Joy Basdeo , a wedding planner in Grand Cayman emailed me not long ago about a new website. Joy had a blog in one place and 2 different website on other urls and nothing was working. She couldn’t update anything but her blog, and she wasn’t getting much SEO traction on her websites because of the way they were built.

Well, in no time flat we had Joy on a shiny new WordPress blog site built on the Genesis framework. If you haven’t been paying attention, Genesis is just about the slickest thing going in the land of WordPress. In terms of SEO, ease of use and security it at the top of the heap.

What a wonderful experience it has been working with Joy.

I took a couple of the child themes, pulled them apart and played Frankentheme to create Joy’s site. I hope you like it as much as Joy does.

If your website isn’t doing what you need it to, give me a call and I’ll fix you right up.

Click on the image to visit the site.

I just love what my clients have to say.

Debbi, My Personal Cantor, was recently asked who built her website. Here is what she said…

“Her name is Christine Boulton, and you can reach her at …thinklikeabride.com

She’s amazing.  And it was very reasonable.  What’s more, is she specializes in WordPress blogsites, which are the best.  They are so simple to maintain and add content to, and are meant for constant updating, and content additions, which makes Google love it more.  Then – she is very hands on in making sure you know how to use it and administer it.  She’s really a client advocate.  the WordPress site I originally had was built by someone in Canada, and once he got paid for the final version, it was impossible to reach him at all.  Christine is always there for me if I have questions.

Tell her I sent ya!”

Aww, gee. Thanks Debbi.

I include a testimonial page in all the websites I build. You would think I would be smart enough to include one on my site. Oh well, the cobblers children…

I thought you might like this site that went live over the weekend; Healthy Solutions Medical Weight Loss.

I know it a bit outside the wedding industry that I usually deal with but still fun to do.

The site went live on Sunday and by Tuesday they already had new patients coming in with their forms already printed out and filled in! The staff loves it, especially the ones that answer the phone.

I love happy clients

What could a new website do for you?

I had an interesting conversation with a new client recently. Part of my review of his marketing strategy included asking him when he last updated his website. His answer startled me; he hadn’t updated anything in over a year!

I’m sure you are thinking big deal but this really is a big deal. In the case of this particular client, a caterer, he hadn’t even changed the prices on the posted menus. If you have bought anything in the last year like oh say food or gas then you know what has happened to prices. What do you think having to live with year old prices did to his bottom line? Exactly.

When he told me why he was doing that to his business I was even more stunned. He hated to call the webmaster to change anything because it cost an arm and a leg. Sound familiar? I am dealing with the same situation with an organization where I am a member of the board. This is lunacy.

In today’s culture a website has to be a dynamic, current, ever changing entity. Today’s bride can smell outdated at thirty paces. I’m not necessarily talking about changing the over all look of a site, although that should be done every 2 to 3 years. I am most concerned with you keeping the information up to date.  Are you a wedding planner that only has pictures of weddings you did 4 or 5 years ago on your site? Why not the images from last weekends wedding? I know, the webmaster again, right? What about you florists, those bouquets look a little out of date do they? Are you representing your business to its best advantage? Probably not.

With the tools and products on the market today there isn’t any reason why you should have a website that can’t be quickly and easily updated BY YOU at the click of a button. If your web designer is telling you different he is holding you hostage to old technology and stuffing his wallet at your expense.

I also have clients that have come to me with a perfectly good site that was in fact built so they could update it but they never learned how. WHAT??  Come on, that’s such an easy fix I almost feel bad telling you. If you need to learn how to use the website you have, call whoever built it, offer to pay them for their time and have them sit down with you and teach you how to use it. How do you think I started learning all this stuff oh those many years ago?

I’ll tell you something else, most web designer will get a kick out of showing you all the nifty bells and whistles in your site. Remember, they are techies, this stuff excites them as much as that new source for the perfect ribbon or staffing solution or newest gown collection excites you. Let them show it off. Something else to think about, if you buy a new website make sure that a complete one on one tutorial is part of the package. That site doesn’t do you a bit of good if you can’t use it to its full advantage.

Technology is moving at light speed. The days of building a website and forgetting it are over. Remember, that is where you potential customers are looking for you.  Can you afford to show them you are outdated and out of sync with their world?

If you would like me to review your website, just drop me a line. If I get enough of them I may just do a column reviewing them next month, with your permission of course.

I just handed off a new site to a wonderful client, Sarah Morris.  We had recently built Sarah a new site for her company, The Something Blue Shoppe and this was a sister site for her prom shop, Something Blue Too.

Sarah wanted a site that carried the basic look of SBS but with more punch for a younger audience. Since she loved the way the first site worked she asked that we use the same CMS for the prom site. Both sites were built on the same Premium WordPress theme with a ton of customization.

We just completed another social media dialogue website for The Something Blue Shoppe, a full service bridal and prom salon located in Hartselle Alabama.

Sarah Morris, the owner, contacted me after hearing a presentation I did on Doing Social Media Right for 2Be University in St.Louis. Sarah wanted all the advantages that goes along with our all WordPress based websites, including:

• Easy do it yourself content additions, upgrades, and site maintenance.
• Complete automatic interaction and cross posting with Facebook and Twitter
• Integrated blog
• Low cost hosting
• And the truly best SEO that only WordPress based websites can deliver.

We updated the look and layout, while still keeping the established branding of The Something Blue Shoppe

After just one lesson, Sarah is doing her own updates like a pro. I wish you could have heard the excitement in her voice when she realized just how easy her new site was to manage.

Please take a look.

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.

Last year we began pioneering the concept of using WordPress not only for a blog, but even better using it’s content management system for a full website including the blog. Our clients saw instant search marketing results. Plus the new found ability to manage their own websites with lower costs. The win-win of a web/blogsite.

For the last few weeks I have been working to add a shopping cart to a new WordPress web/blogsite I am creating for a friend. We are doing the full site from art to design to programming/implementation. The purpose of the site is to market Trollbeads. The goal was to have a small business affordable website, that can be managed by the business owner and with superior front page organic search results, so the choice of WordPress was pretty quick.

But what for the cart? Third party shopping carts even from Yahoo or GoDaddy can cost $50 to $100+ a month plus transaction and processing fees. We wanted a less costly option with better styling options. We looked at ZenCart, osCommerce and WPe-Commerce. All of them were good and provided an excellent low cost self hosted cart with the ability extension. I was familiar with ZenCart from some other projects but wanted to try something a little different and that would not have the standard Zencart look.

WP e-Commerce is what we used for Trollbeads Trail. Like many WordPress plugins, it is free with full functionality and the upgrades with a grid layout and really cool drag and drop cart are very inexpensive. It is a little complex to setup (all shopping carts are to some degree), but very straight forward once you understand the application’s terms (the developers are from New Zealand).

The finished look is outstanding and the SEO power over the first 30 days has been even better than expected. So much so that we cloned it for a second site for the same customer replacing the existing website for her jewelry store, Santa Fe Trail Jewelry.

This is excellent for anyone wanting to increase their item sales or rental potential while keeping expenses as low as possible. Take a look at the finished site, remember it is all WordPress even the shopping cart, and let us show you how we can put this feature to work for you -

When the Tennessee Wedding & Events Specialists Association decided to replace their old website they had a long wish list. First it had to appeal to a very web savvy target market and be easy to use across multiple generations.  It needed to be updatable and expandable.  It needed to be fully optimized for both social media and search and compatible with mobile devices. It needed to integrate membership accounting functions such as membership applications and online renewal. What they chose was a website built entirely on a WordPress platform!

TWESA turned to the experts at the Agency@Think to find a solution. What they got was more than they expected.

TWESA.com is a full website including extensive galleries, blogs, video and member listings all built on a WordPress platform.  It is fully integrated into social media such as Twitter and Facebook, even the calendar has its own RSS feed.  This is just what visitors see.On the non public side, members are able to post to the site as well as update their listings.

The Agency@Think included a member’s only blog that functions more like a Facebook wall or a Twitter feed. Since the private blog is fully optimized for mobile devices, members can use it as an instant way to communicate with each other while working an event. The importance of having a private one to many back channel means of communication on a busy event day is priceless.

Also an important factor in choosing WordPress was the ability to incorporate membership accounting functionality. The site now has the ability for new members to apply and pay online, members to renew or upgrade online and automatically bills members when their annual dues are up. The system generates full reports on member billing and accounting activity; eliminating many dollars previously paid to an accountant for billing and record keeping. Because WordPress integrates so easily with so many plugins, the Agency@Think was able to set the payment function up completely with in PayPal eliminating the need for and expense of a traditional shopping cart.

Search Engine Optimization is important for any website. Previously TWESA had been paying over $200 a month for SEO. With the new site, because it is built on the semantically correct WordPress Platfom the site is virtually self-optimizing. With each new post or listing the site’s search power increases. But at the end of the day it is results that count.  The new Dialog-Site website has increased search engine referrals over five fold in just its first 30 days, with no additional advertising or other time expense.

According to Vicki Sanders, President of TWESA, “When we started this project I don’t think we fully grasped the possibilities. The Agency @Think understood our needs and not only showed us what was possible, but even added functionality that would benefit us that we never even knew existed. Many of our members have WordPress blogs that they loved. So we knew how well WordPress worked for that but we were surprised at how well The Agency@Think was able to use WordPress to build an entire website on those strengths.”

What Influences Woman’s Buying?

In a word, everything. A recent conversation with a bridal salon got me thinking about how the purchasing habits of women are influenced. There is always talk in the industry about price and how that is the determining factor in closing the sale. That’s not altogether true. It may be a factor in whether they ever meet with you but price alone won’t ultimately be the only influence in their purchase.

Women are hard wired differently than men. They see, smell and hear everything around them and on one level or another are influenced by it. Men tend to hone in on the things that are of interest to them with complete focus and clarity. Why does this matter and what can you do with it?

First it matters because your customers are primarily women. Even if this wasn’t the bridal industry it would still matter; women make or influence 85% of all purchases.

Even if you provide men’s formal wear women control the purse strings.

If a woman loves your work, accepts the price and isn’t put off by your contract you may still lose the sale on something that you never even considered, like say your lighting or your bathroom. Remember I said woman see, smell and hear everything. Do you? You probably don’t because you see it everyday.

From the time a woman makes contact with you, everything counts: how fast was their email answered, was the phone answered by a human during business hours and were the answers given helpful? Remember also that you are dealing with them at a highly emotionally charged time in their lives. Even the slightest perceived disconnect may take on more significance than usual.

The shop owner I spoke with asked if I thought that personal appearance mattered. Yes, everything matters. Women pick up subliminal clues. If your appearance does not match what you are saying they will catch it. For instance, if your style of photography is hip and trendy but your clothing is stodgy and traditional you are projecting a disconnect. If you are selling high fashion and your manner of dress is purely for comfort with tennis shoes and old sweaters your clients aren’t going to trust your judgment. I don’t know how often I have said it here but perception is reality. What your customers perceive you to be, you are.

This same philosophy carries all the way through what ever contact you have with your clients. If you meet with clients in an off site location like a restaurant or coffee house you need to consider how that location reflects you and your product. While the local diner may be convenient and familiar does it project the image you want to send? If the image you are trying to project is upscale you may do better to set up camp in a chic dessert shop across town. Everything matters.

Sometimes we are to close to the situation to really see it. An interesting, though sometimes painful exercise is to ask a trusted friend to tell you what they see. Pick a friend that can be brutally honest and have them meet you as a client would; dressed as you would be in the place you most often meet clients. Find out what their perception is. Does it match what you were hoping to project? I often send articles I am working on to an editor friend of mine with the subject line “Shred my copy”. Sometimes it hurts, but it always makes me a better writer.

It may come to a point where you need to reallocate some of your already stretched marketing budget and hire a consultant to look over your shop or office to get a new perspective. Be sure and have a clear picture of the image you are wanting to project; an image that reflects the style of your work. Remember it is the total package. I know some people that are wonderful at their chosen field but struggle because they just aren’t projecting the right image. It may sound sad or petty, but in today’s highly competitive world it is the tiniest pieces that separate the winners from the losers.

This is another tidbit you can use from the archives of Think Like A Bride. To read more articles like this subscribe to Think today