Do you remember when you were little and you got your first box of 64 crayons? 

MY STARS—the variety!  The colors!  Everything from burnt orange to blue-violet, and of course the ever so coveted gold and silver.  Gold and silver were

like the Boardwalk and Park Place of crayons.  After only having eight colors before, gold and silver were what the rest of those painfully ordinary colors aspired to be. Oh the possibilities!  You get that gold crayon and you go to town—and I mean you get your money’s worth out of that gold crayon.  Everything is gold:  trees, flowers, people, cars.  You name it.  Soon, it loses its luster, because it’s being used so much, and just doesn’t seem natural.  There is a time and place for everything, and after all—you can only have so much gold.

I have found this to be true in the wedding industry, too.  Someone comes along with a hot idea, concept or piece of advice. Everyone wants to try it, do it, to be it.  In some instance, it works for the picture.  A little gold is nice as an accent.  Other times, all your client wants is a plain ole blue crayon.  Blue, albeit a far more common color has many uses and many beautiful shades.

Don’t forsake who you are for the next shiny thing:  you’ll deprive of us of the true you.

1)      Banking – what’s the best bank for your buck? Small business friendly banks.

2)      Loans, grants, investors….Does anyone know any options?

3)      Apart from QuickBooks or Quicken any other good accounting software?

4)      Sharing tips for effective sales tax tracking.

5)      What is your invoice system.

See you there.

Also the new chat feature allows you to save the chat so you will be able to use the conversation for future reference.

Please send me an email with your burning questions too - eliana at byyoursideevents dot com

· What should be included in your research

· Market research techniques

· Weekly tasks to help in your evaluation

The chat is open to all wedding industry professionals. We would love to hear the prospective from planners, photographers, venues and all other categories.

Just log into i-wed.org on Tuesday August 4th, 2009 at 8pm EST to join the discussion.

Please note that Wed Chats are hosted every Tuesday evening at 8pm EST. Stay tuned for the schedule of upcoming chat topics.

With a whopping 62% of the vote, Latrice has won!  Congratulations, Latrice!

Stay tuned for more iWED goodness coming up in the future.

· Should you cold call leads?

· Do newsletters work for the brides that attended?

· Is it wise to offer a gift to obtain the information from really interested prospective clients?

The chat is open to all wedding industry professionals. We would love to hear the prospective from planners, photographers, venues and all other categories.

Just log into i-wed.org on Tuesday July 21, 2009 at 8pm EST to join the discussion.

Please note that Wed Chats are hosted every Tuesday evening at 8pm EST. Stay tuned for the schedule of upcoming chat topics.

Due to a glitch with a recent upgrade of Wordpress, our contest entries remained in our scheduled posts.  Please review and vote!

We asked you to show us in your everyday life how much you love iWED!  Thank you SO much for your entries!  We are looking forward to gifting over $800 in prizes to our lucky winner.  Select a winner below and see who wins on July 22st!

· The proper use of a virtual assistant and interns

· Are employees right for you?

· How divulge proprietary information without giving too much?

The chat is open to all wedding industry professionals. We would love to hear the prospective from planners, photographers, venues and all other categories.

Just log into i-wed.org on Tuesday June 16, 2009 at 8pm EST to join the discussion.

Please note that Wed Chats are hosted every Tuesday evening at 8pm EST. Stay tuned for the schedule of upcoming chat topics.

When I was 14, I got my first job as a cashier/waitress at a very popular country style buffet restaurant.  I got to see the ins and outs of the buffet restaurant business, and for that reason, I cringe when my father wants to eat at places like Golden Corral.

Yet I digress.

At any rate, I hate going to a buffet towards “the end of the line”.  That was our code for the food that goes out before we close or change the menu.  When a shift first starts, the food is fresh, good and aesthetically appetizing.  However, when it gets closer to menu change or closing time, the food is older and not that appealing.  Ever run into that with your business? When your office hours start, you are fresh, motivated, ready to take on the world!  But one hour or so prior to closing time, things start to drag, the sheen has worn off and you are ready to run from the phone.

How can you put out fresh “food” on your buffet before closing time?

* Take a break from work 30 min prior to your end of day hours. Focus on refreshing yourself:  drink water, have an apple.  Recenter yourself.  Come back ready to take on the last hour as if it were your first.

* When you respond to your emails or answer your phone, do so with a smile on your face.  You can hear it over the phone and you can tell in the tone of the email.

* Don’t focus on or start a new project at the end of the day.  Focus on giving the best experience as possible.

When you walked through the door
It was clear to me (clear to me)
You’re the one they adore, who they came to see (who they came to see)
You’re a … rock star (baby)
Everybody wants you (everybody wants you)
Player… Who could really blame you (who could really blame you)
We’re the ones who made you

I never thought I would quote an Eminem song when talking about  business, but hey– it is what it is.

Our industry is a creative one– from photographers to florists, planners to musicians and designers, we sell our personalities and talents.  Some of us become insanely successful and popular, and in high demand by doing so.  But it takes you back to that old saying “you’re not good until someone else says you’re good”.

So when someone says that we’re good–do we begin to believe our own hype, or do we remember the focus and motivation for our work:  clients, colleagues, raising the bar for the industry, etc.?  When you’ve “made it”, you can’t cherry pick your fans, supporters, or clients, because all of them have helped you get where you are.  To remain cold, indifferent or utterly ignore them  in favor of others who have “made it” is a sure fire way to get “unmade”.

The same thing goes for our clients– we’ve seen it before:  a client comes in with a wedding that we simply adore.  Another one…not so much.    They both helped you pay your mortgage, buy that new gizmo or new pair of shoes.  They deserve equal treatment. I really feel this is true when  it comes to industry colleagues supporting each other.  Our industry is already competitive enough– support and compliments do not come easy. If we are to change the climate of our industry, we need to appreciate them as well as the people they come from:  not just from the successful industry vet, but also from the person that just started their business two minutes ago.

People not only pay attention to how well you do, but also what you do (and for that matter, what you don’t do).  The ride up front is always better when you’ve been in the back.  Remember where you are and where you’ve come from.  Know that you stand on the shoulders of others that worked very hard to make our industry and services mainstream.  Thank and engage those that support you– they don’t have to.  But also take time to support someone else.