Drink Some Wine and Get Those Brides to Sign the Dotted Line!

Wedding Marketing NOW! & Hip CHICKS do WINE Present. . . .

Come Drink Wine and Get Those Brides and Grooms to Sign the Dotted Line!

Do you have a hard time closing the sale?
Do you fear the sales call?
Are you reaching your monthly goals?
Do you want to make more money?

Wedding professionals come drink wine and listen to marketing and sales professional, Thomas Caddy who owns National Marketing Associates. Thomas can help you feel more comfortable selling your product or services and help you book more clients!

At the last Wedding Marketing NOW event in August we featured professional blogger Lorelle VanFossen. She hopefully helped you refine your website and blog so it’s full of rich and sought after content. Now, learn how to close the deal when you meet or speak with possible clients!

Hip CHICKS do Wine has been so kind to host this event for all the Portland area wedding professionals! Make sure you thank them for their hospitality! Also, please be sure to purchase a couple glasses of wine (their wines are to die for) and then purchase a bottle to take home to celebrate your new found sense of selling!

If you have any questions or you would like to sponsor this event for only $50, please contact me at meaganhope@gmail.com

Event starts at 6 pm!

Networking, wine drinking, and light snacks from 6-7 pm
Presentation by Thomas Caddy starts at 7:15 pm

Look forward to seeing you there!
Address:
4510 SE 23rd Ave
Portland, OR 97202

If you want to RSVP please do so here:
www.facebook.com/events/382065911885095

For more information about Thomas Caddy:
www.nmacorp.com

For more information about Hip CHICKS do WINE:
www.hipchicksdowine.com

THANK YOU SPONSORS:

 

An Overview of the Successful Wedding Industry Beer and Blog Night

First Off. . .

There is nothing quite like beer, great food, an awesome venue, fellow wedding professionals, and one amazing speaker–Lorelle VanFossen for the first Wedding Marketing NOW! event.  The Wedding Industry Beer & Blog night was a huge success!

First, I would like to personally thank Lorelle for giving her time and expertise to all of us wedding professionals.  She is a gem, and that is why I call her Mrs. WordPress!  If you have not already book marked her website, here you go: http://lorelle.wordpress.com.

Also, we could not have done this event without BridgePort Brew Pub sponsoring this event.  The food, the drinks, and the staff were over-the-top amazing to work with.  If you are in need of an awesome venue for any kind of event, wedding, or rehearsal dinner you must consider The Heritage Room at BridgePort Brew Pub in NW Portland.  Kyle and Kelsey from BridgePort Brew Pub were so fun to work with.

Also, a very special thank-you to Erica from Erica Hartman Photography!  She rocked it!  Here is a link to all the spectacular photos she took of the Beer and Blog night: Wedding Marketing NOW! Beer & Blog Night.  Erica captured all the fun that was had but also the great learning experience we all encountered and enjoyed.

What Lorelle Talked About . . .

I call Lorelle VanFossen Mrs. WordPress for a reason, she’s a genius, yet she knows how to explain WordPress and blogging to anyone!  Here are the points that Lorelle hit on:

1. 1975 (not the year, but now many blog posts Lorelle had last year!)

 

 

 

 

2. Blogging is about writing so go and checkout ProBlogger.

3. Use nouns and synonyms when writing your blog.

4. Learn how to write keyword-rich content to help search engines find your blog.

5. Present a problem, the solution and the results in your blogs.

6. Blog paragraphs are short!

7. Never assume your reader knows what you are talking about, therefore, explain jargon.

8. Use command verbs.

9. AVOID SCREAMING!!!!! <——-

10. Remember your content should have intent.

That is All Folks . . .

Until next time!  It was great seeing some familiar faces and to meet new ones.  Thank you so much for coming to the Wedding Industry Beer & Blog night on August 27!

Simon Blanco and myself (Meagan Hope Blanco) are busy preparing for The Wedding Experience, the luxurious mock wedding at the Benson Hotel on October 27.  If you would like more information about the Wedding Experience please email us at weddingexperienceusa@gmail.com or go to www.weddingexperiencepdx.com to learn more.

We plan on announcing a different event similar to the Beer & Blog night within the next few weeks that will take place in late November or early December!  We are looking for a venue that will work with a licensed company that can watch kids on the premise, so you can bring the kids if you need to because there will be FREE childcare!  I will keep you all updated!

Make sure to follow this blog and like us on Facebook to keep up to date!
Check out those who helped out:

Have you RSVP’ed to Wedding Beer & Blog Night at BridgePort Brew Pub?

Wedding Marketing NOW! & BridgePort Brew Pub Present. . . .

Beer & Blog Night at BridgePort Brew Pub

Wedding professionals come drink beer and blog about your craft for FREE! Learn how to make money from your blog. Also learn how to find more clients using a blog. Blogging is the fastest way to help brand your business. Come blog with some of the best bloggers in the WORLD, no joke! Bring your laptop or tablet and come thirsty for beer and ready to blog.

BridgePort Brew Pub has been so kind to host this event for all the Portland area wedding professionals! Make sure you thank them for their hospitality! Also, they would love to invite you down before the event and enjoy dinner at the Brew Pub! It’s a great way to start the week. The food is amazing, the beer is to die for, and the atmosphere is Portland at its finest!

We do need a head count for this event, so PLEASE RSVP!!

Go and RSVP HERE!

Address:

1318 Northwest Northrup Street Portland, OR 97209

If you have any questions or you would like to sponsor this event for only $50, please contact me at weddingmarketingnow@gmail.com.

Martha Stewart, Weddingwire.com, David’s Bridal, Mywedding.com: What’s going on?

What is the current state of the wedding industry?  Are you worried?  Do you think the wedding industry is on the brink of something new?  It’s not just the wedding industry that is looking at some major changes.  There is so much speculation going on in the wedding industry.  There is even more speculation going on in the social media world.  Let me guess, some of you might be thinking, NO, I just conquered social media’s big players: Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!  Well, folks, I predict that you need to keep looking at the biggest player of them all…Pinterest.

Facebook has pretty much run the course of the social media lifespan, some speculate.  Come on, you can now promote your own status!  Facebook is an overabundance of advertising overwhelming the masses.  So, where is social media going?  Check out this link to 30 Social Media Predictions for 2012.  Lets get back to the topic, the future of the wedding industry.  First, lets take a look at Martha Stewart.  Who read back in December 2011, Martha Stewart dumped her share in Weddingwire.com?  Read this article that goes into more detail about why she did it: Martha Stewart.

Lets talk about weddingwire.com.  I will admit upfront, I have a very serious issue still pending with WW and my business, MEGA Music Entertainment.  All I can say is that my concern with companies like WW is that they should not be taking money from wedding vendors and also allowing and monitoring reviews from their customers.  I HIGHLY recommend you read this article: Wedding Wire.  Another big one dropped a bomb on the wedding industry this week, David’s Bridal is for sale!  Yep, you read that right, David’s Bridal is for sale, and the owners admit business had not been doing well.  Read more here!

What’s wrong with Mywedding.com?  Nothing is wrong, except the formula for these sites.  Read more here.  You might be seeing a decent ROI with Mywedding.com, but be careful before you sign a 1-year contract.  1 year is like 7 years in marketing years right now.  The market is moving so quickly that the old formula like Weddingwire.com, mywedding.com and The Knot are quite possibly going to be yesterday’s news.

10 Years in the Future of the Wedding Industry

This is a blog posting from my husband and better business half, Simon Blanco. 

To see more posts like this one please go to The Wedding Experience.

10 Years In The Future – Stats Of The Wedding Industry

Published on May 4, 2012 by Wedding Experience in bad, Bridal event, bridal expo, Bride, bridesmaids, Ceremony, decorations, expectations, good, Groom, guests, Industry, Male, marketing, Mobile App, networking, Reception, Social Media, technology, website, wedding, wedding event, Wedding Expo, wedding show

We at the Wedding Experience are constantly looking at stats, numbers, and results in not just the wedding industry, but also in social media, and the general economy. You always need to be looking ahead and thinking ahead, otherwise you fall behind. As technology keeps changing almost every year, you either adapt or lose business. This is going to become ever harder in the wedding industry in the next 10 years for several reasons.

People in their 20′s-30′s-40′s are going through something that their parents generation never had to deal with . . . they aren’t retiring. The Baby Boomers celebrated a time when their parents retired and it cleared the workforce for a new generation to take the place of the “Greatest Generation.” Recently on CNN (http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/16/retirement/age/index.htm) we have seen that the Baby Boomers are going to work late into life and not retire for quite a while, if at all.

This is a problem because that means the people that should be retiring and making way for the new generation is still working and taking clients.Right now there is a generation that is making it’s mark, and in 10 years another generation that will be pushing in. The whole time the number of people getting married is not rising proportionally to how many vendors there are. You will have 3-4 generations of vendors going after the same number of clients. This means you need to be on the cutting edge, doing something different, reaching the clients in a different way . . . and you better be doing it now! If you don’t you will be left behind.

Beer & Blog Night at BridgePort Brew Pub August 27, 2012

Portland wedding professionals get your calendar out!  You are now officially busy on Monday, August 27!!  Why?  Because you are coming to the Beer & Blog Night at BridgePort Brew Pub for Wedding Marketing NOW!  We told you we’re going to bring you awesome FREE events that are worth your time!  This event is for wedding professionals who want to take their blog to the next level!  Is your blog making you money?  Why not?  Come learn how your blog can make you money and bring you way more clients!

Unfortunately there is NO childcare at this event.  We do offer free licensed childcare at some other events.

Make a reservation to have dinner at the Brew Pub at 6:00 pm and then come and have some beer upstairs on a nice hot day for FREE and learn how to make more money by blogging.  Bring your laptop or tablet because we will be blogging (that’s the point of a beer and blog night)!

Go to the Facebook RSVP page and let us know that you’re coming!  It’s FREE!  It’s only FREE because of the AMAZING sponsor BridgePort Brew Pub!!!  Best beer, best staff, best place to come and chill out on a hot Monday evening!

RSVP HERE!

Referrals – The Dirty Little $ecret!

Referrals – The Dirty Little $ecret!.

5 ways to utilize iContact for your business

Email marketing can either go really good or really bad.  Too many businesses feel that they are not seeing a great ROI (return on investment) when it comes to email marketing services.  Stop wasting your time NOW!  Sign-Up for iContact and then ask yourself the following: why are your emails not working?  There are a few questions I want you to ask yourself?

1.  Are you selling something to your potential reader?

2.  Are you emailing past satisfied customers with new offers and incentives?

3.  Do you email your subscribers often?

4.  Do you create great subject lines?

5. What kind of content are you giving your reader?

First, your reader does NOT want to feel like you are selling something to them!  So, if you are constantly sending emails trying to sell a product or service, your reader is probably deleting your email and not even opening it.  Don’t sell, give your reader information that is useful to them right when they open up your email.

Second, are you utilizing your past clients emails?  Say you are a wedding dress company, you might think that emailing your past clients with new information about your product is silly, since you customer is now married.  Not true!  She probably has friends who are getting married.  Offer her an incentive, like a referral program.  Reward past clients!  Remind them how thankful you are that they shopped with you.  Send them an anniversary card or gift each year.  Keep your brand fresh in their mind!

Third, are you emailing your subscribers often?  Some businesses feel that they are not emailing enough, more than likely not true!  The more you email, the happier your subscriber will be when they are receiving useful tools, ideas, tips and tricks, prizes, and more.  Depending on your audience it can be safe to email your clients or customers up to 3-4 times per week!  If you receive bad feedback, back off a little to once a week.  Make sure you are emailing your email database at least once a week!

Fourth, create an amazing subject line.  Most important point I can make about the subject line is to keep it simple, to the point, and short.  Don’t fool your client, don’t be tricky, just say what you need to.

And last, I said it before and I will say it again, GREAT CONTENT!  If you are a trusted source, write about it!  Tell your subscribers why you are a trusted source, give pointers, tips, other great information.  Don’t sell them on a product, sell them on your expertise.

Go SIGNUP NOW!

5 awesome marketing tools for your wedding business

These are 5 marketing tools that you MUST have for your wedding business.  If you are not using these tools, you are not reaching your fullest marketing potential.  You might be an artist, you might have a creative brain, but you need to tap into your marketing brain and make the ‘living’ that you and your family deserve!

1. Facebook

If you don’t have a Facebook page for your wedding business, well, you know you are way behind.  Whatever your reason for not being on Facebook–GET OVER IT!  If you don’t want to do it yourself, it’s time to hire someone to oversee your Facebook page for your business!  Brides and grooms are on Facebook.  Your potential clients sometimes spends up to 7 hours throughout the day on Facebook.  No more excuses, get on Facebook and also take advantage of Facebook advertising.

2. Google Analytics

If you don’t know how many people are viewing your website each and every day, you are behind the curve.  It’s time to track your web presence everyday.  How many people are visiting your website, for how long, from what region of the world, and what are they reading on your website?  You must know this stuff in order to guide your business to be the most successful it can be.

3. A Smartphone and app familiarity

Does your bride and groom use a smartphone?  Around 97% of bride and grooms own a smart phone.  A whopping 47% own an iPhone!  Do you know how to reach your bride and groom on their smartphone using your own smartphone?  It’s time you upgrade if you have not already.  You need to be familiar with the apps they are using on their phones.  You need to put yourself and your brain in the shoes of your client.  Start thinking like your client and you will be more successful.

4. Email marketing

Email marketing can utterly fail if you don’t know how to do it right!  Remember, if you don’t know how to implement a relevant email campaign email marketing will ultimately fail for you.  So, how do you make your email marketing work for you?  Make sure your content is what your reader wants to see in their mailbox.  Make sure the people you email want to be emailed about the topic you choose to email them about.  SPAM will ultimately really piss off your potential client, and now they have “hit” the unsubscribe button or worse, they “hit” the spam button :-0  When you see a large number of unsubscribes on a certain topic, let that warn you and help you write better content.

5. Picture(s) of YOU

How skeptical are you when you’re on a website and you cannot find an email, a phone number, or a picture of the person who owns the business.  Okay, if you’re Nordstrom you don’t put a picture of any of the Nordstrom family members front and center on your website.  But, if you’re a small business you want to post a picture of at the least the owner(s) on the Welcome or About page.  It’s also great to have pictures of your employees if you have 10 or less.  People trust faces, when your business is more personal the more likely that potential client will contact you or come to your place of business.

Make sure you have these 5 tools for your wedding business!

How many couples are you booking from bridal shows?

Over the past few years more of you are telling me that bridal shows are not working for you anymore.  Keywords that I hear are ‘not anymore’ and that tells me there is a shift and an evolution happening with wedding expos and bridal shows.  For many of you who have been in the wedding industry for 10 years or more, you have said that in the past bridal shows were often your bread and butter.  Some wedding businesses reported that 80% or MORE of their yearly wedding bookings were from bridal expos and shows.  That’s just not the case anymore.

Why are wedding expos and bridal shows not as popular for booking vendors these days?  Here’s an interesting fact, wedding show attendance is not down by that much!  So, that means that brides and grooms are still attending but not booking you.  What’s going on?  Simply put, brides and grooms are looking but not booking!  But, why would they look and not book?  They can now find you anywhere, not just at the bridal expo, but online, on Facebook, on their phone, etc.  Facebook was not nearly as huge back in 2006-07.  In fact, Facebook and other online tools such as Google, Weddingwire.com, Mywedding.com and others have just become large ‘players’ in the past couple of years.

The bride and groom have many more resources these days.  They don’t rely on one publication, one magazine, or a couple of bridal shows to find their ideal wedding vendor.  Now days the bride and groom are doing more comparison shopping, especially online.  They will still come and see you, hear your ideas, and sign up for the prize you are offering at your booth, but are NOT going to feel the urgency to book you from the wedding show.  Another issue with bridal shows and the “looking and not booking” theory is the ‘value’ of the show.

I surveyed hundreds of brides asking them about bridal shows.  First I asked them if they paid to go to the bridal show.  78% of the brides I asked said they did NOT pay to go to the bridal show.  This will attract the “lookers” not the “buyers.”  When a bride and groom pay a healthy amount of money to go to a show they are more than likely serious buyers and NOT just looking around!  The show must give the bride and groom an incentive that they otherwise could not get anywhere else but the show.  Ask yourself, would you rather have your business in front of brides and grooms that want to buy or that are just looking?

Here are some questions to ask the show or event producer:

• How many tickets will be discounted?  By how much?
• How many tickets will be given away for free?
• How much is the admission?
• What incentives are they offering to the bride and groom?
• Are the incentives exclusive to the show or event?

Don’t worry so much about how many people attend the show because that doesn’t matter to your business!  What does matter to your business is how many couples book or buy from your business, right?  Would you rather see 100 couples who want to book your business, or 500 people who are there to look at your business?