As a way of paying tribute to my amazing clientele, I have launched a series of interviews with the dynamic people with whom I have the privilege of working.

Drumroll. Herewith, Loosely Speaking presents the first “Client Spotlight Blogalogue,” featuring Hazel Bowman (pictured at right), owner of Celebrations by Bowman and PrescottWeddings.com. In addition Hazel is an ordained minister.

Hazel and I have been collaborating on one thing or another for about ten years. We’ve served on boards together, and I had long admired her business skills before I ever had a chance to actually work for her. I enjoyed asking her questions about the inner workings of her business and hope they will benefit my readers as well.

ktcosmos: How does your business model differ today as compared to 6 years ago?

H. Bowman: PrescottWeddings.com was launched 6 years ago at a time web site development was in its toddler stage, if not infancy. Most companies didn’t have web sites – just email – and the majority of internet visitors were on dial-up. Pages had to be designed to download quickly for fear that the client’s computer would freeze.

My original vision was to create a series of templates that brides and grooms could choose from in order to create their own personalized wedding site, documenting their engagement, showers, wedding, and honeymoon. As an event planner specializing in weddings, this concept just seemed natural to me.

In early meetings with my technical advisors, however, I realized that a Prescott specific resource guide might better serve my clients, while allowing me to generate revenue through paid advertising. So … I filed the wedding templates idea away in my creative ideas folder, and took off in a new direction. In fact, about three years ago, I experienced a big shift in my perspective when I began thinking of the site as “the area’s premier wedding online magazine,” and that concept informs all my content planning today.

ktcosmos: Well, gosh, Hazel?! Did you have any anxiety about launching a web-based business when you yourself had no knowledge of how websites work?

H. Bowman: (laughing) Well, I should probably have had a lot of trepidation, but I just jumped in there and let my instincts inform me!

ktcosmos: Have any of your business decisions been driven by clients directly or indirectly?

H. Bowman: PrescottWeddings.com has a dual clientele market – each with their own expectations and demands and yet each dependant on the other. Visitors to the site attract advertisers to showcase their services, and the advertisers attract visitors in securing local servicers and suppliers. PWC has had to respond to the needs of both market groups, evolving in to being the area’s online wedding magazine for brides and grooms while providing updated technology to advertisers including audio and video.

ktcosmos: Can you share any key business hunches you followed through on that WORKED?

H. Bowman: It’s been said that you’re only as great as the people you surround yourself with. Though I had an initial concept, I also knew my limitations. I pulled together a great team of independent professionals and incorporated many of their ideas and suggestions. From the onset, PrescottWeddings.com was designed to be user-friendly, so that even the most inexperienced visitor could easily navigate the site. When archive statistics provided data on topics of most interest to brides and grooms, I assembled the same team to launch corresponding new pages, now among the most popular on the site.

ktcosmos: How about the flip side of that question?

H. Bowman: Two specifically stand out. I decided to run back-to-back articles regarding negotiating wedding contracts as well as household budgeting tips after the honeymoon. I thought brides and grooms would enjoy the practical advice. Traffic to the site plummeted and only regained momentum when PrescottWeddings.com resumed featured articles on reception themes, fashion trends, beauty hints, etc.

ktcosmos: With your diverse and interesting career background, what drew you to event planning and the wedding magazine businesses?

H. Bowman: When I was a vice president in charge of commercial lending for a Chicago bank, part of my responsibilities included “volunteering� on various boards of community organizations, including Goodwill Industries of Metropolitan Chicago and The Starlight Foundation of Chicago. Due to my expertise, I sat on numerous finance committees that oversaw fundraising activities. The 8 years I served with the Michael Jordan Foundation honed my event planning skills. It was when all 5 of my husband’s and my children walked down the aisle within 21 months of each other that I realized, though there were obvious distinctions, planning a wedding or a black-tie extravaganza held many similarities.

ktcosmos: Do you advocate formal business planning and goal setting, or is that more of a spontaneous or instinctual undertaking for you?

H. Bowman: It’s a mixture of both. Goals must be set or business objectives won’t be achieved. Simultaneously, goals must be realistic and business objectives open to change. For example, my initial sales goals were unrealistic. Very few companies back then were savvy to the power of online advertising.

Remember, PrescottWeddings.com was launched the same year Senator John McCain, running against then Governor George W. Bush, stood behind a podium that read McCain2000.org. People marveled at Sen. McCain’s originality in tapping in to the online generation.

Compare that to today when almost all advertisers promote their web site, whether the ad’s on television, radio, or print. The business objectives changed when PrescottWeddings.com evolved into being more than just a local resource guide but into a full-fledged online wedding magazine. Now the possibilities on how it can continue to grow and benefit brides planning their dream-come-true seem almost endless.

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Hazel can be reached via her website, PrescottWeddings.com.