Is it just me, or are wedding planners working harder than ever? The postponed events seem to create more work because it’s like they’re being planned twice – or even three times. And clients who were already challenging to manage are even more stressed out by the public health risks, ever-evolving guidelines, and changing regulations for specific business types. It’s...

The past month we’ve done our 4-week Joy at Work challenge on Instagram. Our goal was to provide simple activities done every day to tidy up our work lives and discover purpose along the way. The world around us is figuratively and literally ablaze, and our industry sometimes feels like a dumpster fire that won’t go out.

These past four weeks we focused on areas of work where...

These past few months I’ve immersed myself in behavioral economics. It’s an emerging field that looks at how people make decisions based on psychology, neuroscience, and socio-cultural influences. Basically, social scientists are exploring how people in the real world make decisions rather than what logicians and philosophers think people should do if they were making...

Last week, I wrote about how hard it can be to motivate every day for work when we’re all so disoriented with the pandemic, politics and other stressors in our personal or professional lives. Sometimes you just have to put on your shoes and do the hard work you know needs to get done.

I received plenty of positive feedback from the near 3,000 wedding pros on this newsletter. Thank...

Is it just me or has it been hard to motivate over the past couple of months?

Normally, I’m the kind of guy who gets out of bed at 5am on a Monday morning and claps my hands, “Finally! The weekend’s over so I can get back to work!!”

Seriously. I know it’s annoying. Ask my wife, and she’s happy to tell you how annoying it is.

When I was...

Everyone wants to know how to charge more for their services. I mean EVERYone. Let me put that another way: I don’t know anyone who wants to charge less. Especially now with COVID-19 wreaking havoc on 2020 clients who are now taking all the 2021 dates!

I’ve talked with many event pros who are considering charging less to make sure 2021 fills in. First, don’t...

“Good, every year we’ll get 52 more practices than each of your competitors.”

This is what Michael Phelps’ coach told him when Phelps committed to doing workouts on Sundays. If he could do the work when others weren’t, it would give him a decisive advantage in the upcoming competitions.

It worked. Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time. Not...

When COVID-19 first hit the event industry back in March, I wrote about the eye of the storm we’re all in. Where is the eye? How big is the storm? How long will it take to pass by? What kind of damage will it do to the event industry? To your business?

Nearly 15 weeks later, we’re still in the middle of it. Immeasurable damage has been done. Businesses are underwater. The...

I'm eyebrow deep in research on characteristics of top-performing salespeople in complex sales deals. 

• What was it that separated the absolute best from the mediocre?
• Are top sellers born with personalities that make them successful?
• Is it possible that some will never get good at selling their services?

I’ve read a ton of books and articles, listened to lots of podcasts and...