What platform should I use for my new event rental business website?
Which platform (aka content management system) is best? Let's explore Wordpress vs. Squarespace vs. Wix for your rental business website. Read more
Which comes first? New website or RW Elephant account?
Whether you're new to the event rental world and just creating a website for the first time or if you're creating a new website for your established business, I'm often asked about adding RW Elephant at the same time. But what should you do first? Start an RW Elephant account or design your new site? Read more
Friday Q&A: Marketing Know-How
There is definitely some “luck” involved in entrepreneurship. But I don’t want you to discount the power you have to observe, notice, adjust, and get the results you want. Read more
Friday Q&A: Harnessing the Power of Incentives
If you do decide to offer a discount policy or a referral program, make it great! Create an exclusive club for them to join or make a "platinum status" available only to planners. I would encourage you to have a clearly defined policy. It should also be something that you are transparent about (maybe even have on your website). In order for it to not feel icky or under-handed (especially to your end client), you don’t want it to be a secret. You also want to leverage it to get more business from planners and venues. Don't hide it, make it attractive and something people want to get in on. Read more
Friday Q&A: How to Start Hiring Help
"I’m too busy! I need to hire people (or more people) to help me but I don’t know how. Where do I start?" Read more
Lessons from a Lemonade Stand
While some may think of a lemonade stand as a childhood right-of-passage or something to keep their kids busy for an afternoon, I experienced it as a window into entrepreneurship and small business ownership. I suppose I can’t help but think about what makes successful businesses tick but this sweet afternoon with my kids was kind of eye-opening actually. Here are some of the truths I was reminded about. Read more
NY + Niche Event Rentals in the News
It can be impossible to get out of your own head sometimes. You know you have challenges in your boutique event rental business and just “trying harder” isn’t solving the problem. Instead of continuing to spin your wheels, get the outside ideas, solutions, best practices, and advice that can make all the difference. Even making small tweaks to your operations, sales process, hiring practices, or workflow can reap huge dividends. Read more
Friday Q&A: Should I put my prices online?
Does adding prices to your event rental website commoditize your collection? Will your potential customers find it helpful? Does having pricing online increase your visitor-to-lead ratio? How about your closing rate? Read more
Friday Q&A: Who decides how to deal with damages?
Within your event rental business, dealing with damages is a given. Accidents happen. Things get broken. Repairs and replacements will be required. As a rental business owner, how do you decide what kind of damage policy to adopt? And once you choose, do you give your customer any options? Or is there a one-size-fits-all solution? Read more
Friday Q&A: No Warehouse, No Problem
Every event rental business is going to have a Sales Process that looks a little (or A LOT) different from anyone else. Your Sales Process is going to include your script, your policies, your questions, and your solutions to the pain points your client experiences. While I can give you a blueprint or a checklist, you’re going to have to customize every aspect of it to suit you and your rental business. Read more