Discover the skills needed to take your business to the top.Event production is an exciting and ever-evolving industry. A sea of enthusiastic new planners joins the ranks every year. Unfortunately, a few start their companies without the requisite skills, talent, business acumen, and stamina to make it—and, as a result, eventually fall by the wayside. Others have the right qualities but have not yet figured out how to make enough money for the business to be sustainable. Throughout the years, I have mentored dozens of young planners who were ready to take things to the next level but didn’t know how to get there. Here are a few keys to becoming a great event producer. “Good is the enemy of great”This has long my mantra, ever since I read it in the book Good to Great by Jim Collins. If you want to succeed, you must decide to do so; henceforth, you will only produce and publish great work. If you are uncertain how to identify greatness, look to our most talented and successful colleagues and study their published events. These people are easy to spot in the top magazines, blogs, and social media. Systematically dissect what makes their work great. Look at every detail of the imagery of their work: floral, tabletop, linens, furnishings, lighting fixtures, draping, flooring, etc. See how the details make sense, flow, and work within the context of the venue. They are never forced. There is never an element out of place, nothing tacky or contrived.Notice the quality of the photographs; the great producers always work with great photographers. Great photographers know how important that piece of the equation is. They carefully select each image for public view. You will not see messy, wrinkled linens, unattractive backgrounds, cords and fixtures that should be out of view, unlit candles, crooked flatware, or contrived and dated elements that have been circulating on Pinterest for years. Many planners post poorly chosen images like this every day on social media. What does that say about their attention to detail, about their creativity and originality? What does that say to a potential client who is looking for something magical and inspired for their special day? You will not attract the kind of clients that will take you up a level with this kind of marketing. Curate every single image that you show. Take those bad photos down today! This is one easy way to take your game way up. Remember that God is truly in the details. Paying attention to the details is a big part of what will help to make you a great planner.Never stop learningEducation is critically important to your success and distinguishes you from merely average or good planners. Learn something new every day. Learn from every mistake. Learn from every success. Your goal should be to become one of the smartest in our industry and to become a thought leader. The best way to achieve this is to read every day. Subscribe to and read event industry articles online and magazines filled with great content, such as this one. Equally important, read books on business, self-improvement, communications, sales and marketing, etc. Any book by Jim Collins or Peter Drucker will be immensely rewarding. There are many TED talks that will educate and inspire you as well.Excellent project and time management skills are another way to elevate your game exponentially. There are great classes on www.lynda.com on these topics. Become encyclopedic in your understanding of our industry. If you don’t know the answers, know how to easily find them or find out who does. Become the resource that everyone needs.Work with top vendorsYou are only as good as your weakest link. Even if we, as planners or event professionals, do everything else perfectly, if our vendors are not working at the same level, their inferior work can take the whole production down. Be certain that you only surround yourself with the best of the best, whether you are working locally, regionally, or nationally. When they are working with us, vendors are an extension of our company. We expect them to represent our brand by being on task, on time, and fully committed to excellence. It is our job to ensure that our vendors know what our expectations are—both of them and of ourselves. You must have an ‘A team’ to do ‘A work’.There is no better time than today to make great things happen in your business and in your life. You can achieve greatness and, along with that, increased financial success with a clear plan of action, laser focus, hard work, and self-awareness. You can do it. Carpe diem! WPM__Merryl Brown, CWP™, Merryl Brown Events,Santa Barbara, Calif.