Social Event Planning Can Be Profitable

We’ve all seen the newsletters or announcements. You know, the ones where we get invited to the social event of the week at one of the hottest locations in town. Social event planning, if done properly, can be very rewarding. However, if you’re just getting started in social event planning, don’t expect things to happen overnight.

There Are Steps That You Will Need to Take to Do Social Event Planning Properly

There are a couple ways to approach social event planning. If you’re already in the event planning industry chances are your contact list is geared to the meetings and events industry. If that’s the case and if you’re switching to the social aspect of event planning then you’ll want to take a methodical approach about announcing that to your contact list. The goal here is not to confuse your followers about what it is you’re doing. You may want to approach a few of the local venues that you have worked with in the past about cohosting a function where the venue itself will be featured. And if you’ve got the contacts chances are that venue will be more than willing to cooperate.

If, on the other hand, you’re new to event planning in general then you’re going to need to budget for the time it’ll take you to establish yourself as a player in the industry. Consider joining industry associations and then go to as many networking events as possible. In addition to the educational experience that you’ll receive at these networking events you’re also starting to build your contact list.

Social Media Plays a Vital Role in Social Event Planning

Whether you are new to social event planning or you are just re-focusing on social events you will want to make sure that your social media accounts are geared to promoting social event planning. Social media sites that you should have are:

a blog – you can easily establish a blog by using WordPress. WordPress has several templates to choose from to help create your look.
Twitter – make sure you attract followers that are interested in social events. Also your tweets should stay focused on social events. Do not bore people with where you went for coffee this morning etc.
Facebook – you should create a page on Facebook that deals only with your social event planning. Next your goal is to get as many people to “like” that page so that you can get exposure in the Facebook community.
LinkedIn – in addition to your LinkedIn profile where you will promote your blog, your twitter account, and Facebook, you should also either join a social event planning group or create one of your own.

Establishing a regular newsletter will also help get your name out. Your goal in the newsletter is not to necessarily promote yourself (although you’ll be doing this indirectly). Rather it’s to provide information on your social event as well as other related news and/or events. Remember was newsletters that opt in subscribers is your goal. Otherwise you could be flagged as a spammer and I can create a whole other set of nightmares for you. To get help with your opt in lists approach to various venues where you plan to host your events. Most venues will cooperate or at least promote you to their contacts. Eventually your newsletter will become a source of revenue for your social event planning business.

The goal with social event planning is to provide an opportunity where people can come and experience something that they generally would not have received by going to that venue on their own. In my event planning days that was always my goal when promoting a venue to a potential client. I wanted that client’s delegates to be able to experience something in the city that they simply could not have done by going there alone. Creating something that is unique and fun for people to attend is always a sure way to build followers for future events.