Post-Pandemic Wedding Planning

How Luxury Event Planner Fallon Anawalt
Is Keeping Guests Safe

I was lucky enough to get married in Joplin, Missouri, years before the novel virus spread across the globe and devastated the wedding and event planning industry. When I planned my wedding, COVID-19 buzzwords like social distancing, sanitizing stations, and N95 masks weren’t part of the dialogue. But now that these words are the “new normal” in our post-pandemic world, positioning my wedding and luxury event planning business to make other people’s experiences as magical and unforgettable as my own has been a priority.

My company, Athena Event Consulting and Decor, has been preparing and tailoring our plans and processes to accommodate health and safety guidelines throughout the pandemic. As states recover and re-open public spaces to full capacity, those who wanted big weddings but were forced to postpone until normalcy returned are now ready to jump back into the planning process. The demand is high, but because COVID-19 is still fresh, many couples have questions about health and safety.

On a special day like a wedding, emotions run high, and hugging, kissing, and handshakes are second nature. For those looking for COVID-safe options, here are some ideas that Athena Event Consulting and Decor has to help minimize risk and keep guests and family safe.  

Social Distancing

From the onset of the pandemic, social distancing was one of the recommendations from the CDC that stayed consistent. Seating can be arranged six feet apart and in unique patterns for visual appeal and dining tables limited to single households. 

Dance floors can get crowded, and that’s part of the wedding experience. But one fun alternative is to hire a “silent disco” DJ. Each guest is given a pair of wireless headphones, each tuned to the same channel. This allows them to hear the music clearly and dance anywhere in the venue (or at least within range of the transmitter)!

Color-Coded Comfort Bands

Comfort bands are wildly popular at COVID-safe weddings. When guests arrive, you can display different colored comfort bands that guests can choose and wear on their wrists, with each color representing a comfort level. Just by looking at the color of the band, you can automatically know how to interact with the person wearing the comfort band. 

For example, you can have assigned “I’m vaccinated! Let’s party!” to the green bands, “Let’s hang, but no hugs!” to yellow bands, and “I’m having a wonderful time, but please maintain social distance!” to pink bands for those at higher risk.

Masks

Some guests might choose to bring their own masks, but it’s always a great idea to provide them in case someone loses theirs or forgets to pack one. Providing wedding-themed masks is always a fun way to add some extra charm to these accessories.   

Sanitization Practices

Place hand sanitizer in multiple, easy-to-access areas throughout the venue. Even providing small, travel-sized bottles of sanitizer for each guest is a great idea. We also recommend using single-use hand towels and moist towelettes in restrooms or kitchen areas. Having a cleaning crew on hand to quickly sanitize areas throughout the night is a great way to prevent lingering germs and keep surfaces sterile. 

Serve Plated Meals and Have Servers Bring Drinks

Instead of a buffet-style dinner, serving meals on individual plates to guests at their table can maximize social distancing. It can also create a more elegant dining experience with beautiful food plating. You can also have masked servers bringing out fresh drinks to limit trips to the bar. 

With most states currently open to full capacity, you can choose to have your wedding in any way you’ve envisioned it. But for some, there is still a certain level of anxiety or discomfort if you’re high risk or after a year of distancing from crowds. You can always speak with your event or wedding planner to have them tailor your experience to your comfort level. We’re always glad to help and look forward to keeping you safe on your fairytale wedding day!  

ABOUT FALLON ANAWALT

Fallon Anawalt is an entrepreneur with a strong background in marketing. She grew up helping her dad on their family farm before graduating college and starting her career in marketing. She wrote articles and press releases for industry publications for an industrial tank company and then went on to provide marketing work for aviation companies in the Joplin, Missouri area.

After getting married in Joplin, Anawalt identified the need for quality event vendors in the area and created her first event planning business. In 2018, Anawalt partnered with the aviation company owner with whom she previously worked, and together they launched their own marketing company.  Her event planning business merged with the marketing company to form Athena Companies.

Athena Companies provides marketing, advertising, event rentals, and full-service planning for events. The company is comprised of three divisions, each specializing in a focused industry. Anawalt currently resides as President of Athena Companies.

In 2021, Anawalt built Homestretch with the help of her team at Athena Marketing, a one-of-a-kind real-estate project management software that focuses on improving the real estate buying experience. When she isn’t working on her business, she is an avid equestrian. 

Follow Athena Companies on Instagram @athenamktg @athenaeventsllc @homestretchrealty @fallonnoel

Connect with Athena Companies on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/athena-marketing-advertising. 

“Like” Athena Companies on Facebook at facebook.com/amajoplin https://www.facebook.com/AthenaEventsllc https://www.facebook.com/homestretchrealty

Athena Companies Bio

Athena Companies provides marketing, advertising, event rentals, and full-service planning for events. Founded in 2018 by entrepreneur Fallon Anawalt, the Joplin, Missouri-based company is comprised of three divisions, each specializing in a focused industry.

Athena Marketing and Advertising is a marketing firm focused on developing and implementing custom marketing strategies to increase revenue for its clients.

Athena Event Consulting and Décor offers top-tier event planning services and rentals for weddings, corporate events, in-person and online parties, and more.

Athena Consulting Services provides business consulting services such as business planning, recruitment, and hiring.

Homestretch is an innovative project management software that focuses on improving the real estate buying experience and streamlining the home buying and selling process.

For more information, please visit Athena Companies at athena-companies.com and homestretchrealty.com

Follow Athena Companies on Instagram @athenamktg @athenaeventsllc @homestretchrealty 

Connect with Athena Companies on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/athena-marketing-advertising. 

“Like” Athena Companies on Facebook at facebook.com/amajoplin https://www.facebook.com/AthenaEventsllc https://www.facebook.com/homestretchrealty

Vital “Naked News for Indie Authors…”

Naked News for Indie Authors How NOT to Invest Your Marketing $$$

by Gisela Hausmann 

In this new book “Naked News for Indie Authors: How NOT to Invest Your Marketing $$$” marketing expert, email evangelist, and indie author Gisela Hausmann reveals how indie authors can avoid wasting time and money. She also offers free and/or cheap alternatives to many common marketing methods and myths. The book includes five helpful illustrations.

Gisela Hausmann has done it again
reviewed by Chelle Cordero

Just reading her book has risen my expectations and optimism, she is informative and direct. Gisela opens our eyes to how to recognize opportunities. Thank you for another “Naked” truth.

buy links

Kindle

Amazon Paperback

Barnes & Noble

About the author

Gisela Hausmann is a 29 yr. self-publishing industry veteran, an email evangelist and a top reviewer.

Her work has been featured in regional, national, and international publications including Success magazine (print) and Entrepreneur, on Bloomberg, The Innovation Show – a show for Square Pegs in Round Holes, “The Brutal Truth about Sales & Selling”-podcast, and Austria’s Der Standard and Das Wirtschaftsblatt. Gisela is a graduate of the University of Vienna, Austria.

A unique mixture of wild risk-taker and careful planner, she globe-trotted almost 100,000 kilometers on three continents, including to the locations of her favorite books: Doctor Zhivago’s Russia, Heinrich Harrer’s Tibet, and Genghis Khan’s Mongolia.

Her motto:
“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”-Napoleon Hill

For more information about the author please visit her website at http://www.GiselaHausmann.com

She tweets at @Naked_Determina

You Need to Know These 3 Marketing Tips Before Launching a New Product

In this era, where no sector is left unaffected by the prevailing cut-throat competition, marketing has become more of an essential need than an auxiliary sales promotion technique. The importance of marketing becomes even more crucial for the new products that do not have any prior stronghold in the market.

 

So, you have a brilliant idea for a startup, have adequate resources at your disposal to arrange the pre-requisites, have even developed a team for the purpose, but also have that feeling of ‘something is missing’. If this is the case with you, well, then congrats! You have, what it takes to be an inborn entrepreneur, you know that though seemingly enough, the aforementioned preparations are not adequate, you realize that raw materials are not the only requirement for a startup, you are one among the many potential founders who understand the requirement, no need of Marketing.

Marketing is, as they say, an umbrella term that includes all the activities done by a marketer in order to induce their quiescent customers into buying of their product or services. It is then, not a want, but a need to adopt some marketing techniques for the successful launching of a new product. Mentioned below are some of the proven ideas that have taken numerous impressarios to the road to success.

Generate the Need

Do you remember the 1925’s advertisement of Listerine’s mouthwash- Always a bridesmaid but never a bride? If you’re in the field (of marketing) for even a little bit of time, you definitely must be aware of it. The buzz the advertisement had created in the market, the curiosity, and the outcome it presented, is something what they call a history. The company was manufacturing the product since 1879 and was on its way to gradual growth, but the aforesaid marketing trick raised its revenues from $115,000 to more than $8 million. They generated a need and actualized one of the most common principle of marketing- Create utility. And the results they earned was definitely worth the effort.

Select Perfect Pricing Strategy

Most of the companies use penetration techniques for their new products, which is a prudent practice as well, although, not effective all the time. The strategy has backfired many a time, ruining the image of the company/product. However, the situation can be taken under control by utilizing the asymmetric dominance effect (aka decoy effect). The phenomenon itself is not neoteric, but the idea of using it for marketing a new product is surely an avant-garde.

While using this strategy, the most important factor to be kept in mind is timing. If the stimulant alternative is presented at the same time of the launching of the main product, the phenomenon will lose its effectuality; and indubitably, it is of no use to introduce the alternative, after the consequential time period of penetration pricing ceases. Therefore, careful vigilance of the market is required for the successful implementation of such plans.

Start with Giveaways

If you have ever read about the history of tea-bags, this idea is something you know already about. Many organizations, especially the ones dealing in digital services, are using it constantly even to this day. The technique is, undeniably, more effectual than any other penetration pricing technique. Start giving small freebies of your service, wait until it becomes an in-demand, then tack on the inevitable ‘upgrade’. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But only the marketers who have implemented the tactic, know that it isn’t exactly a cakewalk. Often, the strategy does not develop the desired output. Though it is usually because of the quality of the product, such ideas fail, ineffective marketing plan may also create similar results, even for the high-quality products. It is evident that the giveaways strategy may work to create potential customers, but retention is an entirely different notion. For that many components are needed to be considered like timings, moderation, amelioration, etc.

Bottom line is, the concept that ideas are the most important factors in a new products’ success, is not entirely veracious, effective marketing assignment help is the deciding constituent that leads to triumph almost always.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Filipe Mark is an academic writer working with one of the leading organizations providing assignment help Australia. Though he writes all papers with the support of subject related experts, he possesses unmatchable knowledge in various fields like Nursing, management, computers, and hospitality.

Marketing Mistakes

The Most Rewarding Marketing
Mistake I Ever Made
By: Marsha Friedman

Recently, a colleague asked me, “What was the most rewarding mistake you ever made in business?”

It’s a great question, and I quickly had an answer for him because it was an incredibly painful mistake. However, it proved to be an invaluable lesson that has served me well in the years since. I’m sharing so perhaps you can learn it the easy way.

The lesson: Don’t ever stop marketing because you think you’ve reached the point where you don’t need to. And, secondarily, believe the old adage that warns, “Don’t put all your eggs into one basket.”

There’s a story, of course!

Years ago, my public relations company connected with a large publishing house that served many prestigious authors. The first few of its authors we accepted as clients had such successful campaigns, we quickly became the publicity firm of record for this publisher. I thought we’d tapped the mother load! The publisher kept a steady stream of clients flowing to us, and eventually, they became about 80 percent of our business.

We were so focused on delivering for these authors that we became much less focused on getting our company name out to prospective new clients. We slowly stopped marketing. Our newsletters ground to a halt. We didn’t waste time networking. We quit our efforts to get the same publicity for our company that we get for clients. Why bother? We didn’t need new clients!

We had a whole basket full of beautiful perfect eggs and we were happily skipping along with it.

And then … it broke.

The publisher ran into some serious problems with its investors and the business came crashing down. And guess who almost went with it?

Our eggs were cooked.

Faced with only a few clients and no prospects, we got busy fast and cranked up the marketing department (me!) again. It took awhile to regain the momentum we’d lost but, thankfully, we had a side business that could help pay the bills in the interim. Slowly but surely (this was before the age of social media, which really speeds things up), we built up a new list of prospects and clients – only this time from a diverse array of sources.

It was a terrible but powerful experience that demonstrated very clearly: No matter how great things seem to be going, you never stop marketing. It needs to be a constant hum because if that hum stops, you know there will be a big problem ahead.

I stopped marketing because I thought I had all the clients I needed. Over the years I’ve seen others make the same mistake but for different reasons. Here are a few:

One great publicity hit is a really bad reason to stop marketing. I’ve talked to people who believed if we could just get them on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” (before 2011) or “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” that was all they’d need. They’d be done. Yes, a big national show can give you a tremendous launch, but you won’t keep soaring unless you do something to stay in the public eye. I guarantee you, there are plenty of people you never heard of who got their “big break” and then disappeared because they stopped marketing.

Most of us won’t get those huge hits – and that’s not a reason to stop, either. I haven’t been on “Oprah” but I often hear from prospective clients that I or my business was recommended to them by someone I’ve never met and don’t know. That’s what good, sustained marketing does. It may not always create fireworks, but that doesn’t mean it’s not working for you.

Yesterday’s story is old news. Look for fresh new ways to stay in the public eye. The publicity you get today can continue to work for you online, but eventually, it’s going to be old news. We encourage our clients to post links to their publicity on their websites; it shows visitors that they have credibility with the media. But if those visitors see only publicity and testimonials that are five or 10 years old, they’re going to wonder why no one’s been interested in you more recently.

Just as I put all my eggs in one basket by relying on one source for clients, it’s also a mistake to rely on just one marketing tool. Maximize the reach of the publicity you get in traditional media by sharing it on social media. Put a blog, or other content you can renew and refresh, on your website. Write a book. Do speaking engagements (for free, if necessary). Your audience is likely not all huddled together in one corner of the world. To reach them, use a variety of marketing tools.

Whatever it is you’re promoting – your business, your product, your book, yourself – keep the momentum going. If you want people to know you’re out there, you have to stay out there.

About Marsha Friedman

Marsha Friedman is a 23-year veteran of the public relations industry. She is the CEO of EMSI Public Relations (www.emsincorporated.com), a national firm that provides PR strategy and publicity services to businesses, professional firms, entertainers and authors. Marsha is the author of Celebritize Yourself and she can also be heard weekly on her Blog Talk Radio Show, EMSI’s PR Insider every Thursday at 3 p.m. EST. Follow her on Twitter: @marshafriedman