How To Establish Yourself As The Expert In Your Field

This week one of my companies, The Heart Bandits, was featured in Brides Magazine. The article was called, “6 Major Proposal Mistakes to Avoid, According to Experts.” In the article, I am cited as the expert in Proposal Planning. Every time an article like this comes out, at least one of my peers shoots me a text or email to ask me how I got featured in XYZ. And my answer to them is that the magazines, websites, and media COME TO ME!

But it wasn’t always that way. There are a lot of things that I had to do to establish myself as an expert in the Proposal Planning and Pop-Up Wedding Industry. I teach you many of these steps in my courses that are going to be LIVE in February!! Sign up for the waitlist here.

For now, here are 3 free tips on how you can establish yourself as an expert in your field.

Actually Become An Expert

This may seem obvious but when wondering how you can get featured in media, you have to really ask yourself, “Am I actually the most knowledgeable person in my field about this subject matter?” If not, you need to become one. Take courses on the subject matter, read all of the blogs and interviews you can find, follow all the leaders in the industry on social media, and stay on top of all of the trends. If you are in a competitive space, try to niche down so that you are the expert at a specific niche in your market. Or become an expert in your field in your city specifically. That way, when someone starts looking for an expert in your field or area, they are lead to you.

Show Your Expertise

Once you feel like you truly are the expert in your industry, start showing that off in your social media and blogs. When you start sharing valuable tips and content on social media, so many great things happen. You start to seem like an expert in your field, people start sharing your content, people start following you, and most importantly, people start seeking you out when they are in need of your services or when they want to feature your service in the press.

By now, you know I am a HUGE believer in the power of SEO. When clients or journalists look for an expert in your field, they are looking in one of two places; Google or Social Media. I’ve already talked about showing your expertise on social media. To show your expertise on your website, you are going to blog about your expertise in a way that benefits your reader. In turn, you will eventually establish yourself as an expert to Google who will start rewarding you with rankings. SEO tips and tricks is a huge focus in my courses for this specific reason.

Get Media

The most powerful way to show you are an expert in your field is to be published somewhere. If you can get featured in major media, you will instantly have clout not just with your clients but with other media. And it completely snowballs. For example, I got featured in New York Times very early on after I started my business. Did I get clients from that interview? Absolutely. But what’s more is the other big things happened. Good Morning America saw the article and wanted to interview me. Hotels saw it and wanted to partner with me. When you finally get a major piece of media, a lot of things can change.

And that is why one of the Modules in my courses focuses on how to get media. Because getting media can create such big opportunities for your business. And the truth is, it really isn’t that hard to get.

Why I Started Selling Pop-Up Wedding Packages

I started Pop The Knot, a pop-up wedding company, in 2016. At that time, I already had a wildly successful proposal planning business and had already started earning a multiple six-figure income through it. So why did I start a pop-up wedding company you ask? Well, there are a few reasons that I started that business and thought you may want to hear about them. My reasons just might resonate with why YOU should start selling pop-up wedding packages. Here are the reasons I started selling pop-up wedding packages:

Gap In The Market

I knew there were a ton of traditional wedding planners, a lot of high-end wedding planners, and many very outdated elopement package websites. But there wasn’t too much in between. Now this was before the pandemic which has sparked a high demand in microweddings, so back then, there wasn’t much out there servicing that audience. I saw a gap in the market, and I decided to fill it. And this is really why most entrepreneurs start the first of something right?

Flash forward 5 years and we now know there was indeed a big market for pop-up weddings and microweddings because vendors around the world are starting to add these services. And now is the perfect time to do it!

Already Had A Proven Business Model

Knowing how to plan a full-scale wedding is one thing. But putting together quick, streamlined, no-fuss weddings is another. I had already been selling pre-made proposal packages through The Heart Bandits. Those all inclusive packages had earned me hundreds of thousands of dollars and they were super easy to implement and very streamlined. So I thought, what if I could apply that same business model to weddings and make them simple pop-up weddings?

Turns out, it was the perfect formula and again, earned me a multiple six figure income. Now I teach people how to put together these easy packages so that they can have the same success.

Diversified My Income

At this point you might be thinking, “OK, what does this have to do with me?” Well THIS is what it has to do with you. No matter what you are currently doing right now in the wedding space, whether it be that you are an officiant, photographer, wedding venue, or Proposal Planner – selling pop-up wedding packages is a very easy way to diversify your income. Like I mentioned, my Proposal Planning business was already doing amazing when I started Proposal Planning, but what if there was a slow period? What if The Heart Bandits took a dip on SEO? You should never, EVER, rely on one source of income. And this is such a simple way to make sure you don’t.

Easy Way To Earn Additional Revenue

I am all for making extra money. But what I am not “all for” is for spending hours and hours to earn additional revenue that I don’t really need. But if you tell me, “Hey, you can make some pretty sweet money doing xyz with not too much effort,” I am all ears. Once you create the pop-up wedding packages and streamline your process, they are a very easy way to earn additional revenue without a lot of day to day work.

Did I pique your interest? Download my FREE Ultimate Guide On Selling Pop-Up Wedding Packages here:

If you think Proposal Planning might be of interest, here are 2 more FREE resources for you to check out:

What Is A Pop-Up Wedding Bomber?

We all know what photo bombers are right? Those annoying people that walk by right as you go to take a photo. You often don’t notice them until you go to post your perfect Instagram photo and see that you’ve been photo bombed. So what is a pop-up wedding bomber? Or a proposal bomber? Well, you are probably thinking that I am referring to someone that gets in the way of pop-up wedding or proposal pictures. But no…this type of bomber is much worse. I am talking about a person that is NOT your client, that gets in the way of you planning your perfect event.

Here are 3 things you need to know about a pop-up wedding or proposal bomber and what you can do if you find yourself dealing with one.

1. They Are Usually Family

Normally, the well meaning pop-up wedding or proposal bomber is a close friend. Oftentimes, the bride or proposer introduces the bomber by saying something like, “I am cc’ing my mom here who is helping me plan.”

What can you do when this happens? I like to politely greet the new person and just remind my client that the contract is between myself and them so the planning does need to between us two. I do let them know that I am happy to keep the person cc’d though. However, this can turn into a big problem so you want to tread carefully here. (see points 2 & 3 below).

2. Try To Make Changes

Now where the trouble really happens is when the well intended bomber starts making “suggestions” on things they know your client will like. For example, “I know she would want her Grandma to sit up front.” Or for a proposal, “I know he would want a heart shape instead of a semi-circle.” But what happens when your client really didn’t want these changes?

What can you do? If I get put in the position to work with a bomber, I tell them that any changes have to come directly from the bride or proposer. I will not take any direction from someone that is not my client. And what about if the bomber is on-site making changes and it is too late to get approval from the client? In that case, you have 2 options. You can tell them that the way things are is what you have approval for and you cannot make changes. Or if the bomber has been an issue the whole time, you can ask your client in advance if they have permission to make any changes on the day of.

3. Time Suckers

The last and the most egregious issue a bomber will cause you, is they will suck up way too much of your time. Once the bomber gets direct access to you, they may start emailing or calling to ask “quick questions.” They may request phone calls to “go over details.”

What can you do? Again I would politely let the bomber know that you have to stick with planning directly with the client that you are under contract with. Then you can say that you’d be happy to schedule a call with the client and they are welcome to be on the call if they’d like. That way you are letting them be involved but staying in charge of your event.

If you are not yet a Proposal Planner or selling pop-up wedding packages, you won’t want to miss my FREE resources below. Learn all about how to be a Proposal Planner and how to sell pop-up wedding packages.

Email Marketing 101

Last week I talked about the mistake I made that cost me thousands of dollars. That mistake was not creating an email list that I could nurture and continue to market to. This week, I thought it would make sense if I explained exactly HOW to set up your email marketing strategy.

Step 1: Choose An Email Marketing Provider

You are going to need a service that can collect all of your emails and allow for you to easily email your list. I personally use Convertkit.

Step 2: Create An Opt-In

Once you have the email marketing provider in place, you need a way for your website to collect the email addresses and automatically put them in your email provider. You DEFINITELY don’t want to have to do this manually. The way that you collect the emails is by having an opt-in form on your website. You are going to offer them something for free (next step) in exchange for them providing their email address.

Step 3: Create An Irresistible Lead Magnet

If someone inquires about your services via email, then you can easily put them in your email list. But what about all the people that come to your website that don’t inquire? They aren’t just going to freely hand over their email address. You have to offer them something FREE, that is soooooo irresistible, they are willing to hand over their email address for it.

Some ideas for a lead magnet are free downloads, quizzes, guides, mistakes to avoid, how to save money tips, etc. Once you have a lead magnet that you think will be irresistible to your target market, create that resource.

Step 4: Nurture That List

The last thing you want to do is get all of those email addresses and then do nothing with them. To make this all worth while, you need to email your list on a frequent and consistent basis. Only you will know how often you should send out emails. I personally try to send one a week. I recommend doing it no less than once a month. This email can be updates about your business, highlights of your service, advice, or special deals you are running. And what this email does is put you in your customers minds on a frequent and consistent basis so that when they think about who to hire for the service they offer, they automatically think you.

Ready to get service about starting your pop-up wedding business? Want to learn how to be a Proposal Planner? Sign up for my FREE resources below:

What Is A Pop-Up Wedding?

Microweddings….the buzz word of 2021.

I started my pop-up wedding company back in 2016. This was before the pandemic and before microweddings became such a huge trend. But while a microwedding is typically just a scaled down wedding, a pop-up wedding is a bit different.

Here are the characteristics of a pop-up wedding:

  • Experience is quick, typically an hour
  • Small guest count, usually 25 or less
  • Inclusive of wedding essentials (venue, officiant, photographer, and bouquet)
  • Offers upgrades or enhancements
  • Affordable

Now we all know couples that want huge lavish weddings. We also know couples that want to elope. But who actually wants to book a pop-up wedding? The truth is…. a lot of people do. Here are a few reasons that people want a pop-up wedding versus a traditional wedding. Because they:

  • Want to save money
  • Want to avoid spending months or longer on planning their wedding
  • Want to eliminate family drama over who is invited and who is not

Pop-up weddings are great to add to your existing services because they are streamlined and can provide a quick cash injection into your business.

Want to learn if pop-up weddings are for you? Check out my free resource below:

If Proposal Planning is more your jam, I have some freebies for you too!

Enrollment for The Proposal Planning Formula™ Is Open!!

The Proposal Planning Formula™ is open for enrollment for just a FEW more days.

This course is a MUST have if you are:

  • A Wedding Planner wanting to add Proposal Planning services to your existing business
  • Wanting to start your own Proposal Planning business
  • A Wedding vendor (photographer, videographer, venue, travel agent, jeweler, etc.) that wants to start marketing to Proposers
  • A Proposal Planner that isn’t getting as much business as you think you should

This course teaches you how to:

Module 1: Discover Your Proposal Planning Niche & Style – Before you can offer Proposal Planning, you need to determine what kind of proposals you want to plan and what kind of client you want to serve. This is critical for knowing who your target market is, how to create messaging that appeals to them, how to brand and price your services, and how to interact with them on social media.

Module 2: Create Your Proposal Planning Offering- Once you have chosen your target market, niche, and style, you will create your proposal planning offering! We are going to dive in and see a breakdown of what services Proposal Planners offer, learn how to properly price your offer, and create the framework needed to get started servicing customers.

Module 3: Create A Strategy To Add Proposal Planning To Your Assets– After you have the framework in place to start servicing your customers, it is time to make it official and effectively add Proposal Planning to your assets, so that you can actually attract Proposers. Here you are going to find out exactly where you should advertise your Proposal Planning services on your website, social media, and other assets and what mistakes you need to avoid when adding the service.

Module 4: Create a Proposal Planning Marketing Strategy- Without an effective marketing strategy, everything we have done so far will not matter. The key factor in getting Proposal Planning clients NOW is creating marketing that truly speaks to who they are. In this section, we leave no stone unturned as we reveal all marketing strategies that we have used over the last decade. You will study your target market in detail and learn the irresistible marketing and SEO strategies that will effectively attract them and turn them into customers.

Module 5: Maintain & Grow Your Proposal Planning Business –  The last thing you want to do is to invest all this time and energy into offering Proposal Planning services and then just let it all fizzle away. In this module we teach you how to maintain and leverage the work you have done in the previous models and give you ideas on how to handle the extra workload.

You will also get a Proposal Planning certification!

PLUS, you will get 3 bonuses:

🎊 Bonus #1: How To Repurpose Your Wedding Content

🎊 Bonus #2: Private, Members Only Facebook Group

🎊 Bonus #3: Weekly Live Q & A Sessions With Me

Learn more about the program or enroll here:

How Big Is The Proposal Planning Market?

I know what some of you are thinking. How big of a market can Proposal Planning really be? After all, you need to know the possibilities before you decide if you want to make the leap to add Proposal Planning to your Wedding services right? Or to decide to start your own Proposal Planning business, correct?

Well, I have great news. The market is HUGE. Here is a screenshot of how many “ACTIVE” inquires I have right now. You read it right, almost 1,000!

To understand why Proposal Planning is in such huge demand, you should probably know the history of how we got here today. I don’t have to tell you how many people get married a year. If you are in the Wedding Industry, you likely already know that. You probably already know that each of those couple’s get engaged, normally through a marriage proposal. This is nothing new though, so why all of the sudden are people hiring Proposal Planners?

The craze all started with social media. 20 years ago, when someone proposed to their partner, only their closest friends heard about it. But now, when someone proposes, they put photos and videos of it on Instagram, Youtube, etc. This is all searchable online so NOW, when a person proposes, they head to the internet or social media to look for proposal ideas and they see all of these crazy, elaborate proposals. They know that their partner’s are also seeing these types of proposals and will want one like it. And most of these clients can’t plan an elaborate proposal by themselves…which is why they turn to a Proposal Planner.

Hiring a Proposal Planner is getting as common for men as hiring a Wedding Planner is for women. And the industry is growing. When I started The Heart Bandits in 2010, there were 3 Proposal Planners in the world. Now there are over 10x that and it is growing every day. Do you want to learn more about Proposal Planning? Sign up for my FREE resources below. And don’t forget to sign up for the Proposal Planning Formula™ waitlist here. I am hosting my FREE Masterclass in just 2 weeks and you won’t want to miss it. Sign up for the Waitlist and be the first to know about it!

When Is The Best Time To Start Offering Proposal Planning Services?

I was inspired to write this blog post by a few of my social media followers. Over the last year, I have been emailed by several potential Proposal Planners and they have been asking me the same question. When is the best time to start offering Proposal Planning services? One of my followers is in college finishing her degree and asked me, “Should I get started now if I am still in school?” A busy mom emailed me wondering if she could pull it off with young kids at home.

And I completely get it because I have been there before. When I started The Heart Bandits, I had a six figure corporate job and I was only 30. I kept thinking, should I really blow this business up and walk away from my “secure” corporate job when I am already this far up and I have 30-40 more working years left? I remember when I had my daughter, I thought, “how can I pull off raising a child and running my own business?”

But I am here to tell you that all of that self-talk is just your brain’s way of making you think that it is ok to put this off. Because if you put it off, you don’t have to face any of the unknowns that you will face as an entrepreneur. But what your brain isn’t telling you is that by putting it off, you also don’t get to experience all of the amazing and rewarding things that entrepreneurship, and more specifically Proposal Planning, can bring to your life.

When I worked a six figure job, I:

Worked 40+ hours a week to make someone else rich

Had to request time off to be able to visit family or travel

Would have had to go back to work after maternity leave when my time ran out, NOT when I was ready

Was always worried about job security

But since I took the leap of faith and started my own Proposal Planning biz, I:

Set my own schedule and every minute I spend on my business goes into MY pocket

I earn a MULTIPLE six figure income

I go on vacation when I want

I spend as much time with my children as I want

So back to the question. When is the right time to start offering Proposal Planning services? The truth is, there is NEVER going to be the perfect time. There will always be reasons why you “should not start now” or reasons you should wait. So what you MUST do, is do it NOW.

Just get started. Even if it takes you a while to launch, at least if you get started now you will be working towards something that is yours. And the very first step to building your own six figure Proposal Planning business, is simply getting started.

The right time to start offering Proposal Planning services is NOW. The industry is growing, the demand is high, the money is on the table. Take it!

Want to find out the top reasons why you need to start offering Proposal Planning? Download my FREE resources below.

Cheatsheet: Social Media Trends in 2021

If you are a Proposal Planner or Pop-Up Wedding planner, social media needs to be a huge part of your marketing strategy. But even though keeping up with the trends is completely necessary, it can be daunting. So I have decided to create a little cheatsheet for you and cover the biggest social media trends in 2021.

Instagram Reels

No doubt you have seen Instagram’s version of Tic Tok. Every time you open you open your search tab in IG, you are bound to see the newest Reels from your followers. That is because Instagram LOVES video and pushes video content over all other types of content. If you want to increase your visibility and engagement on Instagram, you need to post reels frequently. 4-7 posts a week would give you the most ROI for your time. To make one, simply hit the + button on the top of your account, choose Reel, and get to creating.

Clubhouse

I am sure you have heard of this new platform because everyone is talking about it. And more importantly, people are talking about how to get in because it is invite only! I think that is part of the appeal and why this new social media platform is blowing up, because it feels exclusive. But what is it? It is an audio-based platform where users can hop into various virtual chat rooms and talk with other creatives about a range of topics. It may not be a practical way to connect with your target market, but it is a great way to build your referral partners (people that will refer clients to you.) Download the app and apply to get in. If someone you know is already on the platform, you will get in faster.

Microblogging

This year, Instagram announced that they were changing the way they display search results and now they actually will present posts to users based on content. So that means IG is no longer only presenting posts that have hashtags that match the users inquiry, they are also presenting posts that have CONTENT that match what the user is searching for. And that is why you may have noticed that people are posting longer, blog-like captions on their social media profiles. This is known as microblogging and if you want more exposure, you need to include it in your marketing strategy.

Social Causes

In the past, businesses have often been careful about using their platform as a way to voice their own opinions on social causes. However, according to Forbes, 70% of Gen Z buyers attempt to purchase goods and services from brands they deem socially responsible. So don’t be afraid to use your platform to talk about the causes that are the most important to you. Not only will you feel good and do good, you will be rewarded for it.

If you haven’t yet started your Proposal Planning or Pop-Up Wedding planning services, check out my freebies below. The Heart Bandits Academy offers the only Proposal Planning school and we also have a course teaching you to create pop-up wedding packages.

How To Get Your First Proposal Client

When you are getting ready to add Proposal Planning to your existing services or starting your own Proposal Planning business, one of your first fears will be how you will get your first client. Any entrepreneur feels that way when they start something new.

I was once there myself. When I started The Heart Bandits 11 years ago, no one had even heard of Proposal Planning. So I not only had the stress of finding a new client, but I had to do it when no one had heard of what I was doing. There wasn’t even Instagram or Pinterest back then!

Lucky for you, things are much easier now. Hiring a Proposal Planner is now accepted and guys are eager to get the help you will be offering. So how do you find your first client? There are several ways you can get leads and score your first client. Here are a few:

Reach Out To Your Network

Since you may not have an audience yet, one thing you can do is ask everyone you know if they know of anyone that is proposing soon. You could offer your services for free or at a discounted rate in exchange for using their photos on your website and social media. Normally I would never say to work for free, but when you need photos to start showing social proof, this is an amazing way to get it done.

Introduce Yourself

Send an email or call vendors in your area that would come into contact with your target audience. For example, a jewelry store that sells engagement rings is going to be in constant contact with people that are about to propose. Reach out to them and let them know you are a Proposal Planner. Ask them if you can bring some cards by or offer them a special rate if they refer clients to you.

Utilize Social Media

Correctly utilizing social media can get you clients fast. For example, if you post a photo of a proposal and use a hashtag that is popular (but not so popular that your post will get lost quickly), you will instantly be put in front of perspective clients that are searching for that hashtag. Don’t have a photo of a proposal you have planned? No worries! You can use a stock image and give proposal advice in the post. Or you can create an ad about your Proposal Planning services in Canva so when they search for that hashtag, they will find your services.

Remember, the hardest part is getting your FIRST client. But once you do get that first client and you start having proof of your work, it can really spiral for you there. Download my FREE Checklist For Your Proposal Planning Marketing Strategy here.

I have a couple more FREE resources for you below.