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This information is intended for Meeting Planners who are building their meeting planning business. It contains thought provoking ideas on various ways to diversify a meeting planning practice's revenue streams. What follows are descriptions of business activities that are aimed at building additional revenue in a meeting planning practice.
First, a word on ethics: Developing additional revenue in a meeting planning practice does not translate into the adoption of unethical practices. A full and open disclosure approach is the best way to preempt conflict of interest and ethical issues. When meeting planners make their clients aware of their billing and mark-up practices prior to accepting an engagement, and ensure that they have secured a client's ascent to these business terms, they (meeting planners) are free to negotiate for themselves the best business terms available from suppliers.
Building Business Relationships
Busy meeting planners have leverage. They are in a position to direct substantial amounts of business to suppliers of goods and services. Our experience has been that most meeting planners are either too shy or reluctant to take advantage of their leverage. What goes unrecognized is the cumulative impact of diversified income streams on meeting planners' incomes. An ongoing and systematic exploitation of buying power leverage can easily double a meeting planner's annual income [READ MORE]. The willingness to initiate and build upon business relationships, old fashioned networking in other words, is all that is required to tap into undeveloped streams of income.
Using Buying Power Leverage
There are a variety of techniques available to meeting planners that allow them to benefit from their buying power leverage. All it takes is a bit of business acumen and negotiation skills, both of which can be mastered in a relatively short time through practice. This can be effectively be accomplished while avoiding issues related to conflicts of interest or ethics, a topic that is covered separately. (See Ethics &ndash Business Posture.)
Marking Up Outsourced Services and/or Referral Fees
A few words on adopting a business posture. Meeting planners are in business in one form or another, whether they acknowledge it or not. How meeting planners position themselves vis-à-vis their clients will have a large impact on their ability to exploit the various business opportunities available to them; including the extent to which such opportunities can be capitalized upon. (For a review of the various 'postures" you can download our summary of the E-Myth worklife stages – pdf file.)
In essence, adopting a business posture translates into the adoption of a Reseller Role (see Reseller Model), not unlike the one available via the CILFO Translations Official Reseller Program. As a reseller, a meeting planner can either 'resell' under an existing business name or practice or by setting up a separate business entity (or entities) from which to offer a broader range of products and services.
§ Translation Services
Many meetings attract audiences from varied language backgrounds. Depending on the numbers of attendees, an event may attract a large contingent from a minority language group (e.g. Spanish speaking people in the US) or from an official language group (e.g. French speaking people in Canada). The majority of events require written promotional and handout material; material which may require translation, i.e. English to Spanish, English to French, etc. Meeting planners can readily negotiate a referral fee arrangement with a translation service provider (companies, agencies or freelancers) or outsource the service to a service provider and mark up the final 'product' for resale. CILFO Translations has a Business Rewards Program in place that provides meeting planners with a couple of translation income options.
§ Audio-Visual Equipment Rental Services
The audio-visual business sector that caters to meetings is keen to deal with meeting planners. Like most businesses, A/V companies (as they are often referred to) have a retail list (aka a rack rate) and a discounted price for volume and repeat buyers. The price difference from one A/V company to another can be quite dramatic – a difference of as much as 50% is not unusual. What's less well known is that A/V companies can and often do lend each other equipment to meet peak demand situations. In other words, when A/V Company A quotes a price, it may be based upon their drawing upon inventory available from A/V Company B, even when the latter may also be competing for the same supply contract. In other words, A/V companies in major cities regularly assist each other on projects by cross-renting equipment to each other.
Of course, service delivery is a major consideration when selecting an A/V service provider. Labour costs are also a major consideration – one that is often overlooked. Dealing with such issues is a meeting planner's stock in trade. What's clear is that there are significant opportunities for securing savings for clients and negotiating finders' fees – and, to be clear, such fees are not necessarily available to the end user (i.e. the meeting planner's client) in the form of rental equipment discounts. And, opportunities abound for savvy meeting planners who elect to posture themselves as A/V resellers.
§ Interpretation Equipment Rental Services
Companies that provide interpreters and interpretation equipment rentals are in the same competitive situation as A/V companies. There is often overlap between Interpretation and A/V services as many service providers operate in both areas. The same collaboration arrangements as exist in the A/V sector are found in the interpretation sector. The bottom line is that there are significant opportunities for securing savings for clients and negotiating finders' fees – and, here again, such fees are not necessarily available to the end user (i.e. the meeting planner's client) in the form of rental equipment discounts.
Here again, service delivery and labour costs for services (particularly the services of interpreters) are major considerations in the selection of a service provider. The finders' fees are negotiable on equipment rentals. Here again, opportunities abound for meeting planners who elect to posture themselves as Interpretation Services resellers.
§ Graphic Design and Website Design Services
Yet another business sector where pricing varies widely from one service provider to another. The talent pool in graphic design and website design is abundant and the sector is competitive. Quality and service delivery also comes in a wide range of flavours, as do labour costs. The regular stream of business that meeting planners have to offer can secure them finders' fees (i.e. discounts on 'volume' labour costs) that are not otherwise available to end users. This sector represents yet another area where meeting planners can posture themselves as graphic design and website design resellers.
§ Accounting and Bookkeeping
An often overlooked segment in the range of services required by meeting planning clients. Every event has an accounting dimension. The larger the event, the more labour intensive the task becomes. Accounting and Bookkeeping Services anyone?
Building Additional Revenue Streams continues:
• Marking up Outsourced Supplies
• Add-On Business Lines
See also:
• Building Additional Revenue Streams (PART II)
• Building Additional Revenue Streams (PART III)
• How To Buy Printing
• Translation Affiliate Program for Meeting Planners
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Professional Event Coordination (The Wiley Event Management Series – Hardcover) by Julia Rutherford Silvers (Author)
Professional Event Coordination: Introducing a clear path toward event excellence — a comprehensive guide to essential competencies for event coordinators
Professional Event Coordination examines the full event planning process and provides the tools and strategies to effectively procure, organize, implement, and monitor all the products, services, and service providers that will bring an event to life. After establishing each layer of the anatomy of an event, this in-depth guide covers:
 
· Event design
· Project management techniques
· Site selection and development
· Infrastructure services
· Entertainment possibilities
· Food and beverage options
· Safety and security
· Inviting attendees
In addition to dozens of checklists, tables, and figures, this complete guidebook is enhanced with On-Site Insights (real-world examples), Technology Tips, and Exercises in Professional Event Coordination (reinforcement exercises that help in preparation for the CSEP certification exam).
A versatile tool that is effective for all types of events-for small functions with ten guests to major festivals with 10,000 attendees-Professional Event Coordination is a valuable book for every professional who works events, including event managers, caterers, event planners, and hotel and food and beverage managers.
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About Itby Michael E. Gerber (Author)
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
  The E-Myth Revisited is a guide to success for small business owners. Gerber is the founder of a consulting company for small businesses. In the beginning of the book, Gerber cites the well-known failure-rate statistics for small business: 40% fail in 1 year. Of those who survive 1year, 80% fail in 5 years, and of those who survive 5 years, another 80% fail. Over the years, Gerber has observed that the small business owners who fail often share a number of characteristics, while those who succeed do so not by luck, brains, or perseverance, but by taking a different approach. This book explains the approach that is necessary for a business to survive and thrive.
One of Gerber's most striking observations is that most small businesses are started by "technicians", that is people who are skilled at something and who enjoy doing that thing. (A technician can be anything from a computer programmer to plumber to a dog groomer to a musician or meeting planner.) When these technicians strike out on their own, they tend to continue doing the work they are skilled at, and ignore the overarching aspects of business. Without clear goals and quantification benchmarks, they soon find themselves overworked, understaffed, and eventually broke. Worst of all, they may come to hate the work they do. Rather than owning a business, they own a job, and they find themselves working for managers who are completely clueless about how to run a business themselves.
 
 
 
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Selection of CILFO-sponsored Translation Directories on Translation Classifieds:
∞ Global Directory of Online Dictionaries & Terminology
∞ Global Directory of Translation Associations
∞ Global Directory of Translation Schools
∞ Selected Listing of Online Translation Tools
∞ Directory of Translation Directories, Guides and Portals
∞ Directory of Open Source and Machine Translation Software
CILFO Translation Bookstore
Find New and Used Translation Books and Multi-Language Reference Material in the CILFO Translation Bookstore.
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If you have surplus translation books, translation software or translation reference material, why not list it FOR SALE in the Translation Classifieds TRANSLATORS' STORE.
CILFO Translations Spanish Translation Bookstore
With 150 million Spanish speaking people in North America and an estimated 40 million+ of them surfing the internet, it may be time to avail yourself of some Spanish language resources. Find a Spanish language website translation service near you.
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View a selection of the world's leading Translation Software brand name applications:
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The Traveling Linguist
"When in Rome..." Get maximum value out of your travel dollars, Nothing beats being prepared and there's no experience like mixing with the locals. What better place to find the language travel resources than on a website frequented by linguists and the global linguistics community.
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Lonely Planet Language Guides
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