There is a brief moment in time when wedding pros around the world doubt themselves. Year after year. And even the most successful ones.
You know what I’m talking about. The few weeks of the year when you find yourself with little or nothing to do because you’ve wrapped your last wedding and the next generation of married couples is yet to be engaged. It brings on the yearly freak out because you have nothing booked for next season or even anything on your to-do list.
Feeling nervous at this time of the year is not something that is unique to you. Wedding professionals everywhere experience this same self doubt as they wait for booking season to get fully underway. We get it, if you’re not cranking through a daily to-do list, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by unfilled time. But there are things that you can do when it’s slow that are good for your brain and for your business. And, because this month we are focusing on helping you to be confident (and because we know that having something to do always makes us feel better), we wanted to give you a few productive ideas to help you be confident about how you and your business are squaring up for the new year!
Plan Ahead
When things ramp back up and you are in the middle of juggling multiple clients, there are always those things that we know we should be doing but just can’t find the time to. (Hello, blogging and posting on social media!) So, why not use these quiet weeks to create a content calendar for the year and (better yet) crank out a few blog posts? Start by dedicating 1 hour to planning out your content calendar for the month ahead. This will help keep you organized and on track. Then start executing on that calendar. You can start with something small, like scheduling out some social media posts.
Have work from the previous year that you have been wanting to submit? Include timelines for when you are going to actually submit each wedding or styled shoot (based on seasonality) in your content calendar. And you can get ahead by writing a few descriptions, downloading and ordering your images as well as putting together vendor lists for submission.
Opt Outside
Get outside of your office (since you don’t have to be there) and schedule some in-person meetings. Grab a coffee with that “friendor” you have been wanting to catch up with. Or make the rounds and dedicate some time to proactively visit local vendors and venues to discuss your services and showcase your work or special offerings.
Tidy Up
Don’t wait for the spring to tidy up! Besides the fact that by the time spring rolls around, you’ll be wishing you had free time, taking care of administrative and organizational tasks now is a great way to use your time. What should you do?
- Update your website with the past season’s work
- Organize your files
- Update your templates (checklists, timelines, budget, proposals, contracts)
- Tighten up your workflow
- Review and update your legal documents
Follow Up
Take this down time as an opportunity to say “Thank you!” Whether it’s by email, phone call, or hand written note, reaching out to past clients is never a bad idea. Thank them for hiring you and trusting you with planning one of the biggest events in their life and ask them if they would be willing to write you a testimonial to include on your website. Have no fear? Ask them to refer you to any friends they have that are newly engaged.
We know that waiting for booking season to get fully underway can be stressful and that is why this is the best time to work productively on your business, rather than in it. All of those engaged couples are coming your way…and we know you’ll be ready for them!
Hero photo courtesy Jen Wojcik Photography
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