October Meeting
Our October meeting was held at the Gaithersburg Hilton in Maryland. Members and guests enjoyed Hors d'Oeuvres and a delicious dinner and dessert.
Our first order of business was to take nominations for the next Board. Those interested in positions on the Board were:
President - Jim Johnson
Vice President - Johari Barnes
Treasurer - Jackie Achekian
Secretary - Nicolette Freeman
Membership - Nicolette Freeman
Program Co-chairs - Estelle Salen and Carol Rose
Site Selection - Bill Cochran and Heidi Kallett
Heidi Lallett from The Dandelion Patch is open to fill any position.
Brian Bergman seconded the nominations. Since none of these positions were uncontested, here is your new Board of Directors:
President - Jim Johnson, Picture Story Studios
Vice President - Johari A. Barnes, Distinctively Yours Event Management
Secretary - OPEN*
Treasurer - Jackie Achekian, Eleganza Intima
Membership - Nicolette Freeman, Wedded Words
Site Co-Chairpersons - Bill Cochran, Your Marriage Coach and Heidi Kallett, The Dandelion Patch
Program Co-Chairpersons - Carol Rose, Rose Leaves Invitations & Calligraphy and Estelle Salen, Discount Invitations by Estelle
Past President - Susan Gildersleeve, Perfect Wedding Guide
*While the Secretary position is currently open, various duties will be handled by the Vice President and Past President.
Program
Our program for the evening was headed by our very own current Vice President, Sharon Elaine Lewis of Washington Weddings. She began by stating that the three main avenues of getting business are: advertising, market research and word of mouth. She stated a relationship needs to be created with the client. Brides are not the same as they were several years ago.
Sharon handed out copies of a Fortune magazine article about the "twenty-somethings." Basically, this current Generation Y does not want to be managed. They believe they can handle everything on their own. However, these "twenty-somethings" are our new clients. We have to remember that no bride is the same and no wedding professional is the same.
With that, Sharon introduced our panel consisting of AWP members, Larry Elliott - Retrospect Band, Spencer Biles - Creative Cakes and Brian Bergman - DJ. The topic for the panel discussion was about growing your business.
The panel was asked about trends they are now seeing in the marketplace. Brian stated that he has seen that the bride and groom seem to be getting older marrying for the first time, like in their 30's, 40's, on up. He also stated that price is becoming a bigger thing. Today's brides and grooms seem to be more budget conscience.
Larry said he has seen more facilities, especially hotels, go back to turning over rooms in order to do more events in the same day and charging overtime should an event go over their contracted time. He also stated that it seems that the "twenty-somethings" have a lot of self-esteem without any skills. They don't think they need professionals and want more for less.
When asked how the panel members market their business, Brian stated he does not advertise and does not have a Web site. He receives most of his business through networking and/or referrals from previous clients. He will also get some clients from Bridal Shows. When he meets a new vendor at an event, he will invite them to lunch to get to know them, their business and what they're really like. If he likes what he sees, he will refer them and, in turn, hopefully get business referred back to him. Brian says he usually refers more than what he receives. When he meets with a client, he will often ask them what other vendors they have already hired and if there is a vendor they are stilling looking for, he will refer someone.
Larry stated he publishes a periodic newsletter sent to previous clients who he says are his salesmen. Larry refers to those people as the "older" people. Larry, himself, does not sell. He said, "If you do a good job for someone, they will refer for you." He sends the newsletter out to approximately 1,800 people. Larry does some Bridal Shows for "new" people. He gets most of his jobs from past clients' referrals. He suggested getting marketing ideas from other businesses outside of your particular business - meaning, don't look at another wedding consultant's advertising if you are a wedding consultant. Look to other kinds of small businesses to see what might work.
Spencer said that marketing is "multi-faceted" and "ever-changing." He currently spends approximately $10,000 a year on advertising. He stated that it's hard to know if advertising works. Creative Cakes has many contracts with hotels, caterers, restaurants, etc. but they really don't make that much money from the contract jobs. He considers them more of his advertising budget because their name is seen and if they like the cake, they will refer them or come back for a novelty or other special occasion cake in the future. He does do monthly Open Houses where other wedding professionals are invited to participate. Spencer also stated that a lot of business comes from relationships he has built from different events.
In summary, it looks like our businesses can gain new growth by constant networking and careful tending of our referral bases.
Photography Provided by Jim Johnson Photography, PictureStoryStudio.
