1. A ring my mother gave me before she died
2. My two training bikes
3. My collection of leather jackets from John Galliano

Okay, your turn. Go.

• Experience, experience, experience. I think one can safely call him or herself a good planner after working on at least 20 events. (Even then, it depends on what kind of events.)
• Knowledge. Knowledge can be acquired through practice or by taking a very informative course to give you a base. (The best course I know of is offered by the Wedding Planning Institute.)
• Great attention to detail and the ability to improvise. I think a good planner is one that can turn a bad or tense situation good without the client ever knowing. (In every event, something always goes differently than we planned.)
• Last but not least, leave the drama at home. Again, maybe it’s just me so forgive me, but I have encountered more than one planner who was a crazy maker.

I am completely in awe of the business of planning with all its layers and intricacies. I applaud everyone who wants to get into this exciting business, but please remember it takes time and effort. Yes, you can go ahead and call yourself a planner and start your journey, but it takes a bit longer to become a good one.

I’d love to know what you think determines a good versus bad planner. Please share in the comments.

Just like when I’m a designing a room and want to create something that makes a guest say, “Wow, I want to see more,” I try do the same with the headlines on my blog posts.

Headlines on the web are tricky, though, because they have to both be utilitarian (i.e. being SEO–search engine optimization–friendly) and convey some sort of personality.

I personally would like to try and infuse more humor into my headlines, but sometimes it’s hard to achieve that goal in such a small amount of words. That’s one thing I’m working on, and one thing that belongs on my list of what makes a good headline.

This list is ever expanding, but so far, this is what I have.

A good headline is…

• Funny! Or maybe I should say it exudes some kind of fun or humorous personality. Examples of my attempts at funny headlines are: To Do: Become a Cross Dresser and Frequently Asked Questions: What happened to your hair?
• Informative. It tells you what you’ll be getting right away. These types of headlines do best with your SEO. If you know that people have been searching for certain types of keywords relevant to your content, but they aren’t landing on your site, try using those keywords in headlines. Some examples of this are: Your Turn: The Best Local Wedding Planners In Your Area and What’s in or out? Design Style Trends
• Mysterious. Not to be totally contradictory, but sometimes you don’t want them to know exactly what you’re talking about right away. You want to add a little mystery into the equation to keep them reading. (Though, frankly, I must admit that I hate teases. I just want to KNOW right away!) Examples of this are: A Little Note About Today and ‘Til Death Do Us Part.
• Number friendly. People love lists. They love top 10 lists, top 5 lists, top 20 lists… If you incorporate a number into your headline, you’ll probably get them to click to read more. (Notice how I incorporated that trick into my headline for this post. Here are more examples too: 6 Tips For Creating A High-End Website and 7 Must-Do’s for Your To Do List.)
• Sometimes in the form of a question. Web content is all about engaging and interacting with the user. If you ask a question, they’ll automatically seek answers. Examples of this are: Sometimes I ask myself…why do I have to put up with bad service? and Is it better to go naked or covered?

Bottom line: spend a little extra time thinking about your headlines. Since they’re the gateway into your content, and sometimes the only thing people will see, it will be well worth the effort. Oh, and take note: in general I think a good headline only needs one of these things to be considered “good”, but if you can somehow incorporate more than one from this list, even better.

I’d love to hear your tips on what makes a good headline. If you have any examples, please share those too (especially if they’re from your own blog.)

(Photo via)

Sanaw making magic.

4. Barbara Poe asked: Where did you find Sanaw? He is amazing!!!!!!! Barbara: Yes, he is more than amazing. Sanaw is my main floral designer and I consider him to be more than family. He is from Thailand and has been with me for over 15 years. He is one of the few people that can actually capture what’s in my head and make it better.

5. Deborah Griffin-Woodson asked: Your fee!!!! Deborah: VERY EXPENSIVE. Again, half joking. I think that is going to be my epitaph: “Here lies Preston Bailey, he was very expensive.” More than one client has mentioned that they resisted calling my office because they thought we were too expensive. I never try to defend my prices, however I can say one thing: my prices are not far from many other folks in the industry.

As I mentioned last week, I’d love to continue answering all of your questions. So, please ask away!

• I am too old to start a new business.
• The economy is bad. (This is a big one now.)
• If I charge what I deserve, I am not going to get any clients.
• I do not have a college degree.
• I have no talent. (When “talent,” I think, is mostly about practice and doing.)
• My family and friends are going to think I am crazy.

The list is endless.

Let’s work on a different mindset: Nothing is standing in the way of living fully. If I do not follow my dream in five years, I am going to be exactly where I am. If I do follow my dreams in 10 years there is a 50% chance I’ll accomplish my dream. (Those are good odds.)

Here’s the homework: Write down three changes you accomplished in the past year you are proud of (go ahead, be proud and thankful). Then, write down three things you think are “too risky” but start trying to make change anyway. What is the biggest excuse you always use?

• You have a hard time taking at least a day off a week
• You work more than 60 hours a week
• You have not taken a vacation in over a year
• You bring work at home and you think it is justified.
• You spend less and less time with family and friends, and you also feel justified, because it is work.
• You are constantly late for social events because of work.

What tips do you have to help improve the balance of your life?

My idea for chair covers circa 1988.

I thought I was being so clever by taking all the additional tablecloths and wrapping them around each chair to create my own version of chair covers.
Blooper: They became undone during the party and folks started tripping over them. Oops! Also, is it just me or does this look a little bit like a wake?

Circa 2002

In this Harry Potter themed event, I used invisible wire to hang all LED candles from the ceiling.
Blooper: There were a few candles that fell around the guest’s heads. (Thank God for my great client who thought it was funny.)

Circa 1992

This was my first attempt at draping fabric in tent walls. Also my first attempt at decorating with trees.
Bloopers:

• Back wall poorly draped with exposed air conditioning vents.
• Have you ever seen sadder trees?
• I was soooo proud of my hand painted ceiling.

Okay, we are being very candid with each other–do you have the guts to tell me a few of your design or service bloopers? And hey, always keep in mind my old mantra, “The best way to improve is by learning from our mistakes.”

1. I want to write about things I think will be interesting/engaging to you. If I’m writing things that only interest me and don’t spur on a conversation, I could just stick to writing in my journal.
2. This helps me understand what to write in the future. If the topic of “hot colors” or “flowers in season” is what gets everyone excited, I’ll probably continue on that track. If the topic of “summer reading” is boring to you, I probably won’t re-visit that topic.

I must warn you, though. This is not an exact science. Editorial planning is a mixture of analyzing your traffic numbers, and the intuition you have for what could possibly resonate with your audience. Just because something is not popular immediately, doesn’t mean that it’s not a valuable piece of information, and vice versa–just because something is popular doesn’t mean that it’s exactly quality. (I always joke that if I wanted to just post things that were guaranteed to be popular, that I’d start posting naked pictures…of myself.)

Here is how to find your top content:

• In your Google Analytics dashboard, you’ll see a section that says “Content Overview.”
• If you click “view report” you’ll see a more detailed look into that section, including a pageviews graph.
• If you click “view report” again (under the area titled “Top Content) you can see an expanded view of all the top content on your site. I like to focus on the top 10 to make my life easier.
• Keep in mind that you can view this report in any date range you want. At the top right, you’ll see a date range with a drop down menu. If you click that drop down menu, you can pick any beginning and end date you want. As I mentioned, I recommend looking at your numbers in a monthly fashion because it gives you a good overview. If you focus too much on the daily details, you may get bogged down with minutiae.

So now, here’s where the mixture of art and science comes in. I click each link within my top 10 (there’s a little icon that looks like a box with an arrow next to the left of the blue underlined link) and quickly review the post and its comments. From there, I approximate the reasons why I think this post landed in the top 10. (After several months of doing this practice, you’ll start noticing trends about what resonates with your audience.)

For example, whenever I talk about business practices and how to make money, it generally lands in my top 10. That’s not too surprising, right The key here is to figure out other ways to explore the same subject, but not just continually repeat yourself. Can I re-visit the topic of money making in a new way? Is there a different aspect of money making that I didn’t address or need to re-address to provide further detail?

By the time I’ve reviewed my entire top 10, I have a list of new ideas for blog posts. One of the most helpful aspects of this exercise is re-reading the comments associated with each top 10 post. You folks leave a lot of great feedback that always provokes further discussion, or you have questions I find myself wanting to answer.

This isn’t the ONLY way to plan new editorial content, but it is a good way to use the information you have to help you make informed decisions. I generally mix this list and information with a few other factors to help me determine what to write about. The factors can be as varied as how I’m feeling that day to what is going on in the news or other blogs.

For those of you very familiar with Google Analytics, I know this was just a basic overview for you, but I hope it helped. I’d love to hear about any tricks or tips you have for Google Analytics, or the process you use if it’s different from mine. Please share them with me in the comments below. Or, if you have any questions about Google Analytics and the editorial planning process, let me know.

1. Thomas Green asked: What happened to your hair? (Thomas, I love that you had the nerve to ask!) When I was in my late twenties I began to lose my hair, and way before Magic Johnson, I decided to shave my head. Though at the time I looked like a freak (maybe I still do?), eventually it came into fashion.




2. Lisa Bailey Cedillo asked: What has been your most challenging wedding and and what did you learn from it? It was a beautiful wedding I did a few years ago, and this client and her father (you know who you are) lied about money and I was conned out of $50,000. Lesson learned: always get paid in full before every event.




3. Cherelle Goodman-Miles asked: Can you show me how to be successful like you? Cherelle, of course, all you have to do is shave your head! (Just kidding.) My one and only secret to success is always using your mistakes as your teacher. This will encourage you to keep moving forward and take good and not so good risks to grow to success.






A real inspiration board from one of our latest jobs.



4. Sarani Gaines asked if I have any creative ideas for someone to get accounts who is just starting out but does not have a portfolio yet. Sarani: getting accounts is always about selling a concept or an idea. Luckily for us, digital cameras exist, so even if you do not have a portfolio, you could create a “Sarani” inspiration board by collecting images and ideas you’d like to present to a new client. Remember that your only goal is to show them you are an artist and can understand their vision.




5. Kelly Maria Ramsey asked: What was it that inspired/motivated you to take the first step in the career you are in? Kelly Maria: Just one word HUNGER. I needed a job. I started as a florist to later discover that I really loved what I was doing.

I’d love to continue answering all your questions, so please ask away. Or, let me know what you think about any of the questions/answers we discussed above. Read answers to five more questions from Facebook next week.

• Avoidance
• Short attention span (I need to work on paying attention. I always find myself thinking ahead instead of being in the moment.)
• Getting bored easily (This is part of being an addict–wanting constant stimulation. I also need to work on enjoying the down moments.)

Three of my good habits:

• Writing my blog every morning (I enjoy this because I feel like we get to share our good and not so good stuff with each other without any judgments.)
• I LOVE making money, but growing my business and being true to my brand and myself was (and is) always more important.
• Not drinking or taking drugs (20 years of sobriety. Now, I am just a workout addict.)

The only thing I can say about habits is that they are comforting. You grow to like them, and they grow to like you. The work that involves breaking a bad habit or starting a good one is very simple: action. However, you first need to describe what that habit is. Please share with me, (business or personal) a few of your good habits and a few of your bad habits.