The Wedding Business Magazine October 2017

"Sharing is the essence of social media" Zoe Sugg Oct ober 2017

educating&inspiring entrepreneurs We chat with Simon T Bailey to get his expert advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, and how he defines success.

makingwedding pl anningfun We talk to the founder of Bridebook Hamish Shepherd, about social media marketing and the importance of tech to millennial couples.

I n This I ssue 12

WED Social How to use Pinterest for your Wedding Business

By Shannon DePalma

18

WED Expert How Much Real is Too Real?

By Kellie Daab

32

WED Feat ure Creating a Cohesive Social Media Mix

By Morgan Montgomery

38

In Their Shoes With James Christianson & Otto Schulze

By Meghan Ely

44

WED BizCoach Does Your Social Media Tell the Story you Want it to?

By Emma Etheridge

48

WED Pro An interview with Simon T. Bailey.

By Meghan Ely

54

WED PR How to Use Social Media to Support Your PR Strategy

By Meghan Ely

62

Feat ure Art icle Hashtag Research for Instagram

By Kirstin Halstead

65

WED SEO 21 Keywords to Inspire Your Next Blog Post

By Kathy DalPra

72

WED Inspire Making Wedding Planning Fun With Hamish Shepherd.

By Meghan Ely

76

WED Promo How to Successfully Use Facebook Ads for Your Marketing Campaign

By Heidi Thompson

80

Celebrat ing 10 Years of t he Academy Interview with Founder Kylie Carlson.

By Meghan Ely

86

WED Digital Top Tips for Social Media Marketing with Julie Albaugh

By Meghan Ely

90

WED Venue

How to Turn Your Property into an Investment By Lindsay Lucus

92

WED Guru I Do Share the Love On Social Media

By Sam Lloyd

97

WED Legal Why Instagram Followers Don?t Matter By Christina Scalera

Contributors Christ ine Ligt hart Christine Ligthart is the Director of Education for the International Academy of Wedding & Event Planning and is the Founder of The I-Do Crew.

Websit e: www.idocrew.com.au

Heidi Thompson Heidi Thompson is the best-selling author of Clone Your Best Clients and the founder of Evolve Your Wedding Business where she specializes in business and marketing strategy for wedding professionals.

Websit e: www.evol veyourweddingbusiness.com

Kel l ie Daab Kellie Daab is a wedding business architect and owner of iDo Collective. She helps wedding professionals identify and fix what's not working in their wedding business.

Websit e: www.idocol l ect ive.com

Meghan El y OFD Consulting owner Meghan Ely has over a decade of experience in the wedding industry. She is also a prominent national speaker on a broad range of wedding marketing and wedding PR topics.

Websit e: www.of dconsul t ing.com

Kat hy Dal Pra Kathy takes the overwhelm out of SEO, sales and website conversion so wedding businesses can turn more curious visitors into high paying clients.

Websit e: brideappeal .com

Shannon DePal ma Shannon DePalma is a business coach and digital marketing strategist for wedding professionals and creatives. She?s a successful entrepreneur that grew and sold her first wedding business in two years.

Websit e: www.shannondepal ma.com

Emma Et heridge Emma is the founder of The Wedding Biz Coach and supports wedding-prenuers to grow their wonderful wedding businesses by teaching real-life, practical, actionable strategies that work.

Websit e: www.weddingbizcoach.com

Heat her Wait s Heather is the founder of Profitable Weddings, a mentoring community teaching wedding professionals how to turn their passion into a profitable business.

Websit e: www.prof it abl eweddings.com

Sam Ll oyd Based in Kent, The Wedding Owl is well-connected Wedding Venue Consultant and is the founder of The Wedding Owl. Sam Lloyd has extensive, practical knowledge of the Events Industry, venues, and suppliers.

Websit e: www.t heweddingowl .com

Christ ina Scal era Christina Scalera is the attorney and founder behind TheContract.Shop, a contract template store for creative entrepreneurs, wedding professionals, and coaches.

When she?s not staring at a computer or awkwardly standing on cafe chairs for the perfect overhead latte photo, you can find her in the woods doing things that are sometimes dangerous but always fun, like riding horses, skiing and reluctantly camping.

Websit e: www.christ inascal era.com

Lindsay Lucas Lindsay Lucas, Wedding Venue Business Consultant and Founder of Lean On Me Events, is passionate about helping venue owners build a strong foundation for success, coaching them on how to create a sustainable venue in an ever evolving market. In the past year, she?s brought clients $1 million+ in revenue.

Websit e: www.l eanonmeconsul t ant s.com

Fromtheeditor

K ylieCarlson For our final issue of the magazine for 2017 we are looking at the impact of social media when it comes to running a wedding business and how you can use it to the optimum. As I don't want to steal anyone's thunder I will leave our wonderful experts and columnists to talk to you about that, and instead I would like to ask you to join me in celebrating a milestone achievement for the Academy, and that is a decade of being in business.

2017 marks 10 Years since the Academy of Wedding & Event Planning launched in Australia with just one course and a handful of students. A decade later, there are 6 online campuses located around the world and thousands of students and successful graduates working across the wedding and event industry as employees and business owners. I am so proud to have reached this milestone with the Academy and I know if you?d have told me at the beginning, when the Academy was no more than an idea, that it was going to grow like this and become a global company I would not have believed you.

So what does the industry look like now compared to ten years ago? Well, throwing a party in 2017, any type of party, offers all sorts of possibilities, it?s almost endless. Fast forward another ten years and you enter a whole other dimension and a lot of this is based around technology. As our technology develops, so does what we can offer guests at an event. It is no longer good enough to live stream we need to go one step forward and have all sorts of interactivity alongside the live streaming, and this will continue over the coming years.

What we need to be careful of is that we don?t get so caught up in the technology that we forget about the actual guest experience. No matter how good the technology it can?t hide a bad party.

The great thing is that people love to plan and attend events so the industry is getting bigger and bigger creating more and more opportunities for people looking to come into the industry. You no longer need to whisper to people about what you do, it is a legitimate career. No more when you tell people that you?re a wedding planner will they turn around and say, oh is that really a thing.

K yliex TheStyled Shoot Team BOHO-LUXE LAVENDER INSPIRED SHOOT -

St yl ing: Adorn Invit at ions Phot ography: Sephory Phot ography Food: Mary Eat s Cake Invit at ion Design: B Wedding Invit at ions Headpiece and Jewel ry: Loveon Jewel l ery Dresses: Raf f ael e Ciuca Fl owers: Babyl on Fl owers

Quote of the

M onth

"Social mediais not amedia. The keyistolisten, engage, andbuild relationships."

D avid A lston

H owtouseP interest for your W eddingB usiness B y Shannon D eP alma

#WEDsocial I can see the eye rolls all the way over here, another social media platform you have to stay on top for for your business!

But hear me out, this is really great news.

Pinterest is still around and BIGGER THAN EVER FOR WEDDING PROS. So here's the facts: Wedding DJ search is up 1491% on Pinterest Pinterest users are buyers, 55% of Pinterest users buy products from the site.

Alternative bachelorette party ideas are up 35% on Pinterest Pinterest users hit 150 million in 2016 and growing.

The first place brides go to plan or start dreaming of their wedding? Pinterest.

Pinterest is actually an insane traffic driver if you use it in the right way, PLUS GUYS it's less of a headache than Instagram.

I actually embraced Pinterest more in my floral design business than Instagram because: Instagram makes it harder to get to people to come to your site or get your information right? While Pinterest will drive people to site your site.

PLUS let's not forget that brides are spending a majority of their wedding planning inspiration time on Pinterest.

Now I'm not hat ing on Inst agram, it 's t ot al l y a great way t o get t raf f ic but Pint erest shoul d be highl y considered when you are t rying t o market your business.

Now that I've persuaded you into giving it a shot, let's talk about how to use it correctly: Your Pinterest profile should have 1- 3 boards dedicated just to your business and the rest of the boards can be based around wedding, types of weddings, and also general interests of your client.

If you're not sure what other types of general boards to include, they are basics boards that always do well: Quotes, DIY, Travel, Home, Hair, and Fashion. If you have a Pint erest account al ready set up, EVEN BETTER. You can see what ot her boards you're t ypes of cl ient s are al ready l ooking int o using t his page on your Pint erest Prof il e. You can find this information by going to: Your profile > Analytics > People you Reach > Interests. This shows you other boards your clients like to follow and other brands they follow.

Create at least 10 boards and aim to get about 30 pins in each board 4. Post pins from your own website to one of your designated business boards. Then re-Pin them from your business boards to another one of your boards you have. Pinterest loves re-pins! Instead of pinning something from your site to 4 boards at once, try to re-pin your pins. 5. Use Tailwind or Board Booster to keep your pins cycling and watch that traffic go nuts.I use Tailwind and love it but I know plenty of other Pinterest users that love Board Booster. Imagine getting your account set up in Tailwind and just watching it do it's thing getting you more followers, likes, and traffic. Now it does take a little up front work, like scheduling all your pins and you'll want to add a couple more every week BUT IT'S TOTALLY WORTH IT. Words By Shannon DePalma

Chloe Atlan is the co-founder of Aava Wedding Planner based on the French Riviera. She has 16+ years of experience and in this interview she shares some of her knowledge and expertise. Chloe co-founded her company with her mother so knows a thing or two about family dynamics in business and having been brought up on the French Riviera she knows exactly what it has to offer her potential clients who come from as far afield as the US, UAE and UK.

l earnfromtheexperts

H owM uchReal is TooReal?

B y K ellieD aab

#WEDexpert We've all heard the phrase "Don't compare your everyday life to another's highlight reel". Social media is full of friends and contacts who post the highlights of their life; a great new job, a new car, even their revenue numbers.

As frustration over the lack of realness online mounts, there's a clear push towards being more authentic in your social media marketing.

Authenticity is often the key to connecting in a deeper way with the client who agrees with your sensabilities and likes your style. By using authenticity in your social media you can easily attract clients who understand you and like the thing you like. It's not only an important facet to social media marketing but one could argue it is truly the single most important compontent to organic client attraction.

With that in mind, many businesses are trying to be more authentic in their social media. This may mean live videos from your home office, more behind the scenes images, and even family life creeping in to daily postings. Much of this content is a great way to show your true life outside of your profession in the wedding industry.

As the push towards authentic content continues we're going to find ourselves asking another very important question. How much real is too real?

If you were to pick up your phone and take a quick scroll around your favorite social media platform, it won't be hard to scroll by a political debate, a lovers quarrel, or some questionable parenting decisions. As business owners, we ride a fine line between authenticity and too much exposure by using these platforms for sharing our lives and opinions.

As a result, there's a few ways to authentically and purposefully manage your social media content that still feels real and maintains a level of professionalism.

SUPPORT A MISSION A great way to speak your truth without being offensive to others is to publicly support a mission you care about. Be it the Humane Society, Equal Rights, or Breast Cancer by using your social media platform to support a mission you can accurately and authentically portray something you feel drawn to support. Often times you'll find that by using the mission you can very easily portray the virtues of that missions objective without having to post it on your own.

CURATE THE REAL Now, hold on with me here. I know I've just contradicted myself, BUT... just because you make sure you're using a cute coffee cup before you take the picture of your warm socks and pumpkie spice latte... doesn't mean you're being fake. You're still drinking the latte and wearing the warm socks. It's not in-authentic to think for a second and look carefully at the background of your images or picking something pretty up before posting them or snapping a picture.

The same goes for the language we want to use in our posts. Maybe we've had a tough client or a bad vendor partner experience. Or maybe you want to warn couples about a wedding planning pitfall. Instead of complaining or pointing fingers, consider using those moments for educating. Educational content can provide you with the outlet you need while showing that you are a valuable resource for your potential clients.

STOP TRYING TO SOUND SMART I know, it's a crazy concept. but the highest converting content is the content that's written to sound like YOU! Many times we are content blocked because we're spending too much time hitting the backspace button. We should really be writing content that sounds conversational in nature and is true to our natural tone. Try this out by writing posts as if you were talking to a friend. Casual but accurate content helps your potential clients and followers feel like they're being spoken to not spoken at. Focus on what you're knowledgeable about, being approachable, but also vigilent about spelling, accuracy, and grammar.

TREAT THEM LIKE A GUEST You've set the table, cooked the meal, done the shopping, and your doorbell is ringing. You welcome your guests to a beautiful ambiance and a gorgeous spread. You pour the wine or champagne and the chatter begins over the table.

Maybe it's more like sodas and a BBQ but the concept is the same. If you wouldn't debate or talk about it in mixed company, it's probably not something to talk about on your social media pages either. You dressed up the kids, put on your makeup, cleaned up the house for this event, and you should give your social media platforms that same consideration.

While the line of "real" and "over real" is quite fine you can easily manage this by remembering this one simple question. "Does this support my brand?" If the answer is no, then you might want to think twice before hitting the share button!

Words By Kellie Daab

TheCertificatein W eddingStyling In September The Academy added an exciting new course to their Wedding Design programme, The Certificate in Wedding Styling. This new specialist course has been created in response to a real industry focus on wedding styling, and a trend towards hiring an styling expert to make the big day look spectacular. Students will graduate from this course with the knowledge of how to take a wedding from design concept, to flawless on the day styling.

This course is currently being offered by our Australian and UK Campuses and can be studied online regardless of where you are located. Contact the campus nearest you to find out more.

UK

AU

#WEDEdu UNRULYWEDDINGSHOW Dat e: October 29th , 2017 Locat ion: London, UK Websit e: www.unrulyweddingshow.com

UKAWEPfl oral &styl ingworkshop Dat e: February 24th & 25th, 2018 Locat ion: Nottingham, UK Websit e: www.weddingacademy.lpages.com

THESPECIALEVENTSHOW Dat e: January 30th-February 1st, 2018 Locat ion: New Orleans, USA Websit e: www.thespecialeventshow.com

Every month we share the latest workshops, conferences and educational events we hear about from across the globe.

Thesignaturec.e.oconference Dat e: November 6th & 7th, 2017 Locat ion: Woodbridge, Virginia Websit e: www.thesignatureceo.com

Wedding&Events?Expo2017 Dat e: November 1st-4th, 2017 Locat ion: Dammam, Saudi Arabia Websit e: www.arabiaweddings.com/ events

besageconference Dat e: December 4th-7th, 2017 Locat ion: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Websit e: www.besageconference.com

WeddingMBA Dat e: October , 2017 Locat ion: Las Vegas, Nevada Websit e: www.weddingmba.com

The 2017 Wedding MBA will certainly go down in industry history as one of the most memorable. Of course the tragic massacre that happened on the evening before the conference began could only be overshadowed by the incredible community response that brought attendees and exhibitors, and their extended network of industry supporters who reached out from all points across the globe to ensure that they were okay, closer together than ever. We asked several of our colleagues to share their thoughts on the conference that no one will ever forget.

The conference began on a somber note, but the schedule remained largely unchanged. One of the most significant adjustments was the combining of the WeddingWire and The Knot parties into a single joint fundraiser in support of the Las Vegas shooting victims and community. Held at JEWEL Nightclub at ARIA Resort & Casino, the event raised major funds including $16,000 in donations made on behalf of the attendees by the two hosts.

Christie Osborne of Mountainside Media shared her take on the fundraiser, saying, ?Seeing the two biggest rivals in the Wedding Industry set aside their differences and come together in unity was amazing. I was so proud to be a part of the wedding industry that night. For better or worse, we are all in this together and The Knot and WeddingWire modeled that perfectly!?

Of course, the educational and networking opportunities for which the conference is renowned continued despite the tragic events. Jennifer Taylor, Owner of Taylor?d Events attended for her fifth year. As always, she particularly enjoyed Timothy Chi, WeddingWire CEO and Sonny Ganguly, WeddingWire CMO?s annual talk, saying ?I always learn so much about the wedding industry and the world during their presentations.?

Bill Tzizik, CEO of Classic Photographers has attended Wedding MBA every year for the last ten years. He also cited Chi and Ganguly?s perspectives as some of the most insightful of the conference. He enjoyed their ?Staying Ahead in The Evolving Technology Landscape,? and said, ?It was a well thought out future of technology talk that got you thinking how future tech will impact your business and the opportunities it will create.?

Osborne attended her second conference this year. She observed that, ?No matter what session (she) went to, there was an underlying theme of the importance of clear and consistent communication. Whether the speaker was talking about reaching more ideal clients, networking with colleagues, growing social media audiences or handling a crisis at an event, the more clearly and consistently you communicate, the easier it is to build strong relationships. This holds true for clients, colleagues and online audiences.? She was particularly appreciative of the OFD and Fantasy Sound collaboration by myself and Kevin Dennis called ?Reel in the Likes,? finding it a ?good balance between current social media best practices and solid communication skills.?

As is true every year, we were honored to participate in such an excellent educational and networking event like Wedding MBA 2017, and we sincerely look forward to doing it again next year!

By Meghan Ely, OFD Consulting

our favouritethings In each issue we share with you some of the tools we can't do without, things we've found when researching and some gems we've been told about by others. They make our lives easier and save us huge amounts of time within our working life. In some cases they are just great Apps that we love to play with. Enjoy!

- Sprout Social Combining several social media tools into one platform from social media scheduling to monitoring, to reporting.

Website: www.sprout social.com

- Iconosquare Instagram analytics & management platform helping you monitor the content of multiple accounts in one place..

Websit e: www.pro.iconosquare.com

- CoSchedule A powerful calendar letting you manage & collaborate with your team to create social media posts, content, events, & tasks.

Websit e: www.coschedul e.com

- Tailwind A social media management tool for Pinterest & Instagram helping you schedule posts, monitor conversations, & measure results.

Websit e: www.t ail windapp.com

- Buffer An intuitive social media management platform helping drive meaningful engagement & results on social media.

Websit e: www.buf f er.com

subscribenowtoget the2018 International WeddingTrend Report straight toyour inbox!

Here at Academy HQ we have been working for months to pull together the 2018 wedding trends , as predicted by industry experts globally. And we cannot wait to share them with you!

Our 4th annual International Wedding Trend Report is set to be the best yet! With contributions already in from some of the biggest names in the global wedding & event industry, you will have access to trend forecasting from some of the top WedBiz entrepreneurs.

On top of that we will be showcasing images from some of the most beautiful and inspirational styled shoots, created by talented wedding professionals from around the world. Our aim is to really inspire you, and in turn inspire your prospective 2018 wedding clients!

With engagement season on the horizon it's time to look forward and discover what will be popular with your potential clients for the coming wedding season.

The report is a great way to keep a step ahead of today's style saavy millennial couples. And ensure you are anticipating what's going to be BIG in your market so you can market your business to them accordingly.

So don't miss out ! SIGN UP HERE f or your FREE copy of t he report sent st raight t o your inbox when it l aunches on January 5t h, 2018.

As we countdown to the report we will be sharing sneak peeks of the key trends and snapshots of the filming at this year's exclusive Trend Report Video location.

So follow us on Inst agram and Facebook to keep up to date!

#WEDFeature Creatinga CohesiveSocial M edia M ix B y M organ M ontgomery, P aisley & J ade While social media can be an amazing marketing and sales tool for wedding businesses, it can also be an overwhelming task on a never-ending to-do list.

Regardless of our good intentions, we?ve all had that moment, starting at our phones, saying to ourselves ?I just need to post something!?. For many wedding professionals, this often results in a social media presence that is inconsistent across platforms in timing, content, and approach. In order to maximize the return from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest it is vital to create a cohesive and consistent approach on all platforms - which can be achieved by developing a plan that suits your business and audience.

"There are so many things that happen day-to-day in a wedding business that can provide the content for social media" Have a pl an It can be difficult to see the bigger picture of how our social media postings relate to each other when we?re only looking at them as individual posts. The first step to having a cohesive presence is to take a step back and see how your content relates to each other on a higher level, across platforms, and over time. This can be as simple as laying out a marketing plan for your business, so you know what topics, products, and ideas you want to convey to your audience at any given time. This step alone can help solve the ?panic posting? that so often causes our content to look and feel inconsistent. There are also quite a few software solutions out there that can assist with this, including Coschedule and Meet Edgar (multi-platform) and Planoly, and Tailwind (for Instagram and Pinterest).

Use what you?re al ready doing When you already feel like there?s not enough time in the day to complete the tasks on your lists, adding cumbersome content creation for social media can seem completely overwhelming. Rather than spending time and energy developing content with graphics to share with your audience, use what you are already doing to be a trigger for content. For example, a bridal salon might post a photo of a client with an ?I said yes? sign each time someone chooses their gown. A florist might take a behind the scenes photo of the bridal bouquet as it?s finished to share with their audience. There are so many things that happen day-to-day in a wedding business that can provide the content for social media: being featured in a publication, blog posts you are publishing, receiving client reviews, behind the scenes at events, and so on. Make a list of

all of these opportunities, and each time one happens, you have content that can be added into your plan - to be used immediately, or to be inserted into your overall plan at a fitting point. Staying true to what you are already doing in your business will create consistency naturally across all your platforms, and provide you with great fodder for your feeds.

Simply making a plan and using what you already have may seem like simple advice when it comes to social media, but cultivating consistency on and across these platforms can drastically transform your engagement and brand presence. Moreover, these steps can increase your efficiency, raise your ROI, and keep you from posting in a panic!

Morgan Montgomery, CPCE, is the co-owner of Paisley & Jade, a specialty rental company serving the Mid-Atlantic. In addition to growing an extensive collection of vintage chairs, she also spends her time serving as the Treasurer on the NACE National Board, consulting with other specialty rental businesses, speaking at conferences across the country, and posting too many pictures of her feet on Instagram.

Words by Morgan Montgomery

w w w.paisleyan djade.com

academy tv Free-to-air videos for aspiring, novice & established wedding professionals.

We take you behind-the-scenes at conferences, workshops and industry events, as well as going into the studio to produce some great educational content to help you in your career in the wedding industry.

No subject is off limits and we cover everything from pricing to client consultations. Social Media is the focus for this October issue and in this video we discuss how to use social media in the wedding industry.

intheir shoes W ithJ ames Christianson and OttoSchulze James Christianson and Otto Schulze combined their over 20 years of photography experience to create a unique business partnership that has led them to be more creative, thoughtful and passionate about their craft. Their deep understanding of the business can be seen in both their images and the high quality experience they give to their clients.

Your phot ographers in an ext remel y compet it ive and sat urat ed market . What makes James + Schul ze st and out ?

James + Schulze offers a two principal model. What this means in the market and specifically for our clients is this: we are able offer our clients an unsurpassed experience and product. We offer both documentary story telling as well as beauty/ editorial. We can offer digital and film (simultaneously if the job calls for it), we offer nearly 30 years of combined experience photographing projects around the world. All of this allows for the client to have an experience (both in images and how we navigate the wedding weekend) that truly is not offered anywhere else.

"Combining our strengths in business and as creatives has been a win/win that will continue to help us grow moving forward."

What prompt ed t he t wo of you t o merge your businesses t oget her t o creat e one new one?

Freedom for exploration! In all honesty, we have been friends for the past 8 years and we often say that, ?We just worked with each other one too many times.? In other words, as we worked as a team, we began to understand the value in having two creative and experienced photographers at the same event, often arriving at the same moment with a different view point. Our vision for James+Schulze is quite simply this: Collaborate with and create THE EXCEPTIONAL in every way! It is highly curated from top to bottom, both from our own work and our team, as well as everyone we collaborate with. That really is the heart of this collective- collaboration unto excellence!

What were some of t he chal l enges t hat came wit h st art ing t he new business t oget her?

Starting and running any business is difficult and takes a great deal of passion, so most of our challenges have been in tempering our creative opinions and approaching this new venture with a humbleness that allows us to use each others strengths within the business, and wow does that work! It really has been tremendous in every way!

What were your init ial goal s when you st art ed James + Schul ze and how do you f eel your progress is moving?

Most of our goals have been business and revenue goals as we needed to make sure that shutting down our individual businesses made financial sense moving forward. Our other goals have been to push ourselves creatively, push ourselves

to explore our passions further during the wedding day, and that has made the work stronger still. Our final goal really has been to push into a more global market. We are happy with the progress we have made and we can confidently say that this is a model that will work for us moving forward. We both are quite competitive and honestly we will never be satisfied? so we just continue to push.

What is your col l aborat ion process l ike? What st rengt hs do you f eel you bring out in each ot her?

Our collaboration process is really about having the freedom to explore.

Throughout the week, we are constantly bouncing ideas off of each other; ideas about print making, art, galleries, nerdy gear stuff, aesthetics, etc. This constant digestion of our craft allows us to see with a new vision in a way that we never would have working solo. It?s just not the same when you are on your own because you are just constantly grinding, head down and there is very little critique and reflection in that. Here, we examine everything, question everything, until it is polished. Additionally, at any given moment during a wedding weekend, one of us is will be exploring an idea or crafting an image while the other is doing the ?heavy lifting? of the wedding so to speak. In and out and back and forth and the more we do this, the better the work is and the more joy we find in our craft. It truly is an entirely organic process- a flow! We believe the entire creative process to be the exact same way. We don't direct it but rather creativity/ exploration moves us constantly and we are compelled!

Wit h t wo of you running t he business, how do you keep your brand cohesive and not have it f eel l ike t wo separat e ent it ies?

Like ALL boys, through a lot of fist fights. Ha. Truly, just a lot of discussion and looking at things from many directions.

We are both quite opinionated when it comes to style. Fortunately we have very similar views on design and aesthetics so deciding on a creative direction wasn?t too painful. Again, combining our strengths in business and as creatives has been a win/ win that will continue to help us grow moving forward.

What was t he best piece of advice you received when you were f irst st art ing t he new business?

Be humble. Collaboration won?t work any other way.

What are your t op 5 t ips f or st art ing a new business wit h a part ner inst ead of on your own?

- Be critical of everything you?ve done before. Take everything apart (all of your business systems) and put it back together again as a team.

- Communicate? A LOT. We aren?t in the same office or even the same city for that matter, but we use voice messaging as a running conversation? literally hundreds of messages per day.

- Be ALL in. If you are going to merge with another photographer, you can?t keep one foot in your old world or your old way of doing things. This takes complete trust and commitment.

- This is NOT for the faint of heart. It?s a big risk, that can pay huge rewards.

- Be humble.

Interview by Meghan Ely

www.jamesandschul ze.com

D oes Y our Social M edia Tell theStory you W ant it to?

B y Emma Etheridge Everything you put out into the world is telling a story, but not just any story, your own story. It is unique to you, to your business and it needs to speak to the couples that you are trying to attract into your business. Yet, when it comes to social media we can (sometimes) forget this. Seeing it as almost a drag on the to do list ? the thing that gets annoying and feels like a waste of time. But social media really is amazing, as business owners it has given us so much scope to really showcase what we are all about, for free!

But we don?t necessarily treat all social media equally.

I like to think of social media as your online magazine, curating the weddings, the tips, the expertise that pulls together what your business is all about and who it is right for.

We often think of Instagram in this way with beautifully curated newsfeeds that all connect in some way, be it in colour, theme, style, look and feel. We have been educated to think of Instagram in this grid like form that attracts or disengages with our audience, in your case, your brides. But what about the other social media channels?

#wedbizcoach Let?s take Facebook for example. If you went over to your Biz Facebook page now and looked through the photos tab, what would you think? Do they tell the story you want them to? Do they support the brand you are building and the brides you are trying to attract? Do they feel ?right? for you in your biz now?

Let?s scroll down a little.

How bad do they get? Honestly.

First off, don?t these photos really show you how far you have come and how you have evolved as a business? I love it!

Let?s think of a bride for a moment. She has found you, through whichever channel and she is being nosey ? trying to figure out whether you are the one for them. She heads straight over to Facebook and looks at your photos. What does she think? Is she like ?Oh yes, that is what I want!? or is she thinking ?This is a random modge podge of everything!?.

I remember when I was getting married (back before Pinterest was a thing!). We had been to see our venue, had fallen in love and then went on a search when we got home for images on the internet, just so we could drool over the venue and imagine our big day happening there.

I bet you your brides do the same. Whatever service you offer, I bet they go and look at your photos when they are in research mode.

Be mindful of what story you are telling Let?s say you were involved in a wedding that doesn?t really fit in with the weddings you would like to build your portfolio around. Really consider whether you want any images of it in your profile, your social media (or on your website). The reason I ask you to ask yourself this is that you are trying to build

a brand that will appeal to your ideal bride, if there is a random ?off brand? wedding in your portfolio (which is, remember, what your social media really is) then it is likely to put your bride off.

So, do your photos tell the story you want them to? Do they make up the online magazine you would like associated with your wedding business?

A couple of actions for you to sort your Facebook out 01.

Go to your Facebook Biz Page now and take a look at your photos tab, seeing all your photos together do they tell the story you want them to? Let?s say, for example, your ideal bride is someone who is looking for a minimalist, elegant wedding and your photos are all bright, colourful and don?t fall within that look and feel. Your bride is likely to be less drawn to you. Make a note of what you feel when you see the photos together and see what you can improve on going forward.

02.

Create albums! Did you know you can create albums in Facebook to help you organise your photos? Let?s say you have a ton which are wedding tips. Then let?s say you have some of venue styling, for example. Then let?s say you have ones which are promoting your blogs. You could put them into an album so that when your bride comes over to your page, she can have a good old mooch around and you can control the aesthetic a little better.

Everything you put on social media is showcasing your work, the weddings you are involved in and this in itself means that it becomes your portfolio, your online magazine. It becomes a decision for your brides between book or not to book. So be mindful of what you are posting and make a conscious effort to know that what you post is building your brand, or damaging it.

Words by Emma Etheridge

#wedpro Simon T. B ailey Simon T. Bailey is the CEO of Simon T. Bailey International, a premium education company specializing in creating learning and development content for individuals and organizations. Prior to founding his company, Simon worked in the hospitality and tourism industry for 20 years and was sales director and new business development director for the world-renowned Disney Institute based at Walt Disney World Resort.

Simon is one of America?s top ten most booked corporate and association speakers on the subjects of Change, Leadership, and Customer Experience and has worked with over 1,500 organizations throughout the world. As a Hall of Fame Keynote Speaker, executive adviser, and renowned author, he addresses more than 100,000 people every year. Some of his clients include AT&T, IBM, MasterCard, Microsoft and Toyota.

So t el l us a l it t l e bit about how you made t he t ransit ion f rom hospit al it y t o where you are t oday?

So about 18 months prior to leaving Disney, I started on an exit plan that specifically looked at what would I do if I left. How much would I need to survive? What specifically would I be doing? Who would I connect with? What were the relationships I needed to put in place before taking the lead? And then - most importantly - what was the value that I was going to bring to the marketplace that would produce revenue, and certainly an income.

And then from there, I put together a list of 75 relationships that I had developed over a 15-year period. And I said, "When I leave and hang my shingle out, those are some of the first people that I'm going to reach out to and say, ?Hey, here's what I'm doing now.?? That's how I was able to make the leap from working in the hospitality industry to doing what I do now.

How do you t hink your experience in t he hospit al it y and t ourism indust ry prepared you f or what you're doing now?

My experience in the hospitality industry taught me 3 things. First, relationships are the currency of the future. Everything that I learned about hospitality was about building a relationship, instead of seeing people through the lens of a transaction.

The second thing it taught me was the attention to detail, and always double-checking, rechecking, understanding - okay, what is this going to entail? If I put this plan in place, what?s the outcome? How do I measure? What's the feedback that I'm looking for? So the hospitality industry really drilled in my head the power of detail and paying attention to the little things that make a difference.

The third thing - is this whole spirit of moving from what I call customer service to customer love. In the hospitality industry, if you take care of guests, they will come back time and time and time again. And that customer loyalty piece happens so much so that they begin to refer and recommend you. Well certainly in business now, I recognize - when I come with a spirit of customer love, and go above and beyond for them - they will refer and recommend me to others.

When you speak at an event , what are you hoping peopl e t ake away f rom it ?

First thing is - I want to make sure that people have tangible takeaways that they can implement in their business, in their life, and in their career.

Number two, I want individuals to, for just that moment, be infused with hope, inspiration and an understanding that they have what it takes to really succeed with everything that's being shared.

Finally - I want them to have fun, and hopefully connect with someone that they're sitting next to or around, who's also on the journey. Someone who will say, "You know what? I heard that point as well, and here's what it meant to me."

What t opic do you f ind t hat resonat es t he most wit h peopl e when you're out here? And why is it popul ar?

There are 3 topics that I realize people really resonate with. The first one is when I start talking about self-confidence. And in so many individuals, they have the experience, they have the know-how, but they lack the confidence to really stay the course.

The second thing that we find resonates with individuals, is when I talk about business relationships. Do you get along with that person who is polar opposite of you? And how do you engage new relationships?

The third thing is - how do I continue to sell and stay relevant in every economy?

So specifically, people want to know - what is that way that you get people to buy from you again and again? How do you get them to become your recommendation factor? What does that look like? How do you get people to recommend you?

What advice do you have f or aspiring ent repreneurs, or t hose t hat are just st art ing out in a new vent ure?

If you can get to an Engage! event, get to an Engage! event. And I love all of the different weddings conferences that are out there- I've spoken at many of them.

The thing about Engage is, you have individuals who are starting out, as well as those who have been doing it for a while, along with your seasoned veterans.

Get to a conference where you can really invest in growing your skills in a short amount of time. It'll cut down your learning curve, and it's worth the investment.

Also I would identify whom in the industry you naturally connect with. Find out that person, and say, "Okay, what can I learn from them?" This is not so you can do it the way they've done it. Instead, it allows you to emulate their best takeaways.

What are some of your f avorit e ways t o st ay up t o dat e when it comes t o business t rends at t his point ?

I subscribe to Fast Company online magazine. It's a great way to stay abreast as to what's happening in real time. I also have an app called Flipboard, where I have tabbed all of my favorite business publications that I like to read, so I can flip through quickly, get an assessment of what's happening, and then share it with my audience.

"I really believe in connecting globally early and often."

I?m also in contact with individuals all over the world. For example, I was just in Cape Town, South Africa - and on my way flying back to Florida, I stopped in Paris. I reached out to one of my colleagues that I used to work with at Disney, to find out what's happening in Paris - to get a European perspective. So just having the ability to reach out to individuals around the globe, to say, "Hey, what's happening?" And can you borrow some of those business trends and suggestions and bring them back to where you live. I really believe in connecting globally early and often.

What are some of your biggest mot ivat ors? At t he end of t he day, what 's keeping you inspired?

After 15 years of doing this, I think what keeps me inspired is when I receive a phone call, an email or a LinkedIn message from someone who said, "I read your book, I saw your video. I heard you at a conference, and here's what I did as a result." And sometimes there is a little bit of a gap in time. So they may come back after a year or two or three years. That always infuses me to say we're on the right path, we're doing the right thing.

How woul d you def ine success?

I define success in a very simple way. Did I hug someone with my words, and as a result did it make a difference for them? And to me, that is going beyond success to what I call significance.

Because I've had the houses, I've had the cars, I've had the money, I've had the clothes, I've had the exotic vacations - and that's amazing. And I am here to tell you, it's all empty, it's meaningless. You do it, and it's nice and you have the memory. But to be able to say, "You know what? I put a smile on someone's face.

Someone was able to grow their business because of something we did." That's not success, that's significance. And I think at this age and stage where I'm at - it is all about significance for me.

As Maya Angelou said, "People may forget what you said, what you did - but they'll never forget how you made them feel."

Interview by Meghan Ely

w w w .sim on t bailey.com

#wedpr

B y M eghan Ely

H owtoUseSocial M edia to Support Y our P R Strategy Have you ever wondered what the relationship is between social media and public relations (PR)? PR is the overall concept of getting your message across to your target audience, while social media is one the platforms you?ll use to deliver that message. PR is the goal and social media is one of the many tools at your disposal to reach it.

So, how can you promote your message through social media? Here are some of the top ways to use social media to support your PR strategies: Buil d Social Media Press Pages You probably have a page on your website where you promote your press mentions, but have you created social media press pages as well? On Facebook, for example, you can dedicate a photo album to screenshots of your press, complete with links to the features and tags to all of your colleagues who helped make your featured events come to life. You can take the same approach to a dedicated Pinterest board.

Brag on Your Achievement s When your PR efforts pay off in a feature, take to social media to brag about your achievement. This not only helps you gain attention for your best work and expertise; it extends the life of your press, which will only live as long as you keep promoting it. Memorable hash tags are key! We use # ofdinthenews, for example. Also, tagging your colleagues when your work is featured gives them both credit for their contributions and the opportunity to share your press with their audience as well.

Connect wit h Desirabl e Media Channel s Want to connect with reporters and editors looking for someone with your talent or expertise? Use Twitter to follow influential media and to stay up-to-date with their requests for submissions. Don?t miss any opportunities to connect. Create Twitter lists to organize your followers into categories and devote a set of target media lists to each of your media groups, such as wedding bloggers, magazine editors and regional outlets.

Promot e Your Company News Use social media to stay in tune to what is making news in your industry, and then craft relevant posts to spread the word about newsworthy developments in your own company. The keys are to hone your timing and use great hash tags to make sure your news is easily searchable and gets maximum attention.

The likelihood in this era is that you are already using social media to at least observe what is important to your clients and colleagues. Take advantage of the relative simplicity and easy accessibility of social media tools and use them wisely to make great press for your business happen.

Words by Meghan Ely Meghan Ely is the owner of wedding marketing and wedding PR firm OFD Consulting. She is the exclusive Wedding PR Education Expert for WeddingWire and is a highly sought after speaker in the wedding industry. To learn how OFD Consulting can assist you with your wedding marketing and wedding PR, please contact us today. OFD Consulting recently launched kits designed for Wedding Pros to help with your PR and real wedding submissions and more. Get more details here!

TopTips howtheseindustry prosusesocial mediafor their business What social media pl at f orm coul d your business not l ive wit hout and why?

I am huge Instagram fan. I do believe which ever social media platform you choose to focus most of your time on will be the most successful for your business, but for me Instagram works as a visual and for the hashtag search option.

What do you see ot her prof essional s doing wrong most on social media?

I see many posts without a call to action. Making it easy for the client to understand what you are offering, how much it costs and how to book is vital on posts where you are trying to sell your services.

What one piece of advice woul d you give someone st art ing out , when it comes t o f inding t heir voice on social media?

Be authentic! People buy off people and when it comes to social media we are all drawn to accounts that appeal to us through the narrative and the visuals. We get a feel for the company and the people even though we haven?t personally met them or visited their store. Remaining true to your brand and who you are ensures you remain consistent attracting your ideal client.

Pamel l a Dunn, Luxury Wedding Pl anner and St yl ist

What social media pl at f orm coul d your business not l ive wit hout and why?

TopTips

Probably Facebook, and I know that sounds weird. The reason I say that though is that while Instagram (and many other hipper platforms) have totally taken over the world and images are king, I've found that my core audience is still popping in and out of Facebook to share family stuff, etc. It's that organic part about being included in their feed that I think "reminds" people without selling, that we're out there.

What do you see ot her prof essional s doing wrong most on social media?

Not being consistent. Consistency is the simplest, note - I didn't say the easiest thing, but it's probably the hardest. I have no idea why, at least for lots of people, like me, it's so hard to just keep "showing up" as Woody Allen said. But. It. Is. You've got to consistently, basically day in and day out keeeeeeppppp posting.

The other challenge I see often is not having a distinctive brand, let's say on Instagram. And then super importantly, people don't use calls to action. If this stuff is for business, you've got to tell them what you want them to do next!

What one piece of advice woul d you give someone st art ing out , when it comes t o f inding t heir voice on social media?

Determine your goal! What do you REALLY want out of social media. Do you want real, paying business out of it, or is it really Instafame you're after? Or do you just want to vent? Any answer is really fine, but get clear and then be very specific about what kind of growth you want to achieve (yes, an actual number of new followers/ likes, etc for a specific time period) and detail a plan to get there.

Marl ey Majcher, The Part y Goddess! Cel ebrit y Event & Part y Pl anner

H ashtag Researchfor I nstagram B y K irstin H alstead Kirstin is a Branding, Digital & Social Media Marketing Strategist living in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. With a background in fashion and 7 years working in the Wedding & Event Industry and trained by some of the most influential Social Media Marketing & Blogging experts in the UK & USA, Kirstin is experienced, creative and well connected. Kirstin has been working with businesses in the Wedding & Event Industry since 2010. She has a huge passion for helping businesses grow their fan base, target ideal clients, increase their profits using social and digital media strategies and kill it when it comes to brand presence.

If you have established that your ideal client hangs out on Instagram then this article is for you! To use hashtags or not? Hashtags are widely debated and the bottom line is that yes you should totally be using them especially on Instagram. Why, because Hashtags are essentially keywords for Instagrams Hashtag search engine, a fantastic free tool when used correctly to help you get found by your ideal client. It is a fact that more and more couples are using Instagram to find and book their wedding suppliers, so you need to get your business in front of them and hashtags can help you do that. Hashtags can also give you an insight into what your audience is talking about, which then helps you realise what they want to see more of.

Hashtag Definition: a word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (# ), used on social media websites and applications, especially Twitter, to identify messages on a specific topic. "spammers often broadcast tweets with popular hashtags even if the tweet has nothing to do with them" But before using any old hashtag it is vital for businesses to carry out some research first.

This Hashtag Research exercise is going to take time but I promise you it will be worth it when you start to see more engagement and following from real brides and grooms who are your ideal clients and not just industry colleagues and spam followers. So grab a notepad and pen or your laptop and lets get started!

First of all you need to get really clear on who you are wanting to attract on Instagram. Who is your ideal client, where do they live, what are their hobbies, who else are they following, why do they need your product or service? Once you are clear on these answers it will be easier to decide which hashtags to use.

Write down keywords and phrases that describe your business, ideal client and industry related that could be used as hashtags. Ask yourself if you think your ideal client would use these hashtags to search on Instagram?

You can then search these keywords using the search bar on Instagram and filtering by Tags to see the most used hastags for each keyword and the most common related to them. Write all of these down and the number of times they have been used, e.g. # destinationweddingplanner 149,726 posts.

Have a quick look through the posts/ images for each hashtag and note the image quality, do the images relate to the hashtag, any inappropriate spam use?

If the hashtag has lots of great content attached to it, no spam and is really relevant and mostly on brand then add it to the list of hashtags to use. Do this for all of your keywords, you should have a long list of usable hashtags by the end of that exercise.

Create your own brand hashtags! You can use a brand hashtag and incentivise clients use it too which in turn creates amazing exposure and you can see how your clients are using your products or services and view any feedback they are putting out there.

If your business is local, search for local hashtags and use where appropriate.

Holidays are a great one! Use holiday hashtags such as # nationaldoughnutday if you are a wedding cake supplier or similar and have created a special post to celebrate the holiday.

I would always advise using all 30 hashtags allowed on Instagram. The more hashtags you use the more exposure you will receive.

Don?t use the same hashtags for all of your Instagram posts, as this will appear spammy. Create different sets of 30 hashtags to relate to different types of posts to stay relevant eg behind the scenes, real wedding, personal. Always change a few hashtags in each post to be really specific to your content.

Use business, ideal client and industry related hashtags in each set of 30 tags.

Never use shadowbanned hashtags, do some research on which tags are and aren?t. There are lots of articles on the internet surrounding shadow banning.

Post your hashtags in your 1st comment on each post so the hashtags don?t distract from your image caption.

Use hashtagify.me and Instragram to do some further research and keep redoing this exercise every 3 months to stay on top!

Words by Kirstin Halstead

www.kirst inhal st ead.com

#wedSEo 21K eywords toI nspireY our N ext B logP ost B y K athy D alP ra Every single month, couples, families and individuals are searching for information about planning a wedding, across thousands of keyword phrases.

And they are eager to find sage advice from someone experienced like you.

Imagine how relieved they would be if they not only received some timely, helpful insight on your blog when they?re search for it, but also discovered someone who can actually help them execute their plans so they don?t have to spend all their free time ?working? on the wedding.

Your blog is one of your most powerful assets for attracting real clients, if only you tapped into their genuine challenges and questions.

Well, keywords are an easy way to do that. Keywords are the exact words that people type into search engines when they are looking for answers.

When you create blog posts around these keywords, and properly utilize SEO-driven marketing to rank those posts, you can become the solution that these couples and families find when they are hungry for answers.

Here I provide more than 21 real keyword ideas that bring in hundreds or thousands of real searches every single month, to inspire your next blog post. ?wedding pl anning checkl ist ?

An estimated 10,000 people are typing in this search phrase every single month! Even if your blog post ranked at the very bottom of page 1 in Google, in position # 10, you?d still receive an estimated 100 visitors per month from this single keyword alone. (Statistics by Advanced Web Ranking).

That said, competition for this particular keyword phrase is significant, so you?ll want to take the time to create something truly extraordinary in order to compete with the other authoritative websites currently ranking for this term and, naturally, execute a highly strategic promotional campaign to give your post the ranking boost it needs. If you?re not sure how to do this, reach out to me at http:/ / brideappeal.com. ?how t o pl an a wedding?

With an estimated 8,000 searches per month, this search phrase is another highly attractive one. Highly competitive as well, consider an exhaustive guide that is so helpful, it easily rivals the other content ranking for this phrase. With all your extensive knowledge planning weddings, this post will be a breeze for you to write. And, frankly, when couples read it and see how much work planning a wedding really is, they?ll be inspired to call you and hand the burden over. ?wedding f avor ideas?

While the high traffic potential of this phrase is very tempting with a whopping 6400 average monthly searches, it is equally as competitive as the first two keywords. So instead of going after this specific phrase, you could modify it

slightly to target a deeper niche of this overall topic. For instance, ?inexpensive wedding favor ideas,? ?unique wedding favor ideas? and ?bridal shower favor ideas? all have between 1,000-10,000 monthly searches according to Google and are slightly less competitive. ?wedding pl anning t imel ine?

For planners, I love this topic and not just because an estimated 4500 searches are typing it in each month. It presents a great opportunity to position yourself as an extremely helpful resource, by giving them extensive timeline samples and advice, while also opening their eyes to just how involved planning a wedding can be. As you lay out the details of what goes into a timeline, it will naturally enlighten your readers as to all the moving parts that make a wedding so complex. Thereby shining a light on how needed you really are throughout the process. And because this specific phrase has only modest competition, ranking for it is possible with the right SEO strategy. ?wedding recept ion ideas?

Competition is pretty tight for this keyword phrase, as well it should be with an average of 4500 monthly searches. Luckily, you can employ the same strategy I outlined for ?wedding favor ideas? to gain traffic from this topic, while reducing the barrier to ranking. Some less competitive version of this keyword phrase, that still represent thousands of searches each month, are ?fun wedding reception ideas,? ?small wedding reception ideas? and ?wedding reception entertainment ideas.? ?wedding t o do l ist ?

Another moderately competitive search phrase, this keyword brings in about 3200 searches per month. What excites me about this search query is that it

offers another opportunity for you to reveal to couples just how much work is involved in planning a full scale wedding, while also being extremely helpful, positioning yourself as a great partner to have on their side. The more generous you are with your post, the more readers will appreciate it. And those that find the volume of information you provide simply overwhelming, can simply contact you for help! ?wedding centerpiece ideas?

As one of the least competitive keyword phrases on this list, this phrase gets roughly 2300 average monthly searches and is worth serious consideration, especially for planners with design skills. Whether you showcase some of your favorite pieces offered by a local event rental company, partner with a florist to create some mock inspirational examples or even record some do-it-yourself video tutorials, this is a fun topic that is clearly quite popular among couples. ?wedding invitation ideas?

The second least competitive keyword phrase on our list thus far, this opportunity represents an estimated 2000 monthly searches. As a fairly broad topic, there is plenty of room for you to impress your visitors with an elaborate guide, covering everything from design styles, paper types and invitation formats to ink options, color choices, embellishments, wording, timing and more.

Need more inspiration for your blog? Here are even more real keywords that more than an estimated 250 online researchers are typing into Google every single month.

KEYWORD: EST. MONTHLY SEARCHES wedding advice 500 wedding wewedding planning guide 1400 wedding planning list 600 wedding reception checklist 500 wedding party list 500 bsite ideas 450 planning a wedding in 6 months 400 make a wedding website 350 wedding planning tips 350 wedding todo checklist 300 ultimate wedding checklist 300 6 month wedding checklist 300 wedding coordinator duties 250 Words by Kathy DalPra

Q& A DoI havetobeonevery social mediapl atform?

No! Your time is precious and when it comes to anything you do for your business you should carefully consider how you use that time. Instead, do some research and discover where your target audience are hanging out. Chances are they are not spending all of their time on every platform either. Based on your research choose just 2 or 3 platforms to focus on and regularly review how they are working for your business.

Thereis somuch information avail abl eon social media. How doI knowthat my post is worthsharing?

Here are 3 questions we recommend you ask yourself about any post you intend sharing on social media; 1. Is the content so useful that your audience would thank you for it?

2. Whilst useful content is popular on social media, so is content that makes the reader go; Wow! If your content doesn't quite fall into the useful category, ask yourself, will my audience say, Wow when they see it?

3. Would you email it to a friend? This is a great question to ask yourself about social media and blog posts. Put yourself in the reader's shoes to test whether what you have written is so useful or interesting that they would email it to someone else. If not, revise.

#wedinspire M aking W edding P lanningFun! W ithH amishShepherd, Founder of B ridebook Hamish Shephard founded Bridebook in 2015 after leaving a career in banking.

His experience in the wedding industry began when he transformed his grandmother?s old home into one of the UK?s leading wedding venues. During this process, he discovered that most couples spent the majority of their engagement feeling overwhelmed and confused by the whole wedding planning process. Hamish made it his mission to make wedding planning as enjoyable and fun as the wedding day itself. Bridebook includes a personalized budget, checklist, venue and supplier search, and guest list, all in one place to help clients plan their wedding easily.

How woul d you describe t he Bridebook brand t o t hose who aren't f amil iar wit h it ? How does it dif f er f rom ot her pl anning apps in t he market ?

Bridebook.co.uk is the only planning website and app to allow you to plan your wedding all in one place, and have a lot of fun whilst doing it. You can access our wedding planning toolkit with a personalized checklist, wedding budgeter and guest list manager anytime, anywhere, and for free! With over 70,000 wedding venues and suppliers in its directory, Bridebook.co.uk increases the digital presence of industry professionals and connects them directly with local couples.

What kind of impact has social media had on t he popul arit y of Bridebook? How do you use it in t erms of market ing and get t ing t he word out ?

Our largest marketing channel on Bridebook.co.uk is word of mouth, and social media allows everyone to have a huge voice. We have seen some of our social posts reach an organic reach of over 1 million people, all through friends sharing them. We use our social channels everyday to enable us to get closer to our brides and to support suppliers and professionals.

What is your f avorit e social media pl at f orm and why?

Instagram would certainly be number one, it is so powerful. Simple interface is a huge inspiration for Bridebook.co.uk. It also allows us to really connect with our audiences and to share images and experiences from our brides and suppliers.

Do you f ind t hat social media is t he most ef f ect ive way t o market t o t he covet ed mil l ennial coupl es?

Social media is where millennials are - they don?t buy newspapers, they use Facebook. They don?t buy magazines, they use Instagram and Pinterest. They don?t watch TV, they watch Youtube. They don?t make phone calls, they use Snapchat. So if you are not focused on social media, you will miss a large audience of millennials. Inspiration and information for the big day is increasingly available at brides? fingertips thanks to the Pinterest pages, Instagram accounts, and expert bloggers showing them a million and one ways to do hair, flowers and invitations.

You have a very diverse group working f or you in t erms of what expert ise t hey bring t o t he t abl e. How has t hat been val uabl e t o Bridebook.co.uk and why was t hat a priorit y f or you?

Having a diversity of cultures, opinions and skills in our team has always been very important to me. Without diversity, we are very unlikely to build a brilliant product that embraces the amazing diversity of every single wedding.

What 's t he best piece of advice you can give a budding ent repreneur in t his indust ry?

"Scratch your own itch.? Solve a problem you have witnessed yourself and have a unique understanding to solve. With me, it was my own wedding and also launching my grandmother?s venue, Hedsor House in Buckinghamshire.

You have a l ot of wedding expert s t hat cont ribut e t o Bridebook. How woul d someone t hat 's int erest ed in becoming a cont ribut or go about doing t hat ?

We reach out to contributors who have something fantastic to share with our audience, and that we know our audience will love. Whether that is first dance tips or floral secrets, we want our couples to have all the knowledge to create their unique day. If you think you have something unique that will help many of our couples have an even more special day, do get in touch!

Where do you see t he f ut ure heading f or weddings and t echnol ogy?

Bridebook is there to help people enjoy their wedding planning, not replace it.

We want to replace all the boring stuff, so you can spend more of your engagement doing the fun stuff. You shouldn?t waste your engagement looking at spread sheets. This is the direction of tech, assisting people to enjoy every second of their lives to the max. And if weddings are the best days of your life, we are very proud to help!

Interview by Meghan Ely

www.bridebook.co.uk

#wedpromo

H owtoSuccessfully Use Facebook A ds for Y our M arketingCampaign B y H eidi Thompson I always hear wedding professionals saying that Facebook ads don?t work.

Those people are right, they don?t work? ? .if you?re doing them the wrong way Here are the 3 main things you need to consider to get results from Facebook ads: What action do you want the person to take? (Do you want them to like your page, email you, sign up for a free offer on your website, etc?)

Who are you targeting?

Where are you going to lead them once they click the ad link? (This is where most people mess up big time and lose a lot of potential business) If you want someone to do business with you, don?t lead them to your home page.

They will almost always leave because they don?t know you, what you?re offering and why they should care. The best thing to do is to lead people to a page where they can sign up for a free offer. This is a big part of a killer marketing strategy so if you want to learn how to create a free offer and convert those email subscribers into customers check out the Selling With Email Marketing course inside The Wedding Business Collective.

Did you know that you can target individual pages with your Facebook ad?

If you know your ideal client loves Rock N Roll Bride and Offbeat Bride you can choose to target just those pages so only people who like those pages see your ad. This will give you much more bang for your buck because it?s only your most ideal clients clicking on the ad.

This is what the Interests section looks like on the newer version of Facebook. If you have the older version you?ll want to put these under ?Precise Interests?.

You can target competitors too so think about where your ideal clients are spending time!

It?s not about you, it?s about them.

When you create an ad you need to keep this in mind. People will not click on an ad because you want them to, you have to give them a reason that matters to them. Do you have a helpful blog post you can advertise? ?5 Tips To Help You Choose Your Wedding Photographer? is a much better headline on an ad than ?Wedding Photographer?.

Ask yourself: what?s in it for them? That is why I?m such a big fan of offering something for free in exchange for an email address. I always do better advertising my free guide to choosing an email marketing service than advertising about ?marketing your wedding business?.

Sales is a lot like dating and an ad is where you buy your potential customer a drink to get acquainted, not where you try to rush to the sale.

That would be like going up to someone at a bar and proposing to them before even introducing yourself. It comes off just as crazy in a sales scenario. If you want to learn how to build a sales system for your business that turns new contacts into customers, check out The Wedding Business Collective.

You need an email marketing strategy in order to really profit from Facebook ads.

Why? Because once they?re on your email list, you can market to them over time and convert them into customers. This is the dating method of selling versus trying to get married on the first date. It works for the same reason that dating someone over time before you try to marry them works.

Marketing is the engine in your car. Sure you can have a nice looking car without an engine, but it?s not going anywhere. The same applies to your business.

Advertising on the other hand, is the sassy flame paint job on the side of the car to really draw attention to it. But here?s the thing, if you have flames painted on a car with no engine, it?s still not going anywhere.Your advertising can supercharge your marketing efforts but it is not a replacement for them. You can?t be all flames and no engine if you want to get anywhere.

So what are you supposed to do?

Well there?s an order to these things. First you put the engine in the car and THEN you paint on those sick flames. Not the other way around.

That means that first you develop your sales funnel, the way you capture leads from your website and nurture them, and then you paint flames all over that bad boy.

You need a clear path for people take from landing on your website to becoming a client and the first step is getting them onto your email list. From there your email marketing will nurture them and educate them and move them along the sales process. If you have consultations in your business, that would be the next step and then making the sale.

That is what you have to have in place before paying to send a bunch of people to a website that just doesn?t generate leads for you. What good are those people if they just land on your website and then leave?

Words by Heidi Thompson

I nterviewwith A cademy Founder K ylie Carlson

Celebrating10 Y ears of The I nternational A cademy of W edding& Event P lanning In August 2017 we celebrated 10 years in business , and what a fabulous decade it has been! Our Founder and CEO Kylie shares her thoughts on this big milestone.

The wedding indust ry is one t hat is const ant l y changing. How have you been abl e t o keep t he Academy f resh up-t o-dat e each year so t hat your st udent s are prepared and ready when t hey graduat e?

So much of the Academy?s success is down to the fact that we are very much a part of the industry and not spectators from afar. We are not just an educational institution we are professionals who have a working knowledge of the industry, and what it takes to be successful in it. All our tutors have their own wedding and event businesses so are able to not only pull on their own experiences, but ensure the students are receiving advice that is current and on trend.

As the publishers of the International Wedding Trend Report we are well placed to make sure our students know about all the latest trends hitting the industry, and our course material is updated 4-6 times a year to reflect this.

We also have an Advisory Board consisting of over 30 wedding and event professionals from around the world who all have input into our course material and offer a variety of opportunities to our students globally. On top of that the team here spends a lot of time researching new trends and attending industry events to ensure we are offering the most up to date content for our students.

What has been t he most surprising t hing about st art ing and running t he Academy?

I think for me one of the biggest surprises for me has been how willing those already in the industry are to lend their knowledge and expertise to the next generation of planners, stylists and designers. It never ceases to amaze me how generous they are with their time and how important it is for them to be a part of the Academy in whatever capacity they can.

Many of them are very active in our student private Facebook Student community answering questions, offering advice and generally making themselves available.

What woul d you say are some of your biggest successes over t he l ast 10 years?

I have always had big goals for the Academy but if you?d told me ten years ago that we would have six regional campuses in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, America, the UAE and South East Asia I would not have thought it possible. We truly are now a global company and that to me is a huge accomplishment.

I am also very proud of the fact that I am the publisher of this the Wedding Business Magazine, a digital quarterly magazine offering advice, ideas, trends and tips on running a business in the wedding industry. We launched in January 2016 and are now onto our 8th issue.

Finally, when I started the Academy E Learning was still very much in its infancy and we were sending out our course material through the post in very large A4 binders. Fast forward ten years and everything is online allowing our students to study anywhere from any device. The course material is so much more engaging as we are able to use video, audio, dynamic images, text and PDF handouts. It has

allowed us to bring the courses alive but the learning curve for me was huge. I had to learn how to deliver content in a whole new way, get comfortable in front of a camera and be a lot more creative in how we produced our content. This was a major turning point for the Academy.

What 's t he best piece of advice you've received in your 10 years of being open?

I was once told by a very wise man that a good formula for business success was to invest in people and not in numbers, and he couldn?t have been more right. A massive part of the Academy?s success is down the people who work within it.

Most people who join the Academy team never leave and that is something I am extremely proud of. Christine Ligthart, our Director of Education, has been with me for nearly ten years, and Zoe McKeown, our UK course consultant and lead tutor, has been with the Academy since the UK branch opened. It is rare that you get people working in your business who are as passionate about it as you are, and that is something to be treasured.

How do you measure success?

Apart from the obvious ways to measure achievement, like turnover and profit, for me it is about seeing our students making a success of their own careers and businesses after graduating from the Academy that really shows me how successful we are at what we do. So many of our graduates attribute a good part of their own personal success to the training and support they?ve received and that for me says it all.

To see an ever-growing number of Academy students realising their career aspirations and knowing that we have been an integral part of that is for me the best way to measure the success of the Academy.

To What do you at t ribut e your success?

In any business, you have to keep innovating and pushing yourself forward otherwise you will get left behind, and this is something we have always strived to do at the Academy. We are always thinking of new ways to deliver fresh content to our students, seeking new partnerships that will benefit our students and constantly looking for opportunities that will allow our students to be exposed to industry.

"We are always thinking of new ways to deliver fresh content to our students, seeking new partnerships that will benefit our students and constantly looking for opportunities that will allow our students to be exposed to industry."

We also have a very supportive and nurturing environment at the Academy that runs not just through our teaching and admin staff, but also through the students themselves. It is wonderful to see both our Alumni students and current students helping each other, supporting each other and being each other?s biggest advocates.

We actively promote a collaborative environment and encourage our students do the same, and it has worked.

Where do you see t he Academy heading over t he next 10 years?

Things are starting to come full circle for us now and we have three of our successful students now working as tutors with the Academy, and this is something I would love to see more of. They have a unique insight into the Academy as both alumni and tutor and it benefits the current students greatly.

Of course, I also have some bigger goals and those include opening more regional campuses in India, Egypt and South Africa with others to be added. I would also like to host an annual conference for the industry and create a meaningful certification programme for existing wedding professionals.

Interview by Meghan Ely

showcase Rust ic Out doors El opement by Zoe David, UK Academy of Wedding & Event Pl anning Zoe David of our UK Campus planned, designed and styled this Styled Shoot which took place within a Manor Garden. She describes the style as a rustic, outdoorsy elopement and some of the decor was found on site; which is the type of resourcefulness we love to see from our Students and Graduates. We think Zoe's work and that of the incredible team of Vendors who were also involved, is stunning. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do and encourage you to also take some time to get to know the Vendors involved.

The Shoot Team: -

Photography: Red Maple Photography

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Venue: Stanton Manor

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Flowers: The Floral Studio

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Bridal dress: Maria Christina Bridal Boutique

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Cake: Celebration Surprise

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Models: Lucy Warrington-Wain and Henry McCarten

#weddigital

TopTips for Social M edia M arketingwithJ ulieA lbaugh Julie Albaugh has been a leader in the wedding industry for over 25 years. As an international social media expert, TwitterGrader.com has ranked her number one for wedding searches for # followfriday, as well as having WeddingMarket selected as number three of the top 10 social media influencers in the Wedding industry by Wed Biz Media. On top of that, Julie is the host of the weekly Twitter chat for # WeddingMarket, which have featured guests like Disney Weddings, Randy Fenoli, David Tutera, Cake Boss, Preston Bailey, Darcy Miller, Sharon Sacks, The Knot and WeddingWire.

Some of Julie?s speaking engagements have included Wedding MBA, Destination Weddings & Honeymoons Magazine, Love Elevated, NACE, Association of Wedding Consultants, and Association for Wedding Professionals International (AFWPI). She has been a guest on the Marie Show on the Hallmark Channel and several other TV shows as well.

www.weddingmarket news.com

Tel l us a l it t l e bit about how you st art ed Wedding Market and your f amous Twit t er Chat ?

I started Wedding Market by accident! I was trying to obtain the @WeddingMarketing profile on Twitter, but it was too long. Instead, I shortened it to @WeddingMarket and it took off from there. Several years later I was supposed to do a webinar with another company in the industry, but they kept postponing it. One day I saw a Twitter chat taking place and had an a-ha moment.

I said to myself, ?I am going to do that instead!?. The first event took place on February 23, 2011 about # WeddingPR with @ODFconsulting & @ProposePR. The rest is history. We've had some amazing wedding industry leaders in our chats.

Buddy from Cake Boss broke the chat room when he was a guest, so I?m pretty proud we could break the Internet in our own little way. We host the # WeddingMarket Chat every Wednesday on Twitter at 10PT/ 1ET/ 6PM in the UK. We?ve had the same day and time slot for six years.

You have such a knack f or knowing what pl at f orms work best f or you, any suggest ions on how wedding pros can f ind t he one t hat f it s t hem best ?

Don't shy away from learning a social platform that you have never tried before. I didn't know anything about Twitter but it became a top platform for us. Don't be afraid of trying new ideas and look at your analytics as to what is working and what isn't. You can learn things faster then you probably think.

If someone can onl y commit t o one social media pl at f orm which one woul d you suggest and why?

Facebook. It?s the strongest platform that connects both customers and B2B relationships.

Somet imes wedding pros are so f ocused on B2C t hey miss out on B2B in social media. Any t ips on how t o combat t his?

Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter offer the best opportunities for B2B. See which social platforms above that you're currently using and make sure you include time for groups on that platform. It's a good idea to use Facebook B2B groups or Twitter chats in the wedding industry or in your local areas or communities. We have the Wedding Market group on Facebook and the # WeddingMarket Chat on Twitter.

How much t ime shoul d we commit t o social media in our week/ day?

You really need to decide how much time you have to spend each week. Then block time on your calendar like an appointment. You have to be consistent or it won't work ? it?s very fluid. You really need to be actively posting at least 3 days a week at the least to be effective. And responding is a big part of it, too. Let people know you?re listening!

Al gorit hms are al ways changing f or Inst agram, Facebook, et c. and it is increasingl y harder t o get organic views. What are your t hought s on paid promot ions?

I was so against this in the beginning until I actually tried it for a fundraiser in my community. It's great because you can really pin point the audience that you want, even by zip code. I did a Beauty and The Beast inspired photo shoot when the movie came out. I was able to create a promotion for brides that were also fans of the movie. Couldn't believe that was possible but it was.

What are some of t he biggest social media mist akes you see wedding pros making?

The biggest mistake I see is using interns or hiring outside people that don't have any knowledge of their company or the wedding industry. Wedding pros are posting promotions in groups without even trying to connect with other people or looking to see what the rules of the group are.

Somet imes it is hard t o come of f as aut hent ic on social media. Any t ips on how wedding pros can be aut hent ic and connect wit h pot ent ial cl ient s?

I feel video is the best way to create authentic content. I created a behind the scene video with a florist setting up for a wedding day. I was able to capture the bride hugging the florist after she had seen her work. You can't fake that!

See the video here: https:/ / www.facebook.com/ pg/ schneidersfloristohio/ videos/ ?ref=page_internal Mil l ennial s have moved away f rom Facebook ont o Inst agram, any guesses on what t he new t rend wil l be?

Believe it or not in the U.S. the top social platforms for brides are Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram and in that order. CNN reported recently that Instagram hit 250 million daily users with its Instagram Stories. If you haven't been using Instagram stories you better get on board.

Interview by Meghan Ely

#Wedvenue H owtoTurn Y our P roperty intoan I nvestment B y L indsay L ucas One of mine and my husband?s favorite things to do is to drive around and look at property in our local community. We roll down the Jeep windows, turn up the radio, and enjoy the views. Every once in awhile, we?ll find a piece of land that peaks our interest and we look into it. Maybe you have a similar hobby, maybe investing in real estate is a source of revenue for you, or maybe you already have that perfect piece of land and are trying to turn it into an investment.

In any case, my guess is the buzz of the wedding industry has caught your attention. It?s clear that it?s a popular and profitable field, but where do you begin? How do you know if your property is prime real estate for a wedding venue?

Here are three things I research for my clients before they jump in and invest millions into their venue dreams.

How l arge is your propert y?

Most owners immediately want to jump into designing their dream venue. You know, get right to the fun stuff. While the venue itself will be the star of the show, it?s not the only large body on the property. You?ll need to make sure the property can also contain a parking area large enough to accommodate for your max capacity. If you?re outside of the city limits, you?ll need a public well and septic system. While they?re underground, these bad boys are large and in

charge and will definitely need enough space to be out of the way of architecture and vehicles. As for the venue itself, will you have separate buildings for receptions and ceremonies? Have you taken into consideration ample storage for all tables, chairs, and other inventory? Does your property offer enough room for everything?

Locat ion, l ocat ion, l ocat ion!

Every good real estate investor knows this is the beginning and end to every smart investment. A wedding venue is no different. If your property is outside the city limits, you need to make sure it is within a 30 minute drive to a metropolitan area. Brides desire a scenic venue, but still want the conveniences a metropolitan area offers. Also, do your research and find the closest, reputable hotel chain or resort. Ideally, hotel accommodations should be less than 20 minutes away from a wedding venue. While this last location tip isn?t a deal breaker, it?s certainly something to take into consideration. What is the drive like going out to your property? Is it beautifully scenic? Do you pass through upper class neighborhoods or lower class? Are the roads paved or bumpy gravel full of potholes? Again, this isn?t a deal breaker, but a smooth and beautiful drive out to a wedding venue provides a nicer experience for brides and their guests.

Support ive or sat urat ed?

Last but certainly not least, is your local market supportive or saturated? It?s important to know if your area is already over saturated with venues or if there is a need for one. In your location, are there multiple wedding venues already established? Most venues have their calendars online - take a look and see how booked they are. If their calendar is at least 80% booked, that venue is doing something right. Take a closer look at their business model - are they all-inclusive, semi-inclusive, or open concept? What kind of aesthetic or atmosphere are they providing and how can you offer something unique and needed? Maybe there are a ton of barn venues, but your market needs a more urban vibe or vice versa.

I know these questions may seem overwhelming right now and starting your own venue seems like a huge mountain to climb, but putting in the work and doing the research now will save you in the long run. You?ve got this, my friend! Go climb that mountain!

Words by Lindsay Lucus

#WedGuru I D o- SharetheL oveOn Social M edia B y SamL loyd If you manage a wedding venue, after a great wedding your work should not come to an end when you lock up the property.

Assuming that the couple is thrilled with their choice of vendors, the venue team delivered exactly what was wanted or ideally exceeded expectations and their photographer wants more work - you should, post-event, all consider how you can best use social media to drum up more work.

Post-event is THE TIME when you need to get busy, be creative and take advantage of the free social media platforms as part of your marketing workflow - as I do ? this is really the time to consider how best to share the love.

Socially aware couples are increasingly finding wedding inspiration and ideas through social media. They use social platforms like Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter to find wedding information and tips. This wealth of information can be found at any time and whilst on the move on their smartphones. So if you are not across these social channels your competitors probably are.

Couples are also using social media to make informed decisions - The UK Wedding Report 2017 published that couples read on average 7.6 reviews. So if you are still putting your wonderful thank you cards in a nice guest book, the wider audience isn?t seeing them. Publish them on social media now!

The wedding industry is incredibly competitive, so successfully getting couples to your website, to ask for that all important quote and ultimately show-around, takes a blend of skilled content marketing and social networking. So as a venue or vendor you need to be active on as many social media platforms as possible, by: -

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Assuming the photographer is social media savvy they will probably write and share a blog. If not, you should consider writing one, as blogs serve as lead generators. The easiest way for couples to find your service is online through keyword search, so get creative when writing your blog Submitting images to wedding bloggers (but do check each of their etiquette guides) as brides love real weddings and pushing out your content on popular blogs gives your brand the chance to appear in front of a highly targeted and often large audience Sharing your behind the scenes images, like when the wedding cake turns up in an open top car!

Taking pictures before and after an event and perhaps when you post, call it something like Transformation Tuesday Asking couples to review your venue or service on pages like TripAdvisor and then re-share on for example Facebook Adding testimonials to your website Sharing real wedding images. Don?t forget to congratulate the couple and thank the photographer by linking to their Facebook - that way the photographer?s followers also see your venue Putting up a sneak peek of a wedding but don?t forget Social Media Etiquette ? never share on the day, as couples will often ask their guests not to post until the next day. Oh and never share anything unflattering Using any custom hashtags that couples have commissioned ? it is probably a witty hashtag, and gives something of the couples personalities, but importantly it also means anyone who attended the wedding who uses social media can see and share the images Putting together a get the look post, that way you can share every supplier involved

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Using key images to inspire your Facebook followers through ideas like throwback Thursdays or flashback Fridays Curating a collection of images, for example to celebrate an event, like Father?s or Mother?s Day taken from a number of weddings.

My own social preference is Facebook, as it is free, as it allows me the option to boost a post or story. I do this when I believe a wedding or event really speaks to the venue?s target audience, or I want to reach a new group, as Facebook advertising really enables you to target specific people - for instance engaged couples local to your venue.

Take home...

Keep your photostream on social media fresh, ideally using real weddings at your venue Ensure you know every supplier's handle who works at your wedding venue and follow them. This is really the networking aspect, liking and sharing if they post a flattering image of an aspect of a wedding at your venue Include every vendor who helps deliver that event within your post, as it could result in a like or even a vendor sharing your post Post updates, with engaging content and videos to increase your chances of appearing in your follower?s feeds Share, tag and credit properly ? it is how you build audiences Put together an events calendar, so that you are social on a regular and consistent basis Don?t forget to keep your website up to date and include the very best of your images. The more time you spend driving traffic to your website, by increasing your exposure through social media, the less you?ll want to lose a lead simply because your website isn?t on brand If you don?t have the time or don?t want to get bogged down in social media, employ an expert who can build followers and network circles.

Words by Sam Lloyd

#wedl egal W hy I nstagramFollowers D on?t M atter B y Christina Scalera ...And t he Real Number You Shoul d Care About When you're just starting out, it can feel like such an uphill battle to see that you have 10 followers on each of your social profiles (and three of them are your mom, your spouse, and your dog). OF COURSE you start reading every ?How To? guide on Instagram about getting more followers.

Here's the deal though, the number of followers you have DOESN?T REALLY MATTER. There's two major reasons why you should stop putting so much value behind how many people ?like? your page: 1. It ?s just a smokescreen.

The number of followers you have isn?t a measure of how engaged they are with you + your brand. There?s a lot of # like4like activity out there that serves no true purpose, but if it will not help you grow your business, it?s just a vanity metric. I use Iconosquare to keep track of my Instagram stats and view my engagement rate.

2. You don?t own your pl at f orm.

Social media is fun but realistically speaking, these platforms are changing all the time. It?s exhausting trying to keep up with all the new rules, algorithm updates and hashtags. You can play for fun, but not for keeps.

So what?s the one metric that?s more important than followers or page ?likes??

GROWING THE NUMBER OF EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS YOU HAVE! A newsletter is the only direct access you have to your audience, and the best part is, they want to hear from you.

When you consistently connect with your followers through email, they start to recognize you. You build more trust with each message, particularly if you can consistently pump out this content. Soon, you can ask your subscribers to help you with your research or invest in your products. People buy from businesses they trust + are familiar with, so nurturing your email subscribers pays off far more than superficially increasing your Instagram following.

The important difference between social media and newsletters is that the first gives you visibility, the latter gives you sales. Think of your social media as roadside billboards? no one buys a car immediately after seeing a car ad on a billboard. But we are biologically engineered to trust brands we see more often, which is why advertisers invest in high visibility platforms, like TV ads and those annoying pop-ups on news articles. But, if you want to go for the sale, you can?t just have these expensive ad platforms? you just have to have an invitation to purchase, which is where your newsletter comes in.

Are you sending out a consistent newsletter? If not, could you, even if it?s just once monthly? What?s stopping you?

Words by Christina Scalera

#WEdacademy

L aunchingA W edding B usiness W ith Stacey Gates Back in August we caught up with 2017 UK Academy graduate and proud new business owner Stacey Gates to find out more about her experience of her wedding business launch, her tips and advice for those of you starting out, and the exciting plans she has for her business.

St acey you f inished your Dipl oma in Wedding Pl anning, St yl ing & Design wit h us at t he st art of t his year. How did it f eel t o graduat e, and what have you been up t o since t hen?

I am loving 2017 it?s been a giddy whirlwind so far, thrilled to say my excitement has only continued since the start of the year. Graduating from the academy was a great sense of accomplishment directing my new career journey as a self-employed wedding stylist & planner, giving me the final confidence boost I needed to develop my company website, build my social profile, network within the industry, generate client enquiries and curate my first solo styled shoot.

Huge congrat ul at ions on t he l aunch of your business Rose Gol d Event s. How have t he f irst f ew mont hs been?

Thank you, honestly I have to say the process has been an emotive journey for me. I am an incredibly passionate person, if I set out to achieve a goal I throw myself in wholeheartedly. I was very excited/ nervous about the launch of my website as I see it as an extension of myself, my design, my personality, my words and my business offer. I invested in having my website built by a fantastic digital marketing agency, it was of great importance to me that Rose Gold Events website has the look, feel and usability of a luxury brand offering; this is after all my shop window for clients. You can only hope that your hard work and investment has the desired results, I am very pleased with the outcome, but it doesn?t stop there as we all know clients want to see beautiful social media accounts, authoritative blog posts and more styled shoots!

Your business and beaut if ul branding are very much geared t o t he l uxury wedding and event market , what made you decide t o t arget t his kind of cl ient ?

I am in complete awe of anyone who has the grit and determination to set up their own business; it?s not easy and takes a huge amount of careful consideration across many aspects. In terms of the luxury wedding planners market, after spending much time researching (mainly for my own wedding) I didn?t find a company in the North of England that I felt could help me with my wedding dreams to coordinate every step of creating a destination wedding in my favourite place in the world Lake Como, Italy. That was my realisation moment; if I can manage every single detail of my own dream Italian Lakes wedding, from legal proceedings to booking flights and accommodation for every one of my guests, then why not put my borderline obsessive spreadsheet fetish to good use for other excited destination brides!

I feel my offer differs from other wedding planners as I don?t mention or offer ?packages?. I want the entire wedding planning journey to be an exciting, stress-free experience from word go. I offer my expertise and complete support for bespoke UK and destination weddings as a brides personal wedding planner always on hand to ensure their wedding day exceeds expectations. I love being part of the real life love story and bringing a bridal couples wedding dreams to life.

It can be int imidat ing and overwhel ming when it comes t o deciding what your brand is. How did you come up wit h Rose Gol d Event s?

Great question, definitely intimidating & overwhelming at times! It was actually my mum that I give all the credit to for the name Rose Gold Events. I went down many different paths and jumped a few tangents before settling on a name for my business. I see the pros and cons of using your own name, this was my initial route but on reflection, I wanted to be a little more original in my approach. To turn a really long story into a more condensed version; I have a great passion for floral design fitting hand in hand with weddings I kind of knew I wanted to include a flower within the name. But it was after a simple conversation over tea & cake with my mum who reminded me of the beautiful rose gold bracelet my parents bought for me when I was around 10years old, and went on to say ?why don?t you name your business Rose Gold Events? the name was born and was perfectly in sync with my ideas of where I saw my business going but then the arduous task of creating a brand identity began.

My background is in marketing, therefore I have been fortunate enough to have worked within creative agencies and worked on brand generation and evolution projects. I repeated a process of collating a HUGE collection of brand logo?s that I loved and why. After more variations than I care to admit to? I settled on my brand ident as you see today. I think it?s very clean, elegant and a fitting representation of my brand personality.

You are of f ering dest inat ion wedding pl anning and st yl ing as one of your bridal experiences, what made you decide t o incl ude t his in your l ist of services. And what advice woul d you have f or anyone t hinking about of f ering dest inat ion wedding services?

As I have mentioned I planned my own destination wedding in the Italian Lakes, it took me 16months from confirming the venue to the day itself to plan and coordinate my own wedding and was practically a full-time job throughout the process. There are many obstacles to consider for any wedding planner from when a bride suggests the country they have in mind you need to know the wedding legals required, civil and religious ceremony options, the language barriers, the timescales of confirming venues, caterers, entertainment etc, available flights, budgeting, scheduling pre-location visits? the list goes on. My now husband and I flew out and stayed in Lake Como twice during the planning months as we needed to evaluate and book hotels for our guests, our rehearsal dinner venue, boat transfers, meet with Italian speaking wedding coordinators, musicians, food tasting, wine tasting, planning and creating an itinerary across the four days in the town of Bellagio for our wedding guests. Just from this comprehensive list, you get the idea how much was involved to make our wedding everything we hoped and dreamed of, this is why I wanted to offer my expertise for brides who dream of a luxury bespoke planned destination wedding.

My advice would be to create your ideal customer profile so you understand who your market audience is. If you are offering a true destination planner service then be thorough in your research, know your strengths and what you can offer the client as the expert.

St art ing your own business is a goal many of our st udent s set t hemsel ves.

What key pieces of advice woul d you share wit h t hem?

I would have to say the clue is in the question, set yourself an end goal ? What do achievement and success look like to you? ? And what I mean by that

gigantic question is ok of course you need to have an idea of what your ultimate goal is that you are setting out to achieve, but that might take years to mature and develop into your desired result. So in the here and now I prefer baby steps, I actually set myself monthly, weekly and daily goals. I don?t believe in going all in full steam and not having a plan, that?s just not me, my approach might not be right for everyone and it?s definitely not the fastest route but I am far more considered and methodical in my approach. If you are confident in your service offering or product and have done all the necessary research and analysis then there is no reason why you will not be successful in launching your own business. The Academy provides invaluable resource within the business modules, but I would say expect to make mistakes because we are not perfect, be open-minded and creative, adapt, don?t get hung up on social media numbers, look for opportunities and overall enjoy it!

And what have you f ound are t he best and worst bit s about l aunching a new business?

I would say the negatives for me have been the emotive aspects and the unnecessary worry about other people?s opinions. At first, I struggled with managing my self-discipline to be my own boss and set a structure for my day, it can be quite isolating at times so you definitely need to have the right personality to be self-employed but all that said the positives can hugely outweigh the negatives as soon as you set your mind frame. The flexibility of setting your own working hours means you can plan time to be with your family throughout the week as most weddings are over the weekend. I get a great sense of empowerment from having my own independence, if you are prepared to work hard and focus on being productive not just ?busy?then you should see results.

Throughout the pre-launch process and now officially being in business is there a key moment that has stood out to you so far?

It has to be the feeling of validation I have gained from the super exciting client enquiries I have received, it just reaffirms that I have made the right decision to change my career and I absolutely love that I can be creative every day, and be as, if not more excited than the brides that I work with. It will come as no surprise that I absolutely adore the whole all-encompassing journey that weddings evoke in us, and how this special celebration forms a unique chapter in a real life love story ? that?s my job to bring a brides dream to life! *pinching myself*

How woul d you say t he course prepared you f or set t ing up Rose Gol d Event s?

The course has been instrumental; not only the course material and the guidance I have taken from each section, it?s all the opportunities I have been fortunate enough to be part of during and after graduating. I put myself out there and was able to gain industry experience working on numerous wedding set up?s and styled shoots for two local inspirational wedding planners that both work with The Academy, I also worked on set styling for two Academy Live filming sessions, and I was lucky enough to have a filmed one to one student interview by Kylie Carlson!!

TopTips

So far I have met many people in the industry, been to various kinds of wedding networking events some that have included awe inspiring guest speakers and their story. I have taken all that I have learnt, absorbed and asked and moulded that knowledge into the makings of my own business model. But I think, if you are genuinely interested in the industry then I can always find something new to take and learn from each day ? that?s the great thing about having your own business evolving and adapting to new trends, legislation, client requests and what our industry friends and leaders are up to.

Interview by Martha Tobyn ?Newl y l aunched l uxury wedding pl anning business Rose Gol d Event s of f ers t he bridal coupl e dest inat ion wedding pl anning expert ise, f ocusing on del ivering uncondit ional l evel s of service and at t ent ion t o det ail . Based in t he heart of t he Yorkshire count ryside working wit h cl ient s near and f ar, St acey at Rose Gol d Event s creat es an indul gent wedding experience as your personal wedding st yl ist & pl anner, special ising in bespoke designed l uxury UK & dest inat ion weddings.

Rose Gol d Event s of f er an el opement experience f or t he bridal coupl e whose t ime is precious St acey wil l be your personal pl anner coordinat ing an unf orget t abl e overseas l uxury wedding. Best suit ed f or a bridal coupl e who woul d l ike t he expert ise and compl et e support of a prof essional f ul l y managed service t o ensure t heir wedding day exceeds expect at ions and remains st ress-f ree.?

www.rosegol devent s.co.uk

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The International Academy of Wedding and Event Planning is the leading training company for the wedding industry with campuses worldwide.

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UK - www.weddingplanningacademy.co.uk

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Australia - www.aawep.com.au

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UAE - www.arabianweddingacademy.com

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New Zealand - www.nzawep.co.nz

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North America - www.northamericanweddingacademy.com

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