Great news!
The Chic Wedding Geek will be hosting a webinar for iWED members next Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 8 PM EDT at an iWED member only price!
For more information, check out the Chic Wedding Geek blog.
Author Archives: Terrica
Doesn’t Matter How Cute the Shoes Are If They Hurt Your Feet
Filed under Minding Your Business
I had the privilege of taking my children out recently, and as we were going back to our car, I noticed a woman. The purse was divine, she had on a fabulous pair of jeans, a stunning top, and a pair of shoes that I would’ve gladly have given up a kidney for. Seriously—they were that cute; if I woke up in a tub of ice the next morning, but those shoes were on the counter, it would be worth it. However, I noticed that she was walking—it was rather odd. Instead of having a Naomi Campbell Walk—fully strutting herself and outfit, she was walking as if someone had cut off her toes and ordered her to walk on hot coals to her execution.
Totally took away from her outfit.
Perhaps it would have worked if she were sitting down the entire day, she could get away with it, but that’s not realistic.
How often do we do something like this with our businesses? Buy a pair of shoes that don’t fit because they are gorgeous, but they cause us more pain than they are worth. What about the awesome website design that is confusing to our visitors or putting our site on the three millionth page of Google? Or the intern or associate that isn’t meshing well with our operation. Perhaps it’s the relationship with a vendor that causes extra work instead of lightening our load. Whatever it is, you have to decide if your current damage or pain is worth the price of the “cute shoes”. If there is anything in your business that is causing more work for you than it should, or is not working for you—it is working against you.
And you know what happens if you keep wearing bad shoes right? Corns. Bunions. Full on surgery. You will find yourself asking at that time if it was worth it. If your brand, client experience, reputation or peace of mind (and “mine”) are at risk, it’s time to toss the shoes. Throw them out. Gift it to charity. Find something better and make it work for you.
It doesn’t matter how cute the shoes are, if they hurt your feet.
What’s Your Theme Song?
Filed under Minding Your Business
We had a great question posed on the iWED boards—How do you get ready for a consult?
An overwhelming number of iWED members said that they get ready by playing music that gets them energized, focused and fabulous. What’s on your success soundtrack? What gets you ready to show up and show off?
Fridays are the wedding industry’s start days– so as you get prepped for your weekend’s events, I encourage you to turn on your theme music and conquer the world.
What gets you excited and ready to go?
Photo :: Paulo Correa
How Secure is Your Kingdom?
Filed under iWED News
A king lost his voice. Because of this, he had to rule and direct with written instructions. However, he never allowed his subjects to learn to read, so he also lost his kingdom.
This was a story I shared on Twitter during the Staff Service tweets a few weeks ago. This is something we discussed in the internship WEDCHAT– keeping your employees and interns engaged enough to keep their interest, developing strong work habits and lengthen their retention with your company.
Holding back with your staff can prove to be more problematic to your company than beneficial. You could risk losing it all like the king above, in an misguided effort to prevent your staff from gaining knowledge. If you increasingly find yourself preventing your staff of doing their jobs effectively and creatively under the guise to protect “proprietary information”, you will end up losing good employees and interns. There is so much enthusiasm when newcomers enter into this industry. Don’t worry about someone running off with your information and starting their own company. They will certainly do that if they are not kept engaged and productive. Being able to share your knowledge, harness that enthusiasm and cultivate talent is what will make your internship and employee programs a success.
How secure is your kingdom? Could it better locks or just some oil on the hinges to make sure that everything works together for a common purpose?
Kick Start Your Week: Get Excited and Make Things…
Filed under Kick Start Your Week
Monday. A new day. A new week.
It’s here.
What will you do with it?
As creative professionals—be it planners, photographers, florists, bakers or invitation designers, our professions allow us to express our creativity and imagination. Don’t let the “competition”, the economy or anything else put a damper on your creativity.
Get out there.
Get excited and make things!
Get excited and make things happen.
Get excited and make things possible.
Get excited and make things come alive.
Get excited and make things yours.
Have a great week!
Is What You’re Doing Right Now Making You Money?
Filed under Minding Your Business
:: picture courtesy of the Merlin Mann Blog ::
I loved this web page so much, that I use it as the “Home” page any time I open a new browser tab or window– so I really have to ask myself, is what I’m doing right now really what I need to do? Tough question. Tough answers.
Owning your own business gives you the freedom to eliminate the boss constantly looking over your shoulder. The problem is that you have the freedom to eliminate the boss constantly looking over your shoulder. It is amazing how willing we are to be complicit to helping someone else meet their goals or bottom lines, or stay focused on their stringent timetables, but as business owners we can become so distracted from our own.
When I used to peddle lipstick many moons ago, we used to talk about IPAs. IPAs stand for Income Producing Activities. When you had so many IPAs, you could noticeably see a change, or shift, in your business– be it in sales, growth in team members, or other incentives. The key was to keep you accountable and to keep you working. I’ve modified an IPAs sheet for you to use as you will– make a copy for each week to keep yourself working and accountable. For each day of the week, write down the letter for the IPA you participated in for that day. Set a reasonable goal for yourself: how many IPAs can you participate in per day, per week? How many IPAs do you need to do to meet your goal? Whatever your goal is, the only way you can reach it is by staying relevant and staying productive. Download the IPAs worksheet and let me know how it works out for you!
Log on to Twitter. Open Mouth, Insert Foot.
Filed under Advertising and Marketing, Client Relations
Twitter has become a marketing gold mine for companies across the globe. It makes companies, their brands and philosophies more accessible to loyalists and potential consumers. In an effort to become more savvy with social media,wedding planners have become enthralled with the concept. When you think about it, it’s quite genius.
Twitter allows potential brides to (but not limited to):
- Get to know you and your brand on a different level
- Find out about company news, press, specials
- Stay up-to-date with blog posts
But with all the good, there must be some bad—and unfortunately, it runs rampant in our industry. Instead of building relationships and sharing, there are some unfortunate souls who make it a chore to follow them. As wedding planners, we work at such a personal level with our clients, that it is important to maintain a sense of propriety that is reflective of our brands and service to them.
That being said:
- Avoid using twitter as your company’s personal RSS feed. Don’t think if you constant talk (broadcast, really) about your business, headlines and deals that you’ll get a throng of customers to follow. People like connecting with people, not egos. Throw a bone to people. What was your coffee order?
- Seriously– do not twitter about your clients, their family and friends or their choices. If you want a quick way to destroy the trust factor with potential or current clients. No one wants to feel as if their wedding, drama, etc. is being put on display for someone else’s benefit or amusement.
- Also, don’t complain about vendors. If something is wrong, awry or not to your liking, Twitter is the last place this should be discussed. Current vendors feel threatened and potential vendors won’t touch you with a long handled spoon.
- You protect your updates. This goes back to the point I previously made about trust. You do not want clients to feel as if there is a barrier between the two of you or that you are talking about them behind that barrier. If people have to ask your permission to see what you’re talking about or interact with you, you’ve missed the point. Turn off the computer. Try again tomorrow.
- Conflicting messages. If your tweets conflict with your brand, don’t tweet under your company name. Open a private account.
- You talk, talk, talk, but don’t listen. And vice versa. Twitter has sparked many a great conversation—but conversations only work well when both people are talking and listening.
Here are two great posts on social media and Twitter. Check them out.
http://www.thesocialpath.com/2009/05/seven-deadly-sins.html
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-business/
How has Twitter helped you?
