Nora Sheils – Her Pivot-Rock, Paper, Coin
Some people pivot because their current business is no longer viable, and others, like my guest for this episode, Nora Sheils, saw a need for her business, looked for a solution, it didn’t exist, so she and her partner built it! What do you do when you see a need in your business and can’t find a solution? Listen to this episode for inspiration, some ideas and even a special offer from Nora for my listeners!
Nora Sheils is the co-founder of Rock Paper Coin, the first software platform to bring together wedding planners, couples, and vendors into one system for managing and paying contracts and invoices. She is also the founder and lead wedding planner of award-winning firm Bridal Bliss. In addition to recognition by Portland Business Journal in its 40 Under 40 series, she also earned a spot in The BizBash 500 for 2021.
Rock paper Coin provides automated tools for wedding planners, vendors, and couples getting married. The software utilizes technology to digitize contracts, invoices, and payments while supporting communication between all parties involved.
Now, more than ever, it’s important to keep as much money in your pocket as possible. Here are 3 reasons why more event pros are dropping their current subscriptions and joining www.rockpapercoin.com:
- Members who send invoices via RPC save, on average, $1,025 in fees each year! RPC processing fees are always a flat, 2.5%
- Subscription fees are half the price of other systems! Yep, members on RPC also save $434per year in subscription fees. This doesn’t account for the full year free you will receive with code ALANBERG.
- Getting set up is quick with their free White Glove Onboarding and sending an invoice couldn’t be easier. Schedule a free demo here: https://rockpapercoin.com/request-a-demo/
Get One Year FREE from Nora and Alan! Use the Code: ALANBERG (all caps) when you sign up at https://rockpapercoin.com/alanberg/
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– When I think about someone who’s pivoted within the industry, and I think about niching, my two kind of subjects of my guest on my podcast, my next guest actually fits into both of those categories. You’re going to want to hear this. Welcome back to the “Wedding Business Solutions” podcast. I’m Alan Berg, and I have a very special guest on. I have a friend, a client and someone who has niched and pivoted her business at the same time. And those are two of the things that I talk about with my guests here, Nora Sheils from Rock Paper Coin. How are you doing, Nora?
– I’m doing great. Good to see you. I’m so happy to be chatting with you today.
– Nora, this is great, because I talk about people who’ve niched, now, your original business, when I say original, like when I first met you, is wedding planning, event planning?
– Exactly. It’s a company called Bridal Bliss based in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s probably 95% weddings, but we also do all kinds of other events.
– Right. But now in addition to that, ’cause you’re still doing that, in addition to that, you have something called Rock Paper Coin, which is where the pivot comes in. It’s kind of a niche and a pivot at the same time. So give just a quick… Give me the elevator pitch. What is Rock Paper Coin.
– Rock Paper Coin is software built specifically for the wedding industry. We offer virtual contracts, virtual invoices, share documents and proposals, and it’s focused towards the industry. We’re the only platform that allows for three way integration where there’s a planner involved, a client involved and a vendor involved. So the whole process is just super, super smooth and easy. And we have the lowest processing fee on the market as well. So our goal is to save our wedding vendor friends, time and money. And that’s what we’ve set out to do.
– Okay. And processing you mean credit card processing.
– Credit card processing. Exactly.
– Let’s roll back a couple of things. First of all, where does the name come from?
– Oh, that’s a good question. We agonized over what to name Rock Paper Coin. And we we’re between a couple of them and Elizabeth, who’s the co-founder and my sister-in-law, and I were like, okay, let’s just do rock paper scissors. And then we just kind of stopped and looked at each other and we’re like, rock paper coin. So rock for a ring, a paper for a contract and coin for an invoice.
– Okay. So now we’ve explained that. My publishing company name is Left of Center Publishing and my wife and I had to come up with a name and we’re thinking about it, thinking about it. And finally she said Left of Center, and I said, why? And she goes, “We’re not quite right.
– I love that.
– And that’s how the name came. And we use-
– Exactly, I like it.
– We do. But I say left of center and people automatically think political,. One that’s left of center, but it literally my wife going, “We’re not quite right. So there you go. But let’s go back. So businesses get started because of many different reasons and this business for you, there had to be a need, a pain point or something that made you say, Hey, I need something, does it exist? No it doesn’t exist, hey, we’re going to build it. So what was the pain that started this?
– Yeah. That is exactly how Rock Paper Coins started. So at Bridal Bliss, Elizabeth and I worked together as planners and we were together just over cocktails, kind of complaining about our day and how we felt like we were constantly babysitting our clients. And we were reminding them to send their contracts in, we were reminding them to pay their invoices and sometimes they would, and we would be out of the loop and just didn’t know that it happened with the client directly with their vendor. So we were just frustrated with it. And we knew that there had to be a better way to do this. It didn’t make sense. It was a waste of time. So we set out to find software that already existed. We had zero intention of creating our own software company, but we tried literally everything on the market. You name it, we tried it. And for one reason or another, it didn’t work well for us. Either it wasn’t user friendly. Our team didn’t like it. Our clients didn’t like it. It was too expensive. It wasn’t attractive to look at. I mean, there were so many different things. When you’re in the wedding industry, you have to utilize a platform that’s attractive, that’s what the business is that we’re in.
– Let’s stop on that point for a second. That is an important point that a lot of people skim over. There are some platforms that other industries use, like DJs have their own platforms and stuff. And I hear them complaining about how it kind of maybe it doesn’t look fresh, it doesn’t look new, but that’s a reflection on your business. Right?
– Absolutely. And that’s one of the first thing a new client is going to see from you after they’ve talked to you and had a consultation maybe what you send them, your contract and your invoice and the way they receive it is a reflection of your company and the experience that they’re expecting to have with you. So it actually is incredibly important how contracts and invoices are sent as part of that onboarding process.
– Right. And how easy they are to read. Does it match your branding? I’ve said this many times, years ago at Wedding MBA, I did something on branding and it was on printed material. And I had people submit everything that they had. So their brochures, their business cards, their postcards, their flyers, their price lists, their forms, everything. And I would lay them out on a table. And a lot of it looked like, you remember Sesame street?
– Oh yeah.
– A lot of these things is not like the others, right? And it just it doesn’t match. Or it’s a reflection.
– Right.
– You ever gone to somebody that, still there doing it, but you need to fill out a card authorization form or something.
– Yes
– So of course it’s not an online thing. And they send you a photocopy of a fax that was copied, that was copied, that was copied, that was copied, that was copied.
– Right. That was copied and copied, and I’m looking at some of these properties, something like a Hilton Hotel going really? Really?
– Yeah. Yeah.
– Like that’s the best you can do. So it’s kind of it’s funny, we don’t get credit always for doing it right. But you’re losing points for doing it wrong.
– Absolutely. Yeah, if it’s not easy for the client from the beginning, they’re going to be hesitant to book with you.
– Yeah. I just started listening to an audio book called “Never Lose a Customer Again”. And he was talking about an experience with a dentist where he was in a new town, referred to a dentist, expecting to have to wait to get to see the dentist and then get handed a clipboard and all, and the process was exactly the opposite. They saw him two hours later. He could fill out the forms online, e-sign them. All the things you don’t expect. And you get that, now that has set the benchmark. So what you’re doing with Rock Paper Coin, is you’re setting the benchmark that this is going to be an easy experience. That was part of your plan.
– Right. Exactly.
– Okay. So what were the initial features like? Okay, this is the core to what it is.
– Yeah.
– ‘Cause I know it’s expanded since you first started-
– It has. The biggest features were virtual contracts, virtual invoices, and that three-way communication. So the planner always has access to their clients’ contracts and invoices. If they are given permissions by their client, then they can actually act on behalf of their client. What that means is if you’re a photographer, I’m your planner, or I’m the planner, and then we’ve got our same client over here, if you send them a contract on any other platform, they’re going to get it. And they’re probably going to forward it to me. I’m going to get it because they want me to review it before they sign. I’m going to click the link and it’s going to be broken, because it’s not associated with my website.
– Right.
– I’m annoyed, my client’s annoyed, and the vendor’s annoyed. Now with Rock Paper Coin, I, as the planner, automatically get a notification that my client has received a contract. If that client has given me permission, I get to go in and sign on their behalf. It’s totally legally sound. Everything is still between the vendor and the client. I’m more like the middle person making it all go through.
– So they’re giving you a form of power of attorney.
– Exactly. Exactly.
– But the photographer has to upload the contract to Rock Paper Coin.
– Exactly.
– Okay.
– Which takes a minute, maybe even less, but if they’re a member, they already have templates loaded and it’s like a snap of a finger. I will also add one more thing. If my client doesn’t want me to sign on their behalf or make payments on their behalf, totally fine. I still have access and I can mark the contractor, the invoice as approved. So my client knows I’ve reviewed it. Everything is sound, go ahead and move forward.
– Right. And if they are authorizing for payments, there are limitations on what you can and can’t do on their behalf.
– Right. And they will have already loaded onto their account, whatever payment methods they want. So maybe dad’s credit card, Mike’s visa, whatever it is. So I know when I log on there, what payment method to use, they get notifications. So they’re always in communication as well. But for Bridal Bliss, a lot of clients will sign up for Rock Paper Coin, give their planner permissions, and then not worry about it. Because their planner will just do everything for them.
– All the payments are made on time. And I think you told me the other day when we were talking they’re paying quickly and on time, right?
– Yeah, most payments are made within 48 hours of receiving the invoice. Probably quicker if a planner is involved, but it’s just it’s really quick and easy. And the vendors love it too, because they don’t have to harass their clients anymore. They know that it’s going to get done immediately.
– There you go. So that was the core to it.
– That was the core.
– And as you started going into it, I guess you and people using it, are they called users, members? What are they called?
– Members.
– Members,
– Yes.
– Started suggesting, Hey can it do this, can it do this? So now what are some of those kind of dos that it does?
– So we have added a lot onto kind of our base features. So a little more options when it comes to contracts and invoices, we’ve also added a shared documents feature. So many vendors use this kind of as the source of truth. So a place to find the final timeline, the final diagram, guest lists, things like that. We also have company folders. So if a company is coming from another platform and wants all of their documents at one place, they can store all of their past invoices and contracts. So they have access to them on Rock Paper Coin.
– Even though they were not created in Rock Paper Coin. They can report that stuff.
– Right. Absolutely. And our member success team will do all of that for new members. So it’s a really easy white glove onboarding, which is another feature. So a new member signs up, they get paired with their member success manager, who is always available to them. And that member success manager will gather all the info that they need. Usually they can do it themselves off social media or their website and get that account totally decked out, ready to go, and then give the new user kind of a personal tutorial or just a demo and show them how to use it. So they’re super comfortable.
– So you’ve taken your planner hat, which is, I need to make this,
– Yes.
– I need to take care of all this for the customer, and said, what’s the barrier to entry here. Right? Because in theory, I’m sure when you talk to people about it, they were like, oh, this is great. This is great. But all my stuff’s over on that platform.
– Right.
– But I’m using a different system here, but… ’cause the idea of contracts that are easy to do, that are e-signed and stuff. I still have a lot of clients. I had somebody recently, they’re sending a PDF over that somebody
– I know
– had to print out, sign, scan, send back. I didn’t realize this until last year how few millennials have printers. I just did-
– It’s so true. It’s so true.
– Because I’ve had a printer in my house, in my office in my house forever. I can’t remember not having a printer since I had a computer. I have two, I’m staring at a color laser printer and an all-in-one inkjet printer. I have two. I don’t think-
– We just heard it a second ago.
– Yeah, exactly. My wife printed something from the other room. And I’m printing from my iPhone. Like I go to my iPhone, I see something like, I can hit print then there you go. But I have two millennial sons, neither one of them has a printer. ever thought about it.
– And they probably don’t have a checkbook either.
– They do have a checkbook. Then they might have to look for it and dust it off. They do have a checkbook. Well, there’s another thing. Talk about friction. I’m sitting, I’m going to first pay it now, I have a health savings account, HSA account. And one of my doctor, actually more than one of my doctors, they will accept credit cards, but when they send you a bill, you can’t go online and pay it. You have to either fill out the credit card information and mail it, which I’m really not crazy about it.
– Right
– Call them up and do it or send them a check. Well, my older health savings account didn’t have checks. So I actually switched to another bank and I just got health savings account checks.
– There it is.
– Because I have these doctors. But it’s friction. And I’ve talked about this a lot before. A really good friend of mine, Shep Hyken, and one of the leading customer service experts in the world. I had him on, I have many of his books. One of them is called “The Convenience Revolution” and the word friction is just constant throughout the book. So you’re trying to remove that friction, both for the couple,
– Yes. the vendors. So whoever’s involved in there, the photographer, the florist, whatever. And then also for you.
– And the planner.
– And the planner themselves.
– Yeah.
– So does somebody have to have a planner to use this?
– No, absolutely not. We have quite a few vendors that will send it to clients that aren’t associated with a planner. There’s just extra benefits for that planner if he or she or they are involved, but a client can still virtually sign contracts and make payments to any of their vendors using Rock Paper Coin.
– Okay. So even if there were, let’s say you’re a DJ, and you wanted to use this but you’re not going to share with the photographer or the venue or whatever. You could still go in and do your contracts, have people e-sign them. So if somebody doesn’t have that system where it’s like, gosh, I know I’ve done e-signs. How do I do an e-sign? I don’t know how to do it. It’s already done, right?
– It’s done. And it’s so easy to use.
– Okay. So initially your focus, the niche, was, Hey, we’re planners. We have pain. We’re going to fix our pain, which is also going to fix pain for other people. So now are you expanding outside of it? I know you were looking for planners initially, but are you looking for others?
– Yeah. Our main focus was planners just because they have that added functionality of acting on behalf of their clients. But we have found that we’re getting droves of additional vendors. We first thought planners would sign up and then they would bring on their vendor teams, the florists that they work with, the bakers, all those people. But we have seen an influx of venues, caterers. We have quite a few florists, DJ, basically every vendor type is on the platform, whether they work with planners regularly or not. It’s a very low barrier to entry. Like I said, we have free white glove onboarding. They get a month free to use it before any subscription fees. And then it’s only $250 a year to use the platform, which is substantially less than most of the other platforms out there and our processing fee is 2.5%, which instantly saves them money. Most platforms like the PayPal, Square, all of those, their processing fees are closer to the three to 4%. So even that .5%, over time makes a pretty big difference to the bottom line.
– Right. It’s funny when you’re paying that extra .5% versus, I was talking with my mother-in-law and she’s very conservative in her savings and she’s got CDs that are paying point .5%. I was like, I think we can do better than that. I think. In terms-
– It’s better than just sitting there.
– It is, it is. But I did some stuff with her, which is conservative and in like a month and a half, she’s already made over 3%. So it’s like…
– Oh, that’s sweet.
– You don’t have to sell, keep earning dividends. There you go. But again .5%, if somebody does $20,000, that’s 100 bucks, right? Out of your pocket or back into your pocket. If you do $10,000,
– Right.
– you’re looking at $500 in your pocket. So, it’s going to add up over time, just like the other way those fees have been adding up over time.
– Exactly.
– I think my Square is 2.9 plus-
– plus $0.30.
– $0.30 or something like that.
– Yeah.
– Venmo’s charging now and everybody’s charging now.
– Right. One other piece of that is with our transaction fee, it’s a flat fee. So there are no batch fees, there are no additional fees for American Express or awards cards or anything like that. So we’re very clear, it’s very simple. Like I told you, simplicity was very important to us. So everything is out in the open and easy to use.
– Yeah, it’s funny you said that, about like the rewards cards and stuff. If you’re processing through Square or PayPal, you don’t know, because they charge a flat fee.
– Right.
– But if you’re thinking you’re saving because you’re processing through your bank or whatever, and they tell you what the fee is, a lot of people don’t realize if it’s a business card, they charge you more than if it’s a personal card.
– Right.
– If there’s a rewards card, you’re paying a higher transaction fee than if it’s a non rewards card.
– Same with American Express.
– Yeah. Yeah, which again, if you don’t look at your statement and I remember years ago, when I used to do that through a payment gateway, authorized.net and all that kind of stuff.
– Yeah.
– And I’m like, wait, what happened to that 1.8% you promised me, right?
– Yeah. It adds up. It adds up real fast.
– Right. So we have your niche in planning, we see the pain point, which is the pivot to then let’s go, first of all, let’s go find it. You didn’t have it. And now we’re going to build it. Right? So at what point did you and your partner there say, okay, so we’re just going to build this. ‘Cause it’s not like it happens in a month.
– We were wedding planners, we are doers, and initially went and talked to developers to build it just for us in house for Bridal Bliss to use. Very naive, had no idea how much time software development takes, how much money it costs. And we quickly learned. And we decided just to like take a step, think about things, figure out what we wanted to do. And we were kind of just putting it on pause. And during that time we would talk to our vendor friends both locally and throughout the nation, and we’d ask them what they were using, because we were hoping that we missed something that we could just plug into. Well, everyone said, oh, that sounds so great. If you figure that out, let me know. ’cause I’ll want to sign up for that. And so we got so much of that, that we decided to do just some more official research. And we talked to probably 800 planners and everyone loved the idea. And we got a lot of great additional features to think about and just different ways to make it a really great tool. So from there we decided to actually give it a try and we found an investor, she’s our third co-founder. She is actually a past Bridal Bliss client and a good friend of mine. So she joined on, and since we’ve gotten a few other investors, but we built it and we released it right before Wedding MBA in 2019. So it actually was really great timing. And I’ll tell you why, because everyone was shut down. Very few people were doing any events. So they had the time to look at software and look at ways to streamline their company, and different ways to kind of save time once weddings were going to come back. And so we got an influx of sign-ups and we were able to get people signed up, get their accounts all ready to rock. And then once weddings did come back, they were able to get on the platform and effortlessly use it for all of their events. So when things got crazy with the wedding boom, they were all set. They were saving time. They were sending contracts quickly. They were getting payments. Their clients were set up with autopay, and so there was no lull. They weren’t wasting time on their ends.
– Okay. So one of the few people that said something that happened at the end of 2019 was a good timing.
– It was. It really was.
– Yeah. I’ve heard a few people with things like that. And then others like venues that opened up then,
– Oh, gosh.
– or the beginning of 2020, yeah we opened our doors in January.
– March. March first.
– Exactly, exactly. All that timing there.
– And we actually decided to cut all of our subscription fees at that time. We saw that so many vendors were struggling and we just wanted to help. I mean, this all kind of came to be just to have a tool for us and for other wedding planners to use, but also to give back to the community that had served us so well over the years. I mean, a wedding planner is nothing without really great vendors that take care of their clients. And so we’d had a lot of that over the years and this was truly a way to give back and do something that would help streamline the wedding industry. And it’s kind of an antiquated, outdated industry, and any little bit of technology was going to make a big difference. And come COVID that became incredibly true. And a lot of vendors that hadn’t embraced technology were forced to, whether they wanted to or not.
– And there are a lot that still have not embraced technology.
– I now.
– I was with a caterer recently and I said, so how are you keeping track of your leads? He goes, I have a pad and I write them down. And somebody else was like, I have a spreadsheet. And I’m like, okay. Another client of mine who had been in finance before, I’m coaching him. And I said what are you doing with your accounting? And he’s like, I have a pad and a spreadsheet. And I just like, you used to be in finance. Like they have tech for this and simple, he got onto QuickBooks and QuickBooks like I can see my balance sheet, my P and L, I download all my transactions from the bank and all the credit card transactions right in there. And two weeks later he was like, oh, this is so much easier. Right.
– That’s the thing with technology. A lot of people are so intimidated by it. And it seems so complicated. And maybe 10 years ago, even further, it was. Technology was pretty complicated to get started. But now there’s so much support and everything is made with the user experience in mind that it’s easier than you would think. And so often we hear different vendors say I’ve been putting this off. It’s stressed me out. And I’m so mad at myself because this has truly changed my life. And I wish I did it years ago.
– I think so many things, we talk about raising prices. People are like, oh, why didn’t I do that?
– I know.
– And listen, I do the same thing. If I raise a price, I’m always like, gee I have to get comfortable with raising the price.
– Right.
– I have to get comfortable with quoting the price. So it’s easy to say, raise this price, but then the words have to come out of your mouth. And you’re like, . It’s only… And I just did it again recently. Again, I did it for the first time in years recently. And the first person I gave the price to said yes. And the second person said, yes,
– No problem.
– The third person said yes.
– Right. If a vendor, the way you pitch it, if you believe in it and you believe that you’re worth it, it’s not going to be a problem. But if you’re not sure, and you’re like, I can’t believe someone’s paying so much for this. Like, why would somebody else do that?
– I actually was doing sales training yesterday, and that’s exactly that conversation I’m having with someone. I could tell just by the way she was talking about it and her attitude, that she has trouble because she… Actually, was this when I was with you at the mastermind, no’s in Richmond, Virginia. There was a woman sitting next to me who did high-end decor and flowers and design. And at one point during the mastermind, which you know what a mastermind, because we did one together in that really cool room with all the barrels, it’s a small group, it’s up to 10 businesses. And she said, “I wouldn’t pay my prices. I was like, really? She said, “Yeah, “I would never pay someone to do what I do “because I can do it, “and I can’t imagine paying someone this much. I said, “Do you have any problem charging that price? She goes, “Oh no, I have no problem charging the price. Cause her customers have no problem.
– Right.
– And I think you’ve heard me say this, but if we went to a Rolls Royce dealership, the person selling the Rolls Royces doesn’t own a new Rolls Royce, but they have no problem quoting you $480,000. Oh, and you wanted the custom one, oh, it’s going to be another $50,000. Right. But you have to be able to say that without apologizing for it. And a lot of people do that, so-
– Absolutely. It’s all how it’s presented.
– Right, we’re getting sidetracked here. So now we have the core features and where have we gone to and where are we going to with Rock Paper Coin?
– We have a lot to come. We are definitely member-led, in that we talk to our members quite a bit. We want to hear what process they like on the platform, what they don’t like, what they would like to see more of, what we’re missing that they wish that we had. And one thing that came up over and over was more of a CRM lead management tracker. And so our developers are actually working on that right now, we will have that out here pretty soon. But basically if you get an inquiry on your website, it’ll automatically funnel into your member account on Rock Paper Coin. And you’ll be able to kind of go through that booking process with them and have a whole funnel with them. You’ll be able to sync your calendar. We are going to have different additional template options. So right now we just have templates with contracts. You can save as many contracts as you want for different packages or different services that you offer, but now with invoices, instead of having to re-type the same thing over and over again, you’ll be able to save different templates there. We have so much coming. Those are kind of the big glaring ones that they’re working on now, that should be out soon. We’re also going to be allowing for additional members on a team. So right now, with our functionality, if you’re with a planning company, you can have as many planners on your team as you want. Any other vendor type it’s just one login. So typically they’ll share a login to get in, but we will be adding different add-ons to a member account so they can have administrative privileges, they can just have viewing privileges, whatever that company is comfortable with. So that’s coming soon as well.
– Yeah, the following up with leads is one of the big pain points I hear from people. You know, how are you keeping track of this? Well, we’re really not. And then a visibility for a manager, an owner to see if their employees are doing what they’re supposed to do, one that I was just with recently, the general manager gets BCC’d on every email.
– Oh, my gosh.
– Right. And that’s how he knows that these are happening or they’re not happening, but that’s not a real good plan when you have
– Right.
– in his case, four or five, six people, and you’re getting BCC’d on everything.
– That’s a lot of emails.
– It’s a lot of emails, and not very efficient way of tracking that.
– Right.
– And listen, we know the pain, you know the pain as a planning company, you’re getting leads in from a lot of different sources. How do you keep track of those? How do they not fall by the wayside? All that kind of stuff. So again, the pain, now you’re hearing the pain from your members to come in and do that.
– Right. Yep, so we are building that. And I’ll tell you, just on the planning side, there have been so many times that we’ve gotten inquiries from couples who they might not be engaged even. And they’re just like putting feelers out. So when the time comes, they’re ready to rock and we’ve had so many say, “well you kept following up with us. “And we really appreciated that. So when we got engaged, we decided to book. And many people do book before they are officially engaged, regardless, but it’s important to follow up. And you talk about this all the time and I fully believe in it. All because they haven’t responded to your first response doesn’t mean that they’re not interested.
– I do training for a large venue group, they have very many venues, and we’re always looking at which of their people are doing the best. and we try to emulate that with the other sales reps there. And it’s not a shocker that the people that follow up more are doing more business. Because a lead that already came in is much easier to work than finding a new lead.
– Absolutely.
– Think about it. You don’t have to spend another dollar on marketing. You don’t have to spend another dollar on advertising. You don’t have to do any more networking events, any more social media, because the lead is already in. It’s already there. And I was asking some of their top people and how many times you’re following up. And one of them was like at least five, the other one was like six or seven. And another one was like, until they tell me no.
– I love it.
– Which is really the right answer. Tell you no, or tell you to go away, one of the two. And I think it’s how you do it. It’s that you’re doing it. You can certainly be aggressive. And I was in Philadelphia yesterday, and we were joking about how the bar for what aggressive is in Philadelphia and New Jersey and New York is a little different than it is in Oregon.
– Definitely.
– Definitely a little different. And I remember somebody saying that they thought something was aggressive this years ago. So some of the guys were like, that’s not aggressive. I can show you what aggressive looks like. Have you seen any of the Sopranos? We know what aggressive looks, or Jersey Shore. We know what aggressive looks like.
– So funny.
– So the pain points there. So we have your niche. Now your planning company is still doing planning.
– It is. And I’m still involved just at a very high level. So I’m not doing as much planning. I have an amazing team in place and they are kind of running the show, but I love it too much to completely give it up.
– I was going to say, and how many events does the company do?
– Bridal Bliss does around 150 events per year.
– Right, so nothing to keep you busy at all.
– Yeah, not at all. I do miss it though. I will tell you.
– I’m sure, but you got yourself into here and you definitely have a passion for that. All right, so before we go, I know you and I have worked together, you as my client here. And when you talked about this, you wanted to know if I would help get the word out, which I’m not doing this to help get the word out, I’m doing it cause it’s really interesting what you did there, but you’ve also made offers to my customers to get them to try this without it costing them.
– Yes.
– Is that still good?
– Of course. Absolutely. Just when you sign up, use code ALAN BERG in all caps, and you will get a free year of usage on the platform.
– A year?
– A whole year. Yes.
– Okay, so they’ll pay the credit card fees or the processing fees.
– Exactly. That’s all they will pay.
– But no fee to use it?
– No fee to use it.
– You can’t get cheaper than that.
– Free is a very good price.
– Free is very good. So we’ll put that into the show notes again. So what’s the website?
– rockpapercoin.com.
– rockpapercoin.com. Use my name, Alan Berg, A-L-A-N B-E-R-G. All caps.
– All caps.
– And you get a free year and you get to try it and see how easy it is to do e-sign contracts that’s very cool. So Nora, thank you so much for joining me and sharing your story, your niche and your pivot, because you’ve definitely pivoted. Is Elizabeth running the planning?
– No, she is full Rock Paper Coin. Full time.
– Wow. The two of you there. Okay.
– Yeah.
– Well that is a serious pivot from when we first met years ago. So I look forward to seeing you in person at the next, whatever the next, I don’t know what next event is going to be, but whatever it is, we’ll see you there. Into the show notes we’ll put the links, we’ll put the discount code, have all that in there for everybody. Thank you again for joining. Stay healthy, stay safe. Look forward to seeing you soon.
– You too. Thanks so much for having me. Good to see you, Alan.
I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is [email protected]. Look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.
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