One of my faithful readers was asking me recently about the association of wedding professionals that I write about. It seems that Dawn was so taken with the idea of local wedding professionals bonding together for their mutual benefit that she has started one in her local market. Bravo Dawn!!
Participating in a local wedding association is one of the best ways to grow and improve your business. The advertising opportunities alone are worth the membership fee in most cases. The one I belong to, Tennessee Wedding and Event Specialists Association, advertises in 6 magazines, does 6 bridal shows and 2 local Chamber of Commerce events each year. All of that advertising is directed at two things: branding the organization so that the membership logo on your literature carries some weight and driving consumers to the website. The website, of course, has a complete listing of all the members with live links to each of their sites. That is the least you will get from being a member.
To really get the full benefit of membership you have to participate. The more you are ‘in it’ the more you will get out of it. Networking is huge in any business, in a local organization you have the in to network with all the best in your area. Why do I say all the best? Because it is the go getters that will be the ones willing to put in the time and energy to participate and group dynamics have a way of flushing out the bad one in a sort of natural selection type of way.
So many of us in the wedding industry are micro businesses with out the large support structure inherent in a large corporation. There is no water cooler to stand around and gripe about the boss, we are the boss. There is no HR department to find us better insurance and stay up to date on current laws. There is no after work happy hour to blow off steam. It can feel lonely and overwhelming at times. For us, an organization like the one I belong to can fill those gaps. Whether it is actually getting an insurance agent to talk to you about group rates or having someone present on recent changes in local law that may affect you, there is power in numbers.
One thing you can’t get anywhere else is the bonds you will make. At times it comes from battling a common enemy, that bride from hell that pops up when you least expect it. At other times it comes from working together as an impromptu team to pull off the stunning and spectacular. Everyone in the group can relate to what you do for a living. You just won’t find that anywhere else.
Here is a recent article I wrote for our newsletter. I think it gives you a good idea of what I mean. The last few sentence say it all.
Why I Love TWESA
I went to a launch party last night to hear the announcement that Fred Jacob had bought Weddings: The Bridal Show and The Pink Book from Renee Maddison. As I looked around the room I got to thinking about the people I know through TWESA and how much they have grown their business in the eight short years I have known them.
Take Renee for instance, when I met her she was selling ads for someone else’s magazine. Yesterday she announced the sale of not one but two thriving business she has built in that time. When Renee took on Weddings: The Bridal show it was a fledgling show trying to prove that a fall show could work. By the time she sold it, it was the largest bridal show in the southeast. When she thought up the concept for the Pink Book it was (and still is) a one of a kind product; no one knew whether or not it would work. Today it is poised to be rolled out in every major market in the US.
Then there is Gilda York, one of TWESA’s founding members. For the last twenty years she has managed an American Tuxedo store for Bob Knowles. Last night she announced that she finally owns the store. In her words, not much will change she just “bought the bills to go with it.” Don’t we all know that feeling?
Then there is Diane Nesbitt and Matchless Limousines. When she joined TWESA a little over five years ago her company had one nail biter of a car. Now Matchless has a fleet of 17 vehicles including the mammoth “Patron”; a full size tour bus that seats 24.
Kellie Bryson was just starting to make wedding cakes in a spare bedroom in Murfreesboro. Last fall saw the completion of a beautifully renovated new location in downtown Nashville. The Bake Shoppe and A Catered Affair today have two locations and three full time staff members, a roster of part timers as long as your arm and a Dunkin’ Donuts commissary.
I will admit that these are the exception, the one that have devoted their blood, sweat, tears, time and treasure to growing their babies. But one thing they have all had in common was a strong commitment to TWESA and the networking opportunities that it offers. As an organization we have supported and helped each other. We have shared our knowledge and out contacts. We have cried together and laughed together. We have held each other up when we were scared witless at what we had gotten into, and we have popped more than a few corks to celebrate one another’s triumphs.
This is just one of the reasons I love TWESA.
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