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Mrs.J’s Baking & Catering

October 13, 2011 By 3 Comments

I’ve been busy busy in the pixel mines of late. Good thing the treehouse has direct access to their deepest darkest recesses!

First up is a new client  Mrs J’s Baking and Catering that was, of course, a referral from another happy friend of Think. Celeste Morris, the owner, was living with a site she hated and had very little control over. Oh, she could add some content but not much and had little or no control over the look or the galleries. Well now you know I was going to fix that nonsense!

Her site looked generic with no real branding to match what she did. You see, unlike a lot of caterers, Celeste specializes in southern style comfort food. Not much except the menus reflected that. So here at Think we fixed her right up with a new logo and new branding to go with her shiny new site.  An hour or two of my standard tutorials and she was able to update anything she wanted.  She has started to blog and this fall we have her signed up for Ashley’s Blog Camp! 

Tale a look. (I just love her background) The image is a link to her site.

Mrs J's Baking & Catering website

Filed Under: Announcement, Blog, Inspiration, Portfolio, Website Design, Website marketing Tagged With:

The Final Nail in the Knot’s Coffin

September 9, 2011 By 4 Comments

I have said it for so long that I am blue in the face:

The portals are dead and Google killed them.

Yet year after year, so many wedding vendors throw money at the Knot for ads that aren’t working. They throw money at Wedding Wire and every little portal website that comes along. Then they wonder why they aren’t getting any return on their investment. ~gah~

There was a time when the Knot really was a place for brides to go to get the information and inspiration that they needed. Today? uh, no. Why would they sort through pages of nonsense when all the have to do is Google exactly what they are looking for and get pages of very specific related answers. Even better, pages of images.

Finally I have back up. Today the Motley Fool picked XO Group(formerly the Knot) as their “Throw This Stock Away” pick of the week.  Below is the best quote of the article:

XO in general — and The Knot in particular — just aren’t as necessary as they used to be. Friends swap wedding service referrals for free through Facebook, and Angie’s List has grown into a powerhouse of vetted reviews.

Brides today are going to go where they already feel comfortable.

Now take a look at this quote about a stock they would pick to replace XO Group.

  • Google: XO relies on wedding service providers paying up to be featured on TheKnot.com. Despite all of the lifestyle site launches and acquisitions over the past four years, revenue has climbed just 22% higher at XO. Where are the advertisers going? My best bet would be Google. The search giant’s AdWords platform makes it easy to smoke out leads for pennies per click. It’s also hard to argue against Google at less than 13 times next year’s earnings.

I hate to leave you hanging at the altar XO, but I’m just not that into you.

What does all this mean to you?

In a nutshell, brides are finding information by searching on Google. If your website isn’t top notch and built to be search friendly, no amount of money you throw at advertising is going to do you any good.

Remember when I said “In 2008 we hit the reset button?’ Well this is one of the things that has changed. Ignore it at your own peril.

Oh and one more thing. If you own any stock in XO, I’d probably take the Fool’s advice.

Filed Under: Blog, Rants & Raves, Trends, Website marketing Tagged With: , ,

Don’t You Wish This Was Your Google Analytics

August 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Last week I posted about a website I had updated for a client, Picture This Nashville.

Well today I got this in an email from Elaine, the sites owner.

Wouldn’t you love results like this for your website?

Just  sayin’

 

Filed Under: Blog, Website marketing Tagged With: , , ,

Websites to Sing About! How’s Yours?

August 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I have been a busy, busy bee. Lot’s of my client sites were in need of an update, but I still found time to build a few new ones.

First up, A Song for Her. Gil Grand and his PR agent Melissa Mathews first approached me with their idea in the spring and it was a great one. Gil is an award winning singer songwriter and now you can have him write a custom song for you. Need to say “I love you” or “Dang, I screwed up” or “I miss you?” Then Gil’s you guy.

Now I will be the first one to admit that I know virtually nothing about music or the music industry ( ya, ya I know I live in NashVegas) but by listening to what they wanted and what they did, I was able to identify their target audience and give them what they needed. Have a look

To make a long story short, Gil and Melissa were so happy that when Gil’s company, Grand & Gee were nominated for CCMA Music Publisher of the Year they called me to do their ad! We wish Grand & Gee all the luck in the world, they deserve it.

Filed Under: Announcement, Marketing, Website Design, Website marketing Tagged With: ,

Content is King. Even the SEO Rapper Says So

April 21, 2011 By 2 Comments

I stumbled upon this on YouTube today. The SEO Rapper on Page Rank.

I love this guy! Not only does he know what he’s talking about but he is one dang Out of the Box thinkin’ Gorilla Marketer! He took a skill and zigged when everyone else was zagging. Oh sure, he could have taken that talent and rapped about sex and guns and drugs, but NOOOOO, he flipped it to the world of internet marketing. I’m sure he is doing quite well for himself and I bet he sleeps better.

Watch the video an learn a little about Page Rank, Content and SEO.

Here is another one just for the fun of it. Social Media

Filed Under: Back to Basics, Marketing, Rants & Raves, Website marketing Tagged With: , ,

The Power of WordPress

February 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you are still using a Flash website or something like Website Tonight, you may want to take a look at this infographic from TechKing.

Isn’t it time to switch to WordPress?

While you are at it, add a premium theme from StudioPress. Yes, I am a Studiopress afiliate but that is because I use it and believe in it and the power of WordPress.

I’m not alone. Such entities as The New York Times, CNN and Fox News use WordPress to power their blogs. So does the NFL. In September 2010, Microsoft replaced Windows Live Spaces with WordPress. Do they know something you don’t?

Infographic: The Power of WordPress

The Power of WordPress by Tech King

Filed Under: Website marketing, What's Hot Tagged With: , ,

Where are Brides Online?

January 4, 2011 By 5 Comments

I think that we have already established that today’s brides are doing most of their research online. The question is where. To answer that, you need to figure out how they are doing their research.

From what I have looked at, here is my drill down.

  1. Image search
  2. Planning research
  3. Community
  4. Local Search
  5. Reviews and Community Referrals

Let’s take these one at a time.

Image search.

The first thing they do is go look at all the pretty pictures. I know it sounds trite but that is just the way this generation is. They are very visual. What this means to you is that you need to make sure that your images come up in a Google image search. The best way to do that is to be sure you have done a good job of tagging your shots when you put them on your website. For more information on just how to do this, read Labeling Your Images for SEO Gold. Now mind you, this won’t make them call you, in and of itself, but it will start the process of making them familiar with your name.

Planning Research.

Trust me, the newly engaged are completely clueless when it comes to planning a wedding. So they hit the internet for planning tips and tools. You know as well as I do that there is enough info on this topic on the internet to fill a good sized library. Most of it is bullshit, some of it is down right scary, a lot of it is worthless marketing junk and a tiny bit is of real value. The problem is, it doesn’t come color coded, so a bride is likely to mistake the garbage for gold.

You know what I am talking about. How often have you sat in a client meeting and wondered where they came up with such a harebrained scheme. She got a tickle of an idea in the back of her brain and then found some source to support it. ~sigh~

Which brings us to our next destination…

Community.

This is in reality where brides that spend the most time online will be: in the forums and bulletin boards of places like WeddingBee.com and WeddingWire.com.

According to a recent report, the only sites in the top 10 that didn’t lose ground are the ones that support community. Even the venerable Martha Stewart Weddings took a hit. The comments on Bee and the forums on Wire are very heavily trafficked. What our brides are doing is talking about their wedding with other brides and learning from them. They have become the primary authority on all things wedding. God help us. It is like kids that learn all of their sex-ed on the playground.

The other place they are finding community is on Facebook. They may notice your page there but that isn’t why they are there. They are there to socialize.

Local Search.

Now we are getting down to it. They start looking for you. Notice I did not say that start looking at the ads on the Knot, or any other site for that matter. They go straight to their favorite search engine. Ok, so ya, Google, but there are others too, at least that is what I hear. ;-) Something else you need to know, these ladies are really good at search. They don’t type in “DJ in New Jersey” they type in “DJ,Trenton NJ, Not Cheesy”. They don’t type in “Wedding Dress, Bellingham WA” They type in “2Be Brides by Gavin Michaels Style No. G233916S + WA”

As you can see, they have already decided what they want and know how to search to find it. That is the reason that you need to put as much information on your website as possible.

Reviews and Community Referral.

Now that they have found you and looked over your website, they still aren’t ready to contact you. They want support that they are making a good choice. For they they go back to their community and ask if anyone knows anything about you. Once comfortable that you are who they think you are, they will check your review on Wedding Wire and Yelp. Save them the step and put the WeddingWire.com Review widget right on your website. Something else the net savvy bride will do is type in “{your name}+complaints”.

Now, maybe, if you have come out on top on all this, they might send you an email.

As to the original question, “Where are brides online?” the answer is search. They aren’t paying attention to banner ads or paid listings, they are doing their own research. When they finally hit your website, it had better be top-notch. It might be the only shot you get.

Filed Under: Blog, Facts & Stat, Marketing, Website marketing Tagged With: , , , , ,

2 New Websites for You to Check Out

January 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I have been a busy little camper the last few weeks. I thought you might want to see that latest sites.

The first one is for a lovely lady in Sacramento, California, Amrit. Amrit specializes in SouthEast Asain weddings and to say that I loved all the images I had to work with would be an understatement of massive proportions. We also incorporated her already very popular blog, ShaddiCurry into the site.

Please have a look and enjoy.

The second one was for a florist I have known for years. We decided to get his site more current and add a blog. I look forward to seeing what he has to say.


Filed Under: Marketing, Website marketing Tagged With: , ,

Does Your Marketing Reflect Your Re-invented Business?

December 7, 2010 By 1 Comment

2010 was a brutal year for many. We pulled back, we hunkered down and we regrouped. We had the time and we took it to re-invent and to ponder how we really wanted our busness to look.

2011 is the dawning of a new era in the wedding busines. The smart ones have seen the handwriting on the wall and are poised to go forth and kick butt in the new enviroment.

You have reinvented your business model,

but have you redesigned your marketing to match?

If your business has evolved and you are marketing as you always have it is literally like sending out your message on a different frequency. It creates static. Static is distracting and annoying and it won’t do anything to sell your product. So now is the time to make sure everything is in sync.

Take a look at the new YOU.

How has your business model changed and how has your approach to bridal in general changed? Have you found another product that appeals to today’s bride? Have you found a way to capatalize on the here to stay DIY brides? Have you seen your weddings take a turn to casual from clean and elegant?

Whatever has changed, your marketing material needs to reflect that change. All of it.

That means more than updating your blog. It probably should include updating the look and feel of your entire website. It may even need to go as far as your logo.

One thing I can tell you about today’s brides is that if your image looks stuffy or in any way old school, they won’t look any further into what you have to offer.

Think about it this way, with so much competition today, first impressions mean more than ever. If your website or your business card or your logo screams “Mom’s Choice” you are not going to get a second look.

Today’s brides are cool, casual and very independent and they want a very personalized wedding. They don’t care that you have been doing this for a hundred years, they want to know that you are going to ‘get’ their vision and help them to achieve it.

How does your marketing speak to these women?

Here is a tip:

Lead with your work. Show off your style. Don’t try to be all things to all brides.

If your style is shabby chic, reflect that in your marketing. Your brides will find you.

The same goes if you are highly contemporary. Reflect it and the brides attracted to that will find you.

Here is the beauty of a plan like this, by setting yourself apart, you will attract the brides that you most want to work with. Everybody knows that is a lot more fun.

Sit down today and review your new, reinvented business and then see how it measures up with your current(mostly old) marketing.

Filed Under: Blog, Branding, Website marketing, wedding marketing Tagged With: , , ,

Why the iPad Matters to Your Bridal Marketing

November 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Simply put because it is the future.

Check this blip about the new Glamour magazine app

Each digital issue includes the entire contents of the magazine, PLUS exclusive extras like video, photos and app-only fashion picks you can tap to purchase straight from your iPad, iPod touch or iPhone! You can also save your favorite fashion and beauty items–complete with details on where to buy them–for easy shopping reference when you’re on the go.

This may be just the thing that causes the revival of bridal magazines. Oh stop, I know that Glamour isn’t a bridal rag but they are owned by Conde Nast, so is Brides. Which means that Brides has access to the tech, if they are smart enough to use it.

Why carry a bridal magazine that weights a bunch around when you can just read it on your iPad or iPhone? Double score that you can just click to buy or link to a vendors website. Sounding better? What’s better, since it is in the app store it is now an impulse buy. Bored on the train to work? Buy the latest Bridal porn. Done.

The iPhone is great but the screen isn’t really big enough to really give the reader the same feel of a high end print glossy. But the iPad does.

Next you are going to tell me that, yes the app lets you view the entire magazine but you have to pay for it and no one will pay for content. Au contraire my friend!

Check out this article from the New York Times

The News Corporation said on Tuesday that it had gained 105,000 paying customers for the digital versions of The Times and The Sunday Times of London since it started charging for access to their Web sites this summer.

The company said about half of those additions were regular, active subscribers to the newspapers’ Web sites, iPad application or Amazon Kindle edition. The rest were occasional purchasers. Another 100,000 readers have activated free digital accounts that are included in print subscriptions to the papers, the News Corporation said.

“These figures very clearly show that large numbers of people are willing to pay for quality journalism in digital formats,” said Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, the London-based arm of the News Corporation that publishes The Times papers.

The advent of the iPad has given a glimmer of hope to the currently on life support print media.

So there are two things I want you to think about:

First if you are considering putting any money into print, make dang sure that their presence on the iPad is what it should be. Don’t let them get away with telling you that they have a website. Tell them you want something like Glamour has put together.

Second, make sure you back up your purchase with a website that will show up on the iPad when a bride to be clicks on your ad. That means one thing—NO FLASH–. Yes I know it’s pretty, but it is totally useless with the format that today’s brides use to access the web most. You may just want to read this to be sure your site is where it needs to be.

The iPhone and more importantly, the iPad are not fads. This is particularly true with the higher end brides.

Check out what Mary Schmidt has to say about the future and the iPad.

Filed Under: Marketing, Trends, Website marketing Tagged With: , , , ,
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