Image: Creative Commons

Yesterday, I shared my 5 rules for adding revenue streams to your business.  Today, let’s talk about service and product lines that you can add to your business.  Keep in mind that one of my rules is to stay true to your niche and brand. Don’t add revenue streams just to make money.  Make sure that they make sense for your business.

Here are some ideas of ways that you can expand your revenue.  Be creative to find services that meet specific needs for your clients.

Expand to Other Milestone Events

This is a natural progression for many of us in the wedding industry.  We help people celebrate the major milestone of their wedding.  How about other milestones?  Baby showers?  Birthday parties?  Anniversary celebrations?  Many businesses in our industry attempt to do this, but few do it well.  They have a little blip on their website that mentions these other events, but they haven’t found a way to truly market it and price it so that it’s profitable.  (Revisit my rules 4 & 5 from yesterday.)

A couple of businesses that do this very well are Couture Parties in Newport, Rhode Island and Little Posh Parties in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Stephanie Frazier Grimm of Couture Parties is committed to throwing kids parties.  It’s not just a blip on her website.  She blogs regularly about these events and really targets the luxury kid market.  Juliet Douglas of Little Posh Parties (an off-shot of Green Orchid Events) has expanded her kid party services by organizing “A Date With Your Daughter”, a charity tea party for moms and little girls.  It’s a great way for her to give back and build relationships with potential clients.

There is a lot of opportunity for repeat business by expanding into other milestone events if you are committed to developing a marketing plan and financial strategy for making them successful.  I think our industry leaves money on the table by not exploring more “repeat business”.

Sell a Product

This is a tricky revenue stream to add.  I see a lot of “junk” out there that doesn’t really solve the clients’ needs.  Don’t introduce a product to sell as part of your business unless it’s a match for your brand and it’s meeting your target market.

If we listen to the needs of our clients we will see that they will express a need and desire.  It’s our job to provide the solution.  Being attentive to these needs is where innovation is born.

Carla David of Carla David Design did just this when she launched Say Cheese Props.  This off-shoot of her stationery and design business provides props for photo booths and sets.  Brides no longer have to spend time crafting fun gimmicky props for their photo-booth.  Carla’s also meeting the needs of photographers and event planners in our industry.  Win-Win-Win!

Some other products for you to explore as a revenue stream:

  • renting out design equipment to your clients for their events (makes use of all those props, vases, linens, and etc that you’ve acquired, particularly true if you are an event designer)
  • publishing an e-book for brides-to-be on your expertise (ejunkie.com makes it easy for people to upload and sell their e-books)
  • development of a product that matches your brand (explore options in drop-shipping if you don’t want to produce the product yourself; creating a private label partnership with an already established product is also a great option)
  • ads (if you have a successful blog, consider selling advertisements in the side column)

Partner With Other Wedding Businesses

Continue to explore ways to think outside the box.  Sometimes a wedding pro may be facing the need of client but doesn’t have the expertise to service their client in a way that you can.  Here’s a great example shared by Kateri Harried, owner of Klover Events.  She has been able to partner with bridal salons to help produce trunk shows.  It’s been beneficial to her business in the following ways:

  • Expanding relationships with other wedding pros to promote the event and give them the opportunity to be a part of the “grand gift bag”.  It keeps her in the know of people in her area.  As Kateri said, “it keeps your finger on the pulse and you’re often the “go-to” on new business referrals. “
  • She charges a fee to wedding vendors to be a part of the gift bag and promote their business to a high-end bridal audience.   (This added revenue stream is a great bonus for her business.)
  • It is a smaller event that provides an opportunity to have direct contact with potential customers.

I love this!  Kateri has found a way to not only solve the needs of brides, but also bridal salons, while expanding her ability to meet potential clients.  Brilliant!

What are your additional revenue stream ideas?  Please share a comment with our readers below.