How are you re-inventing your business?

Last night I was at a networking event and had the opportunity to speak with quite a few wedding professionals in a wide range of categories. I saw an interesting pattern emerge.

There are a lot of very smart people either in the middle of or in the beginning phases of completely re-inventing their businesses in light of the new economic realities in the wedding market. Instead of continuing to do the same old thing they are reading the market and rolling with the punches.

Two different photographers are seeing the light, one is fairly new and the other is a seasoned pro, but both are no longer putting their emphasis on shooting weddings. Instead, both are moving into the portraiture market but in entirely different ways. Both are using their established connections and unique skill sets. Very Cool!

I spoke with a new linen company that is completely re-inventing the wheel. I am interviewing them later to get the skinny for an in-depth article on this topic for the members content side of Think.

I also got to check in my florist friend that is placing her emphasis on rentals to both brides and florist. She is in the unique position of having ‘things’ that other, new florists haven’t had the time or treasure to amass.

I also met the owner of an invitation company that is branching out into event planning. (OK, don’t get me started on new planners but at least they are re-inventing)

What I want to know is how you are reading the market and re-inventing yourself? You all know what I did six years ago to re-invent brand “ME”. What are you doing?

I am putting together an article and if you would like your unique story included, just leave a comment of send me an email.

My readers are some of the smartest wedding professionals out there, I can’t wait to hear your stories.

If you have not read the most recent post from Paul Pannone on eWedNews.com you really should. catch it here

What Paul is saying is that the middle market is falling apart. The traditional wedding that drove the massive increase in the wedding industry 5 or 10 years ago is drying up.

Weddings aren’t stopping, they are just changing. As wedding  professionals, if you want to thrive and succeed you have to change with it.

Yes, the luxury market is still there, and yes there is a ton of money in it. The problem with chasing that is that the actual number of brides at that level is only a minor fraction of the total number of brides. Because of the lure of the money and the rash of “get rich quick” seminars out there you are competing against a crush of both established and wanna be “professionals.” Each luxury bride is bombarded with a pack of very elegant but still ravenous players for their luxury dollar; all snapping and jockeying to get a piece of that ever shrinking market.

Smarter is the wedding professional that starts to think like the brides spawned by our new economic reality. Tradition is out the window along with the giant budgets of old. Today the game is in finding a way to help her bring meaning on a budget. Helping to use your creativity to both spark and foster hers. She is full of ideas, some wilder than others. What she wants from you is to validate her ideas and help her find money saving ways to accomplish her vision.

Now if that means giving (selling, renting) her the tools to bring her DIY into reality, so be it. If that means selling her the service of setting up her DIY centerpieces, do it. If that means selling her the papers to print her own invitations, do it. This is the new reality.

The wedding professionals that I see making a difference today are the ones that are going with it. The florist that is renting out her massive collection of containers or ordering feathers for a DIY bride. The bespoke invitation artist that has put together a line of her beautiful invitation art, pre-printed on blanks for couples to print on their home lasar printer. Bridal houses like Mon Cheri that are producing gowns that are as well made as any but at a price point that more brides can afford. Companies like Bravo Bride that have created a clearing house for brides to buy/sell their wedding goodies. Bakeries pushing cupcakes.There are as many ways to tap this new market as there are brides in it.

Our industry has always been about helping people attain their dreams. What you have to recognize is that their dreams have changed. Go with it.

I sat in a meeting the other night with 10 other wedding professionals. It was supposed to be a board meeting for our local wedding organization but it quickly digressed to an all out trash fest of one of the brides for next month.

You see, half of the people in the room had already fired this bride. The only one that still had not was the planner. The floral designer, transportation company, the invitation designer and one other had already had to make the decision to walk away from the outrageous behavior and demands of this client. It is not an easy decision to make; I know, I had to do it myself this week.

When do you know it’s time to fire a client? For me, it is when I come to the realization that no matter what I do it will never be right with this client. Often it has to do with communication and for me, it usually has a component of extreme micro-management. For others it is a clash of personalities or a death by paper cuts scenario, what ever has caused it- it is in your best interest to remove yourself as soon as possible. The longer you keep trying the worse it is going to get.

As professionals that are passionate about what we do it is hard to give up on a client. Of course there is the money aspect. Hey, who likes to give up income?  Take a look back at some of the weddings you have done where your instincts were telling you that something was wrong. I bet that most of the time they ended up costing you money in the end. You bent over backwards to please the unappeasable. You replaced, added, amended and redid over and above what was originally agreed upon. In the end, they still were only marginally satisfied.

I have had to do this twice now. The first time was a on a very simple wedding cake. Well I guess it was simple, it was supposed to be buttercream with borders, nothing like most of the designer cakes I usually did. After three design consultations and nearly 5 hours of time spent with this bride I still had no idea what she wanted. At one point it came to me piping the same border for her to look at in 4 different tip sizes at which point she said “Let’s schedule another appointment so I can see some more ideas.” I’m still not sure why she came to me in the first place. Mind you it rarely took more than an hour to an hour and a half to design even the most elaborate cake.

I had worked with brides that I had done as many a 4 redesigns on, no problem. I have had brides request trial tiers if it was an especially elaborate design or we were doing some very specific color matching, again no problem. There was just something about this girl that my inner voice kept screaming at me about. In the end I listened to that voice and made the hard choice to fire her. At first it makes you feel like a failure. How could you not have made this work? Then at some point you realize that you just weren’t a fit no matter how hard you tried.

I called her consultant and talked it over. She completely understood; after all she was working with her too. I wrote her a very professional letter explaining that I felt she would be happier with another cake designer and returned her (non-refundable) deposit. I never regretted it, especially after hearing from the planner after the wedding. Nothing had been right, all the way down to the temperature of the A/C in the limo. That time my instincts were right.

So how do you keep this from happening in the first place? First off never be afraid to NOT take a client. Tell clients at every step of the interview process that if you feel they would be a better fit with a different professional you will happily recommend one. That way you don’t have to take them in the first place.

In the long run a bad client can do you more harm than any amount you stand to make off the wedding. They will kill your self esteem, try to ruin your reputation and generally make you question why you are even doing what you are doing. If your inner voice is screaming, maybe you should not be afraid to listen.

Your blog is the most important piece of your online puzzle, more important than your website. That is true even if you have your main site built on a blogging platform*

Your blog is the central hub, the mothership for all the other social media platforms you use. Here are some of reasons why.

Most websites are static online brochures. Oh maybe there is some interactivity, a shopping cart or a place to sign up for newsletters; but by and large it is a static place. That is how it should be; a safe, comfortable source of needed information.

Today, people want more; they want to get to know you and what you value. The best way to do that is to update your blog. A blog gives you time and space to really put your ideas forth. In some ways your blog is akin to a constantly updated online resume for your business. It’s the place to let the world know what you think in more than a sound bite. Here is the repository for all of your ideas about your particular area of expertise. Here is where you make yourself an authority. Here is where you give potential clients a reason to visit your online brochure.
Your blog is also your archive. It shows your potential clients where you have been and what you have done. If a bride wants to see your ideas on a given subject, it’s all right there, indexed and searchable.

Facebook and Twitter are places to build community. The problem is that those platforms don’t have the space and permanence to really build a whole picture of who you are. Once you have a community, you have to give them a place to dig deeper.
One of the ways I use Facebook is to draw readers to my blog, where I can flesh out my ideas more fully. Rather than having my blog post just lie there, I push the synopsis into the community and then pull them to the blog.
Your readers and especially your potential clients want to know what excites you. For that I use Twitter. I do a lot of research on the web. Anytime I find a page that my followers might also be interested in, I post the link to Twitter.  Once a week all those tweets are complied and posted on my blog. The reason for that is the difference in the transient nature of Twitter versus the more permanent nature of a blog. Tweets are rolled off in a matter of minutes, your blog post live forever.

Use your blog as the central hub of all you do, make everything lead back to that one, easy to use spot.

*This website is built on a blog platform. It functions just like a regular website, gathering leads, presenting products and closing sales. What is different is that the face of it is my blog. In some things, you really can have it all. Here are two more websites we built on blog platforms.

TWESA.com

The Something Blue Shop

Over the course of years I have had the immense pleasure to work with many very talented artists. Our industry draws them.

Today I read an article that really highlighted the point that it doesn’t matter how talented of an artist you are, if you don’t take care of the business end of your business it will eventually catch up with you.

No one would argue if I said that Annie Liebovitz is one of the most talented portrait photographers of our time. Today she stands on the brink of financial ruin.

While I doubt that many of us could ever find ourselves in hot water of the magnitude that Liebovitz finds herself, it still illustrates my point brilliantly. You have to work the business side of things in order to be allowed to pursue your art.

Just to clarify, by allowed, I mean that you have the resources needed to be able to create full time as a career. To create art for the sheer joy of it is sublime, but it doesn’t feed the kitty.

There are many wonderful resources out there to help us right brain thinkers tackle the left brain chores of business, Sean Low and Liene Stevens are two that jump to mind immediately. Then of course I am here to help put the tools you need for the marketing end in place.

Don’t get me wrong, I want you to be able to focus on your art and your unique talent. I just want you to be able to do it for the long term in a way that is financially beneficial.

As an aside: I also ran across these clips of Liebovitz at work. Take a moment to enjoy a master working her craft.

Have you ever heard the phrase “What you measure, gets managed?”  I love that phrase. I have talked often both here and on Think Like A Bride about how and why you need to be tracing the stats on your websites and blogs. To name just a few of the things they will tell you:
•    What is getting the most traction
•    What you are doing well and not so well
•    Who is following you
•    When you need to rededicate yourself

That last one is really ringing true with me. You see, after my little mishap last January I rather lost focus on one of my blogs, Wedding Dish. Not only did I stop posting almost completely I stopped checking the stats. Last week I was on the verge of just chucking the whole thing, there are so many wonderful wedding blogs out there compared to the dark ages when I stated the Dish that I didn’t figure anyone was still reading it anyway. So after months of neglect I checked my stats. Holy cow, batman!  My visitors have nearly doubled to over 10,000 visitors a month. Ok then, I guess it’s still a valuable property.

Needless to say, I have rededicated myself to the Dish.

There are two lessons to take away from this.
1.    Blogs have legs. One of the reasons that I am still getting that kind of traffic is because my content is deep. I had been posting nearly daily for over three years before my hiatus. Google doesn’t forget, every one of those articles is and will continue to be indexed until the internet goes away.
2.    Tracking your stats is important. Had I been diligently tracking my numbers, trust me, I would have been just as diligent in posting. Nothing inspires you like knowing people are listening to what you say.

If you haven’t been to the Wedding Dish, please have a look. The brides are.

Marc Fuller, the Tech half of this team posted this to his blog yesterday and I just had to share it with you. imakes me so happy when we help our client find the success they are looking for. Thanks Don and thanks Marc.

Don Samples of Midnight Magic Videography in Knoxville TN just sent me a note recounting his satisfaction and success from using our website. I really like that we were able to help his success, but before I share his experience I need to tell you a little about how we began.

About five months ago Don had us replace his old style HTML based website with our new Kertesz WordPress based basic website. Don’s primary goals in doing this were to increase his business by improving his internet presence and marketing and believed that our site could do that for him. He saw that our sites offer proven marketing potential and at the same time are easier to manage, look good and he can easily modify and add content as wanted.
I hope after reading Don’s letter below you will consider letting me help you.

Now here are Don’s own words about using our website for the last few months -

Hey Marc,
I have been meaning to send this to you for a while now, but I have just been so busy. The web site you helped me with is working so wonderfully. I am getting about 10 to 15 hits a day on average. I am getting calls left and right for bookings. Two of my competitors have even told me that my site rocks. But the best complement I got was about a week ago when I bride said she read my web site and asked if I could shoot her wedding. I was booked for the day she wanted and she told me that she felt that with the information I provided her on the web site she could find someone she would feel good about.

My previous site got very little results. Most times I would get a phone call from a prospective bride they would always ask for a demo video, what do I offer, and on and on. Basically, when brides called they asked the questions the site didn’t answer, which was everything. Now, when I get calls, it is to ask if I am available for a date. The calls are good quality leads. The site has given my business an air of professionalism. I put trailers on my site after almost every wedding. The brides love this as they can see some of their video right away. My old site didn’t have the ability to post video. As a video business, it is so important that brides can see what I do.

The week the site went live, I noticed the change in calls and contacts. My competitors in the area all called me and commented on the site. But the best part of it was the fact that they all changed their sites to look like what I have put up.

I have gotten calls and emails from brides who have told me that the information I have put on my site have helped them change their mind about choosing a videographer for their wedding. It also helped them ask the right questions of the videographer they have chosen.

But, most of all I have seen an increase in my business this year. Last year was a good year, but since the site is up and going, the late summer and fall are almost completely booked.

This site has changed my business from a struggling attempt at videography, to a respected, talked about, leading business in the East Tennessee area. Thanks so much for your help, my site is now what I have wanted it to be from the beginning. And, yes I have even updated my web site from my iPhone at a Starbucks.

Thanks so much.
Don

Send us an email , let us do the same for your business.

In this month’s Think Like A Bride I wrote about evolving your business with the times. I have been having a conversation with a wedding manufacturer friend of mine that is doing just that.
I had read on a forum that her business had gone under. Well knowing a bit of the story and not being one to take things at face value I contacted her immediately to find that the rumors of her demise had been greatly exaggerated.
The truth was that she had seen the writing on the wall and closed down every one of her wholesale accounts and gone to pure retail using online. Guess what; in the year that she has been orchestrating this transformation her bottom line has been transformed.
Here is a bit of the exchange.

“Thank you. Really, thank you – you made me realize months ago that doing this was not an irrational decision. My gut and our numbers have told me for a while that this is what we need to do, but is/was a scary decision and it helped to have an insider’s opinion.

Not even to mention the fact that I can actually CONTROL how our products are sold in my store and website, but not in other people’s stores. I have no idea how things were displayed, if sales people even knew anything about the products, or how they were priced.”

You have to keep evolving. The world of bridal is changing rapidly. Nothing will be the same in 5 years. The manufacturers that will survive are the ones that aren’t afraid to evolve with this changing environment. Sounds like Darwinism has come to the wedding industry.

“OK, everybody that wants to survive: climb out of the ooze!”

To you my friend I say ”welcome to dry land! So damn glad you could join us”

The complete article “What’s Dangerous Is Not To Evolve” is available to subscribers of Think Like A Bride