You are here: Home / Archives for Announcement

My Flip Wedding and Staying Ahead of the Curve

March 15, 2011 By 1 Comment

I have built a reputation of being pretty spot on in terms of trend tracking, well here is the next one.

I rarely take on clients for full on marketing campaigns anymore, but this one was too hot to pass up.  I want you, my faithful readers to be ahead of the curve.

In the coming months, your brides are going to be asking you about My Flip Wedding. What, you ask, is a Flip Wedding? It is the brain child of the wonderful folks at Storymix Media and it is a way for brides and grooms to capture the memories of their wedding (before and beyond) in a DIY way with amazing results.

Storymix Media will rent the simple to use little Flip cameras as a package, your bride then gets them into the hands of the people who know her best, her friends and family. Once they have filmed the bits and pieces of the big day from their unique point of view, the cameras are packed up and sent back to Storymix Media. They upload the footage and then the bride can use their easy-peasy storyboard editing system to pick the scenes, the theme and the music. The Apple Certified Pros at Storymix then edit them into a wonderful highlight reel.

Videographers, don’t panic. This isn’t to replace you, this is in addition to you.

I think, even cooler than couples using it for their wedding are all the other applications I am seeing. Grooms are using them for their bachelor party, brides are capturing their shower and girls day. Couples are taking them on their honeymoon. The possibilities are endless. You see the thing is, sometimes your best friends and family see things that you (and your videographer) miss. It is like getting to be a guest at your wedding.

You can find out more in today’s press release. You can also check out the Man Registry for a post later today. Next month, OffBeat Bride is doing a feature on My Flip Wedding.

Here is one more thing that you might find useful. Mike and Ariane Fisher, the brains behind Storymix Media are offering an affiliate program. If you have a retail storefront or are a planner, this is one more way to add a little cha-ching to your bottom line. Think of the impluse buy possibilities. We are still in the building stages of the affiliate program, so if you have some input, let me know.

Here is another heads up. I am seeing some copy-cats start to climb out of the wood work. Don’t go there. Mike and Ariane at Storymix Media have been doing this since 2006 for pros and consumers alike. The new part is that now they have launched a wedding division specifically for the bridal market. Trust me, the team at Storymix Media knows what they are doing.

 

For the record, no this isn’t a sponsored post but they are a client of mine.

Filed Under: Announcement, Trends, What's Hot Tagged With: ,

Wedding Dish

January 14, 2011 By 1 Comment

Some of you may not be aware that I actually have another blog, Wedding Dish. It is directed at brides with real world tips and answers.I added a link in the Menu bar of  Think.Wedding Dish

In light of my recent rant about the bad information on the internet I thought I should be honest about my ‘other life.’

I am not one to always take my own advice so I don’t post to this blog as often as I should anymore. This one seems to be taking all my time these days. Still there is some pretty funny stuff over there and I have always tried to be as real with brides as I am with you.

Do me a favor and give it a read. You just might find something you can use.

Filed Under: Announcement, Blog, Trends Tagged With: , ,

Photographer’s Website

September 15, 2010 By 2 Comments

For the longest time photographers have been caught up in having a Flash website. They do it because of the galleries and yes they can look great. The unintended consequence is the loss of search and now the loss of readability on mobile phones is also a huge issue.

Is there a fix? You bet there is.

Take a look at Paul Maynard Photography.

His site has big beautiful galleries that can be animated if he chooses. There is a slide show on the homepage that renders beautifully on phones and he can update the whole thing himself with the push of a button. Now isn’t that cool?

If you look closely at the image of the slideshow in the picture below, you will see that I caught this capture mid-fade. That’s cool too.

Filed Under: Announcement, Clients, Website marketing Tagged With: , , ,

Press Release: Christine Boulton Named to Wedding Industry Survey Network Advisory Board

July 27, 2010 By 1 Comment

Press Release: Christine Boulton Named to Wedding Industry Survey Network Advisory Board.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Christine Boulton Named to Wedding Industry Survey Network Advisory Board

New York – Tucson: July 27, 2010 – In their ongoing efforts to fill the need for timely and accurate information in the wedding business, the Wedding Industry Survey Network (WISN) names Christine Boulton to its advisory board.

Christine Boulton is a 25 year veteran of the wedding industry and is focused on helping small wedding businesses succeed. Through her company Think Like A Bride she has dedicated herself to understanding what today’s wedding professional needs to prioritize in their busy work day. Boulton’s cutting-edge approach in all areas of media takes very complicated information and simplifies it, making it understandable for her readers to digest. Her approachable nature then allows them to stay in close contact with her to get needed details for specific needs in their markets.

For 19 years she was the owner of a successful boutique bakery, Indulgence Custom Bakeshop. Her experience in dealing with the bride and end consumer allows her to interact with her vendor peers, understanding the challenges that face all portions of the wedding industry.

Today Ms Boulton is focusing on creating a group of web products specifically for the wedding industry. Her website and blog design is noted for being user friendly, SEO ready and easily manageable. Over the last year she has started expanding her public speaking and doing seminars across the country. She still continues to write for a variety of outlets, coach clients one on one and manage Social Media Marketing campaigns for wedding professionals, enabling her to stay connected to the latest trends in real time.

Her recently released eBook Bridal Show Success covers everything from how to select the right show for a wedding related business, down to how to properly follow up after the show is over.

“I am head over heels to be working with such an outstanding group of people. I feel together we bring a depth of talent, big picture view and knack for analysis that has never before been seen in the wedding industry,” said Boulton when she was accepted to the WISN group.

Shane McMurray, creator and head of the group said,” We have been working closely with Christine since early 2010. We feel she has the proper mix of knowledge as a vendor but also understands the industry from the Business-to-Business side. Her edginess, always questioning the facts and pushing the envelope lends itself to creating a dynamic environment for our group. We are very happy to have her on board.”

For more information please contact:

Paul Pannone at 516-312-0090

Paul@ewednews.com

Filed Under: Announcement, Marketing Tagged With: , ,

Take Back The Biz Day

May 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I just ran across the best idea: Take Back The Biz Day

Suzanne Smith, Suzanne Smith Designs wants all wedding pros to take one day to extol the virtues of hiring real professionals for your wedding. As a way to combat all the bad information out there in the media, let’s tell the real story from the mouths of the pros!

Here is the original post from Wedding Wire that explains everything and include the link to the Facebook event page.

Hi,
Many of you may know that I brought up a discussion on one of the threads about taking back our reputations of professional high standards, quality and 5 star service. I’m not one to sit on my hands and wait for someone to do this.
June is traditionally regarded as wedding month so lets kick it off in style!
I was tired of hearing and reading about how every aspect of weddings can be DIY’d. Just ask Uncle Jo and Aunt Mable to do it! LOL
I am also mad at the media for the Bad pricing info and continued slamming of many services as being irrelevant. Who are they to say this?
So On June 1st I have set up a Universal Event on Facebook that every one of you talented creative and passionate people can participate in.
The response has been overwhelmingly positive!
I am asking all of you to write a Blog, post a comment, Photos of your gorgeous work and POSITIVE reasons why Brides should hire the best they can afford for their day.
If you offer a product, show what the low , med and top end can be.
Florists fill your blog with examples of bouquets and bakers show your cakes.
It’s Totally FREE & Its a Good way to have a flood of wedding info for your potential clients, and good Karma to the participants.
here is the link for this event- Join us and Spread the word about how passionate we are about our clients and services! Take Back the Biz!!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120194184680881


Join the group and plan you post for June 1 NOW! Let’s get the truth out there.

You know that I’ll be on it over on the Dish

Filed Under: Announcement, Rants & Raves Tagged With: , ,

Bridal Show Success

May 19, 2010 By 4 Comments

Don’t even think about

doing a bridal show until you read this book!

$14.95

I know you have heard what I have had to say about bridal shows. How they are a crap shoot at best, how there are way too many, how they aren’t the sure bet they used to be. Well all that is true!

Unless you know the secrets

Bridal shows can still be a tremendous way to market your business if you pick the right one and use every tool in your arsenal to get it right.Here are the tips and trick you have been searching for, all in one easy to follow guide.

Nothing vague here, just good solid information to take you every step of the way from choosing the show to closing the sale.

I tackle everything from what makes a show worth doing (and how you can get even more publicity before the show) to why your old email campaigns just didn’t work.

One of the questions I see popping up all the time is “How should I design my booth”. This book has the answers from how to lay it out to what you absolutely have to include to be successful.

Want to know how to squeeze every last marketing opportunity out of your costly investment? Of, course that’s covered. I’ll tell what extras and freebies you can get before you sign on the dotted line to do the show.

Let’s face it, bridal shows are an expensive way to market your business. It’s not just the cost of the booth, but what you put in it and your time and that of your staff. Don’t you deserve to get the best return on that investment you possibly can. Yes you do!

I will share with you my personal secrets for bridal show success. Secrets I have learned in years of doing these things as a successful wedding vendor down in the trenches, right where you are.

When you consider the investment you make in a bridal show, whether is is a single booth at a tiny show with 100 brides or a quad booth at one of the mega-shows with over 1500 brides, $14.95 is a drop in the bucket. This book will more than pay for itself before you even do your first show.

How can I say that? Because not only will it keep you from doing the wrong show but my tips on email follow up can translate into a year round campaign. (that alone makes it worth the read)

What are you waiting for? Don’t you want to get the biggest return on your marketing investment that you can? Or would you rather just complain that bridal shows don’t work?

Like I said…

Bridal shows CAN work, but only if you know the secrets!

Go on, click the button. You know you need to.

TaylorMade Weddings>Think Like A Bride

My Bridal Show was a success yesterday. I took your advice – “Go big or go home” (from Bride Attraction Bootcamp) – and made quite the impression. Let’s just say…the fish was a BIG hit! Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge in your book. It pays!

I just wanted to say thanks Christine!! I got your Bridal Show Success online book and it was so helpful as I prepared for my last bridal show.  I felt that I was in a real rut with the way I laid out my booth.  I took your tips and planned the booth and laid it out in the store and snapped a picture of it before we went.  When we got there the set up was so much faster and it looked much neater and had a freshness to it that pleased me.

When I had set it up in the store and snapped some pictures,  printed those up with a bit of information about the store and handed them out to our brides.  My show was just a few days ago so I don’t know what kind of results we’ll get, but I feel really good about my presentation.  Thanks Christine.  You always seem to have the answers to the questions that I don’t even know I should be asking!

Sarah Morris, The Something Blue Shoppe

Filed Under: Announcement, bridal shows, eBooks, wedding marketing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Fighting Stupidity. A Follow Up

May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Apparently it wasn’t just The Society of American Florist but the tribe at uBloom that jumped on the Knot over their appearance on the Today Show.

For what it’s worth, Anja Winikka posted what may be the lamest apology/correction in history via Stumble Upon. Then, followed it up with a pitch to “do your homework in our Local Wedding Florists area!”

Hmm, that sounds like someone is trying to appease their advertisers before they flee.

To see what REAL wedding professionals have to say about this debacle, read Paul Panonne’s post on the subject as well as the comment over on eWedNews.com

Filed Under: Announcement Tagged With: ,

Bridal Shows, BSPI and Think Like A Bride

April 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

My loyal readers know that I don’t pull any punches. I call them like I see them. As you might guess, that isn’t always taken well by everyone.BSPI

It has come to my attention that the trade organization, BSPI took exception to an article I wrote and published in August of 2009. Needless to say, I revisited the article. I reread it 7 or 8 times, shared it with a few wedding vendors for their opinion and thought long and hard about what I had written.

Let me just state publicly that I stand behind every word I wrote.

Subscribers of Think Like A Bride can read the full article here.

Let me give you a little insight into what I do and why.

My goal is now and always has been to help and be an advocate for the small bridal vendors. Whether you are the small bridal shop dealing with the changing market, the caterer or baker dealing with ever increasing food cost on one hand and the increased demands of brides on the other or the floral designer or invitation vendor being steamrolled by the DIY trend, know that you are close to my heart.

I will be the first one to tell you that you have to market yourself. I want to help you do it in the most cost effective way that will yield you the best results. Times have and are still changing rapidly. What worked last year may or may not be a total failure this year. That is why you read me, to stay on top of the trends. Listen, I know you have your hands full running your business, remember, I was there for 19 years.

There are times when I have to point out changes in the way we market ourselves. In August 2009 I wrote about what I saw happening with some of the bridal shows. As stated earlier, I stand behind that article. What you should also know, is that I am still going to give you tips and tactics on how to make the most out of the bridal shows you choose to invest in. My goal is to help you succeed; it always has been.

Check out this series I wrote for this blog,

Ten Tips for Bridal Shows: Part 1

Ten Tips For Bridal Shows: Part 2

How To Pick the Right Bridal Show For You

More Tidbits on Bridal Shows

Bridal Show Wrap-up

Those are just the one I wrote for the free blog. There are many more behind the subscription veil over on Think.

Sometimes, people just need a whack on the side of the head. You can count on me to give it.

Christine Boulton

Filed Under: Announcement, Ask Christine, Marketing Tagged With: , , ,

The solution is now here!

June 14, 2008 By 1 Comment

I have spent the last three years working with all types of wedding professionals through Think Like A Bride and consultingThink Like A Bride logo on how to increase their sales. Over that time I have grown increasingly frustrated with the difficulty in finding high quality professionals to implement the marketing tools my clients needed to increase their sales. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Branding, Marketing, Personal Coaching, Website marketing Tagged With: , , , , ,