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Instructions on the Registration and Referral Process
This Registration and a listing on the 'Wedding Ministers' web site is FREE. Successful booking of a wedding requires a $50 referral fee to be paid by the Wedding Minister to me. Then I send $30 to the referring minister. Wedding Ministers can use this web site to give and receive referrals. One might imagine that the giving and receiving of fees will balance out over time for most officiants and it will balance well into the positive for the most successful wedding ministers who have a full schedule but who will have plenty of referrals to share. This is a unique referral system that involves officiants working together on referrals - a worker-owned business with profit sharing. Let's work together and share in the benefits as we help couples to make their wedding a wonderful experience.
Many of us Wedding Ministers are asked if we can officiate at a wedding on a date/time when we are already committed. Rather than just say 'no', some Wedding Ministers will refer the couple to someone else. Some wedding ministers receive a referral fee for these referrals. I am assisting in the process of communicating these referrals between ministers. While there are web sites that offer free and paid listings, this is the only web site that I know about which assists in the paying of referral fees to ministers for their referrals.
You will be listed on a page of wedding officiants in a section with your geographical area. When couples fill out a form and choose Wedding Officiants to contact, they will receive the contact information for each one that they have selected. They may contact you. I will send their information to you and you should contact them.
A $50 referral fee will be paid for a successful referral that originates from this web site. This fee will be paid by a Wedding Minister, who receives a successful referral. The Wedding Minister will pay the fee to the 'Matchmaker' after the wedding deposit has been received. Send a check for $50 to Gary Ritner, 7957 77th St. Ct. S., Cottage Grove, MN 55016 (PayPal also accepted - send $50 to garyritner@comcast.net and you will receive a receipt from PayPal).
While there is some control here, the Wedding Minister is operating on the honor system to pay for a successful scheduling of a wedding when the deposit is received for the wedding. Feedback by the Wedding Minister to the 'Matchmaker' is essential to improve the 'Star' and 'dot' rating of the Wedding Minister.
The Couple Form includes a list of ministers with their Star and Dot ratings so that couples would be able to get some help in choosing an officiant and so that 'The Matchmaker' will have some way to identify the most likely ministers to reply quickly and provide good feedback on whether the process did or did not succeed in a scheduled wedding.
Respond to your lead as soon as possible, so that you have a greater chance of contracting with the couple before they feel compelled to look elsewhere. The speed of your response (or a slow response) tells the couple a lot about what they can expect if they work with you. Contact the couple via phone (especially if it is a local call) and/or email. Check your email and phone messages at least daily and respond asap.
While it may be easy to circumvent this system for referrals, I trust and hope that those who are matched up with the help of this web site will send the referral fee. This honor system will have mutual benefits for those giving and receiving referrals. Thanks for your honesty.
Pictures will be posted with your entry if you send a .jpg file not larger than 10k to gary@whatagreatchurch.org.
Wedding ministers can have a web site (in addition to a free listing) for $50 a year. Changes can be made without knowledge of html through a simple editing system provided for users. CLICK HERE for info on obtaining a web site.
STAR RATING
Ministers will earn stars of merit for the following:
- Provide a web site for your services.
- Provide at least one referral that works.
- Respond to at least one request to accept a referral.
- Provide information on the number of weddings that you have performed in the past and current year to establish that you are an experienced wedding minister.
Ideally, a referral should not disappear into the darkness without some feedback on how the process of a referral is progressing or not. Emails to me and the referring minister should confirm when a wedding has been scheduled or when the couple is still seeking an officiant, or when the process has ended without a scheduled wedding. The following Dot Rating system has been designed to encourage this feedback.
DOT RATING
Please send details by email (including the quoting of the original referral email to
the 'Matchmaker' - gary@garyritner.org
if a deposit was received;
if the referral fee was paid;
if the couple is still seeking an officiant;
if the referral did NOT result in a scheduled wedding and the process has ended.
Each time you provide this feedback, you will receive a dot. With each dot, you will increase your chances of being the first one to receive a referral in your area.
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