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

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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?

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The Number One Tip To Growing Your Wedding Business

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When you are growing a wedding business there is a lot of work, mixed with a lot of waiting. As long as you are doing the right things and have a marketable product or service you should see growth, be it slow or fast.

Dani Fankhauser has a great article pointing out the main things you can do to grow your business. The first and main tip however is great customer service. No matter what else you do or don’t do your customer service is the thing that determines your long term success. Don’t cut corners. It can be tempting sometimes to drop the ball and not jump to resolve an issue, or call a bride right back. Don’t do it! The sooner you deal with something the better you are liked.

The reason why customer service is so crucial is due to the amount of trust that people put in to online reviews. If you get one bad review, but have a lot of good reviews you are okay. However the more bad reviews you get, the harder it is going to be to book brides and grow your business and like it or not, those who are the fastest to jump online are the brides who had a bad experience. Resolve the issue, make them happy and try if possible to avoid bad reviews while maintaining the integrity of your business. What do you think?

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How to Get the “On the Fence” Bride to Book NOW

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Question: Does a “Limited Time Offer” Really Work to Get More Sales?

I understand that the “this week only” thing is the scarcity tactic. We learned that in the BluePrint. It worked when you did it to me because I already trusted you and as it turned out you over-delivered with the blue print.

So for me, the take home message is that if I can’t do some “Limited Time Offer” this week, that seller is gonna lose $250 of pure margin from my wallet or in a few months she will have a new one out that will be better with more material and it will probably cost the same price.

So I might as well wait. Hell, I might as well wait indefinitely since there will always be a better one on the horizon, like a new TV.

Has the scarcity technique backfired for her (as far as I’m concerned)? In other words does this tactic only really work when something is really scarce (like gold or diamonds)? Does it backfire when there is artificially created scarcity by sales people?

Maybe this feedback will be helpful for your next training. There is a lot of gray in psychology.

Randall

Answer:

Hi, Randall.

I’ll continue to endorse scarcity. Here’s why…

(Here’s what we’re talking about: “scarcity” tactics when added to marketing get the bride or groom to ACT NOW and increase your profits. An example is the “limited time offer,” a deadline or limited supply that means your stuff is going away.)

Yes, it’s true that you will lose some people who “aren’t ready” and may be in the future.
For whatever reason, they aren’t yet strongly emotionally motivated.

However, when you compare the number of sales of a product that’s available year round with sales of that same product when it is “scarce” and available only for a limited time, you’ll have more sales with scarcity.

In other words, it’s not enough that the product has limited availability; it has to be communicated and marketed effectively.

“Has the scarcity technique backfired for her (as far as I’m concerned)? In other words does this tactic only really work when something is really scarce (like gold or diamonds)?”

People are motivated to buy by emotion, and when something they want is about to “go away,” they are highly motivated to buy. Sales peak right at the end of an event because most people will wait until the absolute last minute.

Brides and grooms are no different; they will wait to book if you let them.

You can adapt different forms of scarcity for the wedding market. It doesn’t have to be,
“I’m not available.” It could be, “I won’t be able to hold your date,” or, “This special offer is only available for the next 7 days.”

You are creating more emotional motivation to buy NOW for the brides and grooms who really want what you have, and you’re increasing the likelihood that they will book you.

With each day that passes after they have contact with you, they become LESS likely to buy because the emotional state fades.

I’m not making this stuff up. (Wish I was that smart!) It’s why you see “limited time offers” on infomercials and the like. It works; even when we know what’s happening, it still creates the pressure to buy.

That doesn’t mean that some people, like yourself with the product you mention, won’t resist. You just have less of an emotional connection in this case. If you REALLY wanted it, you would buy.

What do YOU think about using “scarcity tactics” like limited time offers and expiring deadlines in the wedding business?

Got a wedding business question you want answered? Email Stephanie & Jeff and you could be the next Question of the Week! All personal details about your identity will be removed unless you specify otherwise.

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What a 9 Year Old Can Teach You About Running a Successful Wedding Business

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Have you seen the viral video Caine’s Arcade? If you haven’t, It’s definitely worth 10 minutes of your time. I was quite moved by this video; I’m a sucker for small children and furry creatures.

Watch the video here:

 

  

   

 

So, what about this video made me want to share it here on Book More Brides? It’s a great example of a myth many wedding vendors buy into.

It’s called “The Field of Dreams Myth.”

The Field of Dreams Myth

Ever watch the movie, Field of Dreams? That’s what this myth is named after

Here’s the jist. Kevin Costner’s character lives in a small house on a cornfield. He is obsessed with baseball and hears whispers in his head telling him,“If you build it, they will come.” Finally, he decides to build a baseball field in his cornfield, and the ghosts of baseball legends congregate and the Field of Dreams is a huge success.

Wedding Vendors Buy the Bunk

A lot of wedding professionals think that putting in the hard work of developing your skills and creating your business is enough to succeed. Not quite!

Caine had a great idea combined with great follow through. He built it, he was there every weekend, he was awesomely cute..hell, he even had his own staff t-shirt! So what was missing?

CUSTOMERS. No one knew he existed. He built it and they didn’t come.

I see a lot of that going on these days. Sorry to say that no one is coming to make a short film about you that will go viral and solve all your business woes.

“But I have a fan page on Facebook and a Twitter and look at my groovy brochures!”

So what?

Are you actually using them to connect with your potential customers or are you buying into the “If you build it they will come,” myth?

All of the stuff you do for your business won’t accomplish squat unless you get out there and market it.

Caine got lucky that his story inspired a film maker who also happened to “get” how to use social media to spread the word. Potential customers received the message and responded…Eureka, success!

“If you build it and market it strategically, then they might come.” There, that’s better.

What did you learn from Caine’s inspiring story?

Faries

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5 Actions to Take Today for More Leads and More Bookings

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Bride_on_Street

Sounds like quite a stretch, doesn’t it?  That’s the question Neal Howard of Atlanta’s Best DJ asked us last week.  But fortunately, Jeff and I like a challenge!

In our interview with Neal, you’ll learn…  

• How to get potential clients to move from a cold lead list to a warm list.

• How to get potential clients to contact you. 

• How to develop rapport via email.

• Why systematizing your sales cycle is better than flying by the seat of your pants marketing.

• Tips for communicating value.

• How to keep your calendar full and NOT compete on price.

So what are 5 actions you can take today to get more leads and book more weddings?

      1. Send a follow up email or make a phone call to all the leads you received in the last two months.

      A lot of times we forget to follow up with the leads we’ve already got coming in.  Responding once is rarely enough to book the wedding.

      They liked you enough to email.  Follow up at least three times.  So dig through those leads from the last few months and contact them.  Chances are you’ll book a wedding from that bunch.

      2. Customize an email response for your business including personalized information, links to resources and reviews, and a clear call to action that we talk about in this interview.

      As a shortcut, download the Price Shopper email template and modify it to fit your business.  Keep it on your desktop and use it.

      This will help you turn more of those email leads into meetings and booked weddings.  You’ll actually get brides to email you back!

      3. Set your income and wedding goals for this year.

      You need to know what your goal is before you can hit it!  Figure out how much money you want your business to make this year, how many weddings you need to book to get there and track your progress.

      4. Call up one of your local wedding buddies and buy them lunch.  

      Check-in with them and remind them you exist.  Help them out if you can.  This will start generating leads for you right away and develop a relationship that keeps them coming.

      5. Write a “thank you” blog post about the venue you most want to be referred by and send the link in an email.  Talk about how wonderful they are to work with and mention some of their best features.

      This will attract your ideal couples because the blog post includes local keyword.  Plus, you will be building a relationship with that venue that makes it more likely they will refer you in the future.

      Use the subtle approach in your email.  Say, “I love working with you so much that I wrote a blog post about it to share with my brides.  But I want to make sure it’s okay that I link to your site.”

You can access the entire interview with Neal Howard here. 

Still not signed up for the 6 Figure Wedding Business Summit from March 7th – 13th?  You can learn more 6 Figure Strategies like these for FREE here.

What’s your best tip for getting more leads and bookings today?

 

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We’re Giving Away Our Most Valuable Bridal Marketing Secret…

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You’re about the learn the secret that made us a Six Figure Wedding Business…for FREE.

When one of our closest friends in the wedding business (who also happens to be a major competitor, but we won’t mention your name, bro)Top Secret document read my Price Shopper to Profit report, he all but told us we were flat out crazy to give this stuff away.

Here are his exact words:

“What you’re doing with Book More Brides is invaluable.  Frankly, I think that with that email template, you’re giving away the store!  Anyone having trouble connecting with their customer set needs to take a good hard look at that template and customize it to their needs.

…You put it all together in 1 helpful package and called it Book More Brides.  Now you’ve made it frighteningly easy for vendors to work your system to find their customers!”

So why are we doing this?

Well, maybe we are a little crazy.  I’m psychotically optimistic in my belief that there is enough wedding business for everyone.  The smart ones like us, anyway.

But the real reason is because I’m tired of watching wedding professionals struggle through the recession needlessly.  I’m fed up of seeing my friends treated like a commodity by tire kickers and left helpless to explain the obvious value of their services.  And I remember how that felt.

It SUCKS.

You don’t have to be frustrated with price shopping brides and spend thousands on advertising to stand out from your competition. 

Positioning yourself as a valuable expert is easy…when you know what to do.  That’s why this Price Shopper to Profit Email is so powerful.

When you include even ONE of the 6 Critical Persuasion elements in this email, your response rate increases.  When you use all of them, you’ll book 20-35% more weddings…automatically.

Just watch this 5 minute video below to see how easy it is to use one of the Persuasion techniques.  I walk you through the process with my response to a real “price shopper” email.

My Price Shopper to Profit Email explains the 6 Critical Persuasion elements in detail.  You can download it immediately by entering your name and email in the form at the top of this page.

Here’s just SOME of what you’ll learn in this special report…

  • The 6 Critical Elements of the Price Shopper to Profit email that instantly convince brides of your value so they’re primed and ready to book.
  • The simple thing you probably already have on your computer…that you can add to your email response immediately…that kicks in the “Likeability Principle” of influence so that brides feel automatically drawn to you.
  • Why trying to “convince” a bride about the value of your services is marketing suicide and how to educate her with this simple link that positions you as the trusted expert she wants to book.
  • 5 easy actions you can take right now that make brides feel a powerful pressure to book you.  These literally give you an “unfair advantage” over your competition!
  • And much more…

Now, Jeff keeps telling me that people LOVE video.  He insists that “regular guys” like him won’t read a PDF like my special report.

So I’m thinking about doing more of these short videos.  What do YOU think?  Leave me a comment.  Thanks!

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Wedding Business: The Games We Play

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I love a great game. The strategy, the competition, the victory.  Hell, I even like the agony of defeat.  (As long as it’s not my defeat we’re
discussing.)

I’ve always looked at business through this lens.  It’s all a game. There are winners and losers. 

It’s not a zero sum game; you don’t have to beat your competition.  (Not that this doesn’t come with its own thrill.) You just have to win MORE!

I know you want that.  You wouldn’t be here reading this if you weren’t looking for an edge to kick things up a notch.

Above photo credit

The good news is that you can really stack the deck in your favor. You can all but ensure your success if you’re willing to open up your mind and take some carefully planned steps.

I’m going to assume…yeah I know, dangerous…that you’re at least good at what you do. You have happy satisfied brides. You delivered the goods and they are thrilled.

Great! Now if only they would clone themselves, you’d be cooking with Crisco.

You’ve gotten yourself this far, but maybe you just need a little extra help to kick it up to the next level.

Winning more for most of us is not only booking more brides, but booking the kind of brides we want at the rate we want and deserve.  Can I hear a, “Hell yeah?”

This is what Book More Brides is all about.

Many in the wedding biz practice, “random acts of marketing.” They randomly throw up an ad, list themselves on a web site, put a cool magnet sign on their minivan (a real bride magnet!) cross their fingers and see what happens. 

Sometimes you get lucky. Usually that random marketing might bring in a few bucks at best, but it probably won’t have the long term effects you desire.

So, I’m really glad you’re here.  Together we’re going make things happen.

A chess board and chess pieces

Above photo credit

We’re going to stop randomly promoting and instead develop a marketing campaign for your business. We are going to position your business to attract the customers you want who are willing to pay the rate you deserve.  You’re not going to be crying the blues about any recession.

Let me assure you: YOU CAN DO THIS. 

It’s not rocket science.  It’s about knowing what works, how to implement it and having the inside scoop about how to put it together.

Don’t worry about it being dry and too technical. We’ll keep it straight forward, relatively easy and most importantly…FUN.

It’s a game, remember?

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Privacy Policy

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BookMoreBrides.com (Book More Brides or “BMB”) Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is here to let you know why we collect information and exactly what we do with it.

What information does BMB collect from our users and how do we collect it?

BMB only contacts individuals who specifically request that we do so or in the event that they have signed up to receive our free newsletters or have purchased one of our products. BMB collects personal information from our users during online registration and online purchasing. Generally, this information includes name and e-mail address for registration to receive our free newsletters and name, postal address, and credit card information when purchasing our products. All of this information is provided to us by you.

How do we use this information?

This information is used for internal marketing purposes only. BMB does not sell, exchange, or release your personal information (name, e-mail address, mailing address, credit data, etc.) Your information is not shared with any other third party or company outside of billing and shipping purposes.  Ever.

What are cookies and how do we use them?

Cookies help track a person’s “session” while online. By showing how and when our visitors use this Site, this information can help us to continue to improve our Site. We will only use cookies to view information on your hard drive that was put there by a cookie from this Site. The use of cookies is an industry standard and many web sites use them. Cookies are stored on your computer and not on this Site. The cookie by itself doesn’t tell us, or anyone else, who you are, what your email address is, or anything else personal. If you do not wish to receive cookies, or want to be notified of when they are placed, you may set your web browser to do so, if your browser so permits.

We offer a forum and blogs on our website. Any information you voluntarily disclose when you post to one of these areas becomes public and may be used by us for online and offline promotional and commercial uses. If you choose to post comments on our website, you should be aware that any personally identifiable information you submit is public and can be read, collected, or used by other users of those areas, and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. We are not responsible for any personally identifiable information you choose to submit.

How do we store your information?

Your information is stored at the list server that delivers BMB newsletters. Your information can only be accessed by those who help manage those lists in order to deliver e-mail to those who would like to receive BMB’s newsletters.
All of the newsletters that are sent to you by BMB include an unsubscribe link in them. You can remove yourself at any time from our newsletters by clicking on the unsubscribe link. You can also contact us to change your information at any time.

Other Sites:

BMB contains links to other websites. We cannot be responsible for their content or for private information that you may choose to share with them. Please note: Information you release directly to parties who provide services to BMB, such as any vendors in on other sites you encounter on the Internet may be subject to different rules of use or disclosure. We encourage you to investigate and ask questions before disclosing personal information to third parties.

Disclaimer:

 

This policy may be changed at any time at BMB’s discretion. If we should update this policy, we will post the updates to this page on our Website. This policy was revised June 22, 2010.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding our privacy policy please direct them to us through the Contact Form on this site. You may also send a letter to:

Stephanie & Jeff Padovani
Book More Brides
106 Fairview Ave
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

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About Us

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Hi!  We are Stephanie and Jeff Padovani, a husband-wife power business duo.

We accidentally started our adventure in the wedding business way back in 2000.  We wanted to combine our love of music, passion for working with people along with our expertise in Stephanie & Jeff Padovanibusiness marketing, advertising, and sales, so we formed The DJ Solution, an entertainment business specializing in “non-cheesy” wedding entertainment.

The response from brides was huge!  What started out as a way for us to make an “extra $500 a month” quickly became a full-time wedding business grossing over 6 Figures each year.  We were finally able to leave the corporate world for good.

After seeing how the economy and the recession has affected many of our wedding professional friends…business is down 25% or more for some of them…we decided we had a responsibility to take what we’d learned and share it with them.

We help wedding professionals…who are really good at what they do, but not so good at booking weddings…build a 6 Figure Wedding Business THIS YEAR, without fighting with “price shoppers” or wasting money on expensive bridal advertising that doesn’t work.

The wedding business should be about doing what you love, having fun doing it and getting paid what you’re worth.  We don’t believe any wedding vendor should waste hard-earned time and money with over-priced marketing that doesn’t work or struggling to convince brides about your value.

Stephanie and Jeff Padovani presenting at Millbrook Winery

We are ONLY interested in cost-effective (or free!) marketing and business solutions that work for the wedding industry…and our mission is to sift through the BS to bring you the best of what we discover.  

That’s what Book More Brides is all about…sharing the wedding success secrets we’ve learned with wedding vendors across the world!  Contact us anytime with your questions, comments or complaints about the wedding business.

Who is Stephanie Padovani? 

Stephanie Padovani has been a professional wedding entertainer and “mistress of ceremonies” since 2000.  Her specialties include client communication, Stephanie Padovani at Book More Bridescopywriting, web management and search engine optimization.  She draws on a rich background in inside sales and marketing.

She is also a freelance writer for the wedding industry whose works have been published in WedLock Magazine, Wed Biz Journal, Hudson Valley Weddings, Savvy Women’s Magazine and numerous other online and offline publications.  Stephanie is the managing editor of the regional wedding planning blog, Best Hudson Valley Wedding Ever.

Who is Jeff Padovani?

Jeff Padovani of Book More BridesJeff Padovani is a professional musician, DJ and business marketing strategist.  He’s the “big ideas” mastermind behind many business ventures and is chiefly responsible for the birth of the three businesses he currently co-owns with Stephanie.  

Jeff has over 25 years of experience in sales and marketing for several industries including retail, real estate and outside sales.  He was a top sales performer and trainer for Lechmere Corporation for 10 years.  Jeff currently manages the affiliate and advertising programs at Best Hudson Valley Wedding Ever.

Book More Brides
106 Fairview Ave
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

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