Category: The Business of Celebrancy
My secret to business success: email
Posted by Josh Withers | Oct 21, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 4 |
How to get your couples to reply to your emails
Posted by Josh Withers | Sep 2, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
You should charge more, and here’s 10 reasons why...
Posted by Josh Withers | Apr 30, 2021 | Secret members podcast, The Business of Celebrancy | 9 |
How to get couples to book you as their celebrant
Posted by Josh Withers | Jan 25, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
222 reasons you need to secure your domain name fo...
Posted by Josh Withers | Aug 7, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Getting 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 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 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 MoreNon-refundable refund demanded
by Josh Withers | Aug 7, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
You've reached one of our members-only articles. Celebrant Institute members get access to read articles about building and running a sustainable celebrancy business, the nuances around the Australian marriage laws, advertising...
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 MoreShould we charge more or differently for public holidays?
by Josh Withers | Aug 6, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
You've reached one of our members-only articles. Celebrant Institute members get access to read...
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 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 MoreWhere to focus on your celebrancy in 2021
by Josh Withers | Feb 6, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
You've reached one of our members-only articles. Celebrant Institute members get access to read...
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 Sarah Aird | 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 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 |
You've reached one of our members-only articles. Celebrant Institute members get access to read...
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 MoreReceiving ID documentation securely
by Josh Withers | Jan 8, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Sophie asks a very important and pertinent question (which I’ve slightly edited for brevity): A question regarding the safety of couples sending digital copies of their ID via email or within a system like Dubsado.
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 MoreCharging for travel. Sarah’s view
by Sarah Aird | 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 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 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 MoreWise words about reviews, for Billy Joel and wedding celebrants
by Josh Withers | Jul 2, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
You've reached one of our members-only articles. Celebrant Institute members get access to read...
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 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 MoreCreating elopement packages
by Josh Withers | Sep 23, 2020 | COVID-19, The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
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 MoreIs there room at the top of the market?
by Josh Withers | Nov 28, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Jeff asks: A general price question: when you both set your prices (to their current rates), were you/are you in line with what others charge or are you much higher? Pretty sure I’m the highest priced officiant in my region of 500,000 folks, but @ $650/ceremony I’d have to perform about 27 weddings/week to go legit. That doesn’t work. I have right around 75 weddings on the books for 2019 and it’s great since this is a side hustle, but I want to make the leap but for suuuure can’t at this rate. I’m hesitant because if I jump up to $800-$1000 I’ll literally be charging more than double the price or most others…but I guess someone has to be most expensive, I might as well be that guy…was just curious your thoughts on that.
Read MoreTax deduction ideas for celebrants
by Josh Withers | Jul 4, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
It’s every business owner’s favourite time of the year: EOFYmas! As the End Of Financial Year celebrations takeover our lives I wanted to highlight the deductions I think we celebrants should be thinking of, and if you don’t have the record of these deductions from the past financial year, maybe try and keep them for this financial year.
I hope this goes without saying, but I’m not your accountant, I’m not the Australian Tax Office, and I’m not your mum, so make sure you run these things past those guys before taking my accounting advice as gospel. If you need an accountant, I can recommend mine but I’m sure there’s 100 within cat-swinging distance of your place.
Read MoreHow to to-do
by Josh Withers | Jul 28, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
Gail asks: Hi Josh. You mentioned in one of the podcasts that you use ToDoist to organise your projects. Could you please run me through how you utilise this as I am also a ToDoist fan.
Read MoreI’ve gone to court for cancelled covid weddings, and lived to tell the story
by Josh Withers | Jul 1, 2021 | The Business of Celebrancy | 5 |
At the time of writing I personally have attended four court mediation sessions, and two court hearings. Theses are my stories. Dum dum. Ok, enough of the Law and Order jokes, but I am in the middle of a bunch of law suits and I figured that you, my fellow celebrants, would like to hear the stories, and hopefully you can learn from them. What follows is in no way to be considered legal advice, I am not a lawyer, and the advice given to me by my lawyer is confidential. The stories shared are personal anecdotes that would hopefully encourage you to engage with a lawyer.
Read MoreWhat are your travel fees for?
by Josh Withers | Feb 17, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 4 |
Linda asks: As a regional celebrant I am struggling with travel and how to incorporate this into my fees. I have an “anything over 200km round trip” clause which may seem a lot but its realistic to where I live. My problem is more about inquiry meetings, extra meetings and rehearsals. Obviously I cant charge for an inquiry meeting but do I just have a set higher wedding fee which kind of covers longer distances overall whether the wedding is near or far? Hope you can help!
Read MoreTen reasons you should take credit card payments
by Josh Withers | Feb 28, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 4 |
If your couples don’t have an easy way to pay you with credit card, I’m of the belief that you’re not only missing out on cash flow and cash, but you’re also missing out on the goodwill you would generate by making your couples’ lives easier.
Here are ten reasons I think you should either enable credit card payments (if you already have the option) or look at extending your payment options to include credit card.
Read MoreMarriage statistics 2020
by Sarah Aird | Nov 24, 2021 | COVID-19, The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
The marriage statistics for 2020 are out, and I’ve got your summary sorted!
Read More222 reasons you need to secure your domain name for the love of God, please just do it
by Josh Withers | Aug 7, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
222 reasons why professionally operating marriage celebrants should secure their domain name registrar account and make sure their domain name is on auto renew.
Read MoreSeth Godin on selling your time
by Josh Withers | Aug 10, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 0 |
Seth Godin today writing about charging per hour, something I still see celebrants do. I wrote about the same topic a year ago so it’s nice to have beat Seth Godin to something for once.
Read MoreCalculating your fee
by Josh Withers | Oct 2, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
Liene over at Think Splendid has published a super insightful blog post about how she prices herself for her speaking gigs.
I wonder if we as celebrants have considered not only our costs of doing business expenses, living wage, the average celebrant fee, the market’s response to fees, and everything else we can talk about when it comes to pricing yourself, but have we considered this important point.
Read MorePayments direct from clients to celebrants
by Sarah Aird | Nov 24, 2019 | Our Guidelines to Australian Marriage Law, The Business of Celebrancy | 2 |
You've reached one of our members-only articles. Celebrant Institute members get access to read articles about building and running a sustainable celebrancy business, the nuances around the Australian marriage laws, advertising...
Read MoreAcknowledging sonder
by Josh Withers | Apr 27, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 3 |
Have you heard of sonder?
Read MoreMoving town as a celebrant
by Josh Withers | Feb 26, 2020 | Marketing and Social Media, The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
Kath asks: Hey Josh, Just wondering if you have any advice on what I should be doing in preparation to “move/expand” a celebrant biz interstate. I am moving to Hobart mid year and would like to make a start on some marketing now which will in turn affect my bookings for the end or the year and the beginning of next. Apart from reaching out to some lovely local celebs in the area to say hello and booking in to attend an expo, do you have any ideas on what I should or could be doing online (website copy, SEO, blogging, google listing, marketing, back end kind of stuff) while I am in this early transition stage.
Read More24 ways you give the rest of us an advantage (or, Liene brings the fire)
by Josh Withers | Jul 12, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
Liene at Think Splendid has dropped some absolute fire on the wedding industry today. I love this. You should read the piece and follow her links for context, but here’s the drop:
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 MorePosting pro photos on social media etiquette
by Josh Withers | Apr 30, 2019 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
Mark asks, I was hoping you could explain the etiquette for posting photos on your Website, Facebook and Instagram account when supplied by a professional photographer please.
Read MoreChanging from selling to serving
by Josh Withers | Feb 29, 2020 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
Many of us have a problem with selling. It’s understandable, most of us have been sold to before, and we’ve hated it. A “salesperson” is often the sleaziest person in the room, and none of us want to be “that guy.” But here we are, trying to pay our mortgages or rent with some cash we earn from being a celebrant. And traditionally, that requires sales. So, I, Josh-saviour-to-the-celebrants, has a solution!
Read MoreAre you starving yourself because you won’t turn left?
by Josh Withers | Aug 16, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 4 |
You've reached one of our members-only articles. Celebrant Institute members get access to read articles about building and running a sustainable celebrancy business, the nuances around the Australian marriage laws, advertising...
Read MoreMy disappointment every car service
by Josh Withers | Oct 16, 2018 | The Business of Celebrancy | 1 |
Every time my car gets serviced, at 10,000km a service that’s about four to five times a year, I have this sinking feeling as I drive away from the mechanic’s workshop. After spending six odd hours away from me, and an average of $500 to $700 invoice, the car I drive away in feels pretty much the same as I brought to the workshop that morning at 8am…
Read More
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