Swimming the Deep End of the Marketing Pool:Who’s up for the CHALLENGE?

With the type of advertising I am involved with it requires the endurance and stamina it would to stay afloat in the deep end of the pool.

As opposed to the shallow end, in which most “swimmers” are treading lightly in safety and comfort as their toes touch the bottom to guarantee their head never dips below.

Unaware of how long they can tread in the deep end without sinking to the bottom. Yes there are a few other fish in the shallow end that may take bites but for the big bites you must swim to open, deep, waters.

One thing that is important to wrap your mind around is this:

“Successful marketing is a gamble”

There is no way to guarantee you attempts at bringing in customers are going to assure accomplishment. Nor is there any way to know how long you can hold out in the deep end.

With that being said, who is up for the challenge?

As I touched on a bit earlier I advertise with the Perfect Wedding Guide (PWG) which is a comprehensive guide to wedding and honeymoon services in the area and across the United States. Our brides are looking for the very best in the wedding industry. With this not so small bill for advertising I believed marketing with them would sure to be an instant success. Besides, after a year of owning my own business all I had learned taught me the importance of reaching my target market. With this being my target audience I began advertising a month ago and have had 1 bride out of 672 decide to go with me as her wedding invitation creator. Believe me I could not have been more honored as I do enjoy working with brides and helping them create a beautiful day.

However, I got to thinking. With all the blogging, promotional advertising, specials and free giveaways I was offer I had been a bit puzzled by the current return of my advertising investment.

I have never been one to be afraid to ask for help. In fact I pride my recent success on the changes I have made due to all the constructive criticism I have received in the past year. So I emailed the assistant to the owner of the PWG, explained my dilemma and clarified I was open to an analysis from her. As the assistant she is able to see all the email campaigns I had mailed out in the past month, 9 total, and offer her expert advice.

Graciously she responded back with all the right things I had been doing. Which include keeping it emails short and precise, having dazzling photos and offering up advice to DIY’ers.

She then went on to explain due to the markets current status there is a desire for brides to put on a budget friendly wedding without sacrificing quality and the “Wow” factor.

She asked me if I ever thought about offering an open forum class or even a “Tupperware” style party in which the wedding party has a “gals” night hosted by me where I would teach them how to help the bride create all her paper wedding accessories for one fee.

One word: Ingenious!

I recently took TimothyAdams 5 day course on the secrets of marketing success. In one of the installments he covered being an “expert” in your field. I loved the idea but wasn’t sure on how to execute a marketing plan that involved something other than making a “How to” video to post on Youtube, or selling digital files with directions through my etsy shop. Now I have it and have begun work on having brides register for a “seminar” style class at an undisclosed location downtown.

Now: to get the brides to register. Since I have all this contact information I have taken the easy route of emailing our brides once a week. The PWG assistant made a point to stress the fact I MUST call them. “Most brides do not mind that you call them, most of the time they won't call you because they simply just do not know what to ask and feel relieved when you make the first move.”

Optimistic about the outcome, I will be spending the next week swimming into deeper waters and catching my big fish.

Find a way to make a splash with your business today!

Wedding Expo- Pier Park

Sunday March 1st 2009

While an unusual cold front and winter storm slowly crept up on the east coast we were not spared here on the Panhandle.
Pier Parks first ever wedding expo was held in a beautiful location with 100+ brides registered to attend.

New to the “wedding” industry I wasn’t sure what to expect, but, being the optimist that I am I had great hopes. For some reason the whole time I was setting up in chilling winds I had it in my mind they would die down and the clouds would part promptly by noon. I would later find out that would not be the case.

The show started punctually at noon and all the dedicated brides began to make their way around to the vendors looking for deals and ways to add that “special touch” to their big day.
I still can’t say quite how partaking in this show has affected my business but I can say with confidence I now see the important difference to selling directly to your target market as opposed to blindly promoting to the masses.
About 75% of the visitors to my booth were in need of wedding invitations and accessories. I began to think “why should they choose me”? I know that may not have been the most productive “business savvy” thought to have at the moment but it’s true. Especially with all the possibilities of places to purchase on the internet, never mind local completion, why should anyone choose me?
My mind began racing (which I am shocked I could still think at this point with the chilling winds) of all the times I have been turned away from one company to go with another.
For me, it’s customer service. How does someone make me feel? Do I feel my best interested is at heart or are my husband’s hard earned dollars blinding their thoughts for my best interest.
Trust is key. With trust established every detail of the entire transaction and quality of work is locked in your customers mind with confidence. My goal quickly became to be my companies representation of what they can expect throughout the entire process. Honesty, Dedication and Attention to Detail.

I want to thank every bride and groom who offered their time on Sunday and I look forward to working with you in the future.