11 Jan 10 How to Know a Little Bit About a Lot
So, you have come to realize that knowing a little bit about a lot will make your job easier, instill greater confidence in your clients and will assist you in acquiring a more diverse clientele. Now, it is time to determine the best ways to begin expanding your knowledge and acquiring the information that will help you grow your meeting planning business and better serve your clients.
This is actually much easier than you might think and you can begin the journey to broaden your horizons right now. You probably already attend seminars and trade shows, read trade publications and search online for the latest news in the meeting planning industry, so all you need to do is take this desire to learn and grow, and apply it to other topics.
Here are two ways you can begin your journey towards learning about new cultures, diets, industries and other particulars:
1. Read. A lot. Whether it is an eco-friendly magazine, a book about a particular religion or websites with information about particular groups of people or particular industries, reading is a great way to begin this journey.
2. Watch documentaries. There are documentaries on everything from farming and healthcare to being vegan or growing up Amish. While it is important to be careful not to assume that everyone, or every company, in a group shares every characteristic, documentaries are a great way to learn something new without even having to leave the house.
Tags: Being Vegan, Clientele, Confidence, Cultures, Desire, Documentaries, Farming, Group Shares, Groups, Growing Up Amish, Horizons, Journey, Little Bit, Meeting Planning, New Diets, Particulars, Religion, Seminars, Trade Publications, Two Ways
06 Nov 09 Webinars – Engage and Solicit Clients
Webinars are the latest marketing and communication tool. They are a way of engaging clients, and attracting new clients. If you are considering hosting a webinar (online seminar) here are some things about webinar production you should consider:
- Planning – A webinar should be well thought-out to suit both your company's needs and those of your client. You can be creative, but keep in mind your goal – is it a strong marketing push for new clients or an educational and training piece for existing clients or internal employees?
- Promotion: It is essential to market your webinar event well in advance of the broadcast. This can be done with e-mails, posting a notice on your website, or through social media networking such as Twitter and Facebook. Once again, be creative – if your customers call in for customer service, add a message to the loop that plays while callers are on hold.
- Production: You will probably want to outsource the actual production of the webinar for the best quality results. The webinar may be broadcast in two ways; live and on-demand. Many live broadcasts are often setup for on-demand broadcasts after the initial live broadcast.
Webinars are a popular and effective marketing tool for meeting and event planners if prepared and promoted properly.
Tags: Best Quality, Communication Tool, Customer Service, Effective Marketing, Employees Promotion, Event Planners, Facebook, Live Broadcast, Live Broadcasts, Marketing And Communication, Marketing Communication, Marketing Tool, Meeting Planners, Quality Results, Twitter, Two Ways, Webinar
14 Sep 09 “No-Show!”
No meeting planner likes to hear those words, especially when it comes to a speaker. It means that there is a disaster in the making–unless she has made contingency plans. Here are some ways to make sure that your event has a speaker, and on time.
Contract Clauses
Make it part of your contract with a speaker that he or she will provide a replacement in the event of absence. Make sure you have all the pertinent information about the replacement’s travel plans, contact information, etc., as you would have for the original speaker.
Web Speeches
Make an agreement with your client that if an important speaker gets grounded in another city, he can make himself available by webcast. Set this up in advance so that you don’t have to scramble at the last minute, which almost ensures failure under these circumstances.
Prerecordings
Another possibility may be a pre-recorded speech. Nothing is quite the same as a personal appearance, but if an airport is socked in from weather problems and a webcast gets rubber out for one reason or another, you have one more backup plan.
Last Minute Local
Every town has great speakers, even small towns with no Toastmaster club. There are two ways to approach this possibility: either get the local to deliver the other speaker’s words, or have them deliver their own.
There are no doubt many more ways to approach this problem that exceed the scope and depth of this humble blog. Do some mind-storming and be prepared.
Tags: Absence, Backup Plan, Blog, Circumstances, Contingency Plans, Contract Clauses, Disaster, Failure, Last Minute, Meeting Planner, No Doubt, Personal Appearance, Scope, Speakers, Speeches, Time Contract, Toastmaster Club, Two Ways, Weather Problems
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