224 people responded…
Well thank you for your help in letting me know how you want me to help YOU make $10k every 30 days in your wedding business. We’ve had 224 people send in their surveys and I’m so excited by what I’m learning.
I see that you need help in getting your name out there fast, finding the brides, how to get leads, how to stand out from the competition, and how to stop getting undercut by “super desperate” vendors and “newbies” out there. And so I’m very excited
to put together a series of videos and articles for you to answer these questions specifically.
In the meantime, I want you to do a few things. A little homework, if you will.
I want you to stop for a moment and think about your potential brides out there as people. Not wearing their bride hat (or veil more specifically). Just who she is as a person.
Start connecting the dots about where she hangs out. Where you can find her in large numbers. What will work to stand out from all the other competition.
Many of you are banging your head up against a wall because you’re desperately trying to advertise and stand out from your competition. Yet you’re doing the EXACT SAME THING THEY ARE.
How can you possibly be seen when you have become an expert at blending in and following the pack?
So, right now I challenge you to step back from your own business. Think about where women with money go to shop. Who do they work with? Where do they buy? What do they read? Where do they hang out?
Brainstorm anything and everything that comes to mind right now without judgment.
This is where your new 2012 marketing journey begins.
Share your thoughts with me here. 
Stop Blending. Start Shining!
Natalie
27 Responses so far.
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"More Brides. More Money. More Freedom. That's
what it's all about!"
- Natalie Bradley
I tracked (asked them, not stalked) my brides and where they like to go and what they like to do. If you aren’t tracking this already, create a survey and ask your past brides. You’ll see trends arise and find out where they are and start putting your advertising there. Local businesses are usually very willing to let you display your stuff in exchange for a link or taking some of their cards with you.
Absolutely!!! Kuddos Kelly!!
224 people responded… | Bride Attraction http://t.co/BBIUYB4J
Great!!!! I have struggled with, differentiating myself from my fellow invitation designers. And it is tough. Great idea on stepping back, I am going to definitely do just that..
Thanks,
Cicily-
Awe Inspired Designs!
Great Cicily!!
I had no idea how to aprpaoch this before-now I’m locked and loaded.
I am an event coordinator. For Brides I can offer a calm, coordinated, simple done very well style event. I have built a reputation with hotels and a great knowledge of St. Louis local venues, restaurants, caterers. My go-to team of experts provide services to the bride through my company. I prefer to work with professional women who have a “short set the date to wedding day”.
Bottom line: I need brides. I need more closings.
Shannon
Shannon, Stay tuned for some information to help you do just that. Glad you’re clear on what you do and getting clear on who you prefer to work with!
Last one to utiilze this is a rotten egg!
One word from Kelly Hunt stood out, and that’s LOCAL. I told my gf “I aim to be ‘the Mayor’ of Ealing! [London]“. I’ve attended a few of NB’s teleconferences and they are brilliant!
That’s awesome James!
I am re-entering the event planning business after a four year hiatus. I would like a different type of bride and have been wracking my brain about how to get started. I figured I’d start with having marketing collateral in the places where I think my bride would go (vet for her lap dog, high end boutiques and the gym in the local area). I’m hoping that will net some phone calls. At the end of the day, I need close some business…QUICK
Perfect Kymberly. The key here is to basically paper the town with your “stuff”. You want to make it impossible for brides to go anywhere and NOT see you. Imagine how it would be if brides were to see you everywhere – literally – and have vendors referring you left and right. Powerful, right? You’d book some business easily and quickly too!
Papering the town with my stuff? But what if the town is like, really, really, big? And the brides are in a gazillion places, not just a couple of shops, one vet and a gym?
What if most of the vendors that could refer you are already satiated with entrenched providers, and are besieged daily by a slew of competitors sending them cards or lunch invites and so have grown deaf to any vendor inquiries?
I know you’ve said how you advertised in a pet magazine because many of your clients had little dogs, but even so, isn’t that paying for a whole lot of people who aren’t brides, very UNtargeted and therefore expensive?
It’s costly to blanket. Goodyear spends a fortune to hire blimps to do it. And everyone already knows who they are.
Get focused in a few areas. You can still paper your town. I suggest digital brochures because it’s a fraction of the cost and you can read about that in previous blog posts.
There are always ways to get in with vendors, but you have to be creative. You have to lead with how may I help YOU and not how can you help ME. If you go after people trying to get their business referrals, instead of using a partnership approach, you will have a really rough time and/or never get in.
If you advertise … in ANY magazine or ANY forum, you ask for their demographics. Most were not brides or brides-to-be, but they fit my ideal bride profile (which is why you need to know “her” to a T), so I knew that the chances that she would be getting engaged soon/was already engaged were high. I could ONLY know this because I did my homework first. That’s all I’m asking you to do here.
I’m not a fan of spending a ton of money to get out there, so what I teach never costs a fortune.
Yes, companies like Goodyear spend a fortune. But they are also marketing to a MUCH larger audience than any of us are as small business owners.
What I’m suggesting you to do is not out of the blue. I’ve learned what I teach from many masters I studied with. It’s worked for me, it continues to work for me, and it works for thousands of wedding pros who are implementing it.
Just give it a try …
That’s rellay thinking out of the box. Thanks!
A florist this week asked to buy 4×6 pictures of a recent wedding I photographed. I went to visit her and asked how she would used them? Would they go in the closet after the bridal show? Her eyes lit up when I offered her 4 13×19 inch prints to hang in her store. I can print these in office for about $2 a piece.
That’s fantastic Scott and what a genius way to market yourself at the same time. So many wedding photogs miss out on these opportunities! And now this florist will not forget you either … stay “top of mind” with her to keep getting her referrals. So glad to see you’re implementing the Bride Attraction System in various ways already…
Traditional marketing in creative ways!
Great question! I own a Mobile Hair and Makeup studio, Wow there are several different places, my homework is to centralize my area, this will make it easier for me to target my advertsing money. Thanks for the homework
I know that high end brides rarely attend bridal shows, and if they do it’s not to get all those cheese free gifts, it’s mostly to get ideas and go to the vendor she already chose and discuss it. She also hates getting emails, and the tech savvy bride does not buy every issue of every bridal magazine out there, so print ads are costly and do not work as much. I have heard that the high end bride of today likes the social media and wants to know she is the only bride you cater to on her special day. I have not done this and I need help knowing how to get my FB page up and what my website needs in order to get where I’ve dreamed of for years now.
Any input on the website would be great here is the site http://www.la-bella-rosa.com
Thanks Natalie
I am an event planner and lately have found myself focused on weddings. I want the high end bride that says this is what I want and I would like you to go get it done. I am not sure where the high end bride hangs out but Im willing to ask around. I want more clients in 2012, and I want to be using social media to my advantage! Would love to learn to reel them in and close the deal!
You’re in the right place Denise!
yea great Work
Such a well written post.. Thnkx for sharing this post!
I think this website has some real great information for everyone : D.
Hello! Would you mind if I share your blog with my myspace group? There’s a lot of folks that I think would really enjoy your content. Please let me know. Thank you
of course.