This is the Transcript of the #WeddingMarket Chat on April 17th, 2013 with Angela Profitt. The answers were made on Twitter so responses will appear different.

Join Our Wedding Market Chats For Wedding Professionals Every Wednesday at 10:00PST, 1:00EST, and 6:00GMT (UK time) with the #WeddingMarket Hashmark On Twitter. Learn something new to help your business grow every week. The chats are hosted by Wedding Market editor Julie Albaugh (@juliealbaugh).

Q1: How did you get involved with the wedding industry?

Answer: By complete accident! I worked in mental health & always wanted to help people. Helped friends plan & design events, branched out thru word of mouth. After volunteering for a few years, I decided to start a “real” business, got a license & insurance. And here I am 10+ years later! I’m so thankful for where I ended up; it’s the most rewarding and honoring feeling when a client trusts me to execute their vision.

Q2: How has technology improved your business?

Answer: Phone Systems, and other technological advancements that I’ve recently incorporated into my business have allowed me to free up more time so I can communicate better with my clients and team members. I was able to alleviate the clutter and confusion of all the details. Retain out of town clients, travel for destination events while keeping up on the go, plan more events with a team & process in place. Build awesome floor plans. It allows me to think clearly knowing I can be anywhere in the world, and have access to all my client information, if a comforting feeling

Q3: Why wedding pros should divorce pen and paper and go paperless?

Answer: Save the environment! Never loose client details or notes. Know where it is at all times and make it accessible to clients and team members. Being able to search for a note is the best part and having access from all computer devices. It can help organize receipts for tax time, which we all dread. Simplify your life and save your back and carry one device: have it all on your phone, instead of hauling notebooks and folders around in a purse/briefcase.

Q4: What is the best way to handle all of our passwords?

Answer: There’s several softwares and apps that are awesome. I use 1password that manages all passwords safely encrypting passwords for safety. 1password has an extension for safari and chrome that is built in that saves your passwords to make it so easy and is accessible on all devices. Keychain will do this on MACs, but if you ever lock yourself out, and have to reset your entire computer, keychain is erased-I learned the hard way.

Q5: How should we backup all of our information?

Answer: For apple users, icloud is the most obvious for contacts, calendar, photos, music, books, etc. for documents, icloud is also great, but dropbox is a way to back up data and have it on the go from your phone and/or ipad. You have the ability to share anything with anyone. Carbonite will back up your entire computer. It does run your battery down and can make your computer a little slow, but at least everything is in the cloud. Time capsule and time machine are great, but if your office burns down, your stuff is gone, so the cloud is best. There is a storage limit though & more can be purchased. If your business handles a lot of data and files then you might want to look into RAID, a data storage virtualization technology. It’s a very reliable way to store your data and most businesses use it without any issues. With this being said, you can get data recovery from raid if something does go wrong so be sure to know where to go for help, just in case.

Q6: How do we make sure that Technology Doesn’t Burst Our Bubble?

Answer: Breathe! Take a little time to go to workshops, watch online videos, and educate yourself on how to slowly integrate some of the technology into your everyday life. You won’t be sorry! It’s creating new habits and changing old habits. Especially if something is working ok for you; it’s hard to know the value of the small change, but there is huge value in keeping up with change so business doesn’t die down. If you find that the newer technologies are getting too overwhelming for you and that’s starting to hinder your other work, then consider taking help from companies that offer managed it services. There are many out there you can choose from, and it could ease your burden. Take it slow, don’t rush anything. One of my favorite quotes: “Success is the journey, not the destination”.

Q7: What are the right apps to use for business?

Answer: Dropbox, Google Drive, Chrome, Evernote, 1Password, Sign Easy, efax, genius scan, mapquest, around me, google earth, wunderlist, YouMail, WhatsApp, ScanBizCards, Amazon, OpenTable, Kayak For Planners: ilevel, &measure, touch drew are apps I use daily and when building floorplans. There are personal apps that are time-savers: like your bank and pharmacy, so you don’t have to call.

Q8: How can we organize our productivity?

Answer: Define your process; and follow it with clients and team members. Have your devices synced over wifi so you can access all your pictures, documents, floorplans, etc.

Take all notes on your electronic notes app so you can share with clients and/or team members, and there is no typing up a proposal for a client; it’s already typed for you. Make changes on-site, with your iPad or iPhone, so when you go back to the office, it’s already done and your team can begin working in the background. If you want to go a step further, think about getting a Custom CMS designed for the business, so all of this and more can be done with the help of a single software. Block time for completing projects, with NO disruptions. Set goals-you can’t make changes unless you set an obtainable goal. Use a time keeper!

Q9: What is the right Communication for all Personalities?

Answer: Learning the difference in how the brain is wired & understanding how your clients need & like to receive their communication. I love Gallups Strength finders: it identifies strengths and weaknesses and teaches teams how to work together. True Colors is one I use to understand how to communicate the same message to the various types of personalities.
Q10: Can you tell me a little bit about your Sync Your Business &

Answer: Class teaser with subjects: http://www.angelaproffitt.com/classes/services

Classes are Monday night’s 5:30pm-7:30pm CST, $35.00 a class. Sign up:http://www.angelaproffitt.com/join-livestream 12 week livestream series for business owners who want to learn about apps & using their electronic devices to become more efficient & organized. I am spreading the classes out to give people the chance to retain what they learned & implement it if they choose to. That gives them a week instead of overwhelming people at once. Talking points are sent out each week. If you miss a class, or different time zone; classes are filmed & so they can be watched later from the same link above.

Q11: What would you like everyone to take away from this #WeddingMarket Chat ?
#WeddingMarket Chat ?

Answer: Take 1 hour a week to educate yourself on how to make your business better thru
technology. This will help your clients, communication, efficiency. It doesn’t happen overnight; a little bit at a time will go along way in the long run. Back up your work, so you are never caught in a bind. Thank you for the opportunity and for everyone’s time and interest in technology.

#WeddingMarket Chat Question: What is the most productive app you use for Ipad? Android apps? Most all apps on iphone are available on droids too!

A: @ipod12apple on ipad, GoodNotes is to edit on the go, TouchDraw for floorplans are my favs!

#WeddingMarket Chat Question: What is the best way to increase word of mouth?

A: Be accountable and polite! followup/follow thru. Send pictures & video to all vendors post events and tag them all!

#WeddingMarket Chat Question: What is the next topic for your Monday night class?

A: Next class: Define your Process-reviewing Dropbox, Google drive, Chrome and goals!