Muriel Saldalamacchia is an internationally acclaimed wedding planner who provides an unsurpassed guest experience to a discerning clientele searching for excellence. With her taste for aesthetics and creative experiences, she has been providing unique wedding experiences in Europe since 2008.
The Muriel Saldalamacchia brand also offers professional training courses, effective masterclasses, and technical workshops. In 2020, during the pandemics, she has launched the book “The Anti-Ghosting Method: 10 mistakes to avoid making when a prospect contacts you“. Also, she created the 1st France Wedding-Planner’s Syndicate last year.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you ended up writing a book?
Before embarking on my business adventure, I was cozily working for large French and multinational corporations that spoon-fed us ready-to-use work processes that did not need to be questioned nor improved since others were paid to do that. If we failed to reach our goals after following the procedures in place, well, indeed, the problem was not ours… it most likely stemmed from that guy in charge of marketing or the one in sales…
In 2008, I started my own wedding planning company, so suddenly, it became harder to hide behind the corporate ladder. If I failed to turn a lead into a client, my revenues quickly reduced to virtually nothing, which defeats the whole purpose of running a business, right?
Besides, I hated it when my reply to an inbound inquiry from a potential prospect fell on deaf ears and remained unanswered. I was convinced that if a couple took the time to engage with me, regardless of the somewhat disinterested tone of their initial message, they were surely sending out a strong buying signal.
I really like to organize and take the necessary steps that lead to success. That’s how – among other things – I became an entrepreneur. I needed to create my own processes and my own methods to avoid repeating mistakes when a prospect contacted me. And I made it. No more ghosting! Surely, if it worked for me, it had to work for others.
While expanding my business, I had the opportunity to work on other continents, with different cultures, by becoming a conference speaker – always in the wedding industry – specializing in destination weddings. Just to spice things up a bit.
And you know what? The mistakes that we tend to make with the prospects who contact us are exactly the same whether we are American, European, Indian, or Emirati entrepreneurs.
So in 2014, I decided to write a white paper very en vogue back then- in which I defined my own personal added value, my seal, namely my expertise and wholehearted commitment in getting a contract signed with almost every single prospect who contacted me. In the space of three years, from 2014 to 2017, 6,681 wedding industry professionals downloaded my white paper.
We are now in 2021; I decided to go over this topic with a more detailed approach and much more well adapted to what we’re living now. At a time when social networks make it easier for potential customers to find and connect with entrepreneurs while dealing with an increasing number of professionals on the market, it became apparent to me the need to fill the gap by providing new, powerful, and efficient solutions, readily accessible to most.
What do you hope your readers take away from this book?
I want to enable them to grow their businesses and maximize their income. The ones who apply these methods will be guaranteed to radically change their future as an entrepreneur. However, one lesson that I believe to be really important is the Follow-up chapter. By following up, you’re simply implementing an action that will trigger more potential questions and, in turn, allow you to obtain more responses.
What are the top three tools you are currently using to write, publish, and promote your books?
- Coda is my tool to write. Very easy, I love how I can personalize each section, titles, and more.
- Instagram and PR
- Building a community. In my case, I have the Muriel Saldalamacchia Academy, which is my own academy for wedding professionals.
What were the top mistakes you made writing or publishing your first book?
You need to have a calendar with decisions to make. I remember I was so excited last year amid the pandemic that I wanted to launch it without considering whether it was the best moment to do it or not. Do people need it right now? Will the people understand what I want to share without organizing round tables and discussing it? In fact, I was so obsessed with having it available for purchase so I could start writing the next book, I simply decided to launch it. I was saying to myself: writing and publishing a book is not for fortune, it is about knowledge to share so readers could change their business when they wanted to make it.
I also learned that you need to tease and orchestrate the book’s arrival. I mean more than 2 days on Instagram ha! Honestly, I’m blessed to have a strong community. But my mistakes could have ruined my will to go for the second book to write. Readers warmly welcomed my book. I’ve been lucky because I had no clue on the timing, the expectations, and the mediums to use for it.
When will you consider your book to be a success?
My book is already a personal success in the way that it is now: it’s here forever. I also love the way that each entrepreneur who read it improved their methods. This is the reason why I wrote it: to help others not to fail as I did some years ago. But, to go further than this very personal statement, my first book would be a success when a publishing house would come to knock on my door and ask: “Hey, do you have other topics you would be happy to share that we could also publish with you?” This would be a massive success for me.
How do you feel when you are completely ghosted by a prospect? This book offers The Holy Grail of Sales, a hands-on training guide to help you master the art and skill of the follow-up. By exploring the most common mistakes that entrepreneurs make, it provides an effective step-by-step method to boost your clients’ acquisition process.
#1 Stay focused on the initial and unique message of the book. If you miss this, you’ll get lost, and so you’ll lose the audience.
#2 Decide what angle for each media outlet. Your book is not linear. It brings many different ways to think and act. So there are plenty of magazines, blogs, TV shows that could be interested in a certain aspect of your book when another journalist will want to go with another specific topic.
#3 Choose the 1st line of target / then a second one and adapt your message for each. They need to feel unique and well-targeted. They can’t lose time. And nor can you. As an example, we have different press releases depending on the media we decided to share the information with. You’re trying to convince an entrepreneur’s magazine? It is smart to choose to focus on a niched-angle from your book: about the entrepreneur issues most of them have to face, and how your book is solving the problem. You can then decide to promote your book to a community of salespersons. Some of them are not entrepreneurs, but here the ghosting method is universal. So this is why we have another level of press releases, with another angle to promote.
#4 Evaluate the market you want to invest in and so the language./ French and then American (process to hire). Easy story to share with you for this very specific advice. I am French. And so my book was firstly written in French. But as I had in mind to have it translated to American English I knew my tone had to be well adapted to my American fellows. Generating a plan and clearly establish your end goal and start the end in mind. This is key to success.
#5 Invest in professionals in each step: proofreader | creative designer for the cover | typesetter | translator
What is the one thing you wish you knew before publishing your first book?
Hah! I love this question! I still have no exact nor clear answer but what I know 100% is that I would ask for more help in all advertising processes. I’m very bad at teasing months in advance for example. And I know now that this is something very important to do, mostly when you already have a great community like the one I have. So for sure: content was my thing when preparing my book. For all other aspects? I wish I had known I should hire a PR and/or chat with business-book authors like me.
My community of entrepreneurs, which is one of the most precious things I can rely on as of today. Engagement is not something only to succeed on social media. It’s a human thing. Nurturing exchanges, valuable ones, and some only personal because as solo entrepreneurs you need to rely on someone who can listen to you without any judgment. And when it was my time to say “hey, I have something great for you, I wrote all my ideas and methods in a book that you can buy right now”, trust me, it was a real craze. Not only have I managed curiosity, but I mostly gained engagement, and testimonials. People we’re not feeling alone with the “ghosting” issue. I bet it was a relief to them. And so there came the success from them.
If you had the chance to start your career over again what would you do differently?
If I had to do it over again, for sure, I would do exactly the same, but faster, putting aside all the negative people saying “it’s too risky” “stay home with husband and kids” “just do it as a part-time job”. I would hang a sign that would mention JFK’s words: “ Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly”.
Can you recommend a book, a podcast, and a course for entrepreneurs and why?
For sure: what a pleasure to do it here!
The one book I recommend for every entrepreneur: The Leader who had no title, written by Robin Sharma. Classic yet very efficient. I recommend this book as its reading is a real empowerment. No matter the type of entrepreneur you are, R.Sharma shares his values and vision around leadership through a story that anyone can identify to. Easy to read, you’ll be uninhibited by this book, downright!
The one podcast I recommend for creative entrepreneurs is The Mindset mentors hosted by Rob Dial. It is an incredible resource for finding motivation and inspiration. The topics he’s dealing with on his podcast are so various, and his guests are from very different arenas, it’s always beneficial to spend time listening to Rob’s podcast when we are entrepreneurs.
And then the course for entrepreneurs I would recommend.. such a tough selection. I would say it really has to meet your expectations at the time you feel you need it. It might be something very “generic”, like a course on how to keep being motivated during a crisis”, or “how to hire someone different from you…” And instead of recommending a specific course, I prefer to recommend a way to choose the course: 1st: online or one-to-one, depending on the emergency of your needs. 2nd: choose the right person who is providing the course. Being a successful entrepreneur in the arena you want to develop yourself does not mean this person is good at teaching nor sharing. Choose someone who can prove s.he has helped other entrepreneurs and take time to chat with some of them directly.
What helps you stay driven and motivated?
I’m a goal-to-reach person. To stay driven, I focus on what matters to me. So I keep being motivated every single day. Doing what you love is a gift. Aside from this, I always – literally always – created processes in order to be able to work with priorities, under the pressure of deadlines and clients’ expectations.
Then, as an entrepreneur, it’s easy to be motivated. I even think that motivation is part of every entrepreneur’s DNA. You’re the only one able to create your own richness. Combined with a very traumatizing personal experience – mum’s suicide – I believe that it is my duty to share a positive motivation with everyone in search of it. From my daughters to my husband, to my clients, and to my peers and fellows.
What is a productivity tip you swear by?
The job of a wedding planner is about anticipation. We must therefore anticipate our workload and everything that needs to be done to accomplish each of our missions.
You have started your day, and you are happy to see this amount of energy regained. Seeing things move forward, when you are an entrepreneur, there is nothing more energizing. It’s time to move on to step 2 below.
Now take the time to position: – your appointment needs, – on the move – and in working time on client files and files for your own company. Like missions that you will timer, and that you will integrate into your schedule at Week + 2 (W+2)[1] [2] [3], which means planning this week and 2 weeks from now on.
Working at W + 2 on a weekly basis is one of the most proactive and beneficial organizational techniques that I know. I have been using it for many years now, and now that the pace has picked up, I can see how vital it is to me. I am never overwhelmed despite the colossal workload I have to accomplish (and I’m not complaining !!). Thanks to this W + 2 technique everything that really matters (you know, the “non-urgent but important”) is accomplished.
How do you personally overcome fear?
Fear is not a feeling that I allow to myself. Personally, I prefer to say I conquer fear than overcome it. I always give myself energy and strength to be in control, even with the unexpected. Knowing that everything could change, I envisage each task, each bet, each mission like a challenge, like a game. In every game, you have rules. This is exactly where I conquer fear: knowing the rules I’ll play with, with issues or success that would be tied to. You can’t be afraid to fail. You knew from an early stage it was a possibility. You get it: I see fear like opportunities you accept or decline. This is how I conquer it.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
I have always been very interested in productivity, how to create my own standard of productivity. We are overwhelmed with articles, courses, podcasts, and books to gain productivity. But I guess this is like running on an endless road if you don’t focus on what matters most for you. And with the pandemic, while being locked down, while having no possibility to travel like I was used to, it was like my own timeline in a day was totally up and down. So messy… I still had the vision of productivity. No doubt about this. But it was really new and uncomfortable to have no more pressure on deadlines, and in conjunction with new timelines to create.
I’m now learning how to dedicate specific time for specific tasks on specific days. Looks very simple, but I manage several activities in our Group: wedding planning for a BtoC clientele, wedding courses, and training for a BtoB clientele and I also speak at conferences and now write a new book. Needless to say that I also have my wife-mom life to enjoy, and with 2 teenagers it’s important to give time as parents. Thankfully, my husband is also my business partner.
And precisely, that’s why it’s so important. Productivity with an exact Time blocking is key to me today.
I pride myself to have trained to be ready with a back-to-normal business, and we’re all ready in the group. But, I want to do better, to do it on purpose. I now refuse to only be a productive machine, ha! It’s now out of date.
I am now working on time blocking, trying to find the best balance for me, for my business, for my clients, for my growth (important as I focus on growth, stronger than ever), and for my family.
What is your favorite quote?
“They did not know it was impossible so they did it”
– Mark Twain.
When I started my business, it was during the 2008 financial crisis. And I was not that aware it could be difficult to launch a B2B event business during such a collapse. But people were happy to tell me I was a fool. Then, during one of my readings, I discovered this sentence: that made me realize I was not foolish. I was simply focused so much on creating a business that anything else mattered. I did not know it was impossible. So I did it. And succeed.
How can we get in touch with you?
As an owner of different businesses and book author, my website muriel-saldalamacchia.com is just perfect if you want to get to know everything I do. On my Instagram account @muriel_saldalamacchia_official, I share my routine as a wedding planner and entrepreneur.
To get to know my business side – especially if you are a wedding professional – on my Instagram @muriel_saldalamacchia_academy and on my Linkedin profile, I like to share tips for entrepreneurs. If you are looking for more information about my book, the best way is to visit my website “The Anti-Ghosting Method” or the Instagram @book_the_anti_ghosting_method.
Author Interview: Author Interview with Sundance Brennan – Everything is Sales
