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As a business owner, you probably (hopefully) want to see your employees happy. But did you know employee happiness matters for your business’s bottom line, too? Joy is part of all aspects of our work at MBD Marketing & Events. Here are seven reasons employee satisfaction is crucial for business success.  Happy employees are more productive Happy employees are 12% more productive than their dissatisfied counterparts (Snacknation). Happiness is an invigorating, motivating emotion. In fact, employee satisfaction has a greater impact on performance than financial incentives. In fact, nine out of 10 employees would trade a percentage of their salary for “meaningful work” and positive company culture (Harvard Business Review). Research shows that people who are happy at work are more collaborative, more creative, and better at problem-solving. (Sound like a team you know?) Coworkers who are happy in the workplace and who get along well are more likely to work effectively to achieve common goals. Greater happiness = greater sales Like with productivity, greater happiness translates to greater sales - by 37% (Gallup). Not only have we determined that engaged employees are more productive, but that positive attitude resonates with customers. Potential customers or clients are much more likely to commit when interacting with upbeat salespeople. Companies with happy employees outperform their competition Not surprisingly, companies with happy employees, better productivity, and greater sales outperform their competition in all areas. Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” enjoyed a raise in stock prices of 14% per year from 1998-2005, compared to 6% for the overall market (Forbes). Positive workplace culture creates a beneficial snowball effect by creating happier employees who in turn contribute to a better workplace climate. The Harvard Business Review notes, “Decades of data have confirmed that higher employee engagement, or the strength of the mental and emotional connection an employee feels toward their workplace, has many positive benefits — including reduced stress, improved health and job satisfaction, as well as increased productivity, job retention, and profitability.” Engaged workers are less likely to look for new employment Happy employees want to stay with their companies. Losing an employee costs a company 1.5 to two times that employee’s salary (BuiltIn) and leads to decreased productivity and decreased employee morale. In addition, happy employees attract top talent. The most in-demand employees in any field have their pick of companies to work for, and company culture is the top priority for most workers. High-quality employees attract other high-quality workers.  Happy workers have fewer accidents Satisfied employees produce better quality products and services and have 50% fewer workplace accidents (Lorman). Happiness leads to higher engagement, which leads to greater focus and motivation, and in turn, fewer mistakes at work. Employees who are worried, stressed, or distracted at work are at the highest risk for quality and safety mishaps. Happy employees take fewer sick days Sick days are a business expense, and employees who report being happy at work take 10 times fewer than average (iSmartRecruit). The Integrated Benefits Institute found in 2019 that sick days cost employers an average of $3,900 per employee in lost productivity. When unhappiness in the workplace increases, so do sick days. What happens when employees are unhappy at work? A 2013 State of the American Workplace Report estimated that actively disengaged workers cost the U.S. $450-550 billion per year (CBS News). Here are some other alarming statistics about employees who are unhappy at work:
For more business success tips and ideas, follow MBD Marketing & Events on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.  Making Business Personal
As a connected collective of experts, My Big Day specializes in creativity. With superior organization, marketing experience and original ideas, we pull off amazing events and campaigns! My Big Day makes business personal by bringing JOY to the job in everything we do. As purveyors of fun with My Big Day, we support businesses and individuals in the growth of their ideas, events and marketing strategies. Our creative aptitude allows for unique ideas. Our passion for perfection makes every client a priority! Contact MBD Marketing & Events *** Bringing Joy to the Job *** Phone: 970-613-1455 or 303-886-3068 Email Us The President of MBD Marketing & Events has been requested to be a speaker at the 2023 Made In Loveland Entrepreneurship Series for Businesses.  Date and time Tue, February 28, 2023, 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM MST Location Business Warehouse Accelerator 815 14th Street SW, Suite C250 Loveland, CO 80537 Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/made-in-loveland-featuring-christine-forster-tickets-516366605417  Exploring Software; Time-Tested Platforms Small Businesses Prefer: Small business owners and nonprofit teams often wear a dozen hats at once. Why work harder when you can work smarter? Consider some of these software tools to make your organization more efficient and effective. Christine will take you through software that most small business owners need to get up and running, and to achieve growth. Curious about easy website creation, CRM, marketing and financial tools? This is the session for you. About the Speaker - Christine is an influential business leader, passionate about driving innovation and deploying go-to-market strategies. A consultative and collaborative industry expert, and a masterful relationship builder known for nurturing deep and enduring relationships with customers and colleagues alike. A versatile and visionary leader, champion of inclusivity and steward of company culture. As a small business owner with over 20 years of marketing, event planning and software experience, Christine is excited to share her time-tested tips with you. As a connected collective of experts, My Big Day specializes in the creative touches so many marketing campaigns & events these days are lacking. With superior organization, marketing experience and original ideas, we pull off amazing events and campaigns! As purveyors of fun with My Big Day, we support businesses and individuals in the growth of their ideas, events and marketing strategies. Our creative aptitude allows for unique ideas. Our passion for perfection makes every client a priority! 
Whether you're opening a new location, unveiling a remodel or opening your doors for the first time, a grand opening celebration is a great way to spread the word about your business and attract new customers. Here are some ideas to make your event a hit!
Download our free printable below. 
Free Download: Tips for Making Your Grand Opening A HIT
Making Business Personal
As a connected collective of experts, My Big Day specializes in creativity. With superior organization, marketing experience and original ideas, we pull off amazing events and campaigns! My Big Day makes business personal by bringing JOY to the job in everything we do. As purveyors of fun with My Big Day, we support businesses and individuals in the growth of their ideas, events and marketing strategies. Our creative aptitude allows for unique ideas. Our passion for perfection makes every client a priority! Contact MBD Marketing & Events *** Bringing Joy to the Job *** Phone: 970-613-1455 or 303-886-3068 Email Us  Running a small business is hard work! Small business owners tend to wear many hats: project manager, logistics manager, operations manager, human resources department, and often times, marketing manager. That is a lot to maintain and control! Marketing mistakes and pitfalls often occur due to the fact that so many small business owners aren’t confident in their marketing skills and they are simply just spread too thin. Marketing mistakes won’t necessarily ruin your business, but they do sometimes cost time and money. The My Big Day Marketing & Events team recently pulled together a list of common marketing mistakes that we have noticed clients and potential clients make. Our team has over 127 years of marketing experience - we’ve seen it all! Hopefully this list will help your small business avoid or correct potentially costly mistakes. Outdated Website Your website is your most valuable marketing asset. It is the key to reaching all of those searching potential customers. It is oftentimes the channel that delivers your company’s first impression to potential customers. 97% of consumers search online for products and services. A missing or outdated website can have a detrimental effect on your ability to do good business. Creating and maintaining a website isn’t hard or even expensive. There are a variety of easy-to-use website builders that are affordable - Wix, Weebly, Squarespace - are all user-friendly for even the most tech-fearing person. Neglecting Data If you don’t track the results of marketing campaigns, website traffic, or social media data, you never get a solid idea of what actually works. Not tracking goals, conversions, click-through rates, or engagement is like throwing something “against the wall” and hoping that something sticks - a sometimes costly mistake. There is no way to learn from your mistakes when you neglect to track. There is no way to improve. My Big Day Marketing & Events suggests building a strategy that includes campaigns with goals, milestones, defined messaging, targeted channels, and data collection. We suggest tracking website metrics, including the number of sessions, users, pageviews, top pages, traffic sources (which social media channels or ads bring your website the most visitors), visitor demographics, and conversions. When you collect this data, you’ll be able to track where to spend your time and money for campaign promotions. You’ll also learn a lot about your audience and customer base. My Big Day Marketing & Events tracks these metrics quarterly for all of our clients. This data helps us shape and adjust our marketing messaging.  You don’t have a clear idea of who your audience is Your audience is the people you want to purchase your service or product - those that are buying your solution to their problem. Sometimes the audience we want can blind us to the customers we actually have. No matter how great your messaging, logo, or campaigns are - if you don’t really know your audience, your message will miss the mark. Some small business owners try to avoid this problem by targeting the masses (remember before we mentioned throwing something against the wall in hopes that it will stick???). This is a sure way to drive up marketing costs and see very little on your ROI. My Big Day Marketing & Events helps small businesses study and get to know their customers and target audiences. We help companies segment their customer base, allowing tailored messaging to reach the right people at the right time.  Wasting time on social media by not following the 80/20 rule The 80/20 rule is a standard in social media marketing - 80% of social media posts should provide useful information to your audience (educating, entertaining, and offering solutions), 20% explicitly promote your business. People do not engage on social media to watch advertisements. They scroll through their timelines and feeds to connect with others, to be entertained, to learn, and to be inspired. Your social media strategy should reflect that. Also, when you provide helpful content for your audience, you are establishing yourself and your company as an authority on the matter. It builds trust. My Big Day Marketing & Events will often create posts and blogs that provide links to helpful articles or videos, industry insights, inspirational quotes and images, timely articles, and uplifting stories. These are peppered in with posts that promote our clients’ businesses and events. All of this is created to draw your customers in and engage them around your mission and business. No strategy or plan All of the previously mentioned mistakes could be avoided with one simple solution - having a strategy and plan. Failing to plan usually leads to a high rate of failure. Every client, event, and campaign is unique. My Big Day Marketing & Events works with each client to build a marketing strategy that works for their specific needs and goals. Our typical marketing strategy is built around these 7 steps:
 Failing to see marketing as a business investment Expenses are something you buy and are often cut or curbed during tight economic times. Investments deliver future value. The entire purpose of marketing is to drive leads into future and long-time customers. When you treat marketing as an expense, your ability to find future leads, customers, and company ambassadors is greatly diminished. Marketing should be viewed as a business investment. Marketing will help drive growth and new opportunities when your company needs it the most. My Big Day Marketing & Events helps coach clients to avoid these common mistakes. We work to help small businesses create effective, scalable, and brand-building marketing campaigns that really work. We specialize in marketing, advertising, social media strategy & management, website design & maintenance, and event marketing. We have the time and expertise to help support small business goals and growth. If you would like help with your marketing goals and strategy, reach out for a one-on-one consultation. We will help you avoid these mistakes and find success!  Making Business Personal
As a connected collective of experts, My Big Day specializes in creativity. With superior organization, marketing experience and original ideas, we pull off amazing events and campaigns! My Big Day makes business personal by bringing JOY to the job in everything we do. As purveyors of fun with My Big Day, we support businesses and individuals in the growth of their ideas, events and marketing strategies. Our creative aptitude allows for unique ideas. Our passion for perfection makes every client a priority! Contact MBD Marketing & Events *** Bringing Joy to the Job *** Phone: 970-613-1455 or 303-886-3068 Email Us We hear the question all the time, "Do I really need to hire an event planner?" Maybe you are really organized... Maybe you are surrounded with helpful people. While there is no question that organizational skills and reliable friends can aid in an event's success - there is nothing like having a professional team to ensure your event is successful and stress free. With over 160 years of combined experience on our event planning team, we have compiled a number of memorable 'Event Planner to the Rescue' moments during our time working together. So many popped up that we had to make this a multi-part blog!  Examples of how we have saved the day at events: - Guest Book Tree Stump: Some over-served guests at a wedding decided to create their own art masterpiece and ruin a bride & groom's tree stump guest book. MBD jumped into action, had the guests removed, and came up with an alternative guest book to capture the day. - Safety Pins: We have them in our emergency kits and need these at every other event. We can't tell you how often there is a fabric emergency that requires a safety pin! -Cabs/Uber: We have called countless car services to get guests home safely. 50% of our own planning team have actually been designated drivers at client events when a car service wasn't available. - Bubbles: Can't get kiddos down the aisle? We can, and have. We carry bubbles in our emergency kits. Little kids who are too small to be predictable in a wedding party will make it down the aisle if bubble are available! -Vodka Run: We have planned countless events where the amount of alcohol the client provided was underestimated and MBD ran to the liquor store to pick up more. Booze, juice boxes, ice.... you name it. We are often the wheels and credit cards behind the scenes so your fun isn't interrupted. -Bussing tables: We aren't caterers, but you would never know it. If your caterer doesn't have enough hands, or you ordered 'drop & go catering' without realizing that you need someone to serve the food and clean up.... we are often in the background, cleaning up. -Pen for marriage certificate: You just said I do. You need to make it official. Who has the marriage certificate? Who has a pen to sign it? We do. We even bring a 'pretty pen' which you would prefer to have in photographs over that pen with your realtor's address on it. -Sewing kit repairs: Our emergency kits include a sewing kit... and yes, we have run out of thread! You may be surprised how many outfit fails happen a year. We can sew too! MBD's Event Planner Saves the Day Video: Planning an event? You NEED us. Making Business Personal As a connected collective of experts, My Big Day specializes in creativity. With superior organization, marketing experience and original ideas, we pull off amazing events and campaigns! My Big Day makes business personal by bringing JOY to the job in everything we do. As purveyors of fun with My Big Day, we support businesses and individuals in the growth of their ideas, events and marketing strategies. Our creative aptitude allows for unique ideas. Our passion for perfection makes every client a priority! Contact MBD Marketing & Events *** Bringing Joy to the Job *** Phone: 970-613-1455 or 303-886-3068 Email Us
Whether you're throwing a high-end fundraising event, a luxury client appreciation party or just want to provide a simple thank you to your employees, here are a few gifts ideas that are sure to be a hit with any size budget.
Download our free printable below! 
Free Printable: 10 Thank You Gift Ideas
 MBD preaches the importance of bringing the added touches to every event that make it memorable and extra special. Showing appreciation for your event host is one way to bring that EXTRA to the event! Whether you're staying with friends for the weekend or attending a party thrown in your honor, thanking your host is an important step in ensuring future goodwill. Here are a few ideas to acknowledge the effort made on your behalf. See our free printable below.
 Making Business Personal
As a connected collective of experts, My Big Day specializes in creativity. With superior organization, marketing experience and original ideas, we pull off amazing events and campaigns! My Big Day makes business personal by bringing JOY to the job in everything we do. As purveyors of fun with My Big Day, we support businesses and individuals in the growth of their ideas, events and marketing strategies. Our creative aptitude allows for unique ideas. Our passion for perfection makes every client a priority! Contact MBD Marketing & Events ***Bringing Joy to the Job*** Phone: 970-613-1455 or 303-886-3068 Email Us 
CORPORATE HOLIDAY PARTY PLANNING TIMELINE
TIPS FROM MBD MARKETING & EVENTS Around this time of year we feel the last minute hustle from businesses and they try to scramble with planning the company holiday party. It doesn't have to be stressful. MBD has put together a tip sheet on how to time out your holiday party planning so you don't have to feel the stress and can simply enjoy the season. And of course, having planned countless holiday parties and having incredible vendor relationships - MBD could plan it all for you and give your company an amazing experience! Download our tip sheet below and keep on hand!
Book the Northern Colorado experts at My Big Day Marketing & Events. We take on the behind-the-scenes stress, so you can enjoy your event.
For business and private event tips and ideas, follow My Big Day on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. 
Making Business Personal
As a connected collective of experts, My Big Day specializes in creativity. With superior organization, marketing experience and original ideas, we pull off amazing events and campaigns! My Big Day makes business personal by bringing JOY to the job in everything we do. As purveyors of fun with My Big Day, we support businesses and individuals in the growth of their ideas, events and marketing strategies. Our creative aptitude allows for unique ideas. Our passion for perfection makes every client a priority! Contact MBD Marketing & Events ***Bringing Joy to the Job*** Phone: 970-613-1455 or 303-886-3068 Email Us Holiday party season will be here before we know it, which means it’s time to start planning your company holiday party. Read on to find out how to host a company party, with our My Big Day event planning experts’ list of dos and don’ts.  DO We’ve learned a thing or two after more than 16 years in the events industry. Here are our top 10 DOs for your company holiday party. Find the right date The holiday season means travel and a full social calendar for many people, so it’s important to plan early and get input on your event date. Choose several potential dates and poll employees to see which date will have the greatest attendance. Once you’ve chosen a date, book that venue – and we mean, like, yesterday. Find the right location (not the office) Since your company probably isn’t the only one throwing a holiday party this year, secure your location ASAP. Even if your office is big enough to host your party, your employees probably spend 40+ hours per week there. Why not switch it up with a fun venue downtown? Be sure to consider proximity to the office (so the travel time will be similar to the time it takes your employees to get to work), parking space, venue capacity, and amenities like a kitchen, stage, or projector wall. And don’t forget restroom access!  Consider food preferences Don’t just buy the tray labeled “party food” at the grocery store. Consider your employees’ food preferences. Maybe you have a lot of vegetarians in the office, or sweet treat fanatics. A vote also comes in handy in this situation. Be sure to ask about any food allergies, particularly if that means you’ll need to keep certain foods out of the event space completely. Hire an event planner Feeling overwhelmed yet? We recommend hiring a local event planner who already knows where the venues are and what’s available. Event planners can create a timeline for your event, suggest caterers and entertainment, and make suggestions about how much food and alcohol to purchase. Let us do the heavy lifting – the holidays are busy enough. Incorporate team building Any time most of your team is in the same place is a great time to do some team-building. Your employees probably don’t want to spend their holiday party watching cheesy videos about teamwork, but there are plenty of creative alternatives. A Secret Santa or White Elephant gift exchange is a popular choice. Here are some others:
Consider an off-season party Two of the major challenges of holiday party planning – guest attendance and securing a venue – can be offset by having a party just before or just after peak holiday season. Beat the crowd with an early November event, or bust the January blues with a post-New Year’s gathering. You’ll have more venue options and fewer scheduling conflicts. Recognize your employees A holiday party is a great time to show some employee appreciation after another hectic year. Present a slideshow of accomplishments as a company or present awards to each employee. Bonus: Incorporate team-building by asking colleagues to recommend awards for each other.  Consider an alcohol limit Alcohol is not uncommon at company parties, but if you’re serving it, consider having a cut-off of two or three drinks per guest. Nobody wants to drink too much, do something embarrassing in front of their colleagues, and then have to see them Monday morning. Having a drink limit allows guests to relax and enjoy themselves without taking things too far. Give a gift Gifts are a seasonally-appropriate way to show appreciation for your employees and engage in some team building. Gift exchanges are great for team bonding, and presenting employees with gifts during the holidays boosts morale throughout the year. Plan entertainment Your party entertainment may be built-in with planned activities like gift exchanges, rewards ceremonies, and other team-building exercises, but some holiday background music creates a fun ambience. Bluetooth speakers are budget-friendly, while a DJ or live musician is lively and memorable. If you don’t have any activities planned, consider making your holiday party an outing to a play or comedy performance. DON’TS Unfortunately, we’ve also learned a thing or two NOT to do when planning a company event after 15 years in the biz. Download the FREE printable below and avoid the top 10 mistakes companies make when planning an event.
When you book with MBD Marketing & Events, we do all the heavy lifting. Our holidays are filling up with contracts, so book ASAP with our team of creative, experienced event planners for an unforgettable company holiday party. For business and private event tips and ideas, follow My Big Day on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our Venues in Colorado & Wyoming Pinterest board for more location inspiration for your next gathering  Small Business. Big Impact.
As a connected collective of experts, My Big Day specializes in the creative touches so many marketing campaigns & events these days are lacking. With superior organization, marketing experience and original ideas, we pull off amazing events and campaigns! Allow us to WOW you and your guests! As purveyors of fun with My Big Day, we support businesses and individuals in the growth of their ideas, events and marketing strategies. Our creative aptitude allows for unique ideas. Our passion for perfection makes every client a priority! Contact MBD Marketing & Events Small Business. Big Impact. Phone: 970-613-1455 or 303-886-3068 Email Us We serve the entire Front Range; Denver, Southern Wyoming, the CO Mountains, and Northern Colorado: Loveland, Fort Collins, Greeley, Windsor, Berthoud, Estes Park, Lyons, Longmont, Boulder, Wellington, Johnstown, Evans, Severance, Timnath, Mead, Frederick, Firestone, Milliken  Take it from us, your professional event planners - we never work an event without having an emergency checklist! Even the best plans can fall short and the most experienced event planners can stymied by unforeseen circumstances. Having an emergency checklist and the right supplies on hand can allow you to handle anything that comes your way. Things that move but weren't supposed to: Duct tape fixes everything, right? That's almost true! Having a variety of tape, depending on the situation, is essential. Clear tape, gaffer tape, clothing tape, removable adhesive strips and double sided tape are important tools for fixing things that should be immobile. Sewing kits, safety pins, zip ties, locks and other theft-prevention measures fall into this category as well. Things that don't move but were supposed to: Now it's time to introduce duct tape's other half - WD40! A lubricating spray can be helpful for loud doors, removing sticky things and more. Scissors and wire snips are essential tools as well. An extra cake knife / serving utensils may also be helpful. Climate control: Is the event outside? If so, bug spray and sunscreen are a must. Anti-itch cream and antihistamines for those bites that inevitably happen can also save the day. An ice cold airconditioned event hall? Toe warmers under the table cloth may be needed. Look your best: In the case of a wedding, photo shoot or keynote speaker, appearance matters. Stain stick, oil absorbing sheets, static guard and a lint roller are important tools to make sure that your clients (and you!) be camera ready. Power it up: Extension cords, power strips, batteries, extra charging cables - we've all seen the situation where the cord just isn't long enough. Having additional supplies to provide power will never do you wrong. Additionally, think about what you would need if the power goes out completely - flashlights, lighters and candles.  Mobile office: Permanent markers, pens, highlighters, extra paper, paper clips and binder clips, rubber bands, etc. If you're planning an event with registration or that will take payment, throw in extra money envelopes and receipt paper as well. Extra name tags and acrylic sign holders are also life savers. Safety and wellness: A couple of snacks (remember food allergies) and bottles of water are critical when there's no time for lunch. Basic first aid supplies and pain relief will also keep you and your guests going. Cotton swabs and tweezers have a variety of purposes, and a basic tool kit to hammer in a wayward nail or bend a protruding wire will serve you well. Rubber gloves and trash bags can also help contain messes safely. Example packing list:
You can download our FREE printable checklist below!
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Making Business Personal. We pride ourselves on giving you something to look forward to. We are a connected collective of creatives - owned an operated by outstanding women. Want More?Never miss an event or opportunity. Sign up for our newsletter!
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My Big Day Company LLC 2006-2023 www.MyBigDayCompany.com
970-613-1455 or 303-886-3068 EMAIL US
We serve the entire Front Range; Denver, Southern Wyoming, the CO Mountains, and Northern Colorado: Loveland, Fort Collins, Greeley, Windsor, Berthoud, Estes Park, Lyons, Longmont, Boulder, Wellington, Johnstown, Evans, Severance, Timnath, Mead, Frederick, Firestone, Milliken
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