You are here: Home / Archives for Marketing / Strategy

Be a Social Media Maven: Pinterest Best Practices

8 Feb Filed Under: Education, Marketing, Natalia, Social Media, Strategy

If you haven’t joined one of the fastest growing social media sites in history yet, now is definitely the time! We’ve already covered the basics about Pinterest and even put together some tips and quick explanations to get you started on Pinterest in a previous post. Now we are ready to dig a little deeper and get to know some of the best practices for using Pinterest, while even helping your own brand!

Be Social on Pinterest

After you Pin an image to your page, then you get the chance to share it with your entire social network! If you want to share what you pin with more people, you can tweet pins to your Twitter account or share pins on Facebook to help expand your network across all three services. You can also share a Pin with another Pinner you know by using an @mention in the description, just like you do on other social sites like Twitter. They’ll get an email to let them know they’ve been mentioned.

Showcase Your Newest Products

When launching a new product, whether a new dress, dinner dish, or piece of jewelry, businesses want to know the initial reactions to the product’s look and feel. Because of Pinterest’s commenting ability, it is the perfect platform to introduce a new product and gather firsthand opinions from your own followers and other new viewers. As users Repin a photo, business owners and managers can gather more knowledge and ultimately decide whether they should move forward with their latest product. Think of it as a social media focus group!

Sell Your Work Through Pins

If you add a “$” or a “£” to the Pin description, Pinterest will automatically add a price banner to the photo. The Pin will then appear in the Gifts category. Within the Pin, remember to link to your website where fans can purchase the actual item. Just remember to remove the Pin once you’ve sold out! You can also add a ‘Pin It’ button on each product page of your own website to allow customers and prospects to share and catalogue your images.

Some Words of Caution from Ready2Spark

  • Self-promotion – Every social networking site has its own etiquette. Pinterest is no exception. They discourage users from using the network as purely promotional. (Don’t forget to share others’ work as well as your own!)
  • High quality photography needed – If you’re going to participate, recognize that if you want to be repinned, your images / videos need to be high quality and attractive.
  • Open window into your thoughts, ideas & organization – Pinterest does not have the ability to make your pins private for now, although they have identified this is something they’re considering working on. So, be cautious about what you share. For example, you might not want to post ideas for projects you’re working on – for confidentiality and privacy reasons.
  • Rules of conduct – As with any social networking site, there are specific (and legal) rules of conduct. Ensure you follow Pinterest’s Copyright, Privacy and Terms of Use Policies.

Pinterest holds immense potential for brands to interact with their audiences and to visually entice current and potential customers. Using the power of images, businesses can create buzz around products, display different aspects of their businesses, and ultimately create more personal and visually pleasing social experiences for their audiences.

For more inspiration and ideas, follow our Pinterest Page through Two Bright Lights!

- Natalia
Comment
Share
Pin It
Filed Under: Education, Marketing, Natalia, Social Media, Strategy

Be a Social Media Maven: Get Started on Pinterest

19 Jan Filed Under: Education, Marketing, Natalia, Social Media, Strategy

You’ve probably heard the buzz building around Pinterest the last few months, and it’s no surprise why. This social photo-sharing website has already become one of the top 10 social networks for 2012, and it’s even being touted as the fastest growing social media site in history– and it’s still invite-only! In case you aren’t familiar with this popular new website, we put together some tips and quick explanations to get you started on Pinterest.

1. What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is all about sharing visual images and ideas. It is a place to organize all the things that you find inspiring and intriguing. The images that you share are called “Pins,” which you can then place onto “Boards” that are themed and/or categorized as you wish. You can create a board for practically anything, including (but not limited to): exotic locations, gorgeous photography, DIY ideas, and more! You can even think of it as your personal wishlist, filled with things to try out for yourself.

You can sign up for a Pinterest invite on the website, but prepare for a little bit of a wait. Chances are, you might know someone who is already pinning, and you can ask for an invite from them!

2. Why should I use Pinterest?

You can use Pinterest to just pin pictures of cool stuff all day, but it’s also a valuable tool for people with a specific purpose in mind. In the wedding industry, many new brides have employed the simplicity and portability of a Pinterest account to collect their favorite ideas and inspiration. Some people create a Board for each room in the house and then pin decorating ideas for that room. Artists can use it to organize inspiring images for their work. DIY-ers can bookmark crafts and ideas for those projects they always meant to try. You can also allow your boards to have multiple contributors, so collaborating with co-workers on a project is easy with everyone’s ideas and inspiration in one place.

3. How can Pinterest help my business?

Whether you’re a wedding photographer, florist, baker, or any other type of vendor, you can showcase your own work simply by pinning images to your boards. If your product or service can be visually compelling, then this is definitely the site for you! You’ll be able to reach a huge audience that continues to be highly interactive. Start by picking out your favorite images of your work and dedicate a board (or even a few!) to what you can offer. If you’re a florist, maybe you want to create one board for wedding bouquets, another board for boutonnieres, and another board for centerpieces. The possibilities are endless!

4. How do I start Pinning?

By using a simple drag-and-drop browser extension from the Pinterest website, you can use the “Pin It” button to pin any image from any website you visit. Just click the “Pin It” button, select the  picture you want, assign the pin to a Board, add a short description, and you’re done! If the Pin is something you want to buy, you can also include the price in the description and it will attach to the Pin for easy reference. The best part: anything you pin from a website will link back to exactly where you found it! There’s no reason why you shouldn’t Pin your own images to drive traffic back to your blog or website!

5. How do I become more social on Pinterest?

In addition to uploading your own pins, you can also Repin posts from other people using Pinterest! This is where the social aspect comes in- the more people you follow, the more likely you are to encounter new images and ideas that peak your interest.

To find other Pinners with similar interests to yours, click the Everything drop-down menu and pick a category that interests you. When you see a good Pin, you can leave a comment, Like it, or Repin to one of your own Boards. If you find a Board that is particularly intriguing, you can follow that individual board’s updates or you can choose to follow the Pinner’s profile with all of her Boards. Like Twitter, it’s an open network, so follows don’t require permission, and you don’t have to follow anyone back.

Be sure to check out the Popular button at the top of the main Pinterest page to see what pins are trending at the moment. It’s a great way to find new content and to find Pinners who share your interests!

In no time at all, you can master this simple social site and help your creative business get the exposure it deserves. Follow our Pinterest page for more ideas!

Stay tuned for more tips coming up in the next few weeks on building your brand through Pinterest and other social media networks!

 

 

Comment
Share
Pin It
Filed Under: Education, Marketing, Natalia, Social Media, Strategy

12 Ways to Boost Your Business in 2012

4 Jan Filed Under: Marketing, Siri, Strategy

 

The New Year is upon us and there are several ways that you can jump start growth.  Here is the list of 12 small business boosters for 2012.

 

 

  1. Create a custom Facebook page.  With 800 million people and climbing on Facebook, it is quickly becoming your second website and where your customers are spending a lot of time each day.  Don’t miss out on this opportunity to attract and connect with potential customers.

  2. Invest in sponsor story advertisements on Facebook.  This is a great way to gain fans and get exposure for your business.  You can set your daily budget too so there is no risk of overspending.

  3. Hire a great employee.  Take a page from the Google playbook.  A terrific employee will earn twice their salaries for the business and boost morale in the workplace.

  4. Build a list of references and put testimonials on your website.  We live in a social world and clients need to put faces and names to your references.

  5. Submit to be featured in magazines and blogs.  Photographers who submit to be featured made 73% more revenue and wedding planners 56%! 

  6. Put an email address on your website and Fanpage.  We surveyed thousands of sites in the entertainment and wedding world and 40% of the sites did NOT include an email address.  Make it easy for potential clients to reach you!

  7. Use Pinterest to drive traffic to your blog.  Pinterest is growing leaps and bounds and many businesses find that this is a bigger driver to their blog and site than SEO.

  8. Outsource various tasks.  Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and there are only 24 hours in the day.  Find others to do work that isn’t your strength so it frees up time for you to do what you do best.

  9. Spend time on your financials.  While outsourcing your tax returns and bookkeeping makes sense understanding the math behind your business will lead to better decision making and spending.

  10. Craft a business plan.  The most successful businesses have detailed business plans and proformas for the next 3 years.  Hire an expert to help with this process; the investment will more than pay for itself in the long run.

  11. Be a leader on Twitter.  In our marketing effectiveness survey we found that businesses that are leaders on Twitter earned 30% more revenue than those who only followed.

  12. Run a Facebook promotion.  There are legal items to consider (Facebook has many rules) but with third-party apps you can boost your fan base and do it with minimal expense.



 

Comment
Share
Pin It
Filed Under: Marketing, Siri, Strategy

Sage Wedding Pros Part 2: Top Tips for a Successful Wedding Business

22 Dec Filed Under: Brand, Education, Industry Insider, Lauren, Strategy, TBL GIve-Aways

Yesterday we introduced you to wedding business superstar Michelle Loretta of Sage Wedding Pros, who has put her finance expertise to work helping wedding professionals amp up their business with practical solutions. Today we’re excited to share some of her fabulous tips for marketing, branding, and finance!

The question: what advice do you have for professionals who want to improve their wedding marketing?

1) Invest in branding identity: your business website, business cards, promotional information.  I see far too many wedding businesses investing in ads before their website is presentable.  You lose the marketing dollars spent on an ad if your customer comes to your website and logs off.

2) It’s important to have a good mix of promotional activities.  When you make a financial investment in the stock market, you have to diversify your investment… spread our money into lots of different things so you don’t lose the farm in one place.  It’s the same with marketing. Spread your efforts into lots of different areas:

  • Advertising
  • Networking
  • Publishing
  • Social Media

…and so on.  There will be years where one activity brings you a ton of business.  And, later it’ll fizzle out.  Try something else.  But keep an eye on your results and you’ll be able to adapt our marketing efforts as needed.

3) These days, being published has become increasingly important.  Engaged couples look to see if wedding professionals have been published to gain a sense of trust.  Being published gives you a ‘stamp of approval’ by the wedding industry.  And, as the adage goes, getting a feature in a magazine or on a blog is free publicity.  And, with platforms such as Two Bright Lights, getting published has never been easier.  (I’m so amazed by you ladies at TBL!  You really do make it easy!)

Finally: What do you think is the single most important thing a wedding professional can do to improve the success of their business?

I’m completely biased because of my finance background.  And, I’m going to speak only for the wedding industry.  I don’t believe enough business owners have a firm grasp on their financial results and how to use the information to assess performance.

The single most important thing a wedding pro can do is to KNOW their NUMBERS.  You can have the most innovative product or service, incredible branding, outstanding marketing, and amazing operational structure.  But, if you don’t know if you are making any money, and how marketing activities correlate, then those other factors can’t save you.  By knowing your numbers you have the power to build your business.  Numbers are the only benchmark of performance.

Be sure to check out Michelle’s blog for tons of practical business advice (like this post on Pricing Products & Services in the Wedding Industry).  Thanks so much to Michelle for taking the time to share her fabulous insight!

Want more great advice from Michelle? Just in time for 2012, Sage Wedding Pros is offering $100 off The Simple Plan Exclusive which is their one-to-one partnership with small business owners to help build a business plan.  Simply visit The Simple Plan website to learn more about The Exclusive and enter the discount code “TBL” when you enroll.  This offer is only good through December 30th and space is limited to first-come-first-served!

(Image: Creative Commons)

Comment
Share
Pin It
Filed Under: Brand, Education, Industry Insider, Lauren, Strategy, TBL GIve-Aways

The Client’s Perspective: The how and why of the final decision

1 Dec Filed Under: Blog, Brand, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy

In May, I started a short series about the client’s perspective in photography and discussed my search for my perfect photographer. I shared how I narrowed my list and honed in on a few photographers. But, then the question remained: how do I choose? After speaking with many Two Bright Lights photographers, I came to realize that few clients ever tell them why they don’t choose them, and sometimes clients do not tell them why they DO choose them. I am going to walk you through the process that helped me choose who I did and who I did not.

Before I start, these views do not represent the views of Two Bright Lights, and I do not intend to speak for all brides. I just want to share my personal experience, to give you insight into my process in the hopes of adding value to your client acquisition process and strategy.

 The Process

After narrowing down my list to about 6 photographers I spent considerable time looking at a few key items to get a better sense for who was going to be a good fit for us. I was looking for the photographer whose online and offline presentation presented and communicated the following elements the best:

Their website

In particular I looked at a few key areas:

Their portfolio: I looked for diversity in the types of shots featured: I wanted to see examples of all the different type of work they did.

Weddings: I looked for a variety of moments featured – from romantic/epic shots to the first kiss to the grandma dancing!)

Engagements: I was looking for examples demonstrating their creativity and ability to reflect the couple’s style, not just their own – so I  looked for variety in style of shots and perspective.

Non-wedding Work: I was hoping to get a sense of how they saw the world and what non-wedding work struck their fancy. This gave me a sense for who they were. If it was mainly baby images that gave me one sense, if it was mainly fashion, it gave me another.

Their style

I wanted someone with a documentary approach to photography – who focused on taking beautiful pictures of real moments versus someone who took the epic, but more posed shots. Because I knew what style I wanted, when I looked at their portfolios, it helped me narrow down the list – eliminating those with different styles and keeping those who did.

Their client praise section

I know that photographers often ask the brides who they felt were pleased with the ultimate work to provide feedback to share with other clients. Understanding that what I was reading was from people who were asked – I looked at the type of praise they chose to give. I looked for comments about how the photographer created work that really reflected the wedding, about how the photographer was non-intrusive, about how the photographer was easy to work with, made clients feel at ease being themselves, and that the work was fantastic.

Their blog

Content. I wanted to see what work of their own that they chose to feature and the commentary they wrote. I was looking to understand how the photographer positioned themselves within the field. The photographs they chose to highlight gave me more insight into their style. I looked at what other sort of content they wrote about – did they highlight the work of other vendors, did they report on industry trends, did they seem up to date and excited about quality equipment, etc.

Social Media. I looked at their Facebook page and Twitter feed. I was not judging the number of followers, though I did hope to see enough to seem like they were connected to their peers. All I wanted was to have evidence of their engagement in the industry, as noted by the content of their tweets/posts and when it came to Twitter the people they followed.

Features. It was important to me that they had been featured on blogs or in magazines, and that they understood that was important. I looked for links to their features and checked out who featured them and what work was featured.

Lists and Professional Affiliations. I kept an eye out for any lists they were on, such as Green Wedding Shoes or Style Unveiled. I paid attention to what industry groups and professional organizations they belonged to. It was important that this information was easy to find and was there.

The Connection

After I had a good sense for who they were, I called them. Because I lived far away I was unable to meet them in person. I realize this is a somewhat unique position, but like in a meeting I was hoping for a good connection, someone who I felt understood what I was looking for, someone who I could be comfortable around.  Their personality and professionalism mattered to me. I wanted to feel like they were excited about me and wanted my business, but were not desperate for my business – so little intonations and word choice gave me clues to this. It also mattered that they knew the answers to my questions and that the answers came smoothly.  I asked about how they would describe their style, what their favorite part of shooting a wedding was, how their pricing worked, what their training was, etc.  Charlie (my fiancé) also talked to them – and we compared our impressions.

Price was also a factor, but the photographers we like had almost identical pricing, so the decision came down more to fit and follow through than anything. Because we did not have a chance to meet in person, it was essential that they returned calls and emails promptly, followed up on the what they said they would send, and were quick to answer questions.

So, who did we pick and why?

We picked Otto Schulze of Otto Shutlze Photographers. Why? Well, in brief he had an extremely professional website and blog, took award winning documentary style photography, was delightful on the phone, and conveyed a genuine sense of excitement to work with us. The other photographers were also amazing, but they missed some of the key elements I outlined above.

So far the working with Otto has been amazing. Charlie and I are in love with our engagement pics (which we will feature soon) and cannot wait for the wedding pictures!!

 

 

 

Comment
Share
Pin It
Filed Under: Blog, Brand, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy

Branding: How to Write a Creative Brief

28 Jun Filed Under: Brand, Marketing, Strategy

Last month we launched our beautiful new blog. It’s amazing what a big difference a redesign can make, especially in the wedding industry! This industry is all about the visual experience, so your logo, brand, and web design are crucial.  Potential clients/readers quickly move on if the design falls short. But finding the design that fits your brand and creates a compelling visual experience is often a challenge. It was a challenge for us for sure! But there were a couple of tools we used and lessons we learned that we think would be valuable to lots of our Done Brilliantly readers and Two Bright Lights users. The first tool we wanted to share was the creative brief.

So what is a creative brief anyway?

A creative brief is the outlined instructions, guidelines, and ideas for work to be done by a creative team (internal or external). It provides an outline to help you and your creative team understand where you are now – and where you’d like to be as a result of a blog, website, or brand redesign, or a new product, etc. It usually includes overviews of the research needed, timelines, goals, information on the target audience, and brand specifications. The creative brief does not have to be incredibly long but the best briefs are clear and concise.

But how is the creative brief used?

A creative brief is used in two ways. First, it helps you clarify your thoughts and crystallize what it is exactly that you want. The process of answering the key questions is the best way to start understanding the elements that are necessary to build a new brand identity. Second, it gives the information to your team or designer they need to bring your ideas to life. It provides direction, ideas, and structure for the designers and lays the foundation to start building the shapes you envision. It basically creates a word picture and provides a bridge between what is in your head and reality.

More importantly, what does a creative brief look like?

The best way to answer this is to show you! Here is our creative brief template.  We recommend that you answer the questions below and share them with your creative talent.

What is our aspiration?

How it will help our business (what are the expected business impacts of this project?)

What we’ll get (what are the deliverables at the end of the project?)

Some Boundaries

Who this is for?

Make the right impression (how do you want people to respond to your brand?)

We’ll know it worked when (how will we know if it worked?)

Who we are (can you summarize what your brand is about?)

What We Do (can you summarize your business?)

Our Personality

Our Values & Mission (generally)

Design

We created a detailed power point that included images and explanations of blogs and specific blog design aspects we loved, brands we identified with, colors we liked etc. We used power point to mock-up the flow of the blog so that the design team would have a sense for layout.

We want you to feel free to use this format and content to help grow your business!

Images courtesy of Jessica Claire Photography.

Comment
Share
Pin It
Filed Under: Brand, Marketing, Strategy

Industry Insider: Featuring Liene Stevens: Part 1

7 Jun Filed Under: Brand, Community, Industry Insider, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy

Founder of of Think Splendid and Wedding Industry Jobs

We are so excited about your new project Wedding Industry Jobs. It seems to already be catching on and getting buzz. Could you tell us about Wedding Industry Jobs and the evolution of the idea? Why did you choose to launch it now? How do you see Wedding Jobs effecting the wedding industry? Whats your long term vision for Wedding Industry Jobs?

FindAWeddingJob.com started as an idea on a Sunday morning. I started working on it that afternoon and had launched a “sneak peek” Sunday night. Monday morning was the official polished up launch. I wanted to do it for a couple of reasons:

First, in my work with Splendid Communications, I meet a lot of wedding professionals all over the country. One of the common complaints is how hard it is to find good employees who are both creative and have an office work ethic (meeting deadlines, etc). The mainstream job boards are usually cost-prohibitive (costing $300 and up for a 30 day listing) for small wedding businesses, so I wanted to create something that was accessible financially. FindAWeddingJob.com integrates with other job boards, including LinkedIn, so that their listings are seen by a wide group of people, increasing their chances of hiring the right employee.

Second, I am asked all the time if I know people in the industry who are hiring, and while I try to retweet the openings, it’s hard to remember who mentioned they had an opening and when. I also know many wedding professionals who get inquiries, and if they’re not hiring, I wanted them to be able to refer those job seekers to the job board. We’ve all been in the difficult boat of looking for a job at one point or another and it’s just good karma if someone can say “we’re not hiring, but here’s a resource that may help you.”

My goal is for the site to become an invaluable resource both for wedding professionals and job seekers. Many people complain about the industry being over-saturated, but the simple truth is that it’s not going to desaturate any time soon. I’d rather it be over-saturated with talent than over-saturated with incompetent people. Getting a foot in the door with an internship or job found on the board and learning the ropes from talented people in the industry is a much better solution than a former bride with no other wedding-related experience picking up a camera or deciding to plan weddings.

Your @weddingjobs twitter stream has already gained a lot of traction these past few days. How did you gain this traction so quickly? What do you think this says about the wedding industry? Does using twitter to connect people for jobs reflect a trend in social media?  In the current economy, what role does twitter play in the job market?

I am a digital marketing strategist for the wedding industry, so the @weddingjobs twitter growth is no accident or stroke of luck. For the job board to work, both wedding professionals and job seekers need to know about it and use it. In the case of this specific product, quantity of followers is important (this is not always the case for other wedding businesses). I don’t want to give away too many specifics about the strategy since this is the type of work I consult clients on, but I will say that the growth is organic and I think that is key for anyone looking to grow a Twitter presence. There are services that will auto-follow a bunch of people to build up your followers and then clean out those who don’t follow back, but I do not recommend ever using these. If you see someone who has 40,000 followers and is following 38,000 people, they are using this type of service. It cuts out the engagement and listening and the conversion from follower to product user or client are much lower than when growth is organic. Simply having a lot of followers doesn’t pay the bills.

Twitter is huge in the current economy because, aside from personal use, people use it to stay connected to their industry, whether they’re a business owner or employee. If they’re looking for a job, being up to date on the latest news, trends and industry players gives them a competitive advantage that another candidate may not have.

How can we and others help spread the word about your new venture?

Refer people to FindAWeddingJob.com and the WeddingJobBlog.com! If you get a lot of job inquiries, consider setting up an auto-reply for those particular emails that says you’re not hiring right now but that the site may have something available. Follow us on Twitter and retweet job listings that might be relevant to your followers.

But we also love Think Splendid and Splendid Communications. For those who don’t know the story of Think Splendid and Splendid Communications, could you give us the elevator pitch?

Splendid Communications is a digital marketing consulting firm for the wedding industry. I had built a successful wedding planning business through digital and social media marketing because it was a medium that was familiar to me (I have been blogging personally for 12 years). The main arm of that strategy was the wedding blog, which generated over $27 million in revenue for the Phoenix and Washington DC areas in less than four years. My plan had always been to sell the wedding consulting company, so I decided to transition into helping other companies figure out the social media landscape in a strategic way. Think Splendid is the tagline and the brand name used on our social media platforms.

 

Love Liene like we do?? Then check back in next Tuesday for Part 2!

 

Comment
Share
Pin It
Filed Under: Brand, Community, Industry Insider, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy

The Client’s Perspective: My search for the perfect photographer: Part 1

3 Jun Filed Under: Community, Education, Industry Insider, Marketing, Strategy

 

As an avid lover of wedding photography (thanks to my job at Two Bright Lights!) picking my perfect photographer for Charlie’s and my wedding was a huge priority. I knew that I needed a photographer who could do an engagement shoot in Colorado and who would travel to my home in Templeton, CA. But I did not know photographers in either area. We decided it made the most sense to find a photographer in Denver because as a bigger city there were more photographers to chose from.  So while the selection process was still daunting, at least that narrowed it down a bit!  But now the big question:

So how do brides (and grooms:) go about finding photographers?

(My confused groom-to-be Charlie)

To answer this, I want to walk you through my thought process of how I found my photographer. I want to give you some insight on how brides find photographers in hopes of giving you some food for thought on how to reach prospective clients.

Problem: I don’t know anyone my age in Denver to ask for referrals so how do I find a photographer?

Step 1: Find vetted lists of photographers.

How? I started by looking at one of Two Bright Light’s Colorado focused editorial partners, Colorado Wedding Style. I was looking for a preferred vendors list, which they did have. Though it was a small list and I recognized nowhere near comprehensive, it was a good place to start. At least I had a few names.  I then Googled “Colorado Wedding Style Best Photographer” and came across a contest they ran asking readers which CO photographer was the “best.” They provided a long list of photographers, and readers shared their opinion. To decide which photographers I would add to my list, I looked for the photographers who had the most people’s vote, and those who received the most enthusiastic response. I also looked for photographers whose advocates said specific things about why they loved the photographer. Of all of the photographers in the contest I picked three or four who really stood out based on my criteria. At this point I had 8 potential photographers.

Step 2: Narrow down the list even further

How? I took the preferred vendor list and my list from the contest and I looked at all of their websites. I was not attempting to choose at this point, I just wanted to narrow it down to about 3-4 photographers I wanted to reach out to directly. I did not spend more than 3 minutes on the website. I was looking for four things:

  1. Layout: Did the structure of the website reflect an understanding of what a bride is looking for? (namely did they do weddings, engagement shoots, editorial shots, documentary shots? Did they capture a wide variety of emotions and moments? Did their photography reflect multiple styles – which was indicative that they had creative flexibility? —-More thoughts on what brides are looking for specifically in Part 2)
  2. Professionalism: Was the site professional – clean, clearly worded, well branded, well designed, and up to date?
  3. Clarity: Was it easy to find the info I was looking for e.g. contact, portfolio, blog, referrals, pricing, about, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
  4. Quality: Were the images highlighted artistic and realistic rather than too stylized through photoshop?

(NOTE: My next post is going to be on the specifics of the ins and outs of what worked for me in websites and blogs and what did not. Think of this list as a teaser!)

I trimmed the photographers who did not have all four of the qualities I was looking for and with the remaining three I sent them an email to set up a call!!

Insight for you:

  1. Pretend you are a bride and try to find your business online.
  2. Do your best to get on blogs preferred vendors list.
  3. Focus on web design and highlighting images that will appeal to a wide array of brides (styles, budgets, etc)
  4. Get your name onto as many websites and contests as you can.
  5. Pay attention to your Search Engine Optimization.
  6. Make sure client’s thoughts on your work are easy to find on your website.
  7. Set up a place where people can give perspective on your work, such as Yelp. A
  8. If there are venues for user feedback e.g. local and regional blogs and magazines, etc., try to get some of your favorite clients to advocate for you on them.
  9. Pretend you are a bride and figure out how they would find you online. Search google, search Yelp, search databases, etc.
  10. Be entrepreneurial and creative! Here a just a few ideas: be a guest blogger on local blogs, create lists of your favorite vendors to work with and refer them when asked, blog, tweet, Facebook, host promotions and give-a-ways, try to get interviewed in local publications and host workshops.

 

 

 

 

 

Image Courtesy of Jessica Claire Photography

Comment
Share
Pin It
Filed Under: Community, Education, Industry Insider, Marketing, Strategy

The Client’s Perspective: What REALLY sells Brides

13 May Filed Under: Community, Education, Marketing, Strategy Tagged With:

I recently got engaged to the fantastic Charlie Kettering. We have decided on an August 11, 2012 wedding at my home in the Central Coast of California. But now this means:

 

We are on the lookout for wedding vendors!

 

I am going to be posting about why we choose who we do and why we don’t choose others. I want to provide an honest client’s perspective on what sells, on what works, and what does not work. Granted, this is my perspective, and I cannot speak for all brides. But as a twenty something LOTS of my friends are going through the same process and I will do my best to keep their experiences in mind as I tell you mine.

I hope this insight can help wedding businesses market more effectively and find more clients!

So keep an eye out for The Client’s Perspective.

- Shalyn

(@twobrightlights and @shalynhockey)

Comment
Share
Pin It
Filed Under: Community, Education, Marketing, Strategy Tagged With:

Flutter Tip of the week: Create a feel, the power of coherent submissions

23 Feb Filed Under: Community, Marketing, Strategy

Rodolfo Arpia did an excellent job putting together his submission for this gorgeous Los Angeles wedding. Not only did he give a fantastic distribution of details, he also created a consistency and coherency amongst the images he selected. He created a “feel,” and a coherent feel does make those editors hearts flutter! Some of this relies on the quality of the photography, but much of it lies in the images he selected to upload. The color palate, the composition, the focal points of the images, all flowed together – making it incredibly easy to create inspiration boards, for example. Often submissions are jumbled, full of great images, but the images don’t necessarily make sense together, at least when the images sit next to each other, they don’t help create an aura and the story. But Rodolfa’s did and we are so thrilled to feature this lovely wedding!

Comment
Share
Pin It
Filed Under: Community, Marketing, Strategy
« Older Posts