I am a small business owner - Event Planning and Wedding Coordination. My company is about 3 years old. I am good at what I do and have never had a client that was not satisfied with my work.

My problem is that, as my services are a luxury - not a necessity, I am really feeling the bad ecomony. A few of my clients have informed me that due to cutbacks, they will not be using my services for the upcoming holiday season. Also, I am having difficulty finding new clients.

Can anyone out there offer any advice or encouragement? I am having a hard time staying motivated in these difficult times.

Hi, jjwoodhull!

I am an operator of a number of small businesses. One of them is in the entertainment field. As such, I can commiserate with you...

However, would you please describe more it is what you do and whether you have a website and if so, also advertise separately from your website on the Internet?

Thanks!

Hi Clough, thanks for responding... I plan Corporate Events - company meetings, dinners, holiday parties, retreats, tradeshows; Personal Events - birthdays, bar/bat mitzvahs, sweet sixteens, reunions; And Weddings. I handle every detal including conceptualization, hiring vendors, contract negotiations, etc...

My company is based in NYC. My client base is NY, NJ, CT.

I do have a website. I do internet advertising through several "event services" sites and "wedding services" sites. I recently hired a company that does Website Optimization.

Thanks for the answer, jjwoodhull!

I'm not sure how much good exposure the websites that you advertise on are getting when people do searches for your kind of business where you are located. They might be getting good exposure or they might not.

One thing that I do know is that I can beat all of the competition in the area where I am located when people do searches for what I do because of the way that I have worded my ads and because of where I advertise.

Here is a test of how good your exposure on the Internet might be. Please click on the following link.

Event Planning and Wedding Coordination New York City - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=Event+Planning+and+Wedding+Coordination+New+York +City)

Does your business come up directly on the first or second page of the search, please?

Thanks!

I do come up on the first page - although this is new as of about 1 week ago. I recently rebuilt my website to be more "search engine friendly". So, hopefully I will see the effects of this soon.

I am a small business owner - Event Planning and Wedding Coordination. My company is about 3 years old. I am good at what I do and have never had a client that was not satisfied with my work.

My problem is that, as my services are a luxury - not a necessity, I am really feeling the bad ecomony. A few of my clients have informed me that due to cutbacks, they will not be using my services for the upcoming holiday season. Also, I am having difficulty finding new clients.

Can anyone out there offer any advice or encouragement? I am having a hard time staying motivated in these difficult times.
Being a small business owner for an industry that is considered a luxury is hard to keep up with these days because every one is cutting their costs down. I've had to think about how I can make it thrifty for my clients and they know they can't get a better deal from someone else. Maybe think of ways to do things that aren't as costly and shopping around for new venders and ideas that could save money... also let your clients know that financial you're on their side.

Thanks for the advice!