How to Work Remotely as an Event and Wedding Planner
Just because you need to stay home right now and practice social distancing, doesn’t mean there aren’t still a ton of ways you can work remotely as an event and wedding planner! Your career doesn’t have to suffer, even in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
By taking advantage of these opportunities still at your disposal, you can still work to strengthen your skill-set AND provide excellent services to clients!
Option 1: Provide Virtual Consultations / Appointments
While we still don’t know when things will return to normal, we can take some comfort in at least knowing that they eventually will. With this in mind, there are likely still many potential clients who would like to get started on planning their future events, and require your assistance.
Of course, getting together with clients in-person isn’t really an option at the moment. To reduce the spread of the virus, and to keep yourself and those around you safe, interaction with others needs to be kept to a minimum. But this doesn’t mean that you still can’t meet with clients virtually!
There’s no reason why your initial consultation with a client, and future follow-up appointments, can’t be held electronically. Technology has come a long way, after all! The quality of a video call, using software such as Skype or Google Hangouts, offers a high-def experience that’s just as effective as being face-to-face.
Similarly, appointments can also be held virtually, or over the phone, with other vendors and suppliers!
Option 2: Live Stream Weddings
An increasingly popular option, many couples are choosing to live stream their wedding online, rather than holding a large, formal event. The beauty of this option is that basically everything can be done electronically – even down to virtually conferencing with the individual in charge of officiating the ceremony!
Should your clients wish to wed while still practicing social distancing, they have the freedom to tie the knot right in their very own living room. Better yet, none of their close friends or family will need to miss the ceremony. They, too, can watch and enjoy the celebration, while also remaining safely at home.
(In fact, another cool benefit to live-streaming your clients’ wedding is that they can have as many ‘guests’ as they want! No need to worry about seating or venue capacities!)
Speaking of cost, giving clients the option to live stream their wedding is also an excellent way to keep the budget to a minimum. This is because most of the pricey components of a traditional wedding – such as food, florals,, etc. – won’t be necessary.
The entire experience can be as simple, convenient, and affordable as the clients want!
Option 3: Virtual Corporate Events
If you’re a corporate event planner, virtual events are all the rage right now! In many ways, it can involve all of the same components of a regular corporate event. The main difference is that everything gets done online.
The 2 most common ways to hold a virtual event is to either live stream it, or create on-demand video content that viewers can access as soon as the event has concluded. You’ll be amazed at the number of virtual events you can organize! Some popular examples include:
- Virtual tradeshows and expos
- Virtual company-wide gatherings and celebrations
- Virtual conferences and seminars
- Virtual job fairs and college open days
- Virtual product launches
- Virtual shareholder and board meetings
- And so much more!
With the right research, preparation, creativity, guest speakers, and vendors/suppliers, you can put together an amazing, successful online experience for countless attendees!
Over the next week, we’ll be delving further into both virtual events and live-streaming weddings. Specifically, how to put them together, what’s needed, and how to make it a success for your client. So stay tuned!
Option 4: Start Your Own Event and Wedding Planning Blog
As a professional planner, you probably have a ton of industry knowledge you can share! Another great way to keep yourself occupied, and further your business while at home, is to start blog writing.
You can incorporate it directly into your business by adding it as a section to your website. This will add a whole new level to the types of services you’re offering clients!
Not only can you provide them with your planning services themselves – you can help teach them valuable information!
If you’re unfamiliar with blog writing and aren’t sure how to go about this, not to worry! There are tons of learning resources you can refer to online. This article is a useful example!
Some important things to keep in mind when running your own blog are:
- Put out quality content on a regular basis!
- Spell check and self-editing are useful, but before you publish an article, try to always have it reviewed and edited by another person as well!
- Do your research to see what the current and popular trends/topics are, and then write about those!
- As much as possible, keep your articles relatively short, to the point, and easily readable!
- Throwing in images (or videos) to help break up the text is never a bad idea!
- Learn about SEO, so you can increase your website’s online visibility!
You can also utilize your business’s social media channels to help market your blog posts. More exposure means more readers, and more readers can result in more clients!
Option 5: Further Your Education
If you don’t already have your wedding and event planner certification, this is one of the BEST things you can do for yourself while stuck at home right now! If you want to be a reputable professional within the industry, you’re going to want to have your event planner certification.
The reason for this is two-fold:
- You will be properly educated, trained, and certified in your field. If this is truly your passion, and what you want to devote your career to, you’ll understand the value in this!
- Not only that, you’ll want to learn everything you possibly can and become better at what you do! Receiving proper schooling is the single most effective way to become an expert in ANY given subject.
- You’ll look way better to clients and/or employers. If a potential client has to choose between a planner with no formal training or certification, versus one that does, she is going to pick the latter. Every. Single. Time.
- The more education you have to your name, the stronger your resume will be, and the more appealing you’ll be to clients.
- Similarly, if you wish to join a planning company, your chances of being hired will be way higher if the employer sees that you’ve received proper training, and have your event planner certification.
If you already have your certification, why not build on your existing qualifications? You can make your resume and skill-set even stronger! There are so many different facets of the event and wedding planning world. Surely, there’s at least one area of expertise that you haven’t branched out into yet!
Corporate event planning, luxury wedding and event planning, destination wedding planning, and festival/live event planning are just some examples. You can even add to your current certification by getting formal training in areas such as event décor, promotional event planning, etc.
Maybe you have goals to one day start your very own company. Why not enroll in a business course and learn the fundamentals of becoming an entrepreneur?
There’s a whole WORLD of possibilities at your feet! Furthering your education is a great way to help you do that. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, online event and wedding planning school is your best (and safest) means of pursuing this.
Click here to read more about how online planning school can help you make your dreams come true!
Even though you need to stay home for the time being, you can still remotely run a successful event and wedding planning business! And if you aren’t necessarily booking clients at the moment, there’s still plenty you can do to keep your career thriving! It’s all about having a positive mindset and giving it your all.
We know you can do it! We believe in you!
