Have you been appreciated several times for the kind of parties you arrange back at home? Have you got what it takes to become an awesome party planner? Do you think a party is more than mere balloons and a few guests on the floor? If yes, then it is time for you to know that you have got that spark in your to rock the floor by turning into a professional party planner, who is also known as an event manager. However, event management is a wider subject whereas party planning is specific and wholly related to party planning.
A party planner is someone who effectively plans a party, by taking down the budget from the client. In this budget, the planner needs to arrange for catering, music, entertainment, decoration and all the other aspects related to the party that is requested to be arranged by the client. A party can be thrown for any reason – birthdays, anniversaries, surprise party to congratulate someone, baby showers, etc., and every party needs to have its own atmosphere, which is created by the way the planner arranges and manages everything on the floor.
Following are seven most important tips to transform yourself into a party planner:
1) Use the concept of DIY (Do It Yourself):
If you have a child at home or someone whose birthday is right on its way, it is time for you to break the piggy-bank and take out all the money in order to throw a surprise party for that person. Grab a large sheet of paper and make the sketch and plan of all the stuff that you are supposed to do. No matter how small or large your budget is, make sure you do each and every thing on your own, so that you are able to understand whether party planning is your cut of tea of not. If you are able to get everything in the budget and surprise the birthday boy or girl in a successful manner, it is time for you to put the party hat on to celebrate your first success.
2) Enroll yourself in Event Management courses:
This is something which is not essential for the party planners. However, there are clients who prefer hiring certified party planners. Therefore, if you can enroll yourself for a proper degree in this field, there is no harm. Get a proper certificate and get going with event management as your career.
3) Read about parties:
Thanks to the internet, the world has come right on your finger tips. Find as much as you can about parties and read about the same. Get to know about other event planners and party planners who have creative ideas due to which they have a huge network of clients. Don’t be de-motivated if you don’t immediately get clients. It takes time to be known in the market and hence it is essential for you to be calm and confident about your work.
4) Work under someone as an assistant:
There are many event managers and party planners who organize parties on almost daily basis. They have parties to arrange every day because they have a vast name in the market. Find one of such event organizers and work under him or her as an assistant. This would help you learn a lot, even if you are not a certified planner. By acting as an assistant to someone, you are exposed to the actual field of event management and party planning. You also get to know a lot of people who might turn into your personal clients, in future, when you work solo. Therefore, try to build good relationships with people, even when you work under someone else.
5) Be creative in showing samples:
It is necessary for each and every event manager and party planner to be innovative enough to create new ideas so that every party is uniquely organized. Therefore, it is essential to prepare your own sample book as it is not possible to get your clients in the organized parties, every time. Make sure you take pictures of the organized parties and put them on social networking websites as well so that others can see your work. For those who personally visit you, you can prepare a beautiful creative book to show them the photographs of the parties that you have organized, along with hand written comments, signatures and contact details of satisfied clients. For an instance, take a few A4 sized black sheets and get them bound together. Stick photographs on each sheet and write the name of the theme, if any. Decorate the book so that it is attractive enough to grab the attention and focus of the people who visit you to see your work’s samples. Always remember – samples speak more than you and hence it is necessary to be creative in showing the samples to clients.
6) Create a network:
It is necessary for you to build and develop your network, which can be done easily thanks to internet and cell phones. There are various social networking sites. Pick one or two and make free pages there. For an instance, Facebook lets you create your page for free, wherein you can invite people to ‘like’ and share the link. Update pictures on such pages regularly to keep the ‘likes’ coming in. This way, your pictures would be seen by friends of friends and then their friends in return, when they are liked. Slowly and gradually, the network strength will grow to help you have a better scope online. What’s next? Grab a diary and keep noting the flow of enquiries.
7) Advertise yourself:
If you have enough funds to support yourself as a party planner in the market, create and get a few pamphlets printed. Distribute these pamphlets with the help of someone (friends are always helpful in this case) and advertise your work by placing your contact details on the pamphlets. If you distribute around 1000 pamphlets, you can expect to get at least 200 responses, out of which a minimum number of 50 people would be interested in having a party organized. In the beginning, you might have to sacrifice on personal profits but once you flourish in the market, you’d be rich in no time.
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