Good morning everyone.
I hope everyone is in a receptive mood as this one is going to give you some food for thought!!!
Since I started talking to my clients on this subject and giving them examples, the results have been truly amazing - it is certainly a "pull the wool from the eyes" subject!
So what does a bride want?
Do you think a bride wants a videographer, a cake maker or a florist? Does a bride even want a wedding dress?
Of course she doesn't!
A bride doesn't even want a wedding DVD, a cake or flowers. A bride wants something completely different!
When a bride books a videographer, she is buying the memories of her wedding day captured and delivered in the way she wants it.
Have a think about what you are selling. What is it that you are offering your customers?
If you are offering wedding DVDs then you're not making the connection with the customer and addressing what it is she exactly wants.
I'll give you a real life example, have you ever been into a shop and the sales assistant tries to sell you something which you are pretty sure is exactly what you want, but the way they describe it, it does everything but what you want it to do?
It is a well known phrase in marketing that a person who bus a drill doesn't need a drill, the person who buys a drill needs a hole.
What do your customers want?
It's all about being in touch with your customer's needs, if you're not, then you are probably losing both sales and enquiries from brides who only need to be told one little thing to get them reaching for their cheque books!!
If you have a Unique Selling Point (USP) that you use, it is likely that you'll be more in touch with your customers than most, but you could still be a fair way away!
There will be a new article going on the website soon so if you are a member of the Evolution Programme make sure you check it out as it can make a big difference!!!!
If you want to discuss what your customers are buying, why not take advantage of the FREE Consultation I offer on the site, just click here for more details:
http://www.evolutionweddingservices.co.uk/info/free_consultation.html
Until next time
Edward
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
FREE Advertising
Good afternoon,
Just a quick note from me today as I've got a pretty good post for you tomorrow!
In my ongoing search for tools and resources for you guys I've come across another site that allows a free advert - and they have a wedding section to boot!!!
The website is Sheriff Ratings and can be reached by clicking the following link:
http://www.sheriffratings.com/business/
It looks like the site is offering their free adverts in an attempt to generate revenue from their Google PPC products. As yet I haven't had any experience with them as a company so I'm not sure if their service is any good or not, so if you get tempted by their sales pitch ask them what sort of guarantee they'll offer you - that normally seperates the wheat from the chaff!!!
If you want more information on Google PPC just give me a shout.
Until tomorrow
Edward
Just a quick note from me today as I've got a pretty good post for you tomorrow!
In my ongoing search for tools and resources for you guys I've come across another site that allows a free advert - and they have a wedding section to boot!!!
The website is Sheriff Ratings and can be reached by clicking the following link:
http://www.sheriffratings.com/business/
It looks like the site is offering their free adverts in an attempt to generate revenue from their Google PPC products. As yet I haven't had any experience with them as a company so I'm not sure if their service is any good or not, so if you get tempted by their sales pitch ask them what sort of guarantee they'll offer you - that normally seperates the wheat from the chaff!!!
If you want more information on Google PPC just give me a shout.
Until tomorrow
Edward
Monday, 25 February 2008
Competitive Markets
Good morning everyone, I hope it was a successful weekend?
I visited a wedding fair in St Albans this weekend at Sopwell House and it triggered this post.
I was amazed walking around the fair, there must have been over 10 photographers there, every other stand seemed to be a photographer! I'm not saying this is a bad thing, wedding fairs obviously work for photographers otherwise they wouldn't attend, but immediately you narrow your target market.
Lets imagine that the fair was a blinder and received 200 brides through the doors, immediately your potential for the fair is, in effect, reduced to 20 prospects. Does it seem such a good outlay then?
To answer this question accurately you need to know what your cost per enquiry (CPE) is. If you have registed for my FREE 7 Point Success Plan then you will be familiar with CPE and what it means to your business. Every business is different - especially photographers! - so for some an anticipated cost of approximately £30-40 per enquiry is fine, but for others (those of you who have used the first three lessons of my success plan and have a bride fiendly web site for example) this will be a huge amount to spend on an enquiry compared to the ones that you are currently receiving, and you'll choose to invest your money elsewhere!
The key to the whole process is knowing in the first place and being able to make an informed decision.
If you want to learn more about your CPE, register for my FREE plan if you haven't already - http://www.evolutionweddingservices.co.uk/ - and wait for Lesson 7 or get in touch and register for my upcoming webcast which is also free to attend.
On a final note, when you agree to attend a wedding fair, always find out how many brides they expect and how many competitors will be in attendance before signing on the dotted line!
Until next time.
Edward
I visited a wedding fair in St Albans this weekend at Sopwell House and it triggered this post.
I was amazed walking around the fair, there must have been over 10 photographers there, every other stand seemed to be a photographer! I'm not saying this is a bad thing, wedding fairs obviously work for photographers otherwise they wouldn't attend, but immediately you narrow your target market.
Lets imagine that the fair was a blinder and received 200 brides through the doors, immediately your potential for the fair is, in effect, reduced to 20 prospects. Does it seem such a good outlay then?
To answer this question accurately you need to know what your cost per enquiry (CPE) is. If you have registed for my FREE 7 Point Success Plan then you will be familiar with CPE and what it means to your business. Every business is different - especially photographers! - so for some an anticipated cost of approximately £30-40 per enquiry is fine, but for others (those of you who have used the first three lessons of my success plan and have a bride fiendly web site for example) this will be a huge amount to spend on an enquiry compared to the ones that you are currently receiving, and you'll choose to invest your money elsewhere!
The key to the whole process is knowing in the first place and being able to make an informed decision.
If you want to learn more about your CPE, register for my FREE plan if you haven't already - http://www.evolutionweddingservices.co.uk/ - and wait for Lesson 7 or get in touch and register for my upcoming webcast which is also free to attend.
On a final note, when you agree to attend a wedding fair, always find out how many brides they expect and how many competitors will be in attendance before signing on the dotted line!
Until next time.
Edward
Thursday, 21 February 2008
Convert More Visitors Using FREE Technologies
Good morning everyone and welcome back to Bride Booker Blog.
Well fresh from my success on Monday, I've been speaking to even more people than normal - every reason to speak to a customer should be taken! - and there are a number of things that have been coming up again and again and again. Just about all of these can be summed up in a single term - Social Networking!
Social networking is somewhat of a phenomena that has skyrocketed in the past year or so but that has always been around since the rise of the internet - anyone remember Friends Reunited?
As its such a broad topic I'm going to touch on one subject at a time, the first area I want to talk about is video.
Now video is something that I've been investigating and working on for a number of months now, and speaking to you guys this week has made me realise that I probably need to cover it immediately rather than wait for my series of videos is launched in a few weeks.
The results of video integration has been in for a long time now, and let me tell you, they are all good!
Bearig this in mind, the question you should be asking should no longer be "should I be using video on my site?" but "what video can I produce to maximise my results?"
Let me explain. The phrase "producing a video" can sound a little daunting and gives many people visions of directors, sound men and millions of pounds worth of cameras in a brightly lit studio, needless to say they immediately associate producing a video with a high cost.
The truth is, creating a video for most people will only cost you your time. The massive availability of mobile phones, webcams and digital cameras and camcorders together with websites such as youtube Google Videos and Video Jug mean that producing and publishing a video on your site is not only free, but pretty easy as well!!!
Okay, so you can't just grab your mobile phone, record something and upload it, just like you wouldn't open word type something and mail it out to people, you need to think about a focus and a purpose. How could video help your site? What would your customers find useful? What message would you like to get across?
This last point is the most important to consider, if you have a compelling sales pitch - a real USP - then just including it in the text on your site might mean that many people miss it - take a photographer for example, what they write on their site will almost certainly be reviewed after their pictures have passed the initial test, if at all - by including this in a short video somehow, you'll maximise the number of time the message gets heard, increase the liklihood that it gets taken in and, as a result, increase the number of enquiries that come from your site.
I'll leave you with this thought:
Well fresh from my success on Monday, I've been speaking to even more people than normal - every reason to speak to a customer should be taken! - and there are a number of things that have been coming up again and again and again. Just about all of these can be summed up in a single term - Social Networking!
Social networking is somewhat of a phenomena that has skyrocketed in the past year or so but that has always been around since the rise of the internet - anyone remember Friends Reunited?
As its such a broad topic I'm going to touch on one subject at a time, the first area I want to talk about is video.
Now video is something that I've been investigating and working on for a number of months now, and speaking to you guys this week has made me realise that I probably need to cover it immediately rather than wait for my series of videos is launched in a few weeks.
The results of video integration has been in for a long time now, and let me tell you, they are all good!
Bearig this in mind, the question you should be asking should no longer be "should I be using video on my site?" but "what video can I produce to maximise my results?"
Let me explain. The phrase "producing a video" can sound a little daunting and gives many people visions of directors, sound men and millions of pounds worth of cameras in a brightly lit studio, needless to say they immediately associate producing a video with a high cost.
The truth is, creating a video for most people will only cost you your time. The massive availability of mobile phones, webcams and digital cameras and camcorders together with websites such as youtube Google Videos and Video Jug mean that producing and publishing a video on your site is not only free, but pretty easy as well!!!
Okay, so you can't just grab your mobile phone, record something and upload it, just like you wouldn't open word type something and mail it out to people, you need to think about a focus and a purpose. How could video help your site? What would your customers find useful? What message would you like to get across?
This last point is the most important to consider, if you have a compelling sales pitch - a real USP - then just including it in the text on your site might mean that many people miss it - take a photographer for example, what they write on their site will almost certainly be reviewed after their pictures have passed the initial test, if at all - by including this in a short video somehow, you'll maximise the number of time the message gets heard, increase the liklihood that it gets taken in and, as a result, increase the number of enquiries that come from your site.
I'll leave you with this thought:
"Never before has something been worth committing more of your time to plan and implement on your site."
As I mentioned earlier, my range of videos and video tutorials will be going live very soon, one of these videos will be advice on producing a video so if this post has grabbed your attention, give me a call and I'll keep you updated with progress.
Until next time
Edward
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Success!!!
Well I got the call first thing this morning to say that Evolution's grant application had been successful, so all the hard work and late nights since Christmas have been worth it!!! Many thanks to all of you who contacted me yesterday and wished me luck, it is much appreciated.
So what does the grant mean for the company and more importantly for YOU?
Well the grant will be used to promote the Evolution Wedding Services website which you should all be familiar with - if your not then pay it a visit, I'm sure you'll find it worthwhile. This will mean more traffic coming through which hopefully will mean we will grow our group even further, good news for all of us I'm sure you'll agree.
More importantly for you it will mean more articles, more regularly, more special reports (the first should be with you very soon) more seminars, more webinars and the introduction of video content onto the site - GREAT NEWS.
As a spin off from all this additional information the companies other products will be fast tracked, meaning we'll be able to reach more areas more quickly. So if you are a wedding supplier who wants to be booking more wedding more easily you're in luck, Evolution will be coming to a city, town or county near you very, very soon!
Finally I'd like to pay a special thanks to Stephen Milne at Aylesbury Vale Enterprise & Mena Caldbeck at AVDC, both who have given a lot of help over the last month or two.
Until next time
Edward
So what does the grant mean for the company and more importantly for YOU?
Well the grant will be used to promote the Evolution Wedding Services website which you should all be familiar with - if your not then pay it a visit, I'm sure you'll find it worthwhile. This will mean more traffic coming through which hopefully will mean we will grow our group even further, good news for all of us I'm sure you'll agree.
More importantly for you it will mean more articles, more regularly, more special reports (the first should be with you very soon) more seminars, more webinars and the introduction of video content onto the site - GREAT NEWS.
As a spin off from all this additional information the companies other products will be fast tracked, meaning we'll be able to reach more areas more quickly. So if you are a wedding supplier who wants to be booking more wedding more easily you're in luck, Evolution will be coming to a city, town or county near you very, very soon!
Finally I'd like to pay a special thanks to Stephen Milne at Aylesbury Vale Enterprise & Mena Caldbeck at AVDC, both who have given a lot of help over the last month or two.
Until next time
Edward
Monday, 18 February 2008
Into the Dragons Den
Many of you will have seen the hit BBC series Dragons Den, well I visited the den for the first time about an hour ago and my heart has only just slowed to a normal rate!!!
Okay, so it wasn't Duncan Bannatyne, Peter Jones, Theo Paphitis and co and the amounts at stake were in 4 figures rather than 5 or 6 but let me tell you its nerve racking nonetheless!
The reason for this post is two fold, firstly to share my relief at getting out alive and secondly to explain why I was in there in the first place and how it can potentially benefit some of you.
Before we get started, for those of you who have no idea what I'm on about, take a look at Wikipedia to familiarise yourself with what dragons den is all about.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragons'_Den
So why was I in a Dragon's Den situation? The reason for my trip to the den, and all the anxiety it caused, is a business development grant available to businesses operating in the Aylesbury Vale.
So what does that mean? Free money essentially! The grant is available for amounts up to £5000 for established businesses and £3000 for start up companies, and can be used for a variety of activities with the only stipulation is that you have to match fund the grant.
If you're not based in the Aylesbury area and are rapidly losing interest, then don't. Every region has a number of incentives for different types of company at any one time - its just a matter of knowing where to look.
I knew you'd ask so here is a link where you can search the grants available in your area:
http://www.grantsnet.co.uk/search.asp
Just enter your own company details and a list of the grants available will be displayed, I can't guarantee it will be an easy (and stress free!!!) process, but I can guarantee it is worth the effort!
So back to me, how did I fair? Well ultimately I won't know until sometime tomorrow but I have a very good feeling as you often do when you are stopped and asked whether you want to quit while you are ahead?!?!?!?
I'll give you an update at some point tomorrow to let you know what the outcome was, and what it means for Evolution, but in the meantime, if you want any help or advice identifying or applying for grants please get in touch and I can give you some very useful - and very personal - advice!
Until next time.
Edward
Okay, so it wasn't Duncan Bannatyne, Peter Jones, Theo Paphitis and co and the amounts at stake were in 4 figures rather than 5 or 6 but let me tell you its nerve racking nonetheless!
The reason for this post is two fold, firstly to share my relief at getting out alive and secondly to explain why I was in there in the first place and how it can potentially benefit some of you.
Before we get started, for those of you who have no idea what I'm on about, take a look at Wikipedia to familiarise yourself with what dragons den is all about.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragons'_Den
So why was I in a Dragon's Den situation? The reason for my trip to the den, and all the anxiety it caused, is a business development grant available to businesses operating in the Aylesbury Vale.
So what does that mean? Free money essentially! The grant is available for amounts up to £5000 for established businesses and £3000 for start up companies, and can be used for a variety of activities with the only stipulation is that you have to match fund the grant.
If you're not based in the Aylesbury area and are rapidly losing interest, then don't. Every region has a number of incentives for different types of company at any one time - its just a matter of knowing where to look.
I knew you'd ask so here is a link where you can search the grants available in your area:
http://www.grantsnet.co.uk/search.asp
Just enter your own company details and a list of the grants available will be displayed, I can't guarantee it will be an easy (and stress free!!!) process, but I can guarantee it is worth the effort!
So back to me, how did I fair? Well ultimately I won't know until sometime tomorrow but I have a very good feeling as you often do when you are stopped and asked whether you want to quit while you are ahead?!?!?!?
I'll give you an update at some point tomorrow to let you know what the outcome was, and what it means for Evolution, but in the meantime, if you want any help or advice identifying or applying for grants please get in touch and I can give you some very useful - and very personal - advice!
Until next time.
Edward
Thursday, 14 February 2008
Valentines Day Opportunities
Happy Valentines day from me and all here at Evolution Wedding Services.
You may not realise it, but for many wedding suppliers today is the most profitable day of the year, both for wedding bookings and add on sales from previous weddings. It's no coincidence, the suppliers in question have recognised the potential of Valentines Day as a marketing tool and taken advantage of it.
Now this isn't going to apply to every business type, but I would strongly recommend that you read on and think about how you can fit a Valentines promotion into your marketing plan.
There's no secret magic formula, just common sense and the application of some existing, fairly straight forward marketing methods, that many, if not all of you may be using.
You see the key is Valentines Day itself, no other day in the calendar has more relevance and appeal to every bride in your prospect list, there is an obvious link between today and the romance of a bride's wedding day!
So how can you take advantage?
First of all you need to prepare a compelling offer - I understand that this may be a bit late for many of you now, but make sure you use it next year - and highlight that the offer is only available for Valentines Day, after today the offer will be gone forever.
Next you need to promote this offer into your list of prospects and make them aware that the offer is available for today only.
If you really want to be clever then you can run an upsell offer to your current bridal bookings in parallel to generate even more income and the same principal can be used for brides previous.
The appeal of Valentines Day along with the time sensitive nature of your offer will trigger bookings and orders galore!!!
For more information on this post, I've written a comprehensive article available in the members pages of the Evolution Programme, click here to view the article.
I hope you find this useful - if you want any help or advice on your own Valentines Day strategy you know what to do.
Until next time.
Edward
You may not realise it, but for many wedding suppliers today is the most profitable day of the year, both for wedding bookings and add on sales from previous weddings. It's no coincidence, the suppliers in question have recognised the potential of Valentines Day as a marketing tool and taken advantage of it.
Now this isn't going to apply to every business type, but I would strongly recommend that you read on and think about how you can fit a Valentines promotion into your marketing plan.
There's no secret magic formula, just common sense and the application of some existing, fairly straight forward marketing methods, that many, if not all of you may be using.
You see the key is Valentines Day itself, no other day in the calendar has more relevance and appeal to every bride in your prospect list, there is an obvious link between today and the romance of a bride's wedding day!
So how can you take advantage?
First of all you need to prepare a compelling offer - I understand that this may be a bit late for many of you now, but make sure you use it next year - and highlight that the offer is only available for Valentines Day, after today the offer will be gone forever.
Next you need to promote this offer into your list of prospects and make them aware that the offer is available for today only.
If you really want to be clever then you can run an upsell offer to your current bridal bookings in parallel to generate even more income and the same principal can be used for brides previous.
The appeal of Valentines Day along with the time sensitive nature of your offer will trigger bookings and orders galore!!!
For more information on this post, I've written a comprehensive article available in the members pages of the Evolution Programme, click here to view the article.
I hope you find this useful - if you want any help or advice on your own Valentines Day strategy you know what to do.
Until next time.
Edward
Monday, 4 February 2008
Attention All Suppliers in Buckinghamshire
Just a note for everybody reading that is based in Buckinghamshire.
Our Your Wedding In product for Buckinghamshire is going to close at the end of this month so if you want all the benefits you need to get in touch sooner rather than later.
Your Wedding In has a variety of features that will help you
Our Your Wedding In product for Buckinghamshire is going to close at the end of this month so if you want all the benefits you need to get in touch sooner rather than later.
Your Wedding In has a variety of features that will help you
- GUARANTEED results
- Exclusive membership
- Steady stream of enquiries and leads
- Exclusive half page advert in Your Wedding In Buckinghamshire guide
- Editorial in the Your Wedding In Buckinghamshire guide
- Exclusive advert on Your Wedding In website
- Free Subscription to the Evolution Programme
- Dedicated business support
- Small monthly cost
If you want to be part of this exclusive group for wedding suppliers in Bucks then get in touch as soon as possible.
Remember, Your Wedding In is COMPLETELY exclusive and conflict free so you will be the only business from your category included, so call now before your competitors beat you to it.
CALL NOW on 0870 300 4971 or click here and fill in our web form.
UPDATE: There are now only 5 categories left so be sure to be quick before the remaining categories are snapped up!
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