How Vendors Can Work with #Eventprofs

Liz — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 01:04:18 +0000

I am contacted by many vendors on a daily basis who are interested in introducing me to their products and services. However, many of them are going about it all the wrong way. I'm not one to relish in other's tribulations so I thought it was time for a blog to help explain my way of looking at things. There are a few things that vendors can do to help create better relationships and close the deal with their target clients. Of course, as you read, you will realize that these tips can be applied to any business relationship.

Don't waste our time.
As most people, event planners are extremely busy. When you make the initial call or voicemail, lay out your intentions from the beginning. Leaving a voicemail that simply includes your name and number will guarantee that you will not get a call back. I don't know who you are and it's not likely that I will do the research to find out.

Be clear.
In the first few minutes of your conversation, you should explain how you were connected with us and why you are interested in speaking about business. Don't leave us guessing which one of our friends sold us out to you.

Remember your manners.
If a planner meets five DJs in a month, how will they decide who to use for their next event? I don't have scientific evidence to prove this (although I'm sure it's out there somewhere), but I firmly believe that nice guys don't finish last. Remembering to say please and thank you is very important. If you say you're going to follow up - do so.

Know when no means no.
When you come across a planner who isn't responsive, it's probably because they are either very busy or not interested. Don't be afraid to follow up every few weeks if you sense they are busy, but use your intuition to know when to give it a rest for a while.

What Color is Your Brand?

Liz — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:06:36 +0000

I came across this video from William Arruda at Reach Personal Branding. It's a good watch (though a little slow). Certainly an important thing to consider!

Guest Blogging on “Influencing Your Brand Perception”

Liz — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:37:15 +0000

Thanks to Jenise Fryatt of Icon Presentations for another great opportunity to guest blog for her! It has been so great getting to know Jenise on Twitter and seeing her huge impact on the #eventprofs world and my blog (you know her from her guest blogs on my site!). Enjoy the read, and please leave Jenise and I your comments and love!

I recently wrote a post called "My Rant: Why Your Customer Service Is Killing Your Business" where I aired my grievances about David's Bridal and many other little shops that don't understand that value of responding to their clients. After posting, I received many inquiries from event professionals and friends wondering if David's Bridal contacted me in response to my post. I have not, to date, heard anything from them.

Now, I'm not a delusional person thinking that the world is tuned into my tweets, but it did signal to me that they are not monitoring their brand. So many organizations are so focused on branding their organization - working with designers to create style guides, creating strategies for their social media accounts - that they completely forget about the brand that is being determined for them without their consent. There is one aspect of your brand that you don't have much control over and means more to your clients than anything you can plan - the image that is determined by your clients themselves.

Continued on Icon Presentations Blog

Chat Recap: Making Time for Branding and Social Media

Liz — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 02:09:01 +0000

For those of you new to chat (or for those of us who are super slow), I thought it might be nice to try and condense our #eventprofs chat into bite-sized chunks. Below, I've outlined the second part of our conversation - Making Time for Branding and Social Media - since it sparked some great conversation and suggestions. I've tried to condense it all into a format that should be digestible. I'd love to hear your feedback about the format and the conversation!

Participant List:

@927events, @adammichelin, @AKthe5th, @alexshc, @Andy_Lawson, @ASegar, @BMACMPI, @brandtkrueger, @camelendes, @CharityChoice, @cpudan, @CrunchPerf, @CzarMan, @D_Elms, @EmilieBarta, @ericlukazewski, @eventsforgood, @gioias, @IrisFields, @jeffkorhan, @justinlocke, @kimgeralds, @klrichardson, @LindsayFultz, @lizkingevents, @loveiarasanyang, @lyksumlikrish, @MichaelMcCurry, @michaelnewhouse, @mikemcallen, @Mizcity, @MPIWSC, @Partyaficionado, @pimplomat, @PinkDeb, @PinkIncDesign, @planetplanitbiz, @PlannerWire, @PYMConnect, @PYMVanessa, @ready2spark, @samueljsmith, @showmakers, @spkrinteractive, @SusanRadojevic, @theexpogroup, @TPDevents, @tradeshowguy, @UCLAMeetings, @VectorDisplays, @WeddingDesires

The Topic:

lizkingevents:	I'd like to talk about how we can manage social media and branding along with the rest of our busy lives. #eventprofs
lizkingevents:	The more SM presentations I do, the more it comes up - ppl dont want 2 start because they can't figure out how they'd fit it in. #eventprofs

The Challenge:

Mizcity:	People (myself included) have trouble finding that happy balance. I tend to lose track of time when I’m at the computer. #eventprofs
lyksumlikrish:	@lizkingevents It's hard getting started. You don't know the rules. I was afraid to make mistakes. #eventprofs
Mizcity:	@lyksumlikrish I agree. i lurked and pre emptively apolagized with every tweet bc i was afraid I wasn't following etiquette. #eventprofs
ASegar:	How could real time publishing of your thoughts for the whole world to see not be intimidating at first! #eventprofs

The Solutions Suggested by our #eventprofs Community

ericlukazewski:	@lizkingevents The best approach is deciding what you want out of it, and streamlining it into a manageable amount. #eventprofs
ericlukazewski:	It's overwhelming at first, but like anything, becomes a 'part' of your day as you learn more efficient processes. #eventprofs
CharityChoice:	@ericlukazewski apropos to the new topic. Trying to stick to a self imposed schedule to make the most of all SM activities #eventprofs
michaelnewhouse:	Social Media-dedicated strategy includes time management #eventprofs
PinkDeb:	SM time management is BIG and also realizing it is a process. people want instant results and in the beginning - not instant #eventprofs
samueljsmith:	@PinkDeb Great point about time management - it is much more of an evolution than revolution. #eventprofs
ASegar:	@lizkingevents My post today on giving up trying to measure ROI in social media might reduce yr tension http://bit.ly/apnKII #eventprofs
justinlocke:	there's a steep beginning learning curve but SM should be fun. you're just dealing with people, at the core that's not new #eventprofs
theexpogroup:	You should drink from SM firehose 1st so you can decide what works best for you & adjust the spigot. #eventprofs
ericlukazewski:	@lizkingevents I'm not sure you can 'teach' someone everything SM has to offer. Sometimes you need blind faith to jump in #eventprofs
lyksumlikrish:	@justinlocke You have to be willing to put a little time into it, especially at the beginning, to learn how to approach Twitter #eventprofs
brandtkrueger:	@ericlukazewski Sell yourself, not your product. Constantly hocking product gets old for everyone involved #eventprofs
ericlukazewski:	@ASegar Great points Adrian. Obsession often leads to burnout. I've been down that unfortunate road. #eventprofs
D_Elms:	Realistically u cannot start w strategy but at some pt, need to start evolving 1 so can c if on track or not. #eventprofs

Tips and Tricks to Get You Started

Mizcity:	@michaelnewhouse great point.I have a list of sites that I check every morning &have an email alert 4 my name & twitter handle. #eventprofs
lyksumlikrish:	@Mizcity I chk all my RSS feeds on my homepage including fave blogs, google alerts, searches on my brand sev times a day #eventprofs
justinlocke:	RT @ericlukazewski: what are some of the best practices you all use for managing your SM usage? #eventprofs PATIENCE !!!
ASegar:	@ericlukazewski Set times to scan Twitter feeds, turn them off otherwise. Regular but not obsessive blog posting schedule. #eventprofs
CharityChoice:	You read up still there is a fine line between do's and don'ts. You go for it be yourself. little hand slap won't hurt that bad #eventprofs
showmakers:	@ericlukazewski Since I'm tweeting from the office, I try to set aside time in a.m., aft, p.m. to catch up on tweets/post. #eventprofs
lizkingevents:	I also try to integrate SM w my everyday life - instead of searching for articles, I share what I already read & find intresting #eventprofs
PinkDeb:	#eventprofs - jump in - at least a little everyday. With coffee in the morning. agree on RSS feed and email alerts of what i need to see
michaelnewhouse:	We have sched blog days (so I can monitor clients) & SM times (stats of when users r participating) #eventprofs
ericlukazewski:	I couldn't survive without Google Reader RT @lizkingevents: @mizcity Do you use Google Reader? #eventprofs
AKthe5th:	@Mizcity @lizkingevents How about getting out from behind the screen and institute an IRL schedule! Take time to meet people!!! #eventprofs
lizkingevents:	SM can be time consuming, but I think of it as my investment. Like u would put in $ for an ad, u put in time for SM #eventprofs
D_Elms:	Anybody else "favorite" tweets so they can read later, & realize there are hundreds of them waiting ??? #eventprofs
samueljsmith:	Google Reader helped "consolidate" the madness of 75 Blog feeds, 40 alerts, etc. into one tidy space. My inbox thanks me. #eventprofs
justinlocke:	i also find it's fine to just read new blogs that people tweet rather than the same ones day after day! #eventprofs
AKthe5th:	@lizkingevents The best investment U can make in a business is developing relationships IRL,an investment in growtrh for future! #eventprofs
lyksumlikrish:	@Mizcity I also use Evernote to bookmark links. It REALLY helps keep me organized, can search by tags #eventprofs
jeffkorhan:	@theexpogroup Here's a blog post I made w/vids on simplifying use of Reader w/iGoogle: http://bit.ly/d2WARv #eventprofs
mikemcallen:	@lizkingevents feedburner has been great for stats on meetingspodcast... but it broke recently #eventprofs
Mizcity:	Thanks everyone for an awesome chat & alleviating my RSS fears Liz- awesome job as always! #eventprofs

Ideas for Future Chats

Mizcity:	@lyksumlikrish for some reason RSS confuses me still! Do you have a good article or blogthat explains them? #eventprofs
justinlocke:	@Mizcity: I have such emotional baggage from not understanding RSS that i can't go back into it. #eventprofs
lyksumlikrish:	@Mizcity Just posted article on using RSS feeds this week ! http://ow.ly/1yUIZ #eventprofs
ASegar:	Let's have a chat on understanding/using RSS sometime. #eventprofs
justinlocke:	for topic, maybe a how do you deal with blog tech and providers? typepad support group, etc! #eventprofs
ericlukazewski:	Love the Google Reader topic for a chat. Would be great to do a livecast/screenshare to show how Reader works. #eventprofs

Liz King Events: Social Media Event Planning Specialists