By Kylie Carlson, International Academy of Wedding & Event Planning
Being up-to-date and confident about your knowledge in trends is an important skill in the events industry. Some vendors don’t want to be bothered hearing about the next big thing, while others enjoy the challenge of knowing what’s in and what’s out and using trends in their work. If you’re one of those people, then you have a golden opportunity to use your love of trends to elevate your expert status.
So, how do you do it? Here are some of my best tips and tricks below:
Stay Up-to-Date
This may seem pretty self-explanatory, but if you are planning to sell yourself as an expert on trends, then you need to make sure that you set aside time every week for research. When researching, think beyond weddings and events. You have to remember that what you’re seeing on a wedding blog or in a wedding magazine is probably at least a year old, so it’s not really a new or innovative trend anymore. The whole world is your playground when it comes to trends, so forget the wedding boards on Pinterest and start looking at interior design blogs, what’s on the red carpet, foodie blogs, fashion, and graphic design. These industries are forward thinking and well ahead of where we are in the wedding world.
If you’re going to turn to weddings for trend spotting, then jump on Instagram. On any given Saturday you can be sure that if you scroll through your feed or search wedding hashtags, you’ll see all of the top wedding and event designers posting their pictures live, as they are happening.
Promote Your Skills
You can tell people all day long that you are an expert in trends, but unless they see it in action, they may not take your word for it. Use your work to speak for you by showing potential clients your cutting edge style, posting pictures on your website and social media, and getting your weddings featured on blogs. In this situation, a picture can truly be worth a thousand words.
Market What You Know
Once you’ve got a few press features under your belt, start leveraging that by marketing yourself as the ‘it vendor’ of trends. Use content creation to your advantage with guest posts on other vendor blogs full of your predictions for the upcoming year, and commentary in articles talking about the latest Pantone color of the year. Better yet, use your own company blog to start a trend series, get creative on social media with videos full of fun tips and tricks- the possibilities are endless. These are all great examples of how to get your name out there, not just among engaged couples but with your peers as well.
By following these guidelines, you will no doubt increase your reputation as a trend expert, which can help your business in a big way.
Kylie Carlson is the owner of the International Academy of Wedding and Event Planning. With six locations globally, the academy boasts an internationally recognized accreditation program that brings professional training to wedding planners, designers and stylists.
