Business Tips | Inspired by This Blog

The old adage says a picture is worth a thousand words. In an industry all about aesthetics and logistics your marketing materials can and should speak those thousand words. If you haven’t realized it already the past few PR tips have built upon one another and are all imperative to your business success. This next one is no exception! So think about your current stationery, portfolio, packaging and marketing kit-how pulled together or rough around the edges are they?

This can be an area that is often overlooked. You may think, I am just sending out a check or a cd, it doesn’t need to look nice. If that is you, oh my friend how you are mistaken. Every single item you send out, put down on paper or present to a vendor, client or the press should be an extension of the awesome brand you have created. If you just send some crummy package out the recipient will think of your work as just that, mediocre. However, if you send over something clean and interesting looking they will be impressed, which is after all always the goal. You will instantly be more memorable and your credibility will surely increase. I have seen the marketing materials from the following outstanding companies: Forget Me Not Designs, Paper Tape Fims, and Amelia Lyon Photography and you would be blown away by how well they package themselves. I almost want to call them up to see if they can dream up something as amazing for me.

You don’t need to go out and buy all letter pressed stationery or silk boxes but you do need to come up with something that on first glance is visually appealing and also clearly communicates who the package/letter/marketing kit is from. This isn’t any less important when the materials are traveling from vendor to vendor. True, it is paramount that your clients are wowed so that they will book you, but you also want other vendors to respect you, want to work with you, and recommend you. No matter who is receiving your marketing materials, they need to believe in you and your brand right down to the postage stamp!

elum design

Whimsy Press

From The Bride’s cafe printing by Simple Song

Found on The Ritzy Bee printing by Simple Song

Found on Martha Stewart Weddings

The Paper Source

Dauphine Press

May you be inspired,

Leila

Do you have a website? It sounds crazy I know. You’re thinking…why would she even ask this question? Of course we have a website. Don’t be fooled, many industry vendors may have a sad shadow of a website or nothing at all. I have received countless emails from wedding business owners who have a blog and no website. They have an email address that isn’t tied to a legitimate business name. Instead I see “company name {at} hotmail.com” gmail.com, comcast.com or even aol.com. Most of your customers are on the web and navigate websites daily. In order to have full faith in a vendor for an upcoming wedding, brides want to feel comfortable that these businesses are reliable and aren’t going to disappear anytime soon. How do you give your customer this peace of mind with no website, a blog with barely any posts, and no real email address? There is nothing more frustrating as a consumer than searching for information on the internet and not finding anything or being utterly disappointed just to be turned off by what I do find. PLUS how do you expect media to be impressed with you as “the” expert in your field, which many of you claim to be, when you have a website that is less then impressive? You may be getting all the blog coverage and link backs you could hope for from other online media sources, but if all people can find on you is a rinky dink blog or website under construction with a splash page that does more damage then even having a website at all, you will be sorry!

To all of you vendors who have the brand and logo thing down and are working on enhancing your website keep in mind: It is the only version of you most people will meet before considering contacting or booking you, therefore you must make sure it clearly communicates what you do, why you are qualified, and the manner in which you do business. Only put up the best images of your work. I can’t tell you how many wedding planners, photographers, floral designers, confectionists etc.. who do amazing work tend to showcase the less appealing details and images in their portfolios. Your brides have limited time to spend on your website before she hops on to the next medium of online inspiration. How will you keep her hooked? Don’t forget to add press, success stories if they apply, and what makes you special or an expert at what you do. Your contact information is also key, unless you want people falling in love with you, wanting to book you and losing interest after a wild goose chase looking for your email address or phone number. So if you have a website-fabulous! Does it make the kind of impression that leads to sales? To those of you are are currently without..how do you intend to capture market share in an industry with many competitors who stand out and do it right?

Below are a sampling of websites I really like! Click on the image to see more.

May you be inspired,

Leila