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So, you're ready to turn your passion for capturing joyous moments into a thriving wedding photo booth business! Now, let's make sure your journey is as legal as it is fun….because let’s be real, drunk event guests LOVE a photobooth moment, and can get a litttttttle too excited about those tiny hat props… so let’s make sure we’re setting up your business to protect you legally.
Read MoreWE'RE IN THE HOME STRETCH, Y'ALL!
It's happening. You've made it through wedding season (or are hella close!). But before you breathe that sigh of relief, make sure you've got your pieces in place for the end of the year. Here's a quick list of things you need to make sure you've looked at to keep your biz green light on!
Read MoreOne of the key features of Honeybook is the ability to create and use contract templates, which can save you a lot of time and effort when creating contracts for your clients.
Here's how to use contract templates we provide in Honeybook:
Read MoreWhether you’re a wedding planner, photographer, event venue, videographer, makeup artist, DJ, cake baker— ANYTHING— starting a wedding and event business can be an exciting and fulfilling career path.
However, before you start selling your products or services, it's important to ensure that you are operating legally— or you can face steep consequences (or fines!).
Here, we’ll outline the basic steps to start your business legally— and I promise, it won’t be painful!
Read More"🎼What Comes Next? / You’ve been freed / Do you know how hard it is to lead?
Your on your own/ Awesome, WOW! / Do you have a clue what happens now?🎶
…well… do ya?
The world is starting to open back up.
You feel like your hands are tied, you don’t know what to do, and you don’t want to do the “wrong” thing. But…. you’ve got to start working again. Events are happening. So…..what do we do now? How do event pros proceed? And where do we go from here?
What comes next?
Let’s get into it….
Read MoreI’ve spoken to some folks who had no idea their contracts— which are at their core an extension of the brand experience— are alienating and non-inclusive. And they are shocked when I tell them that they can make a LOT of changes.
So let’s talk about making contracts INCLUSIVE to our LGBT+ friends!
Read MoreIn our very official Instagram Poll, it seemed as though people needed a break from COVID-related resources. ASK AND YOU SHALL RECIEVE!
We all have unexpected TIME on our hands right now. And TIME is a great thing!
We can check off those boxes for admin tasks we have been avoiding, forgetting, or just plain ignoring because “I can’t worry about that right now,” or “I’ll wait until off season to do that.” So while we’re stuck in the house, let’s get some things taken care of!
Read MoreConfused, stressed, or baffled about how COVID-19 will affect the contracts you have with your wedding & event clients? Never fear— we’ve got a flowchart for that.
Read More
LAST UPDATED 3-15
This started off as exclusive to our email list, but as things have grown, I’ve decided to make a regularly-updated master list located on the blog. Please leave additional resources as you see them, and comment with the link below! Feel free to share.
Our Facebook/ Instagram Live talking about your contracts and force majeure clauses, as well as what questions to ask your insurance providers
Our POSTPONEMENT TEMPLATE for you to #PostponeNotCancel those events. We’ve cut the cost and ALSO provided a $99 credit with purchase.
Our Contract Flowchart to explain where you are with your contracts vs. COVID-19 and how to work through cancellations/ postponements
Event Safety Alliance: What your organization should be doing to prepare for COVID-19
Every Last Detail has email templates to share with your couples so they can send those tough emails to wedding guests
The Abundance Group has created this Cash Flow ideas guide to help wedding pros create more income during this time
Kinsey at @shecreatesbusiness has also compiled a list of important resources for wedding pros
Our articles on Force Majeure and the Current Corona situation.
My babe Paige on what contract clauses to look for moving forward (via The Legal Paige)
My girl Rachel’s podcast talking about where we are right now and where we move as entrepreneurs (via Business Bites with Rachel Brenke)
Rachel’s article on COVID-19 for Photography Businesses
A great IG post from fellow law lady Brittany Ratelle summing it all up nicely (via Instagram/ @brittanyratelle)
The SBA is offering low interest rate disaster relief loans to small businesses affected by COVID-19 (3.75%). These could be very helpful to make payroll, pay installment payments,keep lights on, etc. You can apply online at the SBA website. To help your odds of getting one of these loans, you should document, document, document every expense, refund, and issue that arises due to COVID-19.’
Google is providing free enterprise-level tools, including *webinar features* and the ability to record/ save calls to Gsuite users for free until July 1, 2020. This might be a good time to put on that webinar you've been thinking about!
Facebook has provided toolkits and action guides to help businesses.
Cisco Webex is offering the free version of its Webex service with no time restrictions. In addition, it will allow up to 100 meeting participants and has added toll-free dial-in features with a 90-day license for businesses that are not already customers
How to host a live event via Vimeo
How to host a WatchParty on Facebook
Accessible online teaching in a time of COVID-19
How musicians (and other creatives too) can transition their business online ASAP
Gig Cancellations: Survival Tips for Freelancers
If you can’t make payments on your Student Loans (Government Loans, not sure how this will work for private)
Comcast providing free “Internet Essentials” service for 60 days during outbreak
Gigs Cancelled because of Coronavirus? Tips and Advice (with no sales pitch)
Coronavirus Anxiety Toolkit via Virus Anxiety
Or, as always, Text 741741 to talk with a crisis counselor at Crisis Text Line—it’s free, confidential, and available 24/7.
Make A Plan: Free 60 min consult with no sales pitch via Lisa Husseini, with the caveat that she’s not a psychologist, just someone who can help you plan instead of getting stuck in the anxiety spiral
Vanessa Kynes’ “30+ things to keep kids busy while you work from home”
Comment below with additional resources— we will keep adding to this list!
No one ever wants to think that their Client’s wedding or event won’t happen. But the reality is that engagements are broken off and events are cancelled due to weather, planning issues, slow ticket sales, or other considerations.
You, however, have held that spot in your schedule. You’ve started preparing for the event, and have put in some legwork. Depending on the date, you may have turned down other work to ensure your availability for that event (10/10/20, anyone?!). This is why you have that nonrefundable deposit clause!
But in order to safeguard that nonrefundable deposit (I also like to use the word Retainer, simply because of the you’ve got to detail the exact formula for the client based on several situations. Let’s talk through them:
Read MoreWe’ve all been there: you’ve invested time and money into the perfect contract. You’ve gotten it all set in you CRM system. You’ve formatted it so the alignment is perfect and those SmartFields are poppin.🙌
And then… a client wants to change something. 🙄
What should you do? Should you accept the change? And….. how do you even MAKE the change without messing up your contract?
Read MoreWe’re talking that nightmare scenario: firing clients.
You know those clients I’m talking about. The ones who call at all hours of the night. The ones who are never satisfied. The ones who are sucking your soul dry and whose phone calls you let go to voicemail.
The ones who have made you doubt yourself, your passion, and your business.
This is the time of the year when my “dayjob” gets a lot of calls about terminating contracts with clients, aka firing clients. Cancelling client contracts. Getting rid of those couples who are asking for more, more, more.
No one wants to do this. But sometimes, you have to.
But how do you fire a client without getting sued? OR without getting bombarded by terrible reviews?
Read MoreIs it true that it’s good luck to rain on your wedding day?
Well, with the extreme weather we get here in the the South, what if it occurs on or before the wedding day? What if it floods? What if your clients lose deposits and wedding gifts, and photographs were damaged because of the wind, power outage, or water damage?
Read MoreIn the wedding industry especially, “handshake deals” have been historically common.
But are these verbal agreements legal? The answer may surprise you.
Read MoreI see many creative entrepreneurs freaking out about finding an attorney, not knowing who to turn to, or making bad decisions when it comes to hiring people on their “A-Team.” You simply don’t know where to start, but know for a fact that you don’t want to walk into that dark, musty lawyer’s office down the road and work with that old buy who smells like mothballs. And it doesn’t need to be like this!
Today, I’m going to talk to you about what you need to know about hiring an attorney from an attorney….
Read MoreIn my “day job,” (hint: not this blog) I have worked with trademarks for years. I’ve taught classes to other attorneys on filing and enforcing trademarks. And I feel like I’ve heard lots of strange thoughts and myths along the way.
But hey— it’s time to bust those up. Let’s pull a Miley and come in like a wrecking ball to correct some of the worst trademark-myth offenders:
Read MoreEvery business owner has to negotiate a contract at some point. Whether it’s with a client who is asking for changes in your terms, negotiating through a vendor contract, or creating the terms to a collaboration agreement, knowing how to advocate for yourself is critical.
But guess what? Being your own advocate can be HARD. I will be the FIRST ONE to admit that while I am a great negotiator for others (like, I won an award for it in law school once, #nerdalert) I used to be terrible at advocating for myself. Like that whole “get-kinda-sweaty-and-act-all-fuzzy-brained” kind of feeling where your heart beats really fast and you wonder if everyone hates you……
Read MoreYou’ve probably heard through the grapevine how important it can be to register your business name as a trademark. But why? What is a trademark? Why is it important? And do you really need to do it?
Like most things, there are few easy answers. But don’t worry— we wrote you this simplified primer to give you the down-low on trademarks and why it’s critical you’re familiar with these tools to protect your brand.
Read MoreIf you're reading articles about running a small business, you've no doubt had someone tell you that you need to form an LLC. But if you're a newbie event planner, designer, photographer, florist, etc.-- do you really need to take the time to file with the state? After all, it's just you, right? And who is going to sue you for a wedding? Can't you just do it later?
I’ll shoot ya straight. Here’s the 4 questions you need to ask yourself to decide:
Read MoreWho signs the contract when mom/ dad/ Great Aunt Alice pays for your services? Some specific examples to make sure you’ve gotten the right signatures.
Read MoreArticles about law and wedding planning contracts, wedding photography contracts, and more!
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