“There has never been a website that only offers “event deals” to this market.”

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Karla Amador and Mary “Lou” Lomibao were event vendors and founded Event Finds after they noticed there was no place they could advertise un-booked dates or last minute specials to the masses. Amador and Lomibao, have also been budget brides a.k.a. “savvy savers” and understood that both parties could benefit from a website like Event Finds.

Eventfinds.com is the first website designed to connect quality event professionals with consumers looking to save on their entire event needs.

Eventfinds.com is the only deals website that publishes vendor un-booked date specials, promotions and excess inventory at irresistible rates for ALL types of special events. This includes weddings, birthdays, graduations, corporate, anniversaries and any other event imaginable.

MO: Can you talk about the process from initially having the concept for Evenfinds.com to creating the site and putting together a network of vendors and suppliers?

Karla: Yes, I had the idea for the site for a while. I knew I couldn’t do it alone. When I met Lou, the co-founder, I felt would she would be a good partner and I shared the idea. We literally went from talking about it, to interviewing web developers. We started to do everything to make the idea a reality. We would meet every week and brainstorm, we started to create the legal infrastructure for the business, put a plan together and worked on all the other things we’d need like marketing materials, etc. Finally, once we had a landing page, we started contacting potential vendors about the new resource available to them. The response was great, and until this very day, every event vendor has said that the idea is “genius.”

MO: What was the biggest challenge you’ve faced during your entrepreneurial journey and how did you overcome it?

Karla: I think the biggest challenge was going through a name change. We had decided to name the company something different in the beginning, we quickly realized that the name was too hard to pronounce and spell. Both my partner and I spent a great deal of time trying to find a new name that we both agreed on. It was definitely a difficult time but in the end we’ve grown and the name change was for the best.

MO: Can you talk about the advantages the site offers for both vendors and members?

Karla: Absolutely, as a member you can browse pre-screened vendors at a discount. Saving you time and money. A lot of other websites have a directory of vendors but you must research their reputation and call each one to get their rates.

As a vendor you can advertise un-booked date specials, promotions for your slow times and last-minute deals for a limited time. There’s never been a site that allows event vendors to do this.

There has never been a website that only offers “event deals” to this market.

MO: What influenced your decision to use the membership model for your site?

Karla: Our site offers limited-time exclusive deals, we want to know how many people are getting use of our service at any given time.

MO: What is the site’s current membership count? Can you share a marketing or promotional strategy that’s really worked for you?

Karla: The site is growing daily. PR has worked well for us as a strategy. For example, one mention got us over 300 clicks in one day.

MO: Can you talk about your plans for expansion and the strategy you’re using to have a presence in all major cities nationwide by mid-year 2013?

Karla: The biggest strategy is to increase our marketing and advertising presence. We also plan to add more employees that can help to build up the company in different regions.