About Stephanie Padovani

Stephanie is a Hudson Valley wedding insider, blogger, writer, and wedding business coach. Want to book more weddings at higher prices? Quit dealing with price shoppers? Transform your wedding business so that it supports the life you really want? Look her up! They don't call her the Wedding Business Cheerleader for nothing. :)

4 Creative Marketing Strategies for Non-Local Wedding Businesses

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destination wedding

Question: How can I get more leads for my destination wedding business?

Hi there,

I am Stefania, a young Italian woman living in Rome.

An American friend of mine has explained that it is becoming more and more popular for American couples to host destination weddings, including European destinations, such as Italy.

So, my idea would be to assist US citizens who wish to get married here in Italy.  I tried to be advertised a lot from US agencies but as you told in the videos it doesn’t work… so I am asking you for help, I mean if you could help me in build my destination wedding business.

I tried to download your 64 free websites where I can advertise my business, could you help with that too? Thank you very much

Best wishes,

Stefania

Answer:

Hi, Stefania!

We’re actually working with a client right now who is targeting a similar market; she is a destination travel specialist who works with American couples planning a destination wedding in Ireland.

Because your business is international, you’ll need to use a different approach to reach your target market.  You can still adapt the free and cheap marketing strategies we recommend for local businesses, but your focus will be ONLINE, since that’s the most cost-effective way to reach couples planning a destination wedding.

Here are four strategies we suggest to get the best results for a non-local wedding business without spending a lot of money:

1) Connect and partner with venues who offer destination wedding services for American couples.  Interview them for a series of blog posts and link to them.

2) Write articles for destination wedding and travel blogs about Italy destination wedding topics.  This will attract targeted visitors and boost your SEO when you link back to your website.

3) Write  a free report or create a video called something like, “10 Disastrous Mistakes to Avoid When Planning a Destination Wedding in Italy,” and give it away (after brides enter their name and email) on your blog, with a Facebook ad campaign, and from your guest blog posts.

4) Create and optimize Youtube videos around Italy destination wedding planning topics.  This is the easiest way to get to Page 1 on Google fast.

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Free & Cheap Wedding Marketing Strategies
Watch this free video to learn the Free & Cheap Marketing Strategies That REALLY Work!

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The Cure for Expensive Bridal Advertising and Marketing Overwhelm

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Wedding 1

What kind of wedding marketing REALLY works to get quality leads?

You’ve got bridal shows, lead lists, networking, magazine ads, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, wedding directories, reviews, charity and community outreach, newspapers, Google AdWords, Facebook ads, flyers, email marketing, blogging…

I’m certainly missing something and I’m already exhausted!

Here’s the truth: ALL these types of marketing work.  Sometimes.  For some wedding pros.  In some markets.

Frustrating!

With all the types of marketing you can try for your wedding business, it can be tough to figure out which is the right one for you.  And it’s critical that you figure this out, because trying to do all of them divides your precious time and money resources, making it more likely that you will FAIL.

The winning approach: build on your strengths.

What are you good at?  What do you like to do?  What type of marketing seems most interesting and exciting?

Forget what your friends are doing.  Forget the latest marketing fad.  Forget what the experts tell you.

Pick one type of marketing you can commit to doing and ROCK IT.  Just one fully implemented marketing strategy can create a flood of leads.

The Secret of Smart Marketers

When I first started blogging, I wasn’t particularly good at it.  My first blog post didn’t bring us a single lead.

But I stuck with it.  I learned more about the topics that attract brides and how to write a title that makes them want to read what I’ve written.  I figured out which keywords to include to get those brides landing on our site, and how to get our couples to share our posts with everyone they know.

The secret to marketing success is CONSISTENCY.

It’s not sexy, but it’s highly effective.  Consistency gets results, as long as you’re growing, learning and testing new things every single day.

When you flit from one type of marketing to another like a butterfly in a garden, it’s exciting, but it’s nothing but a showy distraction.  It keeps you busy, but accomplishes little or nothing.

You need focus and stick-to-it-iveness to get those leads coming in.

The Marketing Personality Test

Sometimes you just need a little nudge in the right direction to get you started.

What if there was a quiz you could take to find out which type of marketing is best for you?

Lucky for you, there is!

marketingpersonalitytest

Take the Marketing Personality Test to learn which type of marketing is best suited for your strengths and personality.

This test was inspired by those irresistible Cosmo quizzes, but it’s a lot more useful.  (I mean, do you really need a quiz to tell you that you’re way too good for him?)

A few instructions for the test:

  1. Go to this link and enter your name and email for access to the test.
  2. Download the Marketing Personality Test underneath the video on the Video 3 page.  (Make sure you watch the video for some killer creative marketing strategies, too!)
  3. Answer the questions honestly to get the best results.

DISCLAIMER: I’m not a psychic, so your test results may or may not be an accurate predictor of your future marketing success.  However, YOU are the best judge of what’s right for you, not me or anyone else.

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t–you’re right.” – Henry Ford

Now get off your butt and go get what you want!

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The Surprising Truth About Where Brides and Grooms Really Go to Hire Their Vendors

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bride-magnifying-text

Where do brides go to find their wedding vendors?

The truth about what really works to attract high quality leads and turn them into booked weddings is somewhat surprising.

In order to really laser target the couples you want to attract, you need to understand how they plan their weddings, where they search for products and services and how they determine who to hire.

Wedding magazine advertising and bridal lead services that make big promises often don’t deliver.  Here’s why…

The Hiring Process

This is what today’s couples actually do to find and hire vendors for their wedding.

Step 1 – They gather recommendations from friends, family and wedding vendors they trust.

Ever notice that word of mouth referrals tend to the be the highest quality leads?  That’s because the people recommending you have hired you or have seen you in action, and their endorsement carries a lot of weight because it’s powerful social proof.

Couples also turn to their “friends” in the social media and wedding chat community for recommendations at this stage.

Step 2 – They research those recommended businesses online.

Once they’ve gathered the names of potential vendors, they gather as much information as possible online.  They find your website and go over it with a fine-toothed comb.

They’re Googling the name of the business and the owner, searching for real wedding reviews, and digging up the dirt in reviews on business directory listings.  Brides and grooms ask for the opinion of other engaged couples in chat rooms and forums.

They’re all over the web searching for information that will help them determine the best match for their wedding.

Step 3 – They contact the vendors who make the cut…and dump the rest.

After examining all the information they’ve gathered, couples are finally ready to contact the wedding professionals who meet their criteria.

It turns out that most couples actually DO prefer meeting with vendors in person before hiring them!  But they do so only after they are recommended to you and like what they find during their online research.

(This hiring information was collected in surveys of engaged couples taken by The Wedding Report.)

How to Get Found, Get Leads and Get Booked

Your marketing is much more effective if you focus on getting connecting with couples at these early stages of the hiring process.

Networking & Word of Mouth – The more word of mouth recommendations the couple gets for your business…from wedding vendors, from brides in the forums, from couples who’ve hired you…the more likely they are to contact you.

The fastest way to get more high quality leads is by nurturing powerful networking relationships with other wedding businesses and giving your past clients an incentive to refer you.

Your Internet Presence – When couples start researching potential vendors, they will only contact the ones who pass their criteria.  This means you need to have a strong, positive presence online with lots of reviews on multiple sites.

Provide evidence of your expertise and value by making it easy for couples to find information and reviews on your website, blog, social media accounts and business directory listings.  The more they find, the better!

By focusing your marketing on networking activities, you hit them at Step 1 of the planning process because more people are recommending you.  By focusing on online marketing, they’ll find you everywhere when they start their research.  And making sure people are engaging with and sharing your content online, and sharing, liking, commenting and retweeting other vendors, means you’re networking and making it easy for brides to find you online at the same time.

Want to Learn More Free & Cheap Marketing Strategies?

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Watch this free video to learn the Free & Cheap Marketing Strategies That REALLY Work!

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How to Get More High Quality Leads Without Expensive Advertising or Complicated Marketing

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Happy Bride

“How do I get more leads for my wedding business?”

In our recent survey of wedding professionals, this was far and away the biggest question.  And when it comes to marketing, vendors want to know how to get those leads without spending a lot of money.

I have a few questions for you…

  • Are you really good at what you do, but not so good at promoting it?
  • Do you know you need to promote your business, but you don’t have much (if any) money to spend on it?
  • Are you sick of expensive bridal advertising that doesn’t work?
  • Frustrated by undercutting competitors and low-priced amateurs popping up everywhere in your market?
  • Are you overwhelmed by all the marketing you “should” be doing that you don’t know where to start?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, you need to check out these free and cheap marketing strategies that really work right now!

You’re About to Learn How to Get More High Quality Leads Without Expensive Advertising or Complicated Marketing in This Free Video Series…

Enter Your Name and Email Below For Instant Access!

We’ve joined forces with Christine Dyer, social media expert and founder of BridalTweet.com, to bring you the very best free, cheap and effective marketing strategies for your wedding business in this brand new series of Book More Brides videos.

As if that isn’t enough…

You can download a FREE copy of “64 Places to Market Your Wedding Business For Free!” for a limited time.

64freewebsites

Watch the video, grab your copy of the free report, and then be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think.

If you want more, you’ve gotta tell us about it.  :)

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3 Free Marketing Tricks to Create a Flood of Wedding Leads

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Free & Cheap Wedding Marketing StrategiesWhen you’re a small wedding business, you can’t afford to waste a penny on expensive bridal advertising and marketing that doesn’t work.

We started with no connections in the wedding industry, no experience, no leads…and not much more than pocket lint to spend on promotion.  Still, we managed to build our wedding business up to 6 figures within four years.

How do we do it?

Our secret: free and cheap marketing strategies that really work to book more weddings.

Let’s focus on some of those free tricks for now, since they’re much more fun.  :)

#1 – Vendor Romance

Surveys of engaged couples show that their #1 stop when hiring vendors is word of mouth recommendations.

That’s why networking and referral relationships are the best way to get referrals FAST.

If you want to kick start a stream of referrals, you need to romance the wedding businesses who can give them to you.

Here’s how:

1) Identify 5 wedding businesses who are working with the ideal clients you’d like to attract.

2) Chat ‘em up and listen for ways to help.  In particular, listen carefully for their challenges and opportunities.

3) Share your resources, information and connect them to people who can solve their problems and take those opportunities to the next level.

4) Do everything you can to make them look good.  Blog about them, share their stuff on social media, refer them.

5) Follow up monthly and build the relationship.  Use strategies like the Unforgettable Postcard strategy to earn referrals we share in Video 2.

Remember: you have TWO sets of customers: the couple and the vendors you work with.  Satisfy them both!

#2 – Money Making Blog Strategy

Blogging is a free and effective way to attract laser targeted leads to your wedding business website…but only when your efforts are firmly fixed on money making.

Here’s how to pull this off:

1) Identify the keyword phrases real couples use when planning a wedding in your area.

Examples: Hudson Valley wedding, Chicago wedding venue, Essex photographer

2) Now brainstorm a list of titles you can blog about containing these phrases.  Make your titles compelling and sexy!

Examples: The 5 Best Intimate Hudson Valley Wedding Locations, 3 Little Known Chicago Wedding Venues, The Secret to Gorgeous Photos From an Essex Photographer

(Yes, you have my permission to rip off these titles and modify or use them as inspiration for your blog.  Please!)

3) Choose your favorite title and write (or hire someone to write) a 400 word article containing those local keyword phrases in a natural way.

4) Publish your blog post and add at least one image.  Be sure to include any relevant local keyword phrases in the name of your image file, title, description and tags.  Link to any other wedding businesses you mention.

5) Share your blog post on social media, being sure to email and @ tag the other businesses you’ve mentioned.

6) Publish 2-3 blog posts every week consistently.

If you do this, you’re creating content your local brides will love.  It positions you as an expert, attracts targeted leads and pre-sells them, and doubles as the perfect way to network and plug other businesses from the comfort of your own home.

It’s a lead magnet, and it’s FREE.

#3 – List your business on every free website you possibly can.

Don’t discount the value of free listings for your wedding business just because they’re free!

The benefits of free listings:

  • You can often get Page 1 visibility immediately.
  • When brides and grooms see you “everywhere” it enhances your reputation, making them more likely to contact you.
  • Brides actively search reviews before contacting their vendors; any free listing with positive reviews is GOLD.
  • The more ways couples can find you, the more brand exposure and website traffic you get.
  • Uh, they’re free marketing!  Set them up once and they work for you forever.

Take a little time to set up your free listings, or hire someone to do it for you.  It’s a free marketing must for your wedding business.

HOT TIP: Enter your name and email to download the free list of 64 Places to Marketing Your Wedding Business For FREE here, for a limited time.

Want to Learn More Free Marketing Strategies?

Free & Cheap Wedding Marketing Strategies video

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch this video to learn the Free & Cheap Marketing Strategies That REALLY Work!

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6 Creative Ways to Get More Reviews For Your Wedding Business

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wedding testimonial

Question: How can I get more reviews and testimonials from brides?

Rachel writes:

RE: Social proof – I’d like more examples of what qualifies. The thing is I have done very few weddings lately (I did two last year!). I only have three reviews. I do have a few thank you notes.

Would it be out of line to quote the Thank You notes and use them on my new website? I did a bunch of weddings 3-5 years ago. Would it be weird to ask these brides for a review with it being so long ago?  Any other ideas for Social Proof? (Read this article for a detailed description of social proof and why it’s important.)

Thank you!

Answer: Ask and offer bribes!

Hi, Rachel.

You can definitely use quotes from your thank you letters on your website.  Absolutely.

Social proof is ANY proof of your value in the opinion of someone else.  That includes reviews, references, testimonials, comments and more.

Here’s how to get more social proof:

1) Reach out to those “old” clients.  

Give them a small thank you gift in advance when you ask (like a $5 or $10 gift certificate) to give them an incentive.  You’ve got nothing to lose!

2) Contact previous clients from other jobs.  

I’m assuming you’ve done good work at your previous job?  There’s no reason you can’t ask for reviews from people who’ve hired you to do other work in the past.

They can write a review or character reference for your LinkedIn profile or that you can use on your website.  You can pick out the aspects that most apply to your current wedding business.

3) Get other wedding vendors to review you.

Think about it: few people are better qualified to review your performance than your wedding professional peers who’ve seen it all.

Ask them to write a review for your business on Yelp, LinkedIn or as a personal letter or video you can use on your website.  Offer to write a review for them in exchange.

Bonus tip: arrive early to a bridal show or networking event and capture a quick video testimonial before the action begins.

4) Get on the spot video reviews.

A great idea is to get a quick video testimonial from a bride and groom right at the wedding.  They’ll be at their most excited and the resulting video will be a glowing endorsement of your services.

If you’re concerned about bugging the couple on their wedding day, call them up after they return from the honeymoon and invite them out for coffee.  Pick up the tab and shoot a quick video testimonial.

5) Recycle your thank you letters.

What about those great thank you letters you get from couples who don’t post reviews online?  Repurpose and recycle!

Write an email to the bride or groom containing the exact words they used in their thank you letter.  Ask them if they would mind taking a moment to just copy and paste their review of your business online, and include the direct link to your review profile.

You’ve just made it super simple for them to post a review.  Add an incentive and it’s practically guaranteed.

6) Don’t forget your email, social media and blog comments.

When you write up a real wedding post and the bride or groom leaves a happy comment thanking you for doing an awesome job…that’s a review!  So are those gushing emails the couple sends both before and after the wedding, or other tweets or comments you get on Facebook and Twitter.

Keep a special file on your computer for all your reviews in their various forms.  Then remember to repurpose and reuse them as:

  •     Testimonials on your website and marketing brochures.
  •     Copy and paste them to invite those couples to post online reviews.
  •     Create a photo slideshow containing photos and rave reviews from your couples.
  •     LinkedIn reviews.

Most importantly, make a habit of reaching out to collect reviews from EVERY client you get.  Don’t be discouraged by your newness; it’s a strength, too!

What do you think about getting reviews?

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3 Tricks to Book the Wedding Without a Single Meeting

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bride on phoneQuestion: How can I connect with a bride if I never meet her in person?

“I work for a venue and I am the coordinator for that venue. I am full service. I take the preferences of the bride and hire their vendors and design their wedding and coordinate the event the day of. Most of the time, the couples have not met me, nor have they been to the island.

Do you have any advice for the event coordinator who never meets her brides, and plans everything with the bride putting total trust into the coordinator?”

Answer:

Absolutely, yes!

Your relationship with your couples is critical, and since your interaction is all happening from a distance, your follow up has to be super effective.

Some strategies that work great for distance planning:

1) Communicate with couples using their preferred method of communication.

If you want to connect with brides, you have to do it on their terms.  Trying to get them to do what you want is a losing battle!

If your brides prefer telephone, use that.  If they like email (as most do) get used to sending good, detailed emails.

Some brides also like to text or use Skype when planning at a distance, so these are options to explore as well.  We got to the point where we were booking 30% of our couples without ever meeting them!

Create templates for their preferred methods so you won’t forget any important details.  Save email templates and telephone scripts wherever you work for easy use.

2)  Create a free giveaway and make it available to couples who sign up for your email list.  

Send them great free tips and information to prove your expertise and build a relationship with your automated follow up.

This is a MUST for wedding pros who don’t have a chance to meet with couples because the bride gets to know you from your email follow up automatically.  By the time she does speak with you, she already considers you a friend.

An informational series of follow up emails also increases the quality of your leads because they are warmed up and pre-sold with each email.

3) Put together other free reports and/or videos specifically geared towards solving the concerns of couples who are planning from a distance.

Think about the advice you give every couple, and use that as inspiration.  Create one report or video and you can use it over and over without doing any extra work to build these relationships.

Even if you DO meet with your couples, many busy brides and grooms to be appreciate it if they don’t have to meet with you in person.  The more tools you have to create a connection and earn their trust with your communication, the better!

How do you deal with couples who can’t (or won’t) meet with you?

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A Dozen Simple Ways to Soar to the Top of the Preferred Vendor List

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Steve Moody

Jeff and I had the pleasure of attending Steve Moody’s entertaining presentation, “Soaring to the Top of the Preferred Vendor List,” at EPMEN 2013.  Between chuckles over Steve’s antics, I managed to jot down some highlights.

Getting on the venue’s preferred vendor list is all about the relationship you create with them, and it hinges on everything you do before, during and after the event.

Before the Event

Whether you’ve worked at the venue before or not, contact the event manager about the details of the wedding.  This is a powerful way to distinguish yourself from the competition immediately.

On that call:

1. Confirm the date, times and logistics.  In particular, make sure your timeline jives with
theirs so there are no misunderstandings.

2. Ask about load-in instructions, parking, arrival time and anything else you should know
about.

3. Get the name and contact information of the manager or room captain who is running
the event.

4. Give the manager your contact information and that of anyone on your team working
the wedding.

Make it known that you are a team player who is available to help with anything they might need.  After the call, send a follow up email confirming all the details you’ve discussed.

Do you think this might impress the venue?  Heck, yes!  You’ve already earned points towards that preferred vendor list.

At the Event

Steve gave so many amazing tips for relating to the different personality types you’ll encounter at wedding venues that I couldn’t possibly list them all.  (Read The Platinum Rule for details.)  However, he gave some great practical tips for continuing to build a referral relationship at the wedding.

At the wedding:

5. Introduce yourself to the staff and jot down their names.  (Hint: you’ll need this later.)

6. Be flexible and demonstrate that you are a team player.  Put aside your ego and lend a
hand; no “That’s not MY job!” attitude.

7. Tip the bartender and the wait staff.  They’ll love you and remember you for it!

8. Thank them at the end and use their names.

9. Above all, remember that you are a guest in their house and act accordingly.

Work with the venue to make them look good, even if they forget to honor those clauses in your contact.  Don’t complain to the couple about how you didn’t get the fed first or that your table is in the wrong place.

Look, I know how frustrating it can be when you’re not treated well, but if you want to get on the preferred vendor list, pitch in and make sure everything goes smoothly without complaint.

After the Event

Unfortunately, we had to leave the presentation before we could hear Steve’s grand finale!  So I’ll fill this section in with my own suggestions.

After the wedding:

10. Send a personal note thanking the banquet manager, maitre’d and wait staff by name.
Mention something specific to the wedding and compliment them on a job well done.

11. Send a thoughtful gift. This doesn’t have to be something physical; if the manager was
complaining about the website, email her a link to your awesome web programmer.  If
you’ve taken a particularly gorgeous photo, give it to them as a gift.

12. Blog about the wedding and how awesome the venue staff was to work with.  Make sure
you connect with them on social media, link to them and share it.

When you demonstrate thoughtfulness and make the venue look good during and after the event by promoting them, you WILL make an impression.  Do this a few times and you’ll rocket your way to the top of the Preferred List, earning those coveted venue referrals.

How did you get on the venue’s preferred vendor list?

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What Seinfeld Can Teach You About Booking More Weddings

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George Costanza

There’s an episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza comes to the conclusion that everything he does is WRONG, and that’s why his life sucks.  Jerry tells him, “If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right!”

George decides to do the exact opposite of everything he would usually do.  As a result, he lands a date with a beautiful woman, gets a new job and moves out of his parents’ house.

Watch a clip from “The Opposite” here.

When everything is going WRONG in your wedding business, there’s an easy way to fix it:

Do the opposite.

What do you usually do when you run into an obstacle or challenge in life?

The first thing we do is more of the same.  We’re like toddlers playing with one those shape puzzle toys, trying to get the triangle to fit inside the circle hole.  If at first we don’t succeed, try, try again.  And we keep getting the same, stuck result.

Where Are You Like George Costanza?

When I arrive to a party with a group of people I don’t know, I usually clam up.  Shock!  Dismay.  Horror!  That’s right; the mistress of ceremonies is a wall flower.

Give me a microphone or put me in front of a video camera and I’m a regular chatterbox.  But a cocktail party?  I’m quaking in my boots.

So I decided to try something different.  I know the result of clamming up at a party: I don’t meet anyone new, I have short, boring conversations, and end up leaving early.

What if I decided to do the exact OPPOSITE of what I would normally do?

Instead of hiding in a corner behind my social butterfly husband, I pick out the most popular person in the room…the one I would never approach in Non-Opposite world…and strike up a conversation.

Lo and behold, she likes me!  She’s interesting and interested.  I leave with a new friend.

If what you’re doing right now isn’t working, pretty much anything else you do has a better chance of working that what you’re doing right now that DOESN’T work.

Sure, the opposite might not be the best course of action, but it’s headed in the right direction.  Simply imagining the opposite behavior shocks you out of old, stuck patterns and ushers in new possibilities and new results.

It works!

Play the Opposite Game

Think about the biggest problem in your wedding business.  What would you normally do to try to solve it?

Quit doing that, immediately!  Instead, try the opposite.

If you’d normally talk to the same two people you already know at a networking meeting, challenge yourself to meet four new wedding pros.  If you usually talk about yourself, close your mouth and just listen.

If you would normally NEVER ask for the sale at a meeting, make a commitment to ask for the booking with the very next couple you meet.

When what you’re doing right now isn’t working, try the opposite.  It’s a great way to inspire yourself and get new results.

What’s your best trick for solving a problem?

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Wedding Blog 101: How to Get Real Leads and Make Money

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blog 2

Question: Does blogging really work to get more wedding business?

“Good afternoon, Stephanie. Thanks for all your help thus far. The advice on your site is AWESOME! It’s actually working!

“I downloaded The Price Shopper Email Formula. Since implementing this email, I have tripled my callbacks. This is great! You gave me gold! For FREE! Thank you so much.

“I have always wanted to start a blog and now that I have started out in the wedding business, I thought maybe this would be a good topic to write on. What do you think? Do you think it would help me… um… you know… ‘Book More Brides’?”

Laysha

Answer:

Hi, Laysha.

I’m so happy to hear about your success with the email template!  That’s awesome news.

Yes, starting a wedding blog is a GREAT idea.  The benefits include:

  •     Attracting free, targeted website visitors and leads.
  •     Networking with other pros to build relationships.
  •     Proving your expertise and value.
  •     Qualifying and pre-selling leads.

However, it’s not enough just to BLOG.  In fact, what most wedding pros are doing doesn’t use even half the power you get with a real money-making, bride-booking blog strategy.

To make sure you get maximum results out of your blogging activities:

  •  Blog EVERY week consistently, 2-3 times per week.

 If you write one post and then abandon your blog for months at a time, this
strategy won’t work.  Posts don’t have to be long; even 400 words is
perfect.

  • Use local keywords naturally in the title and content of your articles.

 “Local keywords” are the phrases couples type in to find your service,
usually the name of your area or region followed by your type of service.
For example: Boston wedding photographer, Orange County wedding
officiant.

  •  Take the time to add a description, tags and keywords to all your images.

Search engines can’t read your images (yet!), so they depend on text descriptions to identify the content you add.  Use descriptive words and include the name of locations and towns in your images descriptions when relevant to get more local website visitors.

  • Add social share buttons to your blog so that couples can easily share with one click.

Your WordPress blog or website makes it a snap to add them with one of these social share plugins.  These buttons can be added to ANY website, and it’s a must.  If you want people to share what you’re doing, make easy for them!

  • Share and promote on social media, especially Facebook.

You can use Facebook apps such as Networked Blogs or RSS Graffiti to automatically share your new blog posts on Facebook.  Your articles and resources need to be easy to find in the social media world.

  • Take the opportunity to include the wedding vendors and couples you work with in your blog posts, then send them an email with your thanks and a link.

This is an easy way to get other people to brag about your post, link to it and share it with everyone they know!

  • Above all, write about topics that are valuable and interesting for your target clients.  If you want people to read and share, it’s got to be good.

Learn how to avoid these common blogging mistakes and write one or more of these 4 Money Making Blog Posts to optimize your success with blogging.

What do YOU think about blogging?  Does it work or is it overrated?

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