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Celebrant, Vlady Peters, Redcliffe, Qld.
Showing posts with label Celebrant Business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celebrant Business. Show all posts
Friday, December 17, 2021
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
Marketing Yourself as a Celebrant
Separating Yourself from other Celebrants
1. Have you studied public speaking, taken drama classes or singing lessons? All these are some of the talents which other celebrants won’t have.
2. Have you studied law, or languages or done volunteer work? These are some other talents which can differentiate you from other celebrants.
3. If English is your second language,
you might be just what your compatriots are looking for. Not only will you be
able to conduct a ceremony in a language which all of their guests will
understand, you might offer to be a translator for other officiants who are
associated with couples using your language.
4. Celebrants who are parents or grandparents might have a natural affinity for ceremonies dealing with children.
5. Officiants who themselves have enjoyed long, happy partnerships might look to attract couples celebrating their renewal of wedding vows in as part of their wedding anniversary celebration.
7. If you’re young and exuberant, the younger clients might love your energy.
8. If you’re an older, more sedate person, clients might enjoy your unflappability.
9. As a retiree, your accessibility might be a real plus for the client who is tired of talking to the answering machines of celebrants who are in full time employment and never home.
When thinking of advertising yourself as a celebrant, keep in mind what the client is after. This will include:
1. What will the client receive from you that he won’t receive from other celebrants?
2. What are some problems associated with the particular event that you have the answer for, and for which other celebrants don’t?
3. How can they tell that your fee is based on value for money and not just a figure that you’ve pulled out of a hat?
4. Why are your fees so much lower or higher than those of other celebrants?
Other things, which will go towards the image you want to project, are the physical attributes that the client will experience when he contacts you. This will be:
1. How you sound answering you phone. Are you friendly and interested in what the client has to say? Do you come across as a helpful and caring person? Do you inspire confidence by understanding what your responsibilities as an officiant are?
2. What your recorded message on your answering machine suggests. Is the message clear and concise giving options to the client as to how he can contact you in the future without wasting his time ringing over and over again? Are you prompt in returning the call?
3. The quality and professionalism of any printed information you send out to the potential client. Do you work towards making your printed material memorable by using a particular theme or logo for your letter heads, business cards and leaflets or brochures? How about colour-coordinating every bit of paper you sent out, including the paper clip you use to keep the pages together?
4. Delivering on your promise. Are you careful about promising to do things for clients in a certain time only if you know you can do it, so that they’re not waiting for information brochures or kit for weeks, instead of the day or two you told them?
5. The way your office – home or otherwise – looks from the street, front door, and inside. Are the surrounds neat and tidy and your entrance inviting? Are any pets kept away from the gate so that your client doesn’t have to fight his way to your door? Does your interview room smell fresh and look inviting with fresh flowers or other indication of a welcoming attitude?
6. If you use a door bell do you answer it promptly instead of having your client kicking his heels on the doorstep wondering whether he’s come to the right place?
7. How friendly you are in all your communication by phone, printed material and in person. Do you try to make all your communication personal as well as presentable and professional?
8. How organized you sound, look and act. Whether on the phone or at the interview, do you make sure that you have everything at hand that you need?
9. Your standard of dress. Are you aware
of your client’s expectations as to how you should dress? Have you taken the
trouble to see how other celebrants dress and handle themselves? How do you
want to be perceived by your clients in terms of how you dress?
Extract from How to be a Profitable Celebrant
Sunday, March 28, 2021
ABC of Life
Reading from 500+ Readings for Various Ceremonies
A......Act. Don’t react.
B......Be kind to yourself first, it will follow that you’ll be kind to others.
C......Choose your life. Don’t let others do it
for you, no matter how good their intentions.
D......Don’t worry. Be happy.
E......Each day is an opportunity to live well.
F......Find your dream and follow it.
G......Goals give you directions. Go through them every day.
H......Have fun. Life was meant to be easy.
I.......Ideas are only useful if you do something about them.
J.......Join people and groups that make you feel great. Avoid the rest.
K.....Know what you want and go for it.
L......Live today. Yesterday’s gone, and tomorrow never comes.
M.....Make your life mean something.
N.....Negative people are debilitating. Avoid them at all costs.
O.....One day at a time is all the living you need do.
P......Promise less. Deliver more.
Q......Quiet time gives you a chance to take stock of yourself.
R......Reacting to others is living their life, not your own.
S......Stop to smell the roses every chance you get.
T......Tomorrow never comes. Do it today.
U......Undervalue no one, especially yourself.
V......Volunteer from the heart, not from the head.
W.....Wishing won’t make it so. Do it instead.
X.......‘Xellent results come from ‘xellent planning.
Y.......You need to know what you want before you can
get it.
Z......Zero work. Zero results.
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Business Fees
As a celebrant, setting a fee for
your services will be one of the things you need to decide early. You will want
to set a fee which you feel will cover your running expenses, plus allows you
to make a profit. But you need to take into consideration what clients will pay
for your services, given the competition already in existence.
Fortunately, finding out
what other celebrants are charging should not be too difficult. But in setting
out your fees you need to know how your services differentiate from those of
your competitors, and why clients will come to you rather than go to another celebrant.
Before you begin to play
the numbers game, you need to know a few things about yourself and your
business. This will include:
1. What is your aim in becoming a celebrant?
2. Why should clients come to you, instead of using
any one of the other officiants around?
3. What particular strengths and talents have you got
to help you in the running of your celebrancy business?
4. What are some of your weaknesses which might work
against you?
5. Who are your potential clients? How old are they
and how well off are they?
6. How do they perceive the business of celebrancy
generally?
7. In what way will they be better off by coming to
you than by going to another celebrant?
8. What fees do the other celebrant charge?
9. Can you charge more and still attract clients?
10. Can you charge less and still be profitable?
11. Can you offer clients something more or something
different than they will receive from other celebrants, that will be of
significant benefit to them?
12. What exactly are clients looking for – saving money,
better service, convenience?
In the beginning, when
you have no criteria for setting your fee, your only option might be to charge
a similar price as other celebrants. You will need to have some idea of how
they came upon that particular figure. It could be that they have streamlined
their business to such an extent that they can provide their services much more
cheaply than you will be able to. It could also be, that like you, they’re
flying blind, and without knowing it, they’re losing money even though they’re
getting the bookings.
You will also need to
justify your prices not only to yourself, but also to your client. Most will
ring a number of celebrants to find out what fees they can expect to pay.
Instead of becoming defensive, embarrassed or just plain angry, recognize that
the client has every right to ask you why your charges are so much higher or so
much lower than the other celebrants they have spoken to. Work out your own
reasons, then you will be able to face these questions with confidence rather
than indignation.
Once you have some
figures of the costs involved in running the business of celebrancy, you can
determine your own fee structure, remembering though, that your client will
have the last word. You need to convince clients that the fee is worth what
they’re getting. In the case of many ceremonies, which are little understood,
the client’s perception is that they’re paying hundreds of dollars for ten
minutes of the celebrant’s time. It is up to the celebrant to ensure that the
client is made aware of all that goes into those ten minutes. Crucial to that,
is your image for professionalism and expertise.
In the beginning when
bookings are few and far between, some celebrants decide that any booking is
better than none. With that in mind, they will ask for the lowest fees which
clients are willing to pay, undercutting every other celebrant in the area.
They will also travel anywhere to get these bookings. At this stage they may be
aware that, in fact, they are losing money, instead of making it. Their
thinking is, that when they have established themselves they will then ask for
a higher fee. More often, though, such celebrants are not keeping any records
to show whether they’re making money or not. And just how much money they’re
losing in the meantime.
Sooner or later these celebrants
find that while they’re extremely busy, they have nothing to show for it when
it comes to money. Their low fees will often also be reflected by their
services. The celebrant is too busy and too poor to provide anything but
sub-standard service. When he eventually raises his fees, the type of clients
he’s been attracting will go elsewhere. As everyone knows, it’s a lot easier to
drop your fees without affecting your client numbers, than to raise your fees.
At the other extreme is
the celebrant who tries to recoup all his expenses in the first year of work,
using the few clients he gets in which to do it.
Whether you charge a
high or low fee should be dependent not on what you’d like to get, but rather
how good you are. By all means charge high prices if you’re sure that your
clients are getting their money’s worth. Most celebrants, like most small
business people are frightened of pricing themselves out of the market.
However, you should be able to charge what you think you are worth.
To decide that, you need
to know just how much time you’re spending on the ceremony, and just how good a
service you’re providing. If you know that your service is better than those of
other celebrants who are charging higher fees, then by all means charge those
fees yourself. It’s preferable that you do fewer ceremonies and get paid for
them, than that you perform many ceremonies and are losing money while doing
so. What is vital is that the client perceives the quality of your service is
worth the fee.
As a new celebrant,
testing the water, you can make an introductory offer, stipulating that these
prices will only last so long, and then the fee will go up. If, after the
introductory offer expires, you find that your services are better than those
of other celebrants around you, ask for the fee that compensates you
accordingly.
Based on How to be a Profitable Celebrant
Monday, December 23, 2019
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Plan a wedding day like no other. Create a wedding ceremony that uses words that speak to you. Invite your friends to a wedding reception they won't want to leave. Go off to a honeymoon from which you'll return ready to celebrate some more.
1,000+ Answers to your Wedding Question - Smashwords
Celebrating Love's Special Moments - Smashwords
You can be a Successful Officiant -Smashwords
How to be a Profitable Celebrant: Practical Tips on Running a Profitable Celebrancy Business - Smashwords
Wedding Your Way - Smashwords
Honeymoon! A Sizzle or a Fizzls - Smashwords
Wedding Words:
Perfect Words for Your Wedding Ceremony - Smashwords
Monday, November 18, 2019
Become a Celebrant - and a Successful Business Person
What sort of characteristic do you need to have to be a celebrant and a successful business person?
Here are some characteristics that I've thought of. Perhaps you can add to the list.
1. Initiative
Business people who succeed take personal
responsibility for what happens. Action is the key. Whatever you plan to do,
you do it in a timely fashion. Any promises you make to yourself or to your
clients are kept because you enjoy the challenge of getting things done. You
know the importance of promoting yourself as a business person and are active
in doing just that.
2. Persistence
No one has ever succeeded without
persistence. By focusing on exactly what you want to achieve as a celebrant you
will be able to overcome the inevitable challenges that will come your way. You
have the self-confidence in not only being ready to undertake a task, but to
keep at it until it’s finished.
3. Planning
Essential requirement is that you know
exactly the outcome you want in planning every step of the way. This includes
making a detailed list of your immediate and long-term goals, and tackling them
in an orderly fashion. Knowing where you want to go, and putting in place
realistic initiatives which will take you there, is a necessary requirement.
4. Flexibility
Change is inevitable in every aspect of
life. It is inevitable in your business. Accept it and use it to your
advantage. While having a plan for your business so that you know where you’re
going and how you’re going to get there, continue to watch what’s happening
around you, and revise your own methods and ideas so that you don’t get left
behind.
5. Clear, creative and
analytical thinking
You need to be an ideas person, aware of
trends and fashions, working towards being the first, rather than the last to
adopt new ways of celebrating various ceremonies. While as a celebrant you are
a people person, as a business person you need to be logical and rational, and
perhaps even a bit pragmatic. Feelings and sentimental thinking need to take
second place to running your business as a financial success.
6. Communication skills
Celebrancy requires the skill of getting
along with people. You need to enjoy working with your clients, networking with
people in your industry, gaining their goodwill and support. Competence in
human relations, including the ability to get along with others is imperative.
Creating relationships with all the people you come in contact includes the
ability to mix easily with people, be a person easy to get to know, and be a
real asset in social situations. Ability to talk easily, and enjoying talking,
is a real asset.
7. Able to describe the
services you provide
Unlike tangible goods which customers can
see, and hold and touch, your services are very much in the perception of the
client. It is you who must be able to communicate the benefits and advantages
of your services to the client. No matter how good, or even how much better you
are than other celebrants, in order to sell your services to a client you must
need to communicate this fact to her.
In effect, you are the product you’re
selling. You must be able to communicate your differences from other celebrants. Your enthusiasm and passion for what you’re doing. The experience
and the training which makes you the professional you are. The qualities that
make you and your services unique.
6. Confident
Since you are the product you’re selling,
you need to be confident by knowing what you are about. You can only convince
others by knowing and believing in your professionalism and your ability to
provide quality service.
7. Reliable
Your clients, like everyone else, have
experienced the frustration of calls that are never returned, the promised
information that never arrives, the waste of time waiting for service people
who might arrive today or tomorrow, or hopefully by the end of the week. As a
successful business person, you never promise what you can’t deliver and you
always try to deliver more than you promise.
8. Self-motivation
You need to believe in what you’re doing, in
the way you’re doing it, and in your ability to achieve what you’ve set out to
achieve. As a self-employed person it is not enough for you to merely have
goals which you want to achieve. You must be able to motivate yourself to do
whatever it takes to actively promote these goals. Planning is not enough. You
need to be committed to what you’ve set out to do.
9. Business like
You might love dealing with people, but you
must never lose sight of the fact that you’re running a business and not a charitable
institution. Be financially responsible by charging fees that repay the time
and money that you put into running your celebrancy business.
Initially, almost all people starting a new
business are just a little embarrassed about asking for their fee, and worrying
about the fee being too high. Unless you get over it very quickly, you won’t be
running a business for too long.
10. Robust health
Look after your health. Celebrancy is about
being on time and on the ball. Since stresses are inevitable, make sure you
don’t succumb by taking care of yourself physically, mentally and emotionally.
Make some rules about how you want to run your business and what time off you
would like to have. Some celebrants choose not to perform ceremonies on public
or religious holidays because they prefer to spend that time with their family
and friends. Decide on your priorities so that you won’t feel that you are
wholly controlled by your business.
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Have you heard?
The
10th annual Smashwords Read an Ebook Week will start on Sunday March 3 and end
Saturday March 9.
To start
off the year I am taking part in the “10th annual Smashwords Read an Ebook Week”.
All my books are 50% off on Smashwords right until 9th March. Check them out.
* How to be a Profitable Celebrant * 1,000+ Answers to your Wedding Questions * Wedding Your Way * Celebrating Love's Special Moments * You can be a Successful Officiant * Wording Words * Honeymoon! A Sizzle or a Fizzle
Connect with Me
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Networking at Weddings
One of the best places to impress possible clients is at the ceremonies
you perform. If you are a marriage celebrant you will learn, in preparing the
legal documents, not only the clients’ names but also those of their parents.
But in all ceremonies, it is more than likely that other persons, apart from
your clients, will be involved in the ceremony. Make an effort to learn the
names before you get to the ceremony and try to make a point of seeing and
speaking to these people. Don’t think of the time before or after the ceremony
as wasted time. Rather use this time to get to know as many people as you can
by speaking to them.
To make your contact with people effective, make the conversation less
a few minutes of pretending to listen, and genuinely listen. If you don’t
understand what the conversation is about, ask. If you hold a conversation with
someone long enough, you will probably arrive at a subject in which both of you
can find interest.
Don’t allow you client, or whoever is looking after you, to introduce
you to a group of people with, ‘This is John, this is Mary, this is..’. It is
unlikely that you will remember any of them, and worse, you will be too
backward in asking the names of the people individually, and thus lose a
valuable time in finding out where each of these people fit.
Instead, suggest that you will introduce yourself - and do it. Spend
enough time with each person to find out their name, their connection to the
client and something of interest about the person concerned. Ask for their
business card if you find someone whose services you might use, or whom you
want to contact for further information, and offer yours if he asks for it.
Carry the cards in a neat little box or wallet that you can carry easily any
place you go.
As far as maintaining conversation is concerned, ask questions in a way
which will give the person an opportunity to give you a reply of a few
sentences instead of just a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Whether speaking or listening, don’t
ask for clarifications of details which are not important for the overall
picture. Look for the message and not the detours.
We are becoming an ageing population so recognise this when talking to
groups of people. Make an effort to speak clearly and loudly if you know from
experience that people are finding you difficult to understand. Similarly, if
you’re having difficulty in hearing, make it a bit of a joke that every since
you turned forty or fifty or whatever, your hearing isn’t what it used to be.
Some people do tend to speak very softly, especially in a social
situation, and unless you encourage them to speak up, the conversation can keep
you uncomfortable and fearful that you’re about to be asked a question and you
have absolutely no idea what reply to make. Inaudibility, like bad breath, is a
subject that nobody wants to raise, but which will make for much happier
interaction when it is raised.
Never forget, that celebrancy is a people thing. Everyone needs people,
and in particular, celebrants whose business is people.
Excerpt from 'How to be a Profitable Celebrant'
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