With the arrival of social media, the Web world has changed dramatically. Before applications like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter arrived, most people used the Web for shopping, playing games and digging up information. Now, everyone from grandparents to tweens is online and posting to their favorite social media sites, and businesses are trying to figure out how to reach them.

Unfortunately, there's tons of misinformation and bad advice out there (believe us, because we've sifted through lots of it). So, if you're considering diving into social media to market your wedding planner business, or if you're already using it to some extent, here are five things you should know.

1. Social media may not be for you
If you don't like small talk or chit-chat, then you probably also won't like communicating via social media. Unlike longer format platforms like blogging, social media requires posting lots of short updates, tidbits, tips, ideas, links, pictures and images. In addition, to gain a following you need to be regular and consistent about posting. If this sounds like chore to you, then you may want to consider another marketing tactic, because being an occasional social media marketer is really a waste of your time.

An alternative: Have an employee or someone you know who likes to use social media post updates to your Facebook page or Twitter account. This involves a certain level of trust, so make sure the person speaking for your company will represent you appropriately.

2. Social media may - or may not - be an ideal fit for your type of business
Social media marketing is dramatically different from "normal" marketing. With social media, hyping your product or spamming people with promotional messages will, at best, get you ignored and, at worst, will get you kicked out of the community. Instead, your objective is to create a following around your posts and content, hoping that your followers and online friends will eventually need your services or refer someone who does.

The assumption here is that your audience uses social media and is willing to engage with you, neither of which is a guarantee. Luckily for most wedding planners, 20 to 35 year olds are some of the biggest users of social media. But many of them also believe everything online should be free, making it more difficult to market a premium service like wedding planning. Herein lies the challenge.

An option: Offer a free guide or white paper to potential clients for liking your Facebook page or following you on Twitter, providing them with enough useful information to establish yourself as an expert and to make them want more. To do this, you can create a Facebook reveal page (for an example, see the My Wedding Workbook Pro Facebook page; we used IFrameEngine's free tool to set up our Facebook page) or a free service like Pay With a Tweet .

3. You don't need thousands of followers ... just a few influential ones.
The great thing about social media is that it doesn't always matter how many people follow and like you; instead, what matters is the number of connections of the people you know.

So rather than trying to follow everybody who looks like a prospect or a referral partner, look around at who in your industry or in your local target audience already has a large following, then start a relationship with them via social media. Retweet their tweets, comment on their Facebook posts. Once you have them as an online friend, their community opens up to you.

Note: No matter what you hear, going viral is a crapshoot. There's a word for videos, pictures and articles that go viral, and that word is "luck." No matter how much effort you put into something, there's no guarantee it will go viral, so instead of trying to create something that hits the lottery and gets 3 million views, create content that will be treasured by your target market and that they will share with their friends.

4. You need to be strategic in your approach
Posting on Twitter or Facebook about your daily life isn't marketing, because your target market doesn't care about you picking up a cake at a bakery.

Here's the odd thing about marketing on social media. Ordinarily, the social media experience is a "me" centered experience, in that it's all about the individual saying their peace and having their friends react to their content. But when it comes to marketing via social media, it's a "them" centered experience, meaning that your content should be focused on your friends' and followers' needs and desires, not yours.

By being strategic, you need to focus on the content that would be interesting to your prospects. Think tips, ideas, techniques, inspirational photos and videos, special offers, timesavers, relevant industry/local news, events, etc.

Also, being strategic includes the tone you will be using in your communications. A personal, friendly tone usually goes a long ways, but some people like to be more humorous, edgy or in-your-face. The tone you choose really depends on your personality and the way in which your audience wants to be addressed, so keep these things in mind when writing your posts.

5. You should automate the process
For most of us, we have a thousand other things we could be doing other than posting to social media platforms. Granted, some people like using social media more than others, but if you are going to use it to market your business, you need to do it on a daily basis (yes, I said daily). If that sounds imposing to you, fear not, because there are some great tools out there that let you automate the process.

Tools like Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Su.pr and Later Bro let you schedule tweets and Facebook updates for down the road. What we do at My Wedding Workbook Pro is come up with interesting posts for the next 30 days and schedule these into Hootsuite (it's our Twitter and Facebook app of choice), and then let it run. In the meantime, we also make additional updates or tweets if we have something we want to share with our online friends. Automating the process can save you tons of time while still maintaining a daily presence in the social media.

Best of luck, and remember that social media should just be another tool in your marketing toolbelt ... and another tool in your business arsenal along with wedding planning software ;)

We are honored to have Jayne Hallock with us to answer a few questions about marketing a wedding planning business. Jayne is the editor of WedLock, the online learning community for wedding pros, which educates event and wedding planners on how to successfully market and promote your business on the Web and beyond. It's a fantastic source of ideas and inspiration, and we encourage you to learn more about them. Jayne has vast experience in marketing as well as in the wedding industry, and we wanted to get inside her head about what's going on today in terms of wedding planner marketing.

Special Bonus: Jayne has offered a discount for all readers ... 15% off on a membership to their professional community (where you can get lots of exclusive resources, tools and guidance for marketing your business). Just go to http://www.WedLockmag.com and use the coupon code 3411 when you sign up. Thanks for that extra spiff, Jayne.

My Wedding Workbook Pro (MWWP): The sluggish economy has really made wedding professionals change how they do business over the last few years. What advice do you have for marketing a wedding business in a tough economy?

Jayne Hallock (JH): Roll your sleeves up and get to work on your marketing. You already know how to work at being great at your craft - and you're probably already doing it.

But you also have to work at being great *marketing* yourself.

So what if you don't have the budget to hire someone else to do your website? Or to help you with your Google rankings? Or set up your social media campaign for you? That doesn't mean you can afford to neglect your marketing. It just means its time to learn how this stuff works, yourself. Basically, the bad news is that a sluggish economy means its time for you to get DIY.

The good news? Most of this stuff isn't that hard. So there's no need to be intimidated. If you're talented enough to be a wedding professional in the first place, you're smart enough to understand how online marketing works.

MWWP: Event and wedding planning businesses tend to be small shops (usually around 1-4 people). What do you see as the biggest challenge to marketing a small business, and how can planners overcome it?

JH: I can relate. WedLock is still a small company (although we have a lot of wonderful support from pretty big names). So although I'd never say I know what's it's like to be a small wedding planner ... I do get the challenges of being a smaller company. And to me, the biggest challenge isn't money or time, it's manpower! I have a jillion ideas and a (um, skabillion?) ways I want to grow my business, but I only have two hands. And one brain. And 24 hours in my day.

Now this is where you can take the crummy economy and make it work FOR you. Say those two magic words with me now: Free Interns!

Recently, I put a call out for an intern and got no less than six super qualified, bright, energetic, educated applicants ... all of whom who were interested in working in the wedding industry! And why were they willing to work for free? Because the economy is so bad, they can't find a 'real' job and they need something substantial on their resume.

So I say this to small companies: get on Craigslist, pronto! Post internship flyers at your local college. You're in a business that many smart young graduates want to get into. So leverage that free workforce and get them answering your phones and running your errands so you can focus on the big stuff!

MWWP: Selling any kind of service - including wedding planning services - can be challenging, so what can wedding planners tell prospects to put them at ease about buying their services?

JH: I'd say: don't sell your brides a service.

Don't sell them an itemized list of "what I can do for you." And don't try to sell them on how much greater you are than your competition. (If you're that great, they'll sense it, and they'll hear about it themselves.)

Instead, sell them an emotion. Sell your bride peace of mind. Sell her how you can make her feel when she walks down the aisle and enjoy a day that is effortlessly, exceptionally joyful.

When you think of your business that way, you stop hustling your wares and you start really connecting with your prospective brides. The brilliant marketer Seth Godin points to Barack Obama's presidential campaign as a perfect example of this. Obama didn't sell himself as a candidate. Instead he "sold hope." And that worked pretty well, wouldn't you say?

MWWP: Marketing via the Internet isn't second nature for most people, so what three things should wedding planners know before they dive into marketing their business on the Web.

JH: Hm, three things. The first thing to spring to mind is to "get Google." Note I didn't say "get GOOD at Google" (you can later hire someone to do that for you) but you have to first GET how it works.

You have to get your head out of the sand and find out why Google ranks other sites higher than yours. There's a basic formula Google uses and you can't keep telling yourself its just tech-y stuff you'll never understand.

Why is this important? For two reasons. Number one, there are a lot of scammy marketers out there trying to prey on your ignorance. Don't let them. Once you understand how Google works, you can separate those with real knowledge from those with empty promises and inflated prices.

Another reason to understand Google is to understand some simple stats. If you can get to #1 on Google, the traffic to your site could be stunning. It could change your business.

So what if you're already ranking somewhere in the first ten spots? Or even in spot #3? Well, statistics show that the third position on Google's search results get about 8.5% of the clicks from everyone visiting that page. The #2 spot gets more, at 11.90%.

But the #1 result? Grabs about 42.13% of ALL the clicks on that page!

Now do you get why being #1 is so important? So educate yourself on how Google 'grants' that spot to certain websites, and then either do your SEO yourself or hire someone who knows what they're really doing.

The second big thing to remember online is that social marketing (like on Facebook, Twitter etc) is free! It's not! Sure, Facebook pages or Twitter accounts don't cost you any money ... but they cost you time. You can't just throw a page up and hope it works. Facebook, and any other social marketing, will cost you man hours of updating and interacting with your growing 'fan' base. So put time aside to do it right, and you'll be richly rewarded.

And finally, the third biggie online is to keep the hard sell far away from your social media efforts. Social media is for relationship building. It's for talking to your brides and for her to get to know you. It's not for hitting brides over the head with sales pitches.

MWWP: As a marketing pro, you've seen it all. What is the biggest mistake that most wedding consultants make in marketing their business, and how can they avoid it?

JH: Not marketing enough! This is a big ol' drum I always beat to death with my WedLock members, but with good reason.

Wedding consultants, and pros in general, are often very creative, artistic people. So they're not naturally inclined to enjoy the marketing aspect of their business. Many times they tell themselves they are doing 'well enough' with referrals, and that they don't really need to get this whole 'internet marketing thing.'

But that's really sticking your head in the sand. Marketing online, once you understand it, can be easy and dare I say -- fun?! Get your feet wet, empower yourself to get out there and make a name for yourself online.

Because even if you think you have enough business already, at the end of the day, if you're not online already and your competition is ... brides will begin to notice!

They're out there looking for you online (even after if they have already met you in person!) So if your Facebook page is nonexistent and your competitor's is full of interactive discussion and gorgeous photos and engaging personality....who do you think she's going to hire?

MWWP: Thanks, Jayne. We really appreciate your time and commitment to helping out wedding planners everywhere.

When most businesses land a new customer, they can often enjoy that customer's business for years to come. Unfortunately, for most event and wedding planners, this often isn't the case because once you have seen a client through to their wedding day, chances are good that you may never have them as a client again.

Because of this, it is essential for wedding and event planners to keep your sales funnel full of prospects so that you don't have to endure any dry spells. Of course, this is much easier said than done, because marketing and sales can be the most difficult task in running an event planning business. With that said, let's take a look at some of the methods you can use to find more prospects.

Ask for referrals
For most service-based businesses, referrals are the single most important source of new customers. Although you may only have a wedding client for a short amount of time, that client certainly has friends who are getting married and hosting events, so you should make it a point to periodically ask your current and past clients for referrals.

You can go about asking for referrals in a few ways, but the most effective is a simple phone call that goes something like this:

"Hi. I'm calling for two reasons. First, I wanted to check in and see how you are doing since your big day. Second, I wanted to see if you have any friends who are getting engaged and would find my services useful. Any referrals you could give me would be much appreciated, and I promise I will reach out to them in a very tactful and respectful manner. So, who do you know who I could help?"

That's pretty much it. Some people feel a little self-conscious about asking for a referral, but you shouldn't. If you have a solid relationship with your client, they are almost always happy to refer you to one of their friends because they also see this act as doing their friend a favor.

Identify your ideal customer's touchpoints
A touchpoint is any venue or locale where you can reach out and connect with your ideal customer. Take a moment to think about all the places where your ideal customer hangs out. Do they frequent certain coffee shops or restaurants? Do they shop at certain stores? Do they belong to any particular clubs, organizations or places of worship? Do they attend particular types of events or concerts?

By answering these questions, you can begin to put together a list of all the places where your potential prospects might hang out. Once you have identified at least a few places, brainstorm how you can reach out to these customers at these venues. If they belong to certain clubs or organizations, consider joining those. If they frequent certain stores, coffee shops or restaurants, find out if those establishments will allow you to post a flier (or, even better, a flier with tear-off tabs that have your phone number on them) or leave behind a stack of business cards.

Reach out to industry partners
What is one of the first things a couple on the brink of engagement does? They go engagement ring shopping, of course. So what better place for an event and wedding planner to promote their services than through a local jeweler.

Businesses catering to the wedding industry like jewelers, bridal boutiques, florists, venues, caterers, bakers, DJs and photographers/videographers all can be great mutual sources of referrals to your business. Often, such relationships work along the lines of "you scratch my back, I scratch yours," meaning that if they are going to send prospects your way, they expect you to do the same for them.

If you have an established business, you probably already have strong relationships with multiple vendors, so it wouldn't be any stretch to establish a more formal process of referring leads back and forth. If you have a newer business and are still forming these relationships, it's best to test the waters with vendors until you have found them to be reliable in terms of both their services and their willingness to refer clients to you.

Note: Another great source of referrals is local clergy, so you should also look to establish good relations with these people, too.

Teach a local event planning or wedding etiquette class
Many newly engaged brides are often in panic mode about planning a wedding and are hungry to soak up any information on wedding planning. As such, quite a few would jump at the chance to attend a class on the basics of event planning and/or wedding etiquette.

Many professionals think it's a waste of time to teach a class that instructs people to do what they would otherwise get paid for. However, if done properly, teaching such a class can be a win-win for both the planner and the attendees.

First, as a prerequisite for attending the class, you should require all attendees to provide you with their contact info (email and phone number being the most important); this way you can follow up with them after the class and put them on your marketing outreach list. Second, you should limit your class to an hour or two and cover very basic event/wedding planning topics, giving the students some helpful tips and techniques but not giving away the farm. Third, you should make it clear to the attendees that you are always available for a consult and for hire if they decide they need the assistance of an expert. If you want, you can even give attendees a special attendee discount for your services.

Another big advantage that classes provide is that they help to establish you as a wedding and event planning expert, which can go a long ways in solidifying your local reputation.

Interact with prospects online
Many women of marrying age have a Facebook account, and it would be in your best interest to be their friend on Facebook as well as get them to like you on your business Facebook Page (and if you don't have a Facebook Page for your business yet, create it here). You should start the process by establishing social media connections between your current and former clients as well as industry partners and friends and then reach out to prospects from there.

By building relationships via Facebook and other social media apps like Twitter, you create more mentions and links to your Web site, which gives prospects more ways in which to encounter you.

In addition, ask your clients and prospects what Web sites they frequent and find a way to connect with users of those sites, whether it be through forums and social media tools or even through some well-placed online ads.

P.S. If you are using My Wedding Workbook Pro wedding planner software to manage your business and event details, we also provide lead management tools, and we will be updating these wedding planning software tools soon.

In the 21st century, if you're in business, you better have a Web site. Your customers expect it, and as a small business, it should be your second best marketing asset (besides yourself).

With that said, I've been in marketing for 20 years (before I entered the wedding planning software business I ran a marketing firm), and in all honesty, you don't need to spend thousands of dollars on a glitzy, sparkly Web site with tons of bells and whistles. Your customers want enough information to decide if they want to call you, so it's best to get to the point and give them your story. Here's our list of things to do and not to do when you're building (or revamping) your site.

Do's

• Do feature on your home page what sets you apart - Don't wait to tell your site visitors what makes you different and what you specialize in ... put it front-and-center on your home page.
• Do put your phone number on every page - You never want someone to hunt for how to contact you, so just include your phone number in the header or footer of every page on your site.
• Do buy your own domain name - Using a free Web site provider just shows that you aren't serious about being in business. Instead, go to GoDaddy.com or Register.com and buy your own domain name (these companies and thousands others also offer hosting services) under which you can put your site.
• Do hire a professional to design your site - You work in an industry that prides itself in providing a custom, personalized experience for each and every customer. So what is a prospect to think if you use a boilerplate design cranked out by some online Web design firm or, worse yet, some off-the-shelf, default layout provided by a free Web site provider. Instead, have a professional Web designer create a custom site that expresses who you are and what your business stands for.
• Do put your main navigation on the top or left of your site - Top or left-hand navigation is pretty standard, and putting your main navigation anywhere else just confuses people.
• Do tell your story - People don't want to hear how great you are (most of use have learned to tune out marketing-speak). However, we all want to hear a great story, so tell us one about how you got started, what inspired you to become a planner, your first wedding/client, or any other great tale that shows us your passion and talent.
• Do put your picture on your About page - Pictures of human beings warm up a site and let visitors put a name with a face, so put your picture (and those of your staff) on your About page. Additional tip: people especially love pics of dogs and cats (they make you even more human and likeable), so if you are completely shameless (and smart), put your pet's picture on your site, too.
• Do create a page for testimonials - Your prospects will want proof of your abilities and experience, and nothing is better than letting your clients speak on your behalf.
• Do list your training and credentials - This provides additional proof of your abilities (and acronyms after a name always impress, plus they show you take this stuff seriously).
• Do post pictures of your past events - In this industry, pictures definitely tell a story, so include some slideshows of some of your more impressive events. Note: Make sure that the pictures you post are professionally done, and don't post every picture or every event ... just the ones that will wow people.
• Do talk about your packages and offerings - You should give people an idea of how you work when it comes to the services you offer, so provide a basic outline of your packages or how you structure your services.
• Do put up links to your Twitter and Facebook pages - Brides are all over Twitter and Facebook these days. As such, you should guide them to follow you on Twitter and like you on Facebook to keep the conversation with them going when they're not on your Web site.

Don'ts

• Don't have a blog (unless you intend to post at least a few times a month) - Everybody's first reaction for their Web site is to put up a blog. However, unless you post somewhat regularly, it is fairly useless and can even give the impression that, since you don't regularly attend to your blog, you may also similarly neglect your business (people do sometimes jump to odd conclusions).
• Don't include unrelated services - I've seen wedding planner websites that also promote the consultant's cosmetic sales business, home cleaning business and such. This only confuses your prospects and makes them wonder what you are really good at. Stick to promoting one business per site.
• Don't post your pricing - The purpose of a Web site is to get someone interested in calling you and setting up an appointment. You don't want to post anything that would give a prospect the chance to eliminate you as a potential vendor. If you post your pricing, your prospects can immediately judge you based on price without hearing about all the value you deliver for that price.
• Don't use reversed out type - An example of this would be white type on a black, dark blue or dark red background. Reversed out type usually isn't too hard to read on the printed page, but on the Web it really strains the eyes and could lead your visitor to leave your site without having read all about your services.
• Don't use a Flash intro - 10 years ago animated Flash intros were all the rage. Today, they're not only passe, but they impede your visitors from getting to information about your business (which is why they are visiting in the first place). People want information; they don't want roadblocks to it.
• Don't use background music - Again, background music gives someone a reason to leave your site. For example, what if you have easygoing lounge music on your site and your visitor likes country? They may think you're not right for them. Or what if they like listening to their own music on their computer and, when your site comes up, your unwanted background music blares at them. In the end, it's best to not have any music.

Hope these tips help in enhancing your online presence ... Jeff

When I first went into business for myself, I imagined that my biggest competition would be all the other competitors out there trying to land the same prospective clients I was pursuing. So I prepared myself for all the objections I might hear regarding my offerings, approach, experience and pricing versus those of my competitors.

However, in my first few meetings with prospective clients, I started hearing something completely unexpected. Instead of the prospects asking lots of questions about how I compared with the competition, they were saying things like:

"I've been doing all this work myself, and I thought I'd call you to see if you might be able to take this over for me."

...or...

"I'm debating whether to hire someone for this project or do it myself, so I'd like to hear the advantages of bringing you in for this work."

After a few months of hearing the same story, I changed my approach from touting how much better I was than my competitors to how much better I was than the prospects doing the work themselves.

Every service-based business runs into the same issue. Whether you're a plumber, photographer or an event and wedding planner, you will find that your biggest battle is not losing the job to the competition but losing the job to the prospect, whether they decide to take on the project themselves or end up doing nothing.

This is especially the case in a bad economy when brides and grooms are trying to pinch pennies and make the most of a very limited budget. They figure they will save more money and make less sacrifices on other areas of their wedding if they plan their big day themselves.

So it's up to you to let them know all the advantages of hiring you. Here are a few key points I have made to prospects in the past that helped them decide to hire me:

1. They will save tons of time - Although your prospect may know a thing or two about wedding planning, they don't do this for a living, so they will have to spend lots of time and effort getting up to speed, not to mention all the effort required managing all the details of wedding planning. By hiring you, they free up all that time and turn everything over to an expert who will get everything done in a fraction of the time that it would have taken them.

2. The will save money - The prospect probably doesn't have firmly established relationships with many wedding vendors, doesn't have much leverage in negotiating with them and doesn't know the going rates of what they should pay for wedding venues, catering, DJs, transportation, etc. You, on the other hand, have all this information at your fingertips and can probably negotiate much better rates than they can, and this savings can offset some or maybe even all the fees they would pay you.

3. You will help protect them from mistakes and fraud - Every bride wants her day to be perfect and error-free. Although there are always a few issues with any event, hiring you will help ensure there are a minimum of issues (plus, when there are issues, you know how to resolve them promptly). As a seasoned wedding planner, you have probably seen it all, so you know all the tips and tricks for avoiding mistakes and slipups. In addition, you can help them avoid being defrauded by a shady vendor by helping them navigate the minefield of vendor selection and negotiation.

4. They can focus on more important matters - Brides and grooms have enough on their plate with family, friends and social commitments besides trying to manage a handful of vendors and thousands of intricate details. Their wedding should be a day of bliss and enjoyment, not one of work and worry, and hiring you will let them relax and enjoy every moment.

5. Millions of people hire specialists every day - Point out that the prospective clients themselves probably hire specialists to take care of tasks in which they lack expertise (like fixing their car or doing their accounting) or don't have the time to do themselves (like housecleaning). Planning a wedding is a very big job, especially for someone who doesn't regularly plan events, with little margin for error, so it only makes sense to turn it over to someone who is an expert.

6. The job will get done right - When you try to take on a big project that is beyond your area of expertise, there's always that fear that you are making errors and leaving our important steps ... and you are probably right. So, by hiring an expert, your prospect can have the peace of mind that the job will get done the right way and that their wedding is in the hands of someone very capable of making their dream day come true.

Hopefully these tips give you a good starting point in showing your prospects the advantages of hiring you over planning their wedding themselves (and hopefully our wedding planner software gives you another leg up in hiring them).

Some clients are more lackadaisical than others when it comes to hiring their wedding planner, but they all come with questions. So, take time before you meet with clients to prepare yourself for the questions they will more than likely ask. Here is a list of 30 questions you should be prepared to answer (even if they don't ask):

Budget:

1. Will you commit to the client's budget and not push them towards vendors and items that they cannot afford?
2. Can you offer them discounts with any vendors?
3. Do you accept commissions, kickbacks or professional discounts from any vendors you refer?
4. Do you charge hourly, a flat rate or a percentage of the client's overall budget?

Your business:

1. How many weddings are you usually coordinating at once?
2. Are you a member of any associations?
3. Are you certified? From where?
4. What's the average size of the weddings you plan?
5. Do you have a business license?
6. What is your refund policy in case of cancellation?
7. How many full-service weddings do you plan per year?
8. Is wedding planning your full-time job?
9. How many weddings have you planned?

Scheduling and Communication Skills

1. What was the most challenging wedding you've planned and how did you handle it?
2. How do you keep in touch with clients?
3. Can you provide pictures and references from previous weddings you've planned?
4. Will you make a checklist of all of the tasks that the client needs to accomplish?
5. How will you make sure everyone involved (vendors, wedding party, bride/groom, families) stick to the schedule?

Wedding Specific Questions

1. Will you be at all of the vendor meetings and/or tastings?
2. Will you advocate the client's vision to vendors and make sure they stay true to the client's ideas?
3. Will you read over vendor contracts for the client, and what are some common hidden fees to watch for?
4. Can the client only choose from your preferred vendors, or can they hire someone even if you haven't worked with them before?
5. What will you wear to the client's wedding?
6. Will you be the only planner working on my wedding, or will their be other planners or assistants assigned to my wedding?
7. Who will take over for you if for some reason you cannot attend the client's wedding?
8. Will you assist in booking and planning the honeymoon?
9. Do you handle the wedding invitations including wording, ordering, addressing and mailing?
10. Are you available for etiquette questions?
11. What won't you help with?
12. Do you foresee any issues with the client's wedding date/venue like weather, travel, etc?

Positive words:

Stress-free – Since your job is to plan and alleviate stress, it's key to describe yourself as a stress-reliever. However, when you're meeting with a client, it's important to keep the discourse conversational. You don't want the dialogue to degenerate into a sales-pitch. Therefore, when you're talking, find ways to subtly bring that into the conversation. Use synonyms for stress-relief and examples from previous weddings you've planned.

Process – Describing wedding planning as a process will make planning seem more linear for your client and help them to be okay with moving along in steps. You can avoid potential breakdowns by explaining to your client that different tasks happen at different points in the planning process, but not to worry because everything will be completed when it's supposed to be. When a client has a breakdown about something not being finished yet, refer back to the process and assure her that you've got it all under-control.

System - Make it clear that you have a system for wedding planning in addition to a process. A client will feel much better knowing that you have an organizational system than wondering if you keep track of everything on post-its. Let clients know that there's a method to your madness.

Team – You and your client are a team. You and your vendors are a team. You and your employees are a team. And together, you create the ultimate dream team. Refer to yourselves this way. Calling yourselves a 'team' implies that you trust and vouch for these people and companies. Clients will feel comfortable working with a group of people who get along and work well with each other.

Caution words:

Budget – Budget is a caution word because it can make clients uneasy. Brides-to-be today only see two types of weddings: the extravagant and the thrifty. Magazines and the media pay no attention to any mid-range vendors, which leads clients to believe that there are no reasonable, mid-priced vendors out there. Make sure to let clients know that you have many vendors in all price ranges, not just high and low.

Support – Support is a caution word because offering it can easily escalate into frenzied phone calls from clients at two o'clock in the morning. Creating boundaries for your support is essential. Some companies offer levels of support with their planning packages. You can break up support packages by time, types of support you offer (etiquette, full support, etc.), hours you're available for contact, etc.

Take a look at THIS article from Forbes Woman. It basically states that women who plan their own weddings are planning mostly in the workplace.

95% of women planning their own wedding use company property such as computers, phone and copy machines for planning purposes and 30% of brides stated that, "their focus was taken away from business while planning their weddings, which negatively affected their work."

Few brides realize the amount of work that goes into planning a wedding, but with stats like these, you can show them that if they're not careful, planning can easily become their full time job.

Brides Against Breast Cancer is going on a nationwide tour selling gorgeous wedding gowns! The proceeds from these events "help bring a moment of joy into world of someone for whom a cure is too late."

Though some of the dresses are pre-owned, more than half of the gowns at each event are brand new designer gowns donated form designers, manufacturers, and retail bridal shops. The pre-owned dresses would be a great way for your green-minded brides to add another sustainable facet to their big day, and any of the designer gowns would be fabulous for you fashionista brides. Check out the calendar to see when Brides Against Breast Cancer is coming to your city!

For General Information Click Here

For the Calendar of Cities and Events Click Here