Do You Know What Others Are Saying About Your Business?

 

Angry_BrideWedding businesses shouldn’t get a bad reputation online. They help brides create the perfect day right? Well the thing is if a bride has anything go wrong on her wedding day she is going to be furious. It might be that you just had a bad day, that something went technically wrong that was out of your control, but to a bride, she is too emotionally invested to understand that. So what does she do? She posts about it online of course.

Have you checked what people are saying about your business on websites other than your own? While you can’t always wipe the slate clean from situations like this, you can work to boost the rankings of your own site, blog, and social media. For tips on how to do this check out the great article by Lyndsey. Another way to control your online image is to work to resolve the issue. You can’t help what happened on the day of the wedding, but you can do something to make it better, whether it’s a free photo shoot or a day at a spa. Yes, this costs money, but the cost if you don’t do this will be in the number of brides who refuse to book you due to one bad review. So what was the worst thing that went wrong in one of your weddings?

Photo Credit

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

Steph Gets Schooled: Highlights from the Wedding Marketing Experts

 

Bride_With_Groom_Looking_OnLast month Jeff and I had the pleasure of speaking to the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists, a lovely group of people, in sunny St. Petersburg, Florida.

We weren’t the only speakers, and we eagerly soaked up their presentations as well.

You didn’t think you were the only one learning out there, did you?

Here are a few of my take aways from the event…

Rick Brewer of Get More Brides

Rick’s presentations focused in on the psychology of the bride. He used some great visuals and mercilessly critiqued a sampling of bridal ads to demonstrate the good, the bad and the ugly.

One thing that he said really stood out to me. I’m paraphrasing here…

“How much better than your competitors do you need to be to win the race?” He paused and touched his nose. “A nose. You can win by a nose. You just have to be a little bit better.”

So many times we get overwhelmed by our competition, how professional their website looks, how polished their presentation might be. But it just takes a little bit of extra to make the difference.

Chris Jaeger of Marketing to Brides Online

Chris swims in the deep waters of SEO, website conversion and internet marketing. He offered website reviews and explored the website features responsible for transforming visitors to real leads.

A few enlightening facts he revealed…

Fact - 80% of the leads wedding vendors get come in through the website. The other 20% come in over the phone.

Take Away – If you’re not capturing your website visitors and turning them into REAL leads with a Bride Bribe, you’re missing out in some serious money. While it’s still important to have good phone skills, excellent email follow up is essential to turn that 80% of leads into meetings and booked weddings.

Fact - Only about half the “unique visits” to your website are actually qualified leads. The rest are visits from you, your staff, your competitors, and non-qualified visitors.

Take Away – You may not have as many brides on your site as you thought. That’s okay, but if you aren’t getting at least 5% of those qualified leads to take an action that gets them closer to contacting you, your website isn’t working for you.

Sonny Ganguly of Wedding Wire

Sonny shared so many fascinating statistics and predictions for the future that I couldn’t possibly recount them all. Here are a few of my favorites…

Fact - Wedding vendors who have > 10 reviews on their listings get 106% more clicks than their competitors.

Take Away - Make it your mission to get at least 10 reviews on Wedding Wire and any other places where your business is listed. It makes a big difference in the number of leads you get!

Fact - 40% of mobile searches are LOCAL.

Take Away – Brides and grooms are searching for you on their mobile phones. If you don’t have a mobile-friendly version of your website, you’re missing out.

Fact - 50% of people read their emails on a mobile phone.

Take Away – If you’re sending a fancy html email newsletter, half the brides and grooms you’re sending it to won’t be able to read it unless you format it correctly. Make sure your emails are laid out simply in a vertical format that can be easily read on mobile phones.

While we learned quite a bit from our fellow speakers, our biggest marketing “aha moments” came outside the seminar. Oh, yes, while we were eating dinner and Jeff had a Belvedere vodka martini (straight, up, dry, with olives) in his hand.

I can’t wait to share what we learned next week in a whole blog post of its own!

In the meantime, what have you learned lately? Leave a comment and share the wisdom.

Photo Credit

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

A Tip About YouTube Marketing

 

Shooting_VideoWhen it comes to YouTube there is a lot of myth and a small amount of truth connected to marketing there. If you want there to be a possibility of new brides learning about your wedding business through your videos however, hosting them on YouTube is your best bet.

Matthew Toren has written a great article with some of the basics about YouTube used for marketing that is a must read. One of his points is that YouTube is like the Google search engine in that it is keyword based. It doesn’t matter if you’ve come up with the catchiest title in the world, if it doesn’t include your keywords, and isn’t targeted for your market in its description there is no way anyone is finding it.

If you haven’t done any videos for your business yet you need to re-think your strategy. Video has the capability of capturing your viewers interest and emotion whether it’s a how to video, and tiny business introduction video, or a video shot at a recent wedding showing off your handiwork. Many of those can be loaded onto YouTube and then embedded on your website, shared in a newsletter and used for promotional purposes almost anywhere. Just remember to check out YouTube’s video guidelines before posting anything. What do you think? Have you used YouTube for marketing your wedding business and seen any good results from doing so?

Photo Credit

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

26 Things to Include On Your Wedding Vendor Website

 

DeskWant to know if your website makes the grade? Here are the essential elements you should include on your wedding business website.

1. Professional website design. If your site looks amateur, so do you.

2. Your location, including a mailing address with town and zip code. This is the only way Google knows where you are so that they can deliver your website to local searchers. Otherwise, you’ll miss out on powerful local traffic.

3. Reviews and testimonials including photos and video when possible. And make sure they’re recent! Only having reviews from 5+ years ago makes you look outdated, so be sure to update them or eliminate dates altogether.

4. Links to online reviews on other websites. These reviews are even more credible. Some reviews sites allow you to embed a reviews widget right on your website.

5. A phone number prominently on every page. Make it super easy for brides and grooms to contact you.

6. A prominent call to action on every page. “Call or email now…” Tell visitors exactly the action you want them to take. This will increase the chance that they will actually do it by 10x.

7. Driving directions and map if you have a shop or office. Again, make it easy for them to find you.

8. A good FAQ page. Put together the questions you get asked most frequently, and answer them. Make sure you include some details of what you include, price and what to expect at a meeting.

9. Ability to increase font size to make reading of site easier. This one can mean the difference between losing a visitor and keeping one.

10. Engaging, professionally written text without spelling errors. Don’t skimp on this one! A single typo or misspelling creates a bad first impression that lasts.

11. Photos of you and your staff. Put a face on your business; people want to deal with real people, not corporations, so let them get to know you.

12. Background information on your staff. This goes along with #11. Friendly, personable bios make you a real person who brides and grooms will want to know.

13. Listing of professional associations or logos. This adds credibility and builds trust.

14. Photos of happy couples from previous weddings. This makes your reviews even more powerful and gets the couple imagining themselves working with you.

15. Links to news and blurbs about you in the press. This gives you authority and demonstrates your expert status, communicating your value on a subtle and powerful level.

16. An About page. Visitors expect an About page they can easily click to learn more about you. Give it to them. And they’re not the only ones; Google wants to see About pages on the sites of legitimate businesses.

17. Links to social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube) on every page. Today’s brides and grooms spend one out of every eight minutes on Facebook. Make it easy for them to connect with you there.

18. Email lead capture form and a free “Bride Bribe” giveaway. Capture those website visitors and turn them into real leads you can follow up with, or you’re losing money.

19. New content added at least once per week. Content includes articles, photos and video. The easiest way to accomplish this is with a blog. (See below.)

20. A blog on your own domain with recent blog posts. This helps you get more website visitors, proves your expertise and communicates your value.

21. A range of prices or realistic starting price. Whether you like it or not, brides and grooms want to see a PRICE before they contact you. Give it to them or you run the risk that they will move on to a competitor who will.

22. An emotional, professional video. Most people prefer to watch video. You’ll increase the power of your message and the response you get from website visitors by having one on your site.

23. A client area. Couples enjoy the exclusivity of a client area where they can update and make changes to information for their wedding without having to send emails or deal with paperwork. This can make the difference between getting hired or not.

24. Free information, tips and resources for brides and grooms. Make your website a real resource for couples in your area and you will naturally get more visitors and turn them into clients.

25. Local keywords sprinkled naturally throughout the text. This is essential if you have a local wedding business because you want to attract brides and grooms from your local area. It’s also much easier to compete and get ranked on Page 1 than the more general wedding keywords, so it’s a good strategy even if your business is national.

26. Internal links for keywords you’d like to rank for. This means if you want to be on page 1 of Google for the phrase, “Orange County wedding photographer,” include a link on your own website to another page on your site. This helps the search engines know what you’re about and gives you more authority for that phrase.

Did I leave anything out? Leave a comment to let me know!

Photo Credit

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

Why You Need To Personalize Your Business Information For Each Bride

 

ConsultationWhen you sit down to talk with a potential bride you are going to find that there is a lot of repetitious material that you cover with each and every bride. It’s easy to just come up with a spiel and stick to it. Remember however that each bride is different, their wedding is different, and everything you say is new information to them.

Make sure that even though you are covering all the same old basics that you customize the information to the bride you are talking to. At the start find out a bit about what she is looking for. Not only will it give you an idea if this will be a good fit, it will also allow you to do a personalized presentation. You can choose package deals which fit what she just told you, talk about location benefits which fit her dream, and include information about add-ons that she will need.

Personalization is what makes your client feel special, and it’s what often closes the deal at the end of the day. Once you’ve got your basics down you might need to do a review now and again, or use a cheat sheet, but always, always make sure the bride feels special, like you care, and make notes for when you see her again so you can continue that on the next meeting. Check out this article by Tony Cole about personalization preparation. What do you think?

Photo Credit

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

Why Creative Blogging Is Crucial In Building Your Wedding Business

 

IdeaIf you’ve ever tried blogging for your business and been frustrated with coming up with new an idea which in turn has tempted you to turn out repetitive content, then you are not alone. In fact a lot of bloggers have decided to give up on writing anything meaningful and have turned their blogs into backlink generators according to Paula Pant and Greg McFarlane’s great article.

The problem with giving into temptation is that it often backfires on you. Google made the switch last year in rating websites based on quality vs. quantity in an attempt to encourage a return of creativity and professionalism to the online workplace.

For brides searching for good companies to help with their wedding finding a wedding business with a blog full of creative content and new inspiring ideas is crucial. Not only does it help sell your brand, it also creates a connection between the bride and you, showing that you care about them, who you are, and triggering them to realize that they can trust you. Your “unique voice” is the only thing setting you apart from your competition so use it! Have you started a business blog, and if so what have been the results?

Photo Credit

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

How to Run a Successful Wedding Business in a Changing Economy



 

Nearly $2.6 BILLION dollars has drained out the wedding economy between 2009 and 2010.

This should come as no huge surprise, considering the declining number of marriages, increased competition, and shrinking budgets. The question now is, ‘How can I have a successful business in this economy’?

It takes a strong, motivated business person to make their business thrive in a struggling economy. You need to know your strengths, and more importantly, your weaknesses, in order to ensure that you don’t become a casualty of the new wedding industry. So how do you survive?

You need a game plan. Figure out if you are a wedding business Thriver, a Barely Survivor, or a Victim. Trust me, you want to be a Thriver.

Thrivers keep booking weddings regardless of the economy. They have an abundance of leads and they book as many weddings as they want. Successful wedding vendors know their limitations, and work hard to overcome them.

Are you curious to see how you stack up?

Find out if you’re a Thriver! Take this quick Wedding Business Thriver test.

Photo Credit

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

How To Get More Sales By Focusing Sales Efforts On Qualified Leads

 

Bride_ShoppingGetting bridal leads can be tough at times. But what is even harder is finding qualified leads: brides who want your product / service, and are ready buy. However if you set up your marketing system to help you generate those qualified leads it will save you a lot of wasted time in the long run, and land you more sales.

So how do you get those qualified leads? Well you have to have a system in place that helps you qualify leads. Write down the process it take for a bride to make a decision to sign with you and figure out what brings in the most sales. As a reminder: marketing and sales are two different things. You have to market to a broader market than you need to focus your sales efforts on.

Once you have identified the group of brides that typically sign with you, you can focus the majority of your sales efforts on them, rather than wasting a lot of time and energy on brides who will never close with you. To learn more about marketing to qualified leads make sure to check out the article by Alison Savery. What do you think?

Photo Credit

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

Why You Must Understand Your Past To Be Successful

 

Wedding_PlannerEveryone wants to be a success. Whether they are trying to be successful in their own lives, with their family, or business, they want to be a success. So why do so few people really consider themselves successful? According to Robert S. Kaplan’s article it because they have background stories of failure which they allow to control their current ability to reach success.

Think about it. If you had a really bad experience with selling you might think that you can’t sell. Or if you had a family member chew you out for being a dreamer, it might be the thing holding you back from integrating new ideas into your marketing. The truth is that if you can figure out what the trigger is that is holding you back from doing what you know needs done you will not only feel better about yourself, you will be able to reach success in your wedding business. What do you think? Is there something holding you back from reaching your goals?

Photo Credit

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

Why Resistance Is Good And Moves Your Wedding Business Forward To Success

 

Thumbs_UpWedding businesses trying to move forward right now have a lot of resistance that they have to fight through. But that is true of any business no matter the size or how old it is. Resistance to forward movement shouldn’t be something that discourages you. In fact you should take it as a sign that you are headed in the right direction.

No matter what you do there are going to issues that you have to deal with. It can be an issue of having trouble with your income being temporary less while you increase your marketing, or something as small as trying a new photography technique that doesn’t turn out right at first. Fighting through these issues is the very thing that brings you through to the other side, more successful than you were before. As Pamela Slim reminds business owners in her video when you experience resistance it is the time to gain speed and push full steam ahead in order to make the breakthrough in your business. What do you think?

Photo Credit

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