What happens when couples inquire (we get the inquiries!), but we’re not booking as many weddings as we want?  Or what if couples are only wanting to book our smallest packages?   

Today we're talking to Ideaction Consulting's Sam Jacobson, who gives us 4 reasons our inquiries are NOT converting into clients.

Free Workshop with Megan and Sam: Why Couples Don’t Book Full Planning (And what to do about it!)

Episodes Referenced:
133: Selling Styles for Wedding Pros, with Ideaction’s Sam Jacobson
73: Relator, Analyzer, Boss, and Dreamer: How to Sell To and Work With the 4 Types of Wedding Clients, with Ideaction's Sam Jacobson
115: Tips for Improving Your Wedding Consultations, with Sam Jacobson
211: Live Interviews: Inside the (Buying) Mind of Engaged Couples

Sam's Podcast, Own Your Business

This episode is brought to you by The Planner's Vault, my online membership site for wedding planners who are hungry to grow, ready to hustle, and actively seeking community and education. In the vault, there are guest experts on many topics relevant to growing and cultivating a successful event planning business with new content added consistently, plus all of my templates that I have built out over the years, like How to Get on Preferred Vendor Lists, The Client Experience, and more. The mission with the vault is to elevate the industry (along with some amazing experts and fellow entrepreneurs) and I want it to be affordable so it's possible to stay invested in the community and yourself for the long haul.

The doors are currently closed for The Vault, but join the wait list now so you can be the first to know when the doors re-open.

Weddings for Real on Social Media:

Instagram: @weddingsforreal

Facebook: @weddingsforreal

twitter: @weddingsforreal

Hosted by Megan Gillikin, Weddings for Real is presented by The Planner's Vault, and is produced by Earfluence.

Feeling the pull to pause and realign? Join me October 27–30 in Ocean Isle Beach, NC for my Restore & Realign Retreat, only a few spots left! Reserve yours here: https://www.theplannersvault.com/restore-realign-retreat-application

A couple weeks ago, we went to The Merrimon Wynne Winter Wedding Showcase. The Merrimon Wynne is a historic home in downtown Raleigh that’s been converted into a gorgeous wedding venue. Inside the house and in the carriage house outside, engaged couples were walking around looking for the right wedding vendors for their big day.  And if they looked like they might be willing to answer some questions about their wedding vendor search, we asked them to come on the show. We asked them questions like: 

• Where are you finding your vendors?
• What's a turnoff when looking for vendors?
• How important is social media when researching a vendor?
• Do you read reviews and how much do they matter 
• Does TikTok matter?
• What’s been a surprise in the wedding planning process?
• Do you need to see pricing on the website? (This one was super interesting)
• And, anything you want wedding vendors to know?

So let's tune in to find out what couples really want!

Episodes referenced:
168. How to get on a wedding venue's preferred list, with Shannon Tarrant
126. Wedding Planners: Why do venues refer you (or not)

This episode is brought to you by The Planner's Vault, my online membership site for wedding planners who are hungry to grow, ready to hustle, and actively seeking community and education. In the vault, there are guest experts on many topics relevant to growing and cultivating a successful event planning business with new content added consistently, plus all of my templates that I have built out over the years, like How to Get on Preferred Vendor Lists, The Client Experience, and more. The mission with the vault is to elevate the industry (along with some amazing experts and fellow entrepreneurs) and I want it to be affordable so it's possible to stay invested in the community and yourself for the long haul.

The doors are currently closed for The Vault, but join the wait list now so you can be the first to know when the doors re-open.

Weddings for Real on Social Media:

Instagram: @weddingsforreal

Facebook: @weddingsforreal

twitter: @weddingsforreal

Hosted by Megan Gillikin, Weddings for Real is presented by The Planner's Vault, and is produced by Earfluence.

Feeling the pull to pause and realign? Join me October 27–30 in Ocean Isle Beach, NC for my Restore & Realign Retreat, only a few spots left! Reserve yours here: https://www.theplannersvault.com/restore-realign-retreat-application

As much as we all love the events industry, one major challenge is that we’re service based. We need to physically be doing something to make money. Planning the wedding, DJ’ing the bat mitzvah, taking the headshots. And when every event is over, we need to keep moving on to the next one. In the service industry, there’s no real way to make money while you sleep. Or is there?

Today's guest is Kawania Wooten, owner of Howerton + Wooten Events and founder of The Enlightened Creative.

This episode is brought to you by The Planner's Vault, my online membership site for wedding planners who are hungry to grow, ready to hustle, and actively seeking community and education. In the vault, there are guest experts on many topics relevant to growing and cultivating a successful event planning business with new content added consistently, plus all of my templates that I have built out over the years, like How to Get on Preferred Vendor Lists, The Client Experience, and more. The mission with the vault is to elevate the industry (along with some amazing experts and fellow entrepreneurs) and I want it to be affordable so it's possible to stay invested in the community and yourself for the long haul.

The doors are currently closed for The Vault, but join the wait list now so you can be the first to know when the doors re-open.

Weddings for Real on Social Media:

Instagram: @weddingsforreal

Facebook: @weddingsforreal

twitter: @weddingsforreal

Hosted by Megan Gillikin, Weddings for Real is presented by The Planner's Vault, and is produced by Earfluence.

Feeling the pull to pause and realign? Join me October 27–30 in Ocean Isle Beach, NC for my Restore & Realign Retreat, only a few spots left! Reserve yours here: https://www.theplannersvault.com/restore-realign-retreat-application

TikTok is a platform I have not invested my time in outside creating my profile because it’s yet another app that I feel like I have to check, and to be honest, TikTok just feels like one more thing I have to do.

But I keep hearing about how great it is - from other educators that I love and respect, from wedding pros, and from my hair person… obviously - and not just for funny videos or going down weird rabbit holes. There are recipes, packing hacks, how to videos galore, and so much more - so they tell me.

But more importantly, because there are many people like me who are a little intimidated by TikTok, right now it’s an untapped market for ads.

So let's find out all about TikTok ads from Mark Chapman, President of the I Do Society.

This episode is brought to you by The Planner's Vault (TikTok @plannersvault maybe?), my online membership site for wedding planners who are hungry to grow, ready to hustle, and actively seeking community and education. In the vault, there are guest experts on many topics relevant to growing and cultivating a successful event planning business with new content added consistently, plus all of my templates that I have built out over the years, like How to Get on Preferred Vendor Lists, The Client Experience, and more. The mission with the vault is to elevate the industry (along with some amazing experts and fellow entrepreneurs) and I want it to be affordable so it's possible to stay invested in the community and yourself for the long haul.

The doors are currently closed for The Vault, but join the wait list now so you can be the first to know when the doors re-open.

Weddings for Real on Social Media:

Instagram: @weddingsforreal

Facebook: @weddingsforreal

twitter: @weddingsforreal

Hosted by Megan Gillikin, Weddings for Real is presented by The Planner's Vault, and is produced by Earfluence.

Feeling the pull to pause and realign? Join me October 27–30 in Ocean Isle Beach, NC for my Restore & Realign Retreat, only a few spots left! Reserve yours here: https://www.theplannersvault.com/restore-realign-retreat-application

The Unraveling series, where amazing and inspiring entrepreneurs share the unraveling of old habits and mindset that holds us back, and the rebirth of new.  Today we feature Brian Green, Chief Event Architect and Creative Visionary of By BrianGreen LLC based in Atlanta.

For previous Unravelings:
156
157 with Adrianna McDermott
161 with Aleya Harris
177 with Sara Margulis
184 with Andrea Eppollito
188 with Ashlyn Carter
191 with Kristen Mullins aka "The Pie Lady"
193 with Rachel DeAlto
197 with Sandra Cassios

This episode is brought to you by The Planner's Vault, my online membership site for wedding planners who are hungry to grow, ready to hustle, and actively seeking community and education. In the vault, there are guest experts on many topics relevant to growing and cultivating a successful event planning business with new content added consistently, plus all of my templates that I have built out over the years, like How to Get on Preferred Vendor Lists, The Client Experience, and more. The mission with the vault is to elevate the industry (along with some amazing experts and fellow entrepreneurs) and I want it to be affordable so it's possible to stay invested in the community and yourself for the long haul.

The doors are currently closed for The Vault, but join the wait list now so you can be the first to know when the doors re-open.

Weddings for Real on Social Media:

Instagram: @weddingsforreal

Facebook: @weddingsforreal

twitter: @weddingsforreal

Hosted by Megan Gillikin, Weddings for Real is presented by The Planner's Vault, and is produced by Earfluence.

Feeling the pull to pause and realign? Join me October 27–30 in Ocean Isle Beach, NC for my Restore & Realign Retreat, only a few spots left! Reserve yours here: https://www.theplannersvault.com/restore-realign-retreat-application

Many of you are running your own business, and that’s something you should be extremely proud of. It takes a lot of guts to step out on your own and take your vision for a company and turn it into your reality. It doesn’t matter whether you’re side hustling for extra spending money or you have dozens of employees - you’ve taken the risk and I applaud you for it.  

But when you’re leading your company, how would you define your role?  Are you doing the work, or are you the visionary who’s thinking strategically about where you want to take the business over the next few years?

Well today we’re talking to Tara Melvin, who tells us we should all be the creative CEOs of our companies. 

The Signature CEO Conference, April 11-13, 2023

This episode is brought to you by The Planner's Vault, my online membership site for wedding planners who are hungry to grow, ready to hustle, and actively seeking community and education. In the vault, there are guest experts on many topics relevant to growing and cultivating a successful event planning business with new content added consistently, plus all of my templates that I have built out over the years, like How to Get on Preferred Vendor Lists, The Client Experience, and more. The mission with the vault is to elevate the industry (along with some amazing experts and fellow entrepreneurs) and I want it to be affordable so it's possible to stay invested in the community and yourself for the long haul.

The doors are currently closed for The Vault, but join the wait list now so you can be the first to know when the doors re-open.

Weddings for Real on Social Media:

Instagram: @weddingsforreal

Facebook: @weddingsforreal

twitter: @weddingsforreal

Hosted by Megan Gillikin, Weddings for Real is presented by The Planner's Vault, and is produced by Earfluence.

Feeling the pull to pause and realign? Join me October 27–30 in Ocean Isle Beach, NC for my Restore & Realign Retreat, only a few spots left! Reserve yours here: https://www.theplannersvault.com/restore-realign-retreat-application

Megan and Jason Gillikin talk about their wins for 2022, their failures, word-of-the-year, and goals for 2023.  Tune in and reflect along. Share your 2022 reflections on social media @weddingsforreal.

This episode is brought to you by The Planner's Vault, my online membership site for wedding planners who are hungry to grow, ready to hustle, and actively seeking community and education. In the vault, there are guest experts on many topics relevant to growing and cultivating a successful event planning business with new content added consistently, plus all of my templates that I have built out over the years, like How to Get on Preferred Vendor Lists, The Client Experience, and more. The mission with the vault is to elevate the industry (along with some amazing experts and fellow entrepreneurs) and I want it to be affordable so it's possible to stay invested in the community and yourself for the long haul.

The doors are currently closed for The Vault, but join the wait list now so you can be the first to know when the doors re-open.

Weddings for Real on Social Media:

Instagram: @weddingsforreal

Facebook: @weddingsforreal

twitter: @weddingsforreal

Hosted by Megan Gillikin, Weddings for Real is presented by The Planner's Vault, and is produced by Earfluence.

Feeling the pull to pause and realign? Join me October 27–30 in Ocean Isle Beach, NC for my Restore & Realign Retreat, only a few spots left! Reserve yours here: https://www.theplannersvault.com/restore-realign-retreat-application