When I first started working in the wedding industry, I began as a venue coordinator. I worked with both clients of the venue and vendors in the event industry. Later on when I became an event planner, I used my wedding industry experience to build relationships. Those relationships ultimately helped me grow my business. Relationships with venues and referrals from venues are so important as a wedding industry professional. Venue referrals can help you take your business to the next level quickly, and I’d even argue that venue referrals might be more valuable than past client referrals. For this very reason, I asked for advice from fifteen venue owners and compiled this list of tips for venue referrals.

As a self-proclaimed over-achiever, people-pleaser, and general over-analyzer, I have spent the last 10 years as a business owner making intentional decisions that affect my day-to-day happiness and my ability to show up as a good business owner, mom, and wife. I want to share a few tips with fellow business owners. I do not always have everything completely figured out and perfectly balanced, but I have learned a few things and made some mistakes along the way that will hopefully help you on your entrepreneurship journey. Take what works for you and leave the rest! 

Do you have a circle of trust? For me, my circle of trust is a proverbial board of advisors. It’s a diverse group of people in my life who each know me in a different way. These people are ones that I respect, trust, and want to hear their opinions. These people have been by my side through the ups and downs of being a small business owner, and their input throughout my professional career has been invaluable. I’m here to share more about the four types of people you need in your circle of trust as a small business owner. These people should aid in your business decisions. On the contrary, there are three voices that you should filter before listening and accepting advice. I’m sharing those few you shouldn’t have around, too.

How many times do you visit your own website? Do you ever take time to switch out the images, change out some content or update any of the wording? It’s important to ensure your website is optimized for reaching potential clients, so I’ve put together my top eight tips for getting more bookings as a wedding industry professional. Before I dive in, though, I want to shout out the professionals who helped add to my recommendations, Aleya Harris of Flourish Marketing and Sam Jacobson of Ideaction Consulting. Aleya is an expert in story branding and email marketing, and Sam is a pro at topics including website layout and consultation processes. In a previous conversation with Sam, he said something that really resonated with me. He said that our websites are almost like storefronts. Just like with a physical shop, you need to stop by regularly. Stop avoiding it and let’s do it together! These tips are truly relevant for all vendor categories, so keep reading!