Why a newsletter? When I was writing my business plan it was important to me to build a business rooted in values and community. If you look at the Philosophy page of our website, you’ll find that reflected in our Mission Statement: “Whenever possible we partner with local vendors and small businesses in an effort to uplift the local community.”

What’s the goal? My goal for this newsletter is to invite colleagues, friends and clients to take a peek behind the curtain, all while highlighting local event vendors and small businesses. Each month we’ll release a recap of what we worked on, what’s ahead for the next month, and spotlight local businesses. We hope you stay, but there’s no pressure to. If you decide this isn’t for you, you can unsubscribe at any time!

This month marked six month’s of Events On Cue! It feels like so much longer. The choices I made back in the fall set the course for these past few months. I joined membership-based networking groups, posted my new business cards at local coffee shops, and started to build a presence online. But I also had to learn some tough lessons upfront.

Within the first two months of operating Events On Cue, I crashed. I experienced a type of burn-out I hadn’t in a long time. I was missing doctors appointments, not sleeping or eating enough, and found it difficult to be present at home. I quickly learned my limits for how much work I could take on. Eager to build my brand I enthusiastically said yes to projects and volunteered my time to family and friends. After all, I needed content and to build out my portfolio. But what I didn’t plan for was just how draining it would be.

Six months later, I’m reassessing how to find my target clients as well as refining my brand messaging. I want to make sure I’m focusing on the right prospective clients and marketing myself to align with the types of projects I’m looking for. I go to a lot of networking events regularly (often weekly). I recently met another planner and confided in them that I’m have a difficult time sourcing leads and with my pricing. I still find it difficult to send out accurate quotes and if I’m being honest, I’ve been consistently undercharging. I made a base-rates sheet that I barely even reference.

Why am I finding it so difficult to charge clients accurately? I think there’s a combination of imposter syndrome and being aware of the state of the world that makes my brain do gymnastics whenever sending out a quote. On the one hand, I’m offering a custom, specialized service. For many clients, they are trusting me with milestone-moments. I find most people drawn to Events On Cue are those who don’t normally invest a lot of time, effort, or money into their occasions. They approach me because they want to make their occasion... an occasion: to share whatever they’re celebrating with others and make it special. And I do think I’m the perfect fit for these types of clients - in my own personal circle, I’m the hype friend. Your biggest cheerleader, the one who stands by your side in difficult times, and the first one to enable you to celebrate yourself, no matter what the world or other people are telling you. But on the other hand, it’s impossible to ignore how the economy and global politics is effecting us. It feels weird and sometimes downright wrong to be posting content that is for promotional purposes. But at the end of the day, I’m running a small business and can’t afford to undersell myself. I have to carry on day-to-day and be mindful of what’s going on around me, and how it’s effecting potential and current clients.

While expressing my vulnerability to this particular event planner, they asked me a hypothetical question for how much I’d charge a client for a specific scenario. Embarrassed and unsure how to answer, I gave an arbitrary figure, and they were practically offended. They told me I should be charging double and to stop devaluing myself and my business. That was the wakeup call I needed.

As I take this break and shift my marketing strategy, I’m so grateful I had that conversation. It was brief, but impactful. As I look ahead to the next six months, I feel a renewed energy that I will use to continue to build this business and invest confidence in myself and my abilities!

So far we’ve got one decor client booked in April, and we’ll be working hard on prepping for a large event in May (more to come soon).

After reflecting on how it started VS how it’s going, I’m focused on identifying corporate clients as well as marketing event planning services for private events. We’ve done a lot of decor these past few months, but I’m ready to turn the page forward to the foundation of my business: to provide event planning services meeting clients where they’re at. That might look like a consultation, day-of support, or full service event planning. I want to help bring my client’s vision to life!

March Spotlights
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Thank you for reading & subscribing!

Michelle Prudente
Founder & CEO, Events On Cue

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