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:

 

The real wedding numbers

Are wedding budgets increasing?…Yes!  Are they increasing because people are financially doing better, not necessarily!

Just like the cost of living goes up, so does the cost of having a wedding.  I recently saw a major wedding resource that said wedding businesses are doing better and forecasting better sales and profits for 2013!  This is great news, right?  Well, lets analyze this for a moment.  Unfortunately in 2008, 09, 10, and 11, many new wedding businesses opened up because people could not find jobs.  So, when a wedding business opens up most businesses increase their sales considerably each year for the first 3-5 years.

The real test is how are the businesses doing that have been around for 10+ years.  In my opinion, I think the forecast looks brighter, but not as bright as some people and so-called experts are forecasting.  Again, many businesses are going to see sales increase as much as 100-200% if they are less than 5 years old!

Another question to ask, are you getting what you are worth or are you doing as well as you were before 2006?  I worry when people forecast such a major increase in profits in the wedding industry because the majority of businesses are small, and forecasting can make or break a business.  We must look at how other industries are doing also (hospitality, real estate, service industries, etc.).  How is the real estate market doing now?  How are other large businesses doing in the wedding industry?  How are Nationwide wedding companies doing such as weddingwire.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, David’s Bridal, Men’s Warehouse, and others who have been around longer than 5 years?  Look at what kind of businesses is up and coming in the wedding and event industry.

The reason it’s important to forecast is because this allows you to budget for your business.  Many signs point to an increase in the economy, but it’s slow, and it’s incredibly important to look at the businesses that are seeing increasing sales, again, how long have they been in business?  Forecasting incorrectly has hurt many businesses before because the market can slow down and sales then decrease yet you have marketing obligations, orders to fill, and equipment to buy.  Don’t get overjoyed by hype, instead think nice and steady.

Create a channel for the money you earn to make more money each year by investing, saving, and advertise wisely and carefully, this is where you lose the most money!

The Wedding Industry VS. High School

Okay, I am finally writing the High School/Wedding Industry blog.  For those of you who follow my blog, you all know I pretty much say it how I see it.  I have nothing to lose by telling the truth, it’s never personal, it’s business.  I am writing this article to raise awareness, give some vendors a perspective of their business they may not thought of, and to help those who may feel there is a glass ceiling affect in the wedding industry (the glass ceiling affect blog is next).

How long ago has it been since you graduated high school?  Has it been 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, how about 40 years since you had the cap and gown on and said “so-long” to high school?

• What did you love about high school?
• What did you hate about high school?
• Were you part of a clique in high school?
• Were you “popular”?
• Were you the jock, prom queen, or were you the awkward kid, the misunderstood kid, or the nerd?

Whatever you were like in high school, I think we can all agree that we wouldn’t want to do that experience over!  Do you remember the bullies?  Do you remember the popular kids that made fun of new people?  What about that one girl who thought she was the queen diva and was always complimenting the popular kids in front of others, but could make some kids (unlike her) feel unwanted and unimportant?  Remember that person who would say horrible things behind your back and then be really nice to your face?  Oh wait, am I talking about high school or am I talking about the wedding industry?

The wedding industry is often times much like high school all over again.  Instead of hormones running wild from teenage changes, women are technically always going through hormonal changes that can directly affect business.  Read this article and more from this author (all about hormones and life) HERE!  Men and their hormones have been linked to industry trends on Wall-street, take a look at this article about men and Wall-street.  Plus the client planning the majority of the wedding is 97% of the time female, and she is stressed out because planning a wedding is like adding another job to your life!  Men go through hormonal changes too, but not nearly as drastic as women can every month.  The wedding industry is one of the few industries where female owned businesses has been climbing steadily.  There are many studies looking into hormones and how they affect major life decisions from the age of 10 to death, and how it affects business, politics, and more.  It’s an issue that is not talked about because people are very sensitive about the topic of hormones, for both men and women.

So, why write about the comparison of high school and the wedding industry?  I am writing this article to remind people to look at their behavior, check-in with yourself often.  Every single day I speak to 20-50 wedding professionals all over the USA.  Some days I speak to almost 80 wedding professionals regarding business, fun weddings, horrible weddings, marketing, wedding expos, social media, and life in general.  One word I don’t like hearing is bullying.  Yet, I talk to business owners saying the term bullying in regards to doing business with other wedding vendors.  I hear this from wedding pro’s all over the country.

My first career was in the music industry, and I see many similarities between musicians and wedding professionals.  Why?  The creative RIGHT BRAIN (link goes to an amazing new arts organization)!  The right brain can sometimes get in the way of making a LIVING!  The right brain can lead us off the path of success, believe it or not!  Your creative talent will get your noticed, but will it make your business great?  Would Apple, Mercy Corps, Wieden+Kennedy and other great companies and organizations consider hiring you based off your education, marketing track record, sales skills, accounting knowledge, PR background, etc.?  Most of you will answer, no.

Back on track…So, why is the wedding industry so much like high school?  Right brains, creativity, lack of hard-core business/sales/marketing innovation leading the industry, hormones, working with brides on a regular basis, LOTS of competition in a flooded market (many cities experiencing this), incoming businesses, outgoing businesses, a learning curve like you have in a 4-year high school…and the list goes on.  These factors all contribute to the high school-like atmosphere in the wedding industry.  From bullying to popularity contests…WELCOME BACK!

Now, go play nice, and don’t go back to high school.  You do have a choice TODAY to act mature, and pave your own path and not care what others think or say about you!

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.

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!

Had to take a little break!

I’m behind on blogging, and I am so annoyed about this fact because I have so much great information for you all!  On Monday my sweet dog Buddy had what they call “Bloat” and had emergency surgery.  Luckily Buddy’s surgery was a success and he is back at home happy as can be!  I am now playing catch up on numerous blogs and articles.

Coming up this week will be a blog about self motivation and inspiration and some great websites to help motivate you daily.  There are also a few really great iPhone and Droid apps that can take your business to the next level that I am going to blog about this week.

Next week I should have the dates for monthly meetings and the launch date for Wedding Marketing NOW! up for you all to see and put down on your calendar.  You’re also going to want to stay tuned as I blog about a great bridal show taking place in Portland, Oregon on May 6, 2012.  Have you heard about Weddings of the World?  If not, go and check it out Here!

My business MEGA Music Entertainment is an official sponsor of Weddings of the World and are thrilled to be back again this year.  The Sheraton Hotel has a great staff and a huge amount of space for amazing events like this one.  I like events that think outside of the box, and this event is spectacular and reaches a wonderful group of brides and grooms!

Silicon Valley, London, NYC: Startup Genome Data Reveals How The World's Top Tech Hubs Stack Up

Reblogged from TechCrunch:

Last year, we covered an ambitious collaborative R&D project called "Startup Genome," created by three young entrepreneurs, Bjoern Herrmann, Max Marmer, and Ertan Dogrultan. The goal of the ongoing project was (and is) to take a comprehensive, data-driven dive into what makes tech startups successful -- and not so successful.

Out of its research came, among other things, Startup Compass…

Read more… 1,909 more words

Check this out and relate it to your wedding business!

Sponsor a Wedding Marketing NOW! event and gain major exposure

Here at Wedding Marketing NOW! we are looking for sponsors for our workshops, events, and conference!  Do you want major exposure on one of the fastest growing wedding business websites in the world!  Everyday we are increasing our unique visitors by 5% to 10% daily!  Gain more exposure to your website, receive more referrals from fellow businesses, and receive a buy one get one free coupon to the Wedding Marketing NOW! Conference 1.0.

Sponsorship is INCREDIBLY affordable at only $50 per event and you get exposure on the sidebar and bottom footer.  You will have exposure all year in the Vendor Listing area at the top of the page with a picture gallery or video!  You also get:

• a 6 foot table at the event to set up and showcase what you do
• a place to hang your banner or sign
• a 3 minute talk/presentation to the group about who you are and what you do
• a logo and link on the welcome page, sidebar, and bottom footer of Wedding Marketing NOW!, plus a premium listing on the Vendor Page

You get all this for a one time fee of $50!  Sponsorship money is used for childcare, food and games for children, refreshments, etc.  Contact us today about this opportunity!

 

Are you interested in $50 sponsorship(required) Yes Yes, this month undefined Yes, between now and June

How would you like to make your $50 contribution? Check made payable to Wedding Marketing NOW! Pay Pal - Accepts all major credit cards

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The Artist and the Professional: A Story About a Wedding Photographer

“George,” as we’ll call him for the sake of this article, is a well-known photographer in San Diego, (“George” the photographer is really from San Diego) and is a self-proclaimed artist, NOT business owner!  When George left his corporate job in 2008 that he was with for 10 years, he knew he had absolutely NO business experience at all.  He saved up $25,000 to open his part-time wedding/special event/portrait photography business full-time.  George had been shooting weddings, nature, and professional surfing shots part-time for over 12 years starting the end of his college career.  He picked up photography in middle school when his father that was a professional photographer passed away.  In high school he took photo classes, and actually minored in Photography in college.

George quit his corporate job in 2008 in hopes to personally profit $90,000 a year for his family of 4 (wife & two kids both under 7).  That might seem like a lot, but don’t forget George lives in San Diego, CA, one of the most expensive places to live in America.  George was previously making $113,000 in his corporate job with amazing benefits, but was NEVER home.  George also hated his job, and it was taking a toll on his family.  His goal has always been to stay in his home in San Diego because his wife has a part-time job working for the City of San Diego and the kids are in great schools.  Also, his wife still qualifies for partial benefits with the City, and this helps with the kids’ health insurance.

The dilemma was actually simple for George and his family to figure out regarding running his own business; George had no prior business experience and didn’t know how to utilize the $25,000 saved up to start his full-time business.  George hired a personal friend (a lawyer in corporate business) to help him start his business and run it full-time .  George was able to get his business off the ground and hired a marketing intern in 2009 to help with promo and advertising.  George’s corporate job was in human relations. All of his prior wedding and portrait photo clients were from his church, community, or word of mouth.

What George does know is that he is REALLY good at taking pictures and works well with the clients.  George has won numerous awards over the years, and charges clients what he is worth.  His prices have always been competitive with the best wedding photographers in Southern California.  In fact, George brought home $83,000 for his family in 2010 & 2011 and forecasts $92,000 for 2012, the problem is that he needs to increase his businesses marketing budget, which will dip into what he personally brings home for at least one, maybe two years bringing down his take home profit around $72,000.

George is doing okay in 2012.  He still is operating his photography business, his wife still works part-time, but he is barely making enough to stay in his home and pay all the bills and really needs to start saving more money each month.  In the down economy the SoCal area is now flooded with “wedding vendors” that picked up a camera or started a wedding planning business with no real experience, but needed work.  This has devalued other professional wedding vendors and their pricing standards.  Another issue that George is having is that he doesn’t like to network that often, he is very opinionated, and he recognizes that he is an “artist” not a business pro.  He does not like the game of “politics” and realized he is no good at it either.

George is years away from retirement, LOVES shooting and editing pictures for about 30-45 hours a week, but realizes he could be doing better on the business side.  George’s work speaks for itself, but he realizes that isn’t enough in this incredibly competitive and tough economy.  He doesn’t utilize his non-photo, business operating time very wisely.  So, what did George do, he hired a consultant to help with his business and evaluate his goals, dreams, and future with his children and wife, which means college savings, retirement savings, and other forms of saving.  George’s biggest concern right now and why he hired a consultant is that he is not able to save a dime each month.  The money is going out as fast as it comes in, and that has George very worried.

Can you relate to George?  Want to learn more about George’s journey?  Sign up to receive email updates on the —-> side bar, because George is going to report back what the consultant says next week!

Are You Booked EVERY Saturday From April – September?

 

Are you making as much money as you could every year in the wedding industry?  If your bread and butter is weddings and not corporate events, than you know that you only have so many “prime” Saturday’s each year to make the money you need to sustain your business the rest of the year and “slower” months, right?

If you haven’t done this already, please go and grab your calendar.  Now, count how many Saturday’s there are from April until the end of September.  That’s how many days you have to make the most money you can for your business and livelihood.  It’s not being greedy, it’s making a living and doing it well.  Next question to ask yourself, if you are booked on those Saturday’s, are you booking your top package, selling your best product, etc.?  If not, why?  You cannot afford to undersell yourself and your product or service on a prime date!

Lets talk about Friday’s and Sunday’s!  Are you booked on all Friday’s and Sunday’s from April until the end of September?  If you answered, yes, then you are doing AWESOME!  If not, ask yourself why?  Do you want to book your services or sell your product to engaged couples who are getting married on Fri. & Sun.?  Would you like to book your Friday, Saturday, and Sunday’s solid for yourself and your team (if you have a team of employees, contractors, etc.)?  If you want solid clients during the prime time of year, it’s time to make a strategy!  Do you have a promotional deal for off-season dates?  Do you have advertising campaigns?  Are you reaching your possible client?