often be outsourced, but it is important to pick an area that you will focus your business plan on. Do you want to do weddings, parties, corporate events or a combination of two or more?
No matter what area you decide you want to focus on you will need a few items. You will need at the very least, a cell phone, a laptop computer, business cards, stationary, and an ad in your local Yellow Pages. You will want to be sure that anything of correspondence such as your business cards, e-mails, and stationary displays you logo.
Being an event planner is no different from any other business when it comes to growth. Joining the local Chamber of Commerce will give you the opportunity to network with other business members in the community and can be a great place to get a few jobs. Word of mouth is always important, but is extremely important in the early stages. The better services you provide in your event planning the more referrals you will get.
Once you have successfully planned some events and have a little extra money to spare for advertising, a good direct mailing to your target audience is always a good idea. You can also do an e-mail marketing campaign with relative ease. Having a website designed is always a great idea and can be filled with information on your company such as pricing and what types of event you cover.
But the most important factor in your event planning business is you. You have to be professional, courteous, and above all else organized. Being an event planner can take some time to perfect, but with a little bit of schooling and a lot of hard work and dedication you too can claim your piece of a business that boasts billions of dollars in revenues every year.
Become An Event Planner
There are many tips that you can use to become an event planner and become one of the best, however, you need to know that to become an excellent event planner you need to pay attention to the fine details and offer the best to your clients. This can take a lot of time from your day-to-day activities. To become an event planner you need to put forth a lot of energy and time.
1. The first tip and the most important one is that you need to get in contact with some of the best supplies. You need to have a business contract and connection with many suppliers so that you can offer the best to your clients. Remember when you have the best suppliers; your reputation will be excellent.
2. Also, always give your clients options. Have a least a dozen venders that you work with on a regular basis so that your clients can choose from a few options. When you give your clients options they will feel more evolved in the planning process.
3. You need to think about what kind of events that you will plan. They can be small dinners to huge weddings so you need to come up with creative ways to bring life to a party. There are going to be a lot of signatures styles, but if you continuously research then you can keep up on trends and event activities.
4. When you are doing a wedding that is multicultural, you need to learn about both of the cultures that they want present in the wedding. This will give you a better understanding of the traditions that they want to honor.
5. You also need to think about your location of business. Is your office somewhere respectable or in the ghetto? You need to make sure that your clients are going to feel comfortable in your office. This way you can have more cliental.
6. As an event planner you need to learn how to communicate effectively. You need to know what is acceptable and what is not by reviewing all your details with the clients. The party isn't about you, but the clients. You need to keep that in mind. Even if you think sometime is wrongfully place, listen to your clients needs and wants.
7. Another way for you to enhance your reputation is to keep ties with the clients who were very pleased with your performance. Use them as references, but always ask before giving out any information. This way you can give future clients and idea of your quality.
8. You may also want to ask your clients if you can take general pictures of the event so that future clients will be able to see what exactly you are capable of doing. This is will make a lot of people hire you on the spot.
9. Talk to the client and set a budget before contacting any of your suppliers. This way you can communicate effectively with your suppliers and clients. You can offer the best possible solutions and ideas within a budget. If you can pull off an extraordinary event within a budget, then you will be recommended to everyone. There are only two things that matter and that is the design and cost of an event.
10. Finally, you need to have a personality that allows you to interact with others and really hear what others want. You need to have the strength to handle everything with a collective attitude, as well as, make the planning process fun for your clients. Your personality and the way you handle things makes a huge difference in being a successful event coordinator or an okay planner.
Both Jason Kay & Trafficwala are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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