6ecret - event planners club · will finding a niche help or hinder you in your goal to grow your...

SECRETS6 TO A 6-FIGURE INCOME

http://eventplannersclub.com/

Introduction

It’s wonderful you’re living your dream as an Event Professional,

but perhaps you’re falling short on your profitability. We know

that can be frustrating - you invest hard-won time, energy, and

resources into producing amazing events that your clients love,

yet you don’t seem to be making the money you feel you deserve.

If you find your income routinely falls below $100K a year, you

may feel discouraged and doubtful about the future.

This book is one step that can help you on your path to financial success.

We’ve helped hundreds of event professionals break that

income ceiling and we can help you too. The bottom line is if

you can persevere through your initial years of an event planner,

and make lasting connections - like you’re already doing with

your membership with EPC - your annual salary stands to

improve dramatically.

Learn from the best and move your event planning business forward with confidence!

Table of Contents:

Secret #1: Embrace Being An Entrepreneur ............. 4

Secret #2: Be Persistent .............................................. 6

Secret #3: Learn to Love & Overcome Objections .... 8

Secret #4: Niche Carefully ......................................... 10

Secret #5: Know Your Numbers & Goals! ................ 14

Secret #6: Networking is King ................................... 16

Secret #7: Next Steps ................................................. 18

Secret #1: Embrace Being An Entrepreneur

Whether you work for a company or yourself, you want to embody all of the

characteristics of an empowered entrepreneur.

Bottom line - OWN IT! You are already part of an elite group of self-starting

professionals who offer a valuable, needed service. Event planning professionals

possess skills and expertise that can be a lifesaver to families and corporations

alike. Now, you must OWN your value and your passion if you want to prosper.

If you prefer to be a 9-5er, that fine, too - but with that, you must accept 9-5 pay.

If you’re willing to hustle and take a focused approach, you stand be benefit from

unlimited possibilities, including that six-figure income.

How do you OWN the Entrepreneurial Spirit?

• Don’t wait for opportunities, create them.

• Roll up your sleeves and get into the trenches when needed

• Learn how to partner with other talent to accomplish your tasks

• Cultivate an abundance mentality

4 Join now to transform your business and see success! Copyright © EventPlannersClub.com


5Copyright © EventPlannersClub.com Join now to transform your business and see success!

What is an Abundance Mentality?

The abundance mentality was made famous in 1989 in Stephen Covey’s best-seller,

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. An abundance mentality simply means

that you believe the world holds enough success to be shared with others. The

opposite of such, is a scarcity mentality.

Covey summarizes it here:

“Most people are deeply scripted in what I call the Scarcity Mentality.

They see life as having only so much, as though there were only one

pie out there. And if someone were to get a big piece of the pie, it

would mean less for everybody else.”

Research has shown that your mindset - the way you think about yourself and the

world - can drastically affect how you move forward in life. An abundance mentality

gives you a perspective of responsibility and control over your life - it is an empowered

view, one that allows you respond to challenges and progress.

A scarcity mindset leaves you feeling jealous, disorganized, and feeling like you have

no control or power to change your situation. The world happens to you, and all

you can do is sit back and take it. As you can imagine, this mindset is completely

maladaptive to success. It leaves one stuck where they are, with no hope or

motivation to move forward.

An abundance mentality can not only help you live a more full and satisfying life, it

can help you push through the curve of event planning and achieve your goal of a

six-figure income.

Embrace your entrepreneurial spirit and abundance mentality - this may sound like a

small action, but it’s one that can open a wealth of opportunity for you both emotionally

and professionally.


Secret #2: Be Persistent & Follow Up

Follow up is essential for success. Let’s look at some statistics:

• Only 2% of sales occur at a first meeting

• 80% of sales require at least five follow-up calls after meeting

• 44% of people give up after one follow-up

• 22% of people give up after two follow ups

• Only 8% of people do follow up five times

These statistics reveal a valuable opportunity: while your competitors give up or

get distracted, you can go the distance.

It’s human nature for potential clients to take time to commit to any decision,

and adequate follow up is important to stay top-of-mind. After all, a lot of event

planning is about forming a trustworthy relationship and building confidence.

Example:

Jennifer Goforth Gregory broke six figures in 2015, and shortly thereafter listed

her reasons her contemporaries were failing to break $100k themselves.

Their biggest mistake? Not following up.

“The majority of gigs that I land through letters of introduction come on

the follow-up...Yes, it can take months or years, but I personally believe

that when you don’t follow up you are leaving money on the table.”



Goforth recommends making a note in your calendar every time you meet some-

one of interest. Send an initial letter or email and follow up again in three weeks,

and then again, three weeks after that, and so forth.

An effective follow-up strategy is one big way you can gain clients when

your competitors are giving up.



Secret #3: Learn to Love the No’s

Sales is completely different than it used to be and the aggressive hard sale is

long gone. Our audiences are much more intuitive now and they require more

than a one-size-fits all approach.

This also applies to the word we hate to hear the most: “No.”

Just because a prospect raises objections doesn’t mean you need to give up, nor

does it mean you need to be aggressive, pushy, or resort to slimy methods.

Today is all about consultative selling. Consultative selling is simple: learn your

prospects’ wants and needs, and deliver it! It’s about engaging in a dialogue with

your prospects, focusing on their needs, and adjusting your approach accordingly.

The best way to do this is to work with the objections and listen to why they’re objecting.

As Zig Ziglar, famous salesman, author, and motivational speaker, has said:

“Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.”

As an event planning professional, I’m sure you’ve heard each of this objections

before. How do you handle them? Do you move on or do you find out another

way to approach the objection?



Again, we can take a lead from Zig Ziglar and his QUIET strategy:

• Question. You must ask questions to

• Understand the objection. Once you understand the objection you must

• Identify the objection. To identify the objection you must,

• Empathize with the prospect. If you empathize instead of sympathize

you are ready to

• Test the objection. When you test the objection and make it real you

increase your chance of closing the sell.

Rejections is a fact of life, and you will most certainly experience it again and again.

It happens to everyone, even those event planners who make over six figures. The

difference between them and other is that they view rejection and objections as an

opportunity to distinguish themselves and rise to the top.

They’ve learned to love the “No’s.”



Secret #4: Niche Carefully

There’s a lot of conflicting advice about finding a niche, and it is enough to

make anyone’s head spin. How many times have you heard, “You have to

get a niche if you want to stand out!” AND in the same break, “Don’t get

a niche, you’ll pigeon-hole yourself into just one thing!”

This conflict may leave you feeling helpless about what to do. So, let’s clear this up:

will finding a niche help or hinder you in your goal to grow your business and

become a six-figure earning event planning professional?

First, without having a niche, it can be more difficult for the general market

consumer to find you. If you’re known is your community as the expert for business

retirement parties, a client with that specific need might be more inclined to hire

you than someone who plans general events.

The flipside to this scenario is that perhaps you’re a darn good anniversary party

planner, too, but you’re overlooked as just a “retirement party planner.”

The best advice here is to niche carefully.

Many novice event planners think that offering a wide variety of services will bring

them more opportunities; however, by wisely segmenting and narrowing your

market, you can more effectively brand your business and market your services.



Finding Your Niche

Step 1: Follow Your Passion

Your niche will naturally emerge from your passions, skills, and expertise. To help

narrow this down, make a list of your ideal clients and try to be as specific as possible.

For example, say you are a Wedding Planner, but your dream is to work with

high-budget brides who value farm-to-table food, organic flowers, and sustainable

processes. Not only that, perhaps you’re interested to expand into corporate

events that also value “green parties.”

Step 2: What are your market’s needs?

Consider the economic climate, industries, and behaviors of your ideal clients and

your particular area. Using the example above, does your area value organic food

and green living? Do corporations often hold corporate events, employee parties,

or special conferences? Are there high-scale bridal clients in your area?

Step 3: If you don’t know, find out.

To find out more about your markets’ needs, survey existing clients about their

future desires and interests. You can also place a survey on your website to reach

potential clients.

Is there a need that’s not being met? If so, this could lead you to a profitable niche.

You can also tell past and current clients about a range of services you may be

thinking of offering and ask for their feedback.



Again, using our previous example of “green, organic event,” - do they find this

niche service appealing? Do they have a personal need for it? Do they know

someone, or a community, who does?

You can also talk to your vendors about your ideas. They can give you some good

feedback about where the majority of their business comes from, which can give

you a clearer idea of market demand and may even lead to a business connection.

Step 4: Evaluate

After you’ve examined your niche and its potential in your area more thoroughly,

you’ll be better equipped to evaluate if its a viable service for you.

There are two questions you need to ask yourself:

1. Is it financially feasible? (i.e. are you able to invest into this niche?)

2. Will it contribute to your long term goals? (i.e. is there a possibility for

growth to help you reach your six-figure income objective?)

If so, then perhaps it is time to test it out. Using this chapter’s example, begin by

offering a free “green” event consultations for both brides and businesses. The

response can help you better gauge the community’s interest and your next steps.




Remember, growing your sales through establishing niche doesn’t always mean

get to do exactly what you want. Sometimes it works out that way, but the best

niche is a combination of what you’re passionate about and what your particular

market needs.

Find that, and you’ll be well on your way to a successful niche.



Secret #5: Know Your Numbers & Goals!

In order to know if you are on the path to get what you want, you must know

where you are.

Or, as Tony Robbins says:

“Setting goals is the first step to turning the invisible into the visible.”

If you want to make a six-figure income, write it down! It’s essential to success that

you write down your goals and review them on a regular basis. Studies have shown

you are 50% more likely to achieve your goals if you WRITE THEM DOWN!

The most achievable goals follow the SMART framework, which means they are:

Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-Based

We’ll cover these briefly below and how they relate to YOU making a six-figure income:

Specific: Instead of “I want my event planning business to be more successful,”

write down, “I want to increase my sales by X in the next Y years,” or, “I want to

double last year’s revenue.”

Your event planning business can be successful in a number of ways (higher

customer satisfaction, more WOM, more attendees), but by placing a specific

number, you have something to measure, which brings us to…


Measurable: In able to know if you’ve achieved your goal or are on track to

achieve your goal you need to make it measurable. Looking back at our initial

example, you can see that “I want to increase my sales by X in the next Y years,” or,

“I want to double last year’s revenue” both provide numbers that can be measured.

Achievable: Yes, we think it’s important to reach for the stars, but it’s also import-

ant to scale your goals as necessary. What are your current resources and what

can you achieve with them? Goals that stretch you and your team are good, but

ones that are impossible may only serve to frustrate.

For example, perhaps it is not realistic in your region’s economic climate to

increase sales by 200% your second year. Perhaps a more achievable - yet still

challenging - goal would be to increase sales by 45% in the second year.

Relevant: Make sure your goal is relevant to your business and what you want to

achieve. Think: Why do I want to reach this goal? What is the objective behind the

goal and will achieving this goal satisfy that objective?

If you’re reading this book, it seems your goal is to make a six-figure income in

event planning. Therefore, all your goals should be relevant to this objective.

Deadlines are our friends, especially when it comes to achieving goals. By setting a

clear end point, you can turn your goal into an actionable strategy. Plus, it can help

you stay motivated every step of the way.

Time-bound: Deadlines are our friends, especially when it comes to achieving

goals. By setting a clear end point, you can turn your goal into an actionable

strategy. Plus, it can help you stay motivated every step of the way.




Secret #6: Networking is King

Event planning is a “relationship business” - there is a huge emphasis on who you

know, often more so than what you know. Experience and reputation are the primary

value drivers to your clients, and networking can help buttress both.

Here are a few ways you can nurture valuable networking relationships:

1. Join Forces with Giants

It can be incredibly helpful to join large event planning companies, such as yours

truly. Membership benefits include exclusive vendor discounts, access to resources,

tools, and solutions, and valuable networking opportunities. This can also put you

in touch with your competitors - a good relationship with them can be an excellent

education and can be beneficial to a burgeoning event planning business.

2. Be Vigilant

Seek out organizations, social clubs, sports clubs, and churches in your area that

conduct a lot of events and seminars, and reach out to arrange their next big event

for them.


If you can swing it, an especially good networking opportunity would be to offer

to plan an event for FREE for your Chamber of Commerce (or any local networking

organizations) which can help you show off your skills, build a reputation of trust

and expertise, and form valuable relationships.

3. Treat EVERYONE with Respect

The event planning world can seem much smaller than it is, and it is essential that

you cultivate positive relationships and a solid reputation.

You can do this by treating everyone you meet with respect. You never know where

that individual may wind up in their journey or how that relationship will affect your

business in the future.

It’s important to keep in mind the words of Maya Angelou:

“At the end of the day people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.”

Don’t write anyone off because they aren’t in a position that immediately serves

you, regardless if that person is a client, fellow event planner, or just an acquaintance.

Final Word on Networking

Networking goes both ways. When other reach out to you, even if they’re trying to

sell you their services, it can be beneficial to view this as a networking opportunity.

You never know when these contacts may be helpful.

Opening the door to others can provide some surprisingly - and profitable

opportunities down the road.



Secret #7: Next Steps

Now that you know the top six secrets to help you secure a six-figure income,

it’s time to implement them and start on your path to success.

If you haven’t already, join our Facebook Group where 15,000 other event

planning professionals come together to discuss strategies, troubleshoot

issues, and share solutions.



MAKE THIS YOUR BEST YEAR YET!

Copyright © EventPlannersClub.com

[email protected]

JOIN NOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR BUSINESS AND SEE SUCCESS!



6ecret - event planners club · will finding a niche help or hinder you in your goal to grow your...

Documents