I’ve featured some of the best in the business on my podcast. Abby Jiu, KT Merry, Bob Spiegel, Alex Le Roux, Shannon Leahy, Chris Jespersen, and so many others. It’s great to hear their insights and reflections on the route they took to the top of their fields in the event industry.
But I find it equally important - and even more inspiring - to hear from people who are in the middle of their journey. Who are seeing success, but haven’t come close to reaching their full potential. 
I try to bring clients who embody what it takes to find success every month or two to share their story, to talk about what it’s like to be in the midst of making it big, to give you a feeling for how they get as far as they have - and what they did to push through the obstacles.
Today’s episode is a conversation with Tara Blunk, one of our masterminders from 2023 who taught me a lot about what it means to work harder AND smarter. To fill her cup with knowledge, but know it is nowhere close to full. And to learn from a variety of instructors:
- Fear, uncertainty and doubt
- Past failures
- Creative mentors
- Technical masters
If you’re anything like me, you’ll get sucked into this story - because it could’ve been my own in so many ways. And it could be yours too. 
Enjoy the conversation…

Client Case Study: Tara Blunk, Photographer

A podcast for event professionals who want the knowledge and skills to grow a business with confidence. Industry authority Sam Jacobson hosts solo or with fellow sales and marketing expert, Katy Taylor Jacobson, with bite-sized, 20-minute episodes. Listeners take away one big idea with simple steps to put what you learn into action. Topics focus on sales, pricing, websites, and growing a team. Follow up questions answered in a private FB group.

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Couples are overwhelmed by all the noise in today’s wedding marketplace. It’s crowded. It’s loud. It all sounds and looks the same to the untrained buyer simply hoping to book vendors for a pretty, fun celebration with family and friends.
So how do you compete in this situation? How do you fill your calendar? With the right kinds of couples? Who pay higher prices you deserve for your amazing work?
That’s exactly what I’m talking about today with Katy Taylor Jacobson, my wife and our Head Copywriter, who’s spent more than 50,000 hours - yes, that’s correct - thinking about and practicing how to get wedding couples to buy services from her, her team, or clients she’s guiding the way for.
When you live and breathe wedding sales and marketing over a quarter century you learn a thing or two about how to stand out, and that’s what we’ll explore in today’s conversation.
Get your notepad out, and enjoy the discussion!

Differentiate Your Brand to Stand Out

The pandemic might be over, but we’re still feeling the ripple effects. 
Anyone with kids who were supposed to be in school for the second half of 2020 and most of 2021 know what I’m talking about. I’m reading a book called “The Stolen Year” because it’s so terrible for our educational system as a whole.
The economy is…confused. Some signs point good, others not so good. Even the decision-makers aren’t sure what the hell is going on, which means their uncertainty creates unpredictability in the markets. Never a good thing for businesses.
In the wedding industry, specifically, one of the ripple effects is couples taking longer to make decisions. Some of this is related to the horror stories their friends shared or family members went through with their own weddings between 2020 and 2022. 
I have a family member who just got back from Mexico celebrating her friend’s 40th birthday. Why Mexico? Because the friend had put a deposit down on a venue at a resort, but they didn’t end up doing the wedding there and the resort wouldn’t refund (only credit) the couple. So the friends grouped together to do the vacation there, used her credit, and then venmoed her their share with actual money so she could get the cash back.
So if you think couples are “over” the pandemic, you’re not seeing things from their perspective. It lives on, like a recurring nightmare we’re all trudging through. 
But how else are post-pandemic ripple effects impacting our industry and your business? Listen in today for some explanations and insights - as well as what to do about certain buyer behavior that makes it hard (and now hardER) to make decisions.

Why Couples Wait to Book

My brother owns a talent company in Los Angeles, and I once asked him what he did for his clients. He thought for a while, then said, “I manage their expectations.” 
He went on to explain that a lot of writers and directors - the types of clients he represented at the time - go to Hollywood with big dreams. They have talent, ideas, and are willing to work hard to get where they want to go.
Unfortunately, so do thousands of others - and studios only have so many shows they’ll produce each year, which means the spots at the top of success are few and far between. It takes time to earn one. In my brother’s line of work, that means years, maybe even decades of putting in your dues before you get the rewards you want.
That’s a tough sell, because Americans love an overnight success story. We think it happens all the time (which it doesn’t). Most people worked their way up the ladder for years before getting any recognition. Years.
Just because you (or some journalist or influencer) found out about them only recently doesn’t mean they started recently. 
I see this all the time in the wedding industry. The need for immediate gratification. Short-term thinking. A general lack of patience. I get it: We all want to win with our businesses. But this is an infinite game that takes years to even learn the rules.
I remember hearing Bryan Rafanelli on the main stage at my first Engage back in 2013. He said he took every opportunity that came his way for the first 10 years, till he was full. Ten years. That’s how long it took him to fill his calendar with a steady stream of clients at luxury levels.
For the record, I was listening to him 17 years after he started his company. 17 years.
When I first heard Bryan talk in 2013, he was three years past his biggest break, which was planning the wedding of Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky. You know who else worked with him on that wedding? Today’s guest for my podcast, Gigi de Manio. 
For the record, she had been photographing for 20 years - 14 of those in the wedding industry - before she became a household name. 
Today, Gigi and I talk about hitting singles instead of home runs with your business. Swing for the fences every time and you’ll end up striking out. Success in the wedding industry is a long game, one that takes time to develop talent and hone your skills and put yourself in a position to win big when it matters most.
I hope you find as much inspiration and information on how to build a career in the wedding industry as I did in this conversation with Gigi.

Building Long-Term Success with Gigi De Manio

Last week I sent out a newsletter about a “correction” in the wedding market last year, and the impact we’re feeling in our businesses this year - and likely next year too.
It made quite a bit of noise on IG, which is great. Thank you Reagan Events for amplifying the ideas I shared and adding in a planner’s perspective on a speculative market in downstream vendors.
Ironically, I’d just cut this episode with Lindsay Landman the day before all this happened. Instead of airing it in June, as planned, I want it to come out today. 
Lindsay is one of the top planners in the world, and one of the savviest minds in our industry. When she says something, I listen. And so should you.
Today we talk about 
- Market correction after a 2022 boom
- How to value your services in the current market
- What couples think about vendor prices
- Top ways to sabotage your relationships with planners
Enjoy the show. This is a good one.

Pricing & Business Cycles with Lindsay Landman

I remember my first day on the job working in a restaurant in 1994 at the age of 16. I’d eaten at them while growing up, but I’d never known how it all went together behind the scenes, behind the swing door going into the kitchen - and I was transfixed when that first day in the back-of-house watching it all go down. 
Same thing happened when I worked my first wedding 17 years ago. I’d attended two weddings  in my life up until that point, but even so I was blown away by how much work went in behind the scenes to make it happen. So many moving pieces all coming together. 
When I started doing ultra-luxury weddings with Todd Events in 2015 it was another eye-popping experience.
Now, I spend my time not working directly with couples putting together their wedding, but with wedding professionals to create a successful company. A big part of anyone’s business is their website - and I’ve seen a lot of them come together over the years. 
Our company has been a part of over 350 in the past 4+ years, which is like 10-15 years experience in design years. Remember, we currently have seven people working full-time to create brand strategies, design sites, and write copy. 
Today, I’m bringing my wife and business partner, Katy Taylor Jacobson, on the podcast to talk about what goes into building a new site, and offer tips to take when you decide to undertake an overhaul or refresh, whether or not you choose us to bring the site together.
Enjoy the conversation!

Client Case Study: Tara Blunk, Photographer

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