5 Tricks That Leave Brides Hot and Bothered About Hiring You

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email icon

Question: How can I write an email that gets brides to take action?

“****The webinar was great informational last night,  I created this [email to send to brides] and wanted to know your thoughts.”

Dear Stepanie,

Hope planning is going well for your upcoming May 5th wedding.

I just finished read a book where one of the chapters gave 7 tips on keeping everything
balanced at your reception.

I would love to be a part of your special day and to be able to create some new awesome ideas.

Contact me Friday 5th between 5-7 to sign up for your FREE consultation.

Dates are filling fast.

Talk to you on Friday

Thank you.

Brian

Answer:

Brian,

Glad you enjoyed the webinar!

I like that you mention her wedding date, you’ve included something to arouse her curiosity and a very clear call to action…and that your imaginary bride happens to have the same name as me.  :)

Here are some ways to make your email more enticing:

1. Share one of those seven tips you read or give her an awesome idea for her reception. Nothing will get her wanting more like having a real sample.

2. Invite her to meet with you to learn more about what you share.

3. Offer her something more compelling than a “free consultation.”  To a bride/groom, that’s code for a sales pitch.

Offer her a free copy of the book when she meets with you.

Would it be worth the cost of a book to get a chance to meet with a qualified couple?  If you know you book 50% of the people you meet with (or even less than that) heck yeah!

4. Go for the next action instead of going right for the meeting.  It’s really difficult to schedule a meeting via email; it’s much easier to get on the phone and then make the meeting happen.

I’m not sure about the relationship you have already established with this bride, but unless she’s already hot and bothered about working with you, asking her to “sign up for a free consultation” might be off putting.

Invite her to have a “quick phone chat to find out if we’re a good match” instead.  It’s much less threatening and it will make getting the meeting more likely.

5. Don’t lay it on too thick.  Letting her know that you have limited availability is good, but I’m kind of doubting dates are filling up fast for your free consultation.  (Sorry.)

Test it out your new approach and measure the response.  Do you get more phone calls and set more meetings?  The proof is in the results.  :)

What do YOU think about this email?  How can he make the bride/groom more interested in a meeting?

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6 Lessons We Can Learn From Infomercials

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by Heidi Thompson

 weight shake

We all know that infomercials are salesy and cheesy but they work and that is fascinating. Some of the products are more useful than others, but infomercial creators know how to make the most of certain marketing principles to sell even the stupidest product. For example, the Shake Weight hit $40 million in sales in 2010. If you haven’t seen this ridiculous product laden with sexual innuendos, watch the video below.

They’re ridiculous, but we can actually learn a lot from infomercials. Here are just a few things I’ve noticed that contribute to their success.

They let happy customers speak for them.

Infomercials don’t just explain their product in their own words; they interview happy customers and let them tell you why you need the product. This instantly builds their credibility because having a 3rd party recommend something is very powerful. This is exactly why we use testimonials on our websites.

You can create more engaging and convincing testimonials by adding multimedia like photos, video or audio.

They explain the benefits of the product.

Companies who do infomercials don’t waste time telling you how long they’ve been in business and talking about the things they do. They cut to the chase and tell you what you will get from the product.

Instead of telling the viewers about what the Snuggie is made of, they simply say it keeps you warm without having to fumble around with a blanket.

Are you telling your customers what is in it for them?

“But wait, there’s more!”

Infomercials are great at adding value to their products. Adding on bonuses is more effective than discounting your prices because people love to get a deal, even if it’s not really a deal. The products on infomercials are likely priced to include the cost of these bonuses, but calling them free bonuses makes it feel like people are getting something for nothing.

Instead of discounting your prices, what bonuses could you offer?

“Act now!”

Creating a sense of urgency is a marketing tactic that has been around forever. You can use this when you’re getting booked up for the year.

Make it known when you only have 3 dates available and ask them to contact you now to avoid missing out.

(Ethical note: Don’t lie about this in order to create false scarcity. Your reputation is worth more than the extra money you might make.)

They tell you how many have been sold.

This is called social proof. It makes you think, “If all of those people bought one, maybe I should buy one.”

McDonald’s has been making use of this for decades with “billions and billions served.” If you had never been to McDonald’s before, you would assume that billions and billions of people can’t be wrong.

If you have been in business for awhile, instead of telling your customer how many years you’ve been in business, tell them how many weddings you’ve worked on.

They repeat themselves.

The script of an infomercial starts to repeat after about 15-20 minutes. Why would they do this?

Infomercials tend to run for about an hour, even most people aren’t going to sit and watch the entire hour. These companies don’t want to miss out on someone who may be flipping through the channels and missed the first 15 minutes.

You can apply this principle to your website by having opt-in offers and contact information on different pages because you don’t know which page someone might land on first. Look at your individual pages.

Does your site achieve its goal if someone only views a blog post and never sees your home page?

When you start to look normal daily things like infomercials from a business perspective, you will learn so much. Put your marketing hat on next time you go into a store and you’ll be amazed at what you notice.

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Heidi Thompson of Evolve Your Wedding Business works with wedding pros who want to get out of the dreaded feast or famine cycle of doom. Check out her resources on how to attract more clients through your marketing, because it doesn’t matter how great you are if no one knows about it.

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

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Want Brides and Grooms to Notice You? 3 Ways to Stand Out From the Herd

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bride and groom on couch

When a bride or groom contacts you, there’s a pretty good chance that they’re also reaching out to several of your competitors.  That first impression means everything!

Here are three strategies that you can use to immediately start winning them over.

Strategy #1 – Send an instant video response.

How are your competitors responding to a lead? More than likely, they send a boring email or responding with what is (probably) an ineffective and boring phone call. When they get a friendly, welcoming video from you, it makes you immediately stand out.

You can make a more general video response to send to leads to introduce yourself, welcome them and invite them to take action. The information is the same as what you’d put into your normal response, although it’s better because it’s a VIDEO.

If you’re camera shy, you don’t need to put your face into the video in order for it to work powerfully. Just create a screen capture video of some images or Power Point slides with a voiceover.

Your video response should include a brief welcome. For example, “Hi, I’m Stephanie, Wedding Business Cheerleader at Book More Brides. Welcome!” Give them a warm greeting and let them know that they’re in the right place.

Include what you’re for and what you’re against. This is a great way to attract your ideal clients and alienate the couples that you don’t want. This immediately helps the bride or groom figure out if you’re a good match for them and gets them excited about learning more.

Finally, your video needs to have a call to action. What do you want them to do next? You can say things like, “Call me for a quick phone chat.” “Visit my website to get this free report.” You need to tell them what to do in order to multiply the chances that they’ll actually do it.

Make sure that your video is no more than 3 minutes long. Force yourself to keep it short so that more people actually watch it.

Strategy #2 – Lightning fast response.

The faster you respond, the more likely you are to actually reach them. Your competitors are going to be slow as molasses!

When you’re doing everything for your business, it can be tough to give that lightening fast response. After all, you’re probably already moving in 19 different directions at once. So, here are some options to make it easier:

●    Include your video response in an auto reply.
●    Forward emails to your mobile phone and respond immediately.
●    Hire a call answering service like Telassistant.com.

Another way to have a lightning fast response is to add a live chat popup to your website. This way, when a bride or groom lands on your website a little box pops up inviting them to chat with someone in real time.

Strategy #3 – Impress with snail mail.

Yes, this is going to cost you something, but when done correctly it’s extremely powerful and extremely effective.

Think about it from the bride and groom’s points of view. When they send in their inquiry, what do most vendors respond with? The two most common responses are either an email or a phone call.

When they contact you, you’ll ask if they’d like to receive “5 Tips to Make Your Wedding Super Duper Fantastic” (or something like that) in the mail. You stand out immediately!

Here’s the important thing: don’t send a sales pitch! Make sure that your mailing or DVD is full of useful tips and information. Put that expert knowledge of yours to good use.

All of these strategies make you stand out from the competition immediately. Your competitors will be struggling to live up to the high professional expectations that you’ve set.

It’s time to take back your power and crush the competition!

What do you do to stand out from the herd?

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3 Free Strategies For Digging Up Hidden Bridal Leads Today

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Bride Searching

The #1 question we get from wedding vendors is, without a doubt…

How can I get more leads?

Before I answer with a wise ass comment like, “What do I look like, a lead vending machine?” we really can’t answer that question, not really, really well, until we know a little more about you.

But if I were a wedding vendor (wait a second, I AM a wedding vendor!) and if I needed to get more leads right now, as in TODAY, here’s what I would do.

How to Get More Leads Today

1) Start dating your wedding vendor friends.

You have friends in the wedding business, don’t you? When was the last time you called them up? Asked them to lunch? Sent them a referral?

Other wedding vendors are the best place to find an endless stream of leads. So if you want to start getting more today, get our your Rolodex and contact them!

Hint: don’t make your lunch date a pitch fest. Instead, find out what you can do to help them first. This makes them feel an unconscious pressure to return the favor and do something nice for you.

Kinda cool when you can use psychology like that, eh?

2) Check your in box.

In our expose’ on the 10 Fatal Follow Up Mistakes of Wedding Vendors we revealed the disturbing truth that 80% of sales are made AFTER at least 5 contacts.

How did you follow up with your leads? Have you followed up in multiple mediums: email, phone, direct mail?

If that leads you already have in your hands have NOT heard from you at least five times in multiple formats…it’s time to follow up again.

Go through your inbox and pour through your email inquiries from the last two months. Listen to those old voice mail messages.

Think of an interesting, compelling way to follow up with them. Be different and give them a reason to want to respond.

I guarantee you have a real lead in there somewhere.

3) Spend some time with friends…social media “friends,” that is.

You can start attracting bride leads TODAY by going to where they hang out online and helping them out. Facebook is the easiest place to try this out.

Find the local Facebook business pages that have lots of bride fans and make sure you “like” that page as YOUR business. Check out the conversation and contribute to it by posting as your business page, if you have one.

Whatever you do, DON’T directly promote your business! Give the page owner a compliment, answer a question, share a cool resource brides like such as a link to a cool Real Wedding blog post.

You can even ask a provocative question such as, “What do you think about brides wearing colored wedding dresses? Would you do it?”

Network with other wedding vendors online, too. Use the same strategy of doing something nice for them first: like their posts, leave a comment, share their words of wisdom. They’ll return the favor and spread the word about you.

When you start showing off your personality and expertise in the places where brides hang out…in a non-promotional way…they’ll click through to your page. They’re curious about what you do and if they like what they see they may even “like” or friend you. Heck, they may even visit your website, if you give them a good enough reason.

Those are leads just waiting to be found.

Getting More Leads, the Next Generation

Those are the 3 things I would do if I had a wedding business and I needed to get some more leads coming in TODAY. These methods require no money and you probably already have everything you need to do them.

However, they aren’t the “big pay-off” strategies. The strategies that lead to a flood of leads and booked weddings take more than a day to pull off. But they’re still pretty easy.

Want to Learn How to Capture More of the Leads You’re Missing Out On?

Watch this video to learn the 10 Fatal Follow Up Myths That Are Killing Your Wedding Business!

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4 Unconventional and Super Effective Tactics to Get a Bride to Respond Now

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Bride On Cell Phone

Now that you know what NOT to do when you respond to that lead, let’s get to the good stuff!

Here are four strategies that leave her begging for more.  (Watch our free video series to learn how to follow up automatically!)

1. Respond instantly with video.

Fast response is critical.  The best time to respond is within 5 minutes.  (Kellogg’s School of Management.)

Waiting even one measly hour means you are 21x less likely to reach the bride.

I don’t expect you to stay glued to your computer or smart phone all day long.  I mean, we live in a real world full of driveways that need shoveling, families that need feeding, toenails that need clipping.  (Maybe that’s just my world.)

But don’t make the common mistake of sending this boring autoreply: “Thanks!  We’ll respond within 24 hours.” It doesn’t do anything for you.

Send her a link to your super cool welcome video in that autoreply and you will instantly stand out from the competition.

In your video, say hello.  Show off your personality.  Above all, invite her to take an action.

Rev up her interest.  Arouse her curiosity. Get her to take another action and she’ll be primed to respond.

2. Set a date and seal it with a kiss.

Instead of mentioning what the bride can do, “if she wants,” the way most wedding vendors do, tell her exactly what to do and when to do it.  Nicely, of course.

Guide her to the desired action by asking a direct question.  Why a question?  Because questions require an ANSWER.  In other words, she’ll be compelled to respond.

Finally, end with an enthusiastic greeting indicating that you expect to get a response.

Here’s how:

  • Determine the very next action you want her to take.  For most wedding vendors, this is a phone call because once you get her on the phone, setting the meeting is easy.
  • Ask a specific question setting a date for that action, like this: Are you available for a quick phone chat at 4pm tomorrow?
  • Ask your question at the very end of your email in a paragraph all on its own so that it stands out.
  • Seal the deal with a “kiss,” like this: Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you!

Asking a question to set a specific date for a chat makes a HUGE difference in the response you get.  Try it and see.

3. Be so different it makes her laugh.  Or at least snicker.

Check out how your competition is responding and do something completely different.

The first sentence or two of your email usually shows up in the “preview” before the bride even opens her email.  Take advantage of this fact and make it intriguing.

Think outside the box.  What can you write that will make her want to read more?

Some ideas:

Jane, I’m about to share advice from real brides that may shock you because it goes against everything you’ve been told about planning a wedding…

What will June 17, 2013 (her wedding date) be like?

Warning: don’t read this email unless you have a bathroom nearby!

Okay, I got a little crazy with that last one, but that’s kind of the point. You need to be different enough to get attention, then arouse enough curiosity to make her want to read more.  Now.

4. Give her a deadline.

Prepare to be shocked by this fact:

People are lazy.

Okay, maybe that isn’t so shocking, especially if you have children.  Or a husband.

It’s a quirk of humanity that we tend to conserve our actions unless absolutely necessary.  In other words, we don’t take action until we HAVE to.

Yet tell us that we’re about to lose something and we’ll hop to faster than a bunny rabbit in a frying pan.

Include a deadline or a limited time offer in your reply to give the bride an incentive to respond fast.

This might be:

  • Contact us by Friday for a special deal.
  • All couples who meet with us by March 31st get a free bonus.
  • We have another couple inquiring about your date, so call me tonight to confirm our availability.  (Only if this is true.)

When you let the bride know that you won’t be around forever, it gets her off her butt and into action.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to strategies to warm up those leads and get a response so you can book more weddings!

Want to Learn More Disastrous Mistakes to Avoid?

Watch this video to learn the 10 Fatal Follow Up Myths That Are Killing Your Wedding Business!

*For the sake of brevity I have chosen to use the words “bride” and “she” in this blog post.  I’m not suggesting that only brides or heterosexual couples plan a wedding.  Really.  I just happen to like ladies and ticking off really uptight people.

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6 Embarrassing Reasons the Bride Blew You Off

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Bride Dismayed

How do you get brides to respond?

Here’s the all too frequent scenario:

  •     Bride (or groom) emails you asking for your “prices and packages.”
  •     You respond promptly with your best professional response and…
  •     NOTHIN’.

(Insert cricket sounds here.)

What the heck is going on?  They emailed YOU for information, which means they must be interested.  Right?  What black hole opened and swallowed up the email response you truly deserve?

Untwist those knickers; we’ve put together a free video series revealing what to do to get a fast response and book more weddings.

First, here are a few likely reasons why she DIDN’T respond.

1. Your response was too slow.

The Kellogg’s School of Management study tells us that the best time to respond to a lead is within 5 minutes.

Why?  Because she’s still sitting at her computer.  (Or hovering over her iPhone.)

If you wait even one hour to respond, you are 21x LESS LIKELY to reach her.  Sorry to crush your fast response time reputation, Speedy.

2. Your response put her to sleep.

Your response went something like this:

Congratulations on your engagement!

We at Acme Weddings specialize in providing high quality, professional [whatever you do] for the best prices.  We’ve been featured in Blah Blah magazine…

Call us for your free, no obligation consultation…

*Snore.*  What?  What was that?  No, I did NOT fall asleep at the keyboard!

The average bride contacts 3-10 vendors when searching for a service.  If your response looks anything like this, she barely even noticed it in stack of emails in her inbox.

3. You didn’t tell her how to respond.

Now wait a second!  I specifically told her to call me and schedule a meeting…

Oh, did you?

If you’re like 99% of the wedding vendors out there, you response went something like this:

If you’d like to meet with me to discuss your wedding, please call me at 555-GET-LOST.

That’s what you “told” her to do, isn’t it?

Unless you give her a specific time, date and ask a direct QUESTION that requires an answer, you’re not likely to get a response out of a busy bride.

4. You scared her away.

This is really the #1 reason why she doesn’t respond.  I know you don’t find yourself very scary (except when you look in the mirror after a long night of binge drinking) but there are lots of things you do that scare her off.

Things such as:

  • Sending her a price list.  Ouch!  Can you say sticker shock?
  • Giving her too many choices.  When faced with too many choices (click here, visit this, call this number, meet with that…) the bride will choose to make NONE.  I’m not making this stuff up; it’s Psychology 101.
  • Asking her too many questions.  If you hit her with a list of 20 questions, she doesn’t have the time or brain space to respond.  She’s a bride planning a wedding, for Ringo’s sake!
  • Your hideous grammar, spelling and lack of proper sentence structure sent her screaming.  If you can’t compose a well-written response in English, you should not be the one responding.

The bride is a sensitive, emotional creature in the wild, easily scared off by wedding pros with good intentions, like you.

5. She’s a little busy right now.

That bride really meant to respond to you, your email was super cool and everything, but really, she’s just been so busy since the engagement…

Her head is swimming and her calendar is booked up.  She just hasn’t gotten around to responding yet.

And she probably WON’T anytime soon because you messed up #3 and didn’t ask her a question that actually requires an answer, and you didn’t give her a deadline the bumps you up her priority list.  Ah ha!

6. You didn’t have permission to email her.

Now, in my original scenario you obviously DO have permission to email her, but hang with me here.

I added #6 because whenever I talk about this topic, invariably someone says, “They never respond to my emails!”

And I ask, “Where did the lead come from?”

The answer: “A bridal lead list I paid good money for!”

If she didn’t contact you, she didn’t give you specific permission to email her, no matter what the list broker told you.  Hence, her lack of response.

You might want to notice what DIDN’T make this list of reasons why she didn’t respond.

It’s not because:

  • The ONLY thing she cares about price.
  • She wasn’t really interested in the first place.
  • She went with someone else.  (Well, it might be that, but probably not if you responded within 24 hours.)

Now that we’ve covered what NOT to do, I’ll reveal what you SHOULD be doing instead to get a super fast, enthusiastic response that leads to the exact action you want…coming soon in my next article!

Until then…

Want to Learn More Disastrous Mistakes to Avoid?

Watch this video to learn the 10 Fatal Follow Up Myths That Are Killing Your Wedding Business!

*For the sake of brevity I have chosen to use the words “bride” and “she” in this blog post.  I’m not suggesting that only brides or heterosexual couples plan a wedding.  Really.  I just happen to like ladies and ticking off really uptight people. 

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How to Get Your Brides to Brag About Your Business All Over Town

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bride jolly

Question: How do I keep in touch with brides who’ve booked me two years in advance and get them to send me referrals?

“Hi Steph!

I have a question that I’m sure I cannot ask on any other blog. I’ve wooed a bride and she’s finally booked her wedding with me at a good price and I’ve received her deposit. The only problem is her date is two years away.

How do I continue to keep her engaged in my work and stay in the forefront of her mind?

I know she has lots of friends who may be considering having photographic worthy events but if I don’t reconnect with her for two years, how does she think about my work?  Sure, I update my blog but I can’t force people to go there. What to do?”

Pamela

Answer:

Love this question, Pamela!  It shows that you’re really thinking about how you can maximize your current client base for future business.

It’s also really good for brides/grooms when you keep in contact with them, since they feel cared for through the entire planning process.  Most wedding vendors take the deposit and disappear, unfortunately.

Here’s how we’ve successfully kept in touch:

1.   Get new clients on your email list.

Since you’re blogging regularly, there’s no need to create an ezine.  Just send a monthly “blog broadcast” containing highlights from you latest blog posts.  You can set this up automatically from email marketing services such as Aweber.

2.   Create a follow up email sequence for new clients filled with tips and ideas.  This way you’ll stay top of mind during the planning process, and you can also send them referral incentives and reminders along the way.

3.    Call them every 3-6 months.

My couples were shocked that I would do this, but they really appreciated it.  I’d just call up, say hello, ask how the plans were going, etc.  It let them know that I actually cared and wanted to help, made them that much more confident that I was going to do a great job at the wedding…and as a bonus, it resulted in referrals to their engaged friends.

If you have a specific referral incentive program (highly encouraged!) you might mention it them or say that you’ll email them details.  Just don’t make that the #1 reason for your call.

Keeping in touch by email and phone is a winning strategy for happy clients and more referrals!

How do you keep in touch with your current clients?

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3 Wedding Pro Tips for a Rockin’ Business

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We recently surveyed the wedding pro friends of Book More Brides to learn their best wedding planning tip to share with brides and grooms.  A few of them sent strategies for wedding vendors instead.

While that wasn’t exactly what we were looking for, these tips were WAY too good to pass up!  Check out these awesome tips from the wedding pros who use them.

Strategy 1

#1 – Winning Strategy to Easily Stand Out, Network and Book

I find that a lot of couples will pick their photographer first. When this is the case and I am the first vendor that they come into contact with, I suggest that they develop a wedding planning binder.  Of course I will offer them a binder that I have created complete with my logo!

I am always prepared to give them a “resource sheet” complete with other local vendors that I recommend.  I include florists, bands, DJ’s, caterers, cake bakers and even venues, if needed.

As a wedding photographer, I believe in the value of wedding pictures so if a couple doesn’t choose to hire me, I will prepare them another list of other fabulous photographers in my area that they can contact. This really impresses couples and to me it defines good customer service!!!

Lauren Vick, The Looking Glass Photography

#2 – Strategy for Booking Bridal Show Leads

At bridal shows, I preempt the price question by asking first, “Do you know what you are looking for in a photographer?” (This can be used for any wedding vendor.)

If they say NO, I ask them if they would like some tips. Everyone say yes. I then give them tips, such as check out 2-3 photographers and see who best matches your personality and style. If they say YES, they tell me. I then show how we match what they are looking for.

I end either discussion with asking for a meeting, or, failing that, permission to call to set up a meeting.  At a recent show where we spoke to some 150 brides, only 1 asked about price. Over 10% of those who filled out the entry form for a prize said yes to getting a call.

Charles Flum, Flum focus Photography

#3 – Time Saving Billing Tool

Greener Billing is the absolute best estimate, invoice, and billing system I have come across (and I did a lot of research and tried several before settling on this one!).  It isn’t free, but it only costs about $15/mo, and it pays for itself many times over.

You can save all of your frequently used products and services, along with the description and price, and then create estimates for your brides using a drop down menu of your products and services, which you can also edit on the fly. Then once the client books, you can convert that estimate to an invoice with one click.

The system will also send billing due date reminders, past due notices, etc, and it creates professional PDF invoices with your logo, payment slips for check payments…I could go on and on.

I remember creating estimates and invoices in MS Word when we got started, and it is comical how long that took (and how much more room for error there was) compared to Greener Billing. I am not an affiliate or anything and have no ties to Greener Billing, other than being a happy customer. I wish someone had told me about them years ago!

Jeff Copeland, Simple Weddings

What’s your best wedding business success tip?

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New, Hot Strategy for More Shares, More Traffic and More Bridal Leads

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pinterest-infographic

How would you like to create a blog or Facebook post that…

    • Attracts immediate attention.
    • Gets 100% – 1000% or more comments, likes, shares and interaction from brides and other wedding vendors.
    • Educates brides and grooms about your value.
    • Proves your expert status.
    • Promotes your business far and wide for FREE?

Oh, yeah.  I’m in!

Infographics are one of the fastest and easiest ways to get this kind of “viral” sharing response.  The proof is in the extremely compelling pudding/results.

Yes, it’s all about infographics this week!  We explored a real wedding vendor infographic case study and I created my first infographic about Brides on Pinterest.

Okay.  I’ve been convinced that infographics are WAY cool and way effective when it comes to generating attention, traffic and leads for my business, but it leaves one fiery, burning question:

How do you create an infographic?

4 Steps to Infographic Bliss

Step 1 – Gather some cool, interesting statistics.

Just type a few phrases into ole Google and dig up some interesting wedding-related stats.  Think about the topics your clients are interested in: wedding trends, planning tips, inspiration, timelines, checklists, etc.

Step 2 – Pick your infographic creation method of choice.

If you happen to be handy with Photoshop and the like (oh, how I envy you, my photo and video friends!) this will likely be a piece of cake.
If you’re like me, Photoshop-less and largely lacking in graphic creating ability, never fear!  There is a way and it’s easier than you might think.  Choose from these options:

    •  Hire a pro to design it for you.  Check out Odesk.com or Elance.com for starters.
    •  Create your infographic with Powerpoint.  Download these free infographic templates from Hubspot.  (Yes, there is a lengthy form you must fill out to get them, but well worth it!)
    • Use a FREE infographic creation website such as Easel.ly, Visual.ly, Infogr.am or Venngage.  (It took me about 1 hour to create this Pinterest infographic using an Easel.ly “V-theme.”)
    • Hold a contest at 99Designs and have designers compete for the best infographic.  Prize for an infographic design contest is around $300.

 

How we pay for things

Step 3 – Share your infographic everywhere!

Think of every which way you can share and promote your infographic.  As long as it’s interesting data, it will be liked, shared and spread, but you’ve got to make it findable first.

Make sure your infographic title and description include the words “free” and “infographic” to take advantage of search engine traffic.

Your promotion should include one or more of the following:

    • Submit to infographic directories such as Visual.ly and Infographicfile.com.
    • Publish and promote from your blog.  Include an embed code that makes it easy for people to use your infographic on their own blogs and websites.
    • Share on social media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, Reddit.  Be sure to use the #free and #infographic hashtags.
    • Submit a press release.
    • Contact other wedding pros and bloggers who might be interested in sharing your infographic.

Step 4 – Track your results.

If you’re going to do the work of creating an infographic, you want to make sure it pays off, right?

Use tracking codes whenever possible and check your analytics to see how many shares, likes, comments and downloads you’ve had of your infographic.  Look for an increase in website traffic and leads over time.

I’ve shown you why, where and how to create an infographic that promotes your wedding business across the web-o-sphere.  Now all that’s left is to get on it, baby!

What do you think about infographics?

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: Bridal Marketing, Home Page Tagged With: , , , ,

Free Infographic: Brides on Pinterest

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I unearthed some interesting Pinterest stats the other day that reveal why you should seriously consider using Pinterest to promote your wedding business.

I know, I know.  Just what we need: another social media platform to hang ourselves from.

While I don’t recommend chasing every new kid on the block, Pinterest is worth a look…especially for wedding photographers, videographers and planners.  Use that photo, video and decor inspiration to show off your expertise and win over those brides!

Check out this handy-dandy little infographic that makes the data a little more fun to look at.

Pinterest Factology

  • Pinterest has over 11.7 million unique monthly US visitors.


  • 80% of Pinterest users are women.


  • The most popular age group on Pinterest is 25-34 year olds.


  • Women are five times more likely to use Pinterest and almost twice as likely to be college-educated.


  • 69% of online consumers who visit Pinterest have discovered an item they’ve bought or want to buy, compared with only 40% of Facebook users.


  • Pinterest referrals spend 70% more money than visitors referred from non-social channels.

Statistics courtesy of Huffington Post and TechCrunch.

If your target brides include affluent, college educated women age 25-34, there’s a really good chance, a really, really good chance, you can find them on Pinterest.

Courtesy of: Book More Brides

What do you think about Pinterest?

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

Filed Under: Bridal Marketing, Home Page, Pinterest Tagged With: , , , ,
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