We all realize that time is money and it’s difficult to give something away when you need to put food on the table. However, what many business people don’t realize is that when you give things away you tend to build a reputation for being a nice person and in turn people want to help you succeed..in business and life.
It doesn’t have to be “the farm” that you give away, just something simple that will benefit a bride or another wedding vendor.
Here are a few examples:
- Provide free advice through social media channels – Use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to offer free wedding planning advice.
- Give away a free eBook – You’ve been around weddings for years. Take that knowledge and share it with someone, free of charge.
- Offer free consultations – Although you give away an hour of your time you’ll find that 8 out of 10 times the person you helped will come back and book their wedding with you simply because they like you. People like to help nice people succeed. If you’re not nice though, more times than not they’d rather see you fail.
That is not to say that you want people to become accustomed to receiving your services for nothing, but providing some key information to potential clients for free will provide you with more exposure. This marketing method draws in new clients by allowing them to become familiar with you and your work….and it makes you feel good to give back.
Statistics show that online sales grow by 10 percent year-after-year specifically from email marketing. So what does that mean for you?
Use email
According to the Direct Marketing Association, email continues to be the most productive channel in terms of return on investment. Social media may be sexier, search engine optimization are effective for brides who don’t know you, but a strategic marketing program to brides that have opted in to receive email from you is the best way to get their attention.
Up Your Frequency
Since this is wedding season your email frequency should increase. But be careful not to bombard your list of brides. Have an email that did particularly well? Do an “encore” send, letting brides know that your promotion has been extended because it was so popular. Just be sure to keep a close eye on your unsubscribe and spam complaint rates as your frequency increases. You can do this easily by using CRM programs like Constant Contact or iContact.
Use Social Media to Acquire Email Subscribers
Use Facebook and Twitter as a way to introduce your company to newly engaged couples and entice them to sign up to receive email from you. Email has the added advantage of allowing you to target messages, which posting on Facebook doesn’t give you. Ask for enough information at email signup to do this effectively.
Give this a try and let me know how it works for you in booking more weddings!
I was reading some information about Pinterest (it’s the 3rd most used social media website now) and thinking how wedding vendors can use it to market to brides. Here’s what I came up with:
- Make sure to use your business name as your username or profile name. This is great for SEO.
- Just as with Facebook and Twitter make sure you add a paragraph or so about what interests YOU and your business. It will show up right under your photo, and will be one way that users can find out more about you.
- Connect your account with your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
- Don’t forget to add your website URL in your profile so that brides can find you easier.
- Pin! Pin! Pin! but not all at once. You’ll want to pin a lot of stuff but do it daily instead of all in one day. This will keep brides coming back for more.
- Tag wedding professionals that you network with.
- Comment on other people’s pins and “Like” other people’s pins. This will show other vendors that you’re paying attention and recommending them (which hopefully they’ll return the favor) as well as give brides a plethora of information all in one spot….your board.
How do you use Pinterest to reach brides? I’d love to hear what works for you.
It’s tough trying to run a wedding business in this economy…so I thought that a few inspirational quotes would help you feel reinvented, powerful and ready to take on a new work week:
“Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.” –Stephen Covey
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” –Thomas A. Edison
“Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.” –John Maxwell
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” –Winston Churchill
What inspired you today? Please tell us below.
There was a post on a popular wedding marketing blog today that I thought was worth sharing with ACPWC members about Brangelina and 5 marketing strategies wedding vendors can learn from Brangelina’s recent engagement announcement.
The blog post reads:
“Wedding vendors can learn a lot from celebrities and the PR machines behind them when it comes to marketing their wedding company. As crazy as it might seem, take some time over the next week to listen to celebrity gossip regarding Brangelina’s engagement on television and read about it online. Celebrities work hard to keep their names in the spotlight and wedding vendors can learn a lot about wedding marketing from it.
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| Brangelina finally get engaged | as reported on by ABC News |
What can wedding vendors learn about wedding marketing from celebrity branding?
- Word-of-mouth marketing is extremely powerful. You need to create a wedding marketing plan that will keep your brand top of mind among brides and those who will become brides. When the buzz dies out, the brand fades, too.
- Bad press doesn’t have to destroy your wedding brand.The PR spin machine can wipe up just about any mess. Celebrities like Brangelina do it best.
- Stay true to your brand message and image…otherwise you’ll confuse customers who may turn their backs on your brand entirely.Take a look at Tom Cruise as an example. Here was a celebrity at the top of his career when suddenly his behavior took an odd turn that ran counter to his brand image. As a result, consumers turned their backs on him, and his box office numbers suffered.
- Potential customers are always watching.Just like the paparazzi is always following celebrities like Brangelina to feed consumers’ desires for more information about them, brides are always watching your brand, too. Always put your best product out there and make sure your messages support your overall brand promise.
- Brides are fickle. Your wedding brand might be the most popular one day, but the next, your brand could be at the bottom of the barrel. (Look at Get Married for example). A wedding is a once in a lifetime gig (hopefully) and brides will tell their friends of new information that you share with them before AND after their wedding. Come back careers are not uncommon for celebrities (think of John Travolta), but it’s easier to keep your wedding brand on top with consistent and persistent messaging than to try to climb up again.
Again, I challenge you to take a look at the celebrity PR machine Brangelina for the next week as their engagement news fills the airwaves and internet and see what you can learn from Hollywood that you can apply to your own wedding marketing plan and make the rest of 2012 fab.”
What do you think? Is that challenge worth taking this week? I know that I’m going to try it. Good luck and let me know how it goes!
As a wedding business owner, you’re the pilot who ensures the business takes off and lands successfully. Are you flying by the seat of your pants or do you have a flight plan? If so, then you may want to read this:
In the book , “Your Financial Flight Plan: Pilot Your Business To Profitability” you will learn essential nuggets of wisdom
of how your business can run more smoothly and more profitably. Throughout the book, you’ll find out how to check and make improvements in your business. This small volume is worth the read, even if you think you know everything there is to know about business.”
Read a chapter of the book, read endorsements and review the table of contents on the website: http://www.adminbooks.com/ The book is also available at Amazon.com!
Let me know what you think of it!
In a recent poll of newly engaged couples who were asked the question, “If you had one thing to do over again what would it be?,” most brides answered….hire a wedding planner.
Why? Because…
- They did not realize how much work was involved
- How many details there were to consider
- How many decision there were to make
- How much time it would take
- How it would have reduced the stress level
A wedding is an investment…. plan ahead and save yourself time, money and stress.
Are you a wedding professional or a bride wishing that you could better understand the wedding planning process? Then join our home study wedding planning program:
Home Study Program
The Home Study Program offers you the opportunity to study at your own pace in the comfort of your home. You have three (3) months to complete the course, which includes a series of 10 instructional DVDs and the signature ACPWC Instruction Reference binder.
Included in the cost of the Home Study course is one year of Post-Graduate support, which includes a personal mentor. Post-Grads enjoy many of the same benefits as ACPWC members, in addition to one-on-one support that will inspire you.
Detailed information is just a phone call or email away!
Did you let the economy steal your dream of becoming a Wedding Planner?
Well, it’s not too late to live your dream.
The wedding industry is alive and well. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry and recession proof. Couples are always going to get married. Now, what they need to understand is how you, as a trained professional, can help them.
As a consultant you can:
- Save them time and money.
- Get better wedding professionals (vendors)
- Negotiate pricing for them
- Advise them on contracts prior to signing
- Share information that only industry people know
- Find great private locations
- Create their “Signature, contour, allure” in their special way
Polls of newlyweds have been taken, and the #1 thing a couple would change for their wedding is that they’d hire a wedding planner. The only issue in this economy is that brides are more selective. So stand out from the crowd by getting certified as a professional consultant.
NEXT COURSE? ACPWC course August 6-9th in Phoenix, AZ.
Check out this amazing wedding, featured on Style Unveiled!
Coordinator: Brenda Boorman at Heart to Heart Even Planners
Photographer: Mike Larson
Cake: Cake Cathedral
Venue: Rosarito
Caterer/Rentals: Cristal Banquetes
Don’t forget to register for the upcoming class for wedding professionals:
What: ACPWC Wedding Professionals Course
When: August 6-9th, 2012
Where: Noah’s
2100 E. Yeager Drive
Chandler, AZ 85286
What will you learn?
- how to set up your wedding consultant business
- how to develop professional relationships and grow your business
- how to determine your pricing structure
- how to create a wedding budget and timeline
- how to select the right vendors
- what to keep in mind when working with clients
- and much more…
Deadline to register. Wednesday, April 18, 2012. Click here to register!
See what people are saying on the blog!