How to Be a Freelance Event Planner

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Event planning has been an important career. It is not well recognized, but it remains a high paying and well-respected job nonetheless. You usually organise events for people. As such, the success and failure of an event will most probably depend on you. Therefore, if you are good at organising events and have possibly even had the chance to conduct a few in your college-life; The freelance event planner is the best career option for you.

Freelancing as an event planner is nothing new. However, the subtle changes have brought about a different way of approaching it. It is still a good career option and there is decent money to be made in the field. As an event planner, you can be assured of a healthy social and emotionally satisfying life, even as a freelancer.

Freelance Event PlannerJob Duties

You will take on many job duties that as a Freelance event planner, sometimes more difficult than simply putting together the guestlist for an event, or deciding on the pass charges.

Some of your duties as a freelancer in this field will include:

  • Researching markets to identify opportunities for events;
  • liaising with clients to ascertain their precise event requirements;
  • producing detailed proposals for events (e.g. timelines, venues, suppliers, legal obligations, staffing, and budgets);
  • agreeing to and managing a budget;
  • securing and booking a suitable venue or location;
  • coordinating venue management, caterers, stand designers, contractors and equipment hire;
  • organising facilities for car parking, traffic control, security, first aid, hospitality, and the media;
  • identifying and securing speakers or special guests;
  • planning room layouts and the entertainment program, scheduling workshops and demonstrations;
  • coordinating staffing requirements and staff briefings;
  • selling sponsorship/stand/exhibition space to potential exhibitors/partners;
  • preparing delegate packs and papers;
  • liaising with marketing and PR colleagues to promote the event;
  • liaising with clients and designers to create a brand for the event and organising the production of tickets, posters, catalogues and sales brochures;
  • coordinating suppliers, handling client queries and troubleshooting on the day of the event to ensure that all runs smoothly;
  • overseeing the dismantling and removal of the event and clearing the venue efficiently;
  • post-event evaluation (including data entry and analysis and producing reports for event stakeholders

Event Planner Skills

Event planning and organizing can be a draining job. It requires you to liaise with people almost all the time. It will be hard for you to imagine a time when you are not on your smartphone.

It is a demanding, yet fulfilling career, as the satisfaction of bringing people together successfully or being the one to organise a massive fundraiser is often indescribable.

Some of the skills you will need to successfully freelance as an event planner will include:

  • Detail-Oriented
  • Organized
  • Engaging Personality
  • Good Negotiator
  • Eye for Design
  • Energetic
  • Solutions-Oriented
  • Motivated
  • Unflappable
  • Resilient
  • Good Communicator

Many websites, forums, and even portals offer training material for you to learn event organising and event planning. There are websites and online courses that provide certifications in event planning, conference planning, and even niche fields like wedding planning. Universal class, Uscareerinstitute.edu, Ces.sdsu.edu, and Institute of Event Management offer online courses and certifications for prospective event planners.

[Also Read: How To Start A Compelling Event Management Business]

Being Successful as an Event Planner

Event Planning is a handsomely paid job option. However, to be among the recognized ones organising events at the biggest stages, you must take certain steps early on in your career to ensure that you become successful as an event planner.

  • Building a responsive network, one which you can leverage to find projects and extra work
  • Creating a social media presence and advertising your services
  • Being a people person
  • Being a Creativity Planner
  • Able to connect with all kinds of people
  • Master the skills needed
  • Be energetic
  • Get some certifications under your belt

Average Remunerations

Usually, freelance portals offer various kinds of payment models. In the fixed-price model, the price is usually pre-determined. The hourly model is the most popular and employers usually pay a predetermined sum per hour.

Finally, in the project-budget based model, you often need to auction for such projects. Usually, a fixed price model may range from $20- $200 and upwards, while you have to pitch for hourly projects, and budget payments, which usually range from $5- $35 an hour.

The average compensation for Event Planners is around $21 an hour.

Finding Work

Finding work as an event planner can initially be a tough exercise, but if you stick around long enough and are lucky to land some high-profile events early on in your career.

It’s a different proposition altogether Odesk, Flexjobs, Linkedin and other local job portals offer many jobs to Freelance Event Managers and Planners.

Resources

Many websites, forums, and even portals offer training material for you to learn event organising and event planning. There are websites and online courses that provide certifications in event planning, conference planning, and even niche fields like wedding planning.

Universal class, Uscareerinstitute.edu, Ces.sdsu.edu, and Institute of Event Management offer online courses and certifications for prospective event planners.