2013 Wedding Vendor Survey Results – Kindle Winner Announced!

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Last week we surveyed our audience of wedding professionals to find out what your biggest challenges are and what we can do at Book More Brides to make your life a whole lot more profitable and FUN.

We promised to use these results to improve the articles and videos we make this year (I do solemnly swear!) and to share them with you.

Oh, and we also hosted a sweepstakes so that one lucky winner gets a free Kindle Fire!  How could I forget that?

Congratulations to Tina Lucy of Georgia.  Your Kindle is on the way. :)

Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond to our survey.  (If you missed it, your results won’t count in this round up, but you can still tell us what you think here.)

Before we get to the results…

Our Survey Disclaimer

This survey is too small to be “statistically relevant” (that’s fancy talk for, “don’t bet the farm on these results”) for the whole wedding community at large.  However, it IS relevant for our Book More Brides friends and followers, and it may indicate larger trends.

These results are based on over 500 survey responses received from wedding professionals who are on our email list or who visit our website.

Now that my lawyers are appeased, we can get to the good stuff!

Watch this wedding trends video to get the full results:

Highlights From the Survey

  • The largest segment of survey respondents (22.2%) have been in business for 5-10 years, with 50.9% in the business for 1-15 years.
  • When asked which type of information video they most like to watch, “Steph & Jeff LIVE” came in the #1 choice, followed by Power Point.  A mixture seems to be most preferred.  (And thanks for the request for live babies and more funny hats?!??)
  • When asked what topics we should cover:

#1 – Marketing Strategies 82.7%
#2 – How to Get More Leads 74.5%
#3 – Sales Techniques 66.1%
#4 – (Price and Value, Social Networks and Dealing with Competition get an Honorable Mention with > 50% voting for each of them.)

  • THE SHOCKER – 47.9% of vendors report making less than $25,000 per year!

This last point has me reeling.  $25,000 of annual income is NOT a liveable wage in my neck of the woods, and probably not in yours, either.  Especially if you have a family.

Jeff and I are re-dedicating ourselves to giving you more of what you want and need, making it more useful and stripping away the dross to help you make more money and build the life you want in 2013.

Sound like a good plan to you?

Thanks again for being a part of our community!  More good stuff to come in our new series of videos to be released soon…

Want to learn MORE about the state of the wedding industry today?

7 Deadly Mistakes video

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“You’ll Never Walk Again,” They Said

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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?

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

Same Sex Marriage and the Wedding Industry: Hype or Salvation?

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With the recent Presidential Election, as polarizing as it was, another equally hot issue made it way onto the books with the passage of laws in three more states legalizing same sex marriage.

Right now, same sex marriage is legal in nine states: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Washington and Vermont, plus Washington D.C.

This is great news if you support marriage freedom (like I do) and not so great news for traditionalists who oppose same sex marriage. Many wedding vendors seem to fall somewhere in between.

Here’s why you should be paying attention…

Gay Weddings = Big Money for the Wedding Industry

The Williams Institute studies clearly show that same sex weddings are good for the economy, and good for the wedding industry in particular.

Check out these stats:

  • Same sex weddings would create an additional $16.8 billion in revenue for the wedding industry if they were legalized in all states.
  • The New York City comptroller’s offices estimates a $142 million boost to the city’s economy as a result of same sex marriage legalization.

Undoubtedly, it’s good for our pocket books. But what can you do to serve this new market?

Before you dive in and decide that same sex weddings are your ticket to more profits, there are a few things you need to consider.

Look Before You Leap into Same Sex Weddings

1. The same sex wedding market is too small to exclusively support most local wedding businesses.

Not all same sex couples will throw a big party when they get hitched. In fact, same sex couples typically spend less on their weddings than the national average. In addition, there simply aren’t enough same sex weddings happening in many local areas for a wedding vendor to serve that market exclusively.

Before you decide to specialize only in serving the same sex wedding market, be sure to investigate the number of these weddings happening in the market you serve. For most wedding businesses, it’s likely that same sex weddings will be an addition to your income, not a replacement.

2. Same sex couples want to be treated just like any other couple, but you’ll need to make some changes.

Gay couples often have a fear of rejection when hiring wedding professionals. If your website and marketing doesn’t appear “gay friendly,” they’ll pass you by.

You’ll need to make sure the wording on your website, in your emails and marketing is gender neutral. Instead of “bride and groom” they want to see “partners.” Similarly, the language in your paperwork needs to change. References to the bride only create the impression that you work exclusively with traditional couples, and same sex couples will be less likely to contact you.

You’ll also have to make adjustments to the words you use when meeting with the couple to be inclusive of all couples getting married, without being offensive.

3. Marketing to same sex couples can negatively impact your message with traditional couples in some areas.

I like to think we’re all open-minded and progressive, but that simply isn’t the case. When you cater to the same sex marriage market, there are some traditional couples who will be offended and turn away from your product or service. This is especially true in more conservative areas of the country.

On the other hand, embracing same sex weddings will score points for you with the more liberal minded, diverse heterosexual couples searching for a wedding vendor.

Be sure to consider the population and mindset of your marketplace before taking action.

What do you think about the impact of same sex marriage on the wedding industry?

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Filed Under: Advertising, Attracting Ideal Clients, Bridal Marketing, Home Page, Wedding Business, Wedding Business Income, Wedding Industry Trends Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Not So Secret Habits of Wedding PR Savvy Pros

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by Meghan Ely  

I’ve always been particularly envious of wedding pros who could grab a 120″ linen, a handful of flowers and some table numbers and turn it into a thing of beauty.

Me? I’ve always been an excel spreadsheet girl. My couples’ Grand Entrances always started on time and my post-reception “what do we do with all these leftover candles and tulle” checklists could rival anything NASA is churning out. I learned long ago that I simply wasn’t design savvy so I relied on the experts around me to show me what looked fabulous, leaving me more time to fine tune my spreadsheets.

Wedding PR is a popular strategy among wedding pros for increasing their brand awareness and unlike my ability to pair colors, wedding PR savviness is a learned skill. Wedding pros need only to incorporate a handful of habits and strategies into their everyday thinking to better position them for the press they desire.

So what are some of the no so secret habits of wedding PR savvy pros?

  1. They understand their goals. Simply having the goal “of just getting picked up” is just not an option. Throwing PR strategies against the wall to see what sticks is an ineffective use of one’s time. It’s time to ask yourself the big question- what do you really want to get out from increased press? One you’re able to come to a solid conclusion, you’re then able to fine tune your efforts for maximum impact.


  2. They do their research. A blind media pitch is as good as no pitch at all. Wedding pros who enjoy a steady stream of press have taken the time to research their top blogs and magazines for content. A pitch or submission customized to a given media outlet is far more likely to be well received versus one that looks like it was created for the masses.


  3. They think like the media. Journalists are constantly on deadline and the sooner you can start thinking like an editor, the better. Learn their rules for submission, as well as upcoming editorial deadlines. Keep your pitches brief, timely and to the point, and you’ll be far more competitive in the long run.


  4. They see potential in their story. Not every piece of news to come out of your business is worthy of a press mention and it is imperative to understand that. On the flip side, a wedding PR savvy wedding pro can see the potential of a story forming within their company and act on it.


  5. They aren’t afraid of the word NO. Let’s face it- wedding PR is designed to be a heartbreaker. You could have the swoon-worthiest wedding out there, and it may not be the right fit for your dream magazine or blog. The fact is, if you’ve done your due diligence, you will more than likely find a home for that fabulous real wedding submission or pitch.

Wedding PR can be a fantastic addition to a strong wedding marketing campaign and by picking up just a few good habits, you too will reap the press rewards enjoyed by your wedding PR savvy colleagues.

Want More Wedding PR Marketing Tips?

Watch Meghan’s entire FREE presentation, “Effortless PR: How to Generate a Promotional Buzz Without Working Your Tail Off,” at our Wedding Business Acceleration Summit!

Here’s just some of what you’ll learn:

  • The mistake most wedding vendors make with an otherwise perfect press release that completely turns journalists off and makes it a waste of time.
  • 5 things you must include in your Real Wedding submission so you get picked up by the best wedding blogs and magazines.
  • What brides and wedding blogs REALLY want to see in Real Wedding submissions…it’s not what you think!…and why most photographers mess this up.
  • How to know immediately when someone is talking about you or your company anywhere online for FREE.
  • The free program that connects you with news hungry journalists so you can get your business featured in the news.
  • The real wedding pet peeve that makes Stephanie madder than a wet hen.
  • And LOTS more!

Enter your name and email below to join us for free!

 

Meghan Ely is the owner of wedding marketing and wedding PR firm OFD Consulting. She is the exclusive wedding PR columnist to wedding marketing journal WedLock magazine and will be traveling to Europe in the coming weeks to speak at The Business of Weddings Ireland and the First Annual Association of European Wedding Professionals Wedding Industry Workshop.

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Filed Under: Advertising, Bridal Marketing, Home Page, Other Businesses, Personal Development, Wedding Business, Wedding Business Income, Wedding Industry Trends, Wedding Vendors Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Is the Digital Era Killing the Photography Business?

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Photographers are faced with this challenge: in a world where you can get an 8×10 print at Walmart and couples are more interested in sharing digital photos on Facebook than they are in purchasing an album, how can you give clients what they want and still make money?

I recently stumbled across an interview with Nate Grahek of Sticky Albums  about a product that answers these frustrations and actually lets you leverage digital media to your advantage. I immediately emailed him because I just knew we had to get him for Book More Brides!

The result was a 40 minute interview that knocked my socks off. Not only is Sticky Albums revolutionizing the ways photographers promote their businesses (and it’s soon to revolutionize the way ALL wedding vendors promote, if I have anything to do with it!) it’s perfect for the kind of powerful, free giveaway marketing, viral promotion and partnership networking we LOVE.

What is a Sticky Album?

A “sticky album” is a custom web app that allows you to create a digital photo album that your clients can download onto a mobile device. The images are bundled together so that your brand and contact information is embedded.

This makes it super easy for brides to share their wedding photos with anyone and everyone they meet…promoting your business in the process. And it’s shared with a link.

Picture this:

A recent brides bumps into one of her college friends at Starbucks. When her friend asks how the wedding was, she pulls out her iPhone and scrolls through her very favorite pictures, gushing over what an amazing job you did at her wedding. Her friend is suitably impressed with the photos, and with your business name, website and phone number that are front and center.

Double Your Word of Mouth Referrals

Everyone knows that word of mouth referrals are the best you can get because your happy clients make the best sales people. Give your clients a tool that makes sharing easy and your word of mouth referrals will absolutely explode.

Your work speaks for itself. When you create a custom app using Sticky Albums, brides will be able to show off your photos to everyone they meet. Each person who views those photos also sees your business name and brand.

As we talked with Nate, I started thinking of more and more applications for Sticky Albums, not just for photographers, but for any wedding vendor.

4 Cool Ways to Turbo Charge Referrals with Sticky Albums

1. Give a Sticky Album as a bonus gift to the couple after the wedding. Announce, “I’ve created this special mobile app just for you,” and watch as they promote your business every time they flash those photos.

2. Include coupon images inside your sticky album. Now your couples have an extra reason to share the goodies.

3. Partner with other wedding vendors to create a coupon book for couples planning a wedding. A custom app containing $500 worth of savings will spread like wildfire, and you’ll have other vendors promoting you, too.

4. Use it to become the #1 recommendation of wedding venues. Create a custom app containing images of a high end venue…embedded with your business and contact info, of course…and let them share it with the couples. Let the flood of referrals begin!

The Drawbacks

As excited as I was to learn about Sticky Albums, there a couple features that are lacking. First, the current app requires that you know how to use Photoshop.

For photographers, that’s no problem. But for someone like me…well, I just have to get my photographer friends to hook me up. If you’re not a photographer, right now partnering with a photographer is a must.

The other missing feature is tracking. It’s essential that you know how people find you so that you know if your marketing is working. Right now, you can only track your Sticky Album referrals based on what your clients tell you or coupon codes they use.

The good news: these features will be added to Sticky Albums with the next version that’s due over the next couple weeks. I am psyched!

The easiest way to explain what sticky albums are is for you to see them yourself. Once you have it in your hand, you’ll understand the potential this has for your business.

Watch this video to see the app on my clunky Android:

What To Do Next

1. Go to Sticky Albums and enter your email to get a free sample you can download to your mobile phone.

2. Make sure you enter the contest to win a FREE iPad Mini and a whole year of Sticky Albums!

3. Listen to our interview with Nate Grahek to learn even MORE ways to promote your wedding business. It’s perfect for photographers, but there are strategies for other wedding vendors, too!

Play the entire interview here:

 

Check out this new product and leave a comment to let me know what you think. Do you love it? Hate it? How are YOU dealing with the challenges of the Digital Age?

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Filed Under: Bridal Marketing, Competition, Home Page, Mobile Marketing, Personal Development, Social Media Tips, Wedding Business, Wedding Business Income, Wedding Business Technology, Wedding Industry Trends Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Wedding Industry Trends and Advice from Weddings Beautiful

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Recently, we had the pleasure of interviewing Nancy Tucker of Weddings Beautiful. She provided some great insight and advice about the issues facing wedding planners today, along with some great ideas to help overcome challenges and have a successful wedding business.

What is the biggest challenge facing wedding planners today?

Today’s wedding planners face many challenges, including the growing DIY trend.

Planners often have to help brides once they get overwhelmed with all of the projects, and need to be prepared to pick up a situation and help. The trend isn’t going away, so wedding planners need to learn how to help make the DIY process easier for brides.

If you could tell a wedding vendor ONE THING to help them build their business, what would it be?

Build a good relationship with other vendors!

Go meet the local clergy. Volunteer at the flower shop. Offer to help set tables for the caters.

Meet absolutely everyone in person. Shake their hands and build a relationship. You want to be the person they call when they have a problem, the card they hand out when a bride asks, the first person that comes to mind. Social media won’t do that for you, but some face to face time will.

What trends/changes are you seeing right now in the wedding industry?

An increase in inexperienced wedding vendors.

People often don’t realize that it takes time to get set up, get certified, and build a stellar reputation as a wedding planner. Unfortunately, there are many, many people out there that had fun planning their own wedding and think they could start a business. These inexperienced, and uncertified “planners” often do not realize that nothing just falls into place. It takes talent and good training. Certified planners are often are called upon to come behind and fix the situation.

What advantages does a Weddings Beautiful certified planner have over the competition?

The Weddings Beautiful program is unique because students learn how to be a planner FROM a certified planner, and are also graded by an experienced wedding planner.

The top priority the program is to provide a well-rounded education for all students. The actual program is about 75% planning, and the other parts of it include a number of items: learning how to deal with clergy, a day in the life of a planner, setting up timeline, how to interact with all of the other vendors, marketing, demographics, public speaking…it’s really a little bit of everything.

Planners who complete the program are totally equipped to handle any type of wedding, and many students go on to specialize. Graduates are equipped to schedule, notify, and work with all types of vendors, from the bartender to the clergy and to make the day run as smoothly as possible.

A little bit about Nancy…

Nancy Tucker is the Director of Educational Services for Weddings Beautiful. She served as President for six years, and currently is in charge of the administration and grading of assignments.

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

Celebrity and Royal Weddings: Beautiful Or Too Much?

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Getting paid big bucks for a high end wedding is wonderful. However any time there is a royal wedding in the world you have to wonder if there is such a thing as, well, too high end. I would assume that the wedding vendors for a royal wedding would make a killing, but at the same time the pressure to be perfect would be intense. Check out this article on Forbes by Cecilia Rodriguez to learn more about the cost of the upcoming wedding of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Countess Stephanie Marie Claudine Christine de Lannoy.

The style of a royal wedding tends to have a certain look: classic, over the top, with lots, and lots of flowers. A celebrity wedding on the other hand can be almost anything in the luxury category of weddings. Sometimes they are beautiful, sometimes they are over the top, and sometimes they are just plain weird.

Anytime you have a celebrity wedding it definitely boosts your credibility as a wedding vendor and makes you a business of interest for many different types of brides. You definitely want to get the permission of the celebrity couple to share pictures and information about their wedding. While they may have limitations to what, and when you can share the information, you don’t want to let it just be another wedding. What do you think? Would you do a royal wedding if offered the chance, and how would you make it help boost business?

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Filed Under: Attracting Ideal Clients, Bridal Marketing, Wedding Budgets, Wedding Business, Wedding Business Income, Wedding Industry Trends Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Wedding Industry Trends: On the Rise or Going Down the Drain?

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What do YOU think about the state of the wedding industry today?

We recently asked this question in an email and were amazed at the differences of opinion and perspective.

(A special shout out to Penny, Heather, Lou, Marie, Richard, Gary, Shirley, Dana and Diana for your thoughtful replies.  Thanks!)

WATCH THIS VIDEO to learn what they had to say about wedding industry trends…and what Jeff and I are fighting about.  :)

There’s one thing Jeff and I do agree on; you can blame the lousy economy for what’s going on in your wedding business, or you can take charge of your own personal wedding economy and take some action to improve it.

Regardless of how bad wedding industry trends may be in your local market, you do have control over the meaning you give those trends and whether it drags you down or builds you up.  Like I’m always saying, “If what you’re doing isn’t working, anything else has a greater chance of working than what ISN’T working right now.”

For more strategies you can use to make sure your business has what it takes to weather ANY economy, enter your name and email to watch our FREE video series here.

What do you think about the wedding economy?  Do you agree with the opinions in this video?  Leave a comment below to let us know what you think.

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 Budgets, Wedding Business, Wedding Business Income, Wedding Industry Trends, Wedding Vendors Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The New Best Way To Capture A Brides Attention

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When did you last look at a bunch of wedding business websites? There is a trend which is quickly catching on with wedding websites that is crucial in capturing a bride’s attention and it increases the probability of changing her from an observer to a client.

This trend is pictures. Lots of artistic, eye catching pictures that show off the work your business does. Now obviously over using pictures is no better than not using pictures at all, however you should use a few pictures on every website page you have, as well as having a photo album to show off more of your work.

The reason this works according to Kathy DalPra’s brilliant article on Bride Appeal is because pictures convey an idea faster than words. They also show how good you are, and let’s face it; brides today are used to social media where they see a ton of pictures all the time. So what do you think? Are pictures the next big trend?

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Filed Under: Attracting Ideal Clients, Bridal Marketing, Website, Website Tools & Tips, Wedding Business, Wedding Industry Trends, Wedding Websites Tagged With: , , , , , ,

So What Are The Real Wedding Statistics?

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Piggy_BanksWhen it comes to taking a good look at real nationwide wedding statistics The Knot is considered one the best places to get the information. They just finished a survey on weddings and Chris Jaeger posted the results on The Knot.

What many wedding businesses will probably find as the biggest shock is the fact that the average cost of weddings hasn’t dropped off due to the economy. Weddings on average cost about the same as ever, and brides who want to cut costs tend to do so through cutting the guest list, not cutting the luxury out of their big day. That said the statistics also show that some regions were hit worse than others, and the cost of the average wedding will depend completely on where in the country the wedding is held.

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