OFD Consulting LLC is an award-winning boutique agency that focuses exclusively on the wedding industry. We’re expanding and now on the hunt for a part-time editorial assistant to support our real wedding submission services through our PR membership, OFD Collective. The ideal candidate will have an equal love (dare we say obsession?) with media relations and weddings. The position is remote and anticipated to be 15-20 hours/week. DUTIES The editorial assistant will work directly with the team to assist with day-to-day execution of all public relations activities. Responsibilities will includ ..read more

With nearly 60 percent of consumers listening to podcasts, now’s the time for event professionals to dive headfirst into this PR tactic. Whether offering advice, telling a story, or highlighting a service, being a guest on a podcast is a fantastic way for your business to increase brand awareness and generate new leads. Podcasts are advantageous as they help event pros showcase two things: Their personalities. Business owners can reveal who they are and demonstrate how they’re different from others in the industry while connecting with potential clients. Their expertise. Sharing one’s exper ..read more

With no end in sight to the wedding boom keeping the industry stretched thin, many professionals find little time to focus on their publicity. But with a record number of engaged couples seeking wedding services, now is not the time to let your brand awareness fall behind. “But how could I possibly think about real wedding submissions and press features when my week is full of client work?” An astute question with a simple answer: automation. By letting your PR run on autopilot most of the time, you can step back and attend to your clients’ needs knowing your bases are covered. Then, once yo ..read more

What happens when a global pandemic makes it impossible to host a large wedding celebration for more than a year? A wedding boom! Thousands of couples have had to push their weddings from 2020 and 2021 into 2022, resulting in a wedding boom unlike anything the industry has ever seen. Weddings are now taking place one after another, leaving professionals with little time to breathe between events. Everyone who has rescheduled their special day is finally getting their chance to let loose with their loved ones, which is a welcome change for the industry. What’s not so welcome is the impact the ..read more

As an event business owner, your time is monetized — every minute counts, and there’s simply no room for ineffective PR strategies. If you’re investing time and energy in publicity efforts, they have to move the needle and push you closer to your goals. Otherwise, you’ll end up wasting more resources than if you had done nothing at all. But that leads to a critical question: What is considered a PR success? Is it about earning recognition from your favorite industry publication? Do you intend to build a reputation that helps you become a national speaker? Or is it about increasing revenue by ..read more

In the special events industry, we are blessed with a number of impactful award opportunities — from NACE One to BizBash to Catersource ACE awards, there is a spot for every industry professional to shine. But, submitting yourself or your brand for an award isn’t as simple as tossing your name in a hat. Many of them involve robust submission processes that require an investment of time, energy, and—oftentimes—money. If you’re going through the effort to submit for an award, of course you’ll want to maximize your chances at winning! Follow these best practices to curate a great submission that ..read more

Real wedding features are, without a doubt, a great way to reach your target audience, increase brand awareness, and establish social proof. Not to mention, earning those valuable links is beneficial for SEO. However, they take a significant amount of time to prepare and, in a season where we’re juggling a wedding boom with a global pandemic, you must see an ROI from your time and efforts. You may have the best intentions for submitting a beautiful wedding, but if people are unhappy throughout the process, it will become more of a burden than anything else. To avoid tensions surrounding press ..read more

Most wedding pros have their opinions about inspiration shoots, typically based on their own experiences in the past. However, with industry publications increasingly prioritizing real weddings (even to the point of refusing shoot submissions), the big question is: What makes a styled shoot worthwhile? The short answer is that shoots can certainly provide value to your business. However, it has to be carefully planned for success; styled shoots done on a whim are rarely advantageous. The truth of the matter is that they require a fair amount of collaboration and teamwork, along with considera ..read more

As we prepare for events to come back in full force, the market—and the industry—we are reentering looks remarkably different from how we left it. Client objections have shifted, the economy remains precarious, and we’re anticipating an influx of new industry pros who have used their pandemic downtime to build event businesses. To put it bluntly, it’s time for seasoned event pros to step up their game. Too many folks in the industry have years of experience under their belt but remain under the radar because they haven’t yet stepped into the light. More often than not, what’s holding them bac ..read more

For many wedding pros, public relations is always that task you’d love to do in a perfect world but ends up languishing at the bottom of one’s to-do list in favor of more pressing responsibilities. It’s understandable — you have clients to keep happy all season long, so you wait for things to taper off and submit a flood of real weddings. But, wait. If this is a common practice, doesn’t that mean you are competing with all of the other super-busy wedding pros who are just waiting to ramp up in PR once the colder months hit? Bingo! That’s why it’s essential to stay on top of your PR effor ..read more