Category: The Business of Celebrancy
Chat and AI is going to change your entire busines...
Posted by Josh Withers | Mar 29, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Five phrases you should use in your sales pitch
Posted by Josh Withers | Mar 5, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Change your passwords
Posted by Josh Withers | Feb 2, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
This is your permission to raise your fees in 2022
Posted by Josh Withers | Jun 9, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Rounded prices are better than unrounded for weddi...
Posted by Josh Withers | Feb 14, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Finding a mentor. Sarah’s view
by sarahaird | Aug 6, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 4 |
Jo asks: In an earlier podcasts (I think top tips for new celebrants) you talk about finding a celebrant mentor and see if you can go along to some ceremonies. Want to the rest? log in or become a...
Read MoreDealing with difficult couples
by sarahaird | Nov 16, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
A celebrant asks: This has been the year of a handful of crazies, seriously. I’m thankful it hasn’t just been me, others in the region have had the exact same experience with this weird 2019 trend of difficult...
Read MoreWise words about reviews, for Billy Joel and wedding celebrants
by Josh Withers | Jul 2, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
I’ve got a confession to make: I can recall every single bad review I’ve had, and I...
Read MoreGetting the deposit paid
by Josh Withers | Apr 16, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Veronica asks: How to you get clients to pay the booking fee, without sounding desperate or annoying?
Read MoreAnswering “How much do you cost?”
by Josh Withers | Aug 8, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Amber asks Leading from the price on website debate – how do you answer the “How much do your services cost?” enquiry? Want to the rest? log in or become a...
Read MoreIf you have a non refundable deposit
by Josh Withers | Sep 4, 2020 | COVID-19, The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
An Australian wedding celebrant directory recently emailed it’s members guilt-tripping them into keeping non-refundable deposits. What a guy.
Read More7 Insurances celebrants should have
by Josh Withers | Jul 9, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
A member has asked about whether the Celebrant Institute membership includes insurance. It doesn’t, and we’ll be honest with you, that’s because we reached out to a bunch of insurance brokers and insuring you lot in such a general way turned out to be so expensive and hard, that it wouldn’t be worth it for you, or for us, to offer such a broad stroke of insurance, when each of your businesses are so unique and personal.
So here’s the seven insurances I think every wedding celebrant should at least consider, and of course you need to do your own research and consider your own circumstances.
Please note that this is general information only and should not replace financial or professional insurance advice. Talk to a licensed insurance broker, business advisor or insurer for detailed advice.
None of this information has been influenced by an outside business and we have received no payments or discounts for offering this information.
Read MoreThis is your permission to raise your fees in 2022
by Josh Withers | Jun 9, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Sarah and my accounting software of choice – Xero – just emailed us that our Xero plan...
Read MoreGetting your financials in order
by Josh Withers | Aug 9, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 4 |
“I just did my tax and I’m very frustrated!!! I need advice on what software or system to use to make it easier. Most I see are not designed for a sole owner operator that has not registered for GST (I earn less than 75k); they seem too complicated. I know what I earn and spend this shouldn’t be so frustrating. But I never know what category to put things in. I don’t know. What do you use? I have a subscription to 17hats I thought that might help but its basically designed for America.”
Read MoreBeginners guide to not getting hacked
by Josh Withers | Oct 12, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 3 |
Reading the news today I realised that after Kristy Merlino’s email and Mailchimp accounts were hacked, that Kanye West’s iPhone passcode is 00000 and that Facebook doesn’t care about your privacy – it might be possible that other people aren’t 1) as passionate about Internet privacy and security as I am, 2) and even if they were, they might not know how to protect themselves…
Read MoreThree practical ways to increase your price
by Josh Withers | Jul 27, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
I’m not backwards in coming forwards about celebrants raising their price. I’ve given a number of good reasons in the past, but as lockdowns and travel bans continue to fuel the bonfire that is the state of the wedding industry today I was inspired by the idea that we, the wedding industry need not bare the burden that is wedding postponements, we are not wedding insurers, we are professional creatives. We are not wedding insurance. That’s not to diminish your want and desire to be generous and kind to your clients, be that, and more, but you are not their wedding insurance. Their wedding being postponed should not bankrupt you. So assuming you’re already ready to raise your price, if not read this, here’s three practical ways you can increase your price today.
Read MoreMy iPad lost everything, how can I prevent this?
by Josh Withers | Aug 8, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
S writes in with a question about data loss and iPads: What are your back up plans when it comes...
Read MoreCelebrants (and creatives) are not paid per hour
by Josh Withers | Jul 22, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
I believe with all my mind, body, and soul, that service people aren’t paid per hour, they’re paid for how much value they bring to that hour. So here’s my July challenge for all celebrants …
Read MoreHow to get couples to book you as their celebrant
by Josh Withers | Jan 25, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
“I’ve a question about that first meeting – I’ve met a few couples, tried coming from different angles ie. Asking what they have in mind for their ceremony, how they met, build rapport, let them talk or I do most of the talking – introducing myself and how I help them with my process and system. Have not sealed the deal. What do you recommend as discussion points for the first meeting, for high chances of booking soon after?”
Read MoreWhere do all the people come from?
by Josh Withers | Nov 28, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Jeff asks: When you look back on leads, what seems to be working? Do you have a rough breakdown of where/how couples are finding you? Do you find Instagram/Facebook ads work? Venue referrals? The Google…?
Read MoreWhere to host your website
by Josh Withers | Aug 16, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 7 |
Emma asks To squarespace or not to squarespace? What are your tips for starting a...
Read MoreNon-refundable refund demanded
by Josh Withers | Aug 7, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Veronica asks: I know where you stand on refunds. Yesterday, I had a bride who cancelled her November wedding due to the relationship splitting, texting me nasty abuse and demanding the clearly stated non-refundable booking fee....
Read MoreUltimate Guide to Creating Automation For Your Customer Journey
by Josh Withers | Jan 31, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
I recently spoke via video at the Wedding Business CEO Summit and spoke on the process of creating a customer journey. My talk was called There’s A Fraction Too Much Friction: Automation For Your Customer Journey. I believe this is an important and valuable topic for all wedding business people to get in their life, and I’m so glad I get to share it with Celebrant Institute members.
Read MorePDF’s are losing their contents when imported to Notability
by Josh Withers | Nov 28, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Victoria asks: I downloaded Notability on my iPad so I could easily get signatures on my doc as you said you found that one the best – however when it opens the filled in versions of the PDFS from the AG’s site as that’s what I use – they appear blank. Any tips on how to get them to appear filled in?
Read MoreShould we charge more or differently for public holidays?
by Josh Withers | Aug 6, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Continuing a long running series on this website starting with how your price is part of your...
Read MoreChange your passwords
by Josh Withers | Feb 2, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Depending on who you talk to, International Change Your Password Day is January 20 or February 1. Either way, in Australia we’ve missed both those dates, and because I’m writing this in Mexico I just saw the tweet from Fastmail reminding me.
Regardless of the “national date” consider this your reminder to change all of the important passwords in your world. In my humble opinion, all of the important passwords in your life should be changed annually.
Read MoreHow to accept crypto currencies for your work
by Josh Withers | Jan 31, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
A celebrant has written in to the Celebrant Institute asking the question: “How can I, and should I, accept crypto currency for celebrancy?”
Read MoreCommunicating timelines with couples
by Josh Withers | Dec 4, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Alex asks: My question is regarding communication with couples – specifically timelines. Before I became a Celebrant I remember hearing a few off-hand remarks from a family friend and also a cousin about their Celebrants. The general feedback was that they never heard from their celebrant after booking them, had no idea what to expect (for example commented “we hadn’t heard from her in 4 months”) and both had doubts about how the day would run. I was horrified! To me, managing expectations is super important but I also understand it may be different with each couple. So my question is – sorry it took me a while to get there – do you have any advice on how you communicate a “timeline of events” with the couple – or can you provide an example of one? And also advice for me on ceremony writing….how soon before the wedding do you start it and if requested or preferred by the couple when do you send a first draft for them to review, and how soon before the ceremony do you “lock everything in?”
Read MoreHow to get your couples to reply to your emails
by Josh Withers | Sep 2, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
If you’ve ever played the iconic Australian schoolyard game of handball, you’ll remember that the aim of the game is to intercept the ball on your quadrant/half, then to get it back out as soon as possible. Think about your customer journey and email like a game of handball.
Read MoreHow to video chat really well
by Josh Withers | May 12, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 5 |
Video chat, video conferencing, Skyping, Facetiming, or now, Zooming, is going to be a fairly major way we communicate through this season and into the future. The problem is, I see lots of people on Zoom calls not bringing their A-game to the call. The reason presenting yourself well on a video call matters is because in that online video chat environment we’ve already lost a few of our primary senses from the human interaction, smell, taste, and touch. That leaves our sight and hearing. In the same way that someone without hearing or sight will say that their other senses are heightened, in a video call, we’re missing the hug we might have started the interaction with. We haven’t had a chance to buy each other a drink, or shake hands, or simply see our smiles and smell our perfume, and feel at home together. So let’s make the visual and the audible sensory experience as good as our tools and technology allows us to.
Read MoreFive phrases you should use in your sales pitch
by Josh Withers | Mar 5, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Five phrases you can incorporate into sales meetings with your couples to help win the wedding booking.
Read MoreWhere to focus on your celebrancy in 2021
by Josh Withers | Feb 6, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
It’s been a weird year behind us as a wedding industry. I don’t want to dwell on it...
Read MoreMy secret to business success: email
by Josh Withers | Oct 21, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 4 |
Any successful endeavour requires a number of ingredients. An award winning cake recipe will have more than one ingredient, and an Olympic gold medal swimmer didn’t just swim their first lap that race.
There’s a process, there’s time, goal setting, and multiple resources being in the right place at the right time.
In the wedding industry there is so much focus on advertising and marketing, getting the enquiry, but less focus on winning that enquiry over, and worse, delivering an exemplary customer experience from woah to go.
Here at the Celebrant Institute we’ve written numerous articles about the value of creating and delivering a customer journey but today I wanted to hone in on one single aspect that apparently is really lacking in the wedding business: email.
Read MorePricing on websites; to list or not to list??? Sarah’s view
by sarahaird | Jul 10, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 7 |
Ella asks: “Price points seem to be a hot topic everywhere… Would you recommend putting your fees on your website? Some celebrants display their price on their website, others don’t. Some also seem to provide services cheaper then a BDM wedding. Which poses that question that some people expect you to compete on price, they aren’t comparing the quality of service provided. Only the number they see on the page.” You will literally get a different answer on this from every celebrant or marketing guru you speak to. So for this question, both Josh and I are going to offer our views! This article is just Sarah’s thoughts. Here is Josh’s article.
Read MoreHow to leave a celebrant association
by Josh Withers | May 22, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 3 |
A few recent conversations with celebrants on social media have prompted me to the question: what is membership in a celebrant association for? Traditionally the associations lobbied the Attorney-General’s office, and the BDMs of each state, on our behalf – but that role has diminished seriously in recent years, with individual celebrants getting more done than an association has …
Read MoreNew South Wales’ Uppercase Requirement
by Josh Withers | Jun 25, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 3 |
If you’ve been lucky enough to create a marriage ceremony recently, and it was in New South...
Read More$6 Dollar Breakfast!
by Josh Withers | Sep 10, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
After dropping my car off to be serviced this morning I hit the local cafe strip to find a breakfast befitting of someone wanting to sit in a cafe for breakfast and a coffee while answering emails and writing blog posts.
The first cafe was offering a $6 breakfast, and without inspecting the actual offering, I knew instantly that I didn’t want a $6 breakfast. Everything in me knew that I was not a $6 breakfast person. On a morning like this I was thinking that breakfast would cost at a bare minimum $10 but probably closer to $20, and there’d be a coffee as well, a large one, so I was expecting to pay no more than say $25.
Read More12 months defending wedding industry disputes due to covid
by Kathryn Adams | Feb 20, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
I thought I would spend this fine morning outlining some of the things that I have learned over...
Read MoreStarting a business
by sarahaird | Dec 1, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 3 |
A new member asks: I have completed my cert 4 at last and am in the process of doing my AG application so now I am thinking about the set up of my business. I have no previous experience in this area and wondering where to start really. Should I be sourcing and / or starting to create a website now ( not go live of course!) do I produce business cards etc, basically when and where is a good time to start if you’re not an expert! Considering it can take up to 3 months to hear back could you suggest a timeline please?
Read MorePricing on websites; to list or not to list??? Josh’s view
by Josh Withers | Jul 18, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 5 |
Ella asks: “Price points seem to be a hot topic everywhere… Would you recommend putting your fees on your website? Some celebrants display their price on their website, others don’t. Some also seem to provide services cheaper then a BDM wedding. Which poses that question that some people expect you to compete on price, they aren’t comparing the quality of service provided. Only the number they see on the page.” As Sarah noted, everyone has a different answer on this, and here is mine. Don’t count this post as the final word, it’s just a brain dump on a Wednesday afternoon. I’m sure this is a topic we’ll return to over and over, and I’d invite you to list your thoughts in the comments.
Read MoreYou should charge more, and here’s 10 reasons why
by Josh Withers | Apr 30, 2021 | Secret members podcast, The Business of Celebrancy | 9 |
Mel is struggling with mapping out her pricing as a celebrant, and when she mentioned it to me I went straight to a conversation I had with my brother earlier today. He’s looking at starting a new business based on professional skills he holds, and he was looking for some guidance walking into the project. So I’ll tell you what I told him, then give you ten good reasons why you should charge more.
Read MoreHow to tell an enquiry “It’s not you, it’s me”
by Josh Withers | Feb 11, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Tenielle asks: Hey guys, I’m hoping you can lend me some advice or wording to send to a couple. Met with them on Saturday and whilst they are lovely, the vibe was NOT there. Conversation was really stunted and it didn’t seem like a natural fit from my perspective. I’m really not wanting to take their booking, but I don’t know how to politely tell them, ‘Thanks but no thanks’. I’m especially aware of any legal obligations we have to marry couples and not discriminate against them.I would use the whole, ‘Sorry I’m double booked!’ route, but their date just opened for my bookings and that would be a blatantly obvious lie.
Read MoreComputer and internet security for a modern marriage celebrant
by Josh Withers | Mar 11, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Every day I wake up and check the technology news – as is my habit – and scroll through the headlines I’m expecting to find a marriage celebrant in there. Why?
Read MoreIncreasing your enquiry conversion rate
by Josh Withers | Jul 21, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 3 |
A question today about enquiries and how to increase our conversion: I have a question about converting enquiries as I am finding that I get a good amount of enquiries but feel my conversion rate could be way better. Wondering what I could be doing better or is there something I am not doing? Is it the language I am using in my initial contact too passive or boring? Or maybe I am giving them too much information? I currently do not have my price on my website so I am guessing some of the enquiries I am not converting are due to that and for follow up I send out a very short follow up email to them a about a month after not hearing anything. How do I better communicate to my leads in the initial enquiry stage to “seel the deal” with me or at least book an initial catch up meeting. Would love some constructive feedback on my “first email” and “welcome letter” attachment that I send as my first contact.
Read MoreChat and AI is going to change your entire business
by Josh Withers | Mar 29, 2023 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Four points that you should take away from this article: 1) The power of the first-mover and the advantages you can take from being one. 2) Social media is both broadening and shrinking. Broadening into wider broadcast-style models like we used to know as TV and radio, and shrinking into smaller group chats like Wavelength or even iMessage/WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal groups. 3) Generative AI is a new tool for you to use to do your work. 4) AI chat is going to replace the traditional search engine.
Read MoreCharging for travel. Sarah’s view
by sarahaird | Aug 30, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 7 |
Mercy asks: I’ve been asked to do a wedding two hours from Sydney and quoted an extra $50 above my usual fee each way, but they want to do a rehearsal the day before which would require me driving an extra four hours plus the time it takes to do the rehearsal. How would you recommend I charge for this?
Read MoreAre you ready if someone tries to hack you and steal your client’s personal data
by Josh Withers | Jun 10, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Reading the news today about the meat manufacturer that paid up $11 million in ransom to cybercriminals after having its business shutdown over a hack recently, my mind turned to celebrants.
I hold grave fears that any day now there’s going to be an Australian marriage celebrant breached by a hacker, and all of their clients’ NOIM, Marriage Certificate, Passport, Divorce, Drivers License, details will be leaked, stolen, sold.
Read MoreTaking over a wedding from another celebrant: logistics and money
by sarahaird | Mar 28, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law, The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
“A local celebuddy and I have recently been chatting about being a primary back-up celebrant for each other. As a fairly new celebrant, it got me wondering how other people manage replacements when you have to cancel at short notice (or even on the day). Do you ask the new celebrant to use your script (even if it’s very much in ‘your’ voice)? How do you divide payment? Do you partially/fully refund the couple because you’ve not completely fulfilled the contract? What if you’re in a car accident on the way to the ceremony and you have all the paperwork on you?”
Read MoreOther avenues for networking and referrals
by Josh Withers | Feb 10, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
I wonder how many avenues for networking, referrals, and help, us celebrants are leaving on the table?
Read MoreHow to get enquiries to reply to your emails
by Josh Withers | Sep 21, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
Great question today: Let’s talk follow up emails. You’ve received an enquiry, or worse, have met with a couple. You’ve sent them an email back, but it’s crickets from their end. How do you word your emails to try and elicit a response from them? I don’t want to rush them, but at the same time I’ve got a business to run.
Read MoreAre meetings at cafes a business expense?
by Josh Withers | Nov 10, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
A member asks, “Can you claim a tax deduction for the cost of holding a couple meeting at a cafe? Paying for their coffee? I hear different answers to this.”
Read MoreA story for celebrants finding their tribe like Yeti coolers did
by Josh Withers | Feb 11, 2022 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Before Yeti created a $5 million cooler and adventure brand, the icebox/cooler market (aka the “esky” market, despite Esky being a brand) was a a low-cost and cheap product market. Chris Hladczuk documents their story in a recent release of his email newsletter which I recommend subscribing to.
Read MoreCreating elopement packages
by Josh Withers | Sep 23, 2020 | COVID-19, The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
A reader asks: “I have a handful of elopement related questions, and I think they will be more relevant than ever given how our world has changed in 2020 and how weddings have changed/will change in the coming year(s).
Read More
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