Business Resources

Karia Jo Helms

Size really doesn’t matter when it comes to PR. Any size company can benefit from publicity, but the practice is commonly misunderstood in the business arena. Most entrepreneurs think of it as something that only large corporations have a budget for and don’t realize the power of publicity and what it can do for a business to blow it through the roof.

Marsha Friedman*, CEO of Event Management Services, Inc. (EMSI), a leading publicity firm who represents a diverse group of experts and corporations in many different fields, says that when you’re invited as a guest on radio or TV or a story is written in a newspaper or magazine, it lends credibility to you and your company’s products and services beyond anything you could attain with advertising. And, it provides immediate positioning of you as a recognized expert in your field.

For instance, in today’s real estate market you could get ahead of the other competition by offering sound advice in the form of “real estate advice articles”. Give away information that people normally would pay you for and submit it to daily and weekly newspapers as well as other newsletters in your area like the Chamber of Commerce, or real estate magazines and even national publications that complement the real estate industry.

You may think that giving away valuable advice will hurt you by tipping off your competition, but it is quite the contrary. It will establish you as someone who is a specialist on the subject and you will find that people will start to seek you out for business. People will be more likely to hire you if the media is writing about you or quoting you as an authority.

Friedman claims there is a number of ways a person can position him/herself as an expert, but an easy way to start is with print. Obtaining coverage in newspapers and magazines is a key factor in creating your image as an expert in your industry. “Anything written is perceived to be true,” she advises, “therefore articles you’ve written that get published or articles with quotes from you, give you immediate positioning as the “go-to guy” in your field.”

According to Friedman, print is where one will find a huge segment of one’s buying audience. With over 137 million Americans regularly reading a daily newspaper and more than 31,000 publications ranging from antiques to zoology, print media holds mass appeal as a key source of entertainment and information.

Some tips Friedman gives on different ways to approach the print medium are:

1) Write a “tips” or “how to” article – this is one of the best ways to get free publicity in newspapers and magazines. Offer lots of valuable advice and make sure it’s written well enough for a publication to run it without having to make any edits. Be sure to include your credentials and other boastful information to support your position as an expert – but be careful not to make the article a promotional piece. Editors are looking for content that will be informative to their readers, not a brag piece about you or your company.

2) Write an “opinion letter” – take a stand on a controversial issue or comment on an issue in the news and sent it to the Editor of your local paper – or to the Opinion Editor at other newspapers around the country. Don’t forget to put your credentials at the bottom of the letter so you get the recognition of being a published expert.

3) Create photo opportunities – local newspapers are always looking for interesting photos and images. Create a local event – a fundraiser, an art show, a local or national contest, etc. Then make sure to invite the local press to attend. But even if they don’t show up, get them a photo and press release right away while it’s still news!

4) Recycle your print coverage – turn one media hit into multiple hits by sending a reprint of a weekly newspaper story about you or your company to an editor at a daily newspaper, along with a pitch letter offering an angle different from the angle the weekly pursued. Send reprints from dailies to national publications. Send articles in trade publications to editors anywhere. Post articles on your website.

Marsha has been teaching entrepreneurs for years the power of publicity. She enjoys doing so and has joined with her dear friend, Joy Gendusa, CEO of the fast-growth direct mail postcard marketing company called PostcardMania, to create jam-packed marketing boot camps for entrepreneurs nationwide, called Power MarketingMania Boot Camp.

“And, don’t discount coverage in small publications,” advises Marsha. “Every newspaper story, sidebar, small mention or magazine article is like gold when trying to get the attention of editors at the national major magazines.”

*Marsha Friedman is the CEO of Event Management Services, Inc., (www.event-management.com) a leading publicity firm that has represented many well known clients such as, Motown’s Temptations, Teamsters Union President Jim Hoffa, Jr., National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane’s, Bristol Myers Squibb, Financial TV personality, Jim Rogers and Dr. Barry Sears.

Lorraine Pirihi

Many people have a huge challenge coping with the incoming paperwork. (Whatever happened to the paperless office?).

Paperwork lands on your desk and somehow finds its way into your in-tray. Eventually the in-tray becomes so high it explodes and ends up all over your desktop. That’s because you avoided taking action on those messy pieces of paper the moment they arrived. Now you have no option but to sort through the explosion and tidy up the pile or actually do something with the paperwork.

It’s also frustrating when you need to search through the pile to look for information someone has asked you about. Many times I’ve contacted people to follow them up and I can automatically picture their desktop as they search their in-tray for the information I’ve sent them.

How can a pile of paper cause you so much stress? If only you could organize the paper so that it would disappear! Looking at it is enough to raise anyone’s blood pressure. Well here are a few organizing tips to help you tame the paperwork.

Purchase a large vertical wire step file (available from stationers)

Sort through your in-tray/s or piles and organize the paperwork into similar categories, ie.

Correspondence

Reading

Clients

Invoices

Staff

Label manila folders with the above categories.

Place folders into step file.

Now you’ll have all your work to do sitting in manageable files. It’s much more effective than shuffling piles of paper.

This simple but practical device saves my accountant 2 hours per week. Do you know what that means to an accountant who charges out at $100 per hour?

Save Two Hours / Week @ Hourly Rate of $200

2 HRS/WEEK = $200

= 8 HRS/MTH = $800

= 96 HRS/YR = $9,600

You don’t need to be an accountant to understand the significance of saving a small amount of time and the impact it has overall. It’s always the little things in life - the one percenters which make the difference.

Doug Dillard

The event planning service business is a $500 billion business worldwide today, with lots of growth opportunities. The profit margin has gone up from 15% to 30 to 40%. People hire event planners because they don’t have the time and expertise to organize events themselves. Some of the events for which event planners are hired are:

• Celebrations (fairs, parades, weddings, reunions, birthdays, anniversaries)
• Education (conferences, meetings, graduations)
• Promotions (product launches, political rallies, fashion shows)
• Commemorations (memorials, civic events)

Qualifications: The best way to set up an event planning service business is to start as an apprentice with an event management company. This gives you useful exposure to the industry, and you learn the tricks of the trade without investing anything. You may also acquire knowledge about the industry by getting an event planning or management degree or certificate from a local university and also become a CSEP (Certified Special Events Professional) or CMP (Certified Meeting Planner).

Target Market: The target market for event planning service business is huge. Companies as well as charities and non-profit organizations host gala fundraisers, receptions and athletic competitions, among other events, to expand their public support base and raise funds. Companies also organize trade shows, conventions, company picnics, holiday parties and meetings for staff members, board members or stockholders. Besides this there is a large social market. This includes organizing of weddings, birthdays, anniversary parties, Sweet 16 parties, children’s parties, reunions and so on.

Start-up Costs: The start up costs of an event planning service business depends upon your business profile. A low-end event management business can be started for $8,000 while a high-end may cost $30,000 to $50,000. The main expenditure is on three heads: equipment, number of employees and office space.

Tasks and operations: Social events generally involve more weekends and holidays than corporate events. Some events have “on” and “off” seasons. The main tasks of an individual running an event planning services business are:

• Research: Find out everything about vendors and suppliers, talk to other planners who have produced similar events, read about issues of custom and etiquette. Ask your client a lot of questions and write down the answers.
• Design: You need to sketch the overall “look” of the event. To get good ideas you should have brainstorming sessions, either by yourself or with your employees. Consult your notebook for client’s answers to the questions you asked in the research phase. These responses will help you thoroughly check each idea for feasibility before suggesting it to the client.
• Proposal: The production of a proposal can be time-consuming and expensive, especially if you include photographs or sketches. You should receive a consultation fee, which can be applied toward a client’s event if he or she hires you.
• Organization: During this phase, you’ll rent the site, hire vendors and take care of many more details. Make sure to discuss all major decisions with your client or someone acting on client’s behalf, but avoid consulting many people.
• Coordination: Ensure that everyone is on the same wavelength, that all vendors have a general idea of the overall event schedule, what’s expected of them, and when. Make sure all your staff members know their roles.
• Evaluation: Ensure your customer satisfaction so that your client will provide a great word-of-mouth advertising for you. You may also hire an event planning consultant to evaluate your work.

Earnings: There is no fixed fee in the event planning service business. The fee varies from event to event, and is proportional to the volume and quality of work involved. Generally, you can expect to make 15 to 20 per cent on every event. Given the size of the industry, part-time event planners can gross around $20,000 annually while full-time event planners can hope to earn $100,000 or more.

Marketing: The best way to promote your business is by word-of-mouth publicity. Encourage your clients to refer their friends to you. However, this will happen only when your work is good. You can also consider advertising in yellow pages and trade journals. A website is another useful place to give details about your event planning service business.

Alexander Gordon

What is Event Management?

Event management refers to methods of outsourcing business occasions, social occasions, or a combination of both. There is no limit to the business development ideas for an event management business. It is possible to organize every kind of event ranging from wedding to a political rally. An event management team can be retained for any type of business meeting.

500 Billion Dollar Industry:

Last 15 years have witnessed a tremendous growth in the field of event management. If we add the amount of money spent on event management all over the world in one year it comes to a whopping 500 billion dollars. Gone are the days when we could do with hiring only a small catering team that supplies the food for a business event. If you wish to make an impression on your potential clients today, hiring a meeting management company is a necessity.

Events of Any Range Can Be Managed:

If you wish to start an event management business and you are looking for business development ideas for it then you will be happy to know that you can start this business for any range. It is possible to manage an event for only a small group of people. On the other hand, you can manage mega events for five thousand people and more.

People prefer to choose an event management team that is known for its expertise in this field. When you plan an event, it not only consumes your valuable time but also produces much stress. Event management business owners have contacts in this field and they can offer you the best possible services at the most competitive prices.

Manage Accommodation and Entertainment:

As an event management business, when you organize an event involving five thousand people for a whole day, you should not assume that catering is the most difficult thing to manage. Accommodation and entertainment are also very important for managing such large events. You also require sufficient and efficient staff for the event. Moreover, you also have to plan about the size of the room, seating arrangements, and the total budget of the event. If you do not have enough expertise to deal with all of these factors, you may face difficulties in running event management business successfully.

External Factors Affecting Event Management Business:

Several external factors also affect the growth of the event management industry. Some of these factors are the rate of the growth of economy, lifestyle, and changing characteristics of the people living in the area. Tourism and branding activities like festivals and corporate activities such as conferences, product launches, award ceremonies, and gala dinners are under the scope of event management business. Key factors for the success of an event management business are reputation, network, service promotion, links with the suppliers, and high quality managerial skills.