Too many times when I meet with potential clients and I ask the question: “What’s your budget for this event?” they stare at me with a blank look on their face. Some even ask me what I mean.

Your budget is the most important component of your event. Without this, you won’t have any idea of what you can afford if you plan on recruiting an event planner, food and beverage, venues, etc. You need to know what your expenses and potential revenue are for all events.

Begin with the basics, include all expenses you can think of and include a section for miscellaneous expenses because you will have expenses that you didn’t plan on. It can be frustrating to develop, but in the end worth the time and energy you spend.

Have you planned an event recently where you missed the mark on planning for expenses and possible revenue?

Hiring an event planner takes the guess work, time, and energy that you can use for your day-to-day business and customer needs. GEM will help you create your event budget and will think of items that you never thought would be included in any event budget.

Does the thought of developing a gift program for you clients leave you cold? Even as the weather warms, this can be a daunting process. Below are simple steps that can help in making this process go a bit more smoothly.

Develop a gift-giving strategy. Before you start searching through catalogs, spend a little time thinking strategically. What items will business recipients need and appreciate that can also reinforce your own branding program? The days of extravagant gift budgets are long gone. Yet choosing the right item—something of genuine or frequent use, for instance—can still go a long way toward building an essential competitive advantage: loyalty.

Quality products stay in circulation longer, and present the best face for your brand in whatever price category.

Coordinate components.  The most effective programs will reinforce your brand by integrating brand presence at each point of communication—card, gift wrap, and the gift item itself. This doesn’t have to be a headache. An expert can help you put these elements together in an efficient and cost-effective way.

Think community-minded.  One of the simplest gifting solutions involves purchasing gifts that support a charity of your choice. At Jog Marketing, we offer programs where a percentage of the cost of the product is donated to our client’s charity of choice. For example, Jog helped to develop a holiday program with an international staffing company gifting a coffee kit to clients during the holidays. A percent of the cost of the coffee was donated back to sustainable programs in South America where the coffee was purchased.

Tempt the appetite.  While today’s corporate mandates make alcoholic beverages a bit risky, food gifts are safe and steady favorites. Who could turn down scrumptious chocolates or cookies emblazoned with your logo?

Remember—utility serves all year!  Useful gifts that are also “current” include computer devices like USB memory sticks, or travel kits packed with mouse, USB devices and converters. In the “classic” category, calendars for holiday programs continue to be winners. While your clients may schedule appointments by computer, don’t overlook the desktop calendar for beautifying a cubicle or usefulness at-a-glance. Perhaps consider something unique—an acrylic cube, floating calendar, or CD planner—that will remind the recipient of your business with each use.

 Here’s to easier gifting!

Karen Rubenstein

Karen is a co-founder and principal of Jog Marketing, a full-service promotional products company that provides marketing and branding solutions for a broad spectrum of corporate clients.

Jog Marketing specializes in providing unique, top-quality merchandise for:

•  Corporate & Holiday Gifts
• Marketing and Branding Programs
• Incentive Programs
• Trade Shows
• Company Stores
• Giveaways
• Sales/Performance Incentive Programs
• Consumer or Business-to-Business Promotions

Prior to joining Jog Marketing, Karen spent several years as a national account executive, managing east coast operations, for Target Corporation Incentives and Recognition.  

Karen can be reached at 513.309.9098, rubenstein@jogmarketing.com, and www.jogmarketing.com

Producing a memorable event should be fairly easy, right? All you need to do is find the right location and order the food. All set…you’re done. Sit back and watch the registrations role in!

Not so fast. Who’s inviting all the people, watching the expenses and creating the agenda and on and on and on.

Yes, it’s important to have the best location to attract attendees and great food to fill their bellies but that’s not the only thing you have to do in order to produce a memorable and successful event.

It’s not time to put your feet up yet!

Producing an event takes months of planning, organizing and re-organizing. Not only do you have to make sure you stay in budget but you need to create the budget to stay in. Know what your expectations are for your event and know what you have to spend. You never want to go in the hole with any event your planning so it’s important to list all sources of revenue and all sources of expenses. Include some wiggle room in your budget for those unexpected expenses so there are no surprises. Knowing what your projected revenue and expenses are is the most important part when planning your event.
Make a checklist of all areas of responsibility when planning your event. Event planners are notorious for creating ‘to do’ lists.

Of course there’s more to producing a successful event than location, food and beverage, budgets and checklists. This is just a sampling of what’s needed.

To receive the complete list of what you need to produce a successful event, email GEM at info@gs-em.net. GEM can also make your events sparkle and take the hassle out of planning so you can ‘put your feet up’ and enjoy your event. Give us a call today at 937.610.3333.