You’ve heard it so many times - time is money. And despite how different today’s event planning industry is, the old adage still carries weight. If you’re taking too long to do anything, you’re likely overspending. So today, we’re sharing effective ways to save more time and more money with every New York event you plan. Adopt one or all of these techniques and start seeing time and cost-saving results.
1. Know and Stick to Your Event Goals
Checklists matter. And with every event you plan, you have to prioritize and stick to your tasks that support the overarching event goals. Any other steps or activities that occupy your event planning time without advancing the impact of your event is a waste. Set clear objectives every time and build a robust roadmap that allows you to stick to your plan for executing brilliantly.
2. Negotiate Wherever You Can
Groom your relationships with your event services vendors. Work together and negotiate better rates in return for ongoing event partnerships. Explore ways to trade services instead of fees. And any event element that comes with a price tag presents an opportunity for better negotiation.
3. Automate Everything That Makes Sense
You’re in the business of creating lasting experiences. And that often requires a hands-on, in-depth, and “fall down the rabbit hole” approach. But that can sometimes result in wasting time and valuable resources. Lucky for event planners, we’re in the digital age, and there are a million tech hacks and automations to make light work of all kinds of tedious tasks. Whatever you can digitize and automate - do it! This includes event marketing, CRMs, event apps, and contracts. Stop spending hours when you can automate and take minutes!
4. Be Flexible and Dynamic to Roll with Change
Another common time and money waster is change. And when you’re planning events, last-minute changes and contingencies are just part of the job. But your ability to remain dynamic and flexible will ensure you roll with the punches and never invest too much time or money in chasing a problem or streamlining an event fix.
5. Delegate and Collaborate
Event planners can’t operate in a silo. If you really want to make an impression with your events, you’re going to need to collaborate and delegate. Your ability to manage expectations and turn over the reins will provide you with more time and, essentially, more money. Stop trying to juggle all the event planning details on your own when you can bring in others. Outsource mundane administrative tasks, tap other event planners for creative collaboration, and partner with service providers who can help.
6. Reusing and Repurposing
Don’t reinvent with each event if there’s an opportunity to reuse or repurpose various elements. Cascade any creative genius you come up with for one event into other events that make sense to do so. Repurpose marketing messages or event app designs. Recapture cool event decor and ideas for us in another type of event. Just don’t waste time or money reinventing yourself when you can create an ongoing idea library worth repurposing.
7. Use Artificial Intelligence
Don’t be afraid of artificial intelligence. Because its recent advancements (with the likes of ChatGPT and others) are relatively new, the verdict may still be out on its effectiveness in event planning. The truth is AI is a must-have tool in your toolbox. Just be mindful to only use it where it makes sense and not rely on it as a replacement solution. Use AI to help with your social media marketing outlines. Use AI to polish your event invitations grammatically. And use AI to get your content creative juices flowing. Just don’t let AI make all your content decisions for you. Let it support your efforts, and you’ll save valuable time and money.
8. Always Be Improving and Growing
If you get better as an event planner, you’ll become more efficient with your time and expenses. So, it only makes sense to always be looking for ways to improve and innovate your event planning skills and expertise. Invest in growing as a professional and always fine-tune your event planning.
FAQs About Event Planning Time and Cost Hacks
Explore these time and cost-related suggestions relating to some of the most frequently asked questions about event planning improvement methods.
How do you stay on budget with your NYC events?
Stay on budget every time when you:
- Know your event KPIs and objectives.
- Start with estimates and fine-tune figures.
- Get multiple quotes.
- Boost event income with sponsorships.
How can you get added-value products or services for your events?
Ask for them! Build strong relationships and partnerships with all your event production vendors, and remember to ask for added value or extras.
How can event data and feedback help you streamline costs and time?
Tap into qualitative and quantitative event metrics and feedback to help you identify any areas you might have overspent. These datasets can also help you decide where you can look to save more event planning time. Use surveys and track analytics to review after every NYC event.
Learn the Best Event Planning Techniques at The Expo
Start looking for new ways to save time and money with your event planning efforts. Use these techniques to become more effective and efficient. And you can always learn all the best ways to boost your event planning business when you attend all three days of The Event Planner Expo! It’s NYC’s premier event conference, attracting thousands of the industry’s absolute best. Get to The Expo and always check back here for event planning insights you can actually use to improve your business bottom line!
