Good morning everyone,
Just a quick one for you today to announce our newest member of staff.
Awais Khan joins us as our resident SEO expert. Awais started on Monday and is just finding his feet within the company but I'm sure a lot of you will be speaking with him very soon or certainly reading the articles he is going to be posting.
Awais's background and calibre is pretty impressive having worked for one of the largest and most respected internet companies in the world (without giving too much away!!!) and has made the brave claim that he can take any wedding company's web site to the top of Google's results! I'm sure he's going to be put to the test over the coming months and years!
While Awais is getting up to speed and his workload is fairly light we'll be offering some reduced cost Optimiser Programmes for the lucky few - obviously these will be offered to our Evolution Programme members first, so if you're a member then get in touch sooner rather than later as they are going to be snapped up quickly. If you're not a member then please get in touch with us as soon as you can as there may be an extremely limited number of spaces available for non-members - Awais will only work on one customer from each supply group in each area in the interests of fair trade.
You can get more details about the Optimiser Programmes and what they contain by clicking here.
Awais will be writing a blog post tomorrow and I'll be mailing around to everyone in the next couple of days so apologies if you already know!
On a final note I'd just like to say a belated congratulations to my good friends Ian and Lisa on the birth of their first child baby Caitlin. I know Ian is a regular reader of the blog and I'm sure it won't be long before Caitlin is subscribed and launches her own successful wedding business as a result!!!
Until tomorrow
Edward
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Advertising Part 2
Hi Everyone,
I know I only posted yesterday, but my last post has created such a stir that I felt I had to touch base with you again.
In yesterday's post, I gave you my frank thoughts on print advertising which seems to have opened something of a hornets nest and I've had calls and emails form all over the country as a result.
Now I'd like to point out at this stage that a majority of contact I received agreed with my views and shared stories of how they had run expensive adverts and had experienced little or no return. However, I did receive some messages that were less than complimentary on my observations from advertising advocates (and publishers) and even someone who felt so strongly they were shouting down the phone at me and then hung up (you know who you are!).
I'm not going to make any apologies for what I write as, at the end of the day, it's my blog and you don't have to read it! All the views and thoughts I post are my own and I have no hidden agenda. Yes I am working for a company which is selling a product, however, as those of you who have spoken to me will know, I will tell you what I think honestly and for those who aren't a match, I will tell you we can't help.
I never said advertising didn't work! I said that there were more effective ways of spending your marketing budget (which is 100% true). Print advertising can work, but it needs to be used as part of a structured plan, just throwing an advert out there is a waste!
But enough of the disclaimer type stuff!
For those of you who still want to use advertising as you main form of marketing, to appease the publishers who I've upset and for the rest of you who are interested for future reference, I'm going give you a few tips on advertising.
Tip one was given yesterday - Spend Your Money on Something Else (sorry I couldn't resist).
"We have been established 30 years and offer the highest standards in xxxxxxxxx, (product removed to protect the innocent!) priding ourselves on personal service, care and attention to detail"
Does anyone book a company based on how long they've been in business? Surely personal service and attention to details should come as standard rather than be a selling point?!?!?!
Here's more what I would focus on:
"Want to feel special on your wedding day? We make our customers feel like that from the moment they contact us!"
I'm guessing that's pretty much the same message that the company from the first headline was trying to get across but I know which headline would make me take note - and not because I wrote it.
Don't think that that's the sales made once you have your headline, the hard work has only just begun!!!
If you come up against a mental block when trying to think of your headline, don't just use mine, give us a call and we can give you a hand!
Look forward to speaking to you.
Until then.
Edward
PS I'll be checking all the bridal publications in the coming months and naming and shaming anyone who uses that headline!!!
I know I only posted yesterday, but my last post has created such a stir that I felt I had to touch base with you again.
In yesterday's post, I gave you my frank thoughts on print advertising which seems to have opened something of a hornets nest and I've had calls and emails form all over the country as a result.
Now I'd like to point out at this stage that a majority of contact I received agreed with my views and shared stories of how they had run expensive adverts and had experienced little or no return. However, I did receive some messages that were less than complimentary on my observations from advertising advocates (and publishers) and even someone who felt so strongly they were shouting down the phone at me and then hung up (you know who you are!).
I'm not going to make any apologies for what I write as, at the end of the day, it's my blog and you don't have to read it! All the views and thoughts I post are my own and I have no hidden agenda. Yes I am working for a company which is selling a product, however, as those of you who have spoken to me will know, I will tell you what I think honestly and for those who aren't a match, I will tell you we can't help.
I never said advertising didn't work! I said that there were more effective ways of spending your marketing budget (which is 100% true). Print advertising can work, but it needs to be used as part of a structured plan, just throwing an advert out there is a waste!
But enough of the disclaimer type stuff!
For those of you who still want to use advertising as you main form of marketing, to appease the publishers who I've upset and for the rest of you who are interested for future reference, I'm going give you a few tips on advertising.
Tip one was given yesterday - Spend Your Money on Something Else (sorry I couldn't resist).
Tip two - Your Headline is THE Most Important Part of the Advert.
Getting people to read you ad is the first and biggest challenge you face, a good headline can mean the difference between a bride passing over your ad or stopping and taking note. Think about that when you next look at an advert, the headline shouldn't be written to sell your product or service, it should be written to get the bride to read your ad.
With this in mind, the headline you come up with should be about the reader, not you, so any headline you come up with that starts "We do this" or "we can that" should be ditched immediately. If your headline contains the name of your business then that one can go the same way.
The best advice I can give you is to test some different headlines before you use any in an expensive ad and see which ones produce the best reults. Be as adventurous as possible as you'll probably find that the more adventurous the headline the more successful the ad!
Here's an example of a bad headline:"We have been established 30 years and offer the highest standards in xxxxxxxxx, (product removed to protect the innocent!) priding ourselves on personal service, care and attention to detail"
Does anyone book a company based on how long they've been in business? Surely personal service and attention to details should come as standard rather than be a selling point?!?!?!
Here's more what I would focus on:
"Want to feel special on your wedding day? We make our customers feel like that from the moment they contact us!"
I'm guessing that's pretty much the same message that the company from the first headline was trying to get across but I know which headline would make me take note - and not because I wrote it.
Don't think that that's the sales made once you have your headline, the hard work has only just begun!!!
If you come up against a mental block when trying to think of your headline, don't just use mine, give us a call and we can give you a hand!
Look forward to speaking to you.
Until then.
Edward
PS I'll be checking all the bridal publications in the coming months and naming and shaming anyone who uses that headline!!!
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Surviving a Downturn
Hi Everyone,
It's good to be typing this bathed in sunshine for once, hopefully this is the turning point in the year and the snow, hail and rain are behind us!!!
I've been speaking to a lot of people recently who are concerned about the much publicised credit crunch and the effect it's going to have on the economy and the knock on effect on their business.
As a result they are cutting back on all advertising and marketing expenditure they can!
Very wise you would have thought, and this may be true. But surely in times of hardship the marketing budget should be increased not decreased? If marketing brings in business then it only makes sense that increasing the spend will increase or at least maintain the level of business you're doing?
This uncovers a massive problem in the industry and almost everyone I speak to is or has been a victim - even me I am sad to say. The problem is investing in ineffective marketing methods and/or not measuring your marketing activity. For the benefits of this post I'm going to split the two down into parts and go through each one.
Inaffective marketing methods.
Ever been sold an advert in a guide magazine or on a website that has been promised to bring in 100s of enquiries per month and it deliver exactly 0% of that figure? If not then your are one of the very few and I congratulate you on your shrewdness. If this sounds familiar then read on....
The truth is the world is changing at a dramatic rate, the internet has revolutionised not only the way we do business but life itself! The old fashioned model of business used to be Advert - Contact - Sale, the new model is Advert - Website - Contact - Sale. 95% of brides will have viewed your website before they contact you so effectively when you buy an advert anywhere, you are essentially buying traffic and visitors to your website. Understanding this then starts to put things in perspective, how many visitors are you likely to get through your site from a half page advert costing £500?
The old fashioned model used old fashioned methods, which means there must be new methods which work with the new model. Damn right there are! Peform any search on Google and contact the person at the top of the results page and ask them how business is - I'll guarantee you that if they say not good they're either doing something seriously wrong on their web site or sales process or they're lying to you! Search engines are where marketing is at at the moment, succeed on there and you'll succeed in your business, whether it's SEO or PPC either way it's the best, most cost effective method of promoting your business.
On this section I'll leave you with this thought, how many times have YOU contacted a publisher after seeing an advert to be included in their publication? I'll tell you that the answer will almost certainly be never as publishers don't advertise. Surely this is a bit strange as they are selling advertising as a successful business generation medium, if this was not the case would they not be advertising everywhere to attract their customers!?!?!?
Measuring your Marketing Activity
If you are spending money on advertising or any marketing method, not measuring the results your investment brings is a cardinal sin! Rest assured that if you don't know how an advert has performed throughout the year, you'll be told that it has been the result of any successes you've experienced when your ad sales rep calls and, inevitably, you'll sign up for another year. Watch and listen to the ad rep squirm when you tell them exactly how your ad has performed that year and how far off their estimates it was!!!
At the very worst this puts you ina position of power and, if you did want to continue with the advert, you are sure to be able to negotiate them down greatly from their initial price.
When you start looking at web based methods they are a lot easier to track. Get yourself Google Analytics (completely free), upload it to your site and it will tell you where all your visitors have come from and which of them turned into enquiries. It will then plot them all on a graph or pie chart for you so you can see 100% which of your marketing methods are working the best. I'd recommend you go one step further though and track each enquiry down to the amount of money they spend so you can tell where your most profitable enquiries are coming from as well.
For more information on Google Analytics visit http://www.google.com/analytics/en-GB/ and keep checking back here as I will be uploading a video walking you through how to upload the prgramme and some of the tools that are available.
So whats the best advice I can give you to prepare for any economic issues? Carry out a review of all your marketing activity, establish which is working for you, ditch what isn't and then redeploy the money in Search Engine based methods.
As always if you are a member of the Evolution Programme we can help you with your marketing review and offer recommendations on where to cut back and where to spend. If you're not a member, click here for more details.
Until next time.
Edward
It's good to be typing this bathed in sunshine for once, hopefully this is the turning point in the year and the snow, hail and rain are behind us!!!
I've been speaking to a lot of people recently who are concerned about the much publicised credit crunch and the effect it's going to have on the economy and the knock on effect on their business.
As a result they are cutting back on all advertising and marketing expenditure they can!
Very wise you would have thought, and this may be true. But surely in times of hardship the marketing budget should be increased not decreased? If marketing brings in business then it only makes sense that increasing the spend will increase or at least maintain the level of business you're doing?
This uncovers a massive problem in the industry and almost everyone I speak to is or has been a victim - even me I am sad to say. The problem is investing in ineffective marketing methods and/or not measuring your marketing activity. For the benefits of this post I'm going to split the two down into parts and go through each one.
Inaffective marketing methods.
Ever been sold an advert in a guide magazine or on a website that has been promised to bring in 100s of enquiries per month and it deliver exactly 0% of that figure? If not then your are one of the very few and I congratulate you on your shrewdness. If this sounds familiar then read on....
The truth is the world is changing at a dramatic rate, the internet has revolutionised not only the way we do business but life itself! The old fashioned model of business used to be Advert - Contact - Sale, the new model is Advert - Website - Contact - Sale. 95% of brides will have viewed your website before they contact you so effectively when you buy an advert anywhere, you are essentially buying traffic and visitors to your website. Understanding this then starts to put things in perspective, how many visitors are you likely to get through your site from a half page advert costing £500?
The old fashioned model used old fashioned methods, which means there must be new methods which work with the new model. Damn right there are! Peform any search on Google and contact the person at the top of the results page and ask them how business is - I'll guarantee you that if they say not good they're either doing something seriously wrong on their web site or sales process or they're lying to you! Search engines are where marketing is at at the moment, succeed on there and you'll succeed in your business, whether it's SEO or PPC either way it's the best, most cost effective method of promoting your business.
On this section I'll leave you with this thought, how many times have YOU contacted a publisher after seeing an advert to be included in their publication? I'll tell you that the answer will almost certainly be never as publishers don't advertise. Surely this is a bit strange as they are selling advertising as a successful business generation medium, if this was not the case would they not be advertising everywhere to attract their customers!?!?!?
Measuring your Marketing Activity
If you are spending money on advertising or any marketing method, not measuring the results your investment brings is a cardinal sin! Rest assured that if you don't know how an advert has performed throughout the year, you'll be told that it has been the result of any successes you've experienced when your ad sales rep calls and, inevitably, you'll sign up for another year. Watch and listen to the ad rep squirm when you tell them exactly how your ad has performed that year and how far off their estimates it was!!!
At the very worst this puts you ina position of power and, if you did want to continue with the advert, you are sure to be able to negotiate them down greatly from their initial price.
When you start looking at web based methods they are a lot easier to track. Get yourself Google Analytics (completely free), upload it to your site and it will tell you where all your visitors have come from and which of them turned into enquiries. It will then plot them all on a graph or pie chart for you so you can see 100% which of your marketing methods are working the best. I'd recommend you go one step further though and track each enquiry down to the amount of money they spend so you can tell where your most profitable enquiries are coming from as well.
For more information on Google Analytics visit http://www.google.com/analytics/en-GB/ and keep checking back here as I will be uploading a video walking you through how to upload the prgramme and some of the tools that are available.
So whats the best advice I can give you to prepare for any economic issues? Carry out a review of all your marketing activity, establish which is working for you, ditch what isn't and then redeploy the money in Search Engine based methods.
As always if you are a member of the Evolution Programme we can help you with your marketing review and offer recommendations on where to cut back and where to spend. If you're not a member, click here for more details.
Until next time.
Edward
Thursday, 10 April 2008
It's Finally Here! Web Basics for Wedding Suppliers Video.
Well after what seems an eternity of talking and promising you a video, it's finally finished and you can view it here. The full video is posted on the Evolution site and that's where the link to get the Pay Per Click vouchers so if you want those vouchers then click on the link under the video. There are more videos in the series which will only go out to subscribers so make sure you register.
The video you're watching is reduced in quality due to the restrictions of Blogger so if you do have problems with it just click the link.
The video you're watching is reduced in quality due to the restrictions of Blogger so if you do have problems with it just click the link.
Click here to view the full quality video and get yourself £130 of Pay Per Click vouchers.
Until next time.
Edward
Tuesday, 8 April 2008
Video Going Live
Hi everyone and apologies it has been so long since I've posted.
The reason for the absence has been the speed that things have been moving over the last couple of weeks. Our upcoming promotion has been gathering speed and we are fielding a huge increase in contact on a daily basis so you'll have to excuse the erratic timing of posts over the next two months as it's set to get even more hectic!
Well that's enough hype about the launch of the bridal site - I'm sorry but I can't help it I'm that excited! - no doubt you want to know what I've got for you. Well I'm afraid I don't have anything for today at least, but I've nearly finished the first video in my "Web Basics for Wedding Suppliers" series. This is a free series of videos aimed at helping you improve your website and increase your online enquiries. Video 1 is literally hours away, so check back as I'll post it here as well as on the Evolution site - quality will probably be a bit sketchy here though as the file size is reduced, there will be a link as well so if there are any problems just click that.
Well that's it for now, I know it's brief but I need to finish this video off. I'll post it together with a link to find it on the site in the next 24 hours.
Until then.
Edward
The reason for the absence has been the speed that things have been moving over the last couple of weeks. Our upcoming promotion has been gathering speed and we are fielding a huge increase in contact on a daily basis so you'll have to excuse the erratic timing of posts over the next two months as it's set to get even more hectic!
The promotion web site has now gone live and I can't believe how many brides there are who have registered already, I've done a lot of research on wedding statistics and I know the number of weddings in the UK each year almost down to the nearest 10, and I can't believe the percentage of these that have registered on the iste already - we've only received publicity in a couple of regions! I suppose it's a good demonstration of the viral power of the internet and something which I've talked about in the past, but I never really thought it could work so well!
Well that's enough hype about the launch of the bridal site - I'm sorry but I can't help it I'm that excited! - no doubt you want to know what I've got for you. Well I'm afraid I don't have anything for today at least, but I've nearly finished the first video in my "Web Basics for Wedding Suppliers" series. This is a free series of videos aimed at helping you improve your website and increase your online enquiries. Video 1 is literally hours away, so check back as I'll post it here as well as on the Evolution site - quality will probably be a bit sketchy here though as the file size is reduced, there will be a link as well so if there are any problems just click that.
Well that's it for now, I know it's brief but I need to finish this video off. I'll post it together with a link to find it on the site in the next 24 hours.
Until then.
Edward
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