Tale of the Spineless Pushover

By Leave a Comment

nocompletesentence

“No is a complete sentence.”

My husband tells me this was his grandmother’s mantra.  Grandma Linnie was very good at saying no, even to her darling grandchildren.

I didn’t have a grandmother to teach me this lesson.  In fact, the lesson I Iearned was quite the opposite.

I learned to say YES to pretty much everything that was asked of me.

As a result, I’ve poured myself into serving our wedding clients and our wedding pro clients, solving their problems, lending inspiration and support that’s so desperately needed.  In that sense, this work ethic has been a tremendous asset.

But over the years I’ve come to realize that for everything you say YES to, you are saying NO to something else.

When we say yes to booking that wedding, we’re saying no to a weekend with the family.  When I say yes to writing that extra article, I’m saying no to putting the finishing touches on my fiction project.

At a certain point, it’s time to take back your power and say NO to the things you don’t really want.

I invite you to join me in some self-reflection as I ask myself these questions:

What am I saying YES to?  Is it feeding me?  

What can I say NO to in order to make more room for the things I love?

If you find yourself automatically leaping to “yes” when something is asked of you, I challenge you to try this experiment.  At least once per day, say NO to something, anything.

Even if it’s as simple as your spouse asking you to grab the newspaper off the front steps, just pause a moment and see what it feels like to say no, or at least to imagine saying no, before automatically doing it.

Empower yourself and empower your life with that powerful complete sentence, “No,” so you can say, “Yes,” to something delightful and unexpected.

When do you say NO?

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Home Page, Personal Development Tagged With: , , ,

Quit Being a Wedding Wuss Already!

By Leave a Comment

Fingers

Once upon a time when I was a little girl, I hurt my finger.  I don’t remember what I did; most likely I punched my brother too hard.

Anyway, every time I bent my finger it left me squealing in pain.

“Ma!” I yelled.  “My finger hurts when I bend it!”

My mother looked up at me with half-lidded eyes.  “Then don’t bend it.”

The Gift of Indifference

My mother’s solutions were practical and infuriating like that.  I wanted help and she wouldn’t give it to me.

But now that I’m a grown up (sort of) I can appreciate the gift of her indifference.

When I had a problem, she forced me to find my own solution.

As a result, I became extremely resourceful.  Give me a problem and I will find the answer, one way or another.

My mother gave me the gift of finding my own power.

The Truth I Know About You

Why am I sharing this with you?

Well, sometimes I feel like your mother.  (Don’t worry; mama loves you, sweetheart.)

We have wedding vendors emailing us with questions every day.  I love you and I want to answer, solving your problems in a way my own mother never did.

But sometimes, I think I’m not doing you any favors.  By answering your question, I’m robbing you of the opportunity to explore your own resources and figure it out for yourself.  You never get to realize your own power.

You can figure out how to do anything.

Anything you don’t know, you can learn.

Anything you can’t or don’t want to learn, you can get someone else to do for you.

Anything.

Once you know this about yourself, you can overcome any obstacle.

One final love note from your Book More Brides Mom:

I’ve noticed that when I don’t answer an “urgent” question immediately, 9 times out of 10 the person ends up solving the problem on his/her own.  Hmmmm.

What lessons did your mother teach you?

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Home Page, Personal Development Tagged With: , , ,

Disappointed with Bridal Lead Lists? These Two Strategies Book ‘Em Faster and Cheaper

By 4 Comments

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a blog post asking the question, “Do Bridal Lead Lists Actually Work?” and shared it on Linked In.

Before we dive into what we uncovered, let’s quickly define what we’re talking about when we say, “bridal lead list.”

We’re talking about those icy cold lead lists you buy either in bulk from wedding directory sites, magazines and bridal shows, or individually from lead generating sites like Respond.com. They are brides or grooms who haven’t met you, haven’t visited your website, and tend to be more price motivated.

Well, leave it to the innovative and helpful members of the wedding business community to not only answer that provocative question, but to share strategies for following up with bridal leads that work and alternatives that work even better.

Are you ready? Because these guys knocked my socks off.

The Reality of Bridal Lead Lists

The owner of A Better DJ and Photographer shared his results from bridal lead lists.

Based on his experience with hundreds of thousands of bridal lead lists:

  • 4% actually respond by phone or email.
  • 50% of those that call book immediately.
  • Calls his wife takes book 100% of the time.
  • Calls he takes book 85% of the time.

These results are actually high, which indicates an offer that is a good match for these type of bridal leads; most wedding pros get a response from 1% of these leads. Yeah, not too impressive, huh?

Out of 100 bridal list leads you contact, expect only 1-4 of them to respond.

What is A Better DJ and Photography doing right with these bridal leads? He’s tracking and measuring his results.

He knows exactly how many leads he’s going to book from that list, so he can easily decide if it’s worth his time and money. He even knows that it’s in his best interest to keep his wife glued to the phone!

An Alternative to Chasing Down Unresponsive Bridal Leads

Over time, A Better DJ and Photographer traded in his time chasing down unresponsive bridal leads like these for focus on search engine optimization for his website and social media. This results in higher quality, more targeted leads that he can book in less time.

“I used to invest 40-60 hours a week chasing leads…” he explains. “Now I invest 20 of those 40 to 60 hours into SEO each week and the other hours have been converted to actually booking clients.”

Nick Choroshyliw, owner of Rochester photography company, Nix Images, reported similarly disappointing results after two years of combined email and direct mail marketing to bridal show lead lists. In other words, these leads were mostly duds.

However, Nick struck upon a much more cost-effective strategy that DOES work with bridal show lead lists.

How to Book Bridal Show Leads Without Going to the Show!

No, we’re not suggesting that you hide in the parking lot and pounce on brides leaving the bridal show, throwing business cards or leave fliers on their windshields. That would be bad, bad juju.

Nick no longer attends these shows in person. Instead, he pays a much smaller fee to have his printed information added to the bridal gift bags distributed to every bride. This way, he gets his business in front of the 400-450 brides who receive the bag upon registration.

After the show, they sort through the cards they’ve collected from vendors…along with the ones that came “pre-stuffed” in the bag…and many end up contacting him.

“What’s interesting is that many of the brides who contacted me say that they liked my display at the show,” Nick says. “Well, I wasn’t at the show! My 6×8 glossy cards were stuffed in the information bags…The organizer charges a fraction of the cost…to stuff the cards into the bags and it appears that I actually get a better response than being there.”

If you can design a postcard that gets results, like the one Nix Images is using, this can be an effective, low cost alternative to getting quality leads from a bridal show.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience and ideas with us, guys!

Now I want to know…what’s YOUR experience with bridal lead lists? Do they work for you or do you have something better?

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Advertising, Attracting Ideal Clients, Bridal Marketing, Home Page, Leads & Traffic, Personal Development Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

How to Use the Starbucks Tactic to Raise Your Prices

By Leave a Comment

by G.E. Masana

By now, you may know you need to earn a little more than you currently do if only because Starbucks just introduced it’s most expensive coffee ever.

At $7 for a 12 ounce cup, or $40 for an 8 ounce bag, their new specialty coffee sells at about a 50% premium over their already higher priced coffee.

But coffee is… coffee. It’s water and roasted beans. In a paper cup.

In other words, coffee’s a commodity. You can get coffee anywhere, anytime.

And that’s why this article is an important article for you to read, because if you’re a wedding photographer or a planner or a florist or in any capacity serving the wedding industry and feel you’re seen as a commodity too, then you have to wonder:

What can you take away from Starbucks’ example to help you break through your pricing barrier?

Here are some clues on how to do just that gleaned from Starbucks’ own announcements about their new coffee:

“It’s made from a rare, difficult-to-grow varietal called Geisha.”

Announce Its Exotic Value.

Starbucks justifies the higher price by explaining that Geisha plants don’t produce many cherries, which makes the beans extremely rare.

If it’s rare, if it’s difficult to acquire, or costly to acquire, and that increases its perceived value.

What else can you do?

Add Social Proof of Demand.

“We have loyal reserve customers who are interested in any opportunity to try something as rare and exquisite as the Geisha varietal,” a Starbucks spokesperson said. “We are now offering more reserve coffees than ever before because of customer demand.”

If you see others want it, you may be more prone to think maybe it’s something you better not miss out on too.

Toss in a Romanticized Hook.

For example, recently, the Mast Brothers, chocolatiers in Brooklyn, NY, embarked from Cape Cod on a voyage which took them to the Dominican Republic and then to New York Harbor aboard a three-masted sailboat. The boat itself, a working vintage inspired sailboat, took twenty five years to build. From South America, the brothers brought with them 400 bags of cocoa beans grown on privately owned farms and co-ops.

They could’ve bought the chocolate without ever stepping foot out of the U.S., of course. But now they have a story to tell. A story of how they adopted the old world ways of a hundred years ago sailing the seas in search of delicious delights to bring home. It’s a story crafted to capture the listener’s imagination. Suddenly, it’s not just about any old chocolate anymore.

And their bars sell for as much as $10 in places like Whole Foods.

Enhance its Context.

Just as a coffee bean is a coffee bean, isn’t a cocoa bean just a cocoa bean? Yet the Mast Brothers talk about how cocoa beans were regarded as currency centuries ago by the Aztecs. How cocoa beans have been called “The Food Of Gods” for hundreds of years. These associations are intentionally pointed out to elevate what is otherwise a comparably mundane commodity into a stratosphere of its own.

Differentiate the Process.

The Mast Brothers would happily tell you about how they follow the old world traditions of hand sorting their beans, which leads to a three day long process during which the beans are aged and tempered. They’ll point out how this is an “old way… of handcrafting food.”

There may be a few different ways to make what you make. But when you give the process a starring role, the story of the making of the item adds perceived value.

How do you apply this?

This is all about turning the ordinary into something extraordinary.

For a photographer, this may be a story of an imported, little known fabric you use for album material. For florists this may be about a certain bloom and its legend, or a bouquet making technique, its tradition handed down through generations. For a planner, perhaps it’s an exclusive vision they lend to the wedding, inspired by wedding customs from lands far away.

What other ideas can you get from Starbucks, the Mast Brothers, and others selling what’s typically viewed as a commodity, that can help your business grow and profit?

 

G.E. Masana is a NYC wedding photographer and author of “Advertise and Sell Your Wedding Photography” published by Marathon Press. His roster of wedding clients have spanned from the Beauty Editor of ELLE to models, actors, cinematographers, designers and even a NYC art gallery owner, to the “Chief Strategic Officer” of one of the world’s largest interactive agencies, and previously was on “The List” of contributing photographers for Martha Stewart Weddings.

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Advertising, Bridal Marketing, Home Page, Personal Development, Wedding Budgets, Wedding Business, Wedding Business Income Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Cure for Holiday Selfishness

By Leave a Comment

Confession: I am a selfish person.

Oh, sure, if you meet me face to face I will go to great lengths to help you, sharing whatever knowledge, connections and support I have to offer. I’m a chronic “over-deliverer” in my personal and professional life. But…

I work from home A LOT and most of the time my head is bent over my computer, either working on our own wedding business or helping another wedding vendor with theirs. Unfortunately, it can cause me to tune out from what’s happening around me and yes, selfishly get caught up in my own stuff.

I’m not thinking about giving.

And when I look at the outrageous taxes we pay here in NY, gas prices that keep soaring, expensive bills that keep coming in, it sometimes feel like I don’t have enough leftover to give.

I’m finally shaken out of my self-absorbed state when I look up and notice the suffering of someone else.

I have it so good. I have a home, a loving husband, a family, five ridiculous animals, a satisfying career that pays really well, vibrant health…

Not everyone has that.

Holidays That Give and Take

Last December, my friend and fellow wedding DJ and his family never finished decorating the Christmas tree. Their four year old daughter, Ava, was too weak to help. Something was horribly wrong. A visit to the hospital and the quick diagnosis: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

It’s a year later, and the battle isn’t over yet. Ava is fighting hard against the cancer and responding well to treatment. As her mother says, “Her strong personality won’t have it any other way!”

Ava’s Triumph

Ava is a living inspiration for other children and families fighting Leukemia and Lymphoma. This spunky, courageous little girl was chosen to be in the Leukemia Lymphoma Society’s annual calendar. (Ava is the laughing, happy Miss December.)

So I bought a calendar. Every penny goes to helping these children continue to live, fight and inspire us all to be grateful for what we have.

I hope you’ll join me in purchasing this 2013 calendar to benefit the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. It’s a small gesture for us that can mean a lot to someone in great need.

Even if you choose not to purchase a calendar, find somewhere you can give. Find someone you can help.

All you have to do is lift your head, look around, and the opportunity will present itself.

Thank you, Ava, for reminding me that the little things, like decorating the holiday tree or buying a simple calendar, are the big things. Thank you for inspiring me to ask myself, With all the abundance happening in my life, don’t I have just a little bit to share?

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Home Page, Personal Development, Wedding Business Tagged With: , , , ,

“You’ll Never Walk Again,” They Said

By Leave a Comment

Earlier this year I’d been aggressively working out doing P90x, trying to keep up with my wife, Stephanie. I was in awesome shape and was an avid runner. Until I wasn’t.

I felt a red hot tear in my knee and knew that I’d ripped something. My knee swelled up like a balloon and I was limping around like an invalid. I put off a doctor’s visit for as long as I could because I was afraid of what I’d hear.

When I finally visited the top orthopedist in our area, he told me I’d split my meniscus, that it would never heal, and there was nothing he could do about it. I would never run again.

Sometimes I buy into the negativity. And then I see a guy like this…

Watch this inspiring video:

Sure, I have pain in my leg, and I can walk, but I can’t run. My kids joke, “Sorry, dad. You’ll be the guy who gets eaten during the zombie apocalypse.”

That is not acceptable. I will run again. I will find a way.

Arthur could have lived the rest of his life on the couch and no one would have blamed him for it. He was told by so many that he would never be able to walk on his own again. Where would he be now if he’d listened to them?

We watch so much negativity on television and on the radio telling us that the economy is falling apart, we’re diving off the fiscal cliff.

Is that a reason to give up and buy into it?

Maybe it’s time to reevaluate the things you believe you can’t do, the skills you believe are beyond you or things that it’s impossible for your business to achieve. It’s time to stop believing the lies about what’s possible for your life. (I’m saying this for myself as much as for you.)

Are you going to stay on the couch or are you going to get up and get in the race?

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Home Page, Personal Development, Wedding Business, Wedding Business Income, Wedding Industry Trends Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Two Questions That Can Transform Your Wedding Business

By 3 Comments

It’s my goal to learn something new to use in our wedding business whenever I go somewhere new. Geeky, I know, but as my step-son would say, “That’s how I roll.”

Attending the 50th birthday/promotion celebration for one of Jeff’s childhood friends was no exception. As a totally unrelated side note, we both learned something important about showing up on time for surprise parties (even when the invitation doesn’t specify a deadline) since we bumped into the birthday boy in the parking lot, completely ruining the surprise. *Cringe.*

Back to my business lesson…

While Jeff was charming the ladies he hasn’t seen since high school, I started up a conversation with Brian Altmann, owner of a very successful Poughkeepsie remodeling business and (wonder of wonders!) it turns out we both have a fondness for teaching other people what’s worked for us.

Who Thrives When the Industry Suffers?

While the entire construction industry has been suffering since the Recession, hurting much worse than the wedding industry, Brian’s remodeling business was thriving. I eagerly listened as he shared the secrets of his success for ideas that could be applied to a wedding business.

Brian uses cutting edge marketing, SEO, video and social media to absolutely dominate his local market, but his real “secret sauce” is both incredibly powerful and deceptively simple. His peers always want him to reveal the magical tactics behind his marketing success, but Brian believes the real reason his business continues to thrive boils down to his dedication to customer service.

The Post Wedding Survey

After every job, Brian’s team members do an exit survey with each customer. They ask two simple questions:

1. What are three things we did well?

2. What are three things we can improve?

“If you want your business to absolutely explode,” he said, “run your business by those answers. Keep getting better at the things you do well, and improve your weaknesses, and you’ll rocket to #1.”

Sounds way too simple to be that powerful, right?

Here’s the truth: most of your competitors are not asking these questions in the first place. And even if they do ask these questions, they’re not going to actually take action on what they learn. It’s sad, but true.

Pick the Brain of the Bride and Groom

Want a short cut to a wedding business that beats the competition and creates overwhelming demand? Ask your clients what they want and then give it to them.

I know, it’s much for fun to do what YOU want. But if you let your clients direct your business by making everything you do 100% about meeting their wants and solving their problems, it will not steer you wrong.

Let me give you an example. Some years back we had what I’ll call a “difficult” bride. She was very particular about what she wanted, and I held her hand through the whole planning process.

After the wedding, we learned in our post-wedding survey that she wasn’t completely satisfied because we hadn’t played enough of her requested songs.

This bride had given us a request list of over 75 songs, more than enough for the entire night, and 35 of them were “must plays.” And, to be frank, the songs she picked absolutely sucked. The dance floor would have been empty all night long.

We ended up playing over 40 of the songs she requested, be we skipped about 5 the lamest “must plays.” I figured that it was more important to get people dancing than it was to play every single song.

Well, that complaint let me know that we hadn’t communicated exactly the terms of the Must Play List. From then on, if it’s on the Must Play List, we play it, come hell or high water.

BUT we also explain to the couple how it’s going to work. If the couple has more than 10 “must play” songs, we ask them if they’d like us to play them no matter what, even if it clears the dance floor. We come to an understanding of exactly what they expect so that we can deliver it.

This has become a promise we make that reassures our couples and keeps them happier than ever.

Check Your Customer Service

I’m sure you think you deliver excellent customer service. But do you ask your customers how you’re doing? Do you survey them to make sure?

And if you do survey them…what was the last improvement you made as a result?

Ask these two questions and take the answers you get seriously, and it’s a compass for your wedding business success that will not steer you wrong because you’ll always be connected with exactly what your clients want and don’t want.

You don’t need fancy software or new fangled tactics to get the marketing answers you’re looking for. Your customers hold the secrets to transforming your business; you just need to ask them.

What do you think about listening to your customers and clients?

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Attracting Ideal Clients, Bridal Marketing, Competition, Home Page, Personal Development, Wedding Business, Wedding Business Income Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Carrot or the Stick Motivation: How to Check the Stubborn Tasks Off Your To Do List

By Leave a Comment

Sometimes getting things done is HARD.

How many times have I had a task on my To Do List that gets bumped again and again? The never-ending task list. The job that never gets done. It’s frustrating! And for a girl like me with a driving need to check things off that list, it feel like failure.

Fortunately, I have learned some very effective techniques for getting things done and eliminating that unending To Do List. We share one of the easiest ways to get yourself to do something you really don’t want to do in this video.

Watch this video for more:

What’s your favorite tricking for getting things done?

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Home Page, Personal Development, Wedding Business, Wedding Business Income, Wedding Vendors Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Wedding Marketing Lessons from the Presidential Campaign

By Leave a Comment

Confession: I am a political junkie.

We just survived the Presidential election. Call me weird, but I actually enjoy the election season game. Let me be clear; I hate robo-calls, and I don’t particularly enjoy watching two people try to destroy each other. The negative part isn’t very fun.

I love the creation of the candidate’s image, the branding process, the rolling out of a national message through political commercials. Some are successful; some aren’t.

Whether you liked or hated the results, there’s a lot to learn from the experience.

Each side is selling their product: the candidate. They use a whole slew of marketing techniques to do this. Some of them you can directly apply to your wedding business. Others, you might want to stay away from.

Watch this video to learn more:

What do think about the political “marketing” process?

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Advertising, Attracting Ideal Clients, Bridal Marketing, Home Page, Leads & Traffic, Personal Development, Wedding Business Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Ready to Act Fast? Free Surprise Bonus for Busy Wedding Pros!

By 2 Comments

A couple weeks ago I asked this question…

If you could have a training created to show you how to do ANYTHING, what would it be?

We got dozens of emails from wedding vendors with so many good suggestions that my head was spinning!

We’ve picked the most popular request to include FREE as a last minute, surprise bonus when you purchase Summit Secrets. Wanna know what it is?

Watch This Video to Find Out How to Get the Surprise Bonus Free!

Now that was fun! It’s always a good time when I get to humiliate myself on video. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’ll just have to watch it.)

We’ve got 4 DAYS LEFT of awesome, action-packed marketing strategies you can use to book more weddings. Make sure you join us before it’s too late!

Enter Your Name and Email Below to Join Us FREE!

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Home Page, Other Businesses, Personal Development, Wedding Business, Wedding Business Income, Wedding Vendors Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
«Older Posts