Many wedding proposals today are creative, unique and well-planned events – just like weddings. It’s only natural that you, as a wedding planner, would have an interest in helping with proposals. But can it be a lucrative service for you to offer? Here’s how to find out.
Question
Lately I have been toying with the idea of adding the service of marriage proposal planner to my portfolio. I don’t have a clue about how to start this. I did some research and even contacted an experienced proposal planner but she wasn’t very helpful.
Any advice on how to this?
This service is something nobody here offers and I need to stay above the competition.
Answer
Wedding planners are starting to offer proposal planning and a few planners, especially those in major metropolitan areas, have found it to be a very lucrative niche. Of course, they may be hesitant to share all their knowledge with you for fear you’ll become their competition.
Here are 5 questions you should answer before you decide to add proposal planning services:
1) Is there truly a market for these services in your area?
Don’t do it just because no one else is offering proposal planning, it could be that someone has tried it and couldn’t find clients so they stopped.
Find out if there are many grooms in your area who would have been willing to invest in a proposal planner. Since you’re already a wedding planner, it should be easy to ask the ones who you are working with now.
2) Who would your target market be?
Please don’t tell me, “anyone who is planning to propose.” Just as you need a niche to be a successful wedding planner, you need a niche to be a successful proposal planner. Create a profile of your ideal client so you can market to him, or her, easily.
3) What types of services would you offer?
Services you could offer include creating ideas, planning and coordinating an idea someone already has, planning a destination proposal, finding vendors and/or doing it all. Do some research and find out the types of services people want that you have the expertise and experience to deliver. And do some calculations, make sure the services you’re considering would be profitable.
4) How would you market your services?
You’ll be marketing your services to a different audience so you may not be able to use some of the marketing channels that you use today to reach brides. Find out how you can best reach your target market.
5) How are you going to fit this into your current business?
You may need to invest in additional marketing. You may need to hire additional staff members who have the skills needed for proposal planning. You may need to meet new and different types of vendors who can execute proposal ideas.
Adding a new service and making it successful can take time, energy and money so be sure you can still devote time and attention to your main wedding planning business while you’re adding proposal planning services.
And if you have a pressing question about starting or running your wedding planning business, you can send me an email at [email protected]. I will answer them on this blog or in my ezine, “Wedding Planner Tips,” which you can subscribe to here.
